I’m Not Dead. . .

I’ve just been really busy.  My life has been crazy over the last few months, what with school and sewing and school and sewing and well, you get the idea.  See, when I have so much sewing and writing to do, I have very little time to post on this blog.  But, since I just complete my honors thesis for my undergraduate degree at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, I finally have time to show you what I have been doing lately!

First off, late last year I expanded my skills into some basic leather tooling and working, and created a belt and belt pouch for a class project.  I took the dragon design from this runestone in Uppsala:

Uppsala Runestone

As the stone was actually never completed, I completed the design as I felt it would have been, and came up with this design:

Finished Pouch

I tooled the design on the pouch with a variety of crazy tools and a mallet, and dyed the design red with watered-down acrylic paint.  I would have used madder for the red, but it tried to turn my vegetable-tanned leather green.  I did an intertwined dragon design for the belt, based on my brother Kyle’s design idea, which also turned out quite well.

I also started a new set of kit for Kyle, to go with my honors thesis but also as his birthday gift for this year.  (Every year for his birthday I make him new Viking kit according to his specifications for color and style.)  This year, his new kit consists of a linen undertunic, and dark blue wool over tunic, and baggy wool pants.  Unlike other pants I have made for him before, these are more tailored and consist of multiple pieces of wool in gussets and end at the knees.  From the knees down, there are footless stockings that hook to the cuffs of the baggy pants, over which the legbands are wrapped.  The new tunics are shorter than his old ones, in order to show off the baggyness of his pants.

Baggy Pants, Complete with Belt Loops

With the New Tunics and Shoes

Soon I will be weaving some tablet weaving onto the edges of his good tunic, but until then this is as far as I have gotten.

My next project?  Kit for both me and Kyle from the time of the Second Crusade.  Skjaldborg is going to add some crusading to the group’s activities, and Kyle and I won’t be left behind!

Til next time!