My tip for choosing fabric for early medieval clothing - textiles in the Middle Ages

Imagine you have a date ❤️ and the request is - I want the sauce. And you're supposed to get fresh herbs for it. You go to the first store and there's no herbs or they're frozen. 

?Will you buy what you didn't really want? 

?Or are you going to look elsewhere? 

?Or will you spread bread because it was always good enough and it was good too?

It's kind of like that with fabric shopping too. Maybe as a newbie you'll opt for the right weave of machine fabric and chemical dyeing ?. Why not? At least you'll get a feel for it in the lounge. Or as an old handy man ? you want a plain all-purpose costume and you invest a few hundred extra ( we're talking about a price of maybe 30 dollars /metre) in a handwoven and naturally dyed one (onion skins or walnuts are everywhere, learn something new) because you're tired of the half-way solution. We have some advice for you today on how to choose the quick, versatile CENTER while sticking to modern knowledge and an average that doesn't stand out. (Note to the scientists - sure, you can find your "grave" and reconstruct it exactly, including five kinds of weave fabric, fibers twisted into a mound, and a sealskin coat - but there are other articles for that than the one that is supposed to simply solve the drnohryz costume this winter).

These posts are meant to help those who have decided to improve it now and have almost got their finger over the button - submit order.

The goal is still to create universal "overalls". Everyone should own one. To help with the work in the camp, or to not be pressured by the responsibility to history and the need to acquire more flashy equipment and jewelry to go with the expensive paints.

1️⃣ Material. 100% wool. Without admixtures. Animal wool. Especially from sheep. We've seen wool mean any yarn to some pissants and they'll nod you off. And it was acrylic wool, wasn't it? Because the customer wants it soft and cheaper. Not there, folks. Take care of those. 

Well, if you can get hemp fabric, get some for us, okay?

2️⃣ Binding - the picture shows the most commonly found bindings of the early Middle Ages in Scandinavia. This study was done by Eliška Chudomelová many years ago and one cannot but agree with it today. There are other links. But why venture into the unknown in the case of low-cost costume? If I want to appear as a "worker", I choose the simplest weave and stick to the average.

Plain weave - the most common weave in history. Have you come across granny linen in plain weave and about 60 width? Take it for under dresses, under tunics, bellies. Wool in plain weave? Take it. Nice thick wool in the color of the original sheep's wool? Best for a cloak and blanket ? .

Three-ply twill - one thread is thin, you can see the warp (vertically) - cool, take it.

Four ply twill - the slanted rows are nicely visible, looks great, avoid extra fluffy or overly rolled wool where you can't even see up close where the warps and wefts go. Ideal for jackets in high weights too.

 ? So. Today's advice is - demand responsibility, quality and knowledge from your fabric dealer. Don't be sold what you are not convinced of. Don't go in asking , "I want something for viking". Talk to a friend on the phone when you're in the market. Or with someone who goes to Rogar - Early Medieval Battle ?

What do we look for on the internets and possibly demand from vendors?

Here's a glossary in case you didn't find what you were looking for, here in our country:

wool - wool

linen - linen

yarn - yarn (ball)

natural dyeing - natural dyeing

fibers - fibers

plain - canvas

thin weave - light, finely woven

twill - twill (1/2 = three-strand, 2/2 four-strand, 2/1 = three-strand diamond)

diamond - broken, diamond twill (avoid it for buckles)

herringbone - herringbone (avoid it altogether for Viking clothing for now, we'll discuss it later)

Try googling for example ,, handwoven wool twill 1/2" or maybe ,,natural wool twill thin weave" and so on, avoid sponsored posts at the beginning, you will be surprised by the number of sellers and it is not very difficult to order fabric from abroad, or make arrangements and order for more people.

3️⃣ Weight - the correct seller states the weight of the textile per square metre. This figure cannot always be generalized. Some fibers are thick, but not very tight, etc. But around 180 - 220g is kind of the middle ground that can be worn in the heat (but beware, you'd better follow the feel of the swatches or ask the retailer if the fabric is light and airy). On the other hand, if you're tempted to go for a dress for spring and autumn events, look for a denser weave, even some hell even over 350g - beware, it often just distorts the drape when the fibres are drawn together, which isn't entirely pretty and makes it look like previous attempts again. We'll add some pictures of the found fabrics in the comments as we go along. 

4️⃣ Bite - it's that TPI figure. The seller of handwoven fabrics usually doesn't have a problem and writes the figure there. Around 20 TPI it's the pretty cuddly stuff, by 50 it tends to be a bit biting, but if you can stand it for a few actions it will wear off and be very authentic, including the scratching.

5️⃣ How much to buy - next month's topic is SHORT. If you're average height, average fat, etc., you'll be fine:

A cloak - well, just enough to cover yourself with while you sleep like a blanket. ℹ️ The macho thing to do is to cut the fabric into 60cm strips and re-sew it as if you were weaving on an authentically wide loom.

Also a strip of fabric about 150*60 looks nice on the girls as a throw over their backs ?.

Straight trousers - 1,5 m of regular yardage (at 140 - 150 fabric width)

Tunic - 2 metres, make sure you have some for patches and also count on washing and shrinking the fabric a bit beforehand. Then you cut it, right?

Dress - 2.5 metres, unless you're planning an ultra pleated Pskov-type underdress.

Girls, when you order, try to get a piece for an apron too - not the one with straps, but the kind of belt around your stomach all the way around that you can just tie with a simple thin karet or lucet (so about 1m), or at least as a kind of front apron that you wipe your hands in while cooking. Even in that detail we wouldn't recommend linen, just because it's more affordable now. 

6️⃣ Natural dyeing - if you have opted for chemically dyed wool in shades that look natural, you can buy that in yardage, just brown for the whole group. Also good, but not top ?

Correct us if we are wrong, but - foreign and especially domestic reenactors offer natural dyed fabrics in abundance. But they dye a specific piece of fabric. The one you bought, a metre and a half and so on. It's the size of the vat in which it's dyed. So don't expect a 100 metre roll of naturally dyed fabric somewhere.

 This is where communication with the world comes in - we're happy to advise you privately on dyeing, but only if you've already chosen a specific fabric and colour! (Please save our time). While in the case of natural dyes, we recommend the color the sheep naturally had for this project of ours, but natural dyeing is so cool!