Costumes for travel

From inside the castle courtyard looking towards the castle entrance

When I started making my packing list for my last trip to Finland (June-July 2017) I started to think of garb…

I would be attending one day of the medieval fair in Turku, plus visiting some castles and things… and thought it might be fun to get photos of myself in garb in these lovely places… (I also unexpectedly found myself at the Tallin Medieval Market in Estonia too!)

Ok… I’m just daydreaming about travel again… it’s a long time before I’ll be going back – or will even be able to travel at all I bet (given finances and Covid…)

So first the question – would this make sense? Would it make sense to bring an entire outfit just for one day and maybe a few photos?

Once my bag was packed, I figured I had room in my suitcase to bring a simple outfit – so I was going to go for it! But then the next question – which outfit?

Eurokangas in Finland

How beautiful is this three-dimensional floral fabric from the EuroKangas in Helsinki?

Each time I’ve visited Finland, fabric shopping has been high on my agenda. You already know that I bought some gorgeous diamond twill fabric at the medieval market, but I did other fabric shopping too!

Turku location

Eurokangas is a chain fabric store, and first I visited the one in Turku. The location I visited is in the Sokos department store across the street from the market square.

Fabric (and yarn!) shopping in Finland & Iceland

Fabric from EuroKangas in Finland

I mentioned in an earlier post that I’d be a bit delayed in some of my costume posts, because some Real Life™ had come up – well that Real Life – was some wonderful travel! For much of the month of November I was in Finland and Iceland (again! My second visits to both countries) and that means for nearly a month I wasn’t sewing or writing at all…

But I did shop for fabric!

Finland

My first stop in Finland was in Turku, a beautiful city that I loved during my first visit to Finland on the west coast. I stopped in EuroKangas, the large fabric store chain, which is located at the top floor of a department store. There I bought:

Fabric from EuroKangas in Finland

Approximately 2 meters of rich dark red pvc – this is going to be an amazing purse/bag I think… This was sold by weight rather than yardage, at the side of the store. (Top row, far right)

5 meters of creamy-silver-grey silk (taffeta weight, no slubs at all – it’s super smooth) – I have this in mind for a Tudor/late-period gown. 100% silk, “Silk Assortment” 19,90 Euro/meter (pretty good) (Top row of the photo, far left)

5 meters of yellowy-green silk (taffeta weight, very few slubs) – this is so not my normal colour, but there was something about it I really liked – perhaps the price! I bought enough for a simple late-period kirtle/dress, though I also think I might try dying it, since it’s a light enough colour that I think it will overdye well. 100% silk, “Sanderson – homecoll” 9,90 Euro/meter (wow!) (Top row of the photo, second from left)

3 meters of olive green silk knit. I bought some of this knit in a grey colourway last time I was in Finland, and although I haven’t actually made it up into anything yet, absolutely love the fabric. I think this will be a loose pullover top. 100% silk, “Moda Jersey” – 27Euro/meter (ouch!) (Top row of the photo, second from right)

Reykjavik 871 +/- 2 museum in Iceland

Viking Age beads on display at the Settlement Museum

Another Viking-centric museum I visited in Reykjavik was the Reykjavik 871 +/- 2 museum.
This museum is the site of an excavated Viking long house, one of the first houses in Iceland, and also includes other findings from the Reykjavik area and the island of Viðey. The long house was excavated in 2001 when some construction was planned for the area. The house was inhabited from around 930-1000 CE, and near the remains of the hall is a wall which can be precisely dated to 871 plus or minus 2 years (hence 871 +/- 2) due to the evidence along the wall of the Torfajökull volcanic eruption. (Which has been dated using glacial ice dating in Greenland.)

Viking woman’s grave goods

Assortment of goods found in a woman’s grave

I think that I’m nearing the last few posts about my trip to Iceland and the various museum exhibits I saw there – for today’s post about the Iceland National Museum in Reykjavik I’m going to re-visit a display of grave goods from a Viking Age woman’s grave.

The display included tortoise brooches which I showed in a previous post, a full necklace (also from a previous post) and a festoon that I also explored in a previous post.

Tortoise brooches from a Viking female grave

Beaded necklace from a woman’s grave

Festoon of beads from a Viking Age woman’s gravesite.