Seeing Red.

Typical to Julie style, I had three ribbon colors--green, pink and dark red. Now which did I think I would choose? I don't even know why I bothered buying more options than the red:


ribbons close

Oh, and for the record. I HATE sewing on hookneyes. Hate it.

Left on the jacket: bottom hem, hem lace and cuff lace.
Left on the kirtle: groan.

Only Three Nights Left?!

Oh my, how I wish I didn't have class Wednesday night, cuz I need all the time in the world to finish this!

I spent the better part of this weekend holed up in my sewing room. First, a gratuitous hideous sleeve mockup shot, taken sometime on Saturday, when my hubby obviously wasn't home, as you can tell by the horrid photography.
Yup, that's log cabin sleeve fabric, for those of you with a keen eye. I had to redo the sleeve pattern so that it wouldn't be as unbearably tight as my first mockup (need to fit a smock in there, right?). Incidentally, this is a really bad shot of the very pretty blue linen I've used as a lining:


lining

This jacket didn't photgraph well from the front (oh my, this is defintley not a slimming print), and I was feeling vain, so you only get to see the back right now. The front's still rough anyway, since the closure isn't done (i'm all out of appropriate ribbon). I'll try to get that working when I get home from work and shopping tomorrow. The whole thing is together with the exception of the bottom and the front hems. I actually handstitched the cuffs and jacket gores. Beth, you'd be proud!


back

I'm working on applying the gold lace trim. Its slow going, cuz the gold thread I've got to attach it unravels a lot, but it looks pretty, so i'm gonna keep on using it. So far I've got lace on one shoulder wing and about 1/3 of the collar:


trim

Left to do:
Jacket:
1) Finish the front: hem, ribbons, hookneyes.
2) Hem the bottom (this'll be by hand, so it'll take a while)
3) finish applying gold lace (argh!)
Kirtle:
1) The hem is all puckery. If there's time i'll try to fix it.
2) I'd love to get the black guard around the neckline to cover the pulling lining--I have a feeling It'll be too warm for this jacket at least once on Saturday, and it'd be nice to have the kirtle presentable just in case. This probably takes priority over the hem...
3)Bottom guards? Probably not enough time. But if not now, later.
Accessories:
1) :( I still don't have a girdle to go with this, and I can't use the venetian one cuz it broke. I don't know that I actually have enough time to string up a new one, so I may be sans jewels.
2) Ruff? in my dreams. Not before saturday.
3) heart shaped bonnet--defintley later
4) caul? It'd be nice to have one under my hat, but i suppose I can do without or use my plain flemish one.
5) smock...my flemish one is too tight in the arms, so it'd need alterations. I might just wear my venetian one, even though its the wrong style. At least the arms are pretty if i take the jacket off. But if I use venetian, I need to fix the cuffs--the ties are pulling out.

Overwhelmed? Yeah, a bit.

The Perfect Hour Glass?

Cuz with a farthingale on the bottom and a hat shaped like this on top, that's what I'll be, right?



Anywho, I think the hat is finished except for some decorations/feathery bits, which I don't have yet. I forgot to snap a picture of the lining, but its rather disappointing, cuz its *gasp* green cotton, so it actually matches the hat. That just seems so un-elizabethan, so I tried to make up for it by adding a nicely clashing maroon wool strip (which still needs to be stitched on, just in case I change my mind). ;)

I think the brim covering fabric could be smoother, and I really think the headhole shrunk a bit during construction, cuz it really, um, hugs my head. But its wearable, and despite little probs, I like the overall look.

I think I'll be the mad hatter for halloween..... What does the card that goes in his hat say?

By Jove, I Think I've Got It!

This weekend, I had only one day to sew, since the rest of the weekend was devoted to house cleansing, dog bathing, and dinner partying. I probably could've made better use of my one day, since I spent forever goofing off, but at least the end of Sunday left me with a workable jacket pattern. I had a revelation about fitting sleeves to armscythes, and that pleases me to no end!

Here are some pics of the initial fitting. I've sinced altered the pattern to make the sleeves more roomy (they are SKIN TIGHT in this pic--ugh). I also widened the armscythe (hopefully it'll make that underarm pucker go away), and I adjusted the front edges to allow seams/better fit. I haven't actually tested the altered pattern, but I'm confident that it'll be fine (famous last words...), so I'm gonna move onto the real jacket fabric. Um, after I finish prewashing it--its so annoying to be ready to sew and THEN realize you've forgotten the prewash. Pout.

Anyway, here is the pre-altered pattern in some scrap fabric I had:


jacket front


jacket back

I am undecided about two things:
1) Should I make those waisty gores smaller? They seems to be sticking out quite a lot, and I'm not sure that's the right look?
2) Should I make the entire jacket a little longer? Keep in mind that these pictures have a raw edge, so that'll be shortened further by the amt of the seam allowance...so, will shorter look okay, or should I try to keep it about the length it looks in these pics, or should i go for even longer?

Hardcore Head Coverings

Not really...possibly I just wanted to put the word "hardcore" into a blogpost and see how many stray hits I get as a result. ;) Not my idea...I'm just influencable...

