Kimiko Sews

Image of the Day - Jane Seymour

Sat, 11 May 2013 23:22:18 GMT

(Cross posted from my blog here: Permalink: http://www.kimiko1.com/blog/?p=120)

There are days when I get sidetracked into looking up an image. Today was one of those days when I was reading about the different types of blackwork on the Historic Hand Embroidery group. They hadn't posted an image of Hans Holbein's works that have blackwork embroidery, even though an alternate name for the one of the stitches used is Holbein stitch (aka Spanish stitch, true stitch, double-running stitch, line stitch, etc.), so I went hunting.

And that is when I found this image, but in wonderful glorious super huge sized Google scan of the original, located on wikimedia commons. You can see incredible details of not only her blackworked sleeve ruffle (which I often see redone as a cuff not ruffle - not sure why), but her smock square (the area around the neck) is done in white work! And there is this interesting little black dots along the edges of both areas.

The image here is a far smaller sized image as a place holder.

We are now discussing this image as we are seeing various details. As an example, you can see that on her English bonnet (mka English gabled hood), it appears that the golden geometric band portion is not a fabric brocade. Instead it appears to be either gold tubular beads with goldwork in between, or perhaps all in goldwork, done in smooth and rough/check purls. The only question I have is the white silk or fine linen?

I'm also seeing subtle details in how the edge of the hood is done, and even in how the gold jeweled ouches are far more dimensional than I had original thought (and than is usually recreated). I am now tempted to make up this bonnet in a more period fashion, but that is going to take a lot of goldwork now, and jewels, and more.

But for now, enjoy the image!

Short Gown Sample Embroidery 1

Mon, 06 May 2013 05:54:35 GMT

(Crossposted from the original blog post, http://www.kimiko1.com/blog/?p=106)

Now that you know what I am working towards, I can now share the embroidery sample I made up today.

My plan is to use dark gold passing thread instead, onto a black silk of some sort. The embroidery will be done on my slate frames, in a bias direction to allow for some flex around the curves of the sleeve and skirt hems (it can pivot a bit in the joins between motifs). The two areas at the top of each sleeve will have to have a specific design worked out just to fit, and that will be done last.

Here is the embroidery sample I did up...

This photo shows the first sample of the embroidery pattern I'm using, in the smaller size (roughly an inch wide). The design will be done in two sizes, the larger will be 1.5" wide. Embroidery seen here is light gold passing thread in a twist (home made), couched onto a white silk organza since I don't have black to test. Penny is for size scale (it is that small). Photo taken over black velveteen - and the pile didn't push through the organza.

The gold metallic thread above is a light gold passing thread (#371 that I bought from Hedgehog Handworks.) I took two long threads (6 yards roughly), doubled them and then attached them to my Lacis cord twister that I bought some time ago for this very project. The other end was strung to a clamp attached to my dresser. It was a mess dealing with the long ends, so I will do up shorter lengths, and I must remember to recharge batteries first. If I had a good budget, I would just buy cords, but the one source I found for gold cord in this size, I would need a few hundred dollars to buy enough cord - ouch. (checked CheapTrims.com, and they only had silver cord of the right size). This may be annoying and slow, but it is a cheaper method and the cords actually look similar to period cords.

I have to say I do like working on silk organza. I could actually see what I doing when I traced the pattern (using a micron pen on the wrong side), where to place the needle, and the fabric wasn't shifting much. The fabric itself is fairly strong and while there is space between the silk fabric threads, the stitching isn't intense so other than the tiny backstitches I use to start and end a couching thread where threads may show, it went pretty well.

The drawback is that when I sew this down the raw edges will be seen underneath the sheer fabric. I can also see the couching threads quite clearly under the fabric - not a problem from any distance, but really up close it is there. I'm also not sure how flexible the bias sewn fabric will be, as I didn't sew it down in this test piece that way. So I will do another sample, hopefully tomorrow, and will remember to do so on the bias line.

If I go with another silk, I'm thinking of trying a silk twill as I have some I can dye black (it is currently dark purple-blue). Silk taffeta is now nearly $20/yard. Other silks are close to that price, or they are not period fabric, or they are very slinky and hard to work with. DharmaTrading has a selection of already black silk fabrics, but no twill, and their black silk organza is only $4.50/yd. I also have the light shot teal silk taffeta that will be used on the sleeve lining and skirt facings, but not sure I want a lighter color at the edge of the gown.

Things to ponder.

Short gown design

Mon, 06 May 2013 04:50:52 GMT

(Crossposted from the original blog post, http://www.kimiko1.com/blog/?p=98)

I finished off the blue phoenix (which I still have to write up and share more here). So after dealing with SCA and personal stuff, I started to think about my next long term project, the short gown in velvet and silk.

Part of my realization is that in order to get it done right, it will have to be more than just the gown, it will require a new kirtle as well. The reason is that in the time period I tend to lean towards, early 16th c. England, the kirtles worn with short gowns tend to have trains trailing after, and all of my current kirtles are regular length if a bit on the shorter side. So, need new kirtle, too. I don't have any suitable fabric that will contrast well with the dark teal velveteen. I need something in orange or orange-red, and what reds I have are in the blue range or is planned for something else. So, this will require some shopping.

