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 ...