I have made a lot of progress on the Skjold harbour style Viking hood. I am making it from a brown wool outer and dark indigo blue linen lining, and hand stitching it using linen threads pulled from the selvage of the lining fabric. The stitches I am using are taken from the Viborg shirt, a contemporary garment from the same culture group.
Since I am hand stitching it together, it will be easiest to sew if the seam allowances are pressed. Normally I am working just in linen, which I can press with a fingernail as I sew, but that won’t work with wool. Instead I am using the iron and ironing board, and have put a vinegar/water solution in the iron to ensure the seam stays folded over nicely.
First step is to prep one of the gores and the slash at the front of the hood.
Press the seam allowances for the lining and cover so that they are facing each other, hiding the seam allowances between the two layers.
Press the seam allowance of the slit for the gore at the front of the hood. The seam allowance must taper towards the point.
When hand sewing I usually try to keep the seam allowance at the normal width until I am fairly close to the point of the slash. This means the seam is a normal strength and security along most of its length and won’t require special treatment while sewing by hand. On a sewing machine it’s usually easiest to just stitch a straight line and backstitch it repeatedly near the point for extra strength.
By waiting to taper until close to the point of the slash, the shape created is slightly rounded, rather than a triangle. This makes for a stronger gore insertion, but the abrupt widening of the slash does reduce the width added by the gore at the tip of the slash. In this case it doesn’t matter because the gore point is a right angle, but for a narrower gore it can mean that less width is added at the top of the gore than might be expected.
The gore slit, with both layers pressed in towards each other.Press the seam allowance on two adjacent sides of one of the gores. I recommend using a vinegar solution if you are using wool like I did.Press the seam allowances of two adjacent sides of a gore. In this photo the folded seam allowances are on the right and bottom.Arrange the gore against the main panel, right sides together. The corner of the gore with folded seam allowances on both sides should be just even with the point of the slit (on the left of the image). The raw edge of the gore should be even with the bottom edge of the main panel (on the right of the image). In this photo the gore is held even with the point of the slit using a safety pin, and the bottom of the seam is stitched together.
I am using a modified whip stitch from the Viborg shirt to sew all the seams of the hood. The Viborg shirt is likely from the 11th century, like the Skjold harbour hood, and though not from the same site, they are from the same culture group. I am using this particular stitch because the lining and cover are joined in a single pass using a modified whip stitch where one side of the lining is skipped on each pass. This creates a seam that is very flush, with no visible stitching to the outside of the garment, and a small line of the cover material visible on the inside at the seam. It is beautifully elegant and efficient, and very practical for the fully lined garment I am creating. I am stitching with about fourteen stitches per inch. Only half those stitches are visible along the lining.
Viborg Shirt seam treatment for the side seams of the shirt. Lining and cover are joined in a single pass using a modified whip stitch where one side of the lining is skipped on each pass. This creates a seam that is very flush, with no visible stitching to the outside of the garment, and a small line of the cover material visible on the inside at the seam.
Detail shot of the hand stitch I am using on the seams. It is from the Viborg shirt, and is a modified whip stitch sewing cover and lining together in one pass. On each stitch the closer lining is skipped, while both cover pieces and the far lining are barely caught by the needle.Detail shot of the hand stitch I am using on the seams. It is from the Viborg shirt, and is a modified whip stitch sewing cover and lining together in one pass. On each stitch the closer lining is skipped, while both cover pieces and the far lining are barely caught by the needle.When you get close to the point of the slit, make the stitches closer together and a bit deeper into the main panel fabric. This will help prevent the seam from pulling free. At this point I am probably making about twenty stitches per inch.Continue around the point of the slash with close stitches, transitioning to the other side of the gore when you go around the corner.Once around the point of the gore, continue with close, deep stitches until you are far enough from the point that there is enough seam allowance to hold easily. Then smooth out the rest of the seam and secure the far end to prevent the layers from becoming misaligned while sewing. I used a safety pin.The main panel of the hood, lining side up, with the front gore attached.Press the seam allowance on all remaining raw edges that are to become joined seams. Press the top and sides of the main panel, and two adjoining sides of the remaining gore.Attach the gore to one side of the main panel, starting at the hem and safety pinning or basting the point of the gore to the main panel.When that side of the gore is secure, pin the back seam of the hood at the very top, smooth out the seam to the point of the gore, and stitch the back seam together at the point of the gore. Continue sewing the back seam up towards the top of the hood.After stitching up the back of the hood, pin or baste together the center front of the top of the hood to prevent misalignment of the layers while stitching. Then sew closed the top of the hood.
The only construction seams left are the very top of the hood and the other side of the back gore. After that it needs hemming along the bottom, and the front opening cut and hemmed.
