beaded and finished trim turned into a belt
This isn’t an especially exciting part of the costume, but pretty vital to give the outfit some shape – since the dress is quite shapeless. Since all of my other long belts are for my early-period Norse costumes, I needed to make something new (and blingy!) for this one.
New tablet woven bands from Etsy
Another super-quick shopping post today again… I promise those project posts are coming.. soon.. soon…
These are two new pieces of hand-woven tablet woven trim from a weaver in Poland – you can find her work on her Etsy shop: Kram Valgerd.
The grey trim is:
– Material: 80% wool, 20% polyamide
– Length: 410 cm
– Width: 20 mm
– Colors: light grey, black, graphite
The vine pattern seems to be a deviation of the Rams Head pattern, which as far as I know is NOT period correct for the Viking Age, but gosh it’s pretty!
While the blue is:
– Material: 100% wool
– Length: 450 cm
– Width: 17 mm
– Colors: light steel blue, navy
The design for the blue one is based on the Finnish Kaukola Kekomaki find, dated to the 10th or 11th century. (it also reminds me of one of my tattoos!)
You can follow the weaver on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KramValgerd and while you’re there, why not follow me and my dress diary too? https://www.facebook.com/DawnsDressDiary
In April I went shopping with someone else to a few of the fabric shops I very rarely get to. I had been looking for ornate trim (success!) and for red silk (no luck) and I thought I’d post some photos – even if just to remind myself later what I picked up!
Fabric from Reenas in April
From Reena’s I picked up 5 meters each of some silk – grey, blue shot with pink, turqoise shot with pink, and medium rose, and 2.5 meters of a dark rose – I would have liked much more of that, but it was all that was on the roll. I also picked up some trim in navy/gold, purple/gold and gold/gold, and some sheer white silk.
Purchases from Bhatia’s in April
From Bhatia I picked up a blue and gold sari, plus three kinds of trim – one gold, one metallic embroidery with foil on blue, and the last rhinestones on red.
If you were going to make something from what I picked out… what would it be? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
My first order from Cheeptrims.com
I’ve shared a few posts about online shopping, and I thought I’d share this one too. Unlike some of the others, I actually found it somewhat frustrating, and was disappointed with it – but that wouldn’t stop me from ordering from them again…
Order date: December 26
Change of order date: January 5
Date of receipt of partial order: January 15
Lucet cord using linen yarn
After trying my hand at making four-strand braid (aka Whipcord) I thought it would be interesting to try my hand at another cord-making technique.
Lucet cord is often attributed “as far back as the Viking age” – however in the bit of research I did online, it appears that there’s some disagreement if lucet cord was actually used in the Viking age. Unlike a lot of other braiding or cord-making techniques, it doesn’t require bobbins or pre-cut lengths of yarn – which means you can make a cord as long as you want – or rather, as long as your yarn is. (And as long as your patience runs too… LOL) Continue reading
Dawn's Dress Diary 