Middle Earth Ranger Forum

ALMOST READY!!!

This has been a long time in the making, and it's almost ready to go. Details and mid-process pics in a few days, but I thought I'd share a teaser pic:
There it is dyeing overnight in a bath of weld.
Later on it gets a quick dip in woad, for a (hopefully) very traditional British Lincoln Green.

Onward!

Looking great! Can't wait to see the final product! Maybe we'll FINALLY get some pics of you all kitted-up, eh? EH?

Oh gosh, I know right? I'm actually getting close now - trousers done, cloak done, good-enough belt done, now tunic sewn and about a 6-9 days from the final dye. ALMOST THERE - just need boots and I'll have all my basics.

As soon as I have a sunny day, you'll get some interim photos.

YAAAAAY

Whoohoo! Dyeing is so fun...going to attempt acid-dyeing nylon this weekend (for a project from my Other Period ; )
Looking forward to seeing the finished results.
What's your source for the dyestuffs?--I assume you ordered from somewhere, and didn't grow the weld and woad yourself?

Dyeing is so fun...going to attempt acid-dyeing nylon this weekend (for a project from my Other Period ; )

.... your Other Period is a Disco King from 1978, isn't it?

So... I belatedly looked up the details on the “weak woad dip” wildcolors suggested. I guess that’s going to take me a while.
But that gives me time to write up the sewing part of the project! (It's overcast and rainy lately, so I had to photograph inside. In real life it's presently a nice Tom Bombadil daffodil yellow. )

The tunic design is basically the same as the Nockert pattern you guys are using, but with a couple changes.
Most obviously, the neckline is a lower scoop neck, just like a gown. There’s no central gore in front, but I did taper the hemline a bit front and back for a vaguely elven-influenced drape. I’m not certain I’d do that over again, but I’ve no intention of changing it now. The sleeves are inspired by Urthgard’s tunic - points snug up the foreams to the wrist. (seven sets of eyelets, of course!) A more subtle change I made was in the tailoring: the front panel is a few inches wider than the back panel, so as to allow a bit more room in the chest without getting baggy around the shoulders. Rather than felling the seams, I folded them over and hemmed the edges down: this makes a nice even flat surface inside and out, especially in the areas where you have lots of gores coming together:
The fabric is raw silk: it’s a wonderful soft nubbly fabric made from the silk fibers too short to make proper sheer silk from. Dale or Rivendell, someone is pulling apart silkworm cocoons to make the stuff if Bilbo can have a handkerchief of it, so I thought the “second grade” stuff a luxury I could justify - especially for a person of the Dunedain with some Rivendell friendships. It feels rather like a sturdier cotton, but warmer especially when wet. In other words: a perfect fabric I thought for the warmer months. Also it dyes *much* easier than linen, but is comfier than wool.

Perhaps “in universe” this garment was a gown that was soiled and cut down: perhaps it was made this way from the start - I’m not certain. Either way it’s a nice compromise of practicality and rustic elegance I think.

As to the colors -

Aaages ago I’d started a similar project with commercially dyed fabric and linen thread, but the color just didn’t look right - by this January walnut dying my trousers thoroughly spoiled me for naturally dyed fabrics. I’d long wanted green, and a bit of research pointed me to the Lincoln Green of Robin Hood fame - a process that apparently goes back millennia in Britain. Perfect choice!

The weld and woad I found on etsy, from “AuroraSilk” and “FantuzziColori” respectively.

A few years ago doing Colonial stuff I learned my lesson with natural dyes by botching a lovely annatto dye on silk: if the dyestuff comes in direct contact with the fabric, you stand a good chance of splotches everywhere. This time I experimented by putting my weld in an “almond milk” bag from Amazon - essentially a giant teabag - and it worked perfectly. I "brewed" the weld overnight in hot water, then removed my giant "teabag" and soaked my tunic.

With any luck it'll be an nice drabby forest green in a couple weeks.

Excellent miniwritup/justification. Even though we know Elrond had that handkerchief, I can almost believe Dale/Laketown being a better source, solely based on their way-more-eastern location and trade-based livelihoods, especially with 'Men to the East and South' (proto-Asia methinks).

Elleth wrote:

Dyeing is so fun...going to attempt acid-dyeing nylon this weekend (for a project from my Other Period ; )

.... your Other Period is a Disco King from 1978, isn't it?

Hahahaha, close! Working on overhauling my 1950s Norwegian Bergan pack to better fit a GFFA* aesthetic, incorporating the nylon shoulder pad unit from a set of 'Nam-era load-bearing straps.

*Galaxy Far, Far Away

Moss is also supposed to yield a proper green, but don't let me stop you from your - liquid collection duties.

As usual, a stellar write-up! Thanks Elleth! I love how this is coming along! I am jealous of that raw silk material - it sounds amazing. And the turned-and-hemmed seams look beautiful. I did the same thing on my last all-linen tunic, and while it turned out looking great, and is extremely durable, it was A LOOOOT of work, and I don't know if I'll ever quite have the patience for that again.

