Photos from the Medieval Week: Sunday to Tuesday.

 This was my first medival week on Gotland since 2016, when I was over for three days. My last whole medieval week was in 2010. I used to go (almost) every year between 1993 and 2010, and we always camped. And often brought our children. So this was a very different week: The first time I stayed at a B&B, The first time since 2003 (except for those three days in 2016) without children. They are now 30 and 21, so they have their own lives.

I had a marvellous time. I have not yet decided if I miss camping at Visby. I can camp at Double Wars, which doesn't require bringing a car and trailer on a ferry. There is also much less stuff to take care of afterwards. I have washed the linens, spot cleaned or hand washed the wool and silk gowns, cleaned the shoes and greased them. No big tent to dry,

Anyway: Photos!

Sunday: Arrival by plane, and getting to the B&B. Took a walk down to the market, where I met Hans Gunnar from Eikthyrnir , got a nice  beer, and bought some seriously pretty shoes. With a rubber sole attached so I won't slip on the cobblestones and die. Or at least hurt myself.

Wearing my 13th century wool cotte, that I made in 2004. And have worn at practically every camping event since then. 

Look at the pretty fringe that I sewed to the bottom of the new striped gown. And the sexy red shoes. The hose are my very patched linen hose from 2005. Also used A LOT. I might have to make new ones, because they are falling to pieces.

Early bed time, because I had fallen asleep at 1 am that morning, and woken up at 3 am.

Monday: Sara and I went to the market. Which is quite fabulous. Some not so period trinkets and fantasy clothing, but also awesome things like fabrics from Historiska Rum, The Historical Fabric Store, Medeltidsmode, and Korps/Ravencraft. The two former are all about reproduction fabrics, while the two latter are cheaper, and you can still find really good stuff. And reproduction pottery from Krohns Krukmakeri etc etc. There were sellers of plantdyed fabric and yarn, of armour, of musical instruments, of black smith work, and of many other things. And entertainment. This is Arkadia.

I wore the striped gown, and Sara took a photo of me in the botanical garden.

The bwlt is tied high, early 14th century Italian style, and the knitted cap is also Italian from this period. I made a post with both documentation for the style, and a knitting pattern. it is here.

Hollyhocks.

Then Sara and I went to watch what turned out to be one of the absolute highlights of the week: "Sveriges medeltida landskapslagar - the musical". Yes. It is a musical about the Swedish medieval county laws. Yes, it is fabulous. 

* Note: If you for some reason have a need to read the Nordic medieval laws, but don't read the Scandinavian languages, there is a quite new series of scholarly translations published by Routledge. You can probably access them through a university library, at least through ILL. My old supervisor Prof. Thomas Lindkvist did the one on the oldest Swedish one: The Västgöta law.

After dinner made by Sara she had a lie down, and I went swimming in the sea, and for an evening walk.

Tuesday: Tuesday meant mimosa breakfast at Hans Gunnar's market tent. There were lots of us, both from the SCA, and other people. A great time was had.

This was before the market opened, so we could have our orange juice and bubbly bottles on the table.

I wore my printed wool gown from the early 14th century.

And afterwards I bought three metres of striped wool from Historiska Rum (link above)  that I have lusted after for months. It might have been the mimosa, but I am happy anyway.

Then I went to a three hour workshop in high medieval music ( I sing, I don't play anything well enough for this) with dr Karin Lagergren and Gustav Näsman Olai , who also plays in the medieval ensemble "Medeltidsbandet Själ". It was so much fun. I really miss singing medieval and renaissance music. Of course the workshop was held in a medieval building.

Then we had dinner, and it was evening, and I went swimming and walking again. It was windy and fun waves.

Here I am wearing my handspun, handwoven cotton dress. It ought to be a half linen/half cotton weave, but I couldn't get both that and handspun and hand woven. It is an Italian style from c 1300, where half cottons was used a lot for lower class clothing. You can read about the dress here. Because, if you didn't know this already: I rarely make anything without documenting the shit out of it.

Wednesday and Thursday will be the next post.

The Tale of the Mantle - finished!

 Yes!

My one year (or five, depending on if you count the four years when I didn't work on it) project of making first a cloak inspired by a description in the 13th century Möttuls saga, a translation of the French romance Le cort mantel, and then a matching kirtle and surcoat, is finished!

Read all about it here, on its long and detailed page.!

The further tale of the (13th-14th century) mantle

Continued from this post: The tale of the Mantle four years later.

So, I finished the actual mantle in the end of last year. But I decided that I wanted a whole set of clothes from this silk taffeta. While people were exceedingly fond of contrasting colours in the Middle Ages, coordinated sets were also common. I have written about it here and here, dsicussing the phenomenon in gerneal, and the trosseau of Isabella de Bruce from 1293. Matching cottes, surcoats and cloaks are also commonly seen in early and mid. 14th century art.

I will write much more about the set, the construction, the inspiration etc when it isall finished. Right now I just wanted to show the cloak and the cotte. And the beginning of the surcoat.

It is extremely hard to see the vines on the cloak in photos, you will just have to believe me, see it in person, or wait for summer and better light. Or possibly make it out in this detail shot.

Some more photos. The cloak is lined in a shot blue/green silk taffeta. And yes, I wanted to look like a fairy tale queen. I have now had the same really bad cold for 5 months, my arthritis is killing me and judging from the pain I have an ulcer again. So I deserve dressing up as a beautiful queen.

The fastenings

I am currently working on the surcoat, which will be split at the sides, like so many Italian surcoats from this period. It will have flowers all over, and like the cotte it will have a smaller version of the front borders from the cloak at the cuffs, but also around the neck and along the side slits.

