Tag Archives: dress

July 22, 2025 · 10:44 am

My Viking dress )O(

Merry meet all,

I am proud to have completed the Crystal Lake Publishing’s Author’s Journey novella writing workshop! I did write the 30k. I thought I could not do it but I learned something new about myself. I can do it and I have to trust in myself more. The story needs a severe edit, of course. 

I have been working hard on my green Viking dress. I will post more about that when it is finished! It will look great. I hope the green ribbon I ordered from Etsy arrives in the mail soon. I want to use that for a belt. I also bought dark green fabric which I want to use to make a belt but braid the fabric first. I am almost done. I added a lovely Celtic jacquard trim to the sleeves and the neckline. The trim enhances the dress and matches the green linen too. The linen is from Latvia so I will not waste it. 

I have to sew the dress bodice to the skirt. I want to fix the puckered sleeve cap and then sew in the zipper then I have to hem the skirt. I want to add a band of fabric to the hem. I just have to decide what I will add. I wish I could buy a dark green that matches the color of the linen. Then after finishing the dress, I want to add accessories besides the belts. I want to add a small black or brown leather bag to hold witchy items like tarot cards or an athame (!), maybe a drinking horn or brooches and beads. I have a blue Celtic apron dress. The nordic word for the apron dress is s m o k k r. I hate autocorrect. I have posted more information on it. 

The Nordic word often used for the Viking apron dress is “smokkr“. While other terms like “hangerock” or “trägerrock” have also been used, “smokkr” is believed to be the closest to the original Old Norse term for this garment, according to historical research. 

Here’s a bit more detail:
  • Smokkr:

    This Old Norse word is thought to refer to the garment worn by Viking women, held up by tortoise brooches, and often translated as “smock” or “apron dress”. 

  • Hangerock:

    This term, sometimes spelled “hangerok” or “hängerock”, was introduced by a German archaeologist and is not a Viking-age term. It can be misleading as it is also used for dungarees or overalls in German. 

  • Trägerrock:

    Similar to “hangerock”, this German term is also not an original Viking-age word. 

  • Apron dress:

    This is the English term commonly used to describe the garment, and it accurately reflects the style of the dress, which often features straps or brooches at the shoulders and an apron-like front and back. 

  • Terminology: The So-Called ‘Viking’ Apron Dress
    Jan 19, 2012 — Ewing believes that “smokkr” does not mean “smock”, as the word has usually been translated into English
    Here is a photo of the Viking dress so far!

Viking Dress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used a paper pattern I downloaded from Etsy. That was my first time using a downloaded pattern. It was hell to figure out how to put the pattern pieces together and then it was another headache to figure out how to cut the pattern. Mercifully, I had help. I wish the skirt had a center back seam but it does not. The bodice has a high waist. I have to make an adjustment for that. I am glad that I own a dress form. That makes sewing much easier. I will add belt lopps on the sides of the dress to hold the belt trim and the braided belt. I can’t wait to see how this will look. I promise to post photos when it is done. 

It was another real headache to adjust the pattern of the bodice to fit me. I could not afford to waste the fabric since I bought it from Etsy. I had to cut out the pattern of the bodice three times before it fit me correctly. I have saved the leftover fabric material. I tried adding a brooch to the center neckline of the bodice but when I tried the dress on, the fabric was too tight. I want to buy the brooches . 

The skirt of the dress is gathered to fit the waist. I needed to figure out how much fabric would be gathered in. This pattern is a real headache but I just know it will look beautiful. I think it looks great with my blue apron dress. 

I am so proud that my book was included in the BookTok indie author awards. I do not know how they found my book but I am proud of that. I hope I win. That would be great. I also entered my story in the Writers Digest annual self-published book awards. There will be tough competition, but nothing I can’t handle. I hope I win that too. 

I am settling in at my Mom’s apartment. It is a challenge living with someone else after I have lived alone for years. It has its challenges. My cat Penny is happy here. She is in heaven- she loves to be on the deck. 

I want my own space so badly. We shall see. I hope that happens sooner rather than later. I miss having my own independence. Ok oh wow there is a nice review of my book The Cult of the Spider People: Bone Chillers #1. That makes me so happy – that someone enjoyed it. That is why I write. I am very proud of that too. 

I have joined the Paranormal Daily Review. I will write something for them. I want to start with the Halifax Explosion. It is nice to have some positives after the rough time I went through. 