The other thing that requires shopping will be the embroidery fabric itself. I thought I had enough of the base fabric in black silk, but after doing math yesterday, I realized I do not since I used chunks of that black silk on other projects. I have more black fabrics, but those are not silks or not suitable for embroidering this project on, so something will have to be bought. But what sort of silk fabric? I don't want to spend big $$ on it, so I thought I'd try a few samples with fabrics I have, and see what works best.

But first I figured I should first post my sketch of the design I have in mind for this outfit.

This is my initial sketch for the velveteen short gown in dark teal cotton velveteen. The light teal is shot silk taffeta that will line the sleeves and face the edges at the sides of the skirt. The orange is the general idea of a silk brocade (to be purchased later) for the kirtle and under sleeves, so the color may change. The design on the gown is uncolored simply for easier viewing. It will be black silk (not sure which silk) with gold metallic twist embroidery, in two sizes. The white otherwise is the smock, with decorative collar area, which may also end up being made as earlier smocks like this one appear to not have a cuff end and just let the ends hang gathered by the kirtle fore sleeve. Not positive about that, and that will need more research.

I will talk about the first embroidery sample in the next post.

Image of the Day

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 01:31:28 GMT

(Crossposted from the original blog post, http://www.kimiko1.com/blog/?p=79.)

It's been awhile, I know. Was busy finishing a project that I'll share soon. Also dealing with personal issues and taxes. I hope to post more on projects soon.

My first time wanting to share an image here with folks, I think. But it isn't often anymore that I get really excited seeing a new image. Today I was very excited to find this gem.

Flemish School
The Prodigal Son among the courtesans or Allegory of the five senses
Sixteenth century
Oil on board
Paris, Musée Carnavalet

So, can you see why I am excited?

The courtesan woman near the middle, looking at the man in the yellow hood to her right (looking to our left), is showing us her French hood! This is an image that is currently in Paris, and while painted by someone Flemish, it is supposed to be Paris in the background (all the info is from what I gathered at different sites). And these are not high court ladies, and they are wearing a variety of headwear and clothing!

But while I was happy to see this image, all I could find were small versions that just teased on the details. So, after some hunting I got even more excited when I found someone's blog, who took a photo of the painting, that is just huge! You can click this link to view her image. See what I mean? Just wonderful detail even at the slightly fuzzy larger size. I'd love to see this painting in person, but for far away work, it is just wonderful.

Some things I want to note.

I am thinking the French hoods are roughly 1520s-30s in style, most likely not later, but not positive since these are not high end courtier ladies wearing the latest fashion (I don't think).

The way the necklaces are being worn by the women is typical of French and Flemish ladies.

And the white coif/hoods are something I've seen more among the Flemish, but if this is supposed to be Paris, maybe French women did wear them as well. Until we know more about the unknown artist, I can't say for sure.

And for those musicians amongst the readers, if you want a close up of the sheet music in front, this blog has a clearer close up image of their music, and commentary on it, about 2/3ds the way down the page.

Enjoy the large image! And please, let me know what you think is going on here.

Blogging elsewhere

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 04:52:00 GMT

I've noticed that most folks have moved away from LJ, at least in their main posting site. Some do reblog to LJ, and I'm happy to keep up with them through the Friend's page. However, I'm also transitioning away from blogging here in the main, so that my creative blog will mesh with my web site a bit better. I may even redo my web site to be the blog site, but that is a lot of work to revamp things, so that is a ways off.

My creative blog's main page is here, http://www.kimiko1.com/blog/

I will have to double post to LJ, as it seems the new WordPress program has not filtered to any good and decent LJ republishing widget/plugin thingy, and that will be a pain in the arse to deal with. Seems WP uses different code words that LJ doesn't like. So, with that in mind I'm trying to post in a simple fashion, and won't be using galleries for a time, until I can find a way to repost automatically from the WP format. If anyone has suggestions on what WP plugin to use that is compatible with 3.5, I would appreciate the assistance. Right now, I'm trying NextScripts auto-poster, but it has issues with "No PID" when connecting to LJ. No idea what a PID is, maybe personal ID, but I've got the right password and LJ name, and it is supposed to be really easy to install, and works up to WP 3.5.1. Frustrating.

Well, eventually I'll get things going ok, and then hopefully cross posting to here will be happening.

Blue Phoenix Or nué

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 03:02:49 GMT

So, I took up a new embroidery project, an Or nué blue phoenix, which will become a small badge attached to a future carry bag for SCA use. The main reason I am working on it now is because of our Baronial A&S competition, which had at its main component something metal. Gold, even faux gold, was approved as a metal. I chose the phoenix as I'm a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Blue & gold are my chosen colors (along with silver), so the colors in the inspiration piece were perfect for me. The baronial colors are also blue and gold, but the phoenix is all gold. This just makes it more me.

