Shutterbug

April / Danielle (depending on if we're speaking mundanely) has uploaded photos from Christmas Revel! Including this one of the brown kirtle in action. Well, posed at this particular moment ...


Plug: Really, click the link at the beginning of the post and browse through the galleries. She manages to capture a good representative cross-section of SCAdian culture, from the heat of battle to the pageantry of court, beautiful crafted items from the society's artisans, and friends kicking back and having an all-around good time.

Holiday wind-down

Christmas Revel this past weekend was fabulous - Bacon Bit won both the youth heavy and rapier tournaments, Morgana antler-bombed no less than a quarter of the populace in attendance, and our newest Pelican, Mistress Barbara Sterling was elevated to her peerage, surrounded by old and new friends who cherish this wonderful lady and her decades of service to the Society and our young Kingdom.

April took a few full-body shots of me in my brown kirtle, off-white apron (I don't think I told you about that one), and gold Monmouth cap. I'll get that posted asap.

Alas, I am unable to deliver a project-completion update, as my mundane job got in the way, and I was asked to fill in at a store roughly an hour's drive from home. I can offer you a teaser photo of my grey-brown wool hood in progress, though.



Since taking that shot I've attached the center-back gore and sewn the seam up the back of the head to the liripipe attachment. That leaves the liripipe seam, the buttons and buttonholes, and some seam finishing.

There are no more events this month, and all of January's are too far away for me to consider attending. The next feasible event, Candlemas, will be held near Memphis at the beginning of February. After pulling a five-hour drive from the Gulf coast this past Sunday, the two-and-a-half hours to Memphis seems like a breeze, and I can crash with my sister the nights before and after the event, work schedule permitting. After that, a month-long research and prep fest for Gulf Wars XXI! That's right! Gulf Wars will be old enough to go to the Known World Party. I'm going to do my very best to get three or four days off for War, which means working things out with my boss many, many weeks in advance.

I know I'll need a wool gown for the inevitable chilly nights, and a cloak with a clasp or pin would be really useful. A red-and-black parti-colored gown would be nice to have available during muster and at the Gleann Abhann court, but party clothes come after wardrobe staples on the priorities list.

So, to my three official followers and everyone else who stumbles across this blog for whatever reason, I wish you and your loved ones health and serenity this holiday season, and an optimistic outlook for the new year.

- Mathilde de Metteneye

Stress test

Usually I prefer to wash garb by hand in the bathtub. This is because I'm a tad paranoid about all my hand stitching deciding to fail simultaneously. Silly? Yes, but I still play along with my brain.

Anyhoo, I deviated from my usual methods the other day and sent the brown kirtle through a machine wash. Mostly because it's become quite cold and I have no interest in stooping over a tub and swishing my hands around in cold water. Granted, the machine was on the delicate cycle and the lowest spin speed, and the kirtle was the only garment in the load. It did not disintegrate, nor did the seams explode. As I was hanging it up to dry (using the ribbon loops I stitched to the waist), I did find one weak point at a strap attachment. I have plenty of the same silk thread used in the garment's construction, so with a quick repair it'll be ready to play at Revel this Saturday.

Remnant-wool hood is also coming along nicely. I did a couple of test buttons and a test buttonhole. Haven't quite nailed down the spacing for the buttons, or whether I want to do even spacing or grouped pairs for a little added interest. Gotta get back to work to ensure the hood is wearable for Revel. It's supposed to get stupid cold outdoors once the sun sets. Photo post tomorrow night, perhaps?

Hey, look! December!

Got together with some of the crafty critters from Tor an Riogh earlier today for a little workshop on making and using natural dyes. Lots of good questions, a little show-and-tell, and a healthy amount of enthusiasm about experimenting with backyard dye materials.

Christmas Revel is in a week. I had a bit of garb-making burnout after Crown List, but yesterday I pulled some khaki-grey wool from the remnants stash and got to work on a London hood. The gore points above the shoulders result in a little pleat, which messes with the neck circumference a bit, so I'm going to need another (slightly deeper) gore at the center back of the cape. I also decided to line the face opening and button plackets with leftover dark brown linen from *ahem* that last project.

Assuming I don't waste too much of my day-off-work tidying the house, doing laundry, or reviewing my dye presentation (it's slated for addition to the Shire website), I can at least have the gores inserted, the liripipe sewn in, and some fabric squares cut out for buttons. Oh, and I also need to wash some garb and air out my wool blanket.

Monmouth cap

Until very recently I avoided knitting in the round. Most of my projects consisted of rectangular shapes, with the odd hat every now and then - always with a seam up the back. Well, no more! I bought myself a set of straight double-pointed needles, an interchangeable circular knitting kit and some lovely soft wool yarn as a birthday treat, and got to work that very night.

