Choosing Fabric for your Viking Age Kit- BEGINNERS GUIDE!

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Choosing Fabric for your Viking Age Kit- BEGINNERS GUIDE!

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Wyrd Kindred

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 31

@nurmihusa7780 Ай бұрын

Exceptionally thorough information beautifully and sensitively explained. Thank you!

@WyrdKindred Ай бұрын

Thank you. :) much appreciated. :)

@JillLucock-tm4bd Ай бұрын

Fantastically useful resource and so helpful when trying to explain to new members why they can't have anything they want, eg hw the production limits the weave etc. thank you so much and any advice on dealing with supporting people with sensory challenges but staying acceptably authentic would be very welcome.

@WyrdKindred Ай бұрын

Awesome, thank you. :) I will get on that once this series is finished.

@whereis6121 19 күн бұрын

Hello and much love from Germany! I'm just beginning to get into reenactment and after borrowing tunics and kit from others for the majority of the summer, I've been itching to finally make some clothing for myself. As a textile student I was surprised at how little resources there actually are to get started on prroject like this, since most of that information tends to be passed down from person to person or only in pieces, so I've been struggling to find a comprehensive guide for a good while now. That said: this channel is the best thing that could've ever happened to me. I love the patience and the detailed explanations, since many people assume a lot of knowledge or skill and don't explain their steps well enough to follow along as a total beginner. Not only are you compiling a full lesson on fabric types, their pros and cons and historical use FOR FREE, WITH SOURCES (!!!!), but you're also giving tips around sensory issues and using inclusive language! I'm not exaggerating when I say that some of my professors at uni should watch this as an example of how to be a better teacher. I hope everyone watching this knows how much work and dedication goes into making such extensive videos on this topic and how hard it actually is to find a resouce like this. As someone who is trying to build a kit that's as authentic (meaning based on actual findings) as possible, I especially appreciate you naming your sources and differentiating not only between time and place, but also the implied social standing when using certain types of fabric. I would love a video about reenactment and sensory issues, even if I don't personally struggle with it much I'm always glad to learn from other people's experiences and it's good to know if I want to make things for others in my group in the future. Interesting how most of the reenactment people I know (including myself haha) lean towards neurodivergence in one way or the other... I'll definitely be recommending this series to beginners and experienced reenactors alike, and I am forever thankful for the guidance and tipps, and looking forward to more videos!

@WyrdKindred 19 күн бұрын

Thank you so much for your kind words, it means so much to me that folks are finding the videos helpful, and in the spirit they are made in. :)

@anadosek Ай бұрын

Thank you for your videos! I will finally be able to sew my tunic, you have cleared up all the confusion I had on the subject. Nowhere on the internet are instructions as detailed as yours!

@WyrdKindred Ай бұрын

Thank you so much, that is so lovely to hear. :)

@sElfmadecreations 15 күн бұрын

Your videos are always such a delightfully broad overview. So wish I could have had those when I started out ^^ I've been active (on and off) in Living History for over 16 years now and still always love watching "Beginner's guides" because they usually always havve some information or idea that I missed or didn't even think of yet. Currently trying to get back to more Viking Age things and hearing that your society is fine with linen overgarments made me sigh in relief so much. I am going for that as well (neurodivergent with sensory issues that I didn't realize were that severe) and it makes me feel like part of a community (albeit an international one) to back up if someone asks "did they really wear linen outer garments?" To maybe stop rambling and sum it up, thank you for sharing. Hope you'll have a lovely, sensory issue free summer :)

@WyrdKindred 14 күн бұрын

Aw, that's so good to hear. Yes, linen over-garments were definitely a thing, we have fewer examples, but they do exist. :) Good luck with your new viking age persona, it's such a great time to reenact. :)

@sElfmadecreations 14 күн бұрын

@@WyrdKindred Going back to the Viking Age is kind of a full circle. Started with not so healthy for me folks in 2010 so it's a delight to get back to it, with more knowledge, my archaeology studies done and a far more welcoming and inclusive reenactment scene then when I last was active ^^

@RandomTom92 Ай бұрын

Wonderfully informative video! I'm really enjoying this series, with plans to make a set of kit for my partner, myself and our two daughters. Do you have any tips on sourcing fabric? I'm UK based, and trying to find best bang for buck on linen and wool. Thank you!

