Borre Viking Market

In Norway, summer is the big season for medieval and viking markets and festivals, one of them being Borre Viking Market, and obviously, that means having attire that fits the period.

Some markets or festivals are stricter than others if you chose to be a participant and part of the camps inside the actual market (as guest you can get away with pretty much anything, but expect some looks of resentment if you show up in your best neon spandex suit), and as I plan on being able to participate as part of a camp during at least one market next year, I'm slowly building the skills and knowledge to make myself an historical wardrobe pre-dating the 18th century. 

My first venture into Viking clothing is the signature «apron dress». This is a dress with straps, usually made out of wool and worn over a shift (usually made out of linen). Last year, I bought two meters of gorgeous rusty red wool, for this specific purpose. However, being me, I didn’t really get started on it before, well, pretty much the night before the market, so I cheated a little and used the machine for the long seams on either side and in the back. But everything else was sewn by hand! 

Unfortunately, I only had synthetic thread, so I chose one in a colour very close to the rusty red so that it would not be a chronological eye-sore. Last year I acquired a set of turtle brooches to attach the straps with, and I also made the decorative pearl and bone string that hangs between them. I used my medieval inspired green linen dress as a shift underneath it. For the occasion I also dug out my old bronze Snorre necklace that was given to me in my early teens, which is based on historical finds, the “Mjølnir” pendant I bought at Tønsberg Medieval Festival last year and some bronze bling from various festivals for my fingers and ears. So here's the outfit I wore for this year's Borre Viking Market (and, yes, the belts are very historically inaccurate, but as a guest and not a participant, I didn't really care that much; I'll go for complete accuracy when I'm a participant):

Whilst at the market, I didn't really take that many pictures, but I managed to get this of one of the ships harbored at the pier:

Here's the loot I got from the market! A really cute, green ceramic mug, rusty red linen thread, a little bundle of natural coloured linen thread, beeswax and a gorgeous woven trim:

After the market, I used my newly acquired linen thread to re-sew all the visible seams, getting rid of that awful synthetic thread. I also added the lovely woven trim I got to the bottom of the apron dress: 

Other sewing projects

Life has really been keeping me busy, and I've been sewing all sorts of things not related to the Kíli Project. I've been doing medieval and viking markets, plus a larp, which have kept my fingers busy and here are some of the results:

 This was my outfit for Oslo Medieval Festival.

I made the rusty coloured skirt, the leather corset, 

the high waisted leather vest, and the leather hip belt:

This was a green linen dress that I made for the 

second day at Oslo Medieval Festival, which I 

wore along with the leather corset:

 Here's my brown linen viking gown, most of which

is handsewn, over a chemise I quickly put together

out of white, thin muslin:

For the Viking Festival in Sarpsborg, which I visited 

briefly on my birthday, I used the green linen dress 

under the viking gown with some of my viking bling:

For the larp, I made a two way bodice with lace-up 

front and a short sleeved gypsy blouse:

 

 I also made this skirt two times, out of unbleached 

cotton, and then dyed one of them a mossy green

and the other a sharp purple:

 I did the same with this blouse, only, I made three 

instead of two and kept one of them white:

 Then, because I felt up for a bit of a challange, I made

these leather boots. Unfortunately, they're actually a

bit too wide, it seems, because the shaft of the boots

tend to end up in one big, crumpled heap around 

my ankles when I wear them. But they look good 

for 30 seconds! ;)

For the larp, I also made this huge, squishy, 

colourful pillow:

 And, lastly, I made a new cover for my Kindle in 

light grey leather, which I dyed into a tan brown:

So, as you can see, I have not been idle, even though I've been sorely negligent of my blog, for which I apologize profusely! I will do my best not to leave it this long before I blog again!