Need to keep my saxon sprogs warm

[Naomij]

We have a samhain event coming up and need to improve our kit, have started a separate thread for children as otherwise itll confuse me, hope that's ok

They are Saxon childer, a boy of 9 and a girl of two. At the moment their stuff is v shoddy as made cheaply in a rush. I still dont have much budget but can obtain a passable cotton/linen mix, also have some v thick wool. I'll describe what they have now in case you lovely folk can suggest any improvements but am
prepared to start over.

At the moment the 2 year old has a frock I made her before she could walk as a tunic type thing would have been impractical. It has a bodice and long gathered skirt attached at what is now empire level, a bound keyhole neckline and long sleeves. Now she can run about I think she'd be better in some sort of shift/simple overdress?

My 9 year old has short loose trousers, similar to the guys. And a keyhole neckline tunic, I never got round to doing anything with the neckline. It will be totally inadequate for a cold Halloween evening. He's getting older now and would like to hang out with his warrior uncle more than me, could he have some sort of checked flannelly trousers bound at the ankle to keep out the cold? What for his top half?

How to keep my babies warm? Of course they can have many layers underneath and will prob just snuggle up in sheepskins, but might also be required to dash about when the Normans attack our village so am thinking cloaks etc?

[Gagglewrangler]

on VERY cold days my little ones (1,3 & 5yo) wear all in ones under their kit as a base layer & then have a thick wool top layer, i have never managed to get them to keep a cloak on unless sitting still (even then its not easy) but they have very rarely moaned that they are cold, feet are the worst bit but plain wellies covered in a pair of plain black/dk brown socks under trousers (with or without putties) are hardly noticable & stops any "my feet are cold!" winges (our society allow this for little ones)

[lucy the tudor]

Basic little square type coats, in thick wool, are remarkably warm, and much easier to keep on than a cloak, even when not fastened. My kids wore them slightly more willingly than cloaks.
I still have a job hetting my ten year old to wear shoes at events, even though he has the proper ones, and they fit ( but then I have a tendency to need to remember to put mine on when leaving the tent to go about too, so I shouldn't talk).
Lot's of layers, even thin linen ones , make for warm kids- but more difficulat when needing to strip the small after an accident.

[Naomij]

Thanks for the great suggestions. I can also envisage mine shrugging off cloaks, could you describe how you cut out/made the coats? Or a picture would be great if you have one that sounds like a good solution as I have wool.

The socks over shoes idea is also very good, thanks for that! X

[Alice the Huswyf]

Dubbins or oil their shoes very thouroughly. Add sheepskin inner foot pads. socks can be a double edged sword - kids may have wet cold feet, without them, but at least they won't have cold wet ankles too as the wet wicks up the sock. Oiled woolen socks or tights cut off as half hose.

[lucy the tudor]

I'm lousy at pictures, sorry.
To make a basic coat, lay child on large piece of newspaper, do not tickle, mark mid thigh, width across shoulders, waist etc. Carefully remove paper, now tickle, they'll play along next time then.
Should have a rough rectangle. Measure sleeves, from point of shoulder to wrist. Measure round arm when wearing thick jumpers, and add a bit. Always allow for seams.
For sleeve make tube of cloth to measurements, then cut a little bit off for the underarm ( think cheeswedge).
Cut one rectangle for the back, then cut two which are about two thirds of the rectangle, fold back the middle edges of these to make a middle and attach to the back at the top shoulders sides with pins , put on child, held still by someone strong, no tickling at this point, then adjust the shoulders, cut out the neck shape ( a little at the back, a little more at the front) you may want to take a little wedge off each shoulder at the arm side too.
Now attach sleeves to body, sew the lot up. Line it with some thing which doesn't itch, or they'll whinge.
It will look a little sack like, it will be warm, it should be baggy to allow for all the layers.
I made my kids ones bigger than they needed, and used turned up sleeves. Longer than they wanted and it kept the wind off them better.
Poor dabs had to wear the same coat for four years.
Character building.