I recently finished my first pleated-front aprondress.  I made this garment because Grave C27997 from Kaupang had layered smokkrs (aprondresses), with the innermost layer being a pleated garment.  (Ingstad, 162)  I love the look of the pleated dress layered under my handwoven, unpleated dress, but also decided that I very much like the garment on its own as well.

This version was made from lightweight linen, with the idea of being able to wear the garments layered even in warmer weather.  The cutting layout I chose was quite simple and produced a garment that has plenty of room for movement, while not giving too much volume to the hemline.  I added a bit of tailoring to the top of the side gores, but this is sill a loose, comfortable garment.  After making my dress, and wearing it, I realized there is s something exceptionally simple and functional about these pleated garments.  Pleats would be the absolute simplest manner of taking in a dress that is now too large, or letting out one in which you might need more room. 

Hilde Thunem has written rather extensively about the Kostrup dress, and her article can be found here: http://urd.priv.no/viking/kostrup.html  I will not reiterate her evidence in my piece, but intend to only add my thoughts on pleating that I see used in recreations, and what makes sense to me and what does not.

Before crafting my pleats I did some experimentation to get the size of the pleats correct.  Even though my dress is linen, I did experiment as well with wool.  I also did some research on my own on the extant pleated smokkrs from Kaupang, Kostrup and Vangsnes. 

The dress at Kaupang had pleats that were 4-5mm deep and was made from fine broken diamond twill (approx 88 threads per inch in the warp and 38 in the weft).  This textile is highly fragmented. 

Vangsnes B5265 has a larger fragment of pleated fabric as can be seen in the image below.  This was a wool tabby that had pleats 2-3mm deep.

Kostrup has the most compelling fragments and Hilde Thunem has the best images of those here:  http://urd.priv.no/viking/kostrup.html  That garment, like Vangsnes, was also a wool tabby.  The thread count is approximately 66 threads per inch in the warp and 25 in the weft.  The pleats there, according to Hilde Thunem, are 2-3 mm deep and 3 mm wide.  There is not enough left of the fabric to let us know how far down the pleats ran.

AnoThe Problem with Pleats

None of these dresses give much in the way of clues about how the pleats were crafted or secured. Things we do know are:

• There is no evidence of thread or stitching holding the pleats.
• There is no evidence of any sort of band sewn to the top or back of the pleats to let them keep their shape.
• There is lack of noticeable wear on the pleats and the fabric still has visible weave and texture.
• Two of the pleated fragments are hemmed at the top before pleating.
• The pleats are very narrow (2-5mm across all three samples).  Kostrup and Vangsnes are clearly stacked closely together and do not appear to lay flat.

Using Thread to Draw the Pleats
One theory, suggested by Rasmussen and Lønborg is that a linen thread was used to draw up and secure the pleats.  While no thread remains, linen might well have degraded in the grave leaving little or no trace.  Further, if indeed the garment was made in this manner it makes sense that a thread used for that purpose be of linen, rather than wool as wool would try to stick to itself and would catch making it difficult to form the pleats.  Linen, especially if waxed, glides though wool fabric easily.

The problem I have with this is after experimenting with this is that those pleats have a tendency to shift along the string with wear (unless they are very compact to begin with).  It is also very easy to break the the pleating thread or create a small pull or hole in the ground fabric.  However, it would be a fairly quick way to make the pleats and to secure them.

Steaming the Pleats
Quite a few people in online forums have have suggested that the pleats were set by steaming, causing the wool fabric to felt, thereby holding the pleats.  While steam can definitely be used to help set a pleat, it would not felt a textile to an extent that it would hold the shape of the pleats during wear at the edge of a garment (not and still have the individual threads in the weave still be plainly visible).

What do I mean by this?  If you make a wool skirt, create pleats and set them into a waistband and then steam it, those pleats will last some time.  However, without the waistband there, they will absolutely not hold shape to the waist, or in the case of an aprondress, hold shape at the bust.  The only way to get the pleats to maintain that shape would be to take the felting process much further than the evidence shows us as you can still see the weave in the cloth on these finds.  Even if one thought the garment was felted, I do not think there is enough felting to maintain shape without some other form of structural support.

Another option for steaming would be a more loose garment.  However, over time the weight of the wool itself would pull the pleats open, possibly in a sagging U shape to some extent.