My gauge for worsted-weight yarn on size 7 needles is about 4 stitches and 7 rows per square inch. I decided to work the brim in a double knit stockinette, so I rounded my head circumference up to the nearest full inch and cast on double the number of stitches I would need for a single layer. I think my mind wandered a couple of times while I was working the brim, but the mistakes aren't glaring. Once the brim reached the desired height, I joined the two layers (K2t, repeat to end of row) and continued in stockinette stitch until the total height reached 4 inches.

I divided the total number of stitches into 8 sections for the decreases, and did some maths to figure out how many rows to knit between each of the decrease rows. The crown of my hat has a more gradual slope than the extant piece referenced by other recreationists, textile archaeologists, etc., but all in all, not a shabby attempt. I'll jimmy with the decrease scheme to try for a flatter crown and try my hand at fulling the next cap.



Now I'm working on a dark blue wool cap for my dear hubby, who doesn't dig the whole "dress-up" scene, but does appreciate a warm cap knit with love.

Overdue post-event catch-up

[Deep breath ...]

Last week I kept myself busy, hem-stitching like a loony until my brown kirtle reached a wearable state. The skirt length turned out just right for a utility garment - long enough to avoid indecency, but short enough that I don't have to worry about tripping over it unless I'm bent waaaaaaaay forward.

Since I can't do just one project at a time, I picked up some dark brown tapestry thread for a new matchy-matchy lucet cord and some mustard/gold wool yarn for a knit Monmouth cap. I also spent a good chunk of time one day braiding a cord from Kermit green embroidery floss, only to discover that my eyelets are not big enough for the knot to pass through. Bugger.

With all this going on I wasn't able to put a new high-necked smock together in time to pack for Crown, so I wore my keyneck under-tunic with the brown kirtle. It didn't look half bad, really, but the sleeves are a bit tight through the forearms. I have three weeks until Christmas Revel to sew a new smock. Since I have the knit cap there's no rush to work on a hood, and I know I won't have time to turn a wool army blanket into a cloak. But hey, rectangular pieces of fabric as outerwear are totally period and can serve multiple purposes.

Macie got its first on-the-body outing on the day of the tournament. It did fine, with one exception; when I was using the wool blanket as a cloak, the weight of the wool pulled the shoulders back and the neckline up - and it was pretty shallow to begin with. I'll definitely keep Macie in the late spring / early autumn rotation, when I can go without a full cloak. The brown kirtle got to come out for court and feast. I ended up serving feast, rather than sitting - something I would recommend to any fairly new SCAdians. Carrying drink pitchers and food platters to and from tables helps make contacts, and, at least in Gleann Abhann, the feastocrat makes sure to feed those who volunteer or are recruited to serve. And buddy, do we have some good feastocrats!

That's it for now. I'll be working on the smock and putting together a class on natural dyes in the upcoming weeks, and I'll post a write-up for the Monmouth cap on my next day off work.

Skirting the issue

Progress is yummy. Over the course of the past few days I've completed the double box pleating for my brown kirtle. This involved revisiting my maths, re-measuring, pinning, making frowny faces, re-re-measuring, re-revisiting the maths, undoing some stitches, re-pinning, and finally producing an acceptable outcome. Although next time I do something with double box pleats I'd prefer to end on a "peak" rather than a "valley." It's just cleaner that way.

Once all that was done I went straight to attaching the skirt and bodice at the waist seam. I had initially planned on turning the top edge of the skirt under just a bit and sewing the waist seam about a quarter inch up from the bottom edge of the bodice. Once I had the bulk from the pleats in my hands, however, the plan changed to "overlap the pieces flat, with the top edge of the skirt on the outside, and hem stitch." Jean thinks I have Cinderella's mice stashed away in my closet to do all the tiny stitchwork that seems to make its way into my garb ... I wish it were so!

For the kirtle to reach a wearable state, I need to close the front of the skirt and hem it. I'm a little concerned about how the skirt's heaviness may warp the shoulder straps during between-events hanging storage and after washing, so I'm going to grab some ribbon and attach weight-bearing loops inside the waist seam. If I do this right, it will take the stress off the straps and I'll only have to worry about replacing the kirtle if/when my body shape changes.

A side note: even on the hanger the dress has a booty. Period silhouette accomplished! I will post pictures once the kirtle is ready for its debut at Crown.

I'm not a wench, I'm your wife!

The bodice is complete! The eyelets (18 of them) were spread out over 3-4 days, which helped me avoid inventing any new profanities. I've been messing around with the skirt today, though, and I had to revisit the maths. Yech.



Here we are from the front. Pardon the midriff; I'm a bit short-waisted.



