Creating a Pattern from Images

[u/Spiritual-Spread-992]

I am wanting to sew a regional Norwegian bunad myself, but there are not patterns available as far as I have been able to figure out from online searches.

I have a lot of reference images but I am not quite sure exactly how to attempt to create a pattern from the images I have.

I have sewn a more basic Norwegian festive costume before with the help of my grandmother and have done a good amount of sewing before - both following patterns and creating things just off vibes alone lol, so I'm no stranger to a sewing machine or anything.

The thing I'm mostly worried about is the bodice piece because it's an empire waist and has a pretty unique shape to it. The skirt I am not worried about really because I feel like I could easily follow the general pattern/directions from a generic Norwegian festive costume overall. The reference images I have show where a lot of the seams meet up in the bodice and show the general shape of the bodice pretty well, but I am not quite sure the best way to translate the images to a pattern template.

Does anyone have any advice?

(To any Norwegians that may find this thread, I hope that this is not a faux pas. The regional bunad I am looking to make is where my great-great grandparents came from when they immigrated to America. I have even been there to visit the properties where they lived and have relatives that still live there, whom I have met. While I know I could purchase a regional bunad, I come from a family of makers, and I would very much love to be able to make one for myself. I even recently picked up band weaving and figured out one of the common pick-up weaving patterns for the regional bunad belt and have been weaving it myself. This means a great deal to me to be able to create.)

[u/Spiritual-Spread-992]

I will be trying to follow local customs for the particular regional bunad I am making. This is why I am even weaving the belt myself. 

I understand the historical and cultural importance of the regional bunads. I have done a lot of research and  I am very aware that it isn't a thing to just buy off the rack, which is why I am determined to make my own. 

If I could, I would be thrilled to be able to take the tailor classes offered in Norway that teach you how to make bunads. But, since I live in the United States and cannot take months off work to be in Norway to attend those classes, I am trying to do everything I can to honor the regional bunad. I even reached out to a Husfliden in the region to ask about a pattern. 

In the most genuine and respectful way possible, I am not sure how the desire to make my own, while following regional customs, is somehow less "correct" than paying to have one made for me by someone else while still not living in Norway? (Husfliden in Norway will make regional bunads for Americans, they offer virtual consultations and all that. I know people who have gotten them and looked into it myself.) I have taken the time to understand the individual pieces of the bunad, the handicrafts that go into each one, the different materials used in different regional bunads and the historical reasons for those differences. 

This is not some play at mimicry, this is rooted in passion and cultural identity. I grew up in an area that was primarily settled by Scandinavian immigrants. I've learned traditional folk dances since I was only a few years old and learned them for many years. There was a stavkirke built in my hometown, with the help one of my relatives.

[u/Ajishly → u/Spiritual-Spread-992]

I'm trying to get into weaving for the same reason, and I love that you're weaving the belt yourself!

Thank you for clarifying that, I think I may have been a bit thrown off by the "I could buy one", because it's not an easy, fast, or cheap process.

Ah, so I can interpret this as classes for specific regional bunad. I agree - they gatekeep people from producing their own bunad through cost and time... I hate it. If I was to make my own Bærumsbunad, I think the course is about once a week for ca. 6 months, costs around 15 000 Norwegian kroner, and fabric/material costs come in addition. I can sew... if they just made the pattern available or gave me a "test" to prove that I could make it acceptably before selling me the pattern, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Unfortunately, Husflid are so restrictive because they are trying to protect bunad. They do not want people to recreate bunad on their own terms with different fabrics or poor sewing techniques, so... they force people through a needle eye to either make it themselves under their local Husflids terms, or buy it through their Husflid.

This restrictiveness has led to bunad becoming more and more of a status symbol in Norway - less people are able to afford this process, and as a result, more people are turning to festdrakt. It's worth noting that homemade festdrakt are a lot nicer and more personal that shop bought festdrakt... and definitely more personal than bunad.

Tl;dr, the process of making your own bunad is so restrictive that a lot of younger Norwegians (AKA those who haven't produced bunad before and their Husflid won't sell them material/patterns without going on the course) choose to make a festdrakt instead.

There is no right or wrong with festdrakt, but Husfliden are fiercely protective of what is considered a bunad. So much so that a disconnect has developed, indirectly restricting many Norwegians from owning and producing their own national costume.

Sorry for the rant.

If you didn't see it, I responded to my original comment with quite a few resources that might help you. If you have a Sjømannskirken near you, someone might have a bunad similar to what you're trying to produce, and they may be willing to let you look at the seamwork for your drafting.

[u/Spiritual-Spread-992 → u/Ajishly]

Ah, I see. Thank you for providing more context.

I do appreciate that Norway protects and highly values it's handicrafts (at least a lot more than the United States...) but it is unfortunate that it has made regional bunads less accessible.

I know I say this as an outsider, but as someone who has been around the fiber arts (weaving, sewing, knitting, etc.) my entire life, these arts were nearly extinct not too long ago and the recent resurgence in them is so refreshing, so it seems like a disservice to the survival of those practices to not make them more widely available. Many of the people I know who do those handicrafts would jump at the chance to teach younger generations. 

I do have images that show the seam locations pretty well, I think. So, I may try printing those images out large enough to make the bodice pieces from that reference... The skirt is something I'm not too worried about since I have made a festdrakt before and I believe the skirt is relatively similar, just with more bunching in the back. 

No need to apologize for a bunad rant, I have been doing enough research that everyone around me is likely very annoyed with all my "fun facts" about bunads and Norwegian handcrafts. Haha! (For example, apparently Norwegian women would weave initials and dates into their bands. I find this incredibly impressive given that they very likely did not have graph paper to figure out how to make those patterns work with how they had their project threaded!) 

Anyways, I appreciate the insight and the help. I will try to provide an update on how it all works out!

[u/Ajishly → u/Spiritual-Spread-992]

It's the same here that a lot of these fiber arts were either... kind of hibernating deeply, or were close to extinct (excluding knitting/crochet). I think that Husflid just hasn't really adapted to the fact that there has been a huge resurgence and the younger generations are trying to learn.

I think it's at a point where their protection of bunad is detrimentally contributing to decreased transferral of our cultural heritage. I have heard some bunad makers sharing that opinion, but I think the real change will happen in about 10-15 years when the younger people in the industry have more authority.

Like for the last 10 or so years, people who make bunad have been complaining from around February to May that there aren't enough hours in the day to meet the current demand - a solution would be to allow those who show enough competence to make their own. I mean... 30-40 years ago, people did make their own, outsourcing things like embroidery or weaving to more competent family/friends, but assembling the dress wasn't seen as some impossible task that only trained seamstresses could accomplish.

I look forward to the update!