What's Wrong With My Garb? 

My grandfather was born in 1895. After their marriage, my grandmother made all of his clothing - sewn by hand until they got a sewing machine after 1935. I include this information to say this: My grandfather was quite proud of his shirts. Though they were poor, Grandmother was a fine seamstress. His clothing fit, and was well patterned. When I was a child, he told me that he was always glad to go to the gin (cotton gin. Southern USA.) because his shirts were the best on any farmer there. He stated that "Most of those wives did not know how to make a good shirt, or just didn't care to do it. Those fellers might as well have been tied up in a tow sack." All of this leads me to my point: There would have been varying levels of accomplishment in the making, makers, and wearers of all these garments. Most clothing, until the modern age, was 'home made'. The quality was only the best the relevant home could produce. Some of them would have been dreadful. So, if yours doesn't match the best quality extant survivors, it might be normal.

As someone whose first SCA garb had princess seams (and yes, much as I loved the gown, I shudder over the style for a 5th century Celt), you are -certainly not the only one to give older pieces a critical glance. And to be fair to my younger self... I was fourteen at the time. Also, all of my garb back then was machine sewn, so serious kudos for the hand stitching.

The ability to critique your own work is so important! The CoCoVid Badge Fairy stopped by with a little "viking" for you!

It delights me to know that the disembodied back end of a leopard is a historically accurate embroidery motif. I have so many complaints about things I've sewn! I only learned how to do proper 18th century buttonholes last winter, and am embarrassed I went so long without doing the bar tacks at the ends. I love my 1730's coat and waistcoat, but I would do the buttonholes better, and cut the coat just a smidge looser around the waist. I've made several pairs of breeches that are too long and loose, and many shirts with cuffs that are too wide and close with a thread button instead of sleeve links, though I've gone back and altered my nicer breeches and shirts. My orange 1790's breeches are the best pair I've made yet, but I still wish I knew the period way of sewing the fall placket because I'm sure I haven't got it quite right. The method I used works great when I machine sew things, but proved quite tricky by hand. I also meant to do buttoned corner pockets and somehow forgot to cut the front with the correct piece for that, but I did pockets in the side seam instead, which are just as appropriate.

You could re-enact as a man who hired an apprentice to make his clothes. A new apprentice. You know, the incompetent daughter of your wife's sister... that apprentice. As for your new tunic's sleeves being short, can't you add a piece to lengthen them? (Piecing is period, right?) . As for my own stuff, mine's all bought. I just started on making the Burnley and Trowbridge pocket by hand. It will be my first me-made item!

Love the growth attitude. :) I keep getting scared of making anything historical in case it's not 'right' your video is a good reminder to get over it

I have seen a lady called Tove who sadly died recently get that dark blue on linen and wool with a fermented woad vat. So its viable for sure.

My Tudor gown and kirtle are out with a friend for a third round of reconstruction and refitting. The linen is gorgeous and appropriate to my station and time, but hot damn if fitting a garment on yourself is insanely hard! I've made two handsewn chemises this year, and the first one is wearable, but boy did I make the arm gussets WAY too small! I had the entire thing finished, felled the seams down and it was beautiful! Then I put it on and my arm almost didn't fit through. Spent a few days in the naughty bin, because it knows what it did before I had the energy to unpick all that stitching down to put in new gores. Now, it looks lovely and neat but it's a tent on me. Not the worst issue, but still. The second shift fits much better, and overall is an improvement of my sewing and fitting skills than the first. I suppose practice just makes perfect. I know I need much more practice!

You dear, sweet man. I realize that I am more than a year late to this party, but I have only recently discovered your channel. I have set here listening to you as you critique your own hand sewing and the the learning process that comes with it. I have been sewing for some 35+ years and, while I can rock a machine sewn piece well enough to get compliments from a pro, I would never have undertaken such a project as to hand sew all these pieces. I am well and truly impressed with your skills. Good job.

You aren't alone! The thing I like and appreciate most in "things which could have been better if...." is how they show our own development, and allow us to discuss with those new to this in ways that both support and encourage. If we can wear these, they too feel their first attempts are passable. Further, I doubt that in period, good serviceable clothing was discarded. There are times for finery, and time where serviceable is the goal.

