the boy in the striped pajamas?

I didn't get around to cutting out the mock-up of the husband's doublet the night of my last post. But I did get to it yesterday morning. I found a great striped sheet at Goodwill and decided that I would do the doublet out of it because it would help me visualize the straight grain and get the fit better.

So rather than start packing, I cut out the doublet and put it together. It took about 4.5 hours (judged by episodes of Downton Abbey) and a couple of fittings to see how it's coming together on the husband. But I'm really impressed with the Modern Maker's drafting up of the doublet.

Unintentional pattern matching. I impress myself.

Don't part with your partlet

The wise words of my Uncle G - "don't part with your partlet" followed by other sage advice "don't discount your family" when I offered to sell him my over-partlet at a discount.

One of the items on the to-do list was partlets. I made an overpartlet out of black velvet an black linen back in December to practice sewing in velvet before I tackled actually sewing the Magpie Dress for 12th Night. I used Margo Anderson's pattern because I as using it for the Henrician dress. I was a stupid idiot did not pay attention to the fact that I'm "man sized" (as I've taken to styling myself lately) and didn't lengthen the pieces. So it's just a smidgen too short. It works with a bunch of fussing and fiddling and many many pins. It does keep the chesticles warm. I learned to sew velvet with it before I cut into my $300 worth of black-as-midnight super plush dress fabric. Lessons learned. BTW, if you're interested in buying a gorgeous black on black velvet overpartlet, let me know. I'm selling it for $50.

Me, Jorgen, and Vittorio - you can see the partlet is a too short and doesn't come to the edge of the kirtle

For West-An Tir War this year (and garb in general), I decided that I need more underwear (please read this as underpinnings, when I talk garb I never mean mundane underthings like panties). When I was washing up the wool for the EFG, I had also come across about a yard of forgotten linen/rayon blend. Plenty to make an underpartlet. This time I didn't use a commercial pattern but I decided to my recent body toile that Treasach helped me to draft up during Master Charles de Bourbon's class back at the beginning of March.

I dropped the armscye about 1 cm, added about 1" of ease to the back panel, and took the side seams straight down rather than follow the contour of the body block.

Patterning took about 30 minutes. Then I was off to the sewing room (that I've carefully avoided packing up in the home buying/losing our lease disaster). Yes, I did the whole thing by machine. My seams are over locked. What? It took me 90 minutes total. Just know that I can hand sew, I have hand sewn, and I'll choose to do it when I want to, but right now the accumulation of underwear is important. Layers people!!!

Of course, the serger was threaded with black which necessitated a change

Boom. Just like that, I have a new underpartlet.

Now all that's left is to loop up a tie for the bottom channel and a couple of laces for the collar. I think next time I'll add just a little more ease (I hadn't done any for the front) and drop the armscye a bit more because I'll be wearing my smocks under this. Also, please note that it's still not freaking long enough because I'm a stupid idiot I apparently do not believe in measuring twice/cutting once (or measuring at all and just winging it). But I'm not wearing any historical support structure, just modern bra (which I was not wearing at the time of pattern drafting). Also, my boobs are bigger than I think they are. Having two kids will do that to ya I guess but in my mind I'm still that barely B-cup gal I was when I met Hubster.

Me and the Modern Maker

Another project that I'm starting, sort of today, sort of 3 months ago when I originally began the pattern draft is . . . a doublet for Hubster. Jorgen normally wears a lot of Rus/Norse tunic-y stuff. He likes it because it's comfortable and easily made from linen to combat the heat of California summers. Well, for Christmas I got The Modern Maker by fellow bee Matthew Gnagy. I started drafting Jorgen's custom pattern back in February and then put it aside because I had to get the war pouch embroidered and finished (plus we did this whole trying failing to buy a house thing from March-last Monday). Well, as I listed out my projects of wants and needs to do, I decided I need to get around to trying to make a doublet for him. (He owns a shirt which was one of my first "getting back in the swing of costuming after 15 years" projects, a pair of wool Venetian pants that I bought him for Christmas which he hasn't worn, and another shirt in the works). I will probably make him this doublet and he'll probably never wear it. But I'm following my laurel's orders for projects to work on this year.

Today I needed to finish the sleeve pattern and the front & side-front collar pieces. Everything else was already done. I'd like to get the mock-up cut out and serged up tonight.

