Norse Viking Women’s Costume

I made this Viking women’s costume look  for myself! While I was gifted fabric, I was not paid for this post. There are some affiliate links.

As a seasoned costume designer, I delved into my stash of notions and trims to create another look for this year’s Georgia Renaissance Festival. We had the availability to visit on “Viking and Barbarian Weekend,” so we went all out by making a Viking women’s costume from an apron dress pattern! While I wanted to evoke the spirit of Norse culture, I also wanted to add a big fat dash of “renfest” to the costume, which means fun, and a little big of silly. But let’s be honest, nothing at the Renaissance Faire is really period-perfect.

Like my modern leather belt or my teacup holster that I ADORE. We do our best and have a LOT of fun. And what’s a Viking weekend-inspired outfit without a touch of fur? I added a Arctic fox fur, a cherished gift from years past, adding an extra layer to the ensemble. So grab your needle and thread, and let’s journey together into the enchanting world of psuedo-Norse fashion! Skål!

Norse Viking Women’s Costume

The first thing to do was decide what look I wanted. I knew I wanted less of the Zena warrior leather-ed out look and more of a traditional Norse look with added accessories that leaned towards shield maiden. It would be my own compilation! I was gifted some high quality pure linen fabric from Fabric Wholesale Direct in several colors, which was perfect to start with my period-esque look. I purchased a pattern from Julie Chantal of several undresses (or chemise, in some periods) and apron dress layers.

You can see in the video below, the underdress started out way too big, so I cut it down a bunch. Without a zipper, I needed it to still be able to slip over my head, but didn’t want a bunch of fabric making me… wider. The linen was easy to work with (and yes, I completely shrank it to death in the wash on purpose; it allows me to easily launder it later). It cut like a dream and wrinkled perfectly to keep its natural fibers look. I find that essential to this type of dress, and the hand of this linen was nice and taught.

After an initial stitches, the apron dress on top… ended up too small! The finished measurements on the garment weren’t exactly as described, so I split all four princess seams and added my own godets to make a large and swirling finish. MUCH better.

The hair took me about 25 minutes from start to finish, without a real plan. I looked at some photos and teased it to the gods. a few braids and a LOT of little eastics later, it stayed put all day!

My family was totally in on dressing up, as when we visited three years ago, we weren’t dressed up and really missed out on the fun. Last year, Hubs wore the same ensemble as this year, but we added some more authenticity with a real rabbit skin made in Spain! I can’t take any credit for the leather or fur work, but I did make his tunic last year at his request. We also darkened the makeup and added more tattoos to the “Floki” inspired head design.

Not to be left out, the kids dressed up again, but Scarlett ditched her elaborate fairy getup for a “wizard” look she put together with her crafted art-class wand. Red again donned his DND sorcerer outfit I made him last year, (and I can’t believe it still fit!). Let me tell you, this was my first foray into 3-D foam, and it was harder than I expected!

But anyway, back to MY LOOK. (This makes me laugh if you’re familiar with the Pig the Pug books). I strung together some leftover beads from previous projects and several random ones I bought from the Beadweaver of SantaFe. This made up the apron dress topper, and if you watched the video all the way through, you’ll see I took LARGE old plastic buttons and spray painted them to get a free-to-me bronze brooch to look like Norse fasteners.

My belt is… modern… but it fits! I added a leaf-style pouch to it for necessities and my teacup holster for… anything. I actually DO use it at the renfest, for mead, cider, and my first visit to the Peacock Tea House! My fur was a gift a loooooooong time ago from my parents. It’s an unfinished arctic fox pelt that I keep in an acid free box, and this is the first time he’d ever been out in public! It added a very cool touch to the look, but I did have to unfurl him around 3pm and attach him to my belt to keep from having a heat stroke!! Georgia in the spring can be HOT, y’all!

This year’s Ga RenFest was wonderful, and we’re already plotting our return next year… what weekend will we choose? Can I get all three of these guys to wear the same costume?? Tune in next spring to see what I can cook up next for this annual fun time!