Sten Stures ben - 16th century guild feast

 On the 22nd of January it was time for the annual Sten Stures ben celebration. It's where you commemorate the anniversary of the battle of Åsunden in 1520 where the regent Sten Sture got his leg shot off by a canon. Sten Stures ben is celebrated by snowballfights and eating chocolate balls, and our 16th century guild has taken it as a good reason to have a guild feast every January. For a long time we hoped to be able to keep it inside, but with new covid restrictions it was moved to our outside gathering location.

We got at least one photo of me and my fiancé inside in good light

I had made my own chocolate balls, but the main thing was the giant chocolate ball that one of our members had found in a store.

Since it was outside and we wanted to keep warm I had made Tyrolean knödel that we heated in a broth. They were delicious.

When it was time to get into the chocolate ball we actually had to use an axe, after having tried with a dagger and knife first.

Kål-Henrik was victorious against the chocolate ball.

Even if it was -6 we kept quite warm around the fire, and in the end we stayed outside for almost 6 hours. The fact that I used my stash to make our clothes means that we are actually quite matching in pink and red.

HSM22 Challenge Protection - a late medieval jacket

 When I planned to bring my fiancé to our 16th century guild feast the plan was to be indoors, so I figured it would be enough with a shirt and a pair of hose. Well with new covid regulations in place the feast was moved outdoors. And outdoors in Sweden in January meant that I needed to quickly come up with something that would keep him warm. I ditched the idea of making a pair of hose and instead decided to make a jacket, which definitely fits the challenge since it was made to protect from the cold.

First I needed some inspiration. I would not have time, or enough fabric in my stash, to actually make a proper 16th century jacket or doublet.

Looking at the images of a Swedish peasant army from 1502 it looks like a lot of them are wearing upper garments with fairly wide sleeves, a bit of a stand up collar and skirt under their breastplates.

I decided to go from there, and make something generic late medieval looking, rather than trying to get something totally accurate. The end result would be something fitting at a market or fair. As a start I took the pattern from my own historical jacket that I made last year.

My main jacket pieces

Instead of the extra fabric to create pleats I cut the sideseam and back seams fairly straight and added gores there instead. Both to save fabric and to make it more medieval.

For sleeves I used my large s-sleeve pattern. For fabric I rummaged through my stash. I knew that I still had enough of this mottled black/grey wool, even if it's a modern fabric. I also found enough of a red wool flannell. This is the fabric that has really proved useful and I have gotten a gollar, a hood, a pair of hose and now a jacket out of it. There really is nothing left now. Just with my own jacket I wanted to make this jacket reversible so he would have a two in one jacket. The black and red fabric made this into a garment for someone richer than a peasant though, but I really didn't have anything else to work with.

For closure I went with cloth buttons and thread loops. This would make it easy to switch sides. The black fabric is very thin so I added a strip of sturdier wool on the inside that I added the buttons to. At this stage the fiancé wanted the black to be the outer fabric, so I sewed the buttons on to get them to be on the correct side when wearing the black as the outer fabric. But after having done that I felt that the red looked so much better, well, well. As I understand it the side to sew buttons on varied a bit in the middle ages as well.

The buttons sewed on on each side

Thread loops

The gores that were added at the back and side seams. I would have loved longer gores, but this was all I could get out from the fabric.

The finished jacket, and with the help of a belt it got a bit of skirt poofing out.

All in all I am actually quite pleased, and the double wool fabrics helped to keep him warm at our feast, so it definitely protected him. 

The Challenge: Protection

Material: 2,5 m of red wool flannell, 2,5 of black suiting weight wool

Pattern: My own

Year: late medieval

Notions: linen thread, polyester thread

How historically accurate is it? 30% it is inspired and works as a generic late medieval jacket. The fabrics would only have been worn by nobility, and the main seams are made on the machine even if the visible seams are handsewn.

Hours to complete: 1 week

First worn: On a 16th century feast on the 22nd of Januar

Total cost: The fabric was pretty expensive when bought new so I guess around $70 if I had bought it today.

HSM22 challenge: Anniversary choice - the finished shirt

 While I was working on the shirt for my fiancé the challenges for the Historical Sew Monthly 2022 showed up, and the first challenge of the year was the "anniversary choice" - choose any challenge from the Historical Sew Fortnightly 2013. One of the challenges in 2013 was 

Re-make, Re-use & Re-fashion – due September 9.  Sew something that pays homage to the historical idea of re-using, re-making and re-fashioning.  Turn one thing into another.  Re-fit or re-fashion an old gown into something you would wear again.  Re-trim a hat for a new outfit, or re-shape a modern hat to be a historical hat.  Re-purpose the fabric from an old garment (your own or a commercial one) into a new garmen

Since this particular shirt is the third version of this shirt I definitely thought that this was a fitting projekt. To reiterate from the first post on this project the shirt that I started out with was my first simple 15th century shift.

Here worn in Visby in 2018

I had remade it once when I needed a quick solution for a shift to go under my 1520's courtgown. Then I had ripped away the collar and just tacked on a gold ribbon around the neck instead.

Worn under the courgown

Since then I had always planned to redo it in some way, and when my fiancé needed his first 16th century shirt I decided that the easiest and fastest way would be to remake the shift, rather than starting a new shirt from scratch.