So, my blue phoenix is slowly being worked on. I'm about halfway through the embroidery piece. I decided to upload the photos into a progress photo album, which you can see by clicking on the photo above right, or click here.

As to the embroidery process, I'm currently just going on the info I was taught in a few different classes. While I've looked at several Or nue extant pieces as photos in classes or online, I've not been able to see exactly how those were created, or how close or far apart the originals placed the threads. The books and articles I've read seem to have two different methods of doing up Or nue, one is evenly spaced threads, the other changes up the threads. I'm not sure which is the historical method and need to read more on it.

This piece is more based on how I want to place the threads, closer together to block out the gold in some areas, and spread farther apart to show the gold in other places like on the bird torso and wings so far. A lot of the area does allow bits of gold to peak through, so that it will glitter in the light at an angle.

The filled in design would have been better if done with a thinner gold thread. I'm unable to get a decent bird face, especially the mouth/beak area. It looks ok at a distance. But the design in general is looking pretty good so far. I'm enjoying the process of choosing where to place each thread, sometimes taking out a thread and replacing other colors there instead. It just has to be done at the time, and not later when I've added in another row of gold. More of a learning piece, I think. I do want to find out if the historical pieces used just silk in split stitch along high detail areas, like faces, but how the gold is dealt with, I've no idea.

Well, back to stitching as I've only a week left to finish it.

(x-posted from my new blog location, http://www.kimiko1.com/blog/?p=54. Still a work in progress there.

Accessories!

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:41:32 GMT

Some time ago, I was busy working my hands getting some accessories made for Caid's Pentathlon A&S competition. I was so busy I didn't blog much about them. Sadly, I ended up very sick a few days before the event, and cancelled my plans to go as I remained sick through that weekend. Needless to say I was very frustrated as I'd put a lot of time and energy into making the final touches to my Embroideress outfit, which would be entered into the competition, among other items like my heraldic embroidery, and the English bonnet (aka gable) that I'd been working on for far too long.

So, today, I collected all the photos, sorted through them, and made a new photo album and landing page for all those items. You can click on the photo to your right to get to the landing page. From there, I have links to the photo album itself.

I think with the new page, and the captions under each photo, that I've covered each item pretty well. As always, if something is confusing, please post a comment and I will be happy to answer.

Teaching Henrician/Tudor & my short gown.

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 04:13:14 GMT

One of the things that was firmed up this past weekend, is the planning for having Henrician/Tudor costuming classes for our Kingdom. You see, our future Queen has plans to step down from their reign in November wearing Henricians, roughly 1530 to 1540. Right up my costuming alley. They will be stepping up in Venetians, which tempted me for awhile, but I have things I need to create/work on before their reign starts in June (like garb for the kids), so while I thought about it, instead I will be finishing up an outfit that has been sitting in its box for some time waiting for the final details.

I won't be teaching Henrician costuming alone (I couldn't do all that traveling down south). It will be a group effort with the Clothiers guild, and with Baroness Ceara, who recently did her own Catherine Parr court gown. Both Baroness Ceara and myself were asked to run this effort, and I am looking forward to doing what I can, which will include more online research information when this gets active.

So, the long term focus for this year is making an Henrician outfit. I had already planned on doing so, the fancy short gown, but for 12th Night next January, not early November. Yes, it is normally plenty of time for me to make such an outfit, but this time I want embroidery, hand sewn embroidery, and that will take lots of time to do up.
[eta: This is the inspiration for the short gown | this is the sleeve inspiration. I plan on wearing my new English bonnet (aka gable).]

Thankfully, I had already been planning this for awhile in my head, and collecting various images and drawings, trying to figure out a pattern that would be interesting, but not too difficult to embroider. I do not want to spend a few years in the embroidery, so as I mentioned before (here), I will be twisting my own cords and couching those into a nice pattern. Hopefully doing that will only take several months.

But one difficulty I was finding is that often, the pretty (and woodcut accurate) period patterns require several cords being used at once. And they often were not continuous, but started and stopped often. But looking at images of Henry VIII and Francois of France, the embroidery usually done on them appears to be one cord doing dips and curves, which is easier to control. And they were repeating motifs. But without repeating those exact patterns, I wasn't finding an interlace that was continuous and only used one cord among the period woodcuts. (sigh).

Then a friend posted a link to this image of Girolamo di Benvenuto, Portrait of a Young Woman, c. 1508. Yes, she is lovely, but what caught my eye was the edge design of the panel, the interlace, and in tracking each design it only uses 2 separate cords, for the most part. And it offers corner designs, which I will have to use on the gown I've got planned. Here's a detailed shot of that interlace pattern.

Yes, the pattern is most likely Italian in origin. But like the period embroidery books, the patterns ended up spreading far and wide, and interlacing itself is a very old art form reaching to the Roman times. And since this pattern seems to fulfill my objectives, I shall be using it - once I work up the pattern tracing, and make up a test sample.

