Embroidered Viking Pouch By Sighni Ivarsdotter http://www.northernneedle.net/
For this pouch, you will need: One piece of wool felt, 6” x 11” A pen or pencil Tear-away interfacing Basting thread Wool appliqué needle for embroidery Large-eyed needle for cord Paternayan crewel yarn in assorted colors 2 yards of cord or braid
Based on an extant pouch from Hedeby finds, the original pouch was made from a poor-quality leather. In order to embroider embroider on the pouch, I have substituted the leather with wool felt. Wool felt is a thick fabric that does d oes not fray. However, wool felt is similar to leather in that too many holes from dense stitching can weaken the fabric. In order to compensate for this, this, I transferred transferred my design to a thick interfacing, and stitched over it. This helped helped stabilize the wool felt, and also also Sketches based on Hedeby find. helped with the ease of transferring the design to http://www.vikingsonline.org.uk/resources/ the fabric. authenticity/basickit/basickit14.html
Taking the First Steps Although the kit was intended for pouches, there is enough wool felt included in the kit to use it for pincushions, pincushions, needlebooks, or a variety of of other projects. Make the project your own! To make a pouch, cut out out the paper pattern. pattern. Using the paper paper pattern, cut out a pouch from the wool felt.
Ivarsdotter 2
Choosing and Transferring Your Design The patterns in this kit are all taken from a Dover book, Viking Designs: CD-ROM and Book . Feel free to use these patterns, patterns, or design design your own. own. There are many other Viking and Norse pattern books on the market. As mentioned earlier, the design is first transferred to the interfacing before being applied to the fabric. fabric. Once you choose your your design, simply lay the interfacing interfacing on top top of the image, and transfer it to the interfacing with a pen or pencil. Decide whether you want the design centered in the front, with the seam in the back, or if you want the seam on the side. Eventually the seams will be decorated with embroidery, so it only matters if you want that embroidery visible on the front. Secure the interfacing to the pouch with simple basting stitches.
Stitching the Design The Vikings used a variety of techniques for their embroidery. The kit is intended intended to be worked in Stem Stitch, as there are several extant pieces worked with Stem Stitch utilized as a filling stitch. Start with outlining one section of your chosen pattern. Fill in the section with stem Viking embroidery worked in stem stitch. stitches. Continue onto onto the next next section. section. http://heatherrosejones.com/mammen/index.html Once the entire design is completed, rip away the extra interfacing.
Sewing the Pouch Once the embroidery is completed, completed, you’ll need to complete your pouch. pouch. To complete the pouch as shown, put the right sides of the pouch together, and stitch along the seam allowance. Turn the pouch right-side right-side out.
Doing Seam Treatments Seams are everywhere, and the Vikings loved to accentuate them. Stitching was frequently worked in the same fiber as the fabric (wool on wool, linen on linen), but was often worked in a contrasting thread (Walton, p. 130). This was either a
Ivarsdotter 3 deliberate choice for stylistic purposes, or was because the Viking woman was thrifty, and simply used what she had available. Seams could be decorated on the outside and the inside of the clothing. The stitching found on the seams could be purely functional, simply holding the garment together. Or seams might be decorated with a thin cord or a fine braid. Some seams seams were were decorated with fine silver wire. Other seams, such as the one found on the Mammen cushion, were functional and decorative. Hems were decorated as well, either by stitching, or by binding the raw edge in silk ribbon or fabric. To work the pouch as in the sample, use the Mammen Cushion Stitch. It is a durable stitch that binds the seams from both the front and the back. Or, you can embroider the seam in Blanket Stitch, like on the Viking coat.
A sleeve of a Viking-style coat, worked with silk edging on the hem. hem. Blanket Stitch is worked around the edge of the appliqué and on the outside of the seams. Garment and embroidery by Mistress Catherine Lorraine of Stonegate Manor.
Finishing the Pouch Once you’ve completed the designs and the seam treatment, finish the raw edge of the pouch in a style of your choosing. The class sample was worked with Blanket Stitch over the edge. The last thing you you will need to do is is run your cord. The original pouch was in leather, and had a leather thong. Holes were punched in the leather at the required size, and the laces were run through the holes. holes. Since the project pouch pouch is intended for embroidery scissors and is not meant for heavy wear and tear of an everyday pouch, the cord used on the pouch does not need to be very thick. In order to make the pouch work, the number of holes needs to be divisible by four. Use a pencil to mark mark the holes, and simply sew your cord through with a needle.