Weaving/Steaming the Pleats
Another, more recent theory, suggested by Nille Glaesel is that the pleated portion of the dress is created on the loom.  The idea is that while weaving the dress fabric an additional linen weft is inserted periodically and then drawn together after weaving to create the pleats.  The textile is then steamed to set the the pleats and the strings are removed.  The problem with this is the same as I mentioned above.  The pleats are still not capable of holding shape at the bust.  Nille had to add a band to secure hers.  (Further, as a weaver, I find this far more tedious of a process than simply drawing the pleats on a thread after the garment is crafted.)

Bands at the Top or Behind
I see no clear evidence of a band sewn to the top of the garment, or even from the back, to keep the pleats from stretching open with wear though Nille Glaesel believes that blue linen found in the grave served that purpose.  My issue with this theory is that the reasoning behind weaving the pleats in to begin with is that there were no threads or holes left from a drawing thread or stabilizing thread.  Yet an assumption is being made that all of the threads holding this band on have since disappeared. 

Stabilizing Stitch
While there is no more evidence of this stitch than of the drawing thread, this is a practical solution that, to me, is at least plausible.  A careful seamstress could sew in the drawing thread without piercing the yarn of the textile (or, at least, without often doing it).  Likewise, Stitches added from behind could penetrate the web of the textile, without impaling individual weaving threads.  While I think it unlikely that all of this linen yarn would disappear in the grave, I find it far more likely than there being an entire band, plus its stitching, that disintegrated over time.

This is the solution I ended up using (and it is the same conclusion that others have come to as well).  We do not have the evidence to say that it was definitively done in this manner, but I feel that it is still more than plausible (and more plausible than some other possible solutions). 

I chose to use a method similar to that used on later Norwegian clothing where the pleats are drawn up on a thread, and whip stitched in place.

Unfortunately, I have seen no evidence for any of these types of pleats on any Viking garments.  (If you have seen something like this, I would love to see the sources.  I have looked through my collections of materials to no avail.)  While I do recognize that the "Swedish Poofy Pants" likely had some sort of pleating at the waist, we do not what what form that pleating took.  It might well have also been some sort of very tiny pleats or gathers.

I have to think that sometimes modern ideals guide these choices.  I know that there was a time that I never would have worn a pleated front dress (which looks to me very much like a maternity gown), preferring instead garments that were more tailored and flattering to a modern eye. 

Another reason that might prompt these choices is the wrong choice of fabric (and sometimes, this is unavoidable, as the right wools are frequently difficult to obtain).  The thread counts in the extant garments are very high.  These were fine wool textiles.  What we often buy as reenactors are much more coarse, and often our cloth also often has a brushed surface.  Thick fulled fabric will produce very bulky pleats that would appear quite off if they could even form a small enough pleat at all.  The bulk produced by these textiles can be very off-putting to many.  The fabrics to sometimes tend to conform nicely as deep, flat pleats, and that might be the reasoning behind some choices.


I plan to make another pleated dress out of a mid-weight linen for Pennsic and then eventually a wool one.  I enjoy the dress I made more than I thought I would and hope to explore additional possibilities for both the pleating and over all construction of the dress with each iteration.

References:

Blindheim, Charlotte. Kaupang-funnene, bind II, (University of Oslo), 1999.

Glaesel, Nille.  "The Kostrup Aprondress", 2015. 

Holm-Olsen, Inger Marie. “Noen gravfunn fra Vestlandet som kaster lys over vikingtidens kvinnedrakt”, Viking, 39, 1976.

Ingstad, Anne Stein.  “Two Women’s Graves with Textiles from Kaupang,” Universitetets Oldsaksamling 150 år, Jubileumsårbok, 1979

Rasmussen, Liisa and Lønborg, Bjarne. Dragtrester i grav ACQ, Køstrup, 1993.

Thunem, Hilde.  "Viking Women: Aprondress."  January 2011. http://urd.priv.no/viking/smokkr.html

Thunem, Hilde. "The aprondress from Kostrup (grave ACQ)."  April 2015.  http://urd.priv.no/viking/kostrup.html

Vedeler, Marianne, ‘Pleated Fragments of Clothing from Norway’, NESAT VIII, 1997.

I have made some updates to my Viking Textiles - A Deeper Look at Plaids, Stripes and Checks article.  Added in a bit more information I got about several pieces, as well as some possible weaving drafts of those for which I did not have images. 