Anyway, I've been working on a hat, even though I want a different head covering for this costume (one like Maragaret Laton's would be nice). The problem is that there is a time crunch, and I have already started this hat and actually have the materials for it (I don't have all the frilly lace/feathers I'd need for her fun crazy hat). I suspect the jacobean outfit will have some hodgepodged accessories on its debut. So be it. ;)

Anywho, green velvet hat, done in the mad hatter style. Its base is the same plastic canvas I used for hubby's hat, shapes so it tapers at the bottom instead of a top (kinda like a taller, structured italian bonnet). Now, I know that there is a paining/mural/sketch of Queen Elizabeth sitting on a rearing white horse where she is sporting a similar hat. But darned if I can find it. So, um, no proof, but too bad!

Anywho, its not finished, but hte base is done, and i've cut the covering for the brim. As you can see, its shaping up to be quite ridiculous (thank you to my lovely model(s)):


hat1

Stolen Thunder!

An aptly named post for my little costume spies. ;) So...I know you've already craftily found my kirtle sekrits, but here they are for posterity's sake. Hehe...

I went to constructing my heavily boned (so i don't have to wear a corset) bodice...the boning looks thusly:


bodice structure --This was before I decided I positively hate attaching the straps at the front of the bodice, so I redrafted it to have strap seams on the back of the shoulder blade like I always do....

It took me ages to do the eyelets. After a "doh" moment from beth, I realized I'd been doing them backwards (with the "bar" bit of the buttonhole stitch on the outside instead of the inside for more support). The problem is that I really like the way it looks with the "bar" on the outside, cuz its pretty...my solution? Do two passes, one reinforced on the inner edge, one on the outer. Sure, it takes twice as long, but i'm just that crazy! And Adam made me choose a contrast-y blue thread, cuz he is color smart and I am not. I daresay I like it. Also, I chickened out and did cartridge pleating again. I'm afeared of other pleats, I admit it.

eyelets

The unhemmed kirtle over the farthingale. Hmmm....and a stolen trogdor shirt. ;)

kirtle front--the straps did not work as I'd planned--they're loose, so they move around a bit (hence the harloty crooked straps in the photo above). But even worse is that the lining and outer fabrics didn't line up and as a result the lining pulls out a bit (luckily its white so it doesn't show much with a shirt/smock). But it shows enough to bother me, so I still need to do a wool guard that folds over into the lining (hopefully a project I can finish this week). I have some scrummy black cashmere/wool for the guards, so at least it should be enjoyable.


kirtle back--I actually like the back much more than the front. Farthingales kick ass.

So, left to do on this: Hem, guards, some gimpy braid may make an appearance, and I'd like to make sleeves for it with my remaining fabric. Fix straps (maybe later?)

Hah, and maybe even some infamous "modesty panels" for under the lacings. ;)

Inside Out

Underthings first, yes? I've been dying to make a farthingale since I tried on Beth's.
She swore to me that it was a one day project, so I figured a good way to start my labor day weekend, right?!

I used the Alcega pattern as closely as a could. He originally used 22" wide fabric, and my cotton/linen canvas happened to be 23.5" wide (after removing selvages to make hoopcasings), so I figured I'd just end up with a slightly larger circumfrence. And oh, boy, did I!

Who knew 1.5 inches could make such a big difference? (I didn't factor in that it'd be multipled by six in the end--oopsie!) Before its makeover it rather looked more like a southern belle than a renaissance lady....

I don't have any pics of it while it was super huge, but basically I had to go back and cut all the hoops shorter to make it more reasonable (hence the wrinkles all the way around). Here is what it looks like now. I'm kinda standing funny here...I don't think its actually that crooked. But I'm not taking another pic. So this is what you get. ;)


farthingale

And here it is in action, sporting a skirt from my "waybackwhen" days. ;) I still think its rather large...comments from the peanut gallery? (for reference the bottom hoop is 117, a number i got from janet arnold's farthingale "map"). So its probably an okay size and I'm just not used to it...

farthingale/skirt

What, Another Diary?

I know what you're thinking..."what happened to Adam's Merchant Class Elizabethan?" The answer is that I really will finish it (and plan to for this season), but I needed a break from it. And conveniently, that break will be used to make msyelf a new costume.
Lest you think I'm a selfish costume monger (heh), I have a perfectly logical reason for the "me first" attitude. I will be going to the Roanoke faire with Beth and Anita at the end of this month, and Adam is NOT going, so basically, I need my costume earlier, so I should make it first.

Okay, justification out of the way...Beth is working on her surcoat ensemble for this faire, and originally, I had hoped to work on my surcoat as well. But my surcoat involves a LOT of embroidery that I simply can't do in a month.
Fate to the rescue: I recently received a gift from an online friend, Adele. I've decided to use the jacobean fabric for, well, a jacobean jacket (see it in a portrait here). I had a navy wool from trimfabrics in my stash, and though I'd originally intended to use it for a fitted elizabethan gown, I think it compliments the jacobean print well:


jacobean fabrics

So that's my plan. I've got a month to execute it. I need to think about ruffs/headgear, etc still...