So that coif I was talking about.  I got some dark, fuzzy in progress shots of it.  Light is poor because of the storm here, sorry folks.  It's a white muslin cap with green embroidery thread that looks black apparently.
( more peeectures )

Tags: 16th c.: embroidered coif

I've been trying to be better about posting with photos, however my progress over the last few days was not documented so well.  Apart from finding suitable trim and adding some hook-and-eye closures for the stomacher, the robe a la francaise is done.  I didn't get photos though because I've been horribly sick.  I'm not sure what's wrong but in the past week Iv'e been sick three times with this horrible stomach/back pain that completely immobilizes me.  Perhaps tomorrow morning I'll feel strong enough to lace myself up and get some photos.

I started work on a 16th c. coif.  Many thanks toattack_laurel 's amazing website for helping me to understand the construction better and for inspiring me to madness and the desire to embroider the whole thing.  I designed the pattern by myself (a first for me!) and it appears to work rather well from what I can tell.  Hopefully I can start the embroidery tonight and make some substantial progress at sewing day on Monday with Melissa.  Oh yeah and get pictures of it too!

In a further attempt to get rid of excess fabric lying about my apartment, I've decided that the synthetic "brocade" from WalMart I bought during the fall of 2004 to make a kimono and that served as the mock-up for my robe a la francaise could actually work for a pet en l'air if it were trimmed properly.  I'm going to finish that up, which sound eleviate a lot of excess red mess in my room.

While I was sick I also managed to start doing a few things I've wanted to take care of for a while.  I organized all the pattern I've drafted up, or rather all the ones I could find, and made renderings of the dresses.  Eventually I'll get them all colored and what not.  The point is that I now have a set of costume renderings that could be used as a portfolio!  I am proud of myself. 

I also finished Anna Karenina and have begun the next book on my reading list for all eternity: The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser.  Oh and on the topic of literature, I found something rather scary today.  Apparently I was only one class away from earning a second AA in English.  WTF?  Why did I not know this before.  So when I get time I'm going to go back and take that one class and get another useless piece of paper.  The best part is that it's a class I had thought of taking just for fun anyway.

Tags: 16th c.: embroidered coif, 18th c.: robe a la francaise
Current Mood: sick

I finally feel like I'm accomplishing things.  Yesterday was horrible. I got some bug that completely laid me up in a horrible way so I worked on one of my resolutions: reading the Classics.  I'm nearing the half-way mark for Anna Karenina.  It's an amazing book I tell you.  In fact all of the books I've read since the 1st have been: Dracula, Animal Farm, Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and now Anna Karenina.

So the sewing part...Melissa came over and we got down to business this time.  I finished attaching the ruching to the robe, made some ruffles for the sleeves, and began on the stomacher.  So far I'm very impressed with the whole thing.  I love it and it's so much fun to wear.  I feel like a princess every time.  There's not much left to do on it now though; the ruching needs some type of trim for the edges, the petticoat needs a bit more decoration, and I need to make some lacey ruffles for the sleeves too.  That's really about it.  I did a lot more work on it last night but didn't get any pictures.  The stomacher matches now and has trim so perhaps today I'll get some better photos that aren't so dim and blurry.
( pictures of green stripes )

I've already begun plotting out the next project to be finished too.  The gold Italian is next along with some 16th c. headware.  I won't be able to go to the Celtic faire this year because of Guys and Dolls and the timing, but that's okay.  I'm going to try to aim  for that date as a deadline regardless.  Hopefully I'll be able to wear it to a faire sometime this year.

I'm also thinking of making some non-costume clothes to wear.  I'm dying for new things, but because of my lack of an hourly job right now and dwindling bank account I'm going without.

Ugh and on a side note.  PG&E is horrible.  How is it possible that one person with no electric appliances can use $56 worth of electricity in a month?  I do not understand.  Am seriously considering using candles for lighting now, I could buy a bunch from the dollar store and use those instead...

Tags: 18th c.: robe a la francaise
Current Mood: cold

So over the past two months or so my life has gone topsy turvy sort of.  I got my job back at the theatre and around that same time I moved (yet again) into my place.  I've been incredibly low on money due to lack of hourly wages and that lovely thing that is the SF county minimum wage.  Not much luck finding a job around here though.  I'm going to remain optimistic though, it'll happen when it's ready to.  In the mean time, I have plenty to keep myself busy with: unpacking, eliminating clutter, etc.

( now with pictures )

Halloween came and went, still no trick or treaters this year.  Oh well more candy for me to snack on.  For the past three years I've been trying to make an 18th century style costume and have failed every time, but not this year.  I managed something I'd say is reasonable in less than a week.  It's nothing fancy and was a good way to reduce the amount of fabric in my room by a bit.  It also got me interested in doing more pieces from this era as well as creating a few new ideas for sewing methods.

( Read more... )

( more photos )

Tags: 18th c.: claire fraser, 18th c.: quilted petticoat
Current Location: United States, California, Sonora
Current Mood: accomplished

I changed my mind about Halloween.  I want to do 18th century, just like I failed at last year.  I'm shooting for an outfit that Claire Fraser in the Outlander series could have worn.  Should be fun and I'll have an excuse to wear my quilted petticoat ;)

So after two hours of work I have fixed J.P Ryan's strapless stays pattern.  I had to extend the length by 3" to give myself some room to get the right length going.  I also extended the width below the waist by 3" all the way around.  I've got lots of extra room and I think it should work this time.  So I have a working model now and am off to get some cable ties quite shortly.