The tale of the mantle - four years later

 In July 2019 I started on an embroidered silk cloak, inspired by a cloak described the 13th century  Möttuls saga. Möttuls saga is an Old Norse text which was probably based on the Old French Le Cort Mantel, and was adapted into Old Norse  by a  cleric known as Brother Robert, probably of Anglo-Norman origin, for King Haakon IV of Norway (1217–1263). I had made a presentation about clothing in a collection of Norwegian translations of courtly romances for Leeds medieval congress in 2019.

You can read more about the inspiration, the sources, etc in a blog post that I made then. 

Well, in November 2019 I hit total burnout, in fact I am still not well enough to work more than 25%, and while I have made lots of clothing since 2021, when I finally was able to sew again, the cloak was lying there, packed away in a fabric bag.

My friend Anna kept reminding me of it, whenever I complained that I didn't have any hand sewing for when we hung out watching historical costume movies/series together. But it was The Lazy Reenactor Girl's  30 days of A&S (Arts&Sciences) challenge in September this year that actually made me pick it up again.

I hade made around 90 centimeres on the front border when I put it away, and now I have embroidered another 240 cm. And some flowers. 

Since the cloaks is described as being embroidered all over with flowers and leaves, I have quite a lot of embroidery left to do. I'm startinf with the flowers spaced evenly over the whole cloak, and then I will have to figure out the foliage.I am using "gold" thread, with a strip of metal wound around a yellow thread, which I am couching down with yellow silk, green silk embroidery floss, and white sewing silk.

Another Italian late 13th-early 14th century gown

I found this blue wool at a charity shop this winter. It hibernated a while in my wool cupboard, before I could make up my mind about what to make from it. 

But in the end: who doesn't need another (very) high waisted Italian gown from c. 1300? (Read more about them here)

This is a very simple one, with no decorations. It is all hand sewn, and due to fabric limitations it also has some interesting pieceing in the bodice and one sleeve. Haven't worn it for an event yet, but maybe this wekeend, for St. Egon's Feast.

Photos from Drachenwald's Autumn Crown Tourney

 I was too busy to take many photos at Drachenwald's Autumn Crown in the Netherlands: the first in person event since March 2020, the first since I got better from my exhaustion, me entering the tourney with my dear frend Sir Måns, the long delayed elevations of the lovely Baroness Anna von Syveken and Baroness Magdalena Grace Vane to the Order of the Pelican and the Laurel respectively... well the list is long. 

And their was such an elevated sense of joy throughout the whole event - when we finally got to see each other in person again.

So, here we go. For the tournament I chose not to mach Sir Måns 16th century waffenrock, that I just had made, but to go for as romantic as you can get: 12th century, in my green wool bliaut. I also wore my husband's wool cloak, lined in silk. I had braided my hair with red wool yarn, to make longer braids, and sewed brass points to them I made thos braid ends in 1998, but haven't actually used them at an event. They're very basic, just sheet brass with a simple pattern made by a needle and cut and folded to a cone. I really should make new and prettier ones. 

The coronet is made by Johanna Lawrence (link to her Etsy shop).

Sir Måns and I actually got to the finals, and I nearly fainted while we watched the fight then.

The finals was against Count Morales, and this photo is from when they met earlier in the tourney.

Here sir Måns met his squire, Honourable Lord Erich Olovsson Haane. Also one of my travel companions to and from the event, co-founder of the informal household Haus Rotkäppchen (from the cheap German bubbly of that name) which we created on the way down to the Netherlands.

Sir Måns and Lady Agnès Boncuer in the list.

After the tourney I changed to my very comfy silk brocade gown, as did sir Måns. These were our investiture outfits when we became baron and baroness of Gotvik in 2016, and we thought it wise to be prepared with matching outfits, just in case ;)

Sir Måns and ghis son, wearign the matching waffenrock to his dad's. He's going to have it for fighting, but since it hadn't been used for that yet, it was clean enough to wear at court and feast.

At this event I also received a beatiful scroll for an award that I got in May, in an online court. It is for the Orden des Lindquistringes, a Dracehnwald award for service.

It was made by Lord Maredudd ap Gwylim, and is based on a late 12th-early 13th century manuscript.

All you wanted to know about my 13th century Spanish costumes

After a serious scare when Blogger decided to take down my blog because of alleged PHISHING activites- I kid you not - it is up again.

I mean, in the name of the Gods: This is an educational blog about costume history!

Anyway, the page about my 13th century Spanish costumes that I spent six hours working on still exists, and you can now find it here.

My striped saya encordata is finished

 As you might remember from my January post, this year I took up a project that I really should have both started or finished circa 20 years ago: A 13th century noble Castilian outfit based on both the preserved garments in Museo de Burgos, and on period illuminations, statues and other artwork.

I made the pellote, and I made the embroidered shift, but then I got sidetracked and instead of making the blue silk saya encordata I dediced to try the pattern that I had made on a slightly cheaper fabric. The fact that both the 13th century Spanish people and I were/are crazy about stripes probably contributed to this. And that I have been looking for an excuse to make something from this striped wool from Göteborgs Textil forever.

I have also been experimenting with the weird 13th century Spanish headwear. I have some theories, which also gives answers about how other types of pleated fillets were made in the rest of Europe in this period.  But that will have to wait until I have the energy to write down my documentation properly.

For now you will have to do with some photos of the finished outfit, and some of the inspiration. And yes, I couldn't be bothered to put on proper shoes - but apparently  winding 4 metres of linern with a pleated frill on it around my head wasn't too much work. Yes, I am weird.