And the 2013 Abbey Medieval Festival is now over

The costume:

Dress made from cotton jersey, original colour Natural, dyed Navy blue. Pattern a mixture of sources - half-circle skirt from hip-seam, t-shirt style bodice and upper sleeves - KwikSew 2619, lower sleeve from Vogue pattern - now out of print but any similar ones could be used.

Hem and sleeve edgings made from quilting cotton - patterns made by using the edges of the original patterns and adding seam/hem allowances.

Sleeve linings made from quilting cotton.

Dull gold braid was sewn around neck and matching cord was sewn around sleeve edges.

Undersleeves are cotton rib - they were actual sleeves cut off a purchased top and I added elastic to hold them above the elbow.

Headdress is a sheer white scarf wrapped around head and neck, pinned, and tucked in at the neckline of the dress. A plain straw hat on top.

I found the belt at an op-shop. The bag has been rattling around the house for years (and was completely inauthentic, but did the job).

For next year I may do a new costume, or I may touch up this one a bit more (the accessories, particularly, need work). But we'll see when we get there. In any case, I really need to get into some practical dressmaking for a while.

Normal service will resume next week

The medieval costume is nearly done!

Ok, so the braid decorations for the upper sleeves didn't work and were removed. The brown 'mudguard' on the hem looks GREAT though, as do the sleeve linings and edgings and cord trim.

I'm using a pair of old cut-off sleeves as the undersleeves - cut off a long-sleeved top because they were getting little holes in and so I turned the top into a short-sleeved one. They are knit, hence non-authentic, but on the other hand they will be quick to finish. All I need to do is sew elastic around the tops to keep them in place above the elbow. (The question of sewing them to the dress was explored and rejected. It's hard enough getting in and out of this costume without adding yet another layer of difficulty!)

The main thing I hadn't anticipated was the sheep weight of this costume - especially the sleeves. I can't even imagine how the original medieval ladies would have managed with several more layers as well. I suppose at least it would have helped to keep them warm.

Some updates

Some quick updates on the medieval costume:

1. I started re-attaching last year's braid neck-trim... and it looked awful. One quick trip to Spotlight later and I have new braid. (Discounted and discontinued, so I got extra.) It is a dull gold. I also got some cord to match.

2. The sleeve linings are sewn but not attached to the dress yet. They are a vivid rust colour. They look good.

3. I am about to cut out the edgings for sleeves and hem. They will take time and energy and may not work. They are a boring brown. They will look... authentic. Also, due to the weather forecast, the hem edging may actually have to be functional in keeping the mud off, so I have to make it deeper.

4. This is turning into a very busy week. I have no idea how much time will be available for doing this costume.

5. There are a few spots on the dress where the dye blotched. I probably don't have time to do anything about this. Unfortunately, it's in a rather visible area. Well... visible from certain angles, anyway.

Preparing to go Medieval

So the costume for this year's Abbey Medieval Festival is UNDERWAY!

Not a costume I'll be able to enter in their costume competition, since it involves knit fabric and a serious lack of authenticity, but on the other hand I will be able to finish it in time, which is a very definite plus.

It is, in fact, last year's costume with alterations. The costume was originally made for a costume party I went to as Eowyn from The Two Towers - the white dress she wears when we first see her at Edoras. For the Eowyn version, the dress had a gold hip-belt, gold ribbon/cord down centre front, gold/jewel braid around the neckline and cord binding the upper sleeves. Worn with white shoes and a gold band across the forehead, it was pretty effective (the only real problem was the lack of long golden hair. Ah well).

Then for last year's Abbey I removed all the trimmings except for the neck-braid and pinned my hair up under a sheer white scarf draped across the front neck to look like a veil/wimple. I forget what shoes I wore, but I also had a wide-brimmed straw hat to keep the sun off.

This year I started by removing the braid trim, and then used Dylon Machine Dye in Navy to dye the dress. I tumble-dried it, which I was a bit worried about (being cotton) but it seems to have been ok. It's come out a nice dusty blue with just a hint of green - the original fabric was 'natural' rather than pure white, so had just a touch of yellow in. Colour-mixing rules apply to dyeing as per usual. I had suspected this would be the case, which was why I didn't dye it green in the first place - yellow-green not being my best colour, I didn't want to take the risk!

The plan now is to re-attach the braid around the neck, line the hanging parts of the sleeves (I'd hoped to do this last year but it didn't happen. Those visible seams really bugged me!) and edge the sleeves and hem with a contrasting fabric - partly for a historically accurate look, and partly because the white polycotton thread didn't dye and is rather obvious on those hems. I also want to make a pair of undersleeves so my arms aren't just showing everywhere in the hanging sleeves, as ladies of the time would most certainly have had another garment on under the outer dress.