I had hose back in the day that were cut on the straight. They formed that calf bulge after a year or two of wearing. You just circumvented the break-in period ;-) Thorsberg trousers? Love your cloak, its amazing. "kitty butt". Do remember that as time moves forward we learn more and more information becomes available. What we had available 10 years ago is nothing to what we have today. When I started doing Byzantine in the 90's it was crazy trying to find any research (especially if you were not a student). Now ... papers are online, images are online... its a glorious wealth. Of course you'll improve as you go along. That being said I do still wear my 40 year old linen underthings because they are so soft from washing you'd have to Jill me to get them away from me ;P One of them has the gusset issue but not to your extent. I just took out the old gusset and put in a smaller one.

I knit a lot and there you make use of wool becoming stretchy and formable when wet. So perhaps if a straight, tight hose became wet, it would gradually become fitted to your leg just by itself. On the other hand, if a fitted hose was wet and then hung, it should stretch bag into a straight shape.

I have just discovered your channel. I am a member of the SCA, in Canada, and so many of our members dress in the *viking style*, which is more movie and TV series viking style than historical. I love your wit and humour and that you put so much history into your dialogue. Your critique of your garb is so lovely, and humble and informative, educational and entertaining. Thank you!

I am not in re-enactment (although I would love to be!), but I have an outfit I pieced together with purchased items from the internet for the Renaissance Festival in my area. I have had my outfit since 2011 and I always wanted to be as historically accurate as I could be. And I always fancied my outfit quite clever because I thought I was much more accurate than other folks at the festival....I was SHAMEFULLY wrong! lol I have, over the years, become quite obsessed with historical dress and have only recently begun to actually try my hand at creating my own historical garments. So I have endeavored to RE-MAKE my whole outfit ...only...ya know accurately. At least as far as construction, silhouette and overall look goes.

At the risk of being critical - the only thing lacking from your garb is a bit of gratitude. Any man in period would have been most fortunate to have owned such kit. I know, it’s all about a-historical mistakes’ - but someone likely had a coarse belt, perhaps made by his little sister from the wool when she was first learning to spin - he wears it in loving memory of her, since she died all those years ago when she fell from a tree whilst picking fruit - how does that work for a persona ‘spin’?😁 That snarkniness aside. Thanks for pointing out the shortcomings (sleeves ?🙄) - we all have some. I love your attention to detail and the creative growth you explain as you’ve put it all together. And I think those rough (ouch) braes are a decent match for the long Welsh tunic - crappy finger loop braid included. Recently, I’ve begun to think about the threads used when hand stitching. Are you using commercially produced z plied, or the possibly more accurate s? When I was processing some recently acquired (thrift store curtain natural fiber - silk in my case - I’m focused on a later period.) fabric, anyway- I had a lot of loose threads from the raveled edges after deconstruction and washing it. I’ve saved, waxed and re-plyed them ‘s’ for better results in hand stitching or for other uses - not only was piecing period, so was using every last bit and bob one had on hand. So piece on some extensions to those shirt sleeves - you can use the scraps you’ll get from reducing the batwing gussets to a respectable size - or just claim you got the shirt off someone else who was a different shape👍🏽🤗

I hope it doesn't sound weird but I love your bed. It looks antique. Also kudos to you to be able to publicly review your own work fairly and critically. So many people eith go "this is the best thing ever I'm a genius" or "this is total shit it's not even worth burning the fire is too good for it". Keep doing your thing Jimmy I'm loving your content

There's always a detail you want to fix, no matter how good at it you get.

I built an 1860s greatcoat when I played Bill Sykes in Oliver. It’s a beautiful piece, and I wear it as my winter coat. But! The lining wasn’t finished properly and has torn in places. Also, I cut too far in one area of the shell and had to immediately repair it because I had neither the time nor money to get new fabric. Learned a lot about construction on that garment. 10/10 would mess up again, that is how we learn after all. Great videos, looking forward to what you do with the channel.

I am sorry, I love your self-review, but man, that gorgeous bed in the back is very distracting. It looks amazing. Ok, back to listening to you now

....even if they’re not “supposed” to be on there, I just LOVE freshwater pearls 😍

My terracotta tunic gets a lot of hate for not being period colour, glad to see your cloak is almost the same colour yet considered ok.

Love your attention to details... and willingness to critique your kit... something we all need to do occasionally to align our kits with the ever on going research...

