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Scandinavian National Dress

9/13/2014

I find it very interesting that some countries make a point of keeping the wearing of traditional dress alive and some don't. On my visit to Sweden and Norway this summer I wanted to find out about traditional dress, since I was exploring my Swedish roots (from my father's side) this trip.

My mother's family (back a couple generations) comes from southern Germany. This is a photo my husband took 18 years ago when we took our summer vacation there. The Germans love to dress in dirndls and lederhosen. We saw people all over, even as audience members at the theater dresses this way.

I made a point of shopping for fabrics, patterns and buttons so I could make my own when I got back home. They are SUPER expensive to buy ... yes, that's me 18 years ago!

My Swedish cousin said they didn't really wear the national costume much. BUT, when I got to Norway, I started seeing stores all over the place wear you could buy the national costume for the whole family! Cool!

The Norwegians seem to like to dress traditionally for festivals and special occasions like the Germans do.

Bunad (Norwegian plural: bunader) is a Norwegian umbrella term encompassing, in its broadest sense, a range of both traditional rural clothes (mostly dating to the 19th and 18th centuries) as well modern 20th-century folk costumes.

Wikipedia article about Norwegian National dress.

We saw a group of people wearing the Bunad when we visited Oslo's spectacular City Hall. It looked like they were celebrating a christening. There was a tiny baby in a christening gown. I REALLY wanted to ask to take a better photo that this one I secretly took, but I really couldn't barge into their party!

The Norwegians even dress in the different regional styles. I imagine they dress according to where their family was originally from.

Sweden, too, had different styles all around the country back in the day, as this illustration shows. But they don't seem to have kept the tradition alive the same way as Norway has.

According to what I've just read on line, rural people in Sweden in the early 20th Century would have still been wearing clothes like this. I wonder what my great-grandfather was wearing as he stepped off the boat in 1901?

The Swedes who do dress up on their National Day now seem to wear a kind of homogenized blue and yellow outfit like this. It's a very different philosophy of national tradition.

But why is this? I've been trying to figure out how the Swedes and Norwegians are different. From the outside so much of their culture seems the same ... hmmm. I know some of you reading these blogs know more about Scandinavia than I do. I would love some thought on this subject. I find it fascinating.

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Viking Tablet weaving

9/10/2014

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More about Scandinavia ... VIKINGS!

Look closely at this photo to see the person standing at the far side of the ship to get an idea of the size of it.

You know, only a very small percentage of Vikings were the kind that marauded, pillaged and plundered. They had families and built homes, buried their dead (in large ships like this if the dead person was a king) AND they wove cloth.

They also built amazing Stave Churches when they began to convert to Christianity in the 12th Century. More about Stave Churches.

But back to the photo of the 13th Century Viking ship taken at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. It was built and used to bury a Viking Chief and was filled with all the things needed to survive in the after life, such as chariots, furniture, cooking vessels and weaving equipment, such as these weaving cards.

AH! I stand corrected by an astute and wonderful reader. Read the comment section below for the name of this contributor.

"The Oseberg ship is not 13th century but 9th century and was used to bury two women, not a chief. So all that stuff was for women, not men! That's why there's so much lovely textile stuff in there."

Here is chunk of actual Viking cloth! See, they had gingham, too.

But, here is a closer look at the cards.

And a very close look at what was woven using these cards

Similar woven braids from the 18th - 19th century at the Norwegian Cultural Museum.

Now, I thought that these cards used for weaving were a kind of primitive Jaquard weaving like I showed you on Monday. See blog on Swedish Linen.

But, after a bit of research, I know better. The technique is very different, but really interesting. First watch this Youtube video, appropriately done by a Swedish lady.

Quote from the Swedish video ...

"Tablet weaving by my way to do it. Sorry, but the speak is in swedish but I think you will understand the pictures."

This video makes it easier to understand, being in English and an easier pattern is being woven.

There are LOTS of Youtube videos showing how to do this, including how to set the loom up and get started. But below is a link to a Wikipedia article explaining it, too.

Wikipedia explanation of Card Weaving

Hmmm ... I want to learn to do this! Maybe when I retire ... ha ha.

