The nalbind socks are completed – only my second project using nalbinding. I used some of my homespun for the heels because I ran out of commercially spun wool. The second heel turned out better than the second. I still need to block the socks. Socks were usually short socks so that is what I did with these. I wanted to them to cover all of the my foot where the shoe fit.
Nigel worked on mockups for shoes for both Catherine and Nigel. With Catherine’s socks done he was able to try the shoe with the sock. The shoe needed to be larger. The shoe mockup for him fit very tightly to. So that one needed to be larger too.
Catherine worked on her outer dress, a 5th- 6th century peplos-type gown. What this dress looks like exactly is hard to say. But in graves there were brooches on each shoulder with material underneath each brooch. So this dress is based on artwork and evidence from other countries. This dress makes sense they would have done it this way because you do not loose any material. It is a rectangular piece of fabric. You can fold over the top more or less to make it shorter when you are working. It would also be easy to nurse a baby in this dress.
I still need to add the trim to the dress which will cover the hem. I am still working on the card weaving for the trim. The seam I created is kinda of hidden. I know there is a name for this but I am not a seamstress. Plus I am not sure I did it correctly but with the top folded down you did want raggedy ends sticking out.
I made a pattern for underwear for under Catherine’s dress – I used the same idea as the pants I created for Nigel. There is a bigger insert in the back than in the front which I didn’t do with Nigel’s pants. There is no evidence of what they wore under their dress in the 5th/6th century. This is my interpretation based on the men’s pants found. Women had to have something under their dress, especially for certain times of the month. The underwear fit me fairly well I just needed to make the waist a little higher. I will put a drawstring at the top.
Nigel started work on Brass Thors hammer. This is the rough cutout. It will be filed and smoothed out. This the first time Nigel has worked in brass.
What leather did you use for your shoes? We have discovered that most of our shoes stretch quite a bit to fit so we make them tight of ours on purpose.
Lovely job on the rest of the garb. I appreciate that you know that inkle weaving is not period but gave a reasonable reason that you used it and also demonstrated on the other pieces that you know the technique.
On shoes for the future. You can add a bit for seam allowance and then a bit more for sock thickness allowance. It looks from the leather you used that it might stretch with wearing.
I like the fabric you chose for your peplos. That looks like a flat felled seam.