Iron Dress Update

Not waiting until the last minute this time!  Proof that two months into a three month competition, some work has been done:

The chemise was completed, the underskirt and forepart were made, and the overgown is finished. 

Hem detail on the forepart

Gown shoulder and sleeve

The veil edging was beaded with pearl and garnet

And today I made a necklace:

and finished the fan:

Back into the Fray

My sister called me Sunday morning. She said that she wanted to talk to me before I donned the Crazy Pants yet again, and lost touch with reality for awhile.

What she means is- Iron Dress 2012 has started.

Here are the rules:

The competition runs from April 1 to July 1. The winner will be announced on July 15.

The outfit must be made using Margo Anderson's Historic Costume Patterns. The outfit must be made using only what is in the contestant's stash plus $25 for "extras." So anything that is needed like more trim or fabric or embellishments has to come out of the $25.

Underpinnings like a corset, smock, bumroll, ect do not count for the competition, but must be worn.

Pattern may be modified for another country, like Italy or Germany.



The Plan:

Honestly, the hardest part was not the stash diving, but choosing a model. I didn't want to sew for myself because the inherent difficulties of measuring and fitting a dress from the chair just make competition sewing that much more insane. My sister, who is my ideal renaissance model, lives five hours away and is busy with school right now. And I was interested in trying to fit for a new body and new personality. So my choice fell on Kat, Morwin's girlfriend. It was an interesting conversation to call up my best friend and ask if I could borrow his girlfriend's body, but it went pretty well and she's excited and I'm excited, which is a good way to start off a major project.

The next step was design. I knew that I wanted to go Italian courtesan. Not only because I love the look of the v-front dresses, but also because the opening in the front of the dress allows for a little wiggle room when fitting someone who lives two and a half hours away and isn't around at the drop of a hat for fittings. Kat also works at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire on the pirate ship, so I wanted something that she could potentially wear to work as well. Apologies in advance for any SCA-ers who are currently cringing at the thought of a Pirate Courtesan. If you've been to the PA Ren Faire, you might have noticed Historical Accuracy isn't exactly on the top of their Ye Olde Liste of Priorities. Also, for the first time in maybe ever, I want to work on a project where I'm not pouring over a picture of a portrait with a magnifying lens, trying to figure out exactly how many stitches are on each pleat of a ruffle. Rule #1 for this project is that it must be fun.

The stash dive produced a LOT of fabric so the current plan is:

Look 1:
Black velvet v-front gown with red silk underskirt and paned sleeves. White linen chemise. Gold veil. Flag fan. Girdle belt and jewelry. Very traditional courtesan.

Look 2:
Same black velvet gown and chemise, but with paned breeches and a hat and caul. Pants under a skirt has been documented in drawings from period, and I wanted something that might be more comfortable for her to work in when she's on the ship. I'm not sure exactly what I'm making the paned pants out of yet, but I'll figure it out when the time comes.

I like the idea of Kat being able to switch up pieces for two completely different looks depending on what she's doing at the faire and I'm really looking forward to being able to mix pattern sets for the competition. And having fun. This project needs to be FUN.

Note to Self

Good Idea:  Dying my new chiton the most amazing shade of indigo blue.

Bad Idea:  Forgetting that I had done so, being tired and lazy and overwhelmed by the stench wafting from the Pennsic laundry bag, dumping everything into the wash, and turning all of my husband's unbleached linen chitons a lovely shade of robin's egg blue.

Here's hoping a lot of hot water and some bleach will save the day.

Also, why is it that when you WANT to dye linen, it staunchly refuses, but one trip through the laundry and voila! Perfectly dyed.  Logic, it fails me. 

0 to Crazy In Just One Week

I know there are people out there who are super crazy on top of things and already have their competition projects done (These people are the same kinds of people who, I suspect, were snug in their beds and not writing their midterm papers at 2 am in college.  I hated those people.) 

I am not one of those people.

And since I decided to pack a competition into the same summer as a trip for physical therapy, a fairly involved medical procedure and a week long vacation- this is a step by step on how make an Italian Renaissance doublet gown, start to finish, in one week. 

Or, for those out there with a slightly firmer grip on sanity, what not to do.

We got home from Pennsic late Friday night.  Late enough that the only appealing thing in the world was a long hot shower with lye and sand and then bed.  Late enough that I even contemplated skipping the shower, but only for a few seconds.

Saturday:
Up before 7 am.  Attempt to not wake the household by trying to work quietly.  Fail miserably.  Procure both coffee and ipod for some Shinedown, both of which help progress work nicely.  Wake up entire house.  Get more coffee.  Briefly contemplate the idea that I may need more sleep.  Opt to continue work.
Draft pattern, cut and piece outer shell of doublet. 

Take break for lunch- vow to only eat finger food for the rest of the week to limit interruption in sewing time caused by inconveniences like eating. 

Cut and hem skirt.


Sunday:
Gave up work for the morning to attend baby shower.  Return home to pleat skirt and pin onto dress form to hang overnight.  Flatline doublet lining and sew boning channels.  Fall asleep face first into pile of tools at the sewing machine.  Wake up tucked in on the futon- thanks Frank!- opt to take a break for the evening to prevent further lapses in consciousness.  Also, don't want to drool on the fabric in my sleep.

Monday:
Sleep in a little longer in hopes that more rest will mean faster sewing. 
Opt not to press friends into slave labor over ironing board in hopes of keeping said friends.  Finish boning channels,  bone lining.  Attach one side of front facing.  Stitch skirt to doublet.  Make, trim and line strips for shoulder braids.