I’m starting to make my kit, I’ve managed to get a TON of linen and I’ll be making a few different periods, one of which is Viking, I’ve also been getting more crafting items that are reproductions of actual items from different finds, and I also acquired some interesting needles, one bone, 2 brass, and 2 iron. I recently had the opportunity to use my longer brass needle and it’s definitely something I’m going to research more as it really seems to be an interesting addition to my sewing kit and works beautifully! I need to get my stitch length smaller, but since this is me learning a Bunch of things at once, I’ll forgive myself for the inevitable mistakes now!

Great video! I really loved the pearl and silver tunic decoration, and the cloak embroidery; they remind me of some of the things I've been meaning to sew (someday)! And you are DEFINITELY not alone in loathing some bits of your garb...I'm in a funny spot, bc I'm an SCA newbie who just has an ahistorical fantasy dress, 11th century but rather innaccurate cloak, and a loaner tunic, so I don't even have garb in my era yet (so obviously I'm a bit disappointed in what I've got at the moment). And I've been working towards phasing out as much of my modern wardrobe as I can, since I prefer clothes from the 1840's-60's (they're just more comfortable, for some reason), but since I've had limited resources, time, and research before quarantine, my wardrobe is still very ahistorical. So while I love the way I dress, basically every morning when I get dressed I'm thinking about how I need to mend stuff or remake stuff now that I know the proper way to do it, and how now that I know where to get good historical reproduction natural fiber thread I should remake some other stuff...it's definitely annoying at times, but hey. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't love it!

I was taught hand sewing and embroidery by my great grandmother when I about ten and my mother, who made beautiful clothes, including my fathers shirts, taught me to use a sewing machine when I was around 12. By age 14 I was making my own clothes. I stopped for a while as an adult but discovered French heirloom sewing, got a bunch of books and taught myself myself to do it…i made christening, baby and doll clothes for fun until I became too disabled to do so. No matter how well you can or think do it it’s a wonderful, creative, relaxing activity. Good for you for taking it on! You’ll get better with practice, though I’d say what you’ve made is well done. As far as your braes are concerned one of the most difficult things to do is set it in that type of gusset…that point is a pain.

Lololololol oh my the gussets, flying squirrel, lolol, taking off, lol

Thank you for all the close-up shots of your garb. I've considered attempting men's historic clothing for the husbeast, and being able to see your practical pieces close-up (gussets and gores, oh my!) is really helpful 🙂

Yes Jimmy I am remaking some kit, tediously unpicking and then trying to correct my mistakes. I hate it, I hope it will be so much better that I am pleased I did it. Jimmy no you are not alone

Hello Jimmy. I remember my mother later telling me that the first skirt I sewed (on a machine) was so horribly made that she worried about me getting bullied. I was seven or eight and was so proud of it. As a teen and young adult I got much better. Progress in ability is a good thing! And yes, it seems to me that repurposing would have been a thing. You could take your striped trousers and cut them down in the side seems, or pleat them of a combination of the two. Same with the cloak…use it for something more appropriate for the weight of wool. Also rough linen…I have found that using a dryer sheet (unscented for me) helps with rough linen. No hanging it on the line, unless it’s a kitchen towel. Love your videos!

Sadly not a sewer AT ALL so all my re-enactment stuff came from wonderful people that could - SO am very impressed with what you've produced! We used to be part of the Sealed Knot so a little modern for you, my favourite thrift bit was my bodice with detachable sleeves - I could fancy it up with my good sleeves, not wear any (if I was on the battle field) or attach my 2nd best pair for the evening after - best buy EVER!

Do you do Naalbinding? I’m still learning but I find it extremely interesting how they made socks, mittens, hats, and even pouches using naalbinding.

My kit (SCA/Heian period Japanese) is woefully inadequate by my own standards...inaccurate materials, slightly wrong patterns, the list goes on...you are definitely not alone!

I'm fascinated by the garb you describe, and the details you show. It would be helpful to see more of the whole garments and whole ensembles they are part of.

I absolutely adore you! So honest & real! You are not alone! I am a single mom of 2 teenage girls who works full time & only gets to one event (Central Coast Ren Faire) a year. Most of my kits (pieces feom the waist up) have mysteriously shrunk in my trunk since my girls were born. The few pieces (waist down) that do fit I made on the fly while I was traveling with the faires in my 1970's gypsy wagon as a crew/performer on a machine that was not plugged in. Poorly made & held together with safety pins but look great as a peasant & hide I'm female quite well for the Gorlden Age of Piracy!

