Fine hemp measured, cut out, ironed and lightly starched, to help me when sewing it together.

I had way too much fun with my measuring stick, and I got to indulge my inner control freak by pulling threads to cut along.

I was going to make it more of a basic layer, but I don't know if I want to add gores in the sides. I think I'll just go ahead and do side slits, because right now as I've cut out body front and back, sleeves and under arm gussets I've only used half the yardage (started with 3 metres). I might make another chemise or whatever with it. Or, I can save it and use it for veils.

I was bad and stayed up way way too late last night finishing an audio book. That means I've nothing left to listen to while I sew, which kind of sucks.

Q: Can one cut a kirtle out of only two metres of wool cloth?
A: Quite doable, and it leaves one with satisfactorily tiny amounts of waste.

Next step is to pick out appropriate interlining/lining for the bodice and make that up before cutting out the bodice in the wool. Skirt will be one full back panel (150cm), two straight front panels(2x40cm) and a pair of godets(2x30) to widen the hem to a near 3 metre total. Awesome. Watch my l33t piecing skillz.

And thus, my first red petticoat is started. Mark this day in the calendar. Mark it well.

If anyone has seen me at events lugging my things around, they have probably seen me with my horrid green/camouflage shoulder bag of lugging.

About as long as I have been using this horrid green shoulder bag of mine I have been saying I should get something else. Something prettier, or at least, not so screamingly "urban warfare". Well, gratifyingly, I am well on the way to accomplishing this switch. Last night before nodding off to sleep I stitched together a length of linen, turned it right sides out to make a long strip. Out of this long strip of now cleverly self-lined linen I folded up nearly half, leaving a short flap for a lid. Tonight, while continuing to giggle at Jeeves and Wooster(#), I stitched together the sides of the strip so that I now have a lidded pouch.

The only thing remaining to make this into a practical, stylish, pilgrim's carrying bag, aka a scrip, is a strap to sling across one's shoulders. I have such a strap, and I intend to attach said item to the aforementioned pouch and Hey Presto! I shall have a finished, period, bag of lugging my stuff around at events.

Calloh, callay! Hurray!

You can expect stylishly posed and well-lit pictures(*) within a day or so, as I intend to use it on Saturday at Aros' first Micro Event for the spring. This means that the niggle-list, last updated on September 14th of 2007 is now shorter one item, namely #8 on that list. As for the other items on the list there is *cough*nothing to report*cough*.

Although it is a very little thing I am giving it the status of a project started, and when I get the photo(s) taken I shall call it a project finished. There's not been enough of that happening over here on my blog lately, so I feel I'm entitled.

Also, I paid up for Nordmark University - w00t!

------------------

(¤) - C-programmer's joke there. Ignore at will.
(#) - It's a period drama. OK, so not strictly SCA period, but it counts, damn you, it counts! Plus it's Fry&Laurie at their very best. They always count. So there.
(*) - No, not really, but pictures anyway. Or a picture at the last.

What I am doing, in terms of my Italian dress is: Tiziano's Woman with a dish of fruit, and Portrait of a Florentine Noblewoman, unattributed. Mainly I will make it more Florentine than Venetian, having read Moda a Firenze I feel I am on more solid ground there.

There. I've got that nailed down now. I think I will do a train on the gown as well, just because it would be fun and I have enough fabric for it. The Book states that normal length bought for a petticoat or gown was the equivalent of 10 metres of 22" wide fabric, meaning 5 metres of 44" fabric. My green brocade is 55" wide, but I am slightly larger all around than a petite Italian lady, so I am anticipating no trouble at all getting what I want out of it. It is also nice to have it confirmed that you do not need ten metres of 60" wide cloth to get a high-class dress as too many in costuming circles claim.

I guess this is officially the start of this outfit. I've done loads of research and gathering of thoughts up until now, again find them with the green brocade tag, but not until now have I got all materials and my mind made up.

So, let's consider this the start of my Green Florentine Dream. And of course, this is me, I must start with listing: The Want list, the Need list, the Task list.

First off the items I want to make this outfit complete:

• Gown
• Partlet, smooth, very wide, fine silk with metallic mesh?
• Pearl necklace
• Pearl earrings
• Sleeves with vertical decorations
• Gloves

Of those things I have the necklace sorted, and the rest goes on the Need list, which leads directly into what I need to do.

Get my ass into gear and make up the leather I have purchased into a pair of gloves. I need to take all of the relevant stuff with me to a sewing circle near me and have a new bodice patterned to fit the style I want and make up the dress including sleeves. The partlet I think I will have to settle for the lovely linen I got at Himla with large squares woven into it. Maybe decorate with pearls. As for pearl earrings - well, they'll have to be put on a wish-list I think.