Craft cunning plan to make shoulders.  Chuckle to self about own cleverness.  Try to ignore friends muttering words like "nutjob" and  "padded room."  Send friends out to bring back chocolate.   

Tuesday:
Try to decide whether to sleep in the car on the way home from work.  Opt instead to try to make polite conversation with my husband that doesn't involve phrases such as "could you pass the thread?" and "what do you think about this sleeve?" and "Do you think there's a way you could stop time so I could get this finished? Kthanxbye."  Take nap once I get home.  Stitch lining into doublet at front at bottom.

Wednesday:
Finish tacking on lining at collar. 
Spend rest of day working on braiding sleeves.

Drink.


Thursday:
Wake up feeling awful.  Sneaky sinus infection caught up at last.  Helper brain is out puking with a migraine, so I'm left to my own devices today.  Manage to get upstairs and bring down everything I need to finish hand sewing sleeves and shoulders to doublet.  Beads also arrive, so spend part of day wrapping crystal beads in gold wire. 

Friday:
Have Morwin hold beads while I make girdle.  And sniffle.  Damn cold! 

Decide to make a last minute partlet at around 3pm.  Finish at 10:16 pm.  16 minutes after the "No sewing after 10pm rule" but very happy with the results. 

Done with the competition!  Celebrate by weeping joyously and downing shots of Nyquil. 

Hating Everything

There are something crazy like 19 days left in the competition.  19. 

19 days is not a lot of days when you consider that we're leaving for Pennsic on Friday morning at some ungodly hour and we won't be back until the 13th and even though I am truly a nutter, I can't see getting any sewing done after a week of camping and a five hour drive so I really won't be back to work until the 14 and then there will be like 7 days left.  7.  A week of sewing.  So I have two days before Pennsic.  And a week after.

I might be freaking out just a little.

And at some point, I decided that Adam's project just needs too much work right now to even begin to feasibly finish, so I'm focusing on the gown for me.

And because I am absolutely out of my gourd, here's what I did:

I made these sleeves and the skirt and even trimmed them before waking up one morning, deciding that I hate everything and starting over. 

Starting over. 

With something like 9 sewing days left.

Normally, at this point, my friends and family would be making gentle suggestions such as "leave it alone" or "perhaps you could just learn to cope with it (and reality)" or "here, drink this tea, don't worry about the funny taste...." but when my husband's first reaction is "It looks like someone wanted a medieval wedding.  As Cinderella." you know that a redo really is the right way to go.

I found some cream colored silk something or other in the stash and have the sleeves cut and half trimmed.  I need to trim the new underskirt. 

I really need to start the dress.  You know, the actual dress that the whole outfit is based on.

But, on a brighter note, I started the gold meshwork caul:

and have actually made progress since the picture was taken.  The meshwork is totally done, I have a few more beads to add and then the band to put on. 

So that's something. 

Pushing It

Pennsic is two weeks away.  And my Pennsic sewing is done.  DONE! 

Well, if I was going to be 100% honest, I have one hook and eye to sew on yet, but since that could technically be done in the car on the way (or at Pennsic, if one was really desperate) I'm counting it as finished.

Which means that that tally of clothing sewn for this year's trip includes:

6 tunics and one pair of pants for a friend
6 Greek dresses for another friend
3 Greek dresses for me
2 early 14th century cotes for me

I'm hoping to get some pictures of the stuff at some point.  Maybe at Pennsic?  Surely not.  Remembering to bring a camera like a normal, prepared person would just make too much sense.

The problem is that since I got that stuff done, I have done exactly nothing on the competition for the last month.  I already know I'm going to have to downsize if I want to finish at all, so now the question is whether to finish a doublet gown, skirt and caul for the my project or finish the couching, piping, slashwork and doublet, hose, codpiece, shirt and cape for Adam's. 

Put that way, I think the my gown will be an easier bet.  I hope.  Or I could be a complete nutter.  Either way, I have two weeks until Pennsic to bust my butt and see how much stuff I can get done.  Fingers crossed. 

In which we are confused...and a little scared

For a lot of Scadians, July is Pennsic prep season.  We dig out our tents, check waterproofing, polish up the armour and go through the garb to get it ready.  Which is exactly what Adam and I have been doing.  Except there was a small problem.

Some of our garb was missing.

This would seem strange to people who know us because we have a lot of clothes.  A LOT of clothes.  I make a lot of stuff and give away a lot of stuff (to make yet more stuff) and Adam is just a garb whore.  We have closets full.  We have rubbermaid bins full.  So the fact that we even noticed stuff missing was a surprise in itself.  However, one of the things I was missing was something I had spent a lot of time embroidering and when you swear that much at a piece of fabric, you tend to grow attached to it. 

Specifically, this dress:

It was, strangely, one of the only Greek dresses I was missing, but there were clothes from other time periods, as well as some of Adam's things gone as well, so we were thinking there was a bin somewhere that had gone astray.

So I waited for a not-brain-melting hot day to ask Morwin to untape the attic eaves and crawl in.  Eave 1- no bin.  Eave 2- no bin.  Now dirty, sweating, and  more than a tad disgruntled, Morwin was bribed to venture out to the garage, the no man's land of stuff that hasn't been unpacked since we moved last year.  I prepped him with a picture of the dress, so he knew exactly what he was looking for. 

A short time later he came back, a little stricken.

This is all that's left of the dress.  We have absolutely no clue what happened to it.  Other stuff was stored in the garage and left untouched.  Other fabric things, including fighting garb, mere feet away.  Totally unscathed.  

Morwin is blaming fabric-eating chupacabras. 

I refuse to believe that any god exists so cruel as to make such a creature. 

However, I am locking up the stash from now on.