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I made a kjortel (one of several Viking garments collectively referred to as "tunics") based on the designs I found documented by the Swedish Historiska Världer project and by the SCA's own Þóra Sharptooth. I made it out of a beautiful plum 100% cotton twill moleskin that I found on the clearance shelf at JoAnn’s for $3/yd. I selected the material based on its 100% natural fiber content, period appropriateness (twill is very appropriate to the Viking Age), price (sure beats the price tag on 100% linen and 100% wool!) and the attractive color (which works with both shire colors and kingdom colors). There are three differences between my kjortel and the one in the Historiska Världer document: (1) the V-neck - While one could argue that the Vikings were not known for making V-necks, I say why not do it anyway? It’s quick and easy and functional and I can’t believe the Vikings never made a V-neck. (2) My kjortel only goes a few inches below my belt. I simply didn’t have quite enough material to work with, but hey, it was on the clearance shelf. You get what you get. (3) My kjortel has no gores in the front and back. Again, it just wasn't long enough, so no gores.
Things I learned:
(1) Always buy too much fabric! Don’t settle for “I think that will be enough.”
(2) When you start running moleskin through your machine, USE A BIGGER NEEDLE! It’s always the obvious things, isn’t it? Fortunately, I still have both my eyes, so I can just chalk that one up as cheap entertainment. ;-)
(3) One thing I learned in my research was that while blue, red and even green were relatively common in the Viking world, purple had to be overdyed and was very expensive and hard to get. Another thing I learned in my research was that the Vikings made faux fur trim. They made it by weaving wool into a trim, pulling tufts of unspun wool into the weave, and then dyed it red. Isn’t that cool?! I imagine that grey lambswool dyed with madder must have come out looking rather like fox fur. Why did they endure this painstaking process instead of just trapping a fox or other animal? I don’t know. If you have an idea why, please e-mail me.
Grüße!
Wilhelm |
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