Interesting! I didn't realize they had the thigh high fitted hose that early. I'm super new to the SCA stuff and have mostly seen the fitted shorter stockings. I'm now going down a rabbit hole on Viking garb, so thanks!

My SCA persona is a Welshwoman from the early middle ages and the first garb I (machine) sewed was a synthetic stretch fabric kirtle with princess seams *blushes*. Thank you so much for your brilliant videos Jimmy! Also, coincidentally, have you considered making a video on early mediaeval Welsh women's clothing? Asking for a friend :-)

My kit's about 30 years old, and there's a LOT wrong with it. OTOH, it's all handwoven (and in one case, handspun on a drop spindle, as well) and handsewn, so there's that.

But if you'd done your embroidery on a fabric before it felted naturally - then all that nice embroidery would have crumpled (distorted) and messed up the edges of your cloak - which probably would have made you even more annoyed.

Amen! I know where every mistake and shortcoming is on every piece of my SCA kit.

Re: the arm band, Carolingian/Saxon tunics are sometimes constructed with the "shoulder" seam precisely where you have the arm band, so... you could just pretend you've got another seam under there! I've made a 9th century gunna (Saxon but Danish occupation) with the seams in that place.

I think someone that gets into anything to do with historical (or anything creative really) accuracy is going to be continually improving things already made. Over my many years of doing various things I have a collection of garb, some that needs new life, or things that made it in the never shrinking UFO pile. So during this pandemic I've pretty much decided to make my dream history bounding wardrobe. My spawn is also getting into fashion history so I imagine I've birthed a new generation of historical sewing projects for me.

Thank you for sharing your past mistakes for others to learn from. You often only learn not to do something by first doing it, so it's incredibly helpful to know what to look out for beforehand. Also, the outfit looks fine, and this just proves that, there's always room to improve, and it doesn't need to be perfect to work. :)

What I have learned as a knitter is that if the mistakes I make are so big that it will bother me, I redoo or fix as best I can. And if it’s a minor mistake, I don’t tell anyone because they wont notice and I too wil forget it after not looking at it to point it out to those that may compliment what I have made. We all know what I mean? «Ah.. thats a beautiful swather.» «Thank you, but I have made this and this mistake…» I don’t do that anymore, but I try to learn and improve from my mistakes. Regarding the brick weaved belt, I assume using thicker wool is not entierly wrong. I don’t have any knowledge on the weaving itself as I’m on my first belt right now. But as a Norwegian knitter who nerds about wool and sheep breeds I know that the sheep wool at that time had two coats that were used differently. The longer coarser and stronger wool in the coat does not twist easily when spinning so a thicker thread might be plausible. The soft fine wool in the wool coat could be spun thinner and was used for softer garments. I like to think of the soft inner wool as the sheeps wool sweather and the longer hairs as the rain coat on top, as that is the purpose of the duoal coat. In weaving garments the strong thread was used to set up the weave, and the softer wool was used to weave (sorry I dont know the terms the different threads) I don’t know if that also was a thing for brick weaving but I think that if I was to make a belt, in the viking age I would have made it from strong wool. But I guess the end result would depended on spinning skills and status. Just a thought 😉

Oh yes, my older period pieces are a nightmare of both inaccurate textiles and bad technique. Recently, though, I've started playing with cross-cultural but contemporary to each other speculative garments. For example, I've been looking at later Tang Dynasty garments and early Medieval garments and asking, "What if anything do these have in common structurally? What differs between them? If there were an imaginary early medieval traveler who somehow defied all the odds and made it all the way to Chang'an and then brought back an assortment of those silk and wool and ramie garments, what might they have learned from them and then incorporated into their own future garment designs?" I'm really enjoying the process of imagining how the different construction approaches and different cultures and materials could have bounced off each other and resulted in new ideas if only they'd had more of an opportunity, as well as learning why those original techniques might have been followed in the first place. The results are definitely not historical garments, but they're fun.

As a Re-enactor, I loved this. Wonderful video with great information on the pieces you provided. I do have a question however, regarding your comment about thread count, how do you get that sort of exact information? As a re-enactor or sometimes even just doing general research it can be hard to gain access to research papers, dig site information, things hidden away in museums that you can't physically go to. Are there sources that you could provide to help other re-enactors who are equally interested in as 100% historically accurate as we can get for our kits?

