Tippet Good!

Yes, that was a Devo reference.  You're welcome.

tippets + the newly be-purpled Ikea cotehardie

I finally got around to making myself a pair of white tippets!  Took me about 20 minutes altogether - and I even remembered to copy the prototype to a paper pattern so that I can make these again without starting from scratch.

tippet prototype:  a simple rectangle of cotton, pinned to fit my upper arm
and then trimmed to a pleasing, slightly-curved shape long its length. 

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Chicken Butt (The Latest Blue Dress)

In answer to the first post about my new court outfit for BAM...here it is:

navy blue cotton denim velveteen, red linen
sleeve linings, red microfiber half-sleeves
gold drapery tapestry fabric trim.  The overall
look was inspired in part by this. 

the deep-V back, which I am trying out here
for the first time, and which I adore; and the
long train, which I forgot to arrange nicely
for this picture, lol.  

sleeve layers

probably my favorite hair ever, for look and ease of wear
(although it was done in a hurry for these pics and looks
a bit slapdash).  Two braids crossed over my forehead
and tucked into my snood, topped by my circlet and then
my silk veil (which is usally worn much farther forward
than this; but I pulled it back so you could see the snood)

Tada!  I have GOT to start making sure someone photographs me at events.  I swear.  Maybe nobody likes me.  ;0)


I ended up using some "gold" and "crystal" (both plastic) buttons that I pulled off a pair of fancy half-sleeves, for this dress.  As soon as I find something for this dress I like better (and can afford.  Holy cow, buttons are expensive now that my discount place closed down!), these crystal buttons are going back onto the sleeves, because I like them better there.

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The Ikea Cotehardie: Finished!

A short recap:  the Ikea Cotehardie was great, but it didn't fit anymore, and I wasn't loving the look of it anymore.

Before

So I tore it apart, added gussets to the side seams and the back of the arms to give myself more bicep- and boob-room,  painstakingly picked out all the black decorative stitching (what I was I thinking!), and put the thing back together.

During...

And finally, I removed the buttons and replaced them with cloth ball buttons made of the same fabric, and then I DYED IT PURPLE!!!

 After! 

Purple!!  Truthfully, I was going for a soft, heather-y, faded, muted plum...and that's the color I got the first time I dyed this dress.  The problem is, I dyed it in a beer cooler, like I usually do when I dye things, which turned out not to be enough room to keep this big, heavy dress agitated as much as it needed - it settled and wrinkled and came out all patchy.  Seriously, it looked like purple camouflage!  I may or may not have actually screamed.  On a second dyeing - in the washing machine this time - the dye job came out beautifully smooth and rich...and waaaaay more purple than I'd originally intended.  Which is NOT to say that I don't love it, because I do. 

I mean, seriously. That's just an awesome color.
Cloth buttons, and here you can see the tapestry stuff on the
inside of the sleeve that dyed beautifully as well (look back at the
first picture).  Yay! 

I'll be wearing this to a demo with my household this coming weekend;  hopefully I'll have pictures for you of this dress all tarted up and accessorized.  You know how I am about pictures, though.  No promises.  ;) 

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It Took Me Twelve Months...

...but I'm finally posting one of these on time!

November In Review

• made a shiny new fancy court outfit - not that I have any pictures.  Because I suck.
• started another embroidered pouch, because I haven't finished the first one yet
• Event:  Bordermarch Autumn Melees (BAM), of which I have exactly 0 pictures. :( 
• new file cabinet + sewing patterns = a more organized craft room
• started refurbishing my gray Ikea linen cotehardie (to be continued)

I won't even promise you pictures of stuff from here on out.  But I will promise to try to be better at it.  

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Moar Jewelry

Red glass + brass:  

My first attempt at something Sort-of Roman: 

The hanger isn't remotely correct - it's just a little (French-looking?) flourish-y thing that I think was actually meant for scrapbooking;  but I wanted to experiment with the overall shape of these rectangular chandelier-y things.  I may replace the hanger eventually, but for now I really like it.


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