They have a podcast too, Deadly Departed. The paranormal is my life. 

Update on the green Viking dress:

I fixed the second sleeve and sewed the sleeve to the dress. 

I have purchased two gold brooches for tha blue apron dress. They look beautiful and have a dragon theme. I have finished the gold and green trim on the green dress. I had a big problem with the center back seam of the green dress. I had added more fabric to the dress because I thought that would help me fit in the dress better. I was wrong. The center back seam was off and needed to be corrected. I thought I needed more fabric vertically in the back of the dress. All the extra fabric is now removed from the dress. The bodice now meets the lower gathered skirt section evenly. It turns out I did not need extra fabric. The back of the dress is aligned correctly and the center back seam is now being sewn. The edges of the center back seam were also woefully uneven which is now corrected. I can’t wait to sew on the belt loops I made. I sewed a belt. The belt is composed of a rectangular section of fabric. On that, I braided two to three strips of fabric and adhered it to the rectangle section. Then I sewed the green trim to each end of the main belt section. I have measured the trims and they are even in length. I can’t wait to get to hem the skirt. I am so close to finished! 

Blessed be, Spiderwitch

 

 

 

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February 17, 2025 · 5:05 pm

Grey gowns and grey skies

Merry meet all,

Recently I sewed myself a lovely grey dress. I intended the dress to be worn with the black overdress from Holy Clothing. Today’s post will focus on the sewing of the dress. I love how my dress looks! Tres beau I wanted a dress that was similar in style to the chemises from Holy Clothing but I knew I could make it much cheaper myself. Shown below is a photo of the chemises from Holy Clothing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made one big mistake- well, okay a few mistakes but that happens with sewing. I didn’t initially have enough fabric to cut out the pattern pieces. I wanted this dress to be ankle-length. As a result, I had to make new calculations. I had to add more fabric onto the hem of the dress to extend the length of the dress. But more on that later. 

The dress – a work in progress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pattern of the chemise in the photo above is very different but I think I achieved it with my grey dress. 

The grey dress shown with the black overdress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I finally had enough fabric and had all the cotton pieces cut out and marked, I proceeded with the sewing. I used the pattern Simplicity pattern 5189. The pattern is simple and uncomplicated. I wanted an easy pattern. I am still suffering burnout from sewing the Arwen dress. However, I did make a few changes from how the pattern is meant to be completed. I made some modifications. I added the short sleeves and added elastic to the hems of the sleeves. I didn’t have a wide enough neckline to add in elastic. Next time, the dress will have a wider neckline so it can be worn off the shoulder. I added a ribbon and grey lace trim to the neckline and the cap sleeves.

I could not believe how easy the sleeves were to set in. I added the grey embroidered fabric lace to the front of the dress. I love it. It is a dark silver romantic 3D floral lace with beads. The trim is just beautiful. I also added a grey drawstring ribbon in the neckline and sleeves. 

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/766918166/dark-silver-romantic-lace-3d-flower?ref=yr_purchases

The hyperlink leads to Etsy and which exact seller I purchased the lace from, in case you are interested in buying it for yourself! I sewed the extension of the hem. That was a lot for me to figure out. Ugh it could have been better but I didn’t have all the fabric pieces together when I cut out the patterns. It still looks good though, thanks to careful sewing and pressing the seam allowance after. I had to sew sections together and I had to fix the sewing machine. Thankfully, the sewing machine was not hard to fix. I eased in the hem extension sections to the existing dress hem. I want to add ribbon to the seam to conceal the section where I had to ease it in. 

 

Almost Done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to remove a few puckers from the seams, and do a fitting to make sure the dress fit me. I am very happy with it. I believe in taking my time and sewing my best. I wish I had a larger table to work on instead of my ironing board. That would make a huge difference for me. Also I don’t have the best lighting to do sewing in either. I hope that changes soon. My other option is to sew at the library. Then I can have access to a large table and better bright lighting. That really improves the quality of sewing if I am not straining my eyes. I can’t wait for the warmer weather to return, because that means everything is brighter. I cannot wait for spring. 

