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 So, this is my sewing machine: 

Don't get me wrong, I love it.  It's 26 years old (1994), and it's been a workhorse, and it's my baby.  It's made everything you see on this blog, and much, much more.  It's yellowed with age and a lot of the markings have rubbed off over the years.  But it still sews - even does buttonholes and all twelve fancy stitches.  

The problem is it's also developing age-related issues.  It's slow.  The dials and switches are hard to operate.  The thread catches all the time.  I've had it serviced, and I take great care of it, it's just showing its age.  

I also have a "new" machine, as of about six years ago - a Singer Curvy - that has been nothing but a problem since I got it. It ran well for a year before it needed a new pedal.  Then the needle shank fell out of alignment.  I had it fixed.  Then something else broke.  I had it fixed.  Then the needle shank went off again.  I had it fixed.  It did it again - and this time I wasn't willing to just keep sinking money into this thing.  I had already spent more than the machine was worth in repairs, and I just wasn't going to do it anymore.  

Enter my friends Chris and Franchesca.  Chris texted me yesterday morning and said, "Hey, did you ever get that sewing machine issue sorted out?"  A conversation about my two machines ensued.  Long story short, the pair of them showed up at my house last night with this: 

That's a Husqvarna Viking Tribute 140C - Franchesca's old machine.  She got a new one recently and decided she needed to loan this one to me so I could work on something nice.  Holy crap! I think I said "thank you" about a thousand times.  (If you're reading this, Franchesca, THANK YOU!!!)  

I took it for a short drive this morning - I ran a little sampler just to familiarize myself with basic operations, changed the thread and the bobbin, and then repaired a mask that needed longer elastic.  I can't WAIT to get going on big projects with this thing!  It runs so smoothly and quietly, and practically does everything for you.  I'm about to download the manual so I can learn how to do all nine million stitches that this thing does (especially buttonholes, I'm going to need to make a lot of buttonholes in the near future).  

So anyway, I just wanted to show off my new toy.  I can't wait to really get into it!  

A Bathrobe

A friend gave me an online gift certificate to Joann's.  Since I could only use it on fabric (patterns, notions, and things like that are only available for store pickup), I decided to treat myself to something I'd been putting off:  a new bathrobe.  I hadn't had a new one in years, and I had longed for a new one that matched my bedroom, hehe (yes, I'm just that kind of dork).  I bought some hunter green double knit cotton, and did this.  

I know, I know, it's just a bathrobe.  But it was needed, and I had fun whipping this fast little project together.  It's warm, flowy, comfortable, and washable.  

I used the Japanese kosode pattern that I used for my silk robe in 2014.  It's easy, comfy, and sews up in less than two hours.  

So, thanks, Friend!  This was a great birthday present.  :)  

...And Now For Something Completely Different

So, here's something a bit out of the ordinary:  I made myself a Regency-era (Empire) gown.  I had six yards of sage green crushed Dupioni silk on hand that I had had for years, and  I was saving it for "something special", but that something never came around - what was I saving it for then?  I decided to have fun with it. 

And so I give you:

At first I thought I'd get a Simplicity pattern and just start sewing; but I had too many questions about the fashions themselves - first and foremost, was that Simplicity pattern even accurate?  A LOT of reading and study happened next.  Long story short, I finally ended up ordering the Morning Dress pattern from Reconstructing History, and got to work. 

I adore these buttons!

The pattern went together pretty easily once I figured out some snags I had along the way.   But once I got it sorted the dress came together just like it was supposed to.  I made three mock-ups of the bodice, and two finished bodices,  to get the fit right.  

I also made a Regency-style chemise, and a pair of stays to wear beneath the dress.  The fashion in the early-mid Regency period was to let it all hang out - no corset, no stays, nothing.  Of course, larger women (me) and larger-busted women (me again) did opt to wear stays to keep everything in place.  The chemise is made of handkerchief-weight white cotton;  the stays are made of cotton calico with bias tape binding and hand-stitched lacing eyelets.  

