Over Tunic

I used the same seam and fell technique
that I used on the under tunic. 

Sewn by hand, made with 100% linen.

Gores were an economic way to add fullness
to a tunic. Somewhat narrow, excess fabric could be used to
make a gore.

I added eight gores to this tunic for
additional fullness.

Embroidery







“A tree-like motif emerging from a stepped base,
done in outline except for some fragmentary foliage at the top,
 between a pair of facing animals variously interpreted as "deer" or "lions";
they have long narrow legs, long tufted tails,
but the heads are both fragmentary and don't help much in identification.
The animals are entirely filled in, and the pattern of the fill adds contours of the legs
 against the body. There are no color photos of the original and the lighting
on the photographs makes it difficult to distinguish shades.
The only shade distinction visible in the original drawings appears to be
a dark eye-ring, with the rest of the embroidery being an indistinguishable medium tone.”

I worked the small faces as a duplicate of the museum‘s
replica--dark blue outline with three leaves sprouting
 between each joining in a sequence of gold, white,
orange and brown. The face “chain” drapes around
the neck, perhaps mimicking a Knights’ chain or some such.

The National Museum of Denmark replicated this Mammen
outfit and in their “leopard” they used dark blue for outlining
 and the spots, gold for the ankles, belly stripe and tail
tuft, white for the teeth and an orange tongue and pupil.

I wanted to really make this tunic and outfit unique to my
 husband, so I opted to omit the leopard and instead put
 part of Padruig’s arms on the sleeves. I used the same colorings--dark blue
, gold, pale orange, white and medium brown--and put an eagle head on one
 sleeve and a rampart dragon on the other. I used the stem
 stitch for the embroidery, just as the museum did.







 Tablet Weaving

“The motif for this tablet-weaving "recipe" is based on a Viking
Age brocaded tablet-weaving pattern found on Bands 22 and 23 at Birka, Sweden.

Over 80 hours of weave time.
I ended up with 214 inches of finished weave that is ¾ an inch wide.



Pants



Lucet weave cord for the drawstring.

You can see the eyelets for the tie cord, the backside view
of the backstitching and the lucet weave tie cord.

 

The trousers from the Daetgen Mose are made from asymmetric and
irregularly shaped pieces fabric, made ill-fittingly as to provide comfort when riding horses.

Nille Glaesel in her book “Viking” states on page 108 that
 “Not many trousers are represented in Viking Age finds."

“Damendorf: Migration Period: …The seat of the trousers is made of a squarish piece of cloth and two triangular pieces provide fullness at the thigh."

Under Tunic

Under tunic, or men's smock, made out of 100%  linen, hand sewn with the "seam and fell" method with split sides. 

I found a second article written by Carol Priest-Dorman in 1997, titled “Viking Tunic Construction“, also written for the Eastern Kingdom. In the section where she was discussing making of the under tunic/men’s smock, she writes this about constructing them to allow movement; “side seams: slit, especially for men's smocks (definitely known from tenth- and eleventh-century Denmark); straight (definitely known from Migration Era Denmark); and straight with triangular gores inserted (definitely known from ninth- and tenth-century Sweden and tenth- and eleventh-century Denmark). Women's smocks and gowns almost always require gores. Men's riding coats require gores in order to achieve the fullness of skirt that is needed to ride a horse while wearing the coat; gores are optional on tunics and probably not needed on jackets. Men's smocks can have slit sides for greater freedom of movement.”

I chose to use do oversewing on all my seams and then a hem stitch to tack down the seam allowance, making it a very solid and secure felled seam. I learned of this specific technique in the Medieval Tailor’s Assistant, by Sarah Thursfield, 2001, on page 44,when she discusses seams and sewing. In her book she states, “1. Oversewing (top-sewing, seaming) For joining selvedges or folded edges on all kinds of material. If worked neatly and near the edge it will open out flat without the need for pressing. For each stitch, push the needle through only one or two threads away from the edge. Keep the stitches close together. When the seam is complete, flatten the stitches with your thumb or index finger nail. Oversewing should not be confused with overcasting, which is worked wide and loose over a raw edge to prevent it fraying.”