I really love the goose eye twill weaving on your Welsh tunic! I have been learning to weave, and have done a goose eye twill, but that one is really lovely!

I haven’t been watching you long so I thought I’d go back to some earlier episodes and picked this one at random. Now I need to watch later ones to see if you ever fixed any of these or replaced them 😂

Totally know this feeling. I spent a few years wearing 1500 English shoes with my 1580s Venetian gown because I could hide them under my skirts. Not many others saw them but I knew

Regarding the depth of colour of the trim, the resultant colour after dyeing is affected by the initial wool, and different sheep produce different shades naturally (everything from almost white to brown to dark grey and almost black. I have dyed wool, and overdyed wool felt (albeit using modern methods) with the resulting colours achieved being affected by the original wool colour, whether natural or previously dyed. So, the darker trim could have been dyed over a batch of deeper natural wool. As for altering and resewing garments, even in recent times, people would change the fit to suit their own bbody changes, as well as changes in fashion (hemlines, closer or looser fit, necklines,trim, etc.), and change to suit another family member. Certainly i would expect that in the past that people would alter garments for comfort, practicality, repair, and status change (a skilled craftsman might upgrade his garments to display his regard in the community, or wear items traded or gifted to him by others). I also think it's natural for one to wear items of clothing of various expertise levels - some items might be treasured items gifted from friends or family, some souvenirs or more fortunate times, or reminders of how far you'd progressed. The one item id definitely upgrade would be your under garments, purely for comfort and garment longevity. Get the finest linen you can, measure for comfort, finish the seam edges, and get confidence. What we sometimes forget is that there is always a great variety in human clothing, and with historical garments, we base our designs on a very, very small sample of examples or evidence. By all means, alter your garments to suit, but please understand that we often base what we know on what is scant evidence. Artistic representations, even if from the period in question, are an artist's representation at the time, and may not be wholly accurate, but rather their interpretation. Actual garments are fine, but limit the scope, as there may have been much more variety within the region. You should be proud of every stitch of clothing, and enjoy it as is, as well as looking forward to making changes to suit. (I would focus on the underwear and sleeves first, as practical changes for comfort and use.) Best of luck with it all, and know there are those who would be envious of a wardrobe of garments such as yours.

I have a whole bin full of stuff that needs fixing or finishing. The front of it is covered with sticky notes, one for each item, detailing what needs to be done. I should grab something and work on it this weekend. :-)

You can actually just remove the sleeves without losing the rest of the garment. I’m sure there’s a way that you could tailor the existing sleeves so that you keep them.

The _brok_ (trousers) seem to be reasonably similar to the ones found on a bog body in northern Norway, from probably the 11th century, either Norse or Sámi. It had a braided drawstring at the waist, and braided and woven decorations at the hem of the trousers as well as the neck opening of both the inner and outer shirt and the cuffs of the outer shirt. It also had short hose, and leg wraps that were partly woven and partly braided, with silver decorations. There was also a long braided belt, which was knotted not only at the ends to tie them together, but also at the other side of the body.

About two years ago I got a bunch of tools, and some nice big bits of leather to make some turn shoes (the ones I could buy were all fairly well garbage) and well, I've made nearly everything leather now EXCEPT turn shoes.

it's funny you mention things to work on and improve on, considering i've just been doing that with my own kit. mostly 11th-12th century Norman? English? Anglo-Saxon? things that i now realize are chalk-full of reenactor-isms that i'm investigating and working on correcting. specifically, the length of sleeves for my over tunics. currently i've mostly got them with short, more billow-y sleeves, which...i can now find not much period art to support. delightful. wonder where i picked those up from. hoping to start working with more period textiles and materials, and you've actually inspired me to start hand-stitching more of my kit (starting with the Skjoldehamn-inspired hood that i'm currently working on!)

MAN...You freaking blew me way with the cloak embroidery!. I was considering something like - instead of tablet woven trim - that but am not sure I can do it. I'm definitely going to try it once I get my cloak sized. Very cool.