Credit where credit is due: 

A dear friend gave me a big gift card for my birthday this year, which I used to purchase a new cutting table (hooray, no more cutting out on the floor!) and all the notions and supplies I needed for this dress.  I had the fabric already, but without that birthday present this outfit wouldn't have happened.  Thanks, Friend!  

What's Next? 

Sadly, I don't have anywhere to wear this outfit - I'm not involved with JASNA or any local Regency groups (there aren't any local Regency groups), and Halloween didn't happen this year.  This was purely an exercise in branching out and learning something new.  It'll hang in the closet forever, I suppose.  Even if it does, I plan to keep learning and keep adding to the ensemble - it needs a Spencer jacket and a hat!  Those are "one of these days" projects, I think. 

For now, though, my next project is going to be a [modern] winter coat for me.  I've always wanted to make one, and I've found the perfect pattern for it.  It'll take me a while to collect all the components I'll need for the coat, though, so I probably won't have the blog post about it for you for a couple of months.  In the meantime, there are always masks to make.   

 

One Last Serk

 Nothing major to report, I just made one last under-dress for my Viking wardrobe: 

This fabric is a pale grey lightweight linen - if you look closely you can see the outline of the hem of the tshirt I have covering the mannequin.  (If you look even more closely you can see the outline of a kitten playing underneath the dress, heehee).  

Now I have an even number of apron dresses and smocks, so I won't have to re-use any smocks during an event (ew sweaty).  And so the Great Big Viking Project I started in April is finally complete. 

Next time I'll have something completely off the wall for you.  Stay tuned! 

Quarantine Hobbies

 In the middle of all that Viking-ness that I was doing earlier this year, I also made a loom.  I honestly thought I posted about it on the blog, but I guess I didn't.  Whoops!   

It's a simple design, made from a single piece of 1x4, a 3'x1" dowel, and a handful of 2" screws.  I learned how to make it by watching youtube videos, and had it done in an afternoon.  The stain is Dark Walnut, by Minwax.  If I had it to do over again, I'd re-think my dowel placement:  one of the dowels in the warp is too close to the path that the yarn takes on the non-heddled strings, and it's causing some friction that I think is making my yarn fuzzy in places.  

I'll admit, I'm not very good at weaving yet.  Another youtube video taught me how to warp up the loom and weave on it, but I'm having lots of tension problems I don't know what to do with.  I'll get there.  So far I've woven a couple of scrap pieces just to get a feel for the loom, and a perfectly serviceable teal belt made of thin yarn.  I'm working on a black one at the moment.  

Part of the problem with weaving is that I don't have a real shuttle.  I made one out of an old wooden ruler, because that's what I had.  Someday soon (I hope) I'll order a nice shuttle for myself, and then maybe things will go more smoothly.  

LOL.

Mr. Madylyne

On the last day of an event, I like to dress as a dude. Packing up and breaking camp in a dress is a pain in the ass, and MAN, I hate stepping on my skirts while I'm trying to do work.  So.  Pants it is.  But not jeans - I still want to be in garb on the last day. 

Also, I really just dig men's Viking clothing.  I had a pretty decent tunic which was very festive but not period, some winingas that didn't stay up, and no pants at all (I was wearing baggy yoga pants).  The whole outfit had to be re-done from the ground up.

And so, from the top down,  this is the new tunic.  It's simple, beige and blue, with no trim, embroidery, or other ornamentation.  It's a plain, geometrically cut t-tunic, like the old one.  I have a pair of metal bracelets I can wear with this, a beaded necklace, and a small, round, silver brooch I can close the neckline with.  

I totally cheated on the pants.  I've tried the Thorsberg trouser pattern before, but I can't seem to make it work for me - the seat always rips out when I wear them.  The billowy Rus pants design calls for more fabric than I had to work with.  What I opted to do instead was to make a pair of "long sleeved braies":  basically, I used my Medieval underwear pattern, which I know fits well, and extended the legs to full length.  Here's sort of what the pattern looks like:

It worked really well.  I now have a pair of pants that is comfy, moves with me, and the waistband stays in place...And which I can't show you, because they look truly horrible and ridiculous on, without a shirt, and the shirt covers up all but the lower legs.  You can kind of see them in the next pic:  

Here's a pair of wool winingas that I ordered from Etsy, and the Vlaardingen shoes I ordered from Bohemond a few months ago.  I tried this with linen winingas that I made, but I just couldn't keep them up - they fell completely off every step I took.  The wool clings to the fabric of my pants much better, and hugs the curves of my legs, so they stay in place just fine.  (It's hard to get them on evenly, though - you can see how loose some of the wraps are. I'll get better).   I got the raven hooks from the same Etsy shop, and I lurrrve them.