Ivarsdotter 4
Stitches Glossary Basting stitch Used to hold the interfacing to the fabric. It is usually worked in long stitches, in a simple over-under over-under pattern. The basting stitch is meant to be a temporary stitch.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Stem Stitch Used as an outlining stitch or a filling stitch. To work Stem Stitch, come up at 1, and go down at 2. Pull the needle until only a small loop remains on the front of the work. With your free hand, hold the loop downwards. Come up at 3, ensuring that the needle enters the fabric fabric ABOVE the last stitch. Pull the needle, tightening the slack from the last stitch. Continue stitching stitching until the design design area is filled. http://www.dmc.com/majic/pageServer/08010101w1/en_US/lets-stitch.html
Blanket Stitch Also known as Buttonhole Buttonhole Stitch. Used on the edges of the pouch as decoration. To work the stitch, start at A. If you’re working working on an open edge, do a small tacking stitch to secure the thread t hread in place. Decide how wide and how long you intend to make your stitches. This determines determines where B is. Plunge the needle needle into the fabric at B. When you come back up at C, be sure to pull the needle through the loop made by b y the previous stitch. http://www.anniesattic.com/cross-stitch/content.html?content_id=46
Ivarsdotter 5 MAMMEN CUSHION STITCH This stitch was worked in wool over the seams of a wool cushion. Although not originally a counted stitch, I have adapted it as such for the t he ease of teaching the stitch. For the class sampler, sampler, the stitch is worked in Paternayan crewel wool. To start, come up at 1, then go down eight threads, and over twelve. t welve.
The Mammen cushion stitch. (Hald, p. 283) 283)
Drop down two threads, cross back to the left left column, and and come back up at 3. Cross back to the right column, and go up eight threads. Go in at 4
The pattern then repeats itself: change columns, go down two, change columns, down eight
change columns, go down two, change columns, up eight: :
Ivarsdotter 6 Again: change columns, go down two, change columns, down eight:
change columns, go down two, change columns, up eight:
After three complete stitches, the pattern starts to fill itself in.
Ivarsdotter 7
Scissors Pouch pattern, based on Hedeby Hede by finds Adapted from the pattern found at: http://www.vikingsonline.org.uk/resources/authenticity/basickit/basickit14.html
Cut one. When adding cord, remember to keep the hole count divisible by four.
½ “ seam allowance for fabric pouch. The extant pouch was made from leather, and and therefore required no seam allowance.
Ivarsdotter 8
Ivarsdotter 8
Ivarsdotter 9
abcdefghij klmno
pqrstu vwxyz
Ivarsdotter 10 Bibliography DMC (2008). Mammen Let’s Stitch. Retrieved December 10, 2008, from DMC: http://www.dmc.com/majic/pageServer/08010101w1/en_US/lets-stitch.html DRG (2008). Annie’s Attic – Blanket Stitch. Retrieved December 10, 2008, from Annie’s Attic: Innovative Craft Designs: http://www.anniesattic.com/crossstitch/content.html?content_id=46 Dover Publications (2002). Viking Designs: CD-ROM and Book. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc. Ewing, T. (2006). Viking Clothing. Stroud, Gloucestershire:Tempus Publishing Limited. Hald, M. (1980). Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs and Burials. (J. Olsen, Trans.) Copenhagen: The National Museum of Denmark. Jones, H. R. (September 6, 2005). Mammen Embroidery: Embroidery from the Tenth Century Viking Grave at Mammen Denmark. Retrieved December 11, 2008, from Heather Rose Jones: http://heatherrosejones.com/mammen/index.html Priest-Dorman, C. (1997, March 27). Viking Embroidery Stitches and Motifs. Retrieved September 4, 2008, from Viking Resources for the Re-enactor: http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/vikembroid.html Stum, M. (n.d.). Dark Age Stitch Types. Retrieved November 12, 2008, from The Vikings: Norse Film and Pageant Society: http://www.42nddimension.com/NFPS/nfps_stitches.html Vikings, The (1999-2008). Manufacture Of The Heddeby (sic) Half Circular Pouch. Retrieved December 01, 2008, from The Vikings: Saxon, Norman, Celtic & Viking Re-Enactment: http://www.vikingsonline.org.uk/resources/authenticity/basickit/basickit14.html Walton, Penelope. “Needlework from Jorvik.” Embroidery 36 (1985): 130-131.
