VIKING HIKING III

SEWING KIT

Rips, tears and worn areas on your clothing happen and develop at all times. Repairs might not be essential or needed to be repaired or replaced immediately, but they might be very essential. At least you (or one person in your party if there is more than just you) should have carry an emergency sewing kit.

The kit needs not contain such things as a naalbinding needle, yarn, spindle or the like. If you want to use them for a project, that is one thing, but, it is suggested that these items are necessary:

• Linen or Hemp thread (on a period winder, not on a spool of wood or plastic)
• sinew (on a period winder, not on a spool of wood or plastic)
• At least one needle(steel, iron, bone or copper; make certain the eye is larger enough to accept the thread)
• At least one pin (steel, iron, bone or copper)
• snips or scissors
• fabric patches
• leather patches
• awl for leather
• A piece of wax

Contents of the kit should be kept in a period container, for example a small bentwood box or a bag of leather or wool, preferably red.

PRESENTING YOURSELF PROPERLY

The accuracy of your clothing does not rely on how fancy it is. Accuracy depends on three different points:

• Whether each article of clothing (and jewelry) has the proper number of documentable precedents, either visual, literary or an artefact
• Whether the majority of the clothing and equipment is from the same culture, time and social status (a single exception per impression is sometimes allowed by a variety of societies)
• Whether all the material used in sewing the clothing is period, namely wool, linen (flax, hemp or nettle) or leather/fur

What you choose the clothing for your trekking impression, realize that you are not choosing costume for a royal progress or for an encampment.

You are traveling by foot or by horse-, ass- or mule-back, not by ship or even by waggon. The gear gathered should be light and not cumbersome, and both easily transportable and furniture should be kept at home or at a major encampment and not carried on the trek. You should be wearing neither a maille shirt nor a helmet. You are out hunting or just traveling from one place to another.

Remember: you are attempting to embody the common everyday non-martial lifestyle of the day!