I think you may be a little hard on your makes. Nobody makes anything perfectly and we all find what's wrong and focus on it. I'd imagine even in the Viking age piecing was done, it's seen in other time periods. Plus if it's a part of the clothes that nobody but you see I wouldn't worry about it. Looking forward to your contributions to CoCoVid.

Absolutely, every time I pick up a costume.

when i made my smok dress i put a drawstring through the seam, i had a dream before that a Norse farm woman was showing me how its done, Rolled edges have a channel so put a leather or a woven cord through the channel and it can work as a drawstring, so if a woman had a long tunic or dress on pulling the drawstring up so they could run or do farm work, since most of my family were farmers that Seams smart, don't want our clothes to drag on the ground,

Necklines. All my bloody necklines are too high, too low, etc. And the 'too high' one has burka embroidery all the way around it.

Nice to find a channel on menswear - there are far too few! 👍🥃

From what I've been reading in various sources - "Woven into the Earth", "Medieval Garments Reconstructed: Norse Clothing patterns" (Lilli Fransen), and the Susanna Broome booklets the backstitch wasn't used in "Viking" period clothing, but I'm just beginning my journey into this period. Personally, after many years constructing 18th/19th century clothing, I can't fathom handsewn clothing without using a backstitch!!!

This was super interesting! Despite having Norwegian heritage a few generations back, I'm unfamiliar with a lot of Viking history, so to get a glimpse into Viking menswear was fascinating. You're right - we all have things we want to fix. I made a pair of 1940s trousers recently out of THE MOST scratchy wool ever. They look amazing but I HATE wearing them, which is a real shame. One day I'll find a much nicer wool to remake them...

I'm working on getting 2 sets of clothing, I have 1 natural linnen kirte, 1 wool kirte 1 wool apron dress and 1 Sholdenhamn hood. I have another green linnen kirtle (my first so stitching is horrid, the fit not so good and way too small side gores, as well as they wouldn't have had coloured linnen unless you were really wealthy witch I'm not) I'm planning to turn my Sholdenhamn into a practice pice for embroidery like you have your cloak. I've found that alot of wool blankets are relatively cheap and have the correct weave so for the lower classes at least you can get a good price for wool fabric.

I'm currently working on a proper linen shift for my Tudor garb, because past me was too broke for it and I only have a not great cotton shift that I inadvertently made a little too small. Debating if I'm actually ambitious enough to do some blackwork on the cuffs. We'll see. Before that I made a nice new pair of bodies because my old ones were a disaster after much wear and tear and alteration. But you know, they're wardrobes. Everyone's wardrobe evolves. And part of the joy of historical costuming is getting to always learn new things, even if that's sometimes the frustration, too.

Thanks for this, it was really informative! I've been trying to find actual examples of braies for a while now

Oh mah jeebus, no you definitely are not alone, friend. I'm finally getting around to making a different white chemise from the one I made for myself 15+ years ago because I needed a new one rill bad. I'd bought a couple at Faire, but they both have serged seams [shudder]. They were okay enough for being a mid-season purchase, but NOPE GET THEE BEHIND ME SATAN.

Another very interesting video and I love the self critic. It can be hard to work out from both paining, sculptor and finds how things were worn and a lot of this needs to be speculative because until you build that time machine (baggies coming with you shot gun) we have to go with feeling. Also manufacturing was by artisan with proper apprenticeship last tens of years so the quality would have been better. Keep to the good work

Another great video jimmy, maybe should of been titled jimmys to do list?

This is so interesting! I have two boys who need stuff to wear and it's so hard to find info about boys and men!

I’m currently making a new shift out of linen as my first one was made from an old cotton sheet and is in desperate need of an update. Unfortunately, it came out huge so I had to add some extra seams to take it in in places. The upside is that it’s an under layer so not too visible and it’ll still be nicer and more comfortable than my old one.

Hmm. OK, Great learning experience, Thanks!

The second time I've started a comment with this this week - Lifelong SCAdian here and I am only *just* starting to improve my garb.... and am still not willing to dump the cash on period materials (wool is expensive, I have a whole bolt of white cotton muslin, and my ADHD wants it NAO :P). I figure the period attitude of taking apart the garb I made (with linen last time around) and making it a more period fit (fortunately cut it too large and have lost weight so I have the space for it) is a medieval attitude so I take comfort with that.