I have pictures! :)

All the stitching is done in the stem stitch, including the fill-in. The "faces" are worked in the same royal blue as before and the "leaves" are worked in white, pale orange ,medium brown and gold. There will be 60 "faces" when the "chain" is complete. I have thus far completed 21 of them. A third of the way done. Yay!

I admit I was very worried when I had just the "faces" done. My son asked me why I was stitching Squidward from Sponge Bob on Padruig's tunic. :) They were a bit creepy.

The pattern for the "faces"

Mr. Squidward

You can almost make out the different colors of the "leaves"

The next step was the addition of the "leaves". They are grouped in three and are stitched at every joining of the "faces". The alternating color pattern of white, orange, brown and gold draw in the coloring of the "beasts" very nicely. They are worked in the stem stitch, then filled in with same stitch. They are still a bit odd looking, but much better with "leaves" than plain. Not so much Mr. Squidward anymore. :)

Front shoulder by neckline

And then I set the tunic down and stepped back a few paces. Wow. Ok. Maybe they were on to something here. The wierdness of the "faces" and the strangeness of the "beasts" work very well together. The "chain" makes the colors of the animals pop and draws the eyes to them. It is a very stunning effect and dresses up this snazzy tunic quite a bit. Who knew?!

Back view with the "beasts"









    I am still alive. I am still working on the project. I was just sidetracked royally by buying a house, moving into house and then 10 days of house guests. Sigh. Happiness is that I started back on Padruig's tunic Sunday evening. Finished the two side seams (flat felling them) and started on the chain of "faces" that "drape" over the shoulders and down the front and back of the tunic. By themselves, the "faces" were a bit creepy and odd. After adding the leaves between them, they look a little better. I then set the tunic down and stepped back a few paces to look and WOW. The entire look is neat. :) Pictures are coming. At the rate I am stitching, the "chain" will be done by Sunday night and start on the under tunic.

These are the "beasts" and "tree" that I used for my pattern. This is a replica of what the museum used to embroider on their tunic that is on display. Rather funky looking "animals".

    I have finished what researchers have described as "paired beasts by a tree". One site documented they were deer, but I have never seen three toed deer with tails such as these. Three other sites simply called the animals "beasts". I am still researching why these creatures were on the Mammen Man tunic and what they are to represent. I am putting trust in the museum replica and re-doing the beasts as they worked them on Padruig's tunic. The "animals" are found centered on the upper back of the tunic, just below the neckline. The "beasts" and "tree" are also done in the stem stitch. About a gazillion stem stitches, I might add. Better pictures will be posted soon--that shows the entire "beast" and "tree". For some reason my latest pictures of the finished project cannot be found. Outsmarted by the computer, yet again.

You can almost see the three "toes"

    The "beasts" are worked in a checkerboard pattern of gold and orange. The stitches were done in a way to resemble the laying of fur. The puff at the end of the tail and head are worked in brown. Their legs are done in gold with a tear shaped orange segment on the upper portion of the leg. The mouths are worked in gold with white teeth and the eyes are royal blue. All outlines of the "beasts" are worked in white.    The "tree" has a royal blue base. The base "leaf" of the tree is also blue. The "trunk" is orange, outlined in blue. The two outer "leaves" are worked with brown threads, while the center "leaf" is orange. All the "leaves" are outlined with gold.
   

The back view of first "beast" and "tree".



Well. Finally. I am back. And alive. It has been a very busy and chaotic few weeks.


Since my last post, I have finished the dragon that is on the other sleeve. I used the same colors and stitches as I did the eagle. The embroidery is done in the stem stitch in royal blue for the body, gold for the claws and talons, orange for the tongue, brown for the scales and white teeth. This is the same colorings used for the leopard on the museum replica of the Mammen Man tunic.

The front view

The back view