I started with cutting off 20 cm off the hem of the shift to make it more suitable to a man. I then used the cut off hem to lengthen the sleeves, so they would get long enough for him, and even some extra puffiness.

The new length of the shift and sleeves

Then I gathered the cuffs and the neck.

I made the cuffs a bit wider, with 6 gathering threads, than the neck, where I only used 4 gathering threads. The sleeves would have looked better if they had been a bit wider, the pleats on them got a bit uneven and sparse. I also took the chance of trying out some new smocking styles on this shift, and saw it as a bit as a training project.

On the cuffs I used stemstitches that I sewed in diagonal lines to try and create the diamond pattern that is common on paintings and woodcuts in the period. For the thread I used four strands of the same linen thread that I used to sew the shirt together. 

The finished sleeve with the visible seam where I have lengthened it and the cuff. I also made some fingerbraided strings to close the cuff.

The neck was gathered and there I used smocking stitches to weave between the pleats. I was not too happy with the look of this. It might work better with a thicker thread or an embroidery yarn.

To close the neck I sewed strings of the fabric to tie with, rather than the fingerbraid strings that I used on the cuffs.

The inside of both the neck and the cuffs are finished with a strip of fabric. Both to protect the backside of the embroidery, to hide the ugly back side, and to make sure that the the cuff/neckline doesn't stretch and get bigger. This has happened to me when I have relied on just the smocking embroidery to keep the size. The strips of fabric were also cut from the hem that I had cut off earlier.

The finished shirt

When I had finished the shirt that small strip of fabric was all that remained from the old shift, but I also hadn't had to use any other fabric than what was in the shift from start.

The Challenge: Anniversary challenge - Challenge "Re-use, re-make, re-fashion"

Material: 1 old kneelength shift

Pattern: No pattern used

Year: early 16th century

Notions: linen thread, wool yarn to make fingerbraid strings

How historically accurate is it? Around 75%

Hours to complete: two weeks

First worn: At a 16th century guild feast on January 22nd.

Total cost: Everything was re-used, but if bought new probably around $25

 

Reworking another old shift

 In the end of January there is the traditional guild feast with our 16th century guild, and this time I want my fiancé to join us, so he needs something to wear. I have started on a shift for him, which also gives me a chance to try out some new techniques.

Back in 2018 I did a very simple shift.

Me wearing the shift in Visby

It had loose open sleeves, and the neck was just gathered into a collar band, no smocking of anything fancy like that. I have used it quite a lot, and then in 2020 I faked it into a fancy shift by removing the collar and replacing it with a bought gold ribbon instead. The plan had always been to refashion it into something better, and now when David needed a shift I decided to start from the old shift.

The shift was a female length shift, so I cut off around 20 cm from the bottom, and then I lengthened the sleeves instead with the fabric that I had cut off.

Trying out the shorter lenght and longer sleeves on David

Then it was all about preparing smocking at the cuffs and neck

The finished cuff, with the visible seam
where I added the cut off bottom of the shift.

For smocking I decided to do stemstitches on top of the pleats, which can be seen in portraits from the period. I have also read a discussion on how whether the honeycomb smocking that is seen everywhere today is more of a reenactment fashion than what was actually used. Using this also makes it nice to work with white linen thread, which is a look that I have always preferred instead of blackwork. The cuff is closed with two pieces of fingerbraided strings. Now it's on to the other cuff and the neckline.

Plans for 2022

 Even if I haven't done a lot of costuming in 2021, costuming is a big part of my life and I for 2022 I have a few big projects planned. For the first time since 2005 I will not be able to attend Star Wars Celebration, they moved it to a date when I can't get time off from work. Still with what the world looks right now with the pandemic raging I'm happy that I didn't have to decide myself if I should go or not. That means though that I doubt that I will do any Star Wars projects this year.

1. A male farmer's outfit for 1520

Me and my fiance are going to the traditional winter feast with our 16th century guild, so I need to get him something wearable until then. I am remaking one of my old shifts and then I need to sew a pair of hose. If I have time I would love to make a jacket, but realistically I will be happy if he can go in shift and hose.

Deadline: January 22

2. 1780s outfit

I'm celebrating my 40th birthday in March and I am planning a party and what to wear. I would love to make a new 1780s/Star Wars mash-up for that. I had planned to make it for the next Star Wars Celebration, but since I can't go there this would be a fun thing to wear it to. I have outgrown all my 18th century undwear so I need to make new stays, a new shift, new petticoats and a new bumroll. So basically I need to make a new 18th century outfit from scratch.

Deadline: March 19

3. Winter Daisy

I still want to make Princess Daisy from SuperMario at the Olympics. It's basicallt a tunic and leggings, but this will only be if I really feel that I have extra time.

Deadline: NärCon last weekend in July.

4. New 16th century outfit

At Medieval week I was well dressed, but I was jealous with all the beautiful women wearing trossfrau gowns. My inspiration will still be something more suitable to Swedish upper/middle class, but I want to make a new gown that I feel nice in.

Deadline: Medieval Week early August

5. Wedding gown

I am getting married next year, so all other projects will stand back for my wedding gown. I have a plan already, and it's not going to be an historical gown. It will take historical inspiration though, so that means proper underpinnings to make it look good. I will probably not post a lot about it until it is finished, but I am planning on starting this project in March, just when I'm finished with the 18th century project.