Embellishing, etc

With Autumn Gathering approaching, the black dress project has been set aside for other – more pressing things.

The first of these things was to go back to the original dresses (white chemise and brown over gown) I’d made and tack down the facing at the neckline.  Two evenings of stitching and movies and these were crossed off my list.

Next up was the embellishing of my blue wool sideless.  After much thought and research of my stitch dictionary, I decided to ‘borrow’ the chain stitch technique from Cristiana de Huntington and trim out the neckline and armholes with white thread and some lovely blue glass beads I’d picked up. 

The neckline and one armhole were finished when I realized that I wasn’t going to have enough of the beads to finish it out.  *sigh*  No worries, I’ll just pop back over to the craft store and pick up another tube of them.  Excellent theory, unfortunately, their entire bead stock has been wiped out.  Two weeks later and they still have not re-stocked their shelves.  Headed over to the local fabric store to check their stock…  They had the right color but in the wrong size.  They had some others that might be a possibility if I wanted to re-do all of my work so I picked up some of those.  Just in case.

Headed to the Shire Sewing Gathering with nothing to work on since no one had my beads in stock.  I ended up having the opportunity to make a run to Vancouver to check a couple of places this afternoon so on the road we went.

Three craft/fabric shops later, still no matching blue beads.  I did pick up some lovely pink cube beads and frosted clear glass ones as well…but that’s another project for another day.  The last store we went to had some lovely blue beads that don’t quite match what I’ve been using.  I picked up a few tubes of these as well, just in case.

…the beadwork/embroidery is finished on the sideless.  Finally!  And it ended up not needing all of the beads from one tube.  The result there is – I’ve got a lot of blue beads left over for a future project.

Gown, Inherited

Through the course of an average conversation…okay, maybe not average.  How many people in the world can say, in ‘casual conversation’ – I dress up in medieval gowns and reenact history?  Suffice it to say, I am one of those people.  Yes, ‘those’ people.  Well, on occasion, this has paid off in unexpected ways.  Most recently, I inherited a bridesmaids gown that someone wore in a medieval themed wedding.  It’s a beautiful gown, though not exactly historically accurate.

Actually, what I inherited was the chemise, the gown and a lovely organza wrap that matches the color of the dress. 

The dress:

Once I had the dresses home, I was able to more closely examine them.  The chemise will need some downsizing as well as seam repair and having the gussets in the sleeves re-stitched.  The eye’s (from hook and eye’s) that were stitched on for the purposes of lacing will also need to be replaced…as will the lacing cord. 

The dress will need downsizing, having the eye’s for lacing and the cording replaced.  It has a lovely train on the back of the gown, but I don’t know if it will remain…I see ‘trip hazard’ in my future if I don’t remove it.  The beading along the neckline remains a maybe…

The wrap is perfect as is.   No alterations or repairs needed.

 

Coming soon, the other inherited dress that was the result of another casual conversation.  Also, a new project has begun that will make it’s way here – the black dress.

The Finishing of the Cloak pt. 2

 

Now it is time to add the fur trim to the cloak.  I found a fabulous fake fur that is super soft and has a ‘real’ look to it in Portland last month.  The first thing I learned was that it is better to make a small cut at the edge of the fabric and then tear it across rather than cutting it.  It tears very straight and you get minimal shedding afterwards.

I tore off three 4-inch wide strips, each 60 inches long and sewed them together end to end, giving me a strip long enough to trim the full hem-line of the cloak.

 

Next was the caplet of fur at the shoulders.  This was a bit more of a challenge.  After sewing down the bottom hem of it, it took me two days of pinning, adjusting and staring at it before I decided it would work.  I wanted to be sure because the plan was to cut out two large pie shaped pieces, one at each shoulder.  Once they were cut out, there was no turning back.  Finally, I took a deep breath, sewed the new seams and cut away the excess fabric.  The results :

 

Two more pieces of fur trim and the clasp = project finished!

 

I will be so warm now!

There are, as usual, several things I’d do different, if I had it to do again, but all in all, it turned out pretty cool.  And very close to what I had pictured in my mind!

The Finishing of the Cloak pt. 1

It’s finally time to get my cloak lined and decked out in fur (fake!) trim.  This is the beginning of the project.  It’s Sewing Day for the Shire of Rivers Bend.  Anyone with a project to work on (or who just wanted to hang out and visit) were welcome to stop by. 

I unloaded everything from the car and realized that I’d left the pattern at home so had to make an emergency run back to grab that.  Without it, I had nothing to do…

After pinning and cutting out the 2nd of four pieces needed for the cloak, I became concerned.  It was looking like I was not going to have enough fabric to get two more pieces from it.  I was sure I’d purchased the same amount of fabric as I had for the cloak itself.

I made a frantic call to the Pendleton Store to make sure they would be open the next day (a holiday) so that I could pick up another couple of yards of the fabric if it turned out I was short.  Then I returned out to cut out what I could from what I had.  Thankfully, I misjudged the amount of fabric remaining and I was able to get all four pieces cut from what I had on hand (with no piecing together necessary!). 

