My name is Ceara (Ciara) der Alcan and I hail from the Barony of Eskalya in the Principality of Oertha.

I have been playing in the SCA since about 1997 but was a wallflower for many of the early years. I started watching what other people were making and asking questions and it got me to realize that I could try and make some of these crafts as well. So here I am.

I made it a mission to start entering A&S events when ever I could, however this is my first crown display but I hope it won't be my last.

In Oertha we have a tradition of honoring the stepping down Princess a Pouch with a snowflake on it. When a friend of mine was reigning I decided that I wanted to make her pouch. Another friend let me know that she really wanted the hedeby style bag. At the time I had no idea what that was, what it looked like or even where to start. I had to turn to the internet for inspiration.

In my travels I found lots of references to the handels used and which areas they were from. Finding extant embroidery samples on the other hand have been a bit more challenging.

Embroidery was done with split stitch on blue felted wool. The beige fabric is natural linen. The handles were gifted to me as was the ribbon around the embroidery.

My second attempt at the bag was for one of my good friends. I had no idea what I wanted to attempt to embroider so once again took to the internet. While this pattern is much more modern in appearance it definitely spoke to the person's personality.

The handels were made from me and I believe were laser cut.

Around 18 hours of handwork went into the bag. Stitches are cotton and all the fabric is Linen.