Viking clothing – Medieval Musgrave

Viking Coat Tutorial

Hello! Long time so see! I am back with another tutorial for you all! Today I will be sharing with you how to make a Viking Coat, something I have been wanting to add to my collection for a while now.

Before we get into the tutorial, I would like to announce that I have started a YouTube channel! (*excited cheers*). This tutorial is in video form if you are interested in checking it out!

Click here to see the video below! Hope you love it 🙂

Brief History

The Birka site was a treasure trove for archaeologists. It was there that fragments of a garment believed to be a coat were found. It would’ve most likely been a mens coat, however, who’s to say a woman didn’t steal her mans clothes back then too 😉

For fabric, I would suggest choosing wool, I get my wool from Super Cheap Fabrics. Herringbone weave has been found at such sites too, so that would be a safe choice! I went with a basic wool with no identifiable weave, in a brown colour, something easily accessible. Don’t forget though! The vikings had access to an array of fun and bright colours, I just chose to go with a colour I could wear with ANY of my outfits.

It is thought that – like many other Norse clothing items, that the coat was trimmed with either silk, or tablet woven trim.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find any images from the Birka site, however I did find a bunch of gorgeous recreations made by other people in the community.

Tutorial

Measurements

For this project you will need…

Bust: Measure your full bust divided in half, this number will be the width of your back piece (pattern piece A). Divide your half bust measurement in half again, then add a little extra – I added an extra 10cm to this number, this will be the front half of your coat (pattern piece B) you will need 2 of these rectangles

Shoulder to mid calf: (or how ever long you want your coat to be).

Bicep: Make sure to flex those muscles when measuring 😉 this will be your width for the sleeve (pattern piece C), if you’re planning on wearing your coat over multiple layers, make this measurement bigger.

Shoulder to wrist: This will be the length of your sleeve (pattern piece C)

Waist to desired coat length: This will help make your gores, you can choose however wide you want them to be, I went with 35cm roughly.

*HOT TIP* don’t forget to add seam allowance to all these measurements!

Pattern Layout

I have learnt a new trick for figuring out how to lay all your pattern pieces out for your project! And it uses Excel. Open up a spread sheet, and using your calculator divide the width of your fabric by 5. Whatever the answer is, is how many columns you will turn to squares, each square represents 5cm. Now do the same for your length. Then you can add the pieces of your pattern with your measurements in mind.

I have added both an illustration of the pattern layout and a screenshot of my excel sheet for reference. For this project I used wool that was 150cm wide and ordered myself 2.5m, although 2m would’ve been just fine for me!

Sewing

Step 1. To begin this project, we will be sewing the sleeves together. This will be done the exact same way as the Viking Dress. Begin by sewing one of your armpit gussets (I recommend between 12cmx12cm or 14x14cm for this) to one of the long sides of your sleeve.

Step 2: This is a little tricky to explain… but sew the adjacent side of the gusset – the one right next to the one you sewed – to the other long side of your sleeve… there is a video for this on the viking dress tutorial. Once sewn, continue your stitch so it sews both long sides of the sleeve together

It should look like this when it’s laid flat.

Step 3: Sew your shoulder seams by attaching both of pieces B to piece A. It should look like this if you’re trying it on:

Step 4: grabbing your half gores, sew them together along the straight edge, so you have two full triangles.

Step 5: we will now attach this gore to pieces A and B. Sewing up the side a little bit, but not too much. It should look like this:

Step 6: Now to add the sleeves. Slide them in so right sides are together, and pin around the edge of the arm hole and sew. When finishing the sleeve, be sure to close and gap present on the side.

Congrats! You’ve constructed your coat! Now to finish it off and make it look pretty!

Step 7: The hemming. This bits easy so don’t worry. Simply roll the raw edge over twice, pin then sew! I did this all in one go, starting at the bottom of one end of the coat.

That’s it your done! Unless you want to do the optional step 8 of adding in some tablet woven trim (I get mine from GewandUndTand on Etsy) along to front! Close it off with a brooch and you’re ready to hit the town! (You can also wear this as an oversized cardigan too)

I would love to see how your coat turned out! So be sure to tag me on instagram @medievalmusgrave. I’ll see you in the next one (which will hopefully be soon). Happy sewing!

Buy me a coffee : )

Viking Apron Dress (Hangerok)

Hello! Welcome back! Namely to around the 10th Century. Today I will be showing you how to make a viking apron dress.

Brief History

The apron dress was used as an overgarment, that was fastened together by two tortoise brooches at the front.

The apron dress goes by multiple different names such as trägerrock and hängerock and smokker. There have been many different dig sites that have each unveiled new information. At the Birka site the fragments of the hängerock are small, but they do tell us that they were made of wool. The original colour of wool is hard to identify as it ages, as it can be stained by the body decomposition and the soil, but they have found evidence of a dark blue and dark brown wool (I used dark brown for my garment). They have also found evidence of linen hängerocks.

