I've been working really hard on piecing together all the bits for a Viking outfit. I'm going to an event at the start of May and fancied wearing something different, so Viking it is!!
I spent a while researching suitable head wear for the outfit, and decided on a Jorvik hood. As I love all types of historical embroidery, of course my hood had to be covered in some pretty embroidery.
In total there is 24 inches of embroidery around the front of the hood, which is made from linen. I have used the 'acanthus vine' pattern for the embroidery. This pattern was originally found on clothing in burial mound at Bjerringhøj, in Mammen parish, Middelsom, in northern Denmark and is dated to the 10th Century. The find was one of the largest collections found of Viking embroidery. For more information on the pattern and other extant examples of Viking embroidery check out this site -
I drew the pattern onto the linen, and started the embroidery by stitching the whole outline. I tried to stick as closely as possible to the colours in the original find. The pattern is worked totally in silk embroidery thread. The outline has been worked in stem stitch and has been filled in with a variation of long and short stitch, and stem stitch. Once the white outline was finished the pattern seemed to fill in really quickly.
The hood has also been lined with linen, and the two pieces of linen were hand stitched together.
And here's a shot of the hood on. (Apologies for aspects of the photo not being historically accurate.) Very much looking forward to wearing it at an event now :)
Vicki x
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