Then there's the question of shoes, hat/head-dress, belt, accessories... and at least some of these will undoubtedly have to wait for another year, since I only have 10 days to do all of this!

Updates

So. Damn. Cold.

I know it's winter here, but still, it's supposed to be the sub-tropics. It just shouldn't be this cold, is all.

Wall-hangings for the twins are proceeding apace - i.e. they are done apart from the actual calligraphy. All dressmaking is on hold until I get them done - I need all the daylight I can get!

Doll costumes continue - the Welsh doll outfit is taking more time than expected because I've redone the shawl at least 3 times already. Still, I think I've got it figured out now.

An unexpected crochet hat happened the other day. I blame the yarn fumes. California 8ply 100% wool in colour 'Storm' (which is green and purple, go figure). From the stash, though, so it was stashbusting, not startitis. (It's important to keep these things straight.) And I'm thinking of doing a pair of wristwarmers in the leftovers.

It's ideal weather for baking, so chocolate biscuits might be happening sometime soon. No more muffins just yet though - we still have quite a few in the freezer.

Recovering

I've been taking things pretty easily for the last week, on account of not wanting to precipitate another bout of RSI (one was most definitely enough!). Also, I seem to be on a doll-clothes kick as far as knitting goes, and doing a lot of work with fine yarn and needles really doesn't help wrist tension. I've being trying to use ergonomic techniques for knitting - like using different hand positions for knit rows and purl rows - which work pretty well until you get to a rib section, and then you're basically stuffed. But basically, I'm recovered, and am trying to create a Welsh costume based on the patterns in the old Patons booklet I got the Russian doll costume out of: "Dolls Clothes Around the World".

I'm a bit annoyed with the dressmaking at the moment, as I've been trying out the patterns from the Surefit pattern making kits, and have made a pair of trousers that still don't fit despite having followed instructions. However, I've now got some interfacing that can apparently also be used for toile fitting - BEST idea ever if it works! - and will try again. I'm also going to try the blouse from the same kits and see if it fits any better.

Meanwhile my baby twin cousins are rapidly approaching their 2nd birthday, and of course I need to make their presents. These are going to be co-ordinated wall-hangings featuring their names and some nursery-rhymes, in the same style as the ones I did for my other little cousins when they were babies - made from cardboard and ribbons, the name is on one side and the nursery rhyme on the other. Hopefully I'll have enough time to get these done!

Silver lining

Silver skirts are DONE! Bound the hems with polyester interlock - 1m was plenty - cut into 1.25 inch strips across. Using a rotary cutter and mat to cut the strips made it go so much more quickly than using scissors - more even, too! I co-opted a volunteer to try on a skirt and the length seemed fine, so hopefully the same will be the case for all of them.

I'm about to try mending the frayed bits and opened seams on the gold skirts. Since they were made out of lame/lurex about 7 years ago, and have been worn in a number of theatrical productions since... they're in bad shape. Mostly the fabric is fraying too badly for me to do much good mending them, but I'll have a go so I can say I have.

Rainy Days vest is almost done - coming down on the far side of the button band now, with only a few inches left. Then I'll need to find some buttons. Unfortunately, the pattern doesn't say anything about blocking after finishing, and it's going to really need it as all the 'rib' bands are curling like blazes.

Forgot to say...

I realised after yesterday's post I'd forgotten to mention a few of the recent lot of creative pursuits. So without further ado, they are:

1. The 'Rainy Days and Mondays' vest from 'Crochet Today!' - using Bamboo Ewe (wool/bamboo blend aran weight). I'm up to the bottom band, halfway through that, and then it'll be time for the button band/collar. It's required MANY samples and test swatches for stitch, tension and just about everything else as well. But it seems to be going fine now. (Touch wood.)

2. 'So this isn't Home Sweet Home - Adjust' cross-stitch designed by Joan Elliott. Features a lot of teddy bears doing cute but destructive things all over a traditional 'home sweet home' style sampler. Very funny and although it is quite large, it breaks down nicely into smaller motifs of 1-2 bears. Almost halfway on this (although in the interests of full disclosure I should point out that it's been sitting around for over a year with almost this much done).

3. Researching a costume to make and wear to the Abbey Medieval Tournament and/or History Alive events. Having temporarily given up on the full-skirted medieval gown, I'm looking at doing an Anglo-Saxon style outfit, using this:


as inspiration, more or less (I have a black-and-white version of this picture in a costume book, but couldn't find it online). For a better idea of the style, go here and look at the Anglo-Saxon lady half-way down the page.