From the side you can see that this bodice design does nice - but not obscene - things for the boobal area.



I apologize up front for the poor image quality. My husband is not a natural photographer and I had to have him re-shoot because the first set was done from his standing viewpoint ... and he's significantly taller than I am. I made him sit down and shoot more level with my torso, but I'd already unlaced myself and crawled back into mundane clothes before uploading the photos. So yeah, you get blurry. It's better than "Here's how perspective can make a woman look like she has an unrealistically tiny waist and linebacker shoulders!"

There is still a bit of wrinkling, but it's much less noticeable than the wrinkling in the purple kirtle's bodice (it's unlined *gasp*). Adding the weight of the skirt should take care of some of it, right?

Back on track

Since I was off work today I made my shopping trip, picking up only what I absolutely needed in order to finish my new outfit before Crown.

1 spool dark brown Gutermann silk thread
1 spool tan/natural Gutermann silk thread
1 skein avocado green embroidery floss (for lacing cord)

Before heading out, though, I threw my smocks, apron, and coif into the tub for a quick wash and rinse, then hung them up to dry. The Maciejowski gown and my purple kirtle are getting dunked tomorrow. I also found a 3-ish yard piece of thick flannel in the magic fabric trunk the other night, quickly whip-stitched the raw edges and ran it through the laundry. It wants to be a cloak and maybe a pair of mittens. I'd say things are coming together nicely, and I have plenty of time to spend finishing the brown kirtle and getting my stuff together for the event.

Ruh-roh!

Note to self: always buy at least two spools of silk thread per full-body garment.

After my last post I decided to hit the last steps of the bodice out of order ... I guess I was in the mood to poke things with an awl. I've completed 13 of 18 eyelets, but I can see that I won't have enough dark brown thread to finish the rest of the eyelets and the straps, then pleat the skirt, connect it to the bodice, and hem it.

I've sent out a message to some of my other medievalist friends in an attempt to put together a shopping trip to the nearest decent fabric/craft store, but if that fails, I'll have to find a better justification for driving an hour than a couple of $3 spools of buttonhole silk.

Silver bullet

I've discovered something amazing.

Are you ready?

If I actually spend a little time - not necessarily every day, but perhaps every other day on average - working on some aspect of a project, it gets done pretty darn fast.

The bodice is crazy close to being finished. All that's left is to bind one raw edge (the left side of my lacing panel), attach the straps, and sew the eyelets. That last bit will be the most tedious part, so I'll probably post a photo after the straps are on and disappear for a while with my awl and needle and thread to create some colorful new words.

23 days left until Crown List ...

Lazy Sunday

I learned something today; sewing yourself into a garment is tedious. I got a little bored after doing the reinforcing/topstitching on the linen bodice, so I decided to grab the muslin mock-up and take a few dresser-mirror shots. Do your best to ignore the sloppy bedroom in the background.

Deadline's a month away

Good morning, garb hounds! I'm happy to report that all the pattern pieces for the brown linen bodice have been cut out, the linings are all attached, and the side seams are sewn together. Before I finish the seams and tack on an extra strip of fabric to the lacing edges, I'm going to run some top stitching along the lines (see the diagram from the previous post) from the points where the straps attach to the center-back line. This will add a touch of complexity and a little extra structure to the finished product. 4 1/2 weeks until the deadline.

I also picked up some bleached muslin to make a new smock, and there is some remnant black linen or linen/rayon in my stash that could be whipped into a partlet fairly quickly. I don't have to work both jobs today (oh, I got a new one and am finishing out my final week at the old one, by the way ... ), so it's possible I'll make progress on something tonight.

Pictures coming up soon!

A promise I can keep

Ta daaaaaaaaaaa! After several rounds of tweaking, erasing, recalculating, redrawing, and cheap mock-ups, this is my go-to pattern for straight, front-lacing bodices. At least until one or more of my above-hip measurements is significantly altered. Then I get to do it all over again.

Actual garb update: I cut out all the bodice lining and the back panel (split down the middle) of the outer fabric. I sewed those halves together and attached the lining from the lowest part of the underarm curve, up and across the shoulders, and down the other underarm curve. Snipped the seam allowance, turned things right-sides out, and top stitched around the edges along the same route described above. I'm pretty happy so far.

Skirt panel - success!

I'm back from my mini-vacation, and look! The stripey skirt panel is fully assembled! The next step is to lay out the pattern pieces for the bodice and lining. Six weeks out from my deadline ...

Grab your pointy shoes, we're going to the 14th century!