My only concerns is that even with this embroidery the outfit as a short gown may not be "impressive" enough compared to the typical French gown/court Tudor style. I've also got to find an appropriate fabric to use as the kirtle. I did decide that the kirtle will have a train, depending on how much fabric I find. I'm leaning towards making it in a dark orange or golden orange color, which should pop against the teal blue/green of the velvet and silk. The embroidery will be on black silk and applied as a guard along the gown edges, both skirts and sleeves. I may even add pearls, maybe. I've still got some hunting to do, but starting the embroidery will be a big help.

Collegium & class handout.

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 01:51:07 GMT

This past weekend I went to, and taught a class at, the kingdom of Caid's Collegium Caidis. It was a lot of learning fun, with classes from painting illuminated jewels, to making a feather quill and oak gall ink, and learning secretarial hand from Master Thomas so I can hopefully decipher tailor's warrants now (I need a lot more practice in reading, let alone writing the hand).

Like I mentioned, I also taught a class, called Overcoming the Sleevil. I was told it was one of the best class names for the weekend. Those who sew, who have experienced the issues with sleevils knew exactly what the class was about. I did have folks ask about the name and for the most part they were not costumers, with one new costumer who hadn't had to deal with fitted sleeves yet.

The class went well, and I had around a dozen students, I think. I was informed from some that the class really helped them to understand sleeves better, and I can only hope the others learned something new as well. However, since my experience is late period, and many in the class wore vikings or roman styles, I'm not sure how well it will translate across the time spectrum, but it was a start I hope.

I've now recovered from the weekend, got my notes into a pdf format, and uploaded it to my web site. You can find it at the top of my Workshops & Articles page. Please let me know if there are any problems with the handout, so I can improve it for when I teach it next.

Sewing room purge, Books for sale

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 22:19:47 GMT

I doing some purging in my sewing room, just started. One start is a pile of books that I would like to find new homes for. The list is on my FB notes page, since I can make that one public.
http://www.facebook.com/notes/kimiko-small/books-for-sale-march-2013/10151476602986141

I will be adding more books to it this week (planning on weekly updates for a bit), and other items will be going up for sale soon. What doesn't sell gets donated or trashed, depending.

(x-posted to my personal blog.)

EDIT
Was told the FB page is not showing up for those not on FB without creating an account. So here is the list.

Costume / Sewing

Victorian Costuming Volume I: 1840 to 1865. by Janet Winter & Carolyn Savoy. This needs a
new home. Read a few times but in good condition. Lowest online price
used copy is $25.00, asking $20.

Ancient European Costume and Fashion by Herbert Norris, Dover edition. Bought new, never read. Asking $8.00.

Eyewitness Books: Costume by L. Rowland-Warne. Great for kids and adults. Mostly full color. Asking $5.00

Echoes of Glory-Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy, Time-Life book.
Hardcover. Only read once in great condition. Lots of photos with
costume details. Would like to sell as set with next book. $39.95 List,
asking $15.

Echoes of Glory-Arms and Equipment of the Union, Time-Life book.
Hardcover. Only read once in great condition.
Lots of photos with costume details. Would like to sell as set with
previous book. $39.95 List, asking $12 (thinner than previous book).

Embroidery/Needlework

New Needlecraft Project Book : Over 60 Inspired Embroidery, Needlpoint,
Patchwork and Quilting... by Lucinda Ganderton (1996, Hardcover).
Asking $5.

History/Other

Wives and Daughters : The Women of Sixteenth Century England by Kathy Lynn
Emerson (1984, Paperback) This copy is water damaged in one corner but
still a good book. I'm not researching historical women to portray at
faire, so this needs a new home. Lowest online price used copy is $15.
Asking $10.

Past Into Present, by Stacy F. Roth. List
Price: USD 28.95. Asking $15.00 Only read once, but not into
interpreting at events much.

Bittersweet Within My Heart : The Love Poems of Mary, Queen of Scots by Robin Bell (1992, Hardcover). Read once. Asking $2.

Echoes of Glory-Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy and Echoes of Glory-Arms and Equipment of the Union - see above under Costume/Sewing.

Coming up for air

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:14:58 GMT

Sorry I haven't posted in a long while. I've been madly trying to get projects done or dealt with for this weekend's Caid A&S Pentathlon competition. My hands have been busy (and getting tired) with hand sewing stockings, and making fingerloop braids, and I also need to do up documentation as well still. I'm entering 3 items only this time, my heraldic embroidery, my English bonnet & frontlet (aka the gable hood), and my completed merchant's wife's ensemble (aka MAAS Embroideress outfit.)

One of the planned projects is a new French hood, which for all the parts I have I could do up fairly quickly - the hood is done and had been sitting awhile, I've got the jewelery for the edge billament, and making a coif is fairly quick. But I already have a coif and an old hat, so that is what I will be wearing instead. I just couldn't justify the French hood for the time period in question for a merchant's wife - if this was for a gentry level garment it would be a shoe in, but for the late 1560s I wasn't seeing the evidence oddly enough among my collected images. The one woman wearing a French hood is from about the mid 1570s or 1580s (not sure the date of her image but she was born in 1560), and the other images that have French hood is a gentry woman in the effigy, which matches Hoffnaegel's image (longer view in color) (see the 5th lady from the left with the French hood - it says in translation English Noble Women).