I ordered a pattern for another long simple dress to sew. The pattern is Simplicity N6775. I want to sew a nightgown dress to lounge around in at home. Something I can relax in and feel comfortable in. I hope I have enough fabric for it – the blue knit tricot fabric I used to make the Arwen gown. The pattern is simple. I just want a pullover dress that is relaxing and casual. Fabricville did not carry the pattern to my dismay so I had to order it online. The link below connects to the website that has the pattern if anyone wants to get the same pattern. If not, I will buy more fabric. 

https://simplicity.com/new-look/n6775

The grey dress looks ultra feminine and a little sassy – which is the embodiment of feminine, right? Right I love the dress. It can be worn on its own or with the black overdress. Sewing the dress myself saved me a ton of money rather than paying for shipping and handling and ordering it from Holy Clothing. Now I plan to order about 3-5 meters of the organic cotton cambric fabric and making another simple dress with it. I want to dye the fabric green though. But I hope to have enough of the blue cotton knit for the dress I want to lounge around in. Sweatpants are not feminine. I am enjoying sewing my own clothing because I don’t like the clothing in the malls. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune though. I want to share an image of the finished grey dress with Holy Clothing. I hope they see what I did and see how they inspire me! The cotton cambric is the fabric that they use at Holy Clothing. 

My book launch for my published novel The Cult of the Spider People: Bone Chillers #1 is fast approaching. I am so nervous. I also hope the launch is successful. 

Don’t get me wrong. Sweatpants are great but I love my feminine witchy style. Bring it on! I hope this inspires you to sew your own clothing. 

Blessed Be Spiderwitch

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December 31, 2021 · 1:52 pm

Miranda Spiderella the Goth Doll )O(

 

 

Merry meet all,

I hope you all had an amazing holiday! 

I watched an episode, Demon under the Stairs, from the Haunted Museum recently. As I did, I suddenly experienced the worst pain in my jaw. It might be coincidental but the timing sure is worthy of note. Like I am not kidding, it was the most painful thing I ever experienced next to the nightmarish experience I had at the dentist’s office. Needless to say, I am no longer visiting that dental office. I am buying a big chunk of selenite to protect me from anymore possible ‘attacks’. I mean you know, just in case. 

I watched a video about demons on YouTube in the past. As I watched, I felt a big muscle spasm between the shoulder blades. That really hurt too. Maybe it was coincidental or maybe I need to up the ante of this pain I suffer when watching certain videos. For any of you who are reading this, I do have psychic protection posts I wrote in the past on this blog. 

Energy is real and all around us. Energy makes everything happen. We are composed of electromagnetic energy. The Universe is energy. A leaf has an energy as does an orange. As I type, rain falls from a grey leaden sky. I keep pining for summer but winter is here. Sometimes I have seen so much ice and snow in my backyard it seems that summer would never return, but it does. I hate winter but I know it passes. The change of the seasons never ceases to amaze me. Everything is energy and nothing is finite. 

 I am inspired to sew a scary doll. She is not haunted but she will be hopefully if I take her places that are speculated to be haunted. The photo shows the layout of the pattern pieces. The body of the doll is white. The hair which will be mostly made up of black and some purple yarn, she will have buttons for eyes, and her dress is a black and white spider print fabric I stashed in the sewing cart. The sleeves are the same fabric as the dress. The stockings are a grey fabric with a black bat print and the boots are black. She will get a witch charm necklace, a broom and a witch hat. I think she will be so Goth and cute. I can’t wait to work on the doll! Then of course, she will need a name. No, I will not name her Morticia. There are a thousand dolls named Morticia. Claudia would suit her though. Maybe she will need fangs and a driving hunger for blood? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ha! The entire doll – the body of the doll and the dress has to be sewn with a 1/4″ inch seam allowance. I had to find out how that is done. My needle plate shows a 3/8″ inch, 5/8″ inch and 7/8″ inch seam allowances. So the 1/4″ inch seam allowance is before 3/8″. You can now imagine that means a tiny, narrow seam allowance. Now I know where that is indicated because 1/4″ inches is 2/8″ inch. I have to see slowly and carefully. Wow. I will never be so precise as now. I made a doll in the past and I was never this careful. That’s because I am now using a pattern. To make it worse, the body of the doll and the clothing which will forever be a part of the doll is white. It will all show if I screw up. I will mark with tape where the mark is where I have to sew. Sewing slowly and keeping an eye on it will be the only way to get this done. This is not a rush job. I have  never needed to sew in a 1/4″ inch before. Needles to say, I don’t look forward to it but it is not impossible. That’s why marking rulers and understanding math can come in handy- and patience!