After the verbal prodding I received from one of my A&S judges yesterday, I've decided to begin perusing 14th century artwork for inspiration for my next formal project.  Depending on my level of costumer's ADD (and whatever real-life ridiculousness comes my way), it may be a single garment, a set of clothing accessories, or a full on-the-body clothing review.  Along the way I have a list of books and online resources that want reading.  This time I've got a bit of experience under my belt and I have a better understanding about the importance of thorough documentation as well as producing a high-quality item.

KAS Judges' Comments

Safely back from Kingdom A&S!   Of course I totally ignored the alarm I set to make sure I had plenty of time to wake up, get washed and dressed, then rendezvous with my ride, so I was pretty rushed getting out of the house.  Despite being slightly late getting on the road, we arrived at the event with enough time to get our submissions registered and set up.

'Twas the night before Kingdom A&S

I'm leaving for Kingdom Arts & Sciences very early in the morning.  I'll be entering my recently-finished Maciejowski cotte as a novice clothing submission.  I'll follow up on Sunday or Monday with the judges' notes and some of my own thoughts at the end of my first formal competitive experience in the SCA.

Leave little to the imagination

This is what I'm aiming for with my new brown-and-green front-lacing kirtle.  I'm done piecing together the stripes below knee level on the skirt - over 7 yards of flat-felled seams right there.  Once that's attached to the upper part of the skirt, I'll set that big rectangular piece of fabric aside until the bodice is completely finished.

I'm still fiddling with the smock design.  I'll try to knock out a muslin prototype before leaving for Kingdom A&S this weekend.

Double-teamed

One of my friends had her twins Friday afternoon, and so far everyone is doing well.  Since she doesn't have family living nearby, I've offered to lend a hand whenever I'm not at work.

Progress on the gigantic skirt panel is inching along, and I'd like to pick up some muslin next time I drive into town so I can take a whack at an Elizabethan smock with a higher neckline and maybe a ruffled collar.  The temperature is trying to drop, so it's best that I hit the project pile pretty hard and lay off the MMO for most of the week.

The boring part

Putting together the skirt portion of my brown-and-green kirtle involves sewing a little under 9 1/2 yards of flat felled seams before I can even begin to think about tackling the double box pleats or sewing the front seam closed.  As of right now, I have a tad over 7 yards left to sew.

Brown and green kirtle, part 1

Now that Macie is well and truly finished, and I've had some time to relax and recover ...
It's not like I took my sweet-*ss time finishing that gown or anything ...
It's time to get rolling on the next big thing.

Tor an Riogh is hosting Crown List in November and I could use one more utilitarian outfit by then.  I've tested my bodice pattern in muslin and drafted it onto butcher paper, complete with notes.

Bodice muslin

As promised ...

Front-opening bodice, laid out flat

Bodice folded in half - right side

Bodice muslin pinned shut, hanging up

I'll be adding a clearer patterning diagram in the very near future.

Maths for the fabric addict

Popping on for a quick check-in.  Macie is officially on tap to be showcased at an SCA demo back in my hometown next month.  I'm really excited that there's an active group up there, so I have someone to play with wherever we land in a couple more years.

Full circle

In late June 2010 I ordered a fantastic piece of "Kermit-the-Frog green" bargain linen.  By August I had decided on a project, and now I am pleased to announce it is finally DONE.  And the peasants rejoiced.

An eyelet for an eyelet

Finally reached the point where I could stand to touch the Maciejowski gown again, and I've restocked my supply of gold buttonhole silk, so the last of the hem embroidery and finishing micro-stitches are under way.  I had gotten about halfway around the skirt when the first spool of silk ran out.

While I was making a supply run, I also picked up some 1" wide twill tape to make reusable lacing strips, which I hear are very helpful when trying a new pattern for a fitted garment.  As I have several on my "To Do, Sooner Rather Than Later" list, I figured it would be worthwhile to get cracking on the strips.

Some of the stash

Clockwise from the top left:
Dark brown and Kermit-the-frog green linen for a sleeveless kirtle
Cream linen for a chemise (already cut), apron and new Cheater Birgitta
Red and black linen for a parti-colored cotehardie  Gleann Abhann ... Awe Hail!
Red wool/wool-blend hood, in progress
Natural linen for another sleeveless kirtle
Olive linen for a cotehardie/GFD

Shopping

JoAnn recently opened a new store, so I paid them a visit yesterday.  Didn't hurt that they had linen on sale for 50% off ... Not a fantastic selection compared to the last time I went fabric shopping at Hancock, but since I'd been dropped off and didn't want to try walking through the traffic and sketchy weather I stayed put and picked up 3.5 yards of mid-weight natural linen and some matching silk.

Productive failure

I've spent a good portion of the day testing an experimental dye I boiled out of althea blooms.  The dye turned out a slightly-darker-than-storebought-honey color, so I figured it would take a long soak for any textile to show much of a change.  I soaked some scraps of unbleached muslin, slightly off-white linen and white fisherman's wool in an alum solution last night, since flower pigments are supposed to be rubbish on unmordanted fabric.