Additionally, there is now a downloadable PDF at the end of the document that can be printed out to give a a rough sense of the scale for these plaids (since all monitors will show items differently, and many of the photos from the academic works are enlarged already).

http://awanderingelf.weebly.com/blog-my-journey/viking-textiles-a-deeper-look-at-plaids-stripes-and-checks

I am once again exploring new ways of patterning Viking Age garments.  I always have kept in mind the need to make as little waste as possible when patterning, but am looking to explore options that allow for even less fabric usage.  Another part of this experiment is also to look at the different lines and silhouette that I can get in a garment, and to possibly step further away from a modern mindset.

My early Viking aprondresses are pretty full at the hem.  I like full, swishy skirts and that carried over to my patterning.  My first dress had almost no waste at all and made a comfortable dress with a very, very full skirt. The front and back panels have flared bottom edges (based on the Hedeby fragment) and full triangular gores added to the sides.  I actually pretty quickly decided that the skirt looked odd, with such a full hem, and I took the gores out and made them more narrow.  I was more happy with it then, but looking at it now, I still think that the bottom hem is too full in proportion to the rest of the dress.

When I look at examples from Hedeby, the gores found there relatively narrow (even if you use two together), compared to some I have made.  The aprondress fragment also has a subtle flare than I tend to use.  Given that many people wear aprondresses that do not reach the floor, I think that a exceedingly full hem becomes unnecessary as movement would not be hindered by the skirt.

I have seen arguments about the width of hems in the period online.  Unfortunately, we, at this time, cannot truly settle that based on the evidence we currently have.  Frequently, someone will cite "conspicuous consumption" as the reasoning behind such full dresses.  I will grant that could well come into play with textiles in later time periods, but during the Viking age we are still looking at the possibility of a great deal of textiles still being woven in-home.  (And it is often at this point that it is mentioned that the families were large and it was more than one person doing the spinning and weaving.  Yes, but, those people then also need clothing.)  Even with the possibility of some local textile production (which has been considered possible for sites such as Birka), the time involved in crafting the cloth is still very high, and would still make it costly to purchase.

Imported fabrics were also available to those that could afford them.  I can only imagine that the cost for these goods was steep.  While I agree that a wealthy woman would likely had a more full hemline that that of a poor farmer's wife, I still do not think that, during this time period, that the skirts showed the excess use of textiles the way they would later in time.

So, based on my thoughts above, I am playing with additional patterns and making garments to see what I think of them after wearing them for a time.  Further, I am looking to play with a more subtle tailoring in the garments, to try to further step away from the cotehardie silhouette or an overall hourglass shape.

The beginning of this process is a dress I recently made with a pleated front based on the finds at Kaupang, Kostrop and Vangsnes.  I wear this now under my handwoven dress (as the pleated dress from Kaupang was found under an aprondress with a plain front).  The cut on it is only very slightly tailored from the bust to the waist at the side panels.  I am quite surprised at how much I like the final look of the garment.  The hem is not as excessive as some I have used in the past and this can be cut with absolutely no waste at all.

 I used a bit of leftover linen from a project 15 years ago last night to cut an exceptionally simple dress with a narrow hem (approx 68 inches, compared to the 34 inch bust while many of my previous dresses had hems in excess of 108 inches).  I will put it together tonight and give it a test this week to see what I think of the garment. 

I started (yet another) group for Viking Clothing on Facebook.  I hope that it becomes a place for reasonable discussion among those very new to the hobby as well as those who are taking things as far as they can with their representation of clothing from the Viking Age.

I belong to several other lists and they all have their good points, but I think there is room for another that might have a slightly different tone. 

The new group can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1679507109003473/

AEthelmearc artisans take note! There will be an A&S Championship at Pennsic again this year and TRH are going to be looking closely at the Kingdom's wonderful artisans. It is a wonderful experience and I highly recommend that everyone get take the time to display your work at any event you can. (Plus, it is always fantastic to take the time to get feedback and to geek with other artisans!)  You can read about it in the most recent AE Gazette post here:  http://aethelmearcgazette.com/2016/03/14/a-message-from-their-highnesses/

Some people thrive on competition, others absolutely fear it.  Fortunately, in the SCA on can really choose if you want to compete, or instead focus on open displays, as a means to share your work and get that all-important feedback.