So, since many of the images show merchant women wearing just their coif (I think - it is all white on their head so hard to say), even at the big wedding party, that is all I will be wearing for the completed look.

Now I can just focus on the small last details, and doing up the writing for the documentation. Should all that get done in time, I will think about making up that French hood to wear another time.

Playing with hair to fit the English bonnet.

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 02:01:51 GMT

Today I spent a bit of time braiding up my hair, and taking photos of what I look like with the hair up and braided, then with the front braids taped (using a blunt needle), and then with the English bonnet being worn. The first few tries were not as good, but the final two photos seems to have done the trick.

The photo album is now here on FB (public album), and I put in all the photos, and the inspirational images (and a photo of my cat, just because).

So, while the taped hair braids seems to have worked in front, the hair in back must be on top of my head in a bun, unbraided, or it won't fit right. Also the front taped hair braids are definitely not enough to match what I am seeing in the historical portraits. Especially since the taped braids disappeared once I got the bonnet to fit my face properly. So tomorrow I'll be buying a fabric pen and making a striped silk front hair casing (or more like curtain or hair cover), and will add to that photo album.

English gable bonnet photo links

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 04:30:20 GMT

I'm not feeling like it is worth posting this directly here right now. But if you haven't seen the photos of the mostly done English gable bonnet, I posted them to FB here and here. If those don't show up, it is in this small public photo album here.

As a reminder, they are based on these two portraits (links given). Jane Seymour for the general shape and proportion (the bonnet ends around the mouth area by c.1536, and I wanted this bonnet originally for my 1530s outfit), and because I couldn't afford buying that many pearls, I went with Mary Guildford for the decoration using gold trim that was in my stash. This also makes the bonnet more appropriate for the lower station court ladies I usually ended up portraying at faire, ie Baroness or maybe Countess, but usually not Queen.

Still working to get a photo of me wearing it, but again, need to fully finish it with the hair wrap piece. I keep debating, paint stripes or just leave it as plain silk?

Wrist ruffs, and a gable hood

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 07:35:53 GMT

I've been sewing a lot this weekend. Yesterday at our Baronial A&S day, I spent it hand sewing the wrist ruffs, which I had started the weekend before, got stuck when I realized the one strip was twice as long as it should be and ignored it until yesterday. Both wrist ruffs got finished right before I headed home for game night yesterday afternoon.

Today, I finally got out the old gable hood that I had started in 2009, mulled in 2010, and sorta worked on jeweling the front whatsits last summer, is finally getting worked on again with the intention of finishing for Pentathlon. This afternoon I cut out the linen linings for the front portion that frames the face, and the back little box with the two hanging black veils. I spent the afternoon and this evening, while my husband has been playing Lego LotR, and the kids playing other things or with friends, hand sewing the linings into place. Tonight the two linings are done, and so are my hands. Tomorrow, I put the darn thing all together in the back, which scares me as I have no idea how well that will work.

I haven't had to insert a lining to an already shaped hat before, and that was interesting to deal with. The back box required a few pleats for the corners, since I made the lining as a larger square instead of shaping it the same as the box. The head framing portion I had to carefully maintain tension, without pulling the linen too far or it would hang lower than it should. I didn't want to add more contact cement this time as it actually can yellow when it is too thick in an area (as I am seeing happened to the silk in a few spots). I also should NOT have put on the jeweled portion before I put on the lining, as it got in my way and my stitches along the front is rather large, not as small as I would have preferred. Lesson learned (I hope).

Again, as I'm working on this, I keep thinking there had to be a better way. I've got ideas, but not sure when I want to tackle another gable hood once this one is done. But it will look nice when it is all together, and not as gaudy as I feared it would.

Oh, wait, I still have the striped silk I need to create - and I will need to buy a fabric pen since I'm faking the stripes. Still, photos of the main bonnet when it is done tomorrow.

ETA: Seems I didn't blog about putting on the silk satin with contact cement, hand stab sewing on the chenille cotton lappets, or trimming & pearling the front whatsits by hand sewing it through the mulled and semi-covered buckram. I recall then finishing off the hand sewing of the whatsits (gotta find the right name for that piece again), before I sewed it onto the edge of the front bonnet. I don't recall when I did most of that except the trim & pearling which I carried with me to the beach last summer, got it sandy from the kids shoes, and didn't work on it there at all. I was bad on recording all that, sorry.

