A Very Wrinkly Bliaut

Another commission finished, yay! 

Another bliaut, for the same client as the blue and magenta one, and the viking coat.

click to embiggen

• Gold linen with black linen trim, lining, and applied neckline and upper sleeve contrast bands.  
• Same pattern as the blue and magenta one, with a different neckline. 
• Caerleon livery, yay! 
• Side-laced, with hand-sewn eyelets.
• Lions (7) hand-embroidered (*fingers fall off*) 

Yes, I could have ironed this before I photographed it.  But...I didn't.  :P 

Closeup of the embroidered lions.  I'd originally planned to appliqué these,  but they're only about an inch and a half high - way too small to appliqué on the machine without it becoming a huge mess.  I decided to stitch them down by hand instead; but seeing that the white embroidery thread I was using to edge them was a completely different white than the linen I cut the lions out of, I decided to just embroider the entire thing(s) instead.

I finished the lions on the neckline facing before attaching it to the body of the dress, then ran the lining in last, so that all of the seams were enclosed within the lining and the back of the embroidery would be fully hidden/protected. 

I'm rather pleased with the way these little guys came out. 










The gold stripe along the edges of all the black pieces is a couched cord of embroidery floss.









Whew!

I have one commission piece to do in September, but first I have to make it to/through LPT without spontaneously combusting from stress.  :D

.

A Long-Overdue Project Update +

Back in **2013** I posted about a dress I was making with fabric I'd gotten that year at Gulf Wars -  an amethyst-colored rayon-silk blend that I was absolutely in LOVE with.

The fabric is very thin, and hangs very close to the body, so it looks kinda weird on the mannequin.  It is, however, extremely comfortable and lightweight, which is perfect for the hellish climate in this kingdom.

(L) wearing it at the A&S Tiny Tourney September 2014
(R) on Violet the Mannequin this week

Speaking of Gulf Wars, I made a whole bunch of cold-weather clothing in January and February of this year, thinking that as usual, Gulf Wars would be frigid for the first several days at least.  It turned out to be a scorcher from minute one, and an entire BOX of warm clothing I packed with me was never worn.  (In fact, it was so hot that on the second day I walked to the market, bought linen, and wore it as a Roman chiton for the next two days, because they don't let you walk around in the nude even if it's 9,000 degrees outside).

One of the cold weather pieces that I made early this year was a Burgundian dress, in a green cotton velveteen, trimmed with brown faux-fur.  I still haven't had a chance to wear it.  I thought I'd posted it here, but earlier this week, I realized I never even mentioned it.

It doesn't show well in the picture, but the bottom hem is trimmed in the faux fur, too.  The dress is fairly loose when unbelted, and open low in the front, so I'll need to wear something underneath it.  (I'm just sure I made a little privacy panel to pin into it, but I couldn't find it anywhere today when I was photographing this, so maybe I imagined it?)

The little truncated hennin I made in January of this year got crushed at the bottom of a pile of fabric in my craft room, sadly.  I'm looking forward to getting to wear this dress later this year;  I'll just have to make a new hat for it.  :)




.

A Finished Commission!

I'm back at it, and slowly but steadily cranking out the last two sets of commission pieces before I get on with work for this fall's event season.  Here's the first one, a linen bliaut:

"Olympian Blue" 100% linen, with magenta linen sleeve linings, skirt guarding, and appliqé neckline, with...

A thin, white, cotton cord couched along all the edges of the magenta trim pieces, and the sleeve edges, with a little silver-and-pearl button closure. 

The recipient was very pleased! Yay!

Next Up: 

• a pair of chemises in white rayon challis (already cut out)
• another "casual" bliaut like this one (simple) (already cut out)
• a rather fancy bliaut (court wear, multi-colored, heraldic, appliqué'd and embroidered)
• a white linen Viking dress
• a Viking overcoat
• a short stack of minor alterations to some fighting clothes, and
•  another six painted flags for the Caerleon campsite fence (designs already sketched, plotted, ready to transfer to the fabric)

WHOO!  That's a ton of work - I got REALLY backed up in June.  I love my new day job, but after not working for seven months, suddenly jumping back into the 9-5 with both feet, and into an intense and complicated work stream to boot, really sapped my energy as I was getting used to it.  I'm so glad to be sewing again, though. 

It sound crazy even to me, but I'm hoping to get ALL of that list finished by the end of July.  In August I have a Landsknecht and a couple of intricate Viking pieces to get done, as well as a project for Laurel's Prize Tourney in September.  And somewhere in amongst all of this, I STILL have to complete all of my own new Viking stuff, AND do alterations on the rest of my wardrobe: my new job takes a lot of walking, and I'm going to the gym nearly every day after work - I've lost nearly fifteen pounds already, and I'm hoping that trend will continue, alterations be damned.  :)

Nose the grindstone sewing machine.  Here goes nothing.

.

