Trimming the Neckline

Bjorn's Ceilidh is almost upon us and, believe it or not, I'm actually done with my Viking outfit.

    ~ And there was great rejoicing.

Last week was spent sewing?/weaving?...creating the trim on the neckline of the under dress.

I don't know if this technique has an official name.  Mistress Ose Silverhair taught it to our local Keepers of Athena's Thimble group back about six years ago, just before I started attending.  She learned it from an Australian who taught it at Pennsic that year.  Locally, because Ose showed it to us, the technique has been dubbed "The Ose Stitch".

Second pass is done on the diagonal.

The technique starts with a foundation of blanket stitches.  The length of the stitch determines the width of the final trim, while the separation between stitches affects the 'tightness of the weave'.  A row of color is created from two passes of the thread.  The first is woven in a simple over-under manner.  The second pass is woven over-under also, but on the diagonal.  (see photo)  The row of stitches is then pushed up to the top (or bottom) of the blanket stitches.  All rows are done in the same manner and patterns are created by the direction of the diagonal stitches.

Things I have learned:
 - Consistency of the length of the blanket stitches is imperative! It is possible to run out of room for your pattern if some of your stitches are too short.  A potential way to avoid this is to lay out side-to-side the total rows of thread you will be using to give an idea of how long the blanket stitches must be.

 - It is possible to have your blanket stitches be too close together!  Again, it's probably better to leave a space between them equal to the width of your colored thread.  In some places the blanket stitches were so close I had to weave my color over-under two stitches at a time.

 - If there is a 'background' color to your pattern, weave that as the first pass of the row.  Weave the pattern diagonals with the 'main' color.  In my trim, I wanted the orange/peach to stand out, so I wove the green first.

 - This is another one of those crafts that requires good lighting.  (see my previous post)

 - Perfection isn't going to happen the first time.

Materials used:
 - The dress is 100% linen (IL019 BLEACHED Signature Finish from Fabrics-Store dot com)
 - Blanket stitches were done with a natural colored cotton/linen thread.
 - Colored threads are 100% linen.

So, the apron dress, under dress, cap, and necklace are all done.  In the future, I will be adding the same type of trim to the sleeves of the under dress, making a scarf for a head covering, and adding gores to the apron dress.  I did not have enough material for proper width at the lower end.  I will also be tablet weaving new linen shoulder straps and a silk band for the top of the apron dress.  That is, after I teach myself tablet weaving.  Oh, and I still need to finish off the seams of the under dress.

On another note, here is a photo of my grandsons.  It was the younger one's 2nd birthday two weekends ago. 

~ Marjorie

The Laurels' Prize Tourney

I have decided to do Mistress Cassandra Grey of Lochleven's challenge, "Making Old Garb New" and will redo my lavender court dress.  The reasons are many and I have titled them, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

The Good
 - The embroidery is balanced around the sleeves and the stitching is well done. (It garnered me a Competency ranking in Free Embroidery at a Keeper's of Athena's Thimble paneling.)
 - The seams are hand finished
 - The hem is hand sewn.

The Bad (For a garb apprentice)
 - All seams are machine stitched.
 - Sleeves were cut too narrow causing the dress to be tight across the back.
 - I used A History of Costume, by Carl Kohler as my main source for the style of the dress  He fails as a good source because he does not list his own sources for the info given and he does not state what part of a century the style was in fashion.
 - Grommets were used to reinforce the eyelets.
 - I bought the material at Jo-Ann's, so it is not guaranteed to be 100% linen.
 - The colors chosen were not verified as being period.

The Ugly
 - The construction of the pendulum part of the sleeve causes the lining to bunch at the bottom.
 - It is too short.
 - There are center front and back seams.

My first areas of research have been into materials and colors.  By all rights, I should use a high quality wool for the dress, but finances being what they are, I will probably use linen again, though maybe a heavier weight.  I haven't settled on color yet, however it seems that just about any color will be fine, except for purple.  That is definitely out as Marjorie is not royal.  I'm leaning towards a yellow because 1) it's one of the colors on my Arms, 2) if I'm using linen, it might as well be considered a dress for summer courts and be a summery color, 3) I don't have a yellow dress yet.

On to more research, with an interlude for the Anglespur/Concordian Yule potluck.

~ Marjorie