Background
Well I've been wanting a non belt mounted bag for many years now.. and I've made 5 or 6 of them.. but none for myself.. And then this Heraldry challenge popped up on Facebook and I thought "why not combine the two..?!". Making a pilgrim bag with my device on the lid.
Research
First things first.. I know what other people's pilgrim bags look like.. but what historical references are there..?!
I turned to Google and to Pinterest.. and some of my books as well..
Made a sketch of the different types I found (spanning ca 1100s-late 1400s) and the styles I liked..
The research can also be found on my Pinterest: Garb - purses bags baskets
Materials
Outer layer: thick red wool
Inner layer: dark grey costume wool
Thread: red sewing silk from Gütermann
Wings/pointed point: White raw wool, grey filament silk from the 50s (grandmother Ingrid's old stash)
Finger loop braid and tassels: wool yarn.. oh and a white skull made of bone.. because.. SKULLS!
Construction
I would love to, some day, weave the band for this.. but this time I made it out of a lovely wool fabric that actually used to be my apron dress.. The wool is too thick for that and this turn me into a cylinder.. not making me want to Viking ever again! So I thought I'd better turn it into something I would like :)
I took a piece of paper and cut it to a size I thought would work for me.. actually held it up to my hip and checked it out in the mirror ;D then I decided on the thickness of the sides/strap. After that was done I drew it out on the fabric. (25x80cm including seam allowance, strap is 8x178cm) I cut the edges off on the lid to make the shield type shape..
Then I placed that on the lining (the thin dark grey costume wool) and cut that out as well.
Then I placed that on the lining (the thin dark grey costume wool) and cut that out as well.
I decided to bag line the bag since it was quicker.. In hindsight.. perhaps it wasn't.. but anyway.. I pinned down all the sides to keep them in place while making the rest.
Now to decide on the wings.. (My device ca be found in this post)
I turned to my Heraldry folder on Pinterest where I have loads of wings! But no.. then I started looking through my Pelican inspirations in my Drachenwald folder on Pinterest.. and there it was! Most likely a religious embroidery piece with absolutely NO INFORMATION!! I've messaged the original Pinner for more info since my image search has come up empty..
Photo can be found HERE!
I printed it out.. traced the wing, took a photo of it and emailed myself and then printed it out in the size I wanted :P easy peasy!
I wanted the wings to be layered so I redrew it and made 4 patterns.
Still hadn't decided on the colour of silk I would do the blanket stitch in for the appliqué, so I did some tests..
After the first wing was done I was (still am) very pleased with my colour choices :) (though in the future I will make red ones and golden ones too!)
Then it was on to edging the lid.. My first idea was to weave an edge with a rigid heddle.. but I didn't have any thin wool in red, and I didn't want to use silk.. so I opted for a simple 4 loop finger loop braid instead and sewed that to the edge. (I'll make a finger loop post some other day..)
Before I attached that I made a small loop that I saw on Elin's page that I though was brilliant! This goes around the centre tassle on the bottom and closes the bag :D Simple yet fantastic!
Then we come to the final bits.. tassels! Perfect to do in front of the tv while watching a movie :)
Took a smaller box from the recycle bin and cut it the size I wanted. Wrapped the wool 50 times and tied a string on top.
Then I cut them all off and wrapped another string to make the ball on top.. (can't find the good blog post I used to look at for this.. so I'll make my own some other day..)
Took a smaller box from the recycle bin and cut it the size I wanted. Wrapped the wool 50 times and tied a string on top.
Then I cut them all off and wrapped another string to make the ball on top.. (can't find the good blog post I used to look at for this.. so I'll make my own some other day..)
So there you have it :)
My first pilgrim's bag (for ME) and a Heraldry challenge all wrapped into one!
Links to other people's bags I've looked at:
- My Pinterest albym "Garb - purses bags baskets"
- Lina's bag swe
- Tempora Nostra ger
- Larsdatter.com: Pilgrims and Pilgrim's bags
- A most peculiar Mademoiselle eng
- Som när det begav sig swe
- Andrea's bag swe
- Annette's bag swe
- Tove's bags: White and Blue swe
there are more.. but these will do for now :)