Starting the EFG

I've been obsessing over a particular costumer on the Facebook Elizabethan Costuming board and I follow her blog. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Jennifer Kluska's soft kit. She just has an aesthetic and great sense of the Elizabethan merchant/middle class that I strive to achieve. Don't get me wrong, I love to dress up all fancy-like (think of my last two 12th Nights) but a lot of the events in the West are outdoorsy affairs and I'd frankly feel a little better about dressing "down" in the dirt and weeds and [shudder] ticks. Recently, I have been spotted several times in the red linen kirtle made from the pattern that Margo Anderson drafted up especially for me. I've worn it, a lot. But it is essentially just an underwear layer when you ponder more about these things. So, it's not really appropriate for me to be wearing seulement.
Ex.

This collage represents the last 6 months of event attending and doesn't include ALL the events I wore the red kirtle to. [hot off the machine, debut at Cynagua Fall Coronet ASL, Collegium Occidentalis ASL - with slight change to the jacket, another shot from Collegium but taken at dancing,*** March Crown ASL - my first time consorting (and I'm particularly in love with this shot because it makes me look slim), Danegeld Tor Heavy Championship ASL, Mists-Cyn War ASLI]
***not shown Duchesses' Ball at 12th Night ASL, Cynagua Winter Invesiture/Crosston Ball ASL

You can see that I have a little more than  just the red kirtle in my soft kit. The Elizabethan jacket was my winning entry into an A&S competition for coats, I added an apron, I have the high necked pomegranate smock, a set of gray wool sleeves and a black velvet over partlet neither of which is actually big enough and are totally for sale if you're interested [wink wink], my cap, and a veil/headrail combo. So I can passably get along. But I want to mix it up too.

Now the idea of the English Fitted Dress...

No projects to keep my mind off of things

Things in the actual real-world part of my life got pretty bad on Monday. I'm still reeling from the news and I will post about it soon. Until then, I'm stuck going to my job that I'm soon to be unemployed from and feeling miserable about our home purchase falling apart. And I would normally turn to some kind of project for SCA to keep my mind off of things, but that's not happening right now because I don't have any small projects, just big things to think of. So instead, I'll make a list.

• needle books
• the squid collar and cuffs for Jorgen's shirt
• the rest of Jorgen's 16th c. shirt (not hand sewing this one like I did for Vittorio)
• learn to make hose
• at least a couple more changes of under things
• under partlet (5/28/16) Post Here
• over partlet that actually is long enough
• RUFFS! (full set, nothing too big)
• new $10 latchet shoes  (6/5/16) Tutorial here!
• embroider the sparkles on the snowflake corset
• mock-up of my new self-supporting cotehardie (patterned last week by Mistress Sylvie)
• mock-up English fitted gown (I just bought a great remnant of camel colored wool for this and I NEED to be conservative on the fabric use)
• do a body toile for Jorgen  (5/26/16)
• do a body toile for Vittorio
• plan the Burgundians! (for me, Jorgen, and Vittorio)
• Purgatorio Napkins - just waiting to find out who wins June Crown It will be Alfar & Eilis Post Here
• plan to teach a class  Post Here (this is a serious issue for me right now, what do I teach? to whom? why does this part of my apprentice path seem so daunting?! I'm a teacher by profession FFS!!!)
• think of little gifties to make for people (more hankies? ooh embroidered game boards!!!)
• 16th c. doublet for Jorgen (5/29/16 - finished patterning, mock up completed, 6/14/16- fabic purchased)
• sleeves - I forgot that I need to make sleeves and to put eyelets into my kirtles for said sleeves
• do a body toile for Safiya  (7/14/16)
• help Safiya pattern a kirtle

* stuff promised to folks that I actually should do 'cuz - promises

Mists Cynagua War Pouch - AS LI

It was the Cynagua Needle Workers Guild's turn to present the pouch for the war between the principalities of the Mists and Cynagua at our semi-annual war. When Michaela put out the call for a volunteer to make the pouch, I jumped on the chance. I've been getting a lot better with my embroidery and am eager to get my work out there to be seen on a greater scale than the occasional person who walks up to one of my costume pieces and admires the needlework. So I had a couple of projects to finish up first (Vittorio's shirt and belt favors for Jorgen and Vittorio) both of whih were due by March Crown and then it was on to the pouch.

I didn't want to go with a typical haversack, as I kind of feel like those have been done to death lately. And I knew that I wanted a very large embroidery piece. And I wanted something in a substantial fabric.

