cat_cetera | Entries tagged with fabric

Apron

Previously completed: Finished edges of apron; did simple embroidery pattern around edges. Sewed three strips together to make waistband; pleated apron into waistband and finished both sides. Noticed that waistband had gone onto apron inside out, so that not-so-nice edges of flat-felled seams were out and nice edges were in.

Yesterday: Chose to leave waistband on the way it was. Finished edges of waistband using a combination of whip stitch and, when that didn't seem to be going fast enough, running stitch. Completed.

Houppelande

Previously completed: I have previously finished and worn this, but I wasn't satisfied with the way the sleeves sat. After I wore it at Coronet, I took the sleeves off and contemplated how to put them back on so they would sit flat. After trying a few different things, I decided to pleat them flat into the armholes and finish the edges inside with a strip of bias tape. I got one finished, and then it sat for a really long time.

Yesterday: Attended A&S day at Villa Tamborri, got the other sleeve put back on while watching satisfying and quoteable modern classic movies Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl and Galaxy Quest, plus a few amusingly dated episodes of the original British Whose Line is it Anyway? (most quoteable line of the evening: Steven Fry in a game of "Props" with some bubble wrap "Look, either the BBC believes in Doctor Who or it doesn't, but how am I supposed to make seventeen monsters out of this?")

Today: Reattached cuffs to bottom of sleeves using flat pleats. It's now ready to wear at Crown, but at some point I need to go through and finish all of the inside seams.

Hose

Previously completed: Previous entry here. Finally had the chance to do the fitting with Papa Don.

falashad may have the pictures on her flickr stream. Got

falashad to trace Papa Don's feet - the only piece of the pattern that was previously missing. Discussed some of my fitting questions with Mistress Issabbella and got some helpful advice - most notably that the ankles need to be a bit baggy, and that they are going to pull down when you bend no matter what, so the best thing to do is not point them to your doublet at the back.

Today: cut apart the old mockup pattern where marked to create new pattern; sewed all pieces together into new mockup, including feet pieces.

I am not sure how it happens, but no matter how reasonable and achievable I think I am making my goals, it always seems that I have to scale back. Recently I have had a couple of conversations with an engineer friend of mine about how projects can be done fast, right or cheap, and if you choose two you might get one. My preference right now for arts and sciences is to do my projects right, especially for the one I want to take to KA&S next year. So here are my re-revised and reprioritized A&S plans and goals:

Finished

Pattens
Finished, with lots of help from

landsknecht_po, and worn at Winter War.

Short Term

Hose Pattern and Mock-Up
Finally had the chance to do a fitting with Papa Don on the weekend, and afterwards had a discussion with Mistress Issabbella about some of the questions I had on how to make it fit better. Need to make a new mockup this weekend and hopefully complete the next fitting at Crown the weekend after.

Apron
I started making an apron, even though it wasn't on my project list, and then I started embroidering it. Consequently it turned from a one-afternoon project into a several-weekend project. I still have to finish sewing the waist straps together, but the embroidery is at least done.

Should Do Sooner Rather Than Later

Documentation
Mistress Issabbella suggested that I should label my process pictures better on my Flickr page (as well as blogging them on LJ). I said I would, but I didn't get to it. Then while I was away a situation came up where it would have been very helpful if I had already labeled them. Oops. I still also want to put together a portfolio of my projects to take to events. Since I won't be camping much this year the portfolio can probably wait, and in the meantime I can take my documentation for my brown linen gamurra and my pattens.

For KA&S

Revised Entry
After thinking about the fabric I had left in the stash, and doing a bit more research about the kind of fabric I really should use for a Florentine overgown, and pining after the picture of a striped dress I found, I decided to focus on the striped dress for my KA&S entry instead of doing an overgown, because I already have suitable fabric for it. I need to do a bit more research on the image of the striped dress before I can get started patterning, and I think the stripes are going to present several interesting but not insurmountable pattern-blocking challenges. Assuming I get the dress done in time, I might then also put together chopines or a cofea tranzado for entry, but I'm not holding my breath and neither should you.