@WyrdKindred Ай бұрын

If you are close to a reenactors market, that's your best bet as you can feel the fabrics yourself before you buy. TORM and ARM are the big ones but there are usually local ones as well. Lush fabrics website has some lovely natural linen, and I find quite a bit of wool on eBay. It's worth asking if sellers do samples so you can see the weave yourself before you buy. :)

@captainharlock3998 Ай бұрын

Excellent video! You mentioned heavy linen as under garment under the mail. At the moment I am making a wool outergarment. I have no mail now, but most probably will get one down the line as my character is a nobleman from Frankish aristocracy in the 8th century. Would it be bad to wear the mail over the wool tunic? I went for wool exactly as, while no padding were found, it offers more... cushion... than linen.

@WyrdKindred Ай бұрын

No, not at all, it's just that wool can be harder to clean, and with maile comes oil stains, so it can be easier to have one you don't mind getting grubby on the field, and one for sitting around in camp looking rich. :)

@janepatterson3489 Ай бұрын

I have found that I can use some wool and there is some I can’t wear.

@WyrdKindred Ай бұрын

It really depends on the wool type and how it's spun and finished, when the softer hair is used, and spun really tightly, it can be ok, it's the slightly looser spun stuff with loose hair ends that really gets me!

@janepatterson3489 Ай бұрын

@@WyrdKindred I think it has something to do with the lanolin content or so I’ve been told. I get rashes, red skin, but the worst part is if I’m inside it can affect my breathing. Outside not as much because of the air circulating. Wools from the US bother me more than wools from Europe. It could be because of the difference in processing from sheep to fabric, or the type of animal the fabric is from? Having a layer of fabric helps my skin but not my lungs. But I still wear it if I don’t have problems, just have to be careful.

@CatherineNichols777 20 күн бұрын

@janepatterson3489 When I noticed that one of my wool coats was bothering me and triggering asthma indoors, I realized it was the dust mites triggering my allergies (rash and asthma) and not the wool itself. I know I'm not allergic to lanolin because I dont have a problem with skin products that contain it. Looser wool is great at gathering and holding dust mites, so I either avoid it or make sure it's recently cleaned.

@ghostcraft9343 2 күн бұрын

Hey one thing that still confuses me is the weights of fabric that we should get, like what oz or grams /meter. What weights do you recommend? Also I love your videos

@WyrdKindred 2 күн бұрын

So I tend to go for 150-200gsm, I like lightweight linen so anything down to 120gsm is great for layering. I'd go for something 250-300gsm for a heavy kirtle under chain mail for example, but honestly the best thing you can do is buy in person or order samples and feel it with your own hands to know of it's the right thing for your project. I've got summer kit made from 150 GSM, and winter linens that are nearer 200, but they still need a wool layer over the top. I'd say start with something between 150 and 180 and see how that feels to you, a lot will depend on the climate you reenact in! I've not seen any estimates of the weight of extant finds, it's usually just a thread count and description given, but viking age textiles ranged from incredibly fine gossamer weight for silks and the finest linens, all the way up to very rough heavy cloth, so it is mostly a matter of personal preference, unless you are recreating a specific find. :)

@WyrdKindred 2 күн бұрын

Also, thankyou very much. :)

@tinyshinylotus2880 Ай бұрын

Hey there 😊 Thank you so much for the interesting video! Finally found the time to watch it completely. If you don't mind, I would ask you something. My fiance gave as a present two trefoil broach replicas to me. I think it was the welsh viking wo suggested that they could be worn with an apron dress because the tortoise boraches have been occurring for only a short period of time. I would now like to use them. Since I am in no society and don't have to follow any rules, my chosen ststus would be somewhat in the mid range. Do you think I can go for the simpler colors, braid trims and wear these boraches as a mid status person? And secondly, I found some nice diamond twill fabric scraps at the market in Hedeby. They where giving these away for a donation and I thought it would be nice to use them for a colorful trim of a mid status coat like I saw one in a Scandinavian reenactment project. I personally think this might be exactly the way a person would have gotten hands on little bits of such high quality materials without necessarily being very rich. However, I honestly care about your opinion on this idea. As always your effort is very much appreciated. Have a wondeful day ❤

@WyrdKindred Ай бұрын

Using the little bits as trim sounds like an excellent idea! Trefoil brooches have never been found used in pairs for an apron dress, although so e sellers sell them as such. There is a theory that the apron dress only came about to display the Oval brooches, and as far as I know the only alternatives ever found are strap end shaped. Trefoils were originally strap distributors brought back to Scandinavia and adapted I to brooches, and the pins are usually horizontal rather than vertical. From an authenticity standpoint, it is unlikely they were used in place of oval brooches, so I'd not reccomend it, but I'd be interested to hear of any evidence we have for that! The oval brooches in the viking age developed from simpler forms over quite a long time, and disappeared in the 10th Century, around the same time Christianity became prevalent, so I don't think its a case of them being replaced by other things, but that the apron dress itself become less fashionable. We see very high status women, like royalty stop wearing them before others do, so it was likely high status women wanted to emulate them during changing times. I will go back and rewatch Jimmy's videos and see what he was saying.