Great looking results after a LOT of time invested. Well done...looking forward to more progress!

Thank you gentlemen!

Oh GOSH yes has it been a long time in crafting! Greg - yours was certainly an inspiration.
Manv - you have my sympathies doing that hemwork in linen! I rather dread doing a gown by hand now.
The raw silk is from Dharma Trading and at least in our mundane world is surprisingly inexpensive! (Also it smells like tea and is a delight to work with.)

Kortoso - grumble grumble coulda gone with Rit grumble

WHOA! You weren't kidding! It's amazingly affordable! Oh man... I may just have to get myself some of that for various future endeavors of my own... possibly along the lines of what Udwin was hinting at...

Two updates to this for future readers, since Sorrel reminded me (please forgive cross-posting, I figured best to have it in one place)

FIRST: my overdye in woad was... not great. It's still workable, but I'm not happy with the color and the smell was atrocious - several washings finally got the smell out. Totally botched job.
One of these days I'll overdye with something else. Maybe nettle? That I think makes decent greens if the dye/cloth weight ratio is strong enough.

SECOND: I'd not gotten around to the redying because I had a change of heart regarding using elvish stylistic elements or material in a Dunedain context.

That is - I expect there is absolutely some back-and-forth between elves of Imladris and Dunedain of the Angle - but again we hit the issue where all the characters we see interacting in the text are from the highest strata of their respective societies. It's probably more accurate to see things like elvish arms or jewelry as diplomatic gifts than regular trade.

I wouldn't rule out silk completely on that basis (after all, Bilbo has a silk kerchief in the shire! [or does that come from Rivendell?]) but these days I'm inclined to stick to wool and human-make as much more plausible. I think it's not unreasonable for a Dunedain of Eriador to have a single family heirloom of elvish make from elder days, but I'd imagine they're quite rare, quite valuable, and at least in a MERS context generally fall under the rule of "if it makes your persona oh-so-special, you probably shouldn't."

For plain old rule-of-fun larping in the woods though, wheeee have fun!

Related:
Hunh. Faramir had never met an elf before...

I decided to do a search of a bunch of Tolkien's books for silk to see what came up, and it gets mentioned surprisingly few times (the elves have lots of 'silken' things, but only one mention of them in relation to silk). There is a mention of silk robes in the best of Beren and lúthien and dwarves using silk coverings for items in discussion of the Nauglamir, but I don't think those are particularly relevant to our circumstances.

Of those that are, first is Bilbo's pocket-handkerchief: "He mopped his face with a red silk handkerchief—no! not a single one of his own had survived, he had borrowed this one from Elrond." (The Hobbit, chapter 19).

I think this suggests silk handkerchiefs are owned by both Bilbo and Elrond - it could be read as only Elrond having silk ones and Bilbo's being of other materials, and I would think that more likely if it were an author less precise in their language than the Professor, especially given the next mention -

"The light of the lanterns fell on his beaming face; the golden buttons shone on his embroidered silk waistcoat. They could all see him standing, waving one hand in the air, the other was in his trouser-pocket." (FOTR, A Long Expected Party)

I think what we've learned is that Bilbo is a sucker for silk

And finally, from the deleted epilogue:

"'It came with the Southfarthing post three days ago [written above: on Wednesday],' said Elanor. 'I saw it. It was wrapped in silk and sealed with big seals.'"

I think we can can draw some, but relatively few conclusions from these mentions

- silk is available in the Shire, at least to Hobbits of means - Bilbo's silk handkerchiefs presumably come from before his adventure, when he was merely well-off and not spectacularly wealthy, and Elanor is at least familiar enough to recognize it (perhaps it is even cultivated there/eriador - it's worth noting that silk was produced in Europe from the Crusades when mulberry trees and silkworms were introduced until the industrial revolution destroyed the industry).

- silk is available in Rivendell, since Lord Elrond gives Bilbo a silk handkerchief

- silk is available in Gondor, and though here it is bearing a missive from a High King, it still must be common enough to be essentially disposable to someone of that status since it is used to cover a letter (and just a letter informing Sam that Aragorn is coming and wants to meet with the fellowship hobbits and their families at that) unlike early medieval kings in northern Europe, who had some access to it but absolutely stretched the stuff as far as possible and wasted none of it).

I think what we've learned is that Bilbo is a sucker for silk

I think the phrasing of the kerchief reference is a touch ambiguous, but yes - the waistcoat one is absolutely solid.

Now I'm curious where it's coming from - if one took the strictest reading of the silk kerchiefs exchange (Bilbo's were linen, Elrond's were silk) - then coming down the Great East Road from points east after the Battle of Five Armies, reclamation of Dale, etc opened trade over the Misty Mountains again. But that seems a bit overly complicated. Likewise I don't know how much trade we can infer from Lindon or Rivendell, and the Greenway isn't much travelled, so....

... local manufacture then?

I've got no earthly idea.