Oldie, but cutie

A page about Maja's second 16th century outfit, from when she was one year old.

More re-making

They keep growing  :)

I made this gown from Maja in 2016, intentionally too big, so that a class mate could use it for a theater play they put up at school.

This photo is from Double Wars 2017. As you can see it's vaguely Italian, say 1550s-1560s.

Then she grew and the bodice fit much better but the waist is a bit higher, making it more of a c. 1500 Italian gown. So I unpicked the black trim that went down to the waist both in the front and in the back, inspired by the trim placement on Eleonora di Toledo's gown.  Her changed shape meant that the neck opening was too narrow, so I had to unpick that trim too and widen it.

I also made tie-in sleeves and added some of the yellow fabric (the very last piece) at the bottom of the skirt.

She's really not that keen on having her photo taken ;)

A yellow and red mi-parti gown

The cut, which skims the body, but isn't tight, and the modest neckline would probably place this one in the 1330s or thereabout.

Maja didn't really need more clothes right now, but then I bought this lovely, soft and draping yellow wool from Italienska Modetyger at a sewing faire. I bought all there was, but it was in no way enough for a gown. So mi-parti it had to be, and with Maja's arms being in red and yellow, red wool was an easy choice. It's no way near as soft as the yellow wool, but since the whole gown is lined with blue silk habotai  even a kid may be able to wear it without dying from wool itchiness ;) (Except the yellow sleeve, I ran out of fabric and had to use red habotai in that one - contrast was important in the Middle Ages, so of course I couldn't use red in the red sleeve.)

As you can see I also cut her hair on Monday night, so I have to come up with some cap and/or false braid solution for the next event.

It's Maja's birthday

Today my youngest turns twelve.

Three weeks old:

2 months old, trying on her first garb

 4 months

5-6 months

A year or so

Two years old, at Lödöse medieval market

Three years old in Visby

                                             

Four years old in Visby, in this outfit

And in 18th century clothes!

Five years old. 

 Six years old in Visby

                                             

                                    

Seven years old

Eight years old

Nine years old

Ten years old

 Last year, eleven years old

This year, eleven, soon twelve.

Photos of (mostly) my garb from Double Wars

You've already seen all of them since I didn't finish anything new, but maybe not in exact these combinations. It's the first time you get to see maja wearign her new grey and burgundy checked 16th century kirtle though.

And me having dinner in my new shift, based on the one that belonged to Dona Teresa Gil.

Sewing hose for my husband  and watching archery.

Taking a walk in the woods.

And then court in a blue sleevelss wool surcoat (lined in a yellow tan wool).

When it got colder in the evening I put on the thicker wool cotte over my pink one.

16th century mittens for Maja

Double Wars has already started, but due to my work we can't go until Wednesday afternoon. I wasn't going to make anything new (I've made enough new garments already), but then I remembered how could the evenings can get this early in May.
So I decided to kill two birds with one stone: I am teaching a class about knitted garments in the renaissance and it's always good to have examples for people to see and touch.

2014 I made a pair of mittens for Maja based on a find from the 16th century, now in the Museum of London:

It is part of a set of clothing for a small child, much smaller than Maja of course.

These are the ones I made in 2014, from alpaca yarn that I had got from my friend Anna. It was part of the Historical Sew Fortnightly. Alpaca yarn of course isn't period, but like many kids Maja is extremely sensitive about teh scratchiness of wool (personally I love the feel of wool to the skin) and in combination with the fact that the yarn was free and I would use up a remnant that otherwise would just lie there in her stash made it an easy choice.

Maja used them a lot, which probably is the reason why they are now lost. They would also have been too small for her now, even if we had known where they are.

So yesterday I started on a new pair, also yellow, and also made from yarn that I had got from Anna. And, again not period: it's a mix of cashmere and merino. Very soft and perfect for kids.

It's a good thing that mittens are so quick to make, even if you have to unravel a couple of centimetres as I had to. I count on the other one being finished by the time we leave for Double Wars on Wednesday, even if I have lots of work to do.

The pattern is improvised as I knit, but I am thinking about actually writing it down.

A gardecorps for Maja

My daughter maja needed som warm medieval clothing, so I made her a gardecorps from wool that I got from my friend Anna.

More information and a pattern drawing can be found here.