The Tudor Revolution

  This Week's vlog is the follow up to my Viking Age Tunic dress which I posted last week. When discussing the clothing of Birka and other Norse cultures, a woolen dress is an iconic look which is functional while tending a fire or many other activities. My apron dress is inspired by the finds out of Birka. The wool I used was a light weight suiting with a 2:2 twill weave. The long seams of this dress were finished with a machine for speed, and all of the seam finishings were hand sewn. I used a woolen finishing technique I learned about while flipping through Woven into the Earth by Else Ostergard. The technique involves using wool yarn and a couching stich of sorts to encase the raw edges of the wool. The end result is a low profile and durable seam around the neck and hem of my apron dress. I love that all of the hand sewn elements of this dress start to create a decorative finish on the outside of the dress and the only extra embellishment I added was a herringbone stitch over...

  #sewing #Viking #historicaldress My inspiration for this dress is that I never really wear the style. It looks lovely on some people, but I had just never really gotten into it or the time period around it until friends were asking me for help to make their outfits. This year I realized we would be having a local SCA arts event on April Fool's Day and it seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up and I had to do something. I decided on going incognito and making myself some Norse clothing. Even though I've done some work for others in this time period, I am by no means an expert and leaned on some of the work in this blog post: https://maidenanachronism.blogspot.com/2012/05/viking-underdress.html?m=1 I also referenced these books for some of the techniques and information I used (links are affiliate links): Woven into the Earth by Else Ostergard https://amzn.to/3o0kVb2 Medieval Garments Reconstructed: Norse Clothing Patterns by Lilli Fransen, Anna Norgaard and...

  In this video I'm following up on my camping checklist video from last week to show y'all how my tent set up goes together with a little planning and practice. This video was recorded in and around my personal tent at an Society for Creative Anachronism event called Uprising in Idaho. Nothing in my video reflect the official stances of the larger living history group, but are based in my personal experiences as a paid member attending events for over a decade. Often at events we are doing something between living history camping and glamping. Not everything in my set up is 100% historically accurate, but many things give the impression and I love the results my current set of supplies give me. I fit everything here, including the tent poles and my dog in a Jeep Patriot, with a little creative packing. #mysca #camping #societyforcreativeanachronism #livinghistory #glamping I purchased my tent several years ago from Midwest Tents. This video was not sponsored by them, b...

  In this video, I'm having an honest conversation about historical authenticity. I'm sharing the story of my Edwardian shawl, and discussing the goals I have for the project. I want to make a shawl that is authentic to the period in the pattern I used and crochet techniques. But rather than purely reproducing a historical piece I wanted my shawl to reflect the modern era that I live in. Truly great design is in fact timeless, and that is what I see when I look at this Edwardian shawl pattern. If you're also interested in deeper conversations about historical authenticity, then you'll want to watch this video! We'll talk about the goals of historically inspired projects and the need to define what what your goal is for the project as you're working on it. I hope you enjoy the video, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments! If you are interested in trying out the pattern yourself, check out this link: https://www.antiquecrochetpatterns.com/acc...

  Well beautiful humans, it has been a ruff 9 months of recovery, physical therapy, and at times bed rest. Today we are going to discuss the hand sewing project I was going to work on the day I injured myself, and the 4 months it took to complete it while I relearned to walk and strengthen my leg. In this project I used: - lace I purchased from DSA Threads which I already post a video of me prepping: www.dsathreads.net https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7BGTNOgGUI -Linen Sewing Thread and hand needle -Beeswax -Fine Linen Remnant -Straight pins -Chalk -Breakfast tray Other costumers and sewists have been reacting to their projects in 2022, and honestly this took up so much of my sewing time. I had to table some of my other projects while I could not stand because I could not cut out the fabric for next steps. This project was something I could work on through. I've never before make an iconic 16th century ruff before and the project had a lot of personal meanings and hang ups fo...

  I really love when I can find new uses for old things. Upcycling give me so much joy when it comes to creating historical costuming. For me, one of the best parts of historical clothing is the small details, which includes jewelry. When I first saw this 1980s style gold necklace at my local thrift store I immediately started thinking of ways I could alter it for a 16th century choker necklace. The exact embellishment of these necklaces would change over the century so I had a lot of options to think over. Because I am a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, I thought it would be fun to include a peerage medallion in this process as well. While I do not officially speak for the Society for Creative Anachronism, I do love sharing projects I work on for this hobby. On this thrift store jewelry upcycle I used head pins, round jewelry pliers, a pendant, and freshwater pearls. Below are some links to similar items I was able to find on Amazon if you are curious. Links are af...

  The School of Historical Dress has been hard at work in recent years to release more complete and updated editions of Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion series. this series is a staple of most costumer and reenactor bookshelves because of the detail and thorough construction notes for each garment the book covers. Today we are going to discuss the pros and cons of the different editions in a book review of Patterns of Fashion 1. My goal is to make sure everyone looking to buy the updated copy knows what they are and are not getting. Please know the original edition is out of print, but may be available from used book sellers. Here is an Amazon affiliate link to the book we are discussing: https://amzn.to/3z4f1rt To my knowledge, the updated version is only available through the School of Historical Dress shop. The funds raised from book sales go to help fund the school and their research efforts. Non affiliate link below: https://shop.theschoolofhistoricaldress.org.uk/produc...

  I get a lot of requests for good books for beginning costumers when I am at events. Those requests inspired my book review playlist. Lydia Edwards' book How to Read a Dress is a fantastic starting point for new historical costumers to start understanding changes in time of silhouette and fashions over time. The nature of the book will prevent it from being a deep dive into any particular era, but the book was designed as more of a survey course. You can also see updated commentary on Lydia's Instagram account linked below. Lydia Edwards Instagram Amazon Affiliate Links: How to Read a Dress by Lydia Edwards https://amzn.to/3oSftr9 How to Read a Suit by Lydia Edwards https://amzn.to/426lZJ7 Social Media and other Places to Find me: Instagram: @maridith.smith Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tudorrevolution/ Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/maridithsmith All Music was Provided by the YouTube creator studio. Video edited with DaVinci Resolve 17. Filmed with Cann...

  I know a lot of folks in the costuming community have been defending corsets again because of some silly articles from The Sun without sources claiming Netflix and the BBC would stop allowing actresses to wear corsets in period dramas. The extremes wear conditions that actresses have been facing in the film industry has been spoken to at length by other creators like Bernadette Banner and Abby Cox so I would direct you to their channels about corset myths. My focus for this vlog was to get out and take my pit bull on a hike for the first time since my injury, and why not break in my new corset at the same time? Through out the entire hike I had more difficulty with my ankle and navigating uneven ground than I had with the altitude or my corset. This corset was not custom made, but ready made. I worked with the seller to make sure I had one that was the correct size for my measurements and compression goals. Do you wear corset on a regular basis? Tell me about your experiences be...