14th Century Kidney Bag · Alfr Tivedens

A gift fit for a laurel

The very good friend of mine, Scolastica Capellaria, was recently made a laurel. She has helped me more times than I can count and really helped me on my journey through the SCA. When I heard she was going to be getting her laurel, I knew I had to make her something extra amazing.

She has an extra special fondness for the 14th century, so I decided to create a kidney pouch for her. While these types of bags are pretty common in the SCA, to the best of my knowledge she didn't have one yet, and it provided me with an opportunity to try some fun things.

The process

I created my own pattern for this project, although I failed to really take any photos of that process. For the design, I just love a good diamond pattern, so I sketched out (or rather painstakingly measured) a diamond pattern that would fit on the front of the bag. Then I cut out a hole in each diamond so I could layer in some wool underneath.

Figure ACutting out the small diamondsWhile the pattern was still taped to the leather, I cut all of the smaller diamonds.

After cutting out all of the holes (a tedious process for sure), I dyed the leather and then glued on a piece of red wool so it would show through. I then punched all the holes for the decorative stitching on the front.

Figure BHoles ready for stitchingThe front panel dyed, fabric glued, and holes punched.

At this point I stitched up all of the diamond lines using a standard saddle stitch. I stitched though the wool, too, to ensure the pieces stay attached forever.

At this point I neglected to take photos, but the next step was gluing on another piece of leather on the back of the front flap. This was thin, smooth leather to use a lining and hide the back of the wool and the stitches.

I then cut out the piece that would be the back of the bag and the top loop for a belt. I glued a small strip of the piece to the top of the front piece between the lining. So the whole thing feels like one piece.

Figure DThe bag starts to take shapeGluing on the back piece

The next step was to attach a decorative trim that hides the layers of the front flap and makes the whole thing beautiful. The trim is a super soft and supple leather.

At this point I completely forgot cameras even existed and I just finished the bag.

Lifting up the front flap reveals the front of the bag. In lieu of the traditional extra pouches that are often found on kidney bags, I opted for a straight flat piece that I decorated with Scolastica's regalia. I thought this bit of personalization would be nice.

And then I just finished the bag by sewing in a gusset. Easy peasy.