The Tudor Child [Book Review]

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 22:05:04 GMT

Hi, I'm back with another book review. This time it is a special treat, a book that I was honored to do my small part to help in the editing and commentary on (along with a few others including mmcnealy). I have been given permission by Jane M-D to make a book review before the book has been shipped - it is in production even now. I do not get any monetary compensation for this book review, nor will I get any monetary compensation for any sales from the book. I really wanted folks to see how wonderful this book will be, especially for costuming parents out there who has longed for a book that not only gives age appropriate patterns (in scaled graph format), but really in-depth information on children of the Tudor to Stuart period of English history (1485-1625).

I present to you The Tudor Child by Jane Huggett and Ninya Mikhaila, edited by Jane Malcolm-Davies. From The Tudor Tailor company. (click on photos twice to see larger images)

Note that even the cover is very useful, as their turn under flap has key information on it. At top is their British standard of child measurements, so you know what their baseline numbers will be for their patterns (which do state the age). Then in currency of the 16th century, a small chart on Roman numerals, various English 16th century measurements, and there will be a ruler to help with the pattern graphs (which I removed from this image).

At the request of the authors, I have removed the images that I originally had down to three smaller images. So my commentary is not going to make as much sense as it would with the images there. But they do have that right over their images even if American copyright and commentary laws state otherwise.

Oh, where to begin inside. At the beginning as one does with a good book. Right off the bat, you see full color images of paintings, and here as elsewhere there are images I had not seen before. I've seen a lot of period images, but the TT ladies really go all out to find even more images in their quest for more knowledge. This shows clearly even on their copyright info and Contents pages.

Oh, note that the words Review Copy will be everywhere in the images I have posted as I did screen captures of their final book files that they kindly allowed us to read.

The book also includes a Foreward by Alison Weir, the author. There is of course an Acknowledgement page, and it is amazing the number of people who were involved in this book. This will not be a small book. It is 160 pages at the Index page, and it took them quite some time to get it all together. They also had to delay the book as there were problems, but it is slated to ship around March 1, 2013.

When the TT folks research something like this, they dig deep into various records from wills and warrants, to images of the period. And they don't just look into paintings and other visual sources, they also go and find extant artifacts, like this teething tooth and rattle (I won't give away the little fun facts about this item). The information starts with the family's place in society, and then goes from newborn infant to near adulthood (which for them is younger than it is modernly). They cover all the stages of a child's life, from swaddling infants, young and older youths to about age 12. Not only discussing fashions, but also the training the children will go through, both male and female training. As a mom, I also appreciate that there is some info on their mothers as well, including how the Tudor women dealt with maternity fashion needs.

Back to the artifacts, it was quite wonderful to see paintings, brasses and other funeral monuments, along with extant children's garments - some of which were photographed for this book. The ladies traveled quite a bit to see some of these garments first hand to better understand the garments.

Sometimes all you have are what appear to be scraps, but with the various examples from a variety of sources, it is easier to understand the garments of the period. And in understanding the period garments, they recreated the images into patterns for recreated period garments, like you see below. (Aldersey image below left, with the girl's garment recreated on the image right).

The image on the right hand side, lower corner of two boys, is Hans Holbein (the younger) as a boy, and his brother Ambrosius, as painted by their father (Hans Holbein the elder). I just rather liked that image, since Holbein the younger's paintings are heavily used as a Tudor fashion source.

This page is a good example of the various sources they used to recreate their patterns. Funeral brass, extant knit cap, detail from a painting, and funeral monuments. There is discussion on boys and the skirts they wear when young, then moving onto wearing breeches and how things change for boys at that time socially and in their clothing. I know I've had problems figuring out sometimes if I am looking at a young boy or a young girl, and this book discusses the clues they used to figure out the sexes, and what the symbolism means.

Even stained glass is used in their research with another new-to-me image. This page also shows that they do cover a wide range of time, over a century worth of information and patterns. From 1527 to 1620 in just the two images below. And girls are discussed as clearly as boys, along with the roles girls were expected to grow up into. Along with roles by gender, there is heavy discussion of the various garment layers from the skin out, including accessories. Some of it seems a little repetitive (or maybe that was all the reading I was slowly doing), but it is all excellent information, with lots of footnotes (see farther below).

On page 51, they then get into the fabrics and sewing techniques you will need to use in your costume re-creations. If you have read The Tudor Tailor book you know about the various fabrics of the period. They again include their chart with that information, including new quotes pertinent to children and taken from various written sources like wills and warrants.

I don't share all the large full color photos of the garments they recreated (or the large full page spread of period images). I wanted to keep some of it as a surprise for you when you buy the book. But they really are beautiful costume p0rn, as it is often called.

This page is a great example of what they discuss in Constructing the Garments, showing how one can recreate the look of the period using modern methods. As an example is the modern trim in the photo that was made into a more period looking one. Even how to pink and slash garments (a very common decorating methed of the period) using period tools or modern tools. There are lots of detailed sketches drawn by Michael Perry (Ninya's husband), that help with the sewing details. I know many folks like myself understand visuals better than words, and these sketches really help to add clarity. And what's not to adore with a cute kid looking at herself in the mirror as her mother finishes with the muslin mockup (a must do for any garment really).