As mentioned before the hängerock was fastened with two loops that would be held together by a brooch. Linen, wool and even silk loops have been found in graves, with some of the loops having an extra bit of fabric on the inside to add strength, this has mostly been seen in the silk loops.

Decorative trim has also been found, thought to have hidden the top stitches of the hängerock. Silk, tablet woven trim, wool string, and braided string has been found, with some of the finds leading archaeologists to believe tools were hung from these trims.

If you would like to read more on viking hängerocks check out this page here.

Tutorial

Alright! Let’s jump into making this hängerock. For this project, I used around 1.5m of dark brown wool, which as discussed above has been found at burial sites.

Below is the pattern for your hängerock. How easy?

For this project you will need the following measurements:

Bust – all the way around divided by 2 (piece A)
Just above the bust to around mid shin – you can change where you’d like it to finish based on your personal preference (piece A)
Strap length x 2 – just lay your measuring tape over your shoulder, so the back lines up with the top of your bust and it finishes just below your collar bone roughly (add a few centimetres for luck) For the width I used around 8cm, again you can change this, just make it 2x wider than what you want the finished strap to be (piece B).

Now that you have all of your measurements, lets get started:

Step 1: Begin by sewing the sides of pieces A together on the sides, to around your waist.

Not pictured, but fold down the top of the fabric and fold it down to create a clean edge. Repeat this for the sides and bottom. I’d recommend using a whip stitch.

Step 2: Fold each side of piece B.1 and B.2 towards the middle so that they meet next to each other, and sew them together to create a long tube.

Step 3: Fold the new rectangles in half and sew together. You can see what it should look like from the side at the top left of the image.

Step 4: Fold both piece B.1 and B.2 in half. Leaving a gap at the fold, sew the two sides together, so that the finished pieces will lay flat. I would recommend a ladder stitch.

Step 5: Sew both of pieces of B.1 on the back of piece A, closer to the centre but not entirely in the centre.

Sew both pieces of B.2 to the front of piece A so that they sit inline with your breasts.

Both loops should meet together.

Step 6: Decoration time! Now you can add your brooches and tablet woven trim. I got my brooches off of amazon which you can find here! But you can find way more options on amazon.

For my tablet woven trim I got mine off of Etsy. I put my tablet woven trim on the top and bottom of my hängerock.

And that’s it! You’re done, easy as pie! There are other styles you can do where the hängerock has side gores similar to the viking dress I made, but I chose not to make that style this time around.

You can finish off your look with a belt bag/pouch (I bought mine from a re-enactor at the Abbey Medieval Festival) and a belt. The belt seen in my pictures is not very accurate, women were thought to have worn belts made from a long tablet woven trim rather than leather, but leather belts would’ve been a lot thinner in width.

I would love to see your creations on instagram, so be sure to tag me @medievalmusgrave

Buy me a coffee : )

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Viking Dress Tutorial

Hello! Welcome back! Today I will be showing you how to make a Viking dress. This pattern consists of three shapes; rectangles, triangles and two squares. How easy!

Brief History

Unfortunately there isn’t much artwork of Vikings or their clothing, or much available information on females clothing.

What we do know is the materials their clothing was made from, such as wool and flax! This dress is meant to be worn as an undergarment and is thought to have been a plain or natural colour, but don’t let that stop you! There’s nothing to say they didn’t use bright colours as they had lots of dying options.

Plants used for dying clothing included:

Woad to get blue
Madder to get red
Hedge Bedstraw to get orange or rose
Heather and scentless mayweed for yellow
Greater knapweed for green and many more

look at all the bright and beautiful colours!

Tutorial

Alright! Let’s get stuck in to making this dress! For this dress I chose to use a woollen herringbone fabric, a fabric that is thought to have a similar weave to Viking age clothes.

Below is the pattern for your dress, much like other clothing from the Middle Ages, it’s very simple! (P.S do you like the new style?)

For this project you will need the following measurements (refer to above image to see where they apply if you’re a more visual learner);

Full Bust divided by 2 – this will be the width of your rectangular body piece (A), you will need 2 of these pieces.
Shoulder to floor – I recommend having the top of your tape measure on the floor and hold the rest on the centre of your shoulder. This will be for the length of your rectangular body piece (A).
Shoulder to wrist – this will be the length of your sleeve (B).
Bicep circumference – this will be the width of your sleeve (B).
Waist to floor – or for a little extra room measure from your undercuts to the floor. To find your waist, bend to the side and where your skin folds is your waist (D)
Pattern piece C is 10cm x 10cm, and this is what I would recommend, but feel free to make this bigger.
For the base of my gores (D) I used the measurement of 35cm, but if you would like a wider dress circumference, make this bigger.

