Big, big, project idea.

Ever-thinking, ever-dreaming, I have thought of a new project to work on. It's massive, it will likely take years to finish.

I want to make full outfits for Olaf and myself, from scratch.


So far, I'm working on obtaining the roving to spin. Next, I'll purchase the necessary supplies to make a warp-weighted loom, and start weaving the singles. Per period technique, I will use a drop spindle. Spinning wheels did not come around until the 1600s (roughly).


After the fabric has been woven, I will set it, wash it, and dye it to whatever colors we need. I figure that making everything out of grey lamb's wool will be the softest and most versatile solution. That way I can weave and weave and weave and not have to worry about how much of what color I need to make.


Once all that is complete, I'll draft new patterns based on our measurements, cut the fabric, and sew it all by hand. I'll finish all the seams as I go.


I'll save some of the spun roving and dye it for tablet weaving as well-- I want these outfits to be as authentic as possible. :) Last, but certainly not least, I'll obtain the jewelry needed for both of us. That I likely won't make, but hey.


I also intend to spin and weave the linen for our undertunics. I've got 16 oz. of flax roving coming in the mail as a starter; I've also got 5 oz Icelandic lambswool roving on its way here. For an unrelated project, I have a simply gorgeous merino on its way.

That merino will, more than likely, turn into this amazing cardigan from White Lies Designs:

Yes. It's that awesome, I had to give it space of its own. :)

I'm so excited! I know it'll take forever, but hey. Absolutely worth it.

These days, I have so many things to look forward to--school looming on the horizon, getting to do something I really want to do...

Anyway. Time to get back to work...

Project Ideas Galore!

I saw this spinning wheel and decided immediately that I must have it...someday.

I have some grand ideas for projects, one of which is making an outfit completely from scratch, as would have been done long ago. This means:

• obtaining raw wool in bulk (I don't have room for a sheep of my own)
• separating/carding the wool
• spinning it as finely as I possibly can
• weaving it using a wall loom
• dye the wool using period techniques and colors
• drafting a pattern for whichever outfit I choose to make
• handsewing and binding the seams of the outfit
• dye remaining spun wool for tablet weaving
• weave trim for dress
• obtaining necessary accessories (jewellery, etc) to finish the outfit

Of course, I'll take what I have to as many A&S competitions as possible; it'll likely be a lot of "works in progress" competitions. I'll also have to find documentation and sources for all the papers I'll be writing over this... :)

I hope to finish that project in the next five years or so.

In the meantime, I plan on undertaking another project as I obtain the supplies for the one listed above. This one, I can do anytime and has no real deadline--I plan on creating sheetmusic for all the Calontir songs. This, of course, means that I'll have to obtain permission for everything I do, but the two major benefits of the project are:

1. I learn and memorize music
2. I help others learn and memorize music

I've started working on digitizing motet music from a book I got recently; L'Amorosa Ero. The sheetmusic is great, but I wanted to hear how all the voices sounded--I could hammer it out on piano, but MuseScore ended up being a quicker solution. I'd love to gather up a group of SCAdians to sing and then present a few songs to their Majesties someday...

Anyway, off to do some research and daydreaming. :)

Finished Moy gown

In all its glory, here is the finished Moy Bog gown-- I love it!

This dress looks fantastic when it's pressed-- too bad at war it's going to be all wrinkled and such...alas.

Prep for Lilies has been insane! Olaf is working on creating a harlequin patchwork pant aside from other tasks and all I can say is that the pants are going to be amazing.

We thought it'd be a great idea to create patchwork pants, tunic, skirt, and quilt(s) out of all the little remnant scrap pieces that are otherwise unusable. What a way to conserve! For all you who sew, what do you do with all your scraps?

Red Cotehardie fix

Ever-thinking about my blog, I find myself wanting to write frequently of my latest sewing excursions. With Lilies War coming up, I'm chomping at the bit to get everything done.

As promised, though, the post about the red cotehardie:

I got this dress as a "thank you"-gift from a family for drafting patterns and helping construct garb in preparation for Gulf Wars. However, the person who wore the dress last (an ex of the young man) took in the back about four inches. This would be fine if she hadn't cut out the excess fabric.

When I tried it on, the buttons were threatening to pop off. Beautiful as it was, it just wasn't very practical to wear--my back and shoulders compressed toward my spine, causing great discomfort after just a little bit of wear.

I wish I'd gotten pictures of the before to compare with the after, but imagine being poured into an outfit and you'll have the general idea.

