All ahead... slow

Boy I wish I didn't have to work!  It really puts a crimp on things!  But then again, it does help me feed my addictions (fabric, clothes,etc).  I am sewing the side and arm seams tonight, then will have the little man try it on.  I forgot to cut out arms, so that will be done tomorrow night. I can't believe how slow this is going!

BTW- I also have to have a pirate costume done by mid March for our school's PARP (Parents As Reading Partners), for which I am on the committee.  I don't know what has gotten into me. I am actually taking risks this year and will dress up!

That is if I don't make a total ass of myself while participating in our charity Donkey basketball game for Leukemia..... What have I gotten myself into!

cutting, cutting and more cutting...

Tonight, after I hand washed most of my new fabric, I started to lay out the doublet fabric for cutting.

This green cotton was bought way back in 2000 when I first started on this journey. Some of it was turned into (what I thought at the time) was a great ren. costume. I used Alteryears's Irish leinne costume and made an Elizabethan pair of bodies to go with it. Many years and a good deal of research later and I'm here blogging to you.

Back to our diary...

Today I washed the red lining fabric and boy howdy did it bleed. Not having a working washer, I chose to save my coins and wash my fabric like they did in ole' Henry's time- by hand.

I washed the red broadcloth, yellow faux silk, 8.5 mm (real) silk Habotai and 5 oz linen canvas. The last two were purchased through Silk Connection and are LOVELY!

Boy I seem to be getting side tracked tonight!

I layed out my green fabric and cut out the pieces with seam allowance. One of the things that I don't like about the TT patterns is that they do not include seam allowances. I don't have any experience with patterns outside of McCalls or Simplicity, so I don't know if this is standard.

TT tells you differing seam allowances for certain pieces. I just hope I have them cut right.  I don't know if I will be interlining... I might use the muslin as the interlining

Next step- cut lining...

Tudor boy's diary- Step 1

Tonight I used my supply of muslin to cut out a doublet slopper to try in my son. This is the first time that I've ever done this, so it's a learn as you go type adventure.
I chose to just cut out the center fronts and back and baste them together for him to try on.
Here's how it went:

• The left arm hole fit tightly, but the right was fine...Both "holes" were cut identical and he is left handed so....... Will I probably have to cut out bigger armscyes for that side?
• Length looks a bit short, but I'm going to add the skirt pieces to the bottom. I may add an inch & a half to the bottom to account for growth. I can't remember if Tudor mens clothes were shorter-waisted than modern day or not...
• I went back and resewed the left armscye- and it fit better.
  

That's all I can manage tonight as I'm battling something my lovely students chose to share germ-wise with me....

The Order of the Iron Hand

This past month I have been more active on the costuming message lists. I am relatively new to period costuming and have many questions. I do have a pretty good traditional sewing background, but feel like I'm on another planet while navigating my way through historic portraits, patterns, lack of patterns and pages of dress diaries on the web. There is so much information out there that it can get very overwhelming, very quickly.

I want to thank the Margo Anderson message board for not only being so very helpful and supportive, but giving me answers to so many questions. Some day I will be able to answer someone else's newbie questions!

Anyway... back to the post title: On Margo's list, we were talking about hand sewing and how much of a B@#$& it can be. It seems that they have started a group for those of us who have struggled their way through hand-sewing a piece of clothing in one month.

Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I said that I would sew:

• a linen Tudor smock
• Tudor doublet
• Tudor Venetian hose

All this hand-sewn in one month. Now this all has to be documented with pictures and such. These will be for my son's first SCA costume. He's all excited (or as excited as a 12 year old boy will openly show) about his outfit and can't wait to see it.

I will certainly keep you all posted here, as this will be the place for my dress/garb diaries.

Wish me luck...

Your's in time...

Gettin' all medieval on y'all

Okay, so I had to make this bog for a class. So much for extra credit! Anyway- history is something that I'm pretty passionate about. I especially love medieval and Renaissance ( & pre1600) history. I LOVE renaissance festivals and SCA. Since I'm done with my bachelor's degree, hopefully I will soon have more time to focus on the reasons why I love the renaissance. Stay tuned....