Then comes each pattern and reconstruction of period garments, including this adorable little baby who is happily being swaddled in the period fashion. Believe me, if the child didn't want to be wrapped like a burrito, they would let you know about it. All those steps and details were once done for little newborns, especially for those of high social standing. Doesn't Jane M-D look like she stepped out of a portrait with the fashionably wrapped Tudor baby in her arms?

In their books, they have changed a few things from their usual format. One little but ever so helpful item is their box of Sources. It is right up front with every single garment being recreated, so you know what sources they looked at when they created their patterns (I hear some cheers from the SCA A&S crowd).

Another little helpful box of info is their chart of Years. This helpful box has a range of dates and social stations, with check marks to show you when and for what social station the particular fashion style is appropriate. Really helpful, so you won't be making a little Stuart commoner's gown for your daughter to wear at the Henry VIII ball (although if she really wants that, I won't tell you not to - but at least you will know). The date ranges are not super accurate, but generally helpful. You will need to understand the changes in fashion to know the definite cut-off points - if you really wanted to know more. And usually older fashions were still being used at later times, and this is discussed in the book on how garments are often re-used and re-made to flow with changing fashion trends.

So that you don't think it is all about pretty pretty princess (or princely) clothing, there are simpler garments as well for the common children of the era. I'll be making up some of these garments for my kids as they would rather run around and get muddy while climbing trees.

If you notice, I'm not sharing the patterns as that is one of the purposes of this book. But they are there, well detailed on graph paper for you to scale up for your children. Don't worry if you don't draft or scale patterns there will be full sized ones available on their web site for sale as well.

But for those of you who want that pretty pretty Princess Elizabeth for your 12 year old daughter, well, your wish is granted. It is here, in all the glorious details you ever wanted, from the smock to the outer gown and French hood. And for her brother, there is a Prince Edward suit as well. Yes, lots of details. The children will be well dressed at that ball.

There are other accessories as well, from simple coifs and biggins, to various types of headwear. And for those who knit, there are a few knitted items to keep you happy as well. I'll have to find someone to knit a few items for me in time. There is even a cute pair of leather booties for the baby/toddler to wear, and a doll (as seen on the cover image) for a child (or adult) to dress up and play with (I can't wait to find time to make my daughter one as well).

The book would not be complete without footnotes, lots and lots of footnotes, for those of you who really really enjoy knowing the research details. 8 pages of tiny print, of which this image only shows a sample. The final page is the index, so you can find the detail item you want quickly.

So, in all that, are there any drawbacks? Well, a few I know of.

While the history and the garments are well detailed, there is not much information on how to make these garments in such a way that the child won't outgrow them after being worn once or twice. You will need to find a forum or FB group to discuss these sorts of details, or hand them down to younger children later.
The date ranges as I mentioned are not super accurate for those who are new to the period but are general guidelines.
The book jumps around a bit with regards to age on how the patterns are presented but there are subsections - just not listed directly in the Contents page. They are pregnancy and babyhood, general underwear, basic garments, ordinary boys and girls, elite children, and accessories.
Unless they went with a spiral cover or similar, the book spine is going to be well worn by the time I am done - since I do tend to keep working pattern books like this open a lot.
There are some patterns and information that is the same as was provided in previous books. However, these are scaled down to the smaller child size. (added later)
There are no real directions on how to modify from one size to another size. You need to understand how to do this already, or find another book/resource to explain that process for you. This includes the knitted garments (added later)
There may be other problem areas, but they are minor and I can't think of them right now.

So, that's the (modified) review of this book. If you have any questions please ask in the comments area. If you want to pre-purchase a signed copy of this book, there is a special offer price of £25 pounds (for UK folks - higher elsewhere, see their web site), with the offer lasting until February 15 (2+ more days their time I think). If you want a signed copy, I highly suggest purchasing one now. I cannot wait to get started on garments for my kids (after Pentathlon in a month).

A scroll and a ruff start

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 06:14:36 GMT

So I am finally getting back into making things again.

First up was several hours of time (over two days) spent painting on a Harp Argent scroll for a friend.

I've only painted in half the page, as the other half was covered while I worked. I'll be covering up the painted & calligraphed side and working on the other half when I can, which I realized I have a month left to do other projects first, so it will be awhile. (The calligraphy was done a bit ago).

The other thing I started on is a set of wrist ruffs for my merchant's outfit. Tonight I cleared the cutting table, washed and pressed the cotton lace, and cut 3 full lengths of linen at 2" a piece. I'll be cutting one of those lengths in half to make each wrist ruff 1.5 lengths long. Since the lace is still damp after pressing, I'll let it dry overnight and get started with the sewing tomorrow.

I need it done by next Monday for our Baronial A&S activity, and definitely need it done for Pentathlon next month. Other items I need done is some redoing of my merchant outfit, and finishing up my English gable hood. A lot more hand sewing is in my future. Progress pics when I can (and have something interesting to share).