I haven't said much about my apron here. Let's just summarise the progress up until now. I cut out a rectangle for Civil Wars, hemmed both sides, left the selvedge for lower hem, and enfolded the waistline in a strip of the same linen folded in on itself and then folded in again, like a bias tape.

I also managed to do the lower row of embroidery using long-armed cross stitch (tvistsöm in Swedish for my information) with the lovely madder dyed silk bippimalin gave me at University this year. So, it was finished for wearing at civil wars and I wore it during the day and through the feast. I also started on the second row of embroidery at the event, so I wore it with a needle in it. It was hardly noticeable.

Anyway, I've come a little further on the second row of embroidery by now, and thought I would share it with you all.

( picture here )

The source is one of the model books from the online archive of weaving related topics called "La Vera Perfezione del disegno di Giovanni Ostavus", published in 1561. The full design has three bands of embroidery, all different, with the top and bottom one being narrow, and the middle one being wider. I'm not actually sure I have enough of the floss to go around all three rows, but I'll give it a go anyway. This stitch is fun to do too - and it's counted :) Taking each stitch over three threads. Four would not have achieved the same coverage, and over two would just be too small.

Today, I took everything I ever owned, ever, and went over to Helwig's place for a day of sewing. ( I arrived ... )

Oh, it was a good day. Good day indeed. Tomorrow I might do a homepage update, because it is no longer true that I have no active projects. I have them coming out the wazoo!

• Effigy corset (indefinite hiatus)
• Front lacing corset (backburner until I stop being angry at it)
• Slashed bodice w/ skirt
• Laton Jacket
• Tight sleeves for Spanish ropa

Today, I pulled out my fabric storage bags, and pulled out 1.3 metres of a nice thick wooly wool. From my binder of patterns I pulled out my petticote pattern and the second applied to the first, removing the front panel on account of not having more fabric, produced a narrow, warm, petticote.

The skirt is basically a circle sector stitched up, with two little godets in the one seam to make up the distance. As the title suggests, it took me two hours to sew by hand, using silk sewing thread. I also managed to snap a needle in half, and switched out needles three or four times on account of finding no suitable one until late in the game.

Right now, I've got to cut it down from the top, because it's way too long, and manufacture some sort of waistband. Only I'm unsure if I should treat the one seam as a side- or back seam. I guess it ought to be centred in the back though. That'd hide the godets best. It is impossible to get a good shot of this fabric since it literally eats the light, so I won't even try. It'll be nice and warm, in any case. I'm undecided about lining. I'll probably add something slippery on the inside of the waistband in any case, so I can close it up on the side and twirl it around.

Deciding for once to be quite brutally honest, I have told myself that the effigy corset I started, boned with hemp cord, is probably not going anywhere at all. But, that still leaves me with no front closing corset that I can get into myself. Having to have somebody elses help into a corset has been cramping my style and I've practically never worn mine.

So, armed with my pattern, sturdy canvas and my shears I cut out a front closing corset in two layers. Being silly I still had to stitch up the back seam before doing the one long seam along the bottom before turning. At this stage, it's all hand sewing, but I'm thinking I'll bring this for sewing circle and machine up all the boning channels on Saturday. Maybe I'll even wear it for Civil War. Won't that be a treat.

On the train down to Attemark, where I spent the last week, I brought with me one small handkerchief, hemstitched all around, twice, with the drawn thread method, and one issue of Compleat Anachronist on how to make reticella lace.

( Look within for the results. ) Right now, it's a very unprepossessing little handkerchief, but let me tell you, once I get white silk floss useable for embroidery I will go to town on this handkerchief! ... OK, maybe not all the way to town, maybe down the drive and two skips towards it.

Embroidery on the gift set is continuing apace. I have soon done the outside lap once around (it needs twice around to be complete) and I think I like it. I'm using the same linen that I know Ingrid will be using for her shirt, and I am going over 2 threads. It's an even-weave, although a bit coarse.

The collar embroidery will be two mirrored rows of the design, whereas I am contemplating doing just the single line for the cuffs. There is also the option of doing the same design, just shorter for cuffs, just for s-n-g:s, but I don't know yet.

Also, I seem to have ordered cotton duck for pavilion making. They'll be calling me when it gets in, and it'll take a week or two. Eep. Eep! *breathes into a paper bag* It'llbefineI'msureofit - eventually.

I also acquired a new air mattress today. The nice thick kind with a velvety top surface. Lovely.

Other SCA related news? Nothing much; still waiting for confirmation my scroll's been sent off to Maximilian and Margerite, and still unsure of exact transportation details to and from Visby MTV (Medeltidsveckan).

So, sewing circle today. Was great fun as usual, and I was rather productive. However, in the middle of all this fun-having Helwig happened to mention that next weekend is the last weekend before the first weekend of Double Wars. In other words, two weeks until the event and AAAAAAAHHHHHH! my mind just exploded a little bit on the spot.