In my own backyard

Last year I was reminded that I have pecan trees in my yard.  Several of them.  And they're very mature and very productive, by the look of things.  I picked up a nut that had been prematurely knocked off the branch, hull and all, and started to play with it.  In the process I got quite a bit of hull juice on my hands, and I later discovered it is not an easy stain to remove.  Thus began my mild fascination with dyes that can be made from materials that can be found in the garden (or the grocery store, for cheats) at little to no cost.

Need my fix!

It's been nearly a week since I've done any work on a non-test garment ... and I'm getting twitchy.  Popped the off-white linen into the wash today and am quite pleased with its new texture.  Nice and soft with a tight weave and few (if any) slubs.  It will make a very comfy knee-length chemise.

I've got the day off tomorrow, but, alas, much of that time must be devoted to cleaning the house ... or, at the very least, the front hallway and the living room.  And I need to run some make-shift curtains through the sewing machine.

Goals?

I'm officially addicted to hand-sewing.  Especially when I'm using more period-correct materials.  This is going to make my life interesting.

In progress:

Embroidery for Maciejowski gown

Red wool (blend?) open hood

Rust/orange angel-sleeve gown with buttoned front

Dark blue cotton tunic [we'll call it "Norman"]

Turns out I DO have a workable under-tunic

Turns out I'm built EXACTLY like the Maciejowski women

Pretend this doesn't look ridiculous.  I needed an "action" shot!

Green means GO!

The end is in sight for Macie!  Thanks to a kindly challenge from Jean, I finally got around to trimming and hemming the skirt with some temporary whip stitches in a lovely neon green polyester thread.  As I may have mentioned in an earlier post [too lazy to go look it up], I'm embellishing the collar, cuffs, and probably hem with a simple line of chain stitch in gold silk.  Gold, as in "rich yellow," not "metallic."  I'm pretty happy with the nearly-finished product, but I won't get to wear it to Crown List this weekend due to lack of undergarments that meet my oh, so demanding standards.  Translation: my early-period under-tunic shows at the neckline and it looks funny.  Oh, well.  I already have some off-white linen waiting to be transformed into a chemise or under-tunic.  With a bit of conservative cutting there's probably enough to get a Cheater Birgitta out of it, too.

I need to figure out where my new camera's timer is so I don't have to waste time waiting for a bad photographer.

Braies, day 1

I've been researching medieval braies for an A&S class - materials, design theories, how to wear them properly.  Last night I did a quick design sketch and took my own measurements.  The design is not much more than two rectangles sewn into tubes for the legs, a square crotch gusset, and some drawstrings for the waist and knees.

Today I cut a yard off the end of my massive cotton/linen yardage, folded over and whipped the raw edges, and threw it into a hot wash cycle to knock off some of the sizing.

Stay tuned ...

The Scalded Lobster Shuffle

It's the weekend again!  Which means nothing, really, as I just got home from work and will be working tomorrow as well.  Monday is my weekend.  Yech.

I was out of town last weekend, and I enjoyed my mini-vacation right up to the part where I realized that my husband is the worst spray sunscreen apply-er in the world.  Thankfully I wore a shirt while sitting around on the beach, otherwise I'd be recovering from sun poisoning at the hospital.  My legs are a wreck, though, even six days after noticing the first signs of sunburn.

I am making noticeable progress - I can sit upright in a chair for as long as I care to stay in one place, and I can walk in a nearly-normal fashion once all the muscles and tendons get on the same page.  I can't stand still for more than a few seconds before my shins begin to feel like they're about to shatter, so I avoid doing so as much as possible.

I guess it's pretty safe to assume that some of my readers (you are plural, I hope) are beginning to suspect that the metaphorical cake is a lie, but sooner or later it will arrive, and it will be real enough.  And by "cake," I am, of course, talking about completed projects and pictures thereof.

But until then ...

I give you a jellyfish.

Bilge rat

I made it out to P&P yesterday!  I was quite pleased with my navigation skills, as I managed to arrive on site well within the estimated travel time and without getting lost once.  (Their Majesties apparently did not manage so well, even with a local guide ... )  The schedule was on and off the entire day, but it was very nice out, so I really didn't mind all the down time.  It gave me a chance to catch up with my local friends and make a few new SCA contacts.  Sir Caillin won the Laurel Defender tourney, Lord Gwynn received the Combattant Ram award, and the Laurels gifted Inga with a new ceramic goblet for being the only female fighter in the list.

