Medivalweek in Visby 2019

The Medivalweek in Visby came and went. And as always it was great. This year actually better than great! I have been visiting The Medivalweek in Visby every year since 2008 but this year was the first in many years that I lived in my own tent in the medival camp. Its the round pointy one in the middle of the picture below, beside the open sunroof. Thank you Jonas for the fantastic picture of the medival Visby city wall and good company.

I lived in the same camp as friends who had sunroof, tables, benches, chairs, kitchenware...so I was really spoiled!

We spend our days drinking tea and sewing, talking and just having a nice relaxed time. It was a long time ago since I had a medivalweek this relaxed. 

The view from my tent!

Some sewing, some patternmaking, some talking...

My laurel Meisterinne Renike Tucher also took a new apprentice! Which we all happily welcomed, she is a wounderfull person and we had already had a lot of fun together. She got a belt to borrow for a small ceremony to get a belt of her own later. 

There was also time fore hanging out at the beach. We all had some problems with taking pictures in the sun here I think, exept for Jovi and Johan, who was just cute. 

But I also worked a bit, even though it felted more like fun than work. I was selling fabrics for Handelsgillet. I did that last year too, and the red dress that Im wearing here is made of fabric I got for last years salary. Its a fantastic thin twill and is still available for purchase, its the fabric I have my hand on in the picture below.  

Handelsgillet had its place at Kapitelhusgården, a medival restaurant and at medivalweek a medival marketplace. 

This is what I bought, a couple of very interesting books about male fashion, fabrics and a replica of a 16th century swedish ring. 

But I also got these fantastic knitted wool 16th century stockings, made by Mistress Helwig. The shoes are made by Erik Darlekarl.

To unpack, to put stuff away, to realise that the week is over, is difficult and heartbreaking. 

But soon there will be another event. As my friend Gele Pechplumin said at her facebook blog

"So even though this big, amazing and wonderful week is grand, there is more. Maybe the SCA isn't for you, maybe it is, but there are more society's around us with different focus periods and areas." 

I could´nt agree more! 

The 16th century high necked shirt.

In mars 2019 my laurel, Meisterinne Renike Tucher, took a new apprentice, so I got a little brother! When I was new in the SCA people helped me with sewing advise and gave me clothes so I could have some garments to start with. I think thats one of the beautiful things with the sca and that we create the society that we want for eachother. He is not brand new to the society but I thought that I needed to make him something. Me and our laurel both do german, me 16th century and she 15th century. So, of course its going to be german! He has nothing like that yet, I needed to start with basic, so...shirt.

I looked through Patterns of fashion 4 and chose to use the pattern for the high necked shirt worn by one of the members in the Sture family, murdered in 1567. Its swedish but had the look I wanted. But I made it a little less high necked and with embroidered wristbands and collar. Since I started my golden egg-project I tend to make embroidery on everything. Its very common in germany during the time period to have embriodered collars.

The fabric in the stureshirt was linen with a width of 80 cm so I thought it was fun to cut the pieces in the same widht. I usually make my shirts 150 cm with one seam at the front so this one is not that much smaller. Happy that my household brother could fit in my usuall shirts... To make sure the pieces where straight, I pulled a thread and cut in the line that arose. The thread used is waxed linen thread. 

The front and back are sewn together with back stitch. So is the sleeves and gussets. The seam allowens is folded down and whip stitched. 

But making all of that beeing on Nuijasota - Cudgel war in the barony of Aarnimetsä I didn´t take as many pictures. But the detailjs is the most fun anyway right?!

The collar

Both the collar and wristband embroideries comes from German renaissance patterns for embroidery A Facsimile copy of Nicolas Bassée´s New modelbuch of 1568. The embroidery on the collar is also the same as on the sleeve of the daughter of Jakob Meyer in the painting The Darmstadt Madonna from 1526-28. Its made in black silk on linen. 

The back is still not as beautiful as the front. But that is now hidden... 

I chose to put a small neck ruffle on the top of the embroidery. 

The ruffle is made of a narrow strip of folded linen put between the embroidery and the back piece. 

The collar is then sewn to the bodies with whip stitches, on the front... 

...and in the back. 

And with worked bars for closing the shirt, the collar is done!

And the wristbands.

The embroidery is easier then for the collar and therefore I didnt need to draw it beforehand. 

The worked bars are made by blanket stitch over several strands of threads, three is this case, anchored  at two points in the fabric. 

And the wristbands is done!