 

And the cloak is lined! Next step…trimming it out in fur.

Norse Hat…Finished

The first step was to  create a pattern for the hat of my dreams…well, the one that will keep my head warm while sitting around the campfire at night at least!  I searched online and only found generalized instructions, nothing very specific.  So I decided to get creative, and make my own Master Pattern.

It took about 30 minutes of measuring, drawing, re-measuring and re-drawing before I thought I might have one that would work.  I then cut out the pieces of the pattern in muslin and basted them together.  The results?  A hat that would fit my head and, once the trim has been added, may even cover my ears some.

Then it was on to cutting out the pieces in the actual fabric I’d purchased for the project.  It’s a yummy, super soft fabric – that is a challenge to cut with pinking shears and sheds fleece like made when you’re cutting.  It’s also very thick, making sewing it (especially where the points meet at the top of the hat) difficult.  But, with perseverance, it was accomplished.

The next step is to stitch down the seams inside the hat.  I’ve decided to use a red embroidery floss for this.  It will show up well on the brown suede.

 

Now on to the fur trim and it should be ready to go for the next campfire event…

 

Done!  And, even more important…it fits.

Take Along Handwork

No self-respecting 14th Century lady would be caught without some sort of needle work to keep themselves busy (well, maybe that’s just me…).  Here is my current project.  An embroidered coif that is technically from a future century, but I couldn’t help myself!   I’m using Subtlety Silk Pearl #12 on white linen and three not-so-period stitches.

The areas in the close up picture that are not stitched will have pearls added in later.  It’s coming along nicely and actually, quicker than I thought it would.  I have a long ways to go still…

Norse Hat Project

Norse Hat Project

Originally uploaded by Elyscia de Fairford

This is the beginning of my ‘Norse Hat’ project. I found this wonderful fabric that is sherpa fleece on one side and chocolate brown suede on the other. I’ll be using the red floss to stitch down the seams. The only thing missing from the picture is the fur that I’ll use for the trim. It somehow didn’t make it into the photo…

William Tell

William Tell – my first camping event that it rained at.  The last camping event of the season.  On a positive note – my tent stayed absolutely dry inside!!  Plus, it only rained one day.

Have some new additions to the tent for this event.  My fabulous purple pinion (thanks DAD!!) displayed proudly atop my tent.  My new ’stone’ rugs on the floor (okay, so it’s giraffe patterned upholstery that I hemmed with the wrong side up, but it’s still super soft and looks really neat!)  And my own private privy! yay! No more biffies. 

My new rugs..and somewhere, a privy

The New Pinion!

This event also hosted the first official Accademia classes!  I learned how to throw sharp pointy things at targets (knives, axes and spears).  Next I hope to learn how to hit the targets!  It was a great deal of fun.

And, meet our official camp mascot for the weekend, Little Bit – he kept everyone very entertained all weekend.

One of his rare moments asleep

It was especially sad breaking down camp this time as it was the last camping event of the season.  But I had a wonderful time and am already planning the things I want to do for next camping season!

Autumn War

I kicked off my two week vacation with a trip to Autumn War in beautiful Dragon’s Sphere Park.   Arrived with enough time to get through Gate, unload the car and get the tent erected before dark-fall.  (Everything inside was sorted out by lantern-light after dinner). 

It was a very chilly night and as such, I shared a cozy dinner inside the kitchen tent of the de Huntington’s who were camping next door to me.  Many thanks to the Company of Saint Ulrich for allowing me to share their encampment and their wonderful bonfire each evening.

The Company of Saint Ulrich

It turned out we were camped across the road from Merchants Row - very convenient!  I left a bit of change with a merchant and came away with a beautiful Keel Loom and a Lucet.  The Lucet came complete with a free lesson – I’m well on my way to having new cording done for all of my dresses!   Soon I hope to learn to warp, weft, use my new loom.

Saturday night brought some of the most amazing sights I’ve ever seen.  After hiking some ways down the road on the rumor of a biffy with toilet paper (not the amazing sight!), I was far enough out of camp to actually be able to see the haze of the Milky Way in the night sky!  I can assure you that the goosebumps were not from the chill in the air.  I also saw my first shooting star.  When I turned to return to camp, I saw that a fog had rolled in and the entire park was a-glow with camp fires and torch lights.  A truly medieval and incredible sight to see.

Sunday morning, there was some discussion as to what to do with day three camping hair.  Another lovely lady camping in our group, Sarah, so kindly braided all of our hair after breakfast – you’d never guess how long it had been since the last shower!

It was very sad when everything was torn down and loaded into the car for the return trip home.  But!  William Tell is just two weeks away…

Medieval Tent part 2

Attended Autumn War and camped in my tent – with all the proper sized poles on hand this time.  What a difference this made to the outside appearance and the interior floor space!

It was a wonderful and relaxing weekend.  I’ve learned how to make my own lacing cords on my new lucet and I also bought a small inkle loom (keel loom) that I’m looking forward to learning how to use as well.

The next project in line for my tent is the pinion (flag).   Hopefully, it will be done in time for camping at William Tell this next weekend….