Get A Wiggle On

Okay, so yesterday I was high on the gloriousness of the Gold Satin Cotehardie, and while I was prancing around, twirling, my mom asked me why I didn't make one out of that 'brown fabric in the back'. Beg Pardon? WHAT brown fabric? So off we go to the glories of the back room and the TUBS of fabric. After a hot minute she admits to not remembering what it looked like... but oh! Here. My response. Uh mom. This is green. But anyway. Lol. So I pulled it out, its got a really nice feel, heavy but light at the same time. On closer view of the weave, you can see several types of green rocking out and a pale yellow somewhere in there too. Okay, despite my love of AWESOME satins and silks and velvet, honestly I feel more like myself when I wear stuff like a peasant, or mid-range merchant would wear. I guess I'm not confident enough, but nevermined that. So I pull out my cotehardie pattern which has done me SOOOOO good, and look it over. But maybe I am sick of the scoop ...

TA DA! I DID IT! FINALLY! Gold satin cotehardie. I used the same pattern as before, for my beige-turned-maroon one, and man. It was EASY. The whole pattern came together yesterday like, well, lol, Satin. I sewed the thing together as a size twenty, then went through and nipped and tucked the way I like. (Because my arms are size twenty, my ribcage is like 16 and my hips 18) First I sewed it together, minus the sleeves: (I think it looks like liquid in this pic, like the mirror on Snow White and the Huntsman) The back: Then I made the sleeves and tried them on: Pinned in place on Ole Blue AND on me, without the pins and tucks: Then I hand sewed the neckline: Whip-stitched the sleeves on. I had a little trouble when I sewed them on, so I seam ripped them and retried. I like hand sewing better than my machine for sleeves. And DONE!!!! Very easy to do :) I'm gonna fiddle with the design a bit, hem the hem and hem the sleeves. Litt...

Okay, so, because of work schedual and school semester ending (Which brings with it cramming and studying and terrible, terrible headaches) I am a bit lacking in the creative department. So, yesterday in a huge flux of energy I managed to get some photographicals of my fabric stash, for funsies. Then I sorted my buttons and clasps and my thread. Here we go. Firstly, a washed out version of my favorite, my shauntag green. Its way prettier in real life, as goes for most of the fabric I took pics of. Greener too.   Next is my brassy gold, yet again, washed out because of the lighting.  Brown satin Shauntag.  My FAV blue linen look. Very bright.  Dull gold  Purple crepe-backed satin  Green Crepe backed satin Red on red striped (Destined for my Victorian Lucy Dress)  Okay, now my sewing box:    I try to keep a good selection of threads on hand, just in case. Most of them are cheapies I buy for mock-ups and ...

Just a quick update on my handkerchief hem cloak. Hemmed the sides and am trying out distances for the metal frogs. Lol, green toes...

Alrighty, my newly dyed cotehardie looks pretty nice, a la: So I decided to give in and bein the surcoat. Its the basic piece of clothing I always think of when I think of medieval times, in fact, something I'd always wanted. And I dont like. Dont get my wrong, its not QUITE done yet, but I am a short, fat person. Adding something that blooms from below my hip bulges is not of-the-good. Ugh, oh well. Here are some shots. Appologize ahead of time for the odd looks and weird hand positions. Im more of a photographer than a model, lol. I added an extra triangle of fabric at the hips, where the gores are because the cotehardie is SO MUCH fabric and the surcoat... not so much. Because of this the measurements are slightly off and I need a little time to think about how Im going to finagle it. Also, I had some nice trim I was going to dye to tie the two together: Unfortunately due to the white color and synthetic composition they turned a (nice) lilac. Oh well, they'll...

Okay, so my lovely first cotehardie is in an nondescript pale brown and it kinda not very striking at all. It also is damn hard to match with things SOO I dyed it . :) A lovely wine color. Let it steep in HOT HOT HOT water with one cup of salt (Due to the cotton nature of the cloth) and it was done. Then a quick dry on the lovely Gilman, my chevy cavalier: And BOOM! Classier, nicer and it hides those horribly purple marker spots better. Woot! I win! Lovely wine colored gown. Absolute sucess! Sweet! Lastly, heres a quick peek at the cream-buff dull satin which will make the surcoat for this gown. Wish me luck!

Okay, so when working at Hancock my first desire was to get some cotton to create something similar to this: Kimono dressing gown c. 1885 Gift of Anonymous Donor 80.40.1 Beginning in the late 19th century, Asian decorative arts, and those of Japan in particular, had a tremendous impact on Western culture. Many Americans and Europeans traveled to Japan, often returning with textiles and garments that were soon converted to familiar Western garments. This blue dressing gown began as a Japanese furisode , or "swinging sleeves" kimono, a type worn only by young unmarried women. It is a particularly creative example of how Japanese dress could be transformed into fashionable Western dress. Through the addition of princess seams, lace undersleeves and inserts of pale-blue taffeta at front and back, the furisode kimono became a stylish Western dressing gown, complete with bustle. Regardless of these Western elements, the dressing gown is strongly evocative of Japan, part...