Blue Wool Cotehardie

I have a few more pictures of this project than I want to include in the Gallery section, so please excuse the extremely belated post!

I hand-sewed this cotehardie in 2004, after getting the wool from a vendor at an outdoor shopping center in Leicester, England while I was studying in London. This project was a huge learning experience for me, as I didn't know many stitch types at the time and the running stitch seams were very weak and prone to ripping.

I no longer have the dress, as I sold it to another SCAdian in the Barony of Three Mountains before I moved back to Alaska for my first year of teaching in Togiak. The cotehardie was either a six or eight gore style, with significant inspiration taken from the Herjofsnes finds. It was faced in silk, and all the eyelets for the spiral-lacing were sewn by hand as well.

I still have the belt, which was my first successful inkle weaving project. My heraldry features a bee, which inspired the color choice and pattern. The hardware set is the Rose Buckle and Strap End (1250 - 1550 AD) from Fettered Cock Pewters, and fits the period of my original persona.

The veil is a linen oval, also sewn entirely by hand. At the time, I did not yet have access to linen thread. It was sewn using a quilter's cotton.

The circlet in the images above was made by my friend Deanna, who introduced me to the SCA at the Barony of Winter's Gate's Yule Celebration in 2000.