Crystyna bought nearly an entire bolt of off-white cotton/linen fabric at Gulf Wars, and I took her up on an offer to buy a section at cost.  I'll be measuring the length later, but it should be either 8 or 10 yards.  It's a heavier weight than any of the linen currently in my stash or wardrobe, so it will definitely be used for an outer garment.  My initial idea is to cut 4-5 yards from the original length, dye it, and make a Flemish or English kirtle with a pleated skirt and a fully lined bodice.  The remaining length can become a short tunic and a pair of braies - essentially lounge clothes that aren't mundane sweats.

Pirates vs. Roller Ninjas

Good morning, my dears!  I'm up ridiculously early because some of my internal bits started being grouchy.  Pleh.

I'm still tentatively planning on attending Plunderers and Privateers today.  It's a bit less than an hour's drive to site, and I got an infusion of cash yesterday.  The weather is supposed to be wonderful, and the feast menu is very tempting.  Unless I take a turn for the worse in the next three hours, I'll try to lace myself into my purple kirtle and day-trip the event.  If, however, my body conspires against me, there's always roller derby tonight.

The Maciejowski gown finishing is coming along.  Very.  Slowly.  I might get some work done on it if I'm stuck at home.  The red "wool" hood is a portable project and will accompany me if I'm able to play pirate.  Will update tomorrow with the results.

Pantalon sur le Feu

Hello again from the ADD costumer!

In my fabric stash I found some bright red (alleged) wool.  So you know what I did?  I got to work making myself a fitted hood.  It's simply the must-have accessory for the practical recreator.  While fiddling around with the main piece, I had an idea for a lighter-weight summer variant - a shorter linen cap, sans-liripipe, that still folds back from the face.  Okay, you've seen stuff like that before, but I'm going to do it without having to deal with the curve along the back of the head.  I have yet to see somebody master that particular construction point.

Stay tuned, patient readers, for the completed Maciejowski gown!

I'm going to get a snack when I'm done typing this post.

Last week's would-be vacation sounded like the perfect time to be productive, but hey, how often do I get to do practically nothing for more than a few hours at a time?  Not.  Very.

So yeah, didn't get much accomplished garb-wise.  The Maciejowski gown sleeves are the proper length, and the edges at the shoulders and wrists are tacked down (thinking very seriously about redoing the shoulders, as they're just not wanting to lie flat).  It looks like a proper garment, and, weather permitting, I think it'll make its public debut at Iron Ox's pirate-themed event early next month.

Once that's done I'm forcing myself to sit on my hands and avoid starting new projects until all the in-progress stuff is evaluated, and the worthwhile ones completed.  The only exception: I need to play with patterns for braies and chausses for an upcoming class.  The braies sound like a great thing to have handy for the swiftly-approaching summer months - just pop those babies on with a short, lightweight tunic and sprawl out in camp.

Mild to moderate tragedy

So, my husband's SUV decided Friday night that it doesn't really care to start.  This is not ideal.  For one thing, I was planning on taking it to Gulf Wars later this week - it's just easier to pack my tent, plastic totes, bedding and whatnot in the larger cargo space than in my car's trunk.  Plus it's easier to drive a small SUV through a field than to try the same thing with a sedan.  Secondly, while I have time off for GW, he has no interest in participating in SCA activities and has to work all week.  Which means he needs a working vehicle.  Which means I can't take my car.  He's trying to get in touch with a dealer today, and either have their shop fix the problem (if it's not too expensive) or trade the thing in for something that runs.

I've already lost several hours of prep time driving him to and from work these last few days, so even if things work out I'm seriously behind the ball in regard to finishing my packing and sewing.  Macie is being shelved for now and my focus is shifting to a blue tunic that I can throw over my off-white chemise.

Later that night ...

Well, it can be fixed, but my travel budget and site fees no longer exist.  Thankfully there is an event in a couple of weeks that I can day-trip, so I don't go into complete withdrawal.  Next year I'm stockpiling cash so I can spend at least half the War on site and rent a stupid car for the hubby if need be.

Distance teaching

Thursday morning I was greeted by a delightful surprise in my inbox.  A fellow costumer left a question about my Maciejowski project on my Flickr account.  So I made happy, squeaky noises for a couple of minutes, then had some breakfast as I got to work summarizing my sleeve construction scheme.

I've taught a couple of traditional lecture/demonstration A&S classes for the local SCA group, and while I do like that, it really gives me a boost when somebody independently inquires about my approach to a design or construction challenge.  Kinda makes me think those two years of architecture school weren't totally wasted ... I just seem to do better working with medieval clothing reconstructions than with buildings.