All About Silk [Book Review]

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 00:38:18 GMT

Today is another book review. I decided to cover a book on silk fabrics, since this kind of fabric comes with all sorts of questions that are often repeated in the various mailing lists and FB groups I am in. In fact, when I first got involved with silk, I had lots of questions of my own, and this book really helped to make heads or tails on silk.

The book is All About Silk: A Fabric Dictionary & Swatchbook (Fabric Reference Series, Volume 1) (ISBN 0-9637612-0-X) (or buy direct from publisher here for cheaper). It is volume one in a series of books Fabric Reference Series, by Julie Parker, who both wrote and illustrated the book. There are two other books in the series, one on cotton and another on wool. The book is 92 pages long, and my copy was it's sixth printing from 2000.

The book is a soft cover, with a covered spiral comb binding. The front cover is handy as you can use it as a book marker, although I haven't done so.
(Click on photos twice to view larger image)

What I want you to look at next is the back of the book. If you purchase a version that has the swatches, you will find those in the back of the book in a sealed envelope. I never took mine out, as I bought a swatch pack of samples from thaisilks.com before I bought this book, and had those to help me feel the different types of silks. You are to take out the samples, in their original order, and place them on each type of silk discussed in the book with glue or double sided tape.

Back to the front of the book where there is a table of Contents. The main headers are on general info on silks, 32 Silk Fabrics, Types of Silks, The World of Silks, Care of Silk, Silk Characteristics, The Weaves, Types of Yarn, Special Effects, and Miscellaneous Notes. The main pages are on the first three headers - the rest will be found in a blurb area amongst the main info, so if you are looking for something specific, it is best to either find out where on the Contents page, at in the Index at the back of the book.

The first section in an Introduction that also discusses how the book is layed out. It really helps to read this portion in full. One bit of info I found noted here is that there are no real rules for what fabrics are described as, and that once you know a fabric you may find that different sellers and importers may call one fabric by another name, or that fabrics can have a variety of treatments done to it. This book will help you understand the difference between common types with common names, but nothing is set in stone or law.

This is then followed by a few pages on the silk history and industry. It also has a sidebar on silk's limitations. You really have to keep these limitations in mind when you work with silk, especially in cleaning them and in treating the fabric.

Then you get to the 32 different fabric types discussed in the book. I've since read about other silk fabric types, but these are the solid basic ones that is used most often in the sewing world, and the others may be a variation on a silk fabric discussed here, or just a different name. In fact, each type may have variations described below the main description, including variations in other fibers.

What I like on this page is that it will tell you how to best use each fabric type. It will tell you how that fabric drapes, or doesn't. How it gathers, what types of needles to use (generally speaking - not a specific number), what sort of garment type it works best for (fitted, semi-fitted, loose fit, etc.), and how to best wash the fabric.

This is carried onto the second page in detail for each fabric, as seen below. Here you get a chart of sorts, with checkboxes to help you know more about each fabric. The headers here are Sewing rating (easy to extremely difficult), Suggested fit, Suggested styles, What to expect (like is it slippery, will it stretch or not, will it ravel like crazy, etc.), Wearability (Durable, snag resistant, wrinkles easily, etc.), Suggest care (how best to clean the fabric), and Where to find (local chain store, or specialty mail order)

As I mentioned above, among the checkboxed info area, is a box that has a blurb on a variety of things, from "yarns, weaves, finishes and special effects, bits of history and other tidbits." I found these boxes to be interesting, and learned quite a bit from them, but they aren't extensive.

After all 32 types of silk fabrics are covered, there is a personal swatch collection area. Mine isn't filled out, mostly because I keep those in my own swatch books. If you keep it here or elsewhere, I do suggest collecting swatches of fabrics from your favorite suppliers, so you will know what they have to offer.

Speaking of suppliers, there is a listing of stores most of which are still around. My copy is from 2000, but the publishers offer an updated list of suppliers on their web site (from 2010).

At the back of the book is a Bibliography!! I like those, because it helps to find more books on the subject. After that is an Index, to help you find that specific topic in the book.

And that's about it on the book. It really is a great book that will help provide info beyond what you can normally find on the 'net. Especially the check box info area, which can really help when you are trying to figure out what sorts of silk fabrics might survive heavy use at a renfaire, or what type works best for a veil. And the swatches that are included really let you FEEL each and every silk type, in advance of buying anything at the store or online. It really makes the whole book even better. My best suggestion is if you are new to silk fabrics, or have a lot of questions on silks, buy the book. It is like getting a silk expert in a book.

Updating my web site

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 03:35:14 GMT

It has been a long time since I've added sections or completed projects to my web site, so I spent the past couple of days working on updates.

I added in a section just for my SCA resume, to list what I have created during my time in the SCA, and what accomplishments I've done. You can find that section starting here, as Joan Silvertoppe's SCA Resumé.

As to the projects, they are

1510s Wool Short Gown
Nordwache's Goldwork Phoenix (which I've never shown on this blog before)
Illuminated Flower Border (from Caid's Pentathlon 2011)

All three new posts also have in-progress photo albums linked to their main