Black and white wool tote bag

Black and white wool tote along with a naalbound hat and some of my Viking Age bling

Just a quick post here – nothing too special, just thought I’d share the new bag I made for my Viking Age reenactment gear for events.

I like my block printed black wool tote bag for events, but have found that the (secret) zippered pocket inside is a bit too small for all of the things I want to keep secure – so I opted to make a new bag with a much larger internal “pocket” for secret (secure) stuff… It’s also embellished with pretty embroidery.

Spiral naalbound hat

Selfie wearing my new spiral-striped red and blue naalbound hat.

When I took a class at the SCA Twelfth Night event on nålbinding, I asked the instructor about the spiral design I’ve seen by a few other textile artists. While the instructor didn’t have advice, since she hasn’t used that design yet, I was still inspired to give it a whirl myself all the same.

York stitch nålbound hat

Selfie in a blue wool naalbound hat.

When I took a class at the SCA Twelfth Night event on nålbinding, the instructor taught us the York Stitch. I ended up not quite following her directions, but adapted what she taught to a technique that felt more natural to me.

The stitch is the same, it’s only how I treat the working yarn that is different than her instruction. Her instruction was perfect though for someone new to naalbinding – to keep the steps clear.

In the class I was working on a hat, but the stitches were very inconsistent as I was learning the stitch. When I got home, I decided to put that project aside (since I only had the yarn from class, nothing that matched at home) and start a new project using the York Stitch.

Red & black Viking apron panel

Photo credit ©Mysticus Photography – my new embroidered apron panel

In my Viking Age Capsule Collection post I mentioned that I wanted to slowly transition my Viking Age wardrobe to a red / black / grey / blue colour scheme. I found this red and black twill fabric at the Grandmother’s Fabric Sale in spring 2017, and since it was only 0.6 meters, there wasn’t really enough to do much. I reserved a piece for this apron panel, and then used the remainder for reverse facings on my black and red wool (blend) coat.

Current Viking Age Palette

I decided to do one side of this apron panel with the red, and the reverse with the same black I used for the coat. No real reason other than I had pieces of both leftover, and both match my current desireable colourway.

Third inspired-by-Midgaard hood

Photo credit ©Mysticus Photography – Me in my steel grey wool hood, along with other elements of my Viking Age Norse costume.

Steel charcoal grey wool hood

Once I had the black and grey wool-blend hood finished, I liked the results so much that I went to my stash of other fabrics from the Grandmother’s Fabric Sale and found another piece of wool, also with less than two meters. This fabric is a charcoal grey with a slight steel blue tinge to it. In sewing it I found it very spongy – it did not want to hold a press at all. (It is a tabby weave, not a crepe weave though.) You can see in the photo below my pattern – and the number of adjustments that were made before I got something I really liked.