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Swedish Linen

9/8/2014

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I didn't bring home as many souvenirs and craft items from my recent trip to Scandinavia as I did when I traveled to south east Asia last summer. The exchange rate wasn't quite as favorable ... AND this was a trip to get to know my newly discovered Swedish relative and to hike the fjords.
But, my wonderful Swedish cousin brought me to a famous linen weaving shop, not too far from his home. I bought this lovely table mat above and got to see weaving in action ... the old fashioned way and using modern machines.

We visited KLÄSSBOLS LINNEVÄVERI, which is Swedish for Klassbols Linen Weavery.
The Swedish royal family get their table cloths and napkins from here.

Visit their website ... you can even buy on line, if you want!

You can even buy the linen thread if you are a weaver. Here is their description of the yarn. Almost every Swede I met spoke excellent English, but sometimes it just comes out funny sounding.

YARN
Now we also sell yarn for you that weaves by your self.
Each barrel has about 100 g flax 17.

I wish I could get yarn that weaves by myself ...

They weave all sorts of cloth for table use and home decoration, but what they are famous for is their Damask. Here is an explanation from the website.

Damask - weaving fit for a prince
The artistic weaving technique known as damask is said to have first been created in Damascus, from where it has also derived its name. It was the fabric woven for the fine clothing of princes and for purely decorative purposes. Today, damask is still regarded as one of the most elegant woven cloths.

To cultivate, dress, spin and weave linen is an ancient art in Sweden, but the art of weaving patterned linen was hardly known here before the seventeenth century. Though, of course, the "hey-day" of lovers of beautiful things tempted skilful weavers here too. Queen Hedvig Eleonora ordered a large amount of tablecloths and napkins from some weavers in Stockholm in the year of 1696. This ensured that the Swedish linen damask industry got properly underway.

These card have holes, kind of like the holes in a player piano role or on the barrel of a music box. I'm told old computer punch cards were based on these.

The weaver uses foot pedals to progress from card to card.

The cards control these strings and weights that lift up different groups of the warp treads (lengthwise threads) and then the shuttle is passed through the space created.

Little by little the pattern emerges.

But, lovely and interesting as that is, the bulk of the weaving is done on modern machines.

I found it so interesting that we were allowed to walk around, without supervision in this area. We were just expected to stay behind the yellow and black striped line. In the US, I think, we would have been more restricted.

This place was fascinating and LOUD ... look at the headgear of the worker on the right.
These machines work on the same basic principles as the hand loom, but faster ... much faster!

OH ... and I want to leave you with the audio of the wooden hand loom vs. the modern mechanized one.

On Wednesday I will show you want I learned about the origins of jacquard weaving.

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My beautiful Norwegian sweater

9/5/2014

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I bought the coolest Norwegian sweater on my recent trip. Most guide books recommend buying a sweater in Norway, they are famous for their sweaters. But I didn't want one like everybody else was buying.

I mean, these are lovely sweaters, but a little too conventional for me.

When we were in Bergen, Norway, we visit this well preserved very old section of town.

This is Bergen's old Hanseatic Quarter. Bergen was one of the main cities in the Hanseatic League, a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe. These buildings date from 1702. They were built after a huge fire destroyed all the previous ones.

And this is where I found a tiny shop with a lady hand making sweaters and scarves. Since I've come home I tried to look her up on the web, but she has no website. Alas! Her stuff is lovely and unique.

The back is even pretty! I wanted to wear it out one evening and since I usually travel with a small carry-on sized suitcase I wasn't sure I would be able to cobble together clothes to go with it.

Which leads me to the next part of this blog, which is talking about the versatility of a scoop neck black t-shirt! It was too cold to wear it alone, so I layered a long sleeve white t-shirt under it and just pulled it down over my black tiered skirt. I always try to have one skirt along, preferably one that can get squished in a suitcase and still look good.

The black t-shirt I wore out on my cousin's boat in Sweden and with my sister when we visited this very cool outdoor museum in Stockholm called Skansen, where there are old buildings moved from all over Sweden so you can visit a 300 year old church or a 150 year old farm. We were inside the 1930's home of the owner of a small hardware store. The hardware store was there, too.

I also wore it while eating a proper Swedish smorgasbord, pickled herring, schnapps and all. And in the train getting ready to go hiking in the Norwegian fjords. So you can dress it up or dress it down.

