Make Your Own Viking Birka Hat

Name: Make Your Own Viking Birka Hat
Start: 2025-03-15T09:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-03-16T14:00:00-05:00
Location: 209 East Sheridan Street, Ely, MN, United States, Minnesota 55731

Schedule

Sat, 15 Mar, 2025 at 09:00 am to Sun, 16 Mar, 2025 at 02:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

209 East Sheridan Street, Ely, MN, United States, Minnesota 55731 | Ely, MN

Register here: https://elyfolkschool.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/elyfolkschool/event.jsp?event=15161&
Saturday, March 15th and Sunday, March 16th, 2025
Saturday from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Sunday from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM*
*students may stay late on Sunday to finish their project if necessary
Tuition: $156 Materials: $150
Keep your head toasty like a Viking! Make a personalized winter hat with six woolen or leather panels with a fur fringe – it is not just fashionable and warm, but historically accurate. The design is based on grave goods found at the Birka archeology site in Sweden. This class will feature:
Walking through every step from start to finish to make your personal Viking hat including the liner and fur ruff!
Learn to draw your own patterns to fit your head size.
Work with fur trapped locally in Northern Minnesota.
Gain hands on experience sewing fur, wool, and leather.
While sewing their hats, students will learn about the history of trade in the Viking world which led the thriving trade city of Birka during the 10th century. Special attention will be given to how to work with traditional leathers (moose, deer, or reindeer) and furs (fox, beaver, and otter) that are found in both Northern Europe and North America. Students will create a pattern, sew the outer cap, add a fur fringe, and finish the liner to create a unique and personally meaningful hat. The class is a great introduction to sewing and working with natural materials and provides useful applications for future projects!
This project is appropriate for ages 12+ with adult/ages 16+ alone and is open to all skill levels. Please note that to complete this project, students need some hand strength and flexibility, as sewing leather and fur is more difficult than cloth.
A $150 materials fee covers leather or wool (students’ choice) for one hat, fur for the trim, leather cutter’s needle, thread, hat pattern, instructional handout, and other necessary supplies. Students are also encouraged to bring preferred ergonomic sewing tools as sewing leather and fur may be more difficult than sewing cloth.
About your instructor: Kaitlin Ostlie's undergraduate work was in East Asian Studies and Cultural Anthropology with an emphasis on Japan. During their twenties, they briefly lived in Tokyo, Japan, and it was there that they fell in love with mingei, or the crafts of common people. While in Japan, they exposed themself to a variety of folk arts including Shorin-Ryu and Kobudo martial arts, book binding, ceramics, indigo dyeing, woodworking, and leather working techniques. They especially enjoyed learning about the arts associated with Japan’s minority cultures – the Ainu, Ryukyujin and Burakumin – that often do not receive the attention or support they deserve both within Japan and abroad.
After returning to the Minnesota, they decided they wanted to continue exploring folk art in the context of Minnesota’s indigenous and settler populations, including their own cultural background as a Nordic/Sámi American. Since then, they have taken course work whenever time and money has allowed at many regional folk schools and with both local and international teachers. Their own work reflects my diversity in training, often incorporating techniques, styles, and visual motifs from their Scandinavian, Sámi, Japanese, and Native American influences.