PLANS!

So! I haven't really done any sewing at all these past few weeks. Uni is too demanding on my time but oh well. I figure that's the way it should be. This week coming up is my study week so I'm making plans! Here's a list:

• Finish the brown woollen kirtle;
• Dye some wool;
• Cut out woolen hose;
• Alter a pair of existing silk sleeves to refresh them;
• Pattern and cut out a gown to go over the kirtle;
• Cut out a chemise.

If I can get all of this prepped by next week I'll be chuffed! I've got three asignments I want to get finished in this break though, so I can't afford to slack off, really. Just have to shoehorn more into the days (as if it were possible!).

Oh, I'l also try to remember to take a picture of the brown kirtle under a woolen gown I finished recently. I think you'll like it, even if the gown is a little bit later than the rest of the stuff, oops. It probably won't go into my wardrobe unless I can be sure it works for 1525. Any advice is appreciated! I'll post a picture of it soon.

<3 Elinor.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Update 16/03/12:

Bah, I'm distracted from study by being excited about dyeing the wool I have! I can't decide which colour, though I'm considering a very period violet purple or a dark hunter green. I already have some black, red and blue put aside for later projects as well as a gown I've made from a dark rose-pink and one made previously from tawny/ochre wool cloth. Apparently I love bright colours!

So: violet, green or something else? Halp, please!

xxx E

On an unrelated note...

So, the reason I don't just go to uni, to work and sew is that I have a horse! She takes a lot of time, about two hours a day on average, to look after and ride. She's a four-year-old Thoroughbred mare and when I bought her she looked like this:

That was five months ago. As of today, at her very first show, she looks like this:

That's me riding her after her class. She didn't win or place, but she was up against some tough competition. She really looked the part though and if the awards were handed out on the basis of behaviour she'd have won Supreme of Supremes! Here's us waiting to go in to the ring:

So, while it doesn't have anything to do with sewing, it's something I love and it's my blog so nyer! Poniesponiesponiesponiesponies.

<3 Rosie

Another Mini Update

I have another garbing competition submission: thank you, Elizabeth! How marvelous :D In response to a question she asked: yes, anyone can definitely submit more than one idea, but you can only vote once for an idea of your own. You also get a second vote for the submission you like most but that is made by someone else. For all entrants: give some thought to materials costs - sometimes it's better to make something less luxurious if you're able to recreate it more authentically. I'm sure that whatever is chosen will be a blast to make! ~E ^_^

Winter Project Competition Mini Update

Just a small post of thanks to William Montrose for being the very first entrant to my Winter Project Competition! His Edward VII recreation would be a beautiful (and challenging) project, but I'm sure I would learn a lot and have a great time making it. Keep them coming, peeps! Meta-Mini Update: the brown kirtle is nearly done. I popped it up on my mannequin and had the hem leveled and the lining and upper tacked together in about half an hour! Speedy-zoom! All I need now is a little time to bind it and then it can be ticked off my Project List Of Doom. Please help me by suggesting my next project or you may just be subjected to a chemise or two *waves boring undergarments menacingly*. Keep the competition submissions rolling in! <3 Elinor.

Brown Wool Kirtle update 3: lucets, laces and binding (oh my!)

Hello again!

I'm trying to make this a super-speedy post because I haven't slept well lately and it's already 20:20 and I need to get up at 5:30 to have time to run before mucking out the ponies and going to uni! *Rushrushrush*

So I've made a little bit of time to do some more work on the kirtle and I'm really happy to say that it's almost done! Since I last posted about it I've finished the silk binding on the armscyes and made a 1.8m lace to close the thing. I ALSO remembered to charge my camera so I have some photos that are less fuzzy and more detailed than before, hooray!

I made the lacing cord from red perle cotton. I haven't been able to determine exactly what the period material/s for lacing would be, though I suspect linen or silk (determined by status). Since I don't have any strong silk handy I decided to use the cotton because the Guttermann linen thread I have didn't really cut it in termds of smoothness for ease-of-lacing. I worked on the lace each evening when I was watching Doctor Who (the only tv show I watch during semester :P), for 45 minutes to an hour per night for about 5 nights. Here's an image of my lucet. A lucet is a tool used for making a very strong woven cord from a single strand of thread. If you'd like to learn a bit more about it, check out http://kws.atlantia.sca.org/photos/lucet/ .

After I'd woven my 1.8m strand I stitched one end of it to the top of my bodice near the first eyelet and wrapped the other (lacing) end with some thread to make it more resilient. When I remember I'll buy some aiglets from Tudor Tailor or something. 1.8m seems like a lot but its really much easier to lace if you've got a bit more to work with than less.

I finished binding the armscye and now it really does look complete. :) Here's a picture of the side of the bodice, complete with Tudor-flavoured boob support, which hugs everything without turfing them out the top through the neckline:

 Here's the front of the bodice:

Despite what appears to be gratuitous boob here I hold that it's just the camera playing tricks - the neckline actually looks quite modest and un-cleavagey and has worked really well! I will take more pictures in my next post and will actually wear a chemise - it was just too. Fricking. Hot. to wear even a single extra layer under wool here today (37C/98.5F). Even for five minutes! The shape of the bodice has worked out well too. There's no boning, only a layer of linen canvas interlining. It's SUPREMELY comfortable. I'm going to take time here to stress the importance of making a toile and taking time to fit it properly - it's definitely worth waiting until you have someone to fit you, but I've also got plans to post my tricksy cheats for patterning yourself!

Here's a full-length picture:

I'm sorry about the kind of poor quality of these self-taken photos. I'll do my best to have someone take photos of the finished kirtle for me but in the meantime this should give you an idea of how it's come along.

Anyone who owns a cat will understand this photo, taken about 0.375seconds after I took the stupidly hot thing off and laid it on the bed. This is Troublecat, my 4 year old half-feral cat, and my previously very clean and hair-free kirtle. No more!

Alright, that's it for now! All I need to finish the kirtle is to pop it up on my mannequin and trim the hem, then bind it with strips of the same wool it's made from. I won't use the silk I've bound the armscyes and neckline with because it'll probably get ruined and won't wear as well. After that, I'll have to make something else! Feel free to take a look at my list on one of my earlier posts (http://elinorcliffordtailor.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/1525-wardrobe-project.html) and recommend something to me!

Until next time, manger un sac de bites!

~E.C. xxx