A very talented artisan and friend from Atlantia, Gianette Veronese, penned a helpful post about displays and feedback after KASF this past weekend.  You can go have a look here:  https://sewinggeekblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/09/how-to-make-a-better-widget/

The event this weekend was fantastic.  The site was lovely and it was full of talented, engaging people who were always eager to discuss the arts and sciences.  I spent almost the entire day in the Pentathlon room with my display, which was great as I got an opportunity to get personal feedback from the judges in addition to that that was left on their forms.  I did not win, but I feel that I did well.  Most of my entries were very well received.  One serves its purpose well in general, but was likely not the best item to enter in this competition (at least, not without some additional analysis, which I tried to do, but did not know exactly how to do it well enough, quickly).  I also got some additional information for resources from the food judges so that I can continue to play with period cooking. 

In all, the experience was completely fantastic and I would definitely consider something like this again.  Further, I would also encourage others to do so when ready.  For Persona Pentathlons, you typically create five items, and they often have to range across several categories (categories differ by Kingdom and competition).  All items have to related to one persona (so they would belong to a specific time and place and social status).  It is a pretty cool way to look at things and I learned a good deal just by putting together my entries.

I know a lot of people who live in or near Kingdoms with this type of competition talk about putting together an entry and to them I say, "Do it!"  I do, however, suggest that you do a few things along the way.

• Document your process.  Take photos of your process each step of the way.  Judges often love to see how YOU did it, in addition to hearing (from your written documentation) how it was done in period.
  
• Document the item fully, as you go.  In Atlantia, where this particular competition was held, EZ Doc is permissible, but it would never be enough to support am intense competition like this.  I used appendixes in the back of several of my books to give additional information on topics (so that the judges could read it if they chose, or opt out if they felt they got enough information elsewhere).  Use as many primary or period resources as possible.
  
• Be organized.  I used tabs in my books and a summary/contents page at the beginning of each entry.  Several people thanked me for that.
  
• Double check your items, are they displayed to their best advantage?  Are all the finishing touches complete? 
  
• Go into a competition like this with the expectation that you will get useful feedback to help further improve your projects.  If you are lucky, you will get a great deal of feedback.
  
• Enjoy the process of further exploring a single persona!
  

Photos of my display are below.  I am happy that I saw several of these things through a long transition of learning, altering, editing and I feel like I brought my best with some of these entries.  Now to take my next steps and start doing additional research and creating new items for future displays. 

I was so incredibly busy talking to people about my display that I barely made it out of the Pent room until it was time for Court.  (I will add here that I was completely stunned during Court when I was called forward to receive a Silver Nautilus from their Majesties. I thought that being from out-of-Kingdom meant I was "safe"!  It was, however, a deep honor to be presented with the award.)  I did make it into the main hall a few times and took some photos of of a few of my own favorite displays.

My spinning class in the Barony of Dun Carraig (Atlantia) went quite nicely this past weekend.  There were nine people that came and I think that everyone had a good time.  I had a chance to show some period style spindles, as well as my array of modern ones.  Several people also experimented with combing or carding wool, in addition to spinning.  At the very end I demonstrated how to use a spinning wheel, but no one was willing to give it a try. 

For the class I crafted some quick wooden spindles made from wagon wheels, dowels and cup hooks.  This is what I used when I started spinning, but I opted to use a much larger wheel as a whorl.  The longer spin makes these much more manageable for new spinners, I think, than the smaller, lighter wheels.  (I used 2.75" wheels with 3/8" shafts.) 

I look forward to teaching spinning again in the future!

And this weekend is KASF:  http://sudentorre.atlantia.sca.org/jmla/index.php/activities/events/kingdom-a-s

I am entering the Persona Pentathlon competition.  For this, you need to enter five items, at least three of which have to be in different categories.  This has pushed me to do something I rarely do (cooking and food documentation) and it has been the impetus to wrap up some long standing other projects.  Mostly though, I am looking forward to going to an event this weekend and to hanging out geeking all day about A&S stuff.  I might also be taking part in various demos for newcomers while there, including hand sewing and spinning.

And that means next week I can breath easy and get some things cleaned up around the house!  After that, I plan to, at last, start some new garb and some weaving to make a Hedeby purse.