Now that you have all your measurements, here is a recommended pattern layout, not entirely to scale but it’s a good guideline:

Construction

Alright lets get sewing!

Step 1: Begin by sewing piece A together at the shoulders. Be sure to leave room for your head!

Step 2: Mark out a neckline shape with chalk or washable fabric marker, I recommend doing this while wearing your garment. From the centre of your neckline, draw a 2 inch (4.5cm) line. Cut this out once you’re happy with the shape.

Step 3: Moving onto the sleeves! Sew one side of C to the length of B, as pictured.

Throughout all the sleeve steps, overlap each stitch to avoid holes.

Step 4: Now sew side 1 (as pictured) of piece B to side 2 (as pictured) of piece C.

It should make piece C look like a diamond when attached.

Step 5: when the sleeve is folded in half it should look like a triangle.

With the sleeve folded in half, sew down to the wrist. Repeat these steps for the other sleeve.

Step 6: Now to attach the sleeves to the body!

With right sides together, pin the sleeves to the body with the top of your sleeve on the shoulder seam, and sew.

Step 7: Now to attach the gores (D)!

Starting from the bottom of the dress attach one side of D to the front of A, and the other side of D to the back of D.

Once gores are attached, sew the side seams between the armpit and top of the gores closed.

Congrats! The construction is complete!

Step 8: Now to make things neat.

Fold the sides of the split on your neckline inwards, twice, so it is rolled under itself.

Pin and sew down with a whip stitch.

TIP! to avoid seeing stitches on the outside of your dress, only pick up a small amount of fabric when sewing it down.

Step 9: With the rest of the neckline, fold it inward twice, so it’s rolled under itself, just like the slit.

Pin and sew with a whip stitch.

Repeat this to hem the wrists, and skirt of the dress.

Step 10: To lay all the inseams flat, I used a blanket stitch and hand stitched all of the seams down to one side.

Time consuming, but so worth it!

Step 11: Add your tablet woven trim!

I got mine from Etsy, you can get the same one here!

I just whip stitched this to the neckline and wrists of my dress, but you can also add this to the hem!

Congratulations! You’re finished! I’m sure it looks great! Be sure to tag me on instagram if you share your creation @medievalmusgrave, I’d love to see it!

Buy me a coffee : )

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Viking Tunic

Hello! Welcome back! Today I will be showing you how to make a viking tunic.

This garment, like other items of clothing from the early Middle Ages, are incredibly easy to make. You only use rectangles and triangles.

Brief History

Viking tunics, were an everyday item of clothing for both men and women, and were between mid thigh and knee length. Made from wool, flax, linen or animal skins, they were made in the home by women, and often decorated with tablet woven trims.

Many people think that the Middle Ages would’ve had dull colours, by Vikings loved their colour! They would use plants to dye their clothing:

Woad to get blue
Madder to get red
Hedge Bedstraw to get orange or rose
Heather and scentless mayweed for yellow
Greater knapweed for green and many more

Just look at all of those beautiful colours!

Tutorial

Alrighty let’s get started! For this tutorial I created a key:

Here is the pattern for your tunic.

For this project you will need the following measurements:

Chest – width of piece A
Shoulder to mid thigh/knee x2 – for length of piece A
Shoulder to wrist (arm length) – for length of piece B
Bicep circumference – for width of piece B
Head circumference

For the gores, I made the width 48cm (with seam allowance) and 65cm tall (with seam allowance). The gussets for the armpit were 10cm x 10cm.

Recommended fabric layout:

Construction

With all your pattern pieces cut out, lets get started!

Step 1: Sew one side of piece C to the length of piece B

Step 2: Sew side A to side B, to create a diamond shape.

Step 3: Sew down the length of your sleeve. It should look like this when laid flat.

Step 4: Pin your tunic piece where the middle line is.

Step 5: Sew in your sleeves with right sides together, matching the top of the shoulder to your pinned shoulder seam.

Step 6: Using your head circumference, mark out your neckline, with a 1.5 inch line in the centre front, to create that ‘v’ shape.

Step 7: Add in your side gores. Start sewing from the bottom up, then close the gap between the armpit and top of the gore.

Step 8: On your neckline, fold the sides of the ‘v’ slit to one side, and fold it over once more. Whip stitch this down to created a felled seam. You will need to create lots of tiny stitches at the point of the ‘v’ to prevent ware and tear.

Step 9: Fold over each of your hems twice, and whip stitch them down.

*Optional* step 10: Sew on some decorative tablet woven trim to the neckline and cuffs of your sleeves. I got mine from GewandUndTand on Etsy

And just like that you’re done! What’s that? You want a bonus? Well ok… here’s how I made the pants for my partner.

Quick and Simple Pants

I had no idea how to make pants and that was scary for me, so I found a pattern that looks like this online, but I can’t find the original source now…