On The Back Burner

A Spiffy New Hat
I would still like to make the white linen cofea tranzado I posted in this spot before. I think it would be a good camping hat, but since I won't be doing very much camping this year, I've moved this one back.

Class
There is still a lot of History of Science to be summarized. Maybe I can get ahead on this one while I'm away this summer.

Chopines
Still want to make 'em.

Long Term

Astrology
Stage 1: figure out which treatises on astrology and which tables of astronomical observations would have been available to my persona (late 15th century Florence) - already in process
Stage 2: track down said treatises. In order of language preference, English, French, Italian, Latin.
Stage 3: determine what types of calculations are necessary and how they would have been done in period. Learn how to use abacus if necessary
Stage 4: make necessary calculations, draw chart, make suitably vague predictions according to instructions in treatises.

More Research
Two areas that I need to do more research in for my garb are what types of chemises they might have worn and what types of trim/embroidery their gowns might have had. I'll work on it as I go along. I will likely find that some of this comes in as I'm working on the KA&S entries.

Garb
Have several garb projects in mind:
1. Olive green brocade dress (it is fitted like a gamurra but worn as an outer dress, which I think makes it a giornea, or maybe a cioppa)
2. Colour-blocked dress
3. Black/copper brocade sleeveless overdress, open at the sides, and blue velvet overdress, closed at the sides.

Exceeded Expectations
- the Alhambra and Generalife gardens

- el Albaicin and Sacromonte

- the food - lamb couscous under the shadow of the Alhambra; artisanal cheeses and interesting mixed salads; ham and egg soup; YUM
- have new hair goo that gives my hair the texture and body I have always wished it had, without my having to blow dry a thing.

Good
- minimal migrainey-ness and jet lag, except today, after having ordered a soup I did not know came in garlic broth :(
- free unlimited wi-fi in my hotel room
- at Alhambra bookshop, got a book on Islamic Calligraphy (in English) and a book with pictures on the Alhambra textile collection (sadly, only in Spanish)

Bad
- with the amount of walking and the type of terrain, mostly cobblestones, should have opted for substance (Merrell walking shoes with vibram soles) over style (Chucks) in footwear
- got car sick on bus through white hill towns of Alpujarras region; followed up by rain and cold weather and soup with garlic broth
- hotel room has zero noise (yes I know, this is only a bad thing for someone whose bedroom overlooks Centre Street) and it didn't occur to me until the last night here that I could listen to internet radio streaming over iTunes for some background noise.

Ugly
- travel schedule from Calgary consisted of the following: 1. Arrive YYC 1800 Calgary time after almost forgetting passport at my house. 2. Depart YYC for LHR at 2100 Calgary time; fly for 9 hours. 3. Arrive LHR after noon London time. 4. Depart LHR for LGW by overheated bus; drive almost 1 hour. 5. Arrive LGW; wait for 3 hours to board plane. 6. Depart LGW for AGP; fly for 3 hours. 7. Arrive AGP 2300 Malaga time. 8. Depart Malaga for Granada by bus; drive for 2.5 hours. 9. Arrive Granada 0200 Granada time.

Coolest Thing I Didn't See
- One of the most famous sights of the Alhambra is a round fountain ringed by 12 lions, each one a little different. Our tour guide said a number of things about it, including that it was given to the Sultan by the Jews and the lions represent the 12 tribes of Israel (?). What I read in a history of science book was that it was a water clock constructed by one of the Sultan's scientists (the Moors, like the Greeks, had very sophisticated hydraulic automata), later taken apart by conquering Christians who could not get it to work again. Right now it is in restoration, so although we got to see the lions, we didn't get to see them in situ.