Don't be to hard on yourself. My relative, who worked in the costume dept at Williamsburg, kept a collection of her first pieces to show others how not to do things. Common mistakes, etc. Making recreations of costume is not an easy thing, especially at first. Mistakes are great, frustrating learning tools. I never cease being amazed at how much work goes into every piece, it is truly impressive.

Dayum. Bar set.

Let us know when the hose tutorial is coming. I've made them but more 14th century British or French and I'd like to try this style.

Gotta get your start somewhere and it's nice that they are still getting some use. Excited to see your contributions to #CoCoVid!

I absolutely want to know how you attached the finger loop braid to the tunic!

It is definitely possible to darken colours while dyeing, by using ironwater (FeO + H2O) as there is some kind of chemical reaction. I have successfully done this with onion skin dyes and certain herb dyes (my best result has been with rosemary to get a nice deep green) so I do believe it can be done

I really need to redo my braies and hosen... I made them before I really knew what I was doing or what I was going for. The only good thing about them is the colour of the chosen - dyed them myself with onion peel.

There is a lot of stuff wrong with the doublet (late 14th century) I am working on but I am just going to carry on at this point and finish it. It will look great and I don't think many people will notice the flaws. And I have learned a lot of stuff to use the next time I make a doublet. As for my personal kit. I really should replace my bare legs or cotton knitted knee high socks by actual short hose. As for stuff I hate. I have come to dislike my linnen short sleeved kirtle a lot so it will be sold and replaced by a proper long sleeved one made out of wool.

Your dark blue trim with pearls etc - woad that has been fermented and concentrated at least 4 times, dying grey wool from a young sheep (i.e. a darker grey) in an iron pot, with vinegar and salt as mordants, and with oak bark chips (similar results, less intense, than oak gall) will get you a very similar dark blue, BUT it's going to be an uneven/mottle colour unless you were insanely meticulous about colour matching individual fibres in the grey fleece, and the chemical reaction of the iron and vinegar means that the fabric rots in about three years unless kept perfectly dry (I suspect bacteria and sweat help - I've used this for a woven wall hanging; it was mostly fine for about 5 years except for the corner that I handled to move it aside to get to a power point - that fell apart much earlier.) The iron darkens the dye, the vinegar brightens (but not lightens) it. I was told lye mordanting would work if the wool had not had the lanolin washed out first but I'm not convinced (never tried it though). So it's an achievable shade, it's just a sacrificial one you probably wouldn't want to put anything acid-reactive (like silver and pearls) on, or that you would want to keep for a long time, or that would be worn anywhere on your tunic that would have skin contact or get damp often (like cuffs.) Don't know if that helps or depresses you :) BTW, next time you see any of the SCAdians who were around long enough to remember the founding of Mynydd Gwyn, please tell them Blod says "Hi!"

Thanks for the video. I always find problems from my re-enacting gear. Atm I am fixing one problem from my old viking dress. I attached one gore to wrong seam. It is not a hard task to remove it, but somehow I have postponed it for years xD ( The dress has matching color with your cloak ;) )

I made nothing but braies during my brief stint as a reenactor at university. The entire group needed a new pair, so 30 pairs later I’d got pretty good at it 😂

First let me say that your garb is well put together, as usual love your content, your flying squirrel comment LOL. I am currently making new tunics, because I originally used a jacquard trim instead of tablet weave. I looks fine but is is also more of a celtic knot design than Norse. I also have black pants...made of cotton canvas (I know, I know). They look great, but it's too much black (even trading to the silk road, baltic regions, and further south there wouldn't of been enough black dye). The material is okay, but among other reenactors it sticks out. After 16 years of reenactment I still don't have a cloak or a proper skjoldehamn LOL. My skjoldehamn doesn't fit my shoulders right and the hood is too tight and blinding...I look like a Jawa...so see you're definitely not alone. For the really cold days I would love to make a Röggvarafeldur (shaggy cloak) Your tablet weave belt is very well done. Really like that. I can imagine what that rough seem in your under trouser felt like. I just wear modern underwear lol. Your cloak looks great. My only issue with long socks {hose) for Viking Reenactment is...if I remember my research (years ago) most examples of the long sock were from the end of the "Viking Era" {unless you specifically reenact that time period) and were mostly found in, and around Hedeby (Germany), and maybe a few in England. I would say the best bet to cover the era would be nalbinding socks, trousers or the baggy pants (shown on a Gotland stone, also were used by the Rus in the 800s) which was also described in Ibn Fadlan's account, and a pair of winingas. As to your cuffs and any trim issues...the best way to go is tablet woven. Embroidery wasn't used much until the end of the era. a good tablet weave will cost but it is historically accurate, and you can get beautiful designs. Remember no metallics. Pearls would of been strung on a necklace for showing off, but never on a cuff...or atleast there is no record of it. The deep blue of your trim would of been possible, it would of taken several dye baths of indigo. For the placement on the upper arm, it isn't a huge problem. Typically a double trim there would of been a band near or below the elbow, and at the wrist.

