[Thomas R.]

Hi fellow forumites,

today I finished a rather quick project. I just needed three evenings to complete it: a simple drawstring purse. Such purses were used through out the whole medieval era. They were worn hanging from belts, at knee level. As a template I used an illumination found in the Codex Manesse (~1300/10).

It's very simple: You need only some linen cloth, some sewing needles, normal thread and thick linen thread in two colors. The drawstrings are made with fingerloop braiding. A tutorial can be found here: http://fingerloop.org/basic_braids.html . The linen is cut into a long, rectangular shape. Then fold it in half and join the seams with a runnig stitch, fold the overlappings and stitch them down with a seaming stitch. Fold down the upper parts for the drawstring tunnel and stitch them down. Turn the inside of the bag out. Add the fingerloop cord to strengthen the bag on each side and pull the other two cords through the tunnel, so you can pull it close from both sides. Add some tassels at the bottom and stich some ornamental lines onto the upper part.

Have fun!

Thomas

[Elling Polden]

Nice.
I have made a similar purce for carying my modern knickknacks. (vallet, phone, keys...)

These where most commonly worn on the belt holding the hose (and thus under the overtunic) rather than on the outer belt. this makes it both harder to steal, and less likely to bounce about when you walk or run.

A full sice shoulderbag is also recomended. (Known in norwegian reenactors jargon as a "binge bag", since it is most commonly used for carrying beer and similar substances, or a sodomite sack, the ancestor of the fag bag)

[Sam Gordon Campbell]

Good stuff!
I must get around to making one of these as I allready have a "pilgrims pouch/bag" of waxed canvas or, as Elling put it, a "binge bag".

[Johan Gemvik]

The same type of pouch but in leather and without the tufts has been found in a large number of examples from the digs in Stockholm, and can be seen at the Medeltidsmuseet in the central city. I've made replicas, sold, and given as gifts a great number of them over the years. Very nice, fits your basic wallet and cell phone with some room to spare.

Several versions of it are also covered in Purses in Pieces by Olaf Goubitz. Pages 60-64.

[Thomas R.]

Hej Johan,

do you happen to have some pictures of these pouches? I have seen some of a similar type in a shop. They were described as purses for coinage, put in a belt pouch.

I know the "binge" bags, too. But I have a feeling that most of them are made far too big. I made one several years ago (with a pattern taken from the Morgan Bible as well) and it's just a third of the size I've seen at fairs and markets. Even if I made the mistake to work too closely after the illumination, I fear most bags I've seen are too big, nevertheless. I guess I could carry only one can of Tuborg in my "binge" bag so far...

Best regards,
Thomas

[Johan Gemvik]

I don't have any photos at hand right now after my recent computer crash, maybe my brother does. I could take some of my reporductions but I'm guessing you'd much rather see the originals.
But I can certainly take some new ones next time I visit that museum and I was planning to later this summer. Also check out the book Puses in Pieces, it's mainly from Netherland finds, but has both the same and other similar purses. I expect these were common all over europe.

You might also be able to get photos from the museum itself if you contact them and explain you're working on a historical reconstruction, most museums are positive to helping people with that.

[Elling Polden]

[Thomas R.]

Well, Elling,

I don't think they used to carry big things in their shoulderbags (at least not in the ones shown in the Morgan Bible) back then. I think of them more like our pockets in jeans and jackets. For all things bigger than a paternoster, some bread and cheese or a pair of dice, they would have got a donkey, a horse, a waggon or a simple wooden pannier for their back. I suspect, that the big "binge bags" are a sort of a reenactorism like these knifes with bend iron grip or drinking horns. Alas, I have no proof.

So long,
Thomas

[Elling Polden]

While some bags might serve as pockets, some might also serve as bags, carrying the items we would carry in bags.
The backpack equalient, however, is quite absent, for the reasons you point out.

[Johan Gemvik]