In upcoming news, Gulf Wars begins a week from tomorrow, I'm still very much on the fence about whether I'll make camp Thursday or Friday, and Macie is picking up the pace of progress.  The right side torso and gore seams have been finished; the left side torso seam is finished and the gore seams treatments are under way; which leaves the sleeve seam treatments, trimming the sleeve length and skirt, hemming the skirt, and doing the embroidery.  Sounds like a good deal of work.  Hopefully I can make about as much progress tomorrow as I did today, then keep up the pace Monday.

Lockdown

With (now slightly less than) two weeks to go until Gulf Wars, I've put an official freeze on new projects.  I'm fairly pleased with the pace of progress on the Maciejowski gown - the center front and center back seams and gores have been finished, and I've started the seam finishing on one side.  Didn't bother to note which one ...

Tonight I plan on continuing work on those seam treatments and possibly running my cloak through the sewing machine.

My dark green hood also needs seam treatments, buttons, and buttonholes.

There is a dark blue tunic on my garment rack that could possibly be finished before War.  As of yet, I haven't decided whether I'll be on site Thursday or wait until Friday.  Probably depend on the state of my sewing pile.

Off to get ready for work!

Crack that whip!

The other night I started writing a post on hand sewing and why it works for me.  It got a bit rambly, so I'll sum up:

I'm okay with a sewing machine, but out of necessity (starting my SCA involvement before I owned a "mechanical tailor") I was exposed to hand sewing, so I'm much more comfortable with it than someone who has been trained to use a machine.  I appreciate the historic accuracy of constructing a complete outfit by hand, and knowing that it's going to take a good chunk of time to finish, I invest in research and materials accordingly.  I won't have a large wardrobe anytime soon, but every garment that makes the cut will be something I'm proud to wear and tell others I made.

I think it would be really cool to someday become a costuming Laurel - and no, I don't think I'll become an authenticity nut.  I know how hard it is to find period materials on a small budget, and I know the frustration of fruitlessly searching for documentation for a plausible alternative to the prevailing conventions.

After all ... I am trained as a historian.

Here's a teaser!  Hopefully I'll be able to post a shot of the completed outfit before Gulf Wars.

A hexagonal neckline, you say?

Buttonses

Fabric buttons and chain stitch embroidery on my orange linen gown.

It goes to seventy, actually.

The last couple of days have been beautiful.  Right now it's about seventy degrees outside, and I'm ticked that I can't skip work this evening to bask in the warmth and sunshine.  Pleh.

In garbing news, I've started cranking out cloth buttons for my burnt-orange angel sleeve gown.  Of the 19 needed I already have five attached to the front of the gown.  Not too shabby.  It really is amazing what you can get done while waiting for the laundry to finish.

I got my new camera out last night to play with the macro setting.  Button photo to come, once I've read the manual and learned to upload from this puppy.

That time hell froze over twice in the same year

We had our second "real" snow of the season yesterday, but because I wanted no trace of an excuse not to go shopping for a new camera (and other things) I braved the supposedly hazardous roads, bridges, and overpasses to go to work this morning.  I guess I also earned enough to offset a little bit of my bad behavior this evening.

So yes!  New camera with more megapixels and a macro setting!  And a wee tripod!

Also, very pretty faux fur for a Burgundian ... somewhere down the line ... and linen for a new chemise, and value bin cloak lining!  It was a productive evening, all around.

But I very nearly died leaving the fabric store, as the sunlight NEVER reaches the sidewalk in February.  But I didn't die.  Instead I managed to transition to penguin-mode after an initial bout of dramatic klutziness.

In Memoriam A510

I must sadly announce that after years of faithful service my digital camera has quit this mortal plane.  Despite a growing number of malfunctioning components, it clung to life long enough for me to upload all the remaining data it contained.  When asked if it could endure one more small shoot, its screen went dark and the low battery indicator did not come on.

Although we will miss A510, life goes on.  I was already planning a shopping trip later this week, so adding a stop to browse through the digital camera stock, and hopefully find a suitable successor, will not be an enormous imposition.

Once I am again photo-capable, I will have updated shots of the Macie gown, a series on hood construction and modeling, and very likely some cloth button pictures.

My eyes widened exponentially for a few moments.

Last night I peeked in at The Compleatly Dressed Anachronist, to see that Edyth had posted her new monthly goodie.  This month she chose to showcase blog postings on the making of cloth buttons.  One in particular stood out.  While most instructions require the maker to cut out circles of fabric, this one manipulated a square piece, using the thread to gather all the corners into what quickly becomes a nice round ball.

This morning I found myself a scrap of polar fleece and some embroidery thread and decided to give it a whack - a whack which resulted in a happy, gargantuan fleecy button.  My life is forever changed.

Receive the gospel!

I'm a contradictory bird!