 I asked the Hubster's opinion and he suggested a bag based on the styles from the Hedeby finds. I did a quick Google and Pinterest search and decided it was the perfect idea. I also asked him to sketch me a battle scene between the two healdic animals on the arms of both principalities (especially because the Mists just finally passed their populace badge earlier this year). He set to work researching some jelling beasts (the norse knotwork animals) for inspiration. While he didn't come up with a knotted style so much, the black swan and the seawolf locked in battle with the kingdom populace badge won out as favorite from his drafts.

I found a large enough scrap of dark green melton wool that Michaela had given us last year and bought up a skein of the "team colors" acrylic yarn at Joann Fabric & Crafts (in the Green Bay Packers - I mean West Kingdom - colors) to weave a strap on the inkle loom I transferred the design onto a piece of heavy white linen and set to work. I also practiced a new stitch I recently learned, long and short (aka brick stitch).

The medallion is roughly 10" round. I worked it in DMC cotton embroidery floss and metallic braid threads. Mostly it's worked in REALLY TIGHT split stitch (the Princess of Cynagua kept commenting that she thought the swan looked like he actually velvet) and stem stitch for outlining. For the tail of the seawolf I did the long & short stitch to emulate scales. On the knotwork, I decided to try a new stitch, Hungarian braid, and to use the metallic to give the braid a bit of beefiness. Overall, I think I spent about 200 (+/- a few) hours on the embroidery alone. The inkle woven strap took about 2 hours total. The medallion was appliqued onto one piece of the green wool and the whole bag serged together in just about an hour. Lastly I attached the bag to the wooden handles that Hubster made out of 1/2" maple planks and added the strap which I'd fringed a bit)

I am BEYOND impressed with how my work turned out (my Facebook status used certain explatives about its prettiness). Her Highness, Princess Catherine (Cyn) was giddy and decided it needed to be displayed for the duration of the war rather than just be a surprise at the afternoon court. I also was super pleased with the recipient that their Highnesses Eibhear (Cyn) and Kean (Mists) chose to give the pouch to - Helga Skjaldmaer (I will correct spelling later, my herald-foo is failing me right now and it's the kids' bedtime). They chose her as an exemplar of chivalry and prowess on the field of battle that day. I am honored by their choice because she's a brilliantly talented artist in her own right and I know she'll really appreciate the blood, sweat, and tears that went into the war pouch (well, there was only a little bit of blood and I don't think I cried, definitely no sweat). The look on her face was priceless, filled with surprise and pride all at the same time. She even fell over (she'd been leaning on her elbow and it slipped out from under her) when their Highnesses called her up.

All the crullers in the world will not get me back to Ed Levin Park

Mists Cynagua War - AS 51
I went to war last Saturday. I'm not the biggest fan of SCA wars since I'm not all that enthused by fighting, especially war fighting where there isn't a crown or coronet on the line. However I had my reasons for going this time (but more on that later).
Jorgen went with me at the last minute thanks to a generous offer from Mannam to babysit the kids. Vittorio was also fighting and Jorgen is really the only one who actually knows how (and has the brute strength) to get him into his armor. We also picked up a hitch hiker in the form of Edmund who was marshaling.

Edmund's wife, Katrina, showed up later in the afternoon with a surprise for me! PINK CRULLERS! The rare and elusive. Oh what sweet heaven.

The post where I might actually try to get back to blogging

In my much younger days (back in college), I was pretty consistent with my blogging. I used my Livejournal much like a digital diary. I was good at keeping a diary; it was an activity I picked up in junior high and carried on through high school.
But about the same time that my life picked up, got my "adult" and busy, there was a general shift in the culture of blogging. The influence of "tutorials" and photo essays started to change the blogs I came across. There was less of a general glimpse into people's lives. Also, there was the great Facebook migration from Myspace and social media became more like the blogs of old. I felt inadequate in my abilities to keep up with blogs. In fact, I revamped my old Blogger blog (that I began when my oldest was a baby) when we moved back home to the Sacramento area, keeping the old title which is totally and completely irrelevant to our lives as we've lived in 3 different houses since College Street, and managed to get one whole entry in before I completely forgot about it.
But a lot of really cool things have happened in my life since then, especially involving the Society for Creative Anachronisms and my costuming endeavors. And part of the things I'm trying to do more of is research and teach others about the things I'm learning. Sometimes it's best to put that kind of stuff on the Internet. And a lot of my friends and costuming idols keep stuff on blogs about their research and I want a convenient place to keep up with all that they're posting. So I'm back to my blog. Again. Hopefully.
Wish me luck.