However, I shall not panic, no indeed. I shall not panic. No panicking going on.There will be no need for a big red panic button.

Right, then. As long as we're clear on that.

I know I do not as such have any projects to get done for the event, only my shirt, a couple of cauls and the boy-clothing project. There was much progress on the last one today as the stated purpose of sewing circle this Saturday was: make breeches.

Helwig had prepared by pulling out patterns, books and a number of left-over cuts of fabric suitable for the project. I was given a nice plaid woolen fabric, green and brown, to coordinate with my brown corduroy doublet. Spiff. Herself will be a much more flashy version with a black velvet appliquéd with gold cord to be made into a pair of mid-thigh slops.

I picked no-frills venetians, the kind gathered at the waist and tapering off to tight just below the knees. Margo Anderson's patterns provided the basis for Helwig's slops, while I went to Patterns of Fashion for my venetians. Armed with the scaled down sketch in said marvellous publication I then set to work with fabric, a piece of chalk and a measuring tape. I felt all sorts of crafty and clever once I had it transferred with some minor alterations.

A quick test of the pattern, I pinned it together and they look to be just fine. A bit high in the waist, after I'd already removed 2 inches, but that's a simple job with a pair of scissors. I would have started machining them together on the spot, only I had neglected to bring anything suitable to line them with. So I brought them back home with me and as homework for tomorrow I have to cut out the lining to the same pattern as the venetians. Tomorrow we have the morning set aside for more sewing. Hurrah!

In addition to this progress of leaps and bounds, I finally machined together the sleeves for my brown doublet. They have been sewn together, just awaiting the lining, for ages now. I finally just zoomed the one seam of the lining, bagged shell and lining and the last thing I did was top stitch the upper edge of the sleeves. Left to do for those are now the cuff finishing and adding some means of attaching these sleeves to my doublet. I currently have not decided how - possibly a couple of rings on the sleeves and a corresponding pair in the doublet. We'll see.

I seem to be on a veritable posting bender, updating every four hours on the state of things - but that's the way the world swings this week it seems.

( However, to spare the bored, I cut. )

• Second iteration of effigy corset pattern cut - taking into account notes from last sewing circle and taking in front pieces a bit. Done.
• Effigy corset pattern cut out in lining fabric (sturdy 'draglakan'). Done.
• Same cut out of light blue linen as shell fabric. Done.
• Seam lines marked on all lining pieces. Done.
• Layers pinned together into two fronts and one back piece. Done.
• Stitching of boning channels on back piece. Started.
  

I know I said I wouldn't be doing this by hand, but, damnit, when I had the pieces all cut out it seemed stupid to do the channels on the machine. By that I mean I was too impatient to lay it aside and let it wait til the next sewing circle, so I started stitching the back channels.

Of course, being silly I started at one edge rather than down the centre back, so now the left side of the back will have its channels at a slight angle to the centre. I'm not sure how to proceed. But I think I want to start again from the centre, go out either side of it three or four straight channels, and then let the slanted channels come into that. Of course, I have to stitch the angled ones first, then thread my hemp rope in, make sure it stays in place - then I can stitch down the straight centre ones. Being stupid never pays off. Bah! Then there is of course the problem of getting the same angle on the other half of it.

So, I took some of my new linen, starched the heck out of it and stuck a couple of pieces in an embroidery hoop. Copied off the sketch I did for a needlebook and got my DMC floss out.

After a bit of a rocky start I am now LOVING doing the brick stitch. Look at it! Look! So neat! So tidy! So filling! Yay, for historical stitches doing what they're supposed to and working like a charm.

I had no idea which end to start at, though, so I just went ahead with the background. Not sure at all what the other colours will be, but I have some notes from embroidered book covers that said one of them had the background green. So, green it is. It's not as if there's alot of ground to cover after all - the design is like 5 x 13 cm or something like that. (fold it in the middle for a needlebook of approximately 5 x 6 cm).

Well, then, I was given homework by the teacher for my remedial sewing: Pick a cut of fabric for a  English Fitted Gown.

So I pulled out my wool storage bag and from that the green Pendelton wool plus my scraps of black wool for highlights. I do need to back this green wool with something a little more substantial, because it's fairly thin and a little more flexible than I would like. I put that aside in a bag, and have set me aside some time to ponder the design, watch some period pictures for inspiration and make some decisions for how I want it to look exactly.

Things that need to be set:

• Front closing: buttons, ties, hooks and eyes?
• Height of collar?
• Cut of skirt, kind of pleats?
• Sleeves: length? Panes? Puffed head?
• Shoulder treatment?
  
• How fitted? Over my working class, or the new light blue kirtle?
• Guards: how many? how wide? where?
• Lining: linen? wool? what colour?