How would you make shoes from rawhide? I would love to see you try that! Gives a new meaning to the dog eating your shoes!! LOL.

Not at all a reenactor, but I do hand sewing and only recently did I start. I made my very first 1890s walking skirt and messed up in quite a few places. It is my favorite skirt so far, because I don't have any others that have the pockets this one does - even tho the pockets are set too low and maybe too far forward. On top of making the mistake I also feel stupid for it because we have documentation of how low the pockets are ment to go and all sorts of other interesting things. So I made a perfectly preventable mistake. That the writing warned me about. Also it's baggy and saggy in places but that's what I get for not letting the bias edges hang out and relax for a bit before just slapping the whole thing together.

I know Im super late replying to this, but oh well. I think we all have things that we arent happy with that we made. Its a learning process for most people. It takes time to learn a new skill. As we learn we make changes. I mean one of the first things I made was a black cotton short sleeved dress. Its comfy and I wear it around the homestead now but, I cringe when I think about all the events I went to wearing that dress.

Well. After sewing my first undertunic using linen from amazon and a sewing machine for kids, people on fairs asked me, where I got them from, because they really liked it and wanted to use them for their templar outfits. Now after watching this video, I am basically ashamed of my low quality and effort put into it. My next project is a woolen cloak fitting for a 11th century lower noble. I want to line it with linen of the same colour but I am unsure if its period ok... And I want to make two pairs of hoses. One made of linen (for the summer) and one made of wool for the winter.

Navy blue? Vara has got it by period means repeatedly

I REALLY want to sew up my own garb, but getting started on any new skills is... intimidating... I can be a bit more flashy than the rest of my troupe, since they're warriors and I'm a minstrel/Skald/Bardd. Pouring over the literature to see if there's anything that I can make that would ID me on sight as that profession. I've heard speckled cloaks were a thing, but I can't find the proper sources.

Hi Jimmy! Thanks for the breakdown of your gear! You said in the section on shoes that it was wrong for them not to be made from rawhide; does that go for all shoes of the period or just this type of brogue type shoe?

My tunic is a disaster luckily I have enough fabric from tge same bolt to make a new one so my tunic/favorite night shirt shall survive

Well I made my first card weaved belt in cotton... So I can't wear it at all. And my first tunic was in linen, stunning red linen. A disaster. Now the things are better, I'm also using a natural dyed fabric, and the right fabric. A suggestion, make a bit of research before starting the work.

I wouldn't use rawhide for bog shoes, it's way too tough. You could try to find some traditional peat-tanned leather (made by burying the hides in a peat bog for several months) which was used in Scotland for centuries, or go for a hair-on hide for something more akin to Irish pampooties.

You could add a little strip of fabric to the end of your sleeves (of your undertunic). It would be relatively appropriate to the period. Both being piecing, and not getting rid of a piece of clothing even of it doesn’t fit right. Could add a tiny bit of pizzaz and add some color or some such to them. Thread or fabric. Might as well be comfortable in your own clothes.

Was ein cooles Himmelbett 🙂

I haven't even picked a time period or a geographical location yet so I got... A... tunic. That's knee length. And way too broad because I didn't realise how godets work! I have a linen undershirt... that's... a 3/4 sleeve. So that one fits strangely under the wool but works excellently on its own as a nightgown. My braies are sized to a man double my size! But to be fair they did say "measure generously" and I DID! ... but my hose are turning out well so far. Don't like the linen thread contrast but don't have the money to buy 2ply wool so... it'll just have to stand

I am still curious to know if those 'huge' underarm gussets in your undertunic will actually help with the tearing-out you've described.

Can I ask where you source your linen? Everywhere I'm looking has super thick stuff which borders canvas.

The cloak 😍