Working towards Gulf Wars

Alright so now is starting to be crunch time for Gulf Wars.  Ainsley is now going with us so she needs a week's worth of clothes.  Gulf Wars is harder to plan for since we are never sure if it's going to be warm, cold, wet, all of the above?  Last night I opened my house to those in my Barony for a UFO (unfinished objects) night and I was able to cut out and sew together a viking apron for Ainsley.  I have been using the same pattern for years since my friend HL Christiana showed me how to make the pattern.  I use the pattern from Viking Apron dress by Vigdis (her webpage seems to be down so thankfully I have a printout).  I'll have to see if I can scan the pattern and post it somewhere for later use.

The fabric I used was given to me by a friend who got it from a family member.  it's a remnant piece of fabric from a person who makes curtains, slip covers, etc so it's a thicker  piece of fabric which will come in handy for the cold mornings/days.   One side is almost all orange and white in relief and the other side was mostly white with orange.  I let Ainsley pick which side she wanted to be the right side of the fabric

This is the front of the apron dress.  I still need to hem the top and bottom, otherwise it's completely done.  It came out soooo cute and she'll look fantastic in it.  Right now Orange seems to be the color she wants to wear since she has another apron that was given to us in the same color.

This is the back of the apron where the triple gore is.  This is the hardest part of the pattern to get all together, flat, and even.  For Ainsley's garb I don't worry too much about it being even, just had to make sure there isn't a hole at the top of the gore (have to go back and hand sew just a little on the middle gore to fix a hole).  Even with the busy fabric, it looks pretty good, not too wild.

 

 This is one of the side gores that ended up having a flower in the middle so it give extra detail :)

I'm very pleased with how it came out and can't wait to see it on her.

Finished projects

I finally finished the Wool Cassock!!! We had Bordermarch Autumn Melees this past weekend and I got it done on the road as is usual.

The weekend before I worked on getting all the button holes sewn on.  I have a really hard time getting the button holes even so have to mark everything up A LOT!

 The pattern called for the buttons to be 1" apart so that there would be over 150 buttons...That is entirely too many buttons for me to sew and for the man to button and unbutton as he needs to so I marked the holes 2" apart and ended up with about 68 buttons.

 

And then I marked the beginning of the hole and the end to give me some guidance while putting it on the machine.  I have issues getting the button holes too close to the edge so have to really mark the back edge.

 

Excuse the mess on the bed, we were unloading after camping and I forgot to get a picture of him wearing the garment (*smacks head*).  It looked really really good on and got lots of compliments, so it was very much a successful project!  I would like to add lucet cord as trim around the collar and the epaulets to add a little color so that may be a project over the holidays.

17th Century Wool Cassock

So since the hubby is a rapier fighter and needs something other than a cloak which doesn't allow for arms to be used. I don't like the cloaks that have the arm holes because then your arms get cold and it's hard to pull them in and out from underneath the cloak.

I purchased the wool from Joann's while my store was closing so got an amazing deal. I think I paid $12/yard for 100% wool that is a gorgeous teal color. I found some linen from my favorite online linen place for $6.50/yard that is very close in color ( http://fabric-store.com/first.php?goto=big_fabric&menu=f&menu=f&fabric_id=577) It's close enough that it will do for a lining.

This weekend i finally got back into my sewing room to work on projects. My goal is to finish all the wool stuff BEFORE it's needed in January. We are in South-Eastern Texas so the weather around here is iffy when it comes to cold. We may need the wool stuff in November so that is my current goal for one of the wool pieces to be completely finished. I had cut out the pattern several months ago so all I had to do was start assembling the pieces. I have the main body of the wool and the linen sewn together, they just need to be put together so that the lining isn't loose. I didn't like the way the pattern said to put the lining with each individual piece so I'm winging that portion of the instructions. I have the sleeves sewn with their lining, same with the collar and shoulder pieces. I am at the point that they need to be turned right side out and ironed flat then sewn onto the main body. I plan on sewing the lining of the main body together before I attach the sleeves so we'll see how that goes.

Once I get the sleeves, collar, and shoulder pieces sewn on that covers the bulk of the sewing and it will have to go hang in the closet until I can find a TON of buttons that I like and are of a good quality to go on it.

Project List

I decided to start a blog to help me keep track of my SCA sewing projects that i have going. I always seem to have various things in the works and sometimes need to remember everything I need to complete the projects.

The order may change as I work through projects:

1) Teal Wool Cassock
I found this wool at Joann's of all places and it is a really gorgeous color and texture so I bought the whole bolt to make several things with. The first one is a 17th Century Cassock. I know it's a little after period for what the SCA is, but it's a better option for the man who is a rapier fighter to wear. This is the pattern i'm using and it is fairly straight forward. It actually didn't require any changes so that makes me happy.

The only thing left that I need to purchase to finish the project is the buttons. I need to do some searching to find what size I need and the amount that i want. it requires a TON of buttons.

2) Teal Wool Doublet
I got Janet Arnold's

Patterns of Fashion: The Cut and Construction of Clothes for Men and Women, C.1560-1620
for christmas and saw this doublet that I wanted to make and I thought the wool would be a good start for it. This is the doublet pattern

I've made the trim from lucet cord so that it is substantial against the wool. I haven't decided on the style of sleeves yet but I have a feeling those will just be plain. I have everything I need to make it, however I have cut out only the linen layer and not into the wool yet. Once I get the Cassock done and just needing buttons then I will finish cutting out the doublet and work on hand sewing the trim to the wool. I'm not sure how much trim i currently have so will have to see how much detail actually goes on the doublet.

3) Linen Rapier shirt. This I already have cut out, just need to sew all the pieces together. I have blackwork embroidery for the cuffs ready to go. This is probably the project that requires the least bit of work and I'm not sure why I've put it off for so long.


4) A new German dress for me. I've never attempted a german before so this will be a trial for me. I have a fitted italian ren that I should be able to use the bodice pattern for, it just requires some modification. More information about this project later.

5) After I make this first German dress, I have plans for a second one that involves using german embroidery that uses the concept that Master Richard Wymarc fully researched (http://wymarc.com/asoot/asoot.php). I know there are no examples of it being used on clothes, however I'm going to use the technique anyway because I think it will have a great effect.

Those are the projects at the moment. I'm sure this list will evolve and grow as I come up with more ideas of what to make.