New Hood

Happy New Year! I know I'm way late and I have no excuses for not updating this blog because I've been unemployed for the last 10 weeks. I got all excited about all the time I was going to have for SCA things after I finished uni, but then Christmas happened and I discovered I was seriously lacking motivation for SCA things. It's difficult to get back into the swing of projects and stuff when you've completely checked out for six months. So what have I been doing? Not much. I spent $70 on 1000 pearls from China and had some interesting conversations with the people from customs because apparently 'cultured pearl' is not enough of a description for them to know what was in my package. There were multiple emails and I ended up sending them the internet listing for what I had bought. But when I got the package they'd opened it anyway. Not that I mind, but what was the point of all the emails? Anyway, that was over a month ago and I haven't done anything with them since. They're for my Saxony Gown, in particular the goldhaube/hat dealie thing. I need to buy the silk for them to go on but then the US exchange rate turned to shit and I started procrastinating instead.

I made a hood! There was a open A&S competition at Midsummer feast a few weeks ago and I decided since I needed to make a hood anyway and I had all the materials I should enter it. I thought about it for two weeks and then freaked out and put the whole thing together in the two days before the feast. I scored 33/50 which isn't bad, but I think I could've made a better hood and written better documentation if I'd gotten my act into gear and given myself the time to actually do it properly.

I made it without the skirt that covers the shoulders because I had this idea that I'll wear it with a partlet and cloak at Rowany Festival. Whenever I wear a cloak and a skirted hood I have a lot of trouble keeping the hood from slipping off or twisting around. It's an absolute pain and I usually only resort to wearing both when I'm stupid cold so I'm already grumpy from being cold and it just makes me grumpier and more uncomfortable. Anyway, I made this hood from some blue wool that Lady Mery gave to me as a birthday present a few years ago, and some gold silk dupion I found in my stash. I tablet wove the edges like on my other hood. I had an idea that I'd wear this with my linen huva cap for extra warms and to grip the silk. As you can see from the pictures, the silk is really quite stiff. When I wore it to Midsummer it sort of wobbled around on my head and didn't change shape. I also had problems keeping my huva cap on my head because the string was too long, and I actually thing the cap itself is too big because the edge doesn't sit flat around my head, it's sort of wibbly. I might need to make a new one from my own pattern instead of just copying Mistress Catherine's pattern :P

I also did a big no-no and didn't pre-wash any of the fabric. Gasp! Horror! I know, I'm lazy. Anyway, I decided that I didn't like having such a stiff hood because it felt silly. I've heard that silk dupion gets softer the more you wash it, so I decided to give the hood a wash and if the colours ran or it shrank weirdly then I hadn't really lost anything because I was unlikely to wear the hood while it was all stiff anyway. I hand washed it in some lukewarm water with fabric softener, and nothing drastic happened. The colour didn't run at all which was awesome because I really wouldn't have been surprised if everything turned blue. I think the silk shrank slightly, but not enough for me to care. More importantly, I'm pretty sure it's less stiff than it was. Mistress Catherine suggested washing it in vinegar to soften it, so I might try that too. I do have an issue with wearing it with my huva cap though. It makes a lump at the back of my head because that's where my hair is, and it makes the back of the hood stick out. It's the right look for a veil and wimple, but looks a bit silly without. I might make a new huva cap that fits properly and experiment at Festival with wearing the hood with and without the huva cap to see which works better.

I've also been plodding away at my embroidery. I'd like to have it finished to take to the WCoB meeting at Festival to get graded, but I worked out that I need to finish half a motif every day, which is about five hours of embroidery. It's do-able but I'll be cramming it in around dance classes, job hunting, SCA training and all the other things I need to do for Project Warm for Festival. So far I've done nothing except the hood and I've bought some cotton flannel that I'm going to turn into long sleeved chemises to wear under my cotehardies. I need to rummage through my fabric stash because I want to make a wool half cloak lined with linen. It'll either be parti-coloured or I'll use some of the maroon wool that I have tonnes of. So far I've borrowed one pair of thermal leggings and a thermal shirt from my mum, I'll just sleep with the shirt under my fleecy tunic but I'm intending to wear leggings every day so I'll need at least another pair. I also need some more woolly socks.

I'm hoping this year will be better because Easter is a few weeks earlier than last year so it might not be quite as cold to start off with. I'm also coming so much more prepared with a thermal layer and more warm things, and I'm also sleeping in the dorms instead of a tent. So even if the evenings are still stupidly cold, I should at least be toasty warm at night. I'm bringing the same bedding I had in the tent, which had me almost warm enough, but the dorm rooms should be warmer since they have heaters and they're inside with beds raised off the floor.