The Final War Commission

It started with a pile of black linen embroidered in white cotton, and a pile of red linen.  I over-dyed the black to make the embroidery red:

Which then got turned into a third bliaut for Lady Ysabeau:

Red keyhole neckline and hem facing.

Shown with one of my long sash belts.

Fully lined!

Side laced in red linen facings with machine-stitched buttonholes.

My commissions for Gulf Wars XXIV are finished!

.



.

A Bliaut In Three Parts

1. Russet-red silk twill from the fabric district in Dallas, TX
2. Black linen
3. Calontir trim

Technically, I guess the fourth part would be drafting the pattern. The fifth might be that this lovely lady is lending me her serger machine for my work, and it is EPIC.  

The dress is side-laced, with the lacing going up into the underside of the upper arm for ease of getting on/off, and for movement.  The idea came from the lacing I saw on this Flickr page, via Pinterest. 

The black guarding along the bottom of the dress, below the trim, is...seriously...because I f'd up cutting out one of the panels and it was WAY shorter than the others. I had to cut them all off to match, and then used the black linen to lengthen the dress again, LOL.  :)

You saw the preview yesterday, which is a better shot of the trim, which can be found online here at Calontir Trim. 

An aside: 

The first pic is from the Village of Castleton, Bryn Gwlad, Ansteorra, for our annual baronial event (last weekend).  Castleton is AMAZING.  It's a medieval village built by several of our members many years ago, whose buildings include a number of small dwellings, a castle, a wooden ship, and a smaller replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, called The Curtain Theatre.  I've attended many a court in that theatre, and performed there, and it's heavenly.  I adore this site. 

The Curtain Theatre

.

Make All the Things!!! (v. billionty-one)

Pics from the weekend's event are forthcoming; for now I have just a couple of recent things to share, and in no particular order:

First, a serious one.  This is a bliaut that I made for a friend, of russet-red silk with black linen lining, and trim by Calontir Trim.

I'll have pics of her in it soon, as well as some other things I've made for her.

I've finally started the process of creating some false hairpieces for the SCA out of my own hair that was removed in March of this year.  Braided tightly and unevently, they don't look like much here, but the total hair is nearly two feet long!

I've combined this pair of braids into a single hank of hair, and washed and conditioned it.  Next I'll be separating it back into a pair of even braids, and working them into a shape that I can use with my cauls, or as templar braids to be worn with my circlet.  Soon. I hope.

At the Bjornsborg Tournament of the Smitten Heart three weeks ago, I made this little guy. Since it was a pre-Halloween event, they held a "skull bedazzling contest." - and I have to say, I wasn't going to join in, but when I saw the plain plastic skulls on the table, I HAD to grab one and make a little calavera.

Lo and behold, it was one of two "judges' favorites" winners!  Squee!  My prize was a lovely stoneware goblet and a string of emerald chips...and a trip up in front of court to be recognized, so, you know: fear.  Hee.

Firstly, I love funny, mistranslated labels like this. "Preventing finger"??  LOL.

FYI, my new cot, which I purchased because I was sick to death of waking up on a flat air mattress,  also prevents the following:

• sleep
• comfort
• blankets staying on the bed
• unbruised ankles

AND this past weekend at the baronial event, I'm fairly certain that this bastard was at least half responsible for the TWO partially dislocated shoulders that I am now rocking.  OWWW.  

So yeah: fuck cots. 

More soon! 

.

A Poopy Purple Preview

*Nothing* I could do could make this color come out right in pictures, so, I'm posting these now (because the dress is DONE!), and I'll bring you daylight, outdoor pics of me IN the dress after the event this week:

Finally, finally finished.  This was supposed to be done by the end of SEPTEMBER, you guys.

This is the purple antique satin I bought at Gulf Wars (rayon/slk), with black linen on the trim.  It's not lined - it's cross-woven, so the inside of the fabric is black.

This stuff was HAIRY AS CRAP.  And Fray-Check rolled right off the stuff, and what little soaked in spread too far and just gunked up everything, so I had to keep trimming and tucking and wiping little purple "ants" and black hairs off of EVERYTHING.  ARGH.  

12th century pendant-sleeved gown - basically a bliaut with a different sleeve - as shown here, and here. They actually hang down well past my fingertips, since they're meant to be turned back and pinned in place.

Yeah.  Photo editing.  Phuck it.

The black linen trim, with some white machine embroidery on it.  I did the same thing around the sleeve bands and the edges of the sleeve openings.  Oh, and around the hemline, too.  Yay, machine embroidery.

The whole time my dog kept coming in and looking at me like, "Moooooom.  Are you dooooone yet??"  *mope*

Not finished yet:  a looooong black linen belt to be worn along with this.

Also to go with: my pie crust hat and barbette, and long silk veil.

I'll wear my all-purpose underdress (it's just a long, long-sleeved, loose cote with a keyhole neckline, untrimmed, beige) underneath it...and I may actually be dyeing it tonight.  Ve shall zee.


To be continued...


.

