14thC Wardrobe

I ended up making only two new chemises for Rowany Festival, but I'm glad I took the time to make proper ones instead of quick and dirty ones like I usually do. I followed the basic smock pattern from the old version of the Medieval Tailor's Assistant which has been uploaded as a free pdf online since they published a new one. I cut a big rectangle for the body which got folded in half and a hole cut for the head so there's no shoulder seams, and added gores from the shoulders to flare it. I could have just cut the body as a tapered piece but it's not very economical fabric-wise. I used a tapered sleeve though, so I didn't have to deal with underarm gores. For my second one, I added the body gores from the armpit instead of from the shoulders. Both smocks worked fine, but I think I like the shoulder gore one better and I'll be making more of those. I'd also like to try the technique where you cut each piece, do a rolled hem all the way around and then whip stitch them together, because the run and fell technique I used left me with some places that had exposed edges and sewing over seams which left bulky bits. Eventually, I'd like five of these type of chemise, and a couple of sleeveless chemises for hot days.

I've had some thoughts about refurbishing my 14thC wardrobe. I have a bunch of dresses that are just hanging in the closet that aren't quite right but I can't bring myself to throw them out. My cotehardies are also looking a bit second hand. The pink one is fairly new so it's ok, and my gold one is holding up quite well considering it's the one I wear the most. My teal coloured one is the one I always bring as a backup. The lining has been pulled out of one of the sleeve holes since forever because every time I fixed it, it just ripped out again and now it's all frayed. The hem has all come apart at the back as well. I've been hesitant to spend the time fixing it because I can't quite lace it closed since I put on a bit of weight and it's quite uncomfortable. I think I have the solution now though! I'm going to take the sleeves off and make it sleeveless. Hopefully then it won't pull around the neckline and it will be more comfortable. When I've done that I'll re-evaluate and decide if I need to add any extra fabric anywhere in order to lace it shut. Once that's done I'll make a new pattern and turn some rust linen I ordered into a cotehardie, and then maybe pull apart the parti-coloured linen overdress I never wear, line it, re-shape it and turn it into a lace up kirtle.

In terms of my overdresses, the red one is awesome, the green one needs the buttons all re-sewn because every time I wear it I end up with a button in my hand instead of attached to the dress when I take it off. I suppose it's good that I'm not losing the buttons, but it does get tedious! I wore it twice at Festival and had to do emergency sewing each time to replace the missing button, and it's always a different button! I'd also like to look at the green brocade dress again, I spent a lot of time adjusting it only to have it not quite fit again, but it drapes so nicely that I want to make it work.

I also have plans for a Kampfrau wardrobe. I've ordered some stripey cotton stockings from www.delpstockings.com to get me started before I figure out how to knit my own woollen ones. May Crown is in two weeks and I'm hoping to fix the armholes of my yellow Kampfrau, make detachable sleeves, a gollar and a proper hemd. I feel like this is a bit ambitious since there's only one weekend left and I'm already busy all day Saturday. I'll start by cutting out the hemd tomorrow after work. I'm planning on making a very quick one out of a cotton/linen lend fabric, based on a simple Italian camica pattern, like my polycotton one I wore to Bal d'Aneala but with proper sleeves. So I should be able to run it up very quickly.

I think these projects should keep me busy for a while before I think about working on something new :)

Rowany Festival Recap

Rowany Festival has come and gone for another year. It has inspired me again to do stuff, and this year I'm hoping I can actually ride the wave of inspiration instead of going back to ordinary day to day life.

This year Lady Helen and I were privileged enough to be invited to camp with La Parentiara (or The Family). I really enjoyed being in a camp instead of staying in a dorm, it gave me a place to hang out and relax in company between doing things, and it was nice being part of a small group. We also got to borrow a period round tent, which was awesome. I don't think I could ever go back to camping in a dome tent! The camp setup has inspired me to work on my own setup here in Aneala.

The weather was pretty much perfect, not nearly as cold as I expected, and it only rained on the setup days. The days were sunny and warm enough for me to wear just my linen cotehardies without my wool overdresses (but with leggings and woolly socks and my hood!), and the nights were cold but not stupidly cold like the first year at the Mittagong site. This year I bought a pile of disposable hand warmers for $2 a pair from Priceline and they were pretty awesome. They stayed warm for at least 12 hours and I spent my evenings with one shoved down the back of my dress and another tucked into my shoulder. I was a very happy chappie.

I had a fairly relaxing festival, only made it to a few A&S classes. I did go to a class about period sewing kits which has left me with some things to ponder, and a class about how to sew fur which will be useful for when I make my gollar. I also went to the WCoB meeting which has inspired me to work on getting some of the things I've already made graded. Mostly I just sat and relaxed in good company and caught up with people I only see at Festival.