The idea behind fixing the cotehardie was a simple one: create a gore to restore the back to its original dimensions. The good news was that there was a train on the dress--unhemmed and about 12" in length (if not longer). I cut the train back to about four inches at its longest point, rotated the remaining material perpendicular to the rest of the fabric to obtain the length I needed, and cut it out based on where I thought the original line of the dress was.

After sewing in the gore, I tried it on-- success! The gore looks a little weird, but it is SO much more comfortable. Perhaps I'll make a mantle/hood out of linen to cover up the fix.

Productive Weekend.

This weekend has been the most productive one I've had in a while. Olaf and I worked on many projects together, primarily getting him outfitted for Lilies War. Last week sometime we ordered some bulk linen from fabrics-store.com (really, that place is amazing. Bulk linen = $5/yard, give or take). Combine twenty yards of linen and some fabric dye and the results are hours of fun sewing.

For example, this weekend we accomplished the following:

• Cut twenty yards of fabric in one evening
• Sewed two Viborg-style undertunics, one edged around the sleeves and neck edge with tablet weaving
• Made one t-tunic, dyed teal with yellow trim (my heraldic colors!)
• Constructed two and one-half pair of pants (teal/yellow, black/blue, and one black leg to fix his black/white harlequin pants)
• Added neck facing and topstitched the Moy gown
• Expanded and hemmed red cotehardie--I'll post a separate entry on that

The really cool thing is that Olaf's been helping out immensely during this weekend-- he made his own pants while I worked on the more intensive things (tunics, etc). I am so grateful!

There is still much to do, of course, in the coming weeks:

1. finish putting the buttons on the Moy gown (sleeves)
2. finish the eyelets on the blue cotehardie
3. fix the neckline and add cuffs to the Dürer Housebook dress
4. cut out grey twill linen/wool dress to make another Housebook dress (self-forming pleats)
5. draft braies pattern and construct at least one set
6. sew SkillsUSA blazer for student at LSTC (that'll be a post of its own, too)

Rather than post all of the images here, go to my online photo album to see all of today's accomplishments.

Moy Bog Gown

I can't remember any more how I stumbled across the moy gown, but I immediately fell in love with the design and decided that I just -had- to make it.


I drafted a pattern, basing it off a standard t-tunic with a few shaping adjustments based off the extant example. Truth be told, there's one piece that is missing from the original--the gores at the front of the sleeve. If I really wanted to add that piece, I could shave down the width of the sleeve at the armhole and taper to about the elbow.


Being a novice seamstress (and an impatient one at that), I use modern construction techniques. Currently I use a Brother PE-400 machine and a Bernina serger.

I sewed the sides together and did the initial fit. Unfortunately, it hung off of me like a tent.

After a few fittings, it now looks like this:





























The sleeves aren't finished yet--I'm curious to see how they'll turn out. The buttons were made with a DIY metal kit; I cut out forty (give or take) one-inch circular pieces of fabric while Olaf assembled the buttons for me.

If I could change construction, I'd do a few things differently:

• First, as the fabric is pretty thin, I'd strengthen each piece of the neck, torso, and sleeve with black linen underneath. I may yet do this once I can dye some linen.
• Second, I would find a way to stabilize the neckline-- I staystitched the neckline and then topstitched over it, but the front is still a little too spacious and the back waffles somewhat. I've been able to get some of it out with a good steam iron, but it still feels pretty flimsy on the whole.
• Third, I would do the buttonholes differently. They're already beginning to fray a bit on the inside edge. I was thinking that after I attach the linen underneath, I could slit the buttonholes in said fabric, then create a fabric-bound buttonhole. That way, all the alignment work is already done, there's plenty of strength in the pre-existing modern buttonholes, and it'll look nicer than shiny cotton-coated polyester thread.
• Fourth, I would contour the front seam to match to my body better. I have a flat panel for the buttons and buttonholes, but I find that once I clear the widest point of my bustline, I have an increasing "gaposis" at the neckline. Because I've already put in the buttonholes and buttons, though, it looks like I'll have to add a couple darts to offset the extra room.
• Fifth, as a final stabilization factor, I would topstitch on one side of the seamlines.

If I were making this gown out of wool, things would be quite different (naturally). I love this fabric, though! It's a light/dark green herringbone in linen:

(picture pending)

It's really not that shiny--the smallness of the weave and the coloration almost give it an iridescent look with flash, though, as shown in the picture of the fitting.