So you know that garbing hiatus I was talking about last weekend?  Yeah, okay, since then I've sewn the long seam on the Macie gown's right sleeve, both remaining seams on the skirt, and up one side of the torso.  Perhaps if I stay on hiatus for the rest of the month, I'll have enough of a wardrobe to have something different every day at Gulf Wars, plus maybe some party/court outfits ...

I'm such a goober :)

Pipeline

Just wanted to get this jotted down on ... interweb?

MATHILDE'S GARB WARDROBE AND SEWING PRIORITIES:

Finished pieces -
Square-neck white muslin smock with chain stitch embroidery at the neck and wrists
Keyhole-neck unbleached muslin smock
Purple sleeveless front-lacing A-line kirtle
White pleated coif
White box-pleated apron

Currently in progress -
Green Maciejowski gown - right sleeve; side seams; seam finishing; hem skirt; embroidery
Orange angel-sleeve gown - seam finishing; embroidery; hook and eye closures buttons and buttonholes
Dark green fitted hood - seam finishing; hem cape; buttons and button holes
Brown and cream diamond weave cloak - everything but the center back seam

Have fabric -
Red and black parti-colored cotehardie
Blue wool kirtle and interchangeable sleeves
Blue and gold fleur-de-lis cotehardie
Black linen partlet
Cream linen chemise

Short garb vacation

Just popping in for my weekend post.  The hoods class went very well this week.  I managed to throw together a simple slide show at the very last minute and brought in a couple of more-or-less finished hoods for people to look at.  The loose version got all the love this time around.  Those who attended the class generally lean toward earlier-period styles, which tend to be less fitted.  They tend to lend themselves especially well to layering, which is the preferred method of keeping warm during windy winter events, and during the spring and summer months (and any surprise warm streaks in the cooler months) the layers simply peel off.

I will be taking a little hiatus from garb work this week.  I have to focus on finishing a mundane dress for my sister.  The design process has been interesting, since the majority of my sewing experience has been in constructing medieval garb and accessories.  Next week, however, I need to hit my green gown hard and fast.  Gulf Wars is in a month and a half, and I will NOT be up sewing until dawn every day the week before the event.  Didn't pan out last time ...

Purple field kirtle

I sweet-talked the hubby into taking some photographs this morning before I had to get ready for work.  This is the outfit I wore yesterday to Fashion Academy.

Purple front-lacing kirtle with hand-bound eyelets and grey lucet cord, white square-neck chemise with chain stitch embroidery at the neckline and wrists, white box pleated apron, white pleated (Cheater St. Birgitta) cap, brown and white wool knit drawstring purse, and my trusty not-overtly-mundane brown Mary Janes.

This has become my go-to field garb.  The way things are looking, I'll have the green Maciejowski gown ready for spring and hopefully a blue wool cotehardie or kirtle for Gulf Wars.  Lots of remnant upholstery fabrics hanging around hoping to become sleeves, too.

It literally translates to "boob cloth."

Good morning, everyone!  I'm back from Fashion Academy and ready to tackle some sewing ... after I get off work, of course ...

I'm pleased to report that I got my "Cheater St. Birgitta" cap to a wearable state Friday night and it behaved quite impressively at its first event.  I only had to reposition it once, and I think, had I not been sitting in a car (i.e. rubbing against the headrest) for a couple of hours, it could have stayed on for longer without needing any fiddling.  It even caught the attention of one of the teachers at the event - she inspected the overall design and the craftsmanship, and I'm to send her a cutting diagram and the construction notes ASAP.

Tumbleweed

Recently I've been having access problems with my old website/blog, so back to good ol' Blogger to save my sanity and transfer some of my work.

Right-o!

For now I'm going to assume that pretty much everyone reading this has not been keeping track of my costuming shenanigans for the past couple of years.  I'm a SCAdian with an interest in constructing garb.  My first outfits were, for the most part, crappy things thrown together from bargain bin cotton fabric - but they were hand sewn, which earned me a little bit of instant cred within certain corners of the Kingdom.  Didn't really have a choice at the time, since I had no money for a sewing machine and no place to put it.  I have since gained a larger disposable income, a sewing machine, and a craft room (in progress), but I still prefer hand sewing ... or at the very minimum, hand finishing field garb.

My current project is a green gown based on a composite of Maciejowski Bible images.  The neckline is a shallow scoop formed from a hexagonal opening, and the sleeves are only attached to the body of the garment at the back of the armscye, allowing the wearer to slip her arm through the gap for cooling or to prevent the sleeves from being soiled while she works.  The design process for this gown has been complete for some time, and I am actually nearing the end of the construction phase.  One sleeve seam, the side seams, the seam treatments, and the skirt and wrist hems remain before I go on to the embellishment phase, then submission into an Arts and Sciences competition.

I'll be posting progress photos with the next entry, so check back soon!