Blue wool tunic

Now, we're on to my blue wool tunic. This is on the very top of my repair pile, and has been for some time. One of the side seams has frayed and is becoming an ever larger hole. I just never seem inspired to do mending when there are shawls to knit, things to embroider, and bands to be tablet woven.

 

When I was collecting my materials for my under-tunic I was also checking around at resale shops for wool fabric, and I lucked out when I found some navy blue wool fabric. I pieced that together into this knee length version of my under-tunic with upholstery weight thread.

That got my through my first several events, and then when I wanted to embellish it a little more I bought several hanks of silk thread very cheaply on a now-defunct eBay store and embroidered a design onto my leftover cotton to tack onto the neck of my over-tunic. I wish I could find the design that inspired my embroidery, but I haven't been able to track it down. I do know that it was something that I originally traced off of my computer screen

Next up: A viking apron dress

Promised Pictures

Well, I borrowed a camera (a really really nice one with all kinds of shiny buttons and options menus!) and got some pictures of my outfits. The trouble is that I insisted on taking the pictures all by myself. This involved propping up the camera on a couple chair cushions and a binder on top of the table and using the timer. I was impatient with them too and only really took one take of each outfit.
I guess my main complaint is that the pictures are unflattering. I've gotten used to snapping lots of takes and coming out with some gems. But, without further delay, here is the start of my current garb pieces:

Please note that the hem isn't actually this uneven,
or maybe it is,
I guess I've changed bra cup sizes twice since I made this.

This is my basic layer. I made this my first freshman year at Michigan Technological University soon after I was introduced to SCA through the local branch, the Shire of Mistig Waetru. Since I was a starving college freshman I also had approximate budget of $10 including materials for an over-tunic layer. I went to the local wally world and bought 4 yards of mustard/golden yellow $1/yard cotton fabric, and a spool of thread. When I showed my shire my fabric the general consensus was that the color I had chosen made my coloring look absolutely sickly, so I threw my fabric into one of the dorm washers in the basement with a pack of greenish dye I bought for $1 on eBay and hoped for the best. The next day my fabric came out a beautiful sage green, albeit a little uneven (to this day if you look at my resulting tunic in the right sunlight you can see that one sleeve is a different shade than the body.) 
For construction I put my measurements into this Elizabethan smock generator, used the authentic pieced layout, and sewed it all together by hand using a running stitch with two back stitches every couple inches. The generator calls it an Elizabethan smock, but it is based on the timeless t-tunic, especially when I used a key-hole neck (circle with a 4-inch vertical slit in the front.)


Next up: My blue wool short tunic
(expect this posting tomorrow)

Well...no weekend plans after all

My weekend plans fell through...sigh. I was so excited about them too.

I did have three very productive days leading up to today though. On Wednesday I cut up a herringbone blanket to make a viking apron dress and (machine) pieced it together. I was able to finish hemming and sewing on the straps on Thursday morning. Right now it's just waiting to dry so that I can take lots of pictures of it. I also made a sideless surcoat on Thursday. The fabric that I have as my background here is what I used to make it. Pictures of this will also be forthcoming when my tunic is finished drying.

Today I was going to keep with the great progress I've been making on my to-do list but I guess I was a little clouded over by the failed weekend plans and still having a little personal pity party. Also, the back of my shoulders are all knotted up and sore/tingly. I guess I have less than perfect sewing posture. If it hasn't worked itself out by tomorrow I'm going to seriously make like a cat and work it out on a door frame. Or I could go find myself a rough tree and work it out like a bear.

I promise I'll get some pictures put up here of my outfits soon.

I haven't forgotten you, my dear blog

I haven't posted here in nearly a month! sigh
I just haven't made much progress on any crafting. Reading, yes, but not crafting. I guess after reading only about  three books in the past four years before I moved here my brain was starved. I have been hitting the books hard,  even if they are mostly mysteries/romances. To be fair, there have been a good number of non-fiction books that I've poured through as well.

My linen tunic is almost ready to be hemmed, something I hope to do in the next few days so that I can wear it this weekend. Because this weekend will be my first event of the season! Good thing no one saw the happy dance I did when everything fell into place for this, I think I might have gone and crawled under a rock out of embarrassment if anyone had seen me.

I have so much to do before this weekend, as I haven't really touched my old to-do list. This afternoon I did hoof it over to a resale shop and pick up some nice baskets to carry my stuff in. One is a nice little one with a linen liner already made for it, this one will house my sewing and embellishing kit. The other one is a large round one with a striped cotton lining. I think the larger one is made out of bamboo, but it looks better than a nylon duffel bag at any rate.

As far as things that absolutely need doing before the weekend, I absolutely need to:

• Mend my wool over-tunic and check over my green cotton under-tunic
• Finish sewing the trim onto my cape and finish the bottom edge
• Mend my shoes
• Make a favor, perhaps a tablet woven band
• Make bread late Thursday or -early- Friday (I'm thinking of making a stuffed focaccia with fresh mozarella/parmesan/basil leaves, and perhaps a loaf of seeded rye as well. 
• Filter a bit of my cordial and find a bottle for it

And some things I want to get done but aren't completely necessary:

• Fashion a sideless surcoat out of my gold brocade
• Make new herringbone blanket into a viking apron dress
• Cut apart new silk pillowcases and make headcoverings from them
• Make one of my muslins or a white sheet into a plain chemise (possible a laced fitted layer, in lieu of a modern bra or gothic fitted dress
• Quickly machine sew my blue or green linen into an under-tunic to wear with the viking apron dress

I hate to think of machine sewing medieval clothing, but I'm short on time. I guess I can always pick out he machine stitches after this weekend and re-do the seams by hand. I just don't think my green cotton under-tunic will look alright with a viking apron dress, and my new oatmeal colored linen garment is too short for this fashion.Maybe I can even whip up a quick machine pieced gothic fitted dress?

This is what I mean by a gothic fitted dress: