Greetings Bryn Gwlad and Friends, Today we start a monthly segment for the Barony and friends called ~ Guild of the month; The purpose is to Highlight the guild and its leaders and show what it is all about. Our first Guild of the month is
Clothiers Guild
The Guild lead is Drika van Sitteren along withDeputy Anne von Wiese
The Clothiers Guild is set up and run by populace from the Barony of Bryn Gwlad, for the Barony and its friends. It is a resource for beginning and continued help in all areas of clothing in the medieval time frame of the SCA ~ from around 400AD to 1600AD. It is a place to ask questions and receive help or ideas for all. Wether you are a Newcomer or seasoned old timer, there is always information and help for the asking.
I was very excited to be able to ask a few questions of Drika and Anne to see how they personally feel about the things they offer and share with the populace.
Q ~ 1. How long have you been the lead for this Guild and why did you volunteer for this?
A ~ Drika – Nicaize Maupetit “voluntold” me :^) ! But seriously, Nicaize was looking for someone to take on the Clothiers Guild back in 2017 and knew that, even though I was a recent SCA member, I really enjoyed researching, patterning, and making garb. With her encouragement, and the ongoing support from Lady Simona who stepped down from lead into the deputy role, I gradually got the hang of it.
A ~ Anne – I have been the deputy since December 2020. I volunteered because period costuming is my main interest in the SCA and it was a natural fit.
Q ~ 2. What kind of things do you think the Barony can gain from attending/joining this guild?
A ~ Drika – Well, everyone needs to obtain garb one way or another, so a Clothiers Guild is always relevant to its Barony. Our Barony has many excellent tailors (more experienced than I!) but the Guild is a central point for people to get information, nerd out about current projects, and get hands-on help. (And by hands-on, I mean during in-person meetings and PiP in the Before Times, but video chat these days.)
A ~ Anne – Anything from basic SCA geared sewing guidance to advanced topics in particular times and regions of garb.
Q ~ 3. Do you need to have any previous experience to be able to join in and get something from this guild?
A ~ Drika – Guild doesn’t buy materials and make garb for people – it’s not a tailors shop – so people do need to be prepared to learn to sew clothing themselves. In terms of experience, any sewing experience will be helpful, but it’s not at all required.
A ~ Anne – No experience or supplies are needed. It is important to understand that it is a place to learn and get resources. Ultimately the attendees are responsible for their costume construction, the guild is there to provide support in this process. People can learn about resources and techniques that can help focus a person’s efforts in developing garb for participation. It also serves as a forum for discussing A&S geared costuming projects.
Q ~ 4. What would you like to say to people to encourage them to join in ?
A ~ Drika- those who are new and baffled about where to start in making garb, we can help with resources, planning, and learning to sew.
For those who are experienced, it’s a nice social environment to share projects, chat about cool research topics, and hang out.
We have a pretty large FB group, a few Discord channels, and a monthly online meeting.
A ~ Anne – The guild gets newcomers and people starting out on their garb, which is always welcome and great. It would also be great if more advanced members that enjoy costume creation would come and attend, not only to share and teach but to comrade. This year we had a more in-depth impromptu class on Viking Arm Skyths taught by guest speaker Magistra Osana van der Linden that was very well received. It would be awesome to continue this tread as well as create a space for new and experienced members interested in garb to hang out and share ideas.
Q ~ 5. What do you have planned for the future?
a. 1 month – b. 6 month – c. 1 year –
A ~ Drika- I used to have better answers to this question, and then: quarantine! I am playing it by ear.
Right now I am very pleased that Anne von Wiese joined as my deputy in December 2020. She jumped right in and has been planning our meetings, presenting, and helping our attendees.
Q ~ 6. Anything else you would like to add or say to the populace ?
Thank you for giving me a chance to give back to my Barony! The Clothiers Guild is here for you, and if I can’t assist you directly, I will get you the resources you need one way or another. And come join our meetings on Discord, everyone is welcome.
Thank you so much Drika and Anne for sharing your thoughts and answering the questions so we may have a little more insight into this wonderful Guild. I can say without a doubt that the Clothiers Guild under the tutelage of these Brilliant minds is a needed place for everyone who wears or makes anything cloth wise.
The Clothiers Guild maintains a very active FaceBook page (link lower in post) as well as having calendared guild meetings on the 4th Thursday of each month via Discord (right now due to covid) please reach out to the guild leads, my self – Sigrun de Birca , or Kolfinna inn Kyrra Ottarsdottir if you need assistance with any of these platforms.
Drika van Sitteren has a large collection of resources she has collected to help in all areas of clothiers, the following are on the top of her vast list. Its worth joining the guild to be able to find these things and with Anne von Wiese as her deputy why would you not want to pick these beautiful minds for all your clothier needs and questions?!
Drika’s top 3 Gems;
Period portraits, to get a sense for clothing style by the decade 3000s BCE through 1790s CE, primarily European but so helpful: https://portraittimeline.com/
For late period Europe, this site is focused on England but covers common items (the smock generator is great) and has so much info: http://www.elizabethancostume.net/
And remember it’s not always about Europe – the Knowne World is much bigger – so here’s a cool Indian textile history site, where you can find dates and traditions for individual Indian states: https://strandofsilk.com/journey-map/ikat/introduction
Link for the Guild Face book page where the typed word magic happens
Clothier’s Guild on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bgclothiers/
Link for the Discord server where we sharing info, have classes and socialize
Thank you so much everyone and remember Whether you are just learning, hand sewing, machine working, creating clothing for personal or family SCA or trying to learn to do an A&S project – This is the place to start and stay !!
Huzzah Clothiers Guild !
Barony of Bryn Gwlad MoAS ~ Sigrun de Birca