Stay tuned for more updates on Project Warm for Festival :)

Rowany Festival Project Update

I finished my hood! It only took two weeks to complete the tablet woven edging. Next time I think tablet woven edging is a good idea someone needs to remind me that it is seriously tedious. I am really happy with the finished result though.

Yay hood with silly hook! Here's a closeup of the top seam when it's turned back:

Yay for dodgy colours. The edging is dark purple, but the pink has managed to invade it in this photo. This is the first time I've woven with wool, and I found it really easy to work with. It's stretchy so every time I untied the warp for untwisting it was really easy to just re-tension again and I didn't end up with any lumpy bits. The braid just sorted itself out all nice and stuff. It'll be interesting to see what happens with a flat band with multiple colours. I'll have to give it a go one day.

In other news, I have Cut Out and stitched together the lining of a new cotehardie from the gold linen I bought. I haven't had time to Cut Out the outer layer yet, but I'm hoping to be able to do that sometime in the next few days. I've made pretty good progress on my list for Rowany Festival, but now there's only six weeks left and I went back to uni classes today, so time is becoming more and more expensive. AND it's now March, which means half price sale at Homecraft Textiles! I need to go out and buy another spool of gold sewing thread because I've completely run out, so I might just go there and see what sort of brocade selection they have.

Things I have left on my Rowany Festival list:
1. Man-cotes: I need to re-fit my red wool man-cote over my new supportive shirt. This involves taking in some seams. I also need to make a new one out of blue linen.
2. Finish the gold cotehardie: Involves Cutting Out and sewing together the outer layer, sewing it to my lining, then making and attaching sleeves. And a new lacing cord.
3. Audit hose: I need to have a look at the state of my current collection, possibly say goodbye to some, possible repairs on others, and most likely making some new ones. I definitely need a new wool one to replace the one that shrank.
4. Not-green woolen surcote: I have some maroon wool that would do nicely for a warm surcote that is not green. This project has been classes as non-essential, but would be really nice to have for Festival.
5. New garters to wear with man-outfit: Also non essential but I'd really like fancy new garters to show off :P
6. Embroidered pouch: Remember my embroidery? The embroidery that had a run-in with the cat and I completely lost all enthusiasm for because it needs fixing now? Yeah. It would be nice to have a new pouch for Festival for night time tavern shenanigans, but I do have a suitable pouch so this is also a non-essential project.

THE END. Except my beautiful Pennsic fob watch has stopped and I am sad. I can't see how to get into it to change the battery, but cobblers tend to know seekrity seekrits like that so I might go ask one of them to fix it for me.

HALP!

I'm really bad at making decisions, and tonight I have a really tough one to make, so I'm asking for some help! I've cut out all the bits I need to make a new hood with a silly hook, but I can't decide how to put them together!

Should I make it green with pink lining?

OR pink with green lining?

OR Parti-coloured?

You'll have to visualize it without the pins, and with the little shoulder gussets actually facing the right way. Silly me pinned it together so the seams were facing out. I should also mention that the edges will be finished with tablet weaving in some dark purple wool. Also I'll be wearing it with my green cotehardies, if that makes any difference. So far I have one vote from my Dad, he thinks I should make it pink with green lining. Please help by commenting or sending me an email!

Holidays: Week 1

I've been on holidays for a week now. I have commandeered the couch and turned it into my own personal sewing nook, set up my laptop on the coffee table for Start Trek TNG and I am making progress! Also I think I've eaten an entire watermelon over the course of the week :P

Here is the fruit of my labours. I haven't exactly been working hard, just trundling along around my compulsory naptimes and various errands. What you see here is the makings of a supportive shirt for my man-cote. What's that you say? It looks a lot like the top part of one of my cotehardies? Well that's because it is :P. I cut it out on Monday night from my cotehardie pattern and since then I've hand sewn it together. I'm currently up to lacing holes, which has interrupted my momentum because I DUN WANNA. When I eventually get over my reluctance and get them done, all that will be left is to make and attach sleeves, and sew up the hem. I won't do my normal hinge sleeve with buttons because it's mostly going to be worn underneath hinge sleeves with buttons, and two layers of buttons would be a bit awkward. I'll probably make the sleeves as one piece each.

In the meantime while I'm procrastinating making lacing holes, I've been working on a TOP SEEKRITY SEEKRIT Christmas present for Mister Nathan. And by TOP SEEKRITY SEEKRIT I mean I'm making him some lucet cords to hold up his hose, and he knows all about them because I told him that's what I'm making and he's been providing me with preferences and specifications :P I'm still not gonna post pictures of them until after Christmas, because he really should see the finished product first.

