Hose for her

I was supposed to post this months ago, but I've been distracted by life and a child and fuzzy bunnies and fish and Face Book. 
Late 14^th Century Hose

Tools & Materials
1.5 yds. maroon wool twill (original was madder red tabby)
2 yds. striped cotton muslin
pins
permanent marker
scissors
tailor’s chalk
cotton thread (linen or wool for more accuracy)
needle

Process

Patterning: Use striped cotton cut on the bias in a large trapezoid to pattern the hose, left and right, carefully label them Left/Right and Inside/Outside (see brown stripe pattern in the bag). 
- A single piece for each leg folded and pinned at the natural crease created by the arch of your foot gives the correct placement for the saddle seam – it is higher than you think it will be, so this is important.   Pin from the arch back towards the heel and forward towards the toes, pulling the fabric into place and adjusting as necessary.  There is a lot of re-pinning, readjust the heel, wash-rinse-repeat. 
- Once the foot is in place, pin up the back of the leg, pulling and adjusting so the fabric lays relatively flat on the front of your leg.  Extra length even for short hose is a good idea. Once everything is pinned in place, use a permanent marker to draw along the pin line of the pattern.  This takes about an hour, (no pictures, there were pins on the bottom of my feet).

Cutting: Lay the pattern on the bias and cut the pieces out with ample seam allowance, about 2” except over the saddle where it should be about ¾”. 

Basting: It is very important to baste as each fabric will need slight adjustments even after the pattern is refined.  Pin & baste the saddle seam, stretching it to fit in order to create a curved seam.  Fit each side to the leg with pins, and draw with chalk along the pin line on both sides of the fabric.  Turn and pin the fabric right sides together.  Baste from the instep seam toward the toes, stopping just before the end.  Baste from the instep seam back around the heel to the ankle and stop to check the fit, make adjustments – the ankle should be as snug as possible and still be able to get it over your heel.  Finish the toe seam, turn it in and pin.  Finish the leg seam.  Check the fit again.

Sewing:  Whip stitch and tack the toe in place.  Backstitch from the toe to the saddle seam.  Backstitch around the saddle seam.  Continue backstitching the seam under the foot, up around the heel and leg.  Make any final adjustments.  Remove the basting stitches (I did not so you can see where they are).  Fell the saddle seam towards the toes.  Open the back seam and tack it down with a running stitch. 
Blanket stitch along the top to secure the edge, (this may have been turned over in the original).

The fit is not perfect, but they are quite comfortable, and I have room to move my ankles.  Reinforcing the seam helps the hose stay up as well as lay flat.  The seam underfoot does not bother at all.  Additional pieces can be added to the sole as the hose wear out, or for extra padding.  Because the stitching line is exposed and under tension, plan on making regular repairs.  Garters are necessary.

An amusing note: looking at extant hose, you can tell who made their own and who was fitted by someone else by the angle of the ankle.  Self-made hose have a pointed toe from putting one leg up on your knee, fitted hose have a sharper angle from the person standing while being fitted.  I observed this on mine vs. my husband’s and laughed.

 

Viking Jorvik Bone Pins

 Viking Jorvik Bone Pins
^^pdf^^

I adore these pins.  I will not be making a Danelaw persona to wear them myself (famous last words), but I will drop them on Viking era friends like dragon's teeth.  I have not located the source that is referred to in MacGregor's analysis of the body from the migration period, but I will continue to look for it.  In the interest of getting the paper up while the items are still fresh in people's minds, enjoy the pdf!

The cat pins are going to a friend as soon as we can meet up at an event.  I'm not sure what the next pair will be, but I have the blanks all ready.  Unfortunately, I am out of pig fibula at this point and did not save any from the last pig we butchered.  My friendly local butcher shop may be amused by my request.

A side note on display:
One of my goals for this year is "better display" and in the interests of that, I wove some fabric swatches from my hand spun, natural dyed yarn.  Most of it was just using up odds & ends, but I did try to work in some good basic historic twill/tabby patterns. My weaving is beginner level horrible, right where it should be.  In order to display the pins and needles to advantage, I put them on these swatches, imperfect edges and all.  
I'm not being arrogant when I say I'm really good at some things.  I'm not being humble when I say I'm really bad at other things.  Most skills just take a lot of practice, and dedication, and effort, and study... well, you get it.  I'm not afraid to be a beginner at weaving.  I have to start somewhere... that doesn't mean I'm not going to complain about my salvages or how tedious it is to 'finish' the warp yarn, or how bad I am at it. 
BONUS!  bone needle at work!

Viking Age Bone Threadworking Implements

That's a fun title, isn't it?
Viking Age Bone Threadworking Implements
^^pdf^^

This was a deceptively simple project.  Hunting down hard information took some doing, and I made a few substitutions and guesses.  Fortunately I did find out how big the needles & pins were, but only after I had cut all of the blanks and made several items. 

I do not actually know if the bone needles and pins pictured were made from pig fibula.  I know they were found in the Anglo-Scandinavian layers of York, at the Coppergate dig site, where other pig fibula bone implements were found in various states of finish, similar to the Lloyd's bank finds.  There are other implements made from horn, cow bone, antler and other animal bones from the same era and area.  It is an educated guess based on extant material and incomplete archeological information., and I'm mostly happy with the end product. 

The hard thing about this type of archeological find from a reenactors perspective is that we have to accept "we don't know" as a valid answer, and no one likes that.  We can make educated guesses based on the evidence before us, and then try stuff out and see how it works, and get to 'maybe' or even 'probably,' but we still have to have the space and the courage to be wrong.  I am leaving a large margin open for both of those things.

Navajo Churro and Spanish Churra Sheep and Fleece

My adventures into this particular fleece did not take me where I expected to go.
Navajo Churro and Spanish Churra
^^ pdf. about this lovely research adventure.

This entire project was slightly disjointed, so bare with me while I try to tie all these loose strings together... 

I bought 3 Navajo Churro fleece last summer with the idea that they would work for the Greenland gown project, as all of the Icelandic fiber I could get at the time was already blended.  After spinning this up, I know it won't work for that. While it will definitely be a super-fun spin, I will use it for something else... maybe an Iberian style rug?

I was searching for another project to fill in my 5 for the Pentathalon at Ice Dragon, and Juliana suggested the sample yarn I had already spun and discounted.  I started looking, and found a wealth of totally unexpected information on the history of the breed(s).  These are the very first footsteps on what will be a very long road, and there are gaping holes in the research, but at least I can see the holes vs. having no idea where I'm going.

What I expected was something along the lines of "Hispanic settlers spun & wove & wore clothes made from this wool"  What I got was a huge international Spanish wool trade, multicultural economic powerhouses, a battle for world domination, shifting cultural identities, genocide, and finally on the brink of extinction, a way to survive in their true form - one can hope for that for both the people and the sheep.   Oh, and I get to spin some really lovely wool too.  A totally unexpected bonus was that my singles, when plied, were in the ballpark of the rug yarn - next time, more twist all around, and a worsted prep.

Ultimately I'd like to do a comparison study of the different Spanish sheep breeds, outline their economic uses and just follow the trade routes to see where these things ended up.  Since I know Merino was a major export, I'll 'travel' to London to look at the wool cloth produced there, and then Flanders for tapestries to see if I can find out if it was Churra or Merino being used there.  But more on the Churra itself to see if I can find the missing spinners and learn more about the dyers... there is a lot.  It will be fun.  I'll probably cry more.

On a side note, any time you have the opportunity to buy the fleece or fiber from a rare breed, please do so.  It supports the shepherd and gives them an economic incentive to continue the lines in their true form vs. crossing out for other qualities.