@tinyshinylotus2880 Ай бұрын

Thank you for your answer! 😊 In the brooches video he didn't specifically say there where trefoil brooches found in pairs, that's true. What he did say was, that they are assumed to be based on sword parts of other people and where favored by many so they are a god choice. Also, womens graves give record for them having all kinds of brooches. Given the tortoise brooches have been worn for such a short period but the apron dresses where there before, they must have been closed with something. I am very curious what I can find out in Ribe when visiting there. Until then I will focus on making the coat and sure rewatch your video on trims. @@WyrdKindred

@S.erwinsdottir 10 күн бұрын

Hello. I have a doubt... I plan to be a character that work with wool/linen (Nålbinding, Sewing dresses and maybe a bit of tablet weaving) I will be the wife of the blacksmith (as I know it was one of the richer people), so, do you think can I use broken diamond twill in greenish colors? I forgot to tell, I would be a norwegian woman. I chosen this pattern if I right remember from the Oseberg find, maybe...

@WyrdKindred 8 күн бұрын

I think that could work, depending on your backstory and other kit. A green broken diamond is a fabric suitable for a higher status person, depending on the green, ( there are cheaper greens and expensive ones!) so if your husband is a smith for the local or regional Yarl for example, he would be well paid and you would have access to more expensive fabric. The Yarls wife could wear that type of cloth, so perhaps it could be a gift from her. If you are wearing oval brooches and lots of other jewellery, you might want to change your backstory and raise your status from craftsmans wife, It's complicated and a lot depends on your other kit and accessories.

@lauraxavia3006 Ай бұрын

Hello lovely, how does one choose a character to depict? Thank you :)

@WyrdKindred Ай бұрын

There are lots of ways you can go about it, if you have a Viking age craft you want to do in camp you can start with that and build a character from there, a woodworker could be an apprentice in low status kit or a master craftsman, a silversmith would be well off, fit your character to your kit, so if you don't have much yet, be a servant, farmer or if playing a female, housewife/ homesteader is a very common role. For ideas, you can either start with your real life and think about the viking age version of that, or take Inspiration from the sagas, if there is a particular role you want to play, you can start to research what that character would be likely to have, depending on where they are from, as there are distinctive differences between regions in terms of fabrics, jewellery and styles.

@jvnd2785 Ай бұрын

Thanks for the video. Just one thing from a well-aged spinner/weaver: Sheep's wool is almost identical to human hair. Throughout the centuries, there is only a handful of recorded cases where humans were allergic to their own hair (had to shave their bodies off all hair on a regular basis) and therefore allergic to sheep's wool. Wool allergy is a funny "allergy"- as it seems to affects only the middle classes of 20th/21st century USA. It does not seem to affect the British, the Dutch or the Norwegians. it does not affect people in the Middle East or the Central Asia either. Billions of people throughout the centuries have had no issues wearing medium (over 30 microns) wool next to the skin on a daily basis. So, perhaps, there is no such a thing as "wool allergy" after all (there really isn't)! You can have a mild sensitivity to coarser wool. You may be allergic to bit of hay stuck in the yarn. You may overreact to the dozens of chemicals/dyes used in commercial processing. But unless you are allergic to your own (human) hair, you are NOT allergic to wool.

@WyrdKindred Ай бұрын

Agreed, however sensitivity to wool is absolutely is a thing, and in rare cases people are allergic/ reactive to lanolin. I can use lanolin, but the intense itching and then pain I feel with most wool on my skin is very distressing. To the point i cant function properly. My mum is actually allergic to lanolin in creams/ ointments but fine with the well washed hair fibres, everyone is different! I don't care if someone has an allergy, intolerance or just skin sensitivities, whatever you call it the discomfort is real, so I will always try and find a solution that works over seeing someone distressed.