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. 



Buttons

The past two weeks I've been unable to make the transfers up to my sewing room, so I'm working on small projects that could be brought downstairs. Mostly, buttons.

For Adam's doublet, I've made 14 thread wrapped buttons.  They were made by wrapping embroidery thread around wooden beads, using the tutorial found at The Renaissance Tailor.  The buttons are time consuming, but I think they'll look great on the finished project. 

Italian Chemise

My chemise for the competition was made from a very lightweight linen I found on sale online.  The pattern used was Margo Anderson's low neck smock pattern.  After sewing what feels like a hundred of these, I wanted to do something a little different to  help it stand out a little bit.  The embroidery on the neckline, sleeves, hem and french seams were all machine done. 

The cuffs were smocked, inspired by an existing chemise seen in Moda a Firenze.  The cuffs were then embroidered and trimmed in lace to match the neckline.

Finished!

Drawers

I've started working on Adam's doublet and pants and the quilting is done which means I'm now at hand couching the gold cord over the quilted lines.  To say that this process is going painfully slow is an major understatement. 

So this morning, when I went up to my sewing room and there was sunlight pouring through the windows for the first time in what feels like weeks, I totally switched plans.  Something light, linen and airy.  And I have my first finished piece for the competition.

The drawers are made out of linen that I got on sale at http://www.fabric-store.com/.  It's very very lightweight pretty sheer, so these are definitely not something I'll be modeling for the final photos!

Leg cuffs are trimmed in lace from the stash.  The embroidery is machine done and covers both cuffs, waistband and the side leg seams.

I closed the waistband with a ribbon tie rather than a button due to weight changes from physical therapy.  I will probably end up closing the front opening with a few hidden hook and eyes. 

One layer done! 

Change of Plans

The best laid plans are usually thrown to the wind halfway through the first trip to the fabric store.

I had originally wanted to do Adam's outfit in white with a black over doublet and a black and white sword cloak.  But then Thursday night we went to Joann's and I hated...everything.  There wasn't a single bolt of white fabric in the store that looked or felt right.  What we did find, however, was a crimson cotton velveteen and a beautiful brown damask.  So in the middle of the store, already 24 hours into the competition, I totally changed the plan.

New fabric

This is the burial outfit of Don Garzia de' Medici, who died in 1562.  We're sticking pretty close to the original, with some small changes.  Adam loved the original color scheme of browns and reds but wanted the whole outfit to be velvet instead of a satin doublet with velvet paned pants.  Also, the slops underlay will be black silk instead of having everything red.

All the lines will be quilted down and then gold cord will be hand couched over the quilting lines.  Instead of the cut satin trim, I"ll be using crimson rope edging.

The brown damask will be used to make the cappotto:

The trim will be brown velvet ribbon and gold braid and will follow the same lines as the original. 

The shirt will be the same as the original plan, blackworked with a folded collar.  I'd also like to do a velvet hat, but don't know whether I want black or brown yet. 

Italian Costuming Competition

Bella Lucia de Verona, over at The Realm of Venus posted three days ago about an Italian Renaissance Costuming Challenge.  Within three days, she has apparently gotten 28 entrants, and closed entry this morning.  However, I was lucky enough to squeak with the final batch last night! 

The competition is four layers in four months.  It starts on April 21 and ends on August 21 and the guidelines for layers are as follows:
*  Layer 1: A camicia/shift/smock/shirt or drawers or corset/pair of bodies. I don't expect you to make all three.

*  Layer 2: Either an underskirt or under-dress/petticoat, or doublet and slops for the gents.
*  Layer 3: The final layer will be either an over-dress, or a loose gown, or a cloak/cape.
*  Layer 4: An accessory - any one of the following: fan, pocket/pouch, hat/jewelled accessory for the hair, zibellino (also known as a "flea fur"), hanky, gloves, girdle, or shoes. A partlet also counts as an accessory, as would a set of Venetian shoulder/neck ruffs (if they are separate from the partlet, and a standing ruff/collar also.

Points are awarded based on each layer completed, points if every layer is completed, and then points for extra layers, extra details (like weaving, embroidery, lace making, leather work, fur, ect).

To make things a bit more complicated, I'll be out in California for a week in May and out for Pennsic for a week in August, so that will somewhat diminish sewing for those two weeks. Blackwork on the plane? 

This is the picture that I'm using as my inspiration:

I love the colors of this gown, the pale green and sky blue, the braiding of the sleeves and the little beads and I LOVE the ruff.  Because this is the only view of this gown, I'm going to improvise the rest of the dress based on similar portraits from the same time and area.

For me:
Layer 1:  Camicia.  Maybe drawers if I get really ambitious.  I already have handkerchief weight linen upstairs for these. 
Layer 2:  Semi-supportive underdress.  I don't want to have to wear a corset, as the bones cause some pressure issues, so I'm hoping maybe either hemp cording or just straight linen canvas will provide enough support.  Blue satin underskirt and spiraled sleeves. 
Layer 3:  Doublet over gown in sage satin. 
Layer 4:  Ruff with goldwork, jeweled headband/caul, girdle belt, stockings and maybe a fan.

But wait, there's more!

Because I'm also a little nuts, I want to make an outfit for Adam as well.
This is the portrait he loves:

We'll probably stick with a black and white scheme for him using this as a model. 

Layer One:  Shirt, with a blackworked collar ala:

Layer 2:  Doublet in white silk with spiraled slashed sleeves, hose in while silk with black velvet panes.

Layer 3:  Black velvet over doublet.

Layer 4:  Hat in black velvet, sword cloak, hose

I'm not sure what we're going to do about shoes, I'd like to make them but they may be beyond me.  We'll have to see.  

I ordered some books from Amazon yesterday to help with the research, mainly Moda a Firenze which I have been looking forward to buying for years.  Sewing can't start until next Thursday, so in the meantime I'll just have to gather materials.