Patterns

[Keeghan_M]

Does anyone have any links or know somewhere i could find some Norse shoe patterns and Norse apron dress patterns

Also, if i wished to be making these while at camps would i have to use bone needles? or could i use modern metal ones? if i needed to use bone ones where could i get them from?

[merrynsmoor]

I found that this was a good apron dress pattern:

http://www.silverdor.org/viking/vikingad.html

This one has heaps of good links as well:

http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/clothing.shtml

I don't have anything on viking shoes sorry. I took the easy way and bought some

I think it would be fantastic if you make your gear at camp using bone needles! But I don't think I've ever been to a camp where I've been told to put my modern metal needles away! So I wouldn't worry too much about that. Generally, even at the most authentic camps, you can hide your plastic cotton reel etc under something while you work on your project.

[Keeghan_M]

thanks Krystal

that first link looks really good, ill get my mum to have a look. And that second one seems to have lots of interesting info on lots of other things to so ill take a look at that some time as well. According to mum wellbex said shed made her own shoes, so unless she posts here before next week ill talk to her about that next training.

In that case then, ill use normal metal ones unless i stumble upon some bone ones somewhere, if i do ill use them. Maybe someone will be selling them at Taupo, if so ill buy them there, but ill take my metal ones in case.

Thanks again for your help.
Keeghan

[amuckart]

Where are you based? If you're in Wellington I can help with shoe patterns but it's a bit harder remotely.

Start by looking at Marc Carlson's site Footwear of the Middle Ages

Specifically have a look at the following:

Oseberg Shoe 303
Oseberg Shoe 172
Anglo-Scandinavian shoe, often called the "Coppergate Shoe"

Be aware that you can not just blow up the line drawings on Marc's site and get something that will work. They are not to scale and are intended only to show the shape of the cutting pattern, you'll have to generate a cutting pattern to fit your own foot.

With shoes the important thing is to understand the shape and how they go together. If you wrap your head around that, you can make a pattern that will fit your foot. Off-the-shelf shoe patterns rarely fit propery.

I wouldn't try using bone needles for shoemaking, they'd break in no time. For medieval shoes, boar bristles braided onto the end of hand-plied and waxed thread is what was most likely used; for earlier period shoes nobody really knows, but copper-alloy needles aren't out of the question.

[Keeghan_M]

I am based in wellington. So dont use bone needles for shoes, what about using modern metal ones, or are they to thin and to easy to snap?

[BigMac]

[Wellybex]

[Keeghan_M]

ok, ill tell her once shes up lol

[amuckart]

The needles you want are "harness needles". Start with sizes 4-6 (those are at the smaller end of the scale), and go up from there if you need to. I don't think I've ever used anything bigger than a 3 or so, but I don't sew with needles much any more because I use hand plied waxed thread and bristles.

You'll also need an awl. Most people use diamond-shaped alws, but round ones with a sort of chisel point are better. I make my own out of old allen keys because round ones are so hard to find.

Awl handles and blades tend to get sold separately, so you'll need a handle too. The cheapo small file handles from the hardware store work Ok for occasional use.

Thread is the other problem. Stay right away from prewaxed polyester. It's horrible stuff to work with. It cuts leather (and hands) like cheese wire. Prewaxed linen is Ok, but sorta hard to find - a lot of what is sold as linen is actually linen-colored polyester.

I haven't found anywhere convenient to get this stuff retail in Wellington. If you know of a well stocked saddler you could ask them, otherwise ring Lapco in Christchurch. Their website is www.lapco.co.nz. They have tools and needles on there but their website is a bit of a pain to navigate.

If you can wait until mid February when I'm no longer panicking about Canterbury Faire, send me a PM or an email and I'll see if I can give you a hand to get started.

[Keeghan_M]

ok, thanks ill take a look at that. Wellybex, mum would like to have a look at the information you have for the dress underneath and anything else you have. Shes also wondering what colours and fabric are authentic to use. My tunic is red and linen, and i know they are acceptable, what other colours are there? browns, reds, blues i know are ok, and linen and wool, but no idea on others.

[Wellybex]

I am at work so I don't have the link for the colour wheel which shows what colours you can use as they can be made using natural dyes that the Norse would have used. Does anyone else have that link handy?

Linen, raw silk and wool are your best bet. I can bring some samples of the types you should be looking for on Tuesday as well. I have found that buying a woollen blanket from an opshop is a cheap way of doing it and a lot of my wool has come from the fabric remnants at opshops as well. Trade me is also very good for bargains too. I can have a look at what fabrics I have at home too and bring them along to training

And I have also found that buying a cotton-linen blend that looks like linen is cheaper but that depends on what level of authenticity you are going for.

I find if you are using a woollen blanket, you have to be careful with dying it so it's best to buy ones in the colour you want to use and sometimes thats a bit hard. I will keep an eye out for those as well

[griff]

colour wheel

[Wellybex]

Awesome thanks - thats better than the one I had!!

[Keeghan_M]

awesome, thats brilliant ill show that to my mum. Thanks everyone for your help, this is such a great community

[wuzzle]