Monthly Archives: November 2014

Oh FUN! A doll ideal for period clothing

I wanted a fashion doll for my kids to enjoy but wanted a healthy, intelligent looking doll. Facebook to the rescue, someone posted about a new company called Lammily.  This led to my purchase of two. I can hardly wait until they get here!  I need the doll in hand so I can begin to create medieval clothing for the doll.

I learned some of my early sewing skills by making clothing (very badly done) for my Barbie doll. But nothing really fits the body of a Barbie.  It just will not look right!  But this new doll, I can easily see this one allowing for exploration of various periods of garb at much lower cost than doing clothing full scale for myself.

The truth is, I like exercising my urge to make garb for a doll, and then only when I decide I really really want something like that for myself do I put in the effort to make it for myself.

Sort of the same reason why I like making garb for my children. Less fabric, and I can work out the shapes I need to cut to copy something from a museum photo, all at less cost to myself.

The result is a kid with garb, a doll with garb, and I had fun.

Isn’t that what this hobby is all about?

Researching a Leather bag

IF a 10th century Byzantine carried a leather bag, it is likely it would have been similar to the basic satchel of the soldier, pilgrim, or book carrying scholar. So, simple rectangular bag roughly 18 by 12 inches, with a flap that came over the top and fastened down. Inside might be smaller leather pouches holding smaller items.

A whole morning spent thinking of search terms for online and the most useful searches turned up wikipedia articles on the luggage of the late roman soldier, specifically the Loculus and the sarcina, and a bag from a pdf: 1st Century Leather Roman Pouch

I read a bit of Leo the Deacon’s history where the satchel is mentioned.  I looked at any number of web sites with images.  The poor, the pilgrim, the soldier all are pictured carrying satchels.

Silk reliquary bags were shaped the same as leather money bags. Here is another nice collection of images and links.  Bags for books and pilgrim’s bags seem to have been decorated, but the Roman Soldier’s bag is wrapped with reinforcing straps and not decorated in the images.

Wealthy persons are not pictured carrying bags.  My persona does not have any servants in the current middle ages so she needs a bag and some pouches.  The smaller roman pouches found seem to have been carried inside the loculus so I shall imitate that practice.