So that's me as a guy!  I swear I didn't match the tunic trim to the pants on purpose, I was just working with the leftover fabric that I had.  Those winingas take forever to put on - I imagine I'll get better at it the more I use them.  I don't have any of the usual accoutrements that I see on guys - knives, drinking horns, little leather pouches, nice leather belt.  The belt I have right now is one I wove on my inkle loom out of thin, black yarn.  Eventually I'll come up with a nice kit;  for now I'm just rocking the clothes.  

And here, because I got a new kitten, is your Cat Tax for the day.  Everyone, meet Darcy: 

A New Coat

I like my existing Viking coat just fine.  I last worked on it in November, and I was really happy with the result.  It's super heavy - heavy cotton lined with linen, with faux fur trim all around the edges - and very warm.  At BAM in November it got into the low 30s, and this coat was fantastic then.  (30º is Basically Arctic for us Ansteorrans).

However, I wanted something a little bit lighter, for cooler but not freezing nights.  Something without all the fur, something with a bit more swish to it.  I'll be honest with you, the idea started when I saw a coat on Pinterest that I absolutely loved, and resolved to make a copy of for myself.

So of course I made a new coat which is nothing at all like the Pinterest coat, because I couldn't find fabric in the right color.  I did, however, find a lovely shade of green linen at Fabric-Store.com called "Agave" that derailed everything I'd been planning, because I fell head over heels in love with it, and I ended up designing a completely different coat than the one I'd had planned.  You know how that goes.

The new coat is a basic T-tunic shape, with a dropped shoulder seam and angled front and back pieces (no gores).  It's fully lined, and the lining contains two inside pockets, because bitchez need pockets.    The body color is "Agave", and the edge banding and lining are "Graphite", also from FS. I made the blue trim between the body of the coat and the edge out of the remnants of my new blue dress.

I love my new coat!  I can't wait to wear it! Of course, in our weather, I may not get to wear it until late December.  We'll see.  It all depends on when the SCA decides to have events again, really. That might not be until November, from what I'm hearing.

But wait...

Did you notice something else in the pictures?  That's right - I got a new dress dummy!  I'm so excited about it.  My last one, Violet, finally died when I moved two years ago.  I've missed her ever since, and wanted a new one, so I finally treated myself to a replacement.   This one is kind an intense teal, and so in the pics above I have a white tshirt covering her so the color doesn't distract.   Everyone, say hello to Iris:

A Blue Viking Apron Dress

My first Viking dress was dark blue, and I loved it so much - but it got old and worn and too small, and I ended up chopping it up to make dinner napkins (which I still use).  I've wanted another dark blue apron dress ever since - and now I have one!

This is just a plain, 3-panel apron dress, in a middle weight linen.  The color is "Prestige", by Fabric-Store.com - it's sort of a dark steel blue, not intense enough to be "navy", but not warm enough to be called "midnight."  I really love the color.   It's soft and restful, like a quiet evening.   

I found a gorgeous tablet-woven wool band on Etsy (here) while I was looking for trim for another project, and I HAD to have it for this dress.  I've used it around the top of the dress and also for the straps.  I didn't treat this trim in any way, because I haven't had a reaction to it at all (yay!) I guess the weaver did something to it before she used it, or maybe they just treat wool differently in Lithuania, who knows?

Here's the back:

The stitching could be a little better right here;  and the thread is just a hair too light for the fabric and the trim, but that's okay.  It's all I could find.  Anyway, I LOVE the trim on this dress!  I wish I could use trim like this on all my projects.  Maybe I should learn to weave.