桜のバイキング: Exploring the Intersection of Medieval European and Japanese Culture Through Chainmail

Since I was a child, I was active in the Society for Creative Anachronism, a medieval reenactment group. Through my involvement with the group, I developed an interest in medieval European history, and I had the opportunity to take several jewelry making classes. I have been making jewelry for about seven years, and I especially love making chainmail jewelry, so I knew I wanted to incorporate that in this project. Rather than preparing a jewelry collection, I decided on a larger, more focused project – a period dress made of chainmail. I chose the Viking apron dress because it is a style that I myself have often worn in the SCA. To make the piece more personal to me, I incorporated influence from my Japanese heritage as well, both in the weave and in the cherry blossom theme of the dress. This project allowed me to explore the similarities and differences between Viking and Japanese culture, as well as to work with new metals and metalworking techniques that I had not worked with previously. For this project, I crafted an apron dress out of copper and nickel using the Hikaru weave, a variant of Japanese 6-in-1. I also sewed an underdress with simple chainmail trim and crafted a pair of cherry blossom shaped pins in place of the traditional tortoise brooches. This piece was a challenge to myself, as this was my first attempt at a project on this scale, and I had the opportunity to learn many new techniques along the way. While my finished piece has changed quite a bit from my original vision, I’ve learned so much from this project – about the cultures I tried to convey with the piece, as well as about myself and what I am capable of accomplishing.