And what's even more cool about this shirt it is made of really thin cotton and will dry overnight if you wash it out in the sink in your hotel room. AND I bought it at my local thrift store for 3 or 4 dollars. What's not to love!

In case you were wondering where the photos of me wearing this sweater were taken ... well here. This is Oslo's brand new opera house. It's beautiful inside and people are encouraged to climb and walk all over it. Very Fun.

I have a few more stories to tell about this great trip. So ... later ...

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FROZEN BARBIE dresses #S0734 - trim and curved hems

9/3/2014

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This will be my last blog about these Barbie FROZEN costumes. Here is my sample of Elsa's snowflake dress before the snowflakes were added. There was such a tight schedule to get this project finished I sent this in without the snowflakes and that part was done in the New York offices. They found snowflake shaped sequins and glued them on.

So, first I want to show you how I use my pointy tweezers while sewing. I can't tell you how much easier it is to sew small things if you have a pair of these.

The next thing I want to show is how I use a seam sealer to prevent fraying. Any kind of glue will work, but something like Fray Check was developed to keep the fabric edge soft.

When you are working with only 1/4" seam allowances, it is easier to run gathering stitches on either side of the actual stitching line. Otherwise there really isn't enough space for two rows of gathering stitches which is really needed to help the gathers lie flat.

Then stitch along the actual stitch line which will be in between in two rows of gathering.

Since this gathered fabric is being stitched on top of the finished item, trim off the excess along the top and cover the cut edge with trim.

It's best to wait until everything else is finished before removing that last row of gathering stitching that is showing.

Both of the capes have rounded hems which are tricky even on a human sized garment. This is how I did these hems.

After sealing off the raw edge with Fray Check, I ran a gathering stitch 1/8" from the edge. Pull up the stitching until it make a flat 1/4" hem.

Press the hem and then it can be stitched down. You can see I did the hemming before stitching the shoulder darts or any other part of the cape.

Follow this link to read the general doll clothes sewing tips I wrote for Simplicity's website.

I hope you make some little girl very happy with these gowns.

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Tiny binding and tiny gloves on FROZEN BARBIE dresses #S0734

9/1/2014

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Sewing tiny clothes can be made easier when you know what's possible and when you know a few tricks. Today I'm going to show you how I did the binding on the edge of the bodices for two of the FROZEN costumes and how I sewed the tiny gloves.

One really important element for success when making doll clothes is choosing the right fabrics. For the bias on Elsa's coronation dress and Anna's ball dress I used polyester lining fabric because it is very thin and keeps it's shape.

Another important thing is to measure and cut as accurately as possible. So, this photo shows how I evened up the bias after it was first cut and pressed in half lengthwise. The bias for the bodice binding was cut 7/8” THEN pressed in half lengthwise before stitching it on. I actually cut it a bit wider, press it in half and then trim it even to 7/16” an inch.

The “V” in front needs to be stay stitched and clipped before applying bias.

I stitched the bias onto the edge with a 3/16" seam allowance.

Then folded it around to the back to slipstitch it in place. If your seam allowance ended up a little large and the bias won't come all the way around to the stitching line, just trim the seam allowance a little.

Last, fold and sew the mitre for the front “V” after slip stitching the bias. I find I can do a better job on this part with hand sewing.

The gloves have to be sewn with a knit and have to be sewn with 1/8" seams. So, be sure to choose a knit that is stiff enough that it won't get sucked into the stitching hole on your throat plate and either use the point of a seam ripper or very pointed tweezers to guide the fabric under the needle.

Also, if you have it, a straight stitch presser foot (like in my photo) is really helpful.

You can see that the little hem at the bottom is sewn first and I recommend marking a little dot where the pivot is made for the thumb. It is difficult to judge that when the piece is under the presser foot.

Note the tweezers and seam ripper off on the right side of the photo. They are at my side at all times when sewing doll clothes.

Here is Barbie, aka Anna wearing these gloves ... yeah, I know, her feet look pretty cold!

Next time I plan to talk about dealing with trims and curved hems.

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Forward>>

Scandinavian National Dress

Viking Tablet weaving

Swedish Linen

My beautiful Norwegian sweater

FROZEN BARBIE dresses #S0734 - trim and curved hems

Tiny binding and tiny gloves on FROZEN BARBIE dresses #S0734

From Andrea

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