Current Location: Granada
Current Music: MusicPlusZen (streaming on iTunes)

On Thursday got asked if I had any pieces of largesse I could take with me to KA&S. I did not, but I did some brainstorming with

falashad about what I could make on short notice. After looking through the stash and my usual selection of references, decided I could probably throw together some coifs.

The women's coifs will be Elizabethan, based on the various extant pieces described in Janet Arnold 4. The men's coifs will be based on two boldly patterned silk taffeta coifs belonging to King Enrique of Castile (c. 1203-17) and his brother Infante Fernando (1189-1211), as described in Dahl, Camilla Luise and Sturtewagen, Isis (2008). "The Cap of St. Birgitta", in Medieval Clothing and Textiles 4: 99-142.

I started from the patterns in The Tudor Tailor and The Medieval Tailor's Assistant (men's) and Janet Arnold 4 (women's) and scaled them up onto my trusty yellow plaid practice fabric.

( It's an obscure project; you probably haven't heard of it. )
( I liked this project better before it got so mainstream. )

I have here a tunic fitting a Norseman of my acquaintance, to use as a pattern for a tunic that I am going to make in trade for some armor. This tunic has modern-cut set-in sleeves and the body piece flares out in a kind of A-line from shoulder to hem. I haven't done a lot of research on Norse or other early period costuming, but from what I've absorbed I'm pretty sure this isn't right.

To make my (hopefully better) tunic, I took a bunch of measurements of the existing tunic: shoulder to shoulder, shoulder to hem, width of tunic at hem, length of sleeves, width of sleeves. My plan is to have a tunic consisting of a long central body piece with no shoulder seams, a gore consisting of back to back triangles on each side, an underarm gusset, and a sleeve piece. Each of these pieces is shaped like a rectangle or square (the gores are rectangles cut diagonally). I'll worry about the neckline later.

My fabric came from the stash - it is a black wool blend that has been through the washer and dryer. As a non-fiber arts person I have a very imperfect understanding of whether this means it has been fulled, or felted, or whether a treatment like this is appropriate for a Norse garment. Since fabric rips on the straight grain (unless, apparently, you are Blue) I was able to get most of the pieces cut out simply by measuring off the appropriate size of rectangle and ripping. The only more complicated cut was the gores, which I ripped first, then marked the diagonal using a straight edge and a piece of chalk before cutting.

After examining the stitch types at Archaeological Sewing (hat tip to

rectangularcat), I am going to go with a single-fold hemstitch on each piece with an overcast stitch to join the seams. If I have time, I will also add the running stitch on the folded over edges, as in figure 10. The stitching thread will be a white wool.

No pictures, because all you'd be looking at right now would be rectangles of black wool.

Previously
Got help from

landsknecht_po on patterning my new doublet - yay! Spent almost 2 days cutting everything out, then got started on construction.

Ordered "Dress at the Court of King Henry VIII" and "Before the Mast: Life and Death Aboard the Mary Rose", which have now arrived. Tried to order Mary Rose shoes but they are currently unavailable.

This Weekend
Have succumbed to the madness that is Rock Band. Also went to karaoke on Friday night - lots of fun, but still have no voice on Tues. On Saturday and Sunday,

minyata hosted sewing practice. I mostly worked on braiding my own trim:

Also in attendance was

guardian_hero, who worked on a shirt based on the new Janet Arnold book with help from Blue.

Current Music: Pour oublier mon malheur (To Forget My Sadness) - Various Artists

Previously
Bought a bunch of fabric last weekend, some of which was even wool. Once washed, the navy blue wool had a very strong smell sort of like a newly sanitized outhouse. Better obviously than a very strong smell sort of like a used outhouse, but still not especially desirable. Wet wool should smell like, well, wet wool. On suggestion from Demetra ap Samarkand (and endorsed post facto by Missy M) soaked it in vinegar before drying. Seems to have had some positive effect.

