As the einherjar await ragnarok, so we waited for this weekend! A full weekend of all the crafting and fun and it did not disappoint. Going into this weekend, we had sewn together the shift and the underdress with everything else cut out but not get sewn together (except the hood for which the fabric got delayed). Undeterred, we got to work with our pins and got down to business! We apron dress was sewn together and the apron panel was hemmed while the hood was cut out and assembled. We took a break from the sewing for some weaving and Gwen got to learn how to weave on an inkle loom! I had left about a yard left for her to weave and picked a simple pattern that was 25 strings wide to make it about half an inch or so for the hedeby bag strap. Within a few hours, both were fully woven and we got a most welcome surprise! Not only did we weave enough for a belt for the competition and enough extra for a belt for myself, we had enough after those for a belt for the third musketeer in our trip (one who is much more skilled at garb making than us who is competing on her own in this competition, Lady Ellynor Redpath! Now all three of us have matching belts that hold a bit of sentiment that we may remember this journey (Lady Ellynor hasn’t done any of this with us but she taught both of us to pattern viking garb and how to warp and weave on an inkle loom and she worked on her pieces alongside us and offered advice when we needed).
With the belts done and all of the pieces assembled, we could start working on the embellishments which honestly are my favorite part (I may be ok at sewing but I’m good at cutting things into delicate and/or interesting shapes)! Connection a pair of hippocampi on an apron dress doesn’t sound too difficult until you try to interweave them a few times and shield knots aren’t exactly a beginner piece but team Gullinkambi is made of a pair not known for starting with an easier option and so we pushed through! By the end of today, the shield knot on the hood and the hippocampi have been blanket stitched down and the horses just need the knotwork detail work added to them! We’ve got all the hems marked before Lady Gwen had to return home and pick up her furry ward so I’ll take care of hemming everything this week! Everything is coming together and it looks better than I ever could imagine!
As promised, here are just some of the pictures from sew-a-polooza! Those with both of us were taken by Lady Ellynor (and I act as her photographer for her pictures)! Hope you like everything we’ve accomplished! This is Gwen’s first big A&S competition and her first time making a full outfit (as well as first time inkle weaving) so give her a hand because she learns so fast and has done a great job!
