Post-War Projects

I kind of mentally swore to myself that I wouldn't touch an SCA project for one month after I got back from war.  I'll be back, don't worry, but I have lots of other things to get done around here, and I needed a break.  Here's what I'm working on right now:

Gardening! 

A friend and I spent the afternoon yesterday at one of my favorite garden nurseries in town, It's About Thyme.  For a few hours before that, and several afterward, I worked my butt off in the backyard:  mowing, pruning, digging, planting, mulching, filling the compost pile, moving rocks and cobblestones, and generally just rebooting my garden from - if you'll pardon the pun - from the ground up.  There's more here at my garden blog.

Bathrobing! 

No kidding, I've had this purple jersey knit fabric sitting in a bag for _over a year_ waiting for me to "just be done with this one project" before I'd start it.  Meanwhile, the knit bathrobe I made for myself in 2008 was literally full of holes (puppy) and falling apart at the seams.  So I made this one to replace it.  The pattern is the same as the Japanese clothing I've made in the past for Sir Takuan, and also the one I used for my short, silk robe/cover-up last year.

Vacationing! (Some More)

www.kingwaterpark.com 

Some friends of mine and I are spending next weekend at King Spa & Waterpark in Dallas.  WHEEE!!!  I can't wait.


More soon.  :)

BWAHAHA Oops.

You know, I was looking over my blog(s) the other day, and realized that I never actually posted finished pics of the new craft room (aka "Room of Requirement")!

Okay, so, you've seen the old version:

Which is now my bedroom:  

And my old bedroom, which in this picture is filled with stuff from the old sewing room, during the room swap. I haven't been a "hang out in my room" person since I was a teenager, and really, who needs all this room to just sleep?

At first, Sylvan and I thought we'd put our work tables in the center of the room, like this: 

Before she'd even moved in, I realized how very, very much that was NOT going to work.  My sewing machine vibrated both tables so much that she'd never have been able to work like that; and also, since all my sewing stuff was jammed up against the wall behind me, but my cutting table was on the opposite side of the room, I kept having to get up and walk around while I was working.  

So we drew up a new floor plan that worked better for both of us, with each of us with a work table against a wall, storage around, and my cutting table in the center, which is easier for me to get to without having to stand up if I don't need to, and also so that we can BOTH use the cutting table as a large, open work surface if needed: 

(made with Icovia Floor Planner) 

And here is the finished Room of Requirement, and folks, this is about as tidy as it gets.

CAUTION:  WOMEN AT WORK!

It works great.  We both love it, and we're both enjoying spending time in there crafting together.  When she moved in, we put her TV in the living room, and put my [smaller] one in the craft room, so we frequently have a movie on in the background while we work (usually a Disney animated flick; though my go-to when I'm working alone is Pride and Prejudice, in case you're wondering.  When it's just me and just music, I listen to a lot of Chinese flute, for some reason. It's calming).  

Also, in case anyone cares, and because I love paint, the colors in these rooms are: 

• Old sewing room:  Glidden's "Pale Red Dust"
• New bedroom:  Sherwin Williams' "Distance"
• Room of Requirement: Sherwin Williams' "Palladian Blue" 
• All the ceilings are Sherwin Williams' "White Clay" 

This post is also up on my house-stuff blog, which is here, if you're interested.  I've been going hell-bent-for-leather on SCA stuff for several months running now, though, so there isn't much going on over there lately.  But now that war is over, there'll be a LOT of house and garden stuff going on! 

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Back Early From War

There will be war updates. There'll be a couple of pictures, but not many.  While my allergies virtually disappear every time I leave central Texas (thank goodness), the humidity in Mississippi kept my asthma topped out so badly that I could barely leave camp by Wednesday morning/Tuesday evening. I also dislocated my right collarbone early in the week.

While I was gone, my elderly dog, Raven, was suddenly hit by all of his health issues (some known, mostly unknown) exploded all at once.  He spent two days in the hospital.  I packed up camp Wednesday night and hit the road Thursday morning, driving straight from Gulf Wars to the emergency vet clinic, where I spent a last couple of hours with him before he went to sleep for the last time.