I can’t wait to stuff the doll and sew the costume. But that comes after patiently sewing the doll and minding the seam allowance. Or it is all for naught. Too much work to go through for nothing. But anything worth doing is worth doing well. I will post photos as I go along. This will be a fun weekend project. I googled goth scary witch dolls. I am going for a scary cute goth look. The buttons I wanted to use might be too big for her face. I ordered black skull buttons online at Amazon. I don’t want to use regular buttons on the doll. I need a button at the collar and on her boots. Skull buttons will make her look edgy and with attitude. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to make this doll, use the pattern by Kwik Sew 4390. That is the pattern I used. You have to have all the fabric at hand that you will need. The clothing is sewn to the doll’s body and is never intended to be separate from the doll. The body of most of the doll is white. The stockings and the booties (See legs of doll in the photo) are the clothing. The arms are white and the face and neck. The hair piece that gets sewn to the head of the doll has to be the haircolor and the yarn has to match. Since the yarn hair was black, I used black cotton for the hair front and hair back. Be sure to use matching thread. Sew the eyes on last or before you attach any other parts to the doll. I wanted to use big buttons for her eyes but the buttons were too big.  Here are some photos I took on the progress of the doll: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you sew the arms and legs, you cut out four pieces. The arms have to look right on the doll and are reversed of each other. One right arm and one left arm. The same goes with the legs. Our arms and legs face a certain way. It is no different with a doll. 

When you sew the head to the body (front), keep a straight seam allowance. If you want to, you can use a pencil and mark a very light straight line from the notch marked on the forehead all the way down to the neck. The seamline of the head of the doll to the body must be straight. The notches and points have to meet. It is the same with the back of the doll. I stuffed the arms and legs tightly and packed the stuffing down firmly using a wooden dowel but not hard enough to tear fabric or seams. You have to get the details of the doll’s body right or otherwise don’t bother. 

Leave the back of the doll open for turning and stuffing. Take your time with this. Take your time making the entire doll. This is an act of creation so go slowly. Sew the doll with love and it will show. I sewed the smile on and traced a light line on for the smile with pencil then stitched over the pencil marks. I sprinkled in mugwort and mandrake then stitched the back of the doll by hand. Once you have correctly and nicely sewn the body, you can progress with the clothing. 

The right arm of the doll’s sleeve cap features spiders. The left arm of the sleeve cap features the webs (where the spiders hide!). I drew an eyebrow on her brow very carefully with a sharpie pen and I did the same with her lashes. The pocket fabric is upside down and the collar fabric is wrong side up but it somehow works. The pocket can still hold spells!!! For the hair braids, you sew the braids to the head where the darts are. You can use whatever color yarn you want, but have lots of it on hand. If you want, you can sew a weft of the yarn hair and then sew it on by hand. You have to sew the yarn on by hand, Mark with a water soluble marker where you want to sew on the yarn. I have included a video here to better demonstrate how to sew on the yarn. Before you sew anything, watch this excellent video!: 

I highly suggest you sew on the yarn by hand. If you use a hot glue gun, you will regret it. It won’t have that seamless look. Hot glue makes a mess. Sewing with needle and thread spares you lots of agony. I made the doll a dress and tacked it on to her body the same I did with the collar. I sewed on a pocket to the dress before I sewed the dress together. I had to sew the dress by hand because for some frustrating reason the machine refused to sew this fabric together. The dress comes with a slip. I gathered the fabric together but I had more luck just cutting the fabric to truly fit her body and I pinned the slip to the doll. Make sure to use thread that is the same as the yarn and the head of the doll. 

I made the doll!!!! I love her and she is just sooo cute! I was successful in sewing the slim seam allowance. I stuffed the arms and the legs then I sewed the back of the doll’s head to the body. I sewed the back of the doll to the front of the doll. If you want to make your own doll and are trying this, you can’t catch the seams of the arms and legs when doing this. Then I finally stuffed the doll. Tear the wool into little pieces then put the stuffing into the doll. Be sure to pack it in carefully. You also have to stuff the doll’s head firmly because you don’t want the doll’s head to be floppy. I recommend watching how the woman in the video sews the doll body if you are inspired to make a doll yourself. It is incredibly helpful. I love my doll Miranda Spiderella. She is cute and scary!  A perfect combination. 

I might hunt a little rocking chair for her for a nice place to sit. I am sure I will eventually find something. This will be fun and hard work. I will let you know how it turns out!!

After this project is complete, I want to sew myself a brown winter coat. 

Blessings, Spiderwitch

 

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