Meanwhile, the silver skirts have all been cut out. They did all fit on that piece of fabric - worth remembering that circles can be cut out more economically than squares - but I'm now a bit worried they may be a bit short. As I don't have heights for the ladies, I'll just have to see how things go - worst case scenario there is a fair bit of fabric left over, so maybe I can fudge lengthening them. Also, they need binding with black at the bottom hem, so maybe I can use that to lengthen a trifle. 5 skirts are now ready for binding/lengthening, 4 still to go. I may yet throw them on a bonfire.

She returns

So, He Who Provides A Shoulder told me to get back to doing this (probably because he doesn't want to hear about it). So here I am, back again!

Life's been hectic, but at least it's changed from a moving-house sort of hectic to more of a spinning-around-in-circles kind.

Also, the camera is out of action at present. This will hopefully be remedied soon. Putting batteries in would be a start.

But without further ado, a brief summary of things since I last updated:

Solomon's shrug: DONE! Also I made another one in navy Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo. VERY nice.

Medieval doll's dress: Abandoned. The fabric just wasn't doing what it needed to in terms of drape etc. The polycotton poplin was definitely too stiff. Linen or wool would obviously be better, but Pricey! Anyway, I achieved my goal of trying out the medieval dress cutting/sewing diagram and now have a better idea of how it works for a adult.

Navy skirt: Um. No progress. Definitely will get it done soon though.

Baking: Belgian Chocolate Cake made successfully and to rave reviews. Very complicated to make though; I don't think I'll be doing it too often.

I also signed up to help make costumes for my favourite local theatre group who are doing a 60s theatre restaurant. This is what's currently driving me round the bend (in a good way, mostly).

First off was making 16 tulle petticoats - I used the tutorial here for the construction except that I didn't sew the fabric yoke into a tube as I didn't have hip measurements and wanted to make sure people could get into them. Polycotton poplin yokes (Spotlight) and the stiffest, plainest, cheapest tulle/netting I could find (Lincraft), with 1/4inch elastic. I also tied the elastic in a knot so people can adjust if needed.

Now I need to make 9 silver satin circular skirts to match the 7 existing gold skirts. Requested 11.7 metres of fabric, was presented with 10 (all they had on the bolt). Which means, according to my calculations, that I'm going to get 7.5 skirts out of this length, and then hopefully I'll be able to match the stuff or I'll have to get enough for a full two skirts. One skirt is made already, so I'm planning to get the cutting out all done this afternoon, and then see where I am. (There's always a chance my calculations may be a bit off...)

Anyway, I'll keep you posted. Hopefully I can edit this later to add pictures.

Moving house is hard to do

Moving Day is now officially Friday 22nd. The observant among you will note that this is exactly one week away. We then get to spend the weekend cleaning the place from top to bottom, followed by an inspection early in the next week.

My to-do list should therefore read something like this:

1. Remove plastic boxes of children's books from my parents' garage. Transfer these books into large cardboard boxes. Store in Grandpa's shed.

2. Pack the books that are currently on my shelves but that I won't be needing in the next few months into the newly-emptied plastic boxes. Store in parents' garage.

(Transfer of books is necessitated by ease of access vs. flood levels. Let me tell you, it's necessary.)

3. Move books that I will be needing/wanting and place in bookcase in new room at parents'.

4. Clear out under bed in new room. Fill space with boxes containing fabric and paper.

5. Move craft boxes to parents'. Bend laws of time and space to fit them in new room.

6. Dismantle shelving units. Store in odd places.

7. Unload chests of drawers. Move to parents'. Find room in odd places. Re-load drawers.

8. Pack wardrobe contents in suitcases. Move to new room. Fit into wardrobe despite wardrobe being half the size. (They'll squash.)

9. Move sofa-bed to Nanna's. Accept inevitability of the attempts that will be made to hang on to it when I need it back.

As of Sunday, this is what it will look like. At the moment, though, it reads:

1. Decide which skirt is going to be 'distressed' for Bellatrix Lestrange costume.

It's a lengthy process.

Decisions...

So here's the thing. On Saturday I'm going to a birthday party for a friend. It's a bit last-minute - she only decided to have one a couple of days ago - and also, it's a costume party. The theme is to come as a book, tv or film character.

Which means I have 3 days to come up with a costume. Preferably cheaply and easily.

At the moment I'm tossing up two ideas:

Sandy from Grease
Costume: Yellow skirt, white blouse, ankle socks, sandshoes, cardigan?

OR

Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter
Costume: Black top, black skirt, black corset, black heeled boots, pendant etc

I have just about everything I need to do either of these. Obviously Bellatrix would involve more work in the hair/makeup line, but there are some pretty good YouTube videos to help with that.

I'll try to get photos of both looks and post them soon.