Between dog issues and health issues, please excuse my absence from this blog for a while while I spend some time on both emotional and physical healing.

Raven
August 2001 - March 19th, 2015

ROMA VIDA

Okay, okay, one last thing.

Because I had a minute today, and because after all the work I've done making sure I won't freeze to death at war the weather forecast now predicts warm temps and sun for most of the week, and because I had a couple of yards of linen that was once the victim of a horrible dye accident* and has since had no purpose in life, I made myself a simple Roman chiton.  It's a tube-style, with seams in the center front and back, like the cotton gauze one I made for myself a few months ago (and which has since gone missing, for whatever reason. House gnomes. I have no clue).

I'd seen this on Pinterest in recent months, and thought, hm, I could put nifty little cloak clasps at the shoulders just like this!

(actually a fibula pin and chain set)

But I didn't have any cloak clasps.  And I couldn't find any I liked.  While I was tooling around the sewing room looking for something to do next (to avoid what I should be doing, even now, which is packing), I found a pair of lion's head drawer pulls with a screw back.

HMM.  

Lion drawer pulls, and some velcro (the fuzzy side). 

Poking a hole in the fabric with a knitting needle.
Holes made in velcro with a leather punch. 

There's a piece of velcro between the screw and the
fabric, and between the fabric and the hardware on
the other side, with the fuzzy side of the velcro
against the fabric to prevent pulling and fraying. 

The front of the dress is sewn to the
ring with a couple of loops of embroidery
floss tied around the middle to secure them. 

And, of course, all of my Roman
jewelry is green, except for my
angelite bead necklace. LOL. 

* By the way, the horrible dye accident?  Was this one.  After that horrendous failure, I bleached out the fabric and hit it with another dyebath of blue to even the color out, which it kinda did, but then I washed it with some red after that and ended up with a really, spectacularly awful Barney-purple, which I then rinsed out with a dye remover, and it ended up being the magenta shade you see here.  In November I very nearly made it into a Hello Kitty pilgrim bag for a friend as a prank, but didn't get time.  

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More Embroidered Fabrics Dyed

This one's for me - a dark green linen with white embroidery, which I over-dyed to blend the embroidery into the fabric:

And then made into a simple sideless surcote for myself.

The embroidery didn't come out to match the linen exactly, but it blends well enough now that it's not quite so eye-poppingly white.


The trim is a faux fur harvested from an old blanket.

A small scrap of trim in gold and blue runs across the front and back neckline, just to bling things up a little. :)

So what's next for war? 

• A pile of accessories for myself and two other people, most of which are half-done
• a couple of woodworking projects (also both half-finished as of right now), to complete

And that's it!  WOOHOO!!  

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!

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It Was HOW Cold??

Okay, so, the event last weekend was *amazing*.  It was also SUPER COLD, and I didn't end up getting pictures of me in my new dresses for you, because everyone, including me, was too concerned with keeping warm to do much else, hehe.

It was in the low thirties all weekend, and raining for most of it. Windy, as well - with the wind chill, the temp was around 29°.  For those of you in the Great White North, lol, that's *ridiculous* to us southern Ansteorrans.

In this picture, I'm wearing two pairs of yoga pants, two pairs of socks, knee-high boots, two chemises, my new green cotehardie (more on that in a second), like two scarves, five veils wrapped around my head in layers, a big, fuzzy blanket from my bedding, and a heavy wool cloak.  (I'm allergic to wool, but the cloak is a blend, and lined with cotton, so it didn't bother me except where the neckline rubbed against my skin under my veils and scarves).

Here's the new green cotehardie I'm wearing in the picture above:

Heh. The front doesn't close on the mannequin, since its boobs don't squish as much as peopleboobs do.

Cloth buttons, very small train in the back, and elbow-length sleeves with attached pendants.

Linen stretches when it warms up to body temperature.  It's a very fine line, getting a supportive or closely-fitting cotehardie to fit so that it will close when it's cold, and not end up baggy when warm.  This one stretched out a bit too much last weekend, so this morning I took in the armpits and side bust a tiny bit, so it should be perfect for war now.

:)












I'm going to inundate you with new posts today, since I have two more projects to share and not a lot of time to sit around blogging, so, stay tuned!


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