Musings of a Medieval Merchant

Mostly, I'm a merchant.

When I attend an event within Avacal I usually set up my shop. Well, unless I am busy in the kitchen or helping with A&S activities or minding the grandchildren....

I sell garb -- medieval(ish) clothing -- which I have made. People who attend SCA events are expected to make "a reasonable attempt" to dress in a medieval style, which means that many newcomers need to buy basic garb. I sell a lot of loose-fitting early-period-style clothes at reasonable prices, rather like a small medieval Walmart.

But wait a minute.... did merchants of the Middle Ages sell ready-to-wear clothing at their market stalls? Not really -- they sold cloth, which would then be cut and hand-sewed to fit the individual. Very time-consuming....

But modern folk who just want to enjoy a medieval experience for a weekend don't have time to wait for custom-made clothes. Furthermore, they want clothes which travel well and can be washed and dried the modern way. Most new SCAdians don't obsess about  authenticity, they want style, comfort and convenience at bargain prices. 

So I have this dilemma: How can I produce enough convenient, good-looking, durable, inexpensive clothes in a variety of sizes and styles and colours and also demonstrate that I'm serious about authenticity? *Sigh* There are times when I wonder why I didn't choose to sell some other wares, like beads or candles or spices....

As we're getting close to Quad War my emphasis is on production. The more stock I have, the more choices I can offer my customers. I'm trying to include more linen and wool garments, although the linen items tend to be more expensive. I'm also experimenting with more authentic styles.

Here are some simple underdresses. Can you tell which one is made of linen?

Here's a Celtic-style woollen T-tunic (with purchased trim, because if I had to weave the trim it would be a lot more expensive). This item was bought by a friend who agreed to model it for me.

I'm trying to include more headwear choices. In addition to the fur-trimmed Viking/Mongol hats I'm making a lot of linen coifs. The ones which are completely hand-stitched with linen thread tend to go toward largesse while the machine-stitched ones are for sale.

Now going down into my dungeon to do more sewing. Quad War is just a week away....

Camping and Making Hats

I just came back from a week camping with family at Greenwater Lake, Saskatchewan. Beautiful site, mostly good weather and plenty of fun with family and friends.

With Quad War fast approaching, I thought this would be a good opportunity to make some items to sell. Something small and suitable for hand-stitching, like hats. One hat per day would be a reasonable goal, right?

So I stitched while listening to the birds and watching the squirrels dash across our site.

(This is what my work table looked like.... lots of fur and wine)

And I stitched inside our wee Boler (a.k.a. prairie egg) when it rained....

And voila! Six hand-stitched fur-trimmed hats completely finished (and a few more hats cut out and partially sewn, and lots of fur strips matched up)

Most of the hats are not lined. I've been told that the melton cloth is quite warm and doesn't need a lining. I try to keep the inside of the hat pretty neat, even when I add wool embroidery.

One of the hats (linen-lined) is rather small but it looks quite nice on this model. Thanks, Kale!

All in all, a very relaxing -- and reasonably productive -- week. Note to those who may buy one of these hats: There's a lot of happiness in every stitch!