Friday
Read through Patterns of Fashion 4. Had previously intended to make two new shirts for camping that did not have any embellishment, since am not especially enthusiastic about blackwork. This book did not help. Came up with a plan for a fairly simple embellished shirt using blue embroidery and another using inserted lace. However, all this is academic at this point, since still do not have white linen.

Saturday
Visited Three Star Fabrics and bought silk broadcloth in coral and light blue for lining of camping suits. Also bought gold trim for olive green camping suit and needle lace like stuff for chemise. Also visited Fabricland and bought navy blue and grey cording to make own trim for navy blue camping suit. This camping gear is going to end up involving way more handwork than I meant it to. Oh well.

Sunday
Spent most of afternoon cutting out pieces for trunk hose for green and navy suits. Of course, green and navy fabric are not the same width as each other, and neither is the same width as the interlining. Also, spilled the pin container - would not be a true sewing project if I had not. Blue wool is a little wider - each leg will have the inseam panel (half the width of the fabric) plus one full width panel, making a ratio of approximately three to one at the waist. Green brocade is not as wide - each leg will have the inseam panel (half the width of the fabric), one full width panel, and one half width panel, for a ratio of probably 3.5 to one.

Made a fair bit of progress on sewing in the evening, all by machine, which took a surprising amount of thread. Have constructed canions so they will lace up the back - this is not shown in any of the three examples in Janet Arnold, but it was an emergency fix I had to do on the blue and gold trunk hose and I ended up liking the fit. Am still debating whether I will have the trunk hose fasten with a button fly or with lacing points and a codpiece - my weight fluctuates a lot so the lacing points are probably a better bet if I want them to have an adjustable fit. Am planning to cartridge pleat the legs to the waistband, as I liked the result better than the pair that I pleated into the waistband.

Current Location: Palazzo Eccetera
Current Music: Amid the Falling Snow - Enya

Am having a good fabric weekend - today bought 25m of linen/cotton blend at $2.50/m, very suitable for interlining. Now just have to buy silk broadcloth lining for each of the two camping suits, plus some trim - Three Star Fabrics, here I come! At this rate, I might even be able to get started cutting out some of the fabric next weekend, though I think I want to revise my doublet pattern again - I am not very satisfied with the collar and neckline in the current pattern, and I had an unusual amount of difficulty with the fit on the blue and gold.

In other news, my copy of Authentic Everyday Dress of the Renaissance has resurfaced - yay!

Current Location: Palazzo Etcetera
Current Music: There Is No Rose of Swych Vertu - the Mediaeval Baebes

Earlier today I had some success at the fabric store - I got some navy blue wool and some olive green brocade for some camping garb, and some black wool and some black 100% mixed fibres for a camping coat (gown), since the purple velvet gown is warm enough for camping but not very practical.

In the afternoon I sewed together the mock up Viking under dress I had cut out earlier. The result was ambiguous - when I tried it on I ended up ripping the back panel to halfway down the shoulder, although then it fit fine and didn't bind under the arms. Skye also tried it on (post rip) and it seemed to fit her okay as well. Unfortunately neither of us is the eventual wearer of the garment, so it's hard to tell from this whether it will fit the intended recipient. I think I will redo the mockup with slightly wider front and back panels before arranging the fitting.

This evening will be Polyphonia Test Kitchen time - we are going to try to make some orange rice pudding. More updates later!

Current Location: Althea's Place
Current Music: Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - They Might Be Giants

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Page Summary

Arts and Sciences
Arts and Sciences Revised Guidance
Granada GBU
Hipster A&S
Caterina Makes a Tunic
Costuming Update
Sewing and More Sewing
More Fabric Shopping
And Now For Something Completely Different

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The Raven and the Writing Desk

Entries tagged with fabric

Arts and Sciences

Arts and Sciences Revised Guidance

Granada GBU

Hipster A&S

Caterina Makes a Tunic

Costuming Update

Sewing and More Sewing

More Fabric Shopping

And Now For Something Completely Different