Thinking more about it, I am coming back to the old 'all in my head' project that I started a folder in my gallery for. I think I need to look back to the Civitates ladies!

I decided that I wanted to play with linen and did some quick research (first pair) and have cut out and started assembling a pair of braies. W00t. I shall bring them to sewing circle tomorrow, also my kirtle so that I can attempt to finish both.

ETA: Added an image of the braies cut out of white linen. Maybe a bit long, but I can cut them down without much trouble if need be.

I had a look through my many plastic bags in which I keep scraps and forgotten projects and found the rest of the corduroy to make sleeves for the test doublet, and also the full length linen lining I cut out for the surcote. Now, colour me crazy, but it spoke to me.

It said it wanted to become a 16th C kirtle rather than a boring surcote lining. A side-laced linen kirtle with gored skirt (because that's what I've cut out already). I did have to piece the lining at the waist, but that's OK as I would be making the skirt and bodice up separately anyway - just have to unpick the stitching I did (oh yes, there was stitching, flat felling by folding the edges in toward each other and hemstitching on both the folds rather than the more standard "run-and-fell") and recut the bodice.

The front is cut on a fold, so that would be smooth, the back has a seam, so that's fine. The lacing would go in the sides. All that is left to do is modify the bodice to the proper profile. Being cheeky I can get cotton cheaply to line the skirt, interline the bodice and line it with some of my white linen and away we go.

I started by taking out the original bodice pattern I created off my corset, redrawing that on some newspaper and rearranging the waistline (which was too long there) and the side-seams (which were angled much farther back for the nobility) so I should be able to lace myself into it with a little bit of manouvering. I may have to cut the shoulderstraps out new, but that shouldn't be a problem, I have leftover fabric (I think).

I dub this the day I officially start the 'surcote lining kirtle'. I found my sewing fu - hurray!

Well, I didn't end up having my own little sewing circle. Instead I engaged in some woodworking. I ferreted out a nice piece of birchwood in my father's woodshop, measured out a good size on it (constrained by the shortest side being 195 mm) and marked it out as a gameboard. Hnefatafl on one side and Nine Men's Morris on the other. I was unsure how to mark the edges and whatnot, but had the idea of using a heat stick thingy to burn it in. Said and done, I did. When I was nearing completion on the hnefatafl-side my father asked if I wanted to fill every other square with a pattern, because he has the stuff to burn patterns into wood. I didn't want to fill in every other square (he was thinking Chess and you could use it for chess if you ignore one row and one column) but I did want to fill in the corners and the centre square. Said and done, there it is.

I also marked the board on both sides with my mark (LT joined up for Lia de Thornegge). We used a router to hollow out the places for the pieces on the Nine Men's Morris side. My mother had glass marbles I could steal for this. I'll have to find oval glass pieces or something else for the hnefatafl game. My father asked how to make chess pieces - you can turn most of them - so he might get it into his head to make a set. I won't complain. I will also make a little leather pouch for the game pieces.

Once the fabrication and decoration was done, my father heated up some cold pressed linseed oil and slathered it on, let it soak in for fifteen minutes and then wiped the excess off. The result is what I link to above. When it's completely dry - probably tomorrow - I will take an old pair of pantyhose and buff it up to a nice shine and I will have my very own gameboard for SCA events!

My father also recognized Nine Men's Morris as a game he played as a child. (He called it Rävspel, but I think he meant Kvarn).

Today's sewing circle was all about the gloves.

First we took out the books to drool over pictures of gloves. Then Helwig broke out her paperwork with several versions of glove making steps printed out. It was at this stage that we devolved into six-year-olds playing with paper, scissors and sticky tape. After that, the cotton sheeting was dragged out and all three of us (Helwig, Filippa and myself) managed to sew together one nearly perfect glove. A few small alterations and we all have a working glove pattern.

It felt almost unreal. To go from looking at pictures of originals, to making a pattern and finishing a toile all with quite surprising ease. And all in one sewing circle. Mine still has a little bit of fiddling to do with the thumb, and the fingers need to be a smidgen longer, but still. It goes to show how quick a proper pair of gloves will be to put together now that we have a pattern. OK, so sewing in leather (most of the gloves in the books were white leather) will take a little longer than cotton sheeting, but not prohibitively.

In between making one full glove each we also had time for both chocolate cake with tea, and a cheese-break.

I have some soft leather, perfect for gloves, already in my stash. I can go with either vibrant red or a more sober brownish red. I think I'll go for the brown tone. Hopefully I will have enough large pieces to get the hands out of them without having to split them.

Expect photos in a bit.

Tomorrow I might go with Filippa to sit on a blanket in the sun in the general vicinity of the Aros Fighter Practice. I think that'd be keen.