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Description
Okay, so I've really wanted to learn to costume for a while, and last year I learned to sew. This is, I think, my 3rd or 4th costume that I've made, but my first one to make on my own, and without a pattern. Vikings was one of my favorite TV shows for a while (it got odd after the first 3 seasons and I stopped watching), and this is based off of Aslaug's patterns. I picked a different color, and some different materials. In the show Vikings, most of the fabric was customized for that show (you can really see it when you examine the weaves). I went with a pretty sage green, which is already one of my favorite colors, in a heavy weave cotton. Family had given me the fabric for free, and for anyone who does costuming, you know material isn't cheap! Patterning the dress out was probably the hardest part, since I'd only worked with basic square/rectangle pieces for patterns before this (the medieval group I was a part of insisted that all clothing was made this way, but don't even get me started! I'll sacrifice strict accuracy for a little extra beauty!). I bought some hollow bamboo beads that someone had picked up at a second-hand shop, and added some fur around the shoulders.

Looking back, there are a lot of things I would have done differently, but overall I'm pretty proud of it! It was a big challenge to go from not costuming, to patterning something just from seeing it in a show in a year. Next up is Lagertha's dress patterns, which I think will suit me really well since we have pretty much the same measurements! I already have that mostly patterned out, although I got some help from a skilled seamstress in my town...since I'm using that pattern in my wedding dress next month! I can't wait to share pictures of that.

Photographer: Gary

Description
Okay, so I've really wanted to learn to costume for a while, and last year I learned to sew. This is, I think, my 3rd or 4th costume that I've made, but my first one to make on my own, and without a pattern. Vikings was one of my favorite TV shows for a while (it got odd after the first 3 seasons and I stopped watching), and this is based off of Aslaug's patterns. I picked a different color, and some different materials. In the show Vikings, most of the fabric was customized for that show (you can really see it when you examine the weaves). I went with a pretty sage green, which is already one of my favorite colors, in a heavy weave cotton. Family had given me the fabric for free, and for anyone who does costuming, you know material isn't cheap! Patterning the dress out was probably the hardest part, since I'd only worked with basic square/rectangle pieces for patterns before this (the medieval group I was a part of insisted that all clothing was made this way, but don't even get me started! I'll sacrifice strict accuracy for a little extra beauty!). I bought some hollow bamboo beads that someone had picked up at a second-hand shop, and added some fur around the shoulders.

Looking back, there are a lot of things I would have done differently, but overall I'm pretty proud of it! It was a big challenge to go from not costuming, to patterning something just from seeing it in a show in a year. Next up is Lagertha's dress patterns, which I think will suit me really well since we have pretty much the same measurements! I already have that mostly patterned out, although I got some help from a skilled seamstress in my town...since I'm using that pattern in my wedding dress next month! I can't wait to share pictures of that.

Photographer: Gary