Teal Gown, Navy Bliaut, and Coronation

Remember the bad pictures of the bliaut?

And the original plan, which called for a teal gown for underneath it?

Yes, that is the WRONG belt for this outfit.
It's all I have right now.  :( 

The under-layer, which itself is also a stand-alone gown:

These were all taken at Coronation over the past weekend, by the way.  

Bonus pic of me sitting around waiting for court to start.  

Coronation was pretty dang cool.   The hall could have been a bit more adequately air-conditioned, but it was decorated very nicely, the coronation ceremony was outstandingly done, and the King's Champion tournament was really cool and fun to watch.

Now I just need to finish the red half-sleeves I've been working on, and make myself some white tippets...

WANT. 

.

Contents: One Finished Bliaut

Wanna see some really crappy photographs of a really cool dress?

 

My camera takes really good pictures.  In a mirror, though, in a badly-lit room, of a dark navy-blue dress?  Not so much.   Sorry.

Front neckline, trim, and visible "cotehardie" underneath (which is all rumpled for some reason, and I didn't notice it until just now, hehe).   

Don't recognize the blue cotehardie?  That's because it's new, too - and actually, it isn't a cotehardie: 

Have I mentioned how flippin' HOT it is here in central Ansteorra?  We're talking 115º last Summer - and that's without the heat index.  And it's already hitting 100-103º here at the beginning of June.  Oy.  So, rather than wear *four* layers in this heat  - braies, chemise, under-dress, over-dress -  I'm leaving out the chemise entirely for the summer, and now have only two layers:  this crop-top fake cotehardie and a pair of braies,  and my over-dress - in this case, the navy bliaut. (Or, best case scenario: just the braies and a full cotehardie).  The crop-cote gives me sleeves and a neckline to show underneath an over-dress, but not an extra layer of fabric from shoulders to ankles.  Whew. 

And actually, I have another heat-buster idea, but that'll be its own blog post. 

Meanwhile:  blunt upholstery needle FTW.  This is how I lace myself into my laced cotes - this thing slides right through eyelets and buttonholes, without catching the fabric or stitching.  I've tried aglets on the ends of my laces, and I have yet to have them last more than one wearing - they pull off the lace, they bend, they tear out stitching around the eyelet or buttonhole, and they poke and scratch my skin when I tuck the lace-ends inside my dress.  No thank you. 

I'm wearing the bliaut to Dance Revel tonight; hopefully I can persuade someone to take better pictures of me in it.  :) 

.

Progress, Albeit Slow Progress

The neckline on the bliaut is done!

I still have to finish the last two inside seams that aren't finished, and them hem the bottom, and it's done!

Then there's some underwear stuff that needs to happen.

TTFN

.

Bliaut Progress & Sleeve Adjustment

Progress!

•  sleeves have been lengthened with a long, diamond-shaped gore in the long seam under the sleeve (they were too short before;  I added about thirteen inches of both length and width)
• seams finished and flat-felled where they'll show (sleeves, lower hem) 
• trim applied to the upper arms and sleeve hem.  

I also split and hemmed the side seams in the body so that I can lace the sides;  I'm honestly not sure if I want to mess with it (hand-stitched eyelet holes...blergh...), so after I did that, I sewed the sides back up again.  Means I can wear it right now, and if I decide in the future to do the side-lacing, I only have one seam to undo and no prep-work on the edges, just the eyelets themselves.

Next:  neckline trim & lower hem.

sleeve gores to widen and lengthen

 .

In Which Our Heroine Makes Yet Another Blue Outfit

Because, as you know, I need more blue dresses.  I only have like five.  Because my heraldic colors are red and black, LOL.  *shrug*  I love blue. :)

And I love making these things:

This is going to be a 12th century bliaut - navy, with the exact trim you see in the pic above (from Calontir Trim, purchased at Gulf Wars in March), with a deep teal undergown (just a simple lace-front plain gown).  I'd been thinking about doing one ever since I saw a friend in a really pretty black one at Gulf Wars this year.  Then I saw this, and just I had to get on the bliaut train. :)

The belt is not a cloth or woven belt like you usually see with bliauts -   I'm no weaver.  I've tried making belts like that out of just fabric, and they always bunch up and become fabric ropes.  So I'm still testing out some ideas that I think might work.

(And yes, that's a hair tie around the waist in the pic.  Without it the dress just looked like a bunch of blue fabric on the hanger, hehe).

For the time being, I have this awesome, BRIGHT blue leather belt that I bought at Gulf Wars (for fifteen dollars!);  and Kress needed to order belt parts for himself this week, so he got a set like the one shown in the picture for me, too.  Yay!   (Hardware from Armor and Castings).


So far, so good!  It fits beautifully, and the only thing I plan to change is that the sleeves aren't as long as I thought they were going to be (because I measure wrong.  Whoops!)  That's a simple fix, though; and once that's done, I'll be ready to finish the seams on the inside, and then start working on the trim and the bling.  Yay!