Tags: 18th c.: claire fraser, 18th c.: strapless stays

It's been so long since I've done anything in French.  Back last fall when I was still planning to go immediately to grad school I bought a workbook to refresh my French skills.  I never even opened it.  When I was at my mom's this weekend I did.  There was not much else to do, no thread there or scissors that worked so I couldn't sew, no internet, and I felt guilty for watching nearly an entire season of SG-1 in a day so I turned off the tv set.  It was marvelous.  C'est magnifique.  Oh how I missed it...more to come on that.

So I get back to SF and it starts pouring rain.  Icky.  Especially when it's cold and my space heater is in Sonora, three hours away.  Not to mention the pilot light on our apartment heater is out.  No heat unless I go on a mad baking frenzy and use the oven.  Okay that all works.  My mom sent me back with home grown apples from my grandfather's orchard.  I'm gonna make me some apple crisp today and enjoy it's yumminess.   mmmmm.

Also when I was in Sonora I set about finding one of the millions of corsets I attempted to make in pursuit of the effigy stays.  I really do want a corset based on that that fits properly.  So I started drafting up some stuff.  I'm going to work on that today I think and if it stops raining long enough maybe I'll get out to buy fabric for it.  Although I have plenty at my mom's I could use and I'm going there this weekend.  I've also decided that I want a few other styles of corsets.  Damn you Vala Mal Doran and your sexy leather outfits...

So yea it will be a sewing, baking, and SG-1 type of day today with a bit of French thrown in there for fun.

Current Mood: cold

I've gotten a lot more serious about SCA recently.  Now that all I will have to deal with in my life is work and no classes and homework to deal with I have plenty of time.  Because of this I've been exploring a bit online lately for what I want to do: 16th century, Norman, Viking, 14th century.  I really can't decide.

As of now I'm thinking I want my name to be Clara, it's cited in various forms in all the periods I'm interested, except the 16th century.  I couldn't find it used in the databases on St Gabriel's in that period, but I was thinking that I didn't want to do 16th century for this anyway.

I guess I'll continue to look around and maybe I'll stop being so damn indecisive.

As for Osiris, it's completely changed into something different.  I haven't touched the green portion of the dress.  I've been playing with the gold underdress and it's become remarkably Italian in style and feel.  Why does that always happen?  I should have the sleeves up and running today and be able to get some self-done photos of rather low quality of the gown as it stands now.  I've been spending a ridiculous amount of time on silly bits to something that started as a Halloween costume.  For instance, I spent like three hours the other day cutting the scraps into 1" wide by like 4" long strips, only to fold them into liek 1/4" wide ties and am currently hand sewing them onto the sleeves.  I was also thinking of making use of the gold beads I have and decorating the sleeves a bit more before I finally line them.

There's not much else I have to do these days though.  I have no bus pass and no real desire to go about SF.  I've got a horrible allergy/head cold thing and itchy red eyes.  Oh yeah and I have no money so I've been avoiding going out.  I might try boxing a few things today for my move, but yeah more Stargate and sewing it looks like.

Tags: 16th c.: osiris gown, sca
Current Mood: amused

I have a question for you, what do you think of this statement:

It's from a friend of mine from SFSU's history program regarding this photo, credit goes to my friend Rebekah Hays for the photography and myself for the gown obviously:


I can't say that I agree with it and I was wondering what y'all thought about it...It seems to me that her statement is entirely rooted in a 21st century conception of clothing and the ease of wearing them.  For a person who has never been laced into stays for her whole life, allowed to wear jeans instead of skirts, and who is totally unfamiliar with the fit and construction of the clothing in question it seems justified.  However, I wonder if that is because of the mythology of corsets, hoop skirts, and dresses constructed around the mid-19th century fashions?  Did women of the 16th century (and 19th for that matter) complain about their clothes and how horrible it was to wear them?  Did they view them as obstacles to their freedom?  It seems that the statement of my friend is rooted in modern feminism as well.  I don't know that I can subscribe to the notion that women of the 16th century paraded about bemoaning their farthingales and skirts for whatever the reason may be.

What do you think?  Are there any period sources of 16th century women begrudging their clothing?  I know there are plenty of 19th century sources that do (I even read a few while researching my paper on Lola Montez for my first seminar).  Any thoughts at all?

Tags: 16th c.: osiris gown

I've begun to notice that this project seems to be never ending.  I've already decided that I want to make an entire outfit out of it from the ground up, so to speak.  Although through the course of this building I've noticed that the foundations are falling apart and incorrect.  Just when I start seeing the end of the tunnel, I get sent back to the beginning.  For instance, I made a new shift because my other one is not here in SF, it sucks and I hate it; my corset is for a later period much more 1603 than the period I want now I need a new one or so I think; I hate the over skirt and doublet now; etc etc etc.

So I guess what I do have is a very pretty skirt and bodice, a partlet with a simple ruff and no trim and a heap of other mess.  Great.

I've started trimming the bodice.  Very little evidence of my progress but perhaps today there will be more.