I've been thinking about going to Canterbury Faire next year instead of Rowany Festival, but ideally I'd like to go to both! I suppose it all depends on finances and whether or not I have a job or leave to take. At this stage my current contract has been extended to Jan 7 2018, so who knows what will happen after that! My wayfaring plans may have to wait until I have a more stable/permanent job, so hopefully that's not too far into the future!

I have lots of thoughts and plans for SCA things, but I'll leave them for my next post :)

Update

It's been so long since I last posted that my computer has forgotten the web address for blogger and I had to do a google search to get here. Also when I got here I discovered my whole dashboard has changed and I had to learn how to navigate all over again. I know I always say I'll post more often, and so far that hasn't worked. I now have a bullet journal with goal tracking and stuff so I do have the best intentions. Not that I've not had the best of intentions every other time I've said I'll post more often :P

So what's been going on since my last post? An awful lot has been happening in my life. So, let's do a list by numbers!

1. Tablet weaving.
The last post I made was in September and I had just conquered the Hochdorf pattern of complicated in the big meanie silk. I'm ashamed to say that it is still on my loom and I've only woven about a metre of it. I did take it to the Hyde Park Fair demo in March and it drew a lot of interest. It was cool to be able to tell people all about the extant band and I think that really communicated to the public the kinds of things we're trying to achieve in the SCA, and that it's not just about being flashy with armour and swords. I will eventually get that band off my loom, mainly because I'll want to weave something else.

2. In October I attended Bal d'Aneala, which had an Oktoberfest theme. Spoh came to visit me in Albany and we spent a weekend sewing! We trashed my house but ended up with the beginnings of kampfrau outfits. Here's a photo that Nathan took of me!

I was really pleased with how it turned out. It's just made of cotton drill because it was cheap and brightly coloured. I didn't end up with time to make a proper hemd so I just wore an old polycotton Italian chemise that I had from my early days in the SCA. The socks are awful placky cheap stocking things from ebay that felt awful but looked great, and I ended up finding some shoes that were close enough in an op shop, but were slightly too small and I needed to improvise with some elastic to stop my feet slipping out the back. I also managed to cut the arm scye too small so it was a bit uncomfortable to wear, but that's easily fixed. Overall I think it looks great, and I think it will be my new ball dress. I would like to make a whole wardrobe in this style too at some vague point in the future.

I had a great time at the ball, and a great rest of the weekend exploring Rottnest with some visitors from over east.

3. Probably the biggest thing that's happened since I last posted is that I finally found a job in Perth and I have moved back to the big smoke! I found a lovely little three bedroom villa to rent, which means I have a whole room dedicated to SCA crafty/sewy stuff. It's too small. At the moment everything has kind of been dumped on the floor because I've still not found the time to go out and buy appropriate furniture and organise the room. It is on that list of things to do in that magical ~after festival~ land. Also on that list is creating my very own herb garden. I have lots of ideas for my house and I'm a little miffed that I've been here for two months already and I'm still not fully settled. I thought it would only take a couple of weeks to completely furnish a house :P

The most excitingest news is I adopted my very first furbaby!

This is Jones. He's very cute and I love him very much even though he's a complete and utter asshole.

4. Lady Mery is running a series of banner making workshops and I've almost finished a new silk banner for myself. It ended up taking up a lot more weekends than we originally thought, and because of restrictions with space and the amount of people able to work at a certain stage at any one time, my banner is going to be one of the last finished.

Mery took this photo of Ant and I finally working on the outlines of our banners last Saturday. Now all I need to do is the painting!

5. In less that a week I'll be off to Rowany Festival! Back in January I really wanted to enter the A&S competition with a new woollen Kampfrau outfit, but that project never got off the ground. Then I decided I would just make a proper hemd, some sleeves and a gollar for my yellow kampfrau. That also hasn't happened because my banner has been taking up all my weekends. Now I'm going for just basic needs and I'll be bringing my usual 14th century with a new set of long-sleeved chemises. I'm aiming for at least three new chemises, but I only have this weekend left to make them and I also need to go paint my banner.

I've been struggling quite a bit with fatigue lately, which is another reason I've not posted in so long. When I first moved back to Perth I was all excited about being able to do all the things I used to love like regular SCA events and social activities and lots of ballet classes. I kind of jumped back into it and ended up crashing completely, waking up exhausted and barely making through the day at work. So I've pretty much stopped all evening activities and have just been trying to get back into SCA things on the weekends. More often than not I don't have the inclination to do anything at all because I'm just so tired, and I'm really struggling to find the enthusiasm to start and finish SCA projects. I've already had all the tests and been told by doctors that there's nothing wrong with me and I just need to suck it up. The fact is I've never coped well with being tired, it's my kryptonite. So I'm working out what rest I need to get the most out of my days, and working up to adding things back into my lifestyle within those boundaries. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to ballet into SCA projects in the next few months, even if they progress at a slower pace than they used to.

Here's hoping I can stick to my goals and get back on track with SCA projects and updating this blog!