In other news, you know how I said I'm not allowed to make any more green garb because everything I have is green? I'M MAKING A GREEN HOOD! My green oopsie wool goes really well with the hideous pink really well, and I have enough leftover for a hood. I still haven't decided which colour will be the lining and which will be the outside, but I can leave that decision until I've cut out the pieces. I'll pin them together and wear it both ways to decide which is best. I went to Joondalup Spotlight the other day and they had a whole bunch of different colours of the same wool for $20 per metre. I refrained from buying it and I hope you're proud of me. There was yellow and blue and bright green and booger green and a greyish colour and I really wanted it but I can't afford it all when I don't have a project for it :( What I did buy was a couple of balls of dark purple wool, for the tablet woven edges of my hood. I've never woven with wool before, so I guess we'll see how that goes.

Also ruminating over a new project, titled Awesome Bag the Sequel: Awesome Box. Stay tuned for more details.

THREE MORE SLEEPS

Last Monday I wrote a list entitled "FESTIVAL: OMG ONE WEEK TO GO!!!!". Today is Saturday and there are now only three more sleeps until I fly out. I just crossed one thing off the list. ONE THING. In all fairness, I have made progress on everything on the list, I just haven't finished any of them except one. I made a man-hood to go with my man-cote. Except I've just realised why it doesn't sit properly. I forgot to snip the seam allowance of the curved bit that goes under the chin. Gah. It's bag-lined, so that means I need to unpick some of the stitching so I can get to the seam allowance, then stitch it all back up again from the outside. So really it's not finished yet and I shouldn't have crossed it off the list. Waaaaaah.

Anyway, today was the most productive day of all the days this week. It was the first day I could devote completely to projects and not have to do things like go to work or do uni things. I'm completely up to date with uni now, everything else can be left to catch up on when I get back from Sydney :). Today I did a lot of Cutting Out. An obscene amount actually. Remember that wool that I dyed? I cut it into cloak shaped pieces today. I had a bit of trouble because when I dyed it the fabric shrunk but the selvedge didn't, so it was all wibbly like this:

I ended up cutting it all off so I could lay the fabric down flat. Then I discovered I had some weird stretching issues, the middle was shorter than the outsides of the fabric. I think that may have something to do with our washing line though, it sags in the middle under the verandah, but I didn't want to dry it in the sun. Anyway, I persevered and now I have this:

Here it is, hanging on the end of my garb rack. I have a cloak shaped thing! I hacked at the hem for a bit trying to make it straight before sewing it up, then realised that it will probably drop anyway, since I have diagonal pieces sewn together. On Monday I'll hack at the hem a bit more, sew up the bottom and then turn it the right way out. I was going to say that this will be an entirely machine-sewn piece of garb, but then I'll have to hand sew the hole where I pull the whole thing through to turn it the right way out, so not quite :P. I'm looking forward to being super warm! My current cloak is a loaner, and it is made from two layers of the thinnest possible wool-blend fabric you can find. It's really quite light, whereas this cloak is heavy. I may have to carry it in my hand luggage. I used the loaner cloak as a template for cutting out this one, because I like the way it sits on my shoulders without a clasp of any sort, and it won't move unless I make sudden flaily movements with my arms, which I tend to do a lot. If I had a cloak with a clasp I think I would accidently strangle myself.

Here is an awesome paint drawing of the shape of the pieces of the cloak:

Four of these, the straight edge is the front edge on both sides, and the middle back seam. The curved edges get sewn together to make shoulder shapes. The middle two have little neck hole bits cut out of the top corner for comfort. I have no idea if this is period, but I don't care because it is very functional and comfy :)

So that's what I did today. I have also almost finished my man-cote. All that needs to be done is all the buttons, buttonholes and attaching the sleeves. I decided to make rabbit poo buttons for the front, because I can't afford to go buy 20 buttons. It took me all of Friday evening to make seven buttons, because the wool is very uncooperative. It doesn't want to be made round shaped, instead I have little domes with flat bottoms. It's a very frustrating process, but they at least still look like buttons. I'll get there in the end. I'm using some leftover stag buttons for the sleeves, thank goodness, I think I would go mad if I had to make twenty small rabbit poo buttons with that stupid wool. I pondered using my black gabardine wool instead, but I dun wanna. I want red buttons!

I don't see myself doing much tomorrow, I have archery training in the morning, then I'm off to the cinema to see Company with friends, then we'll probably have dinner. I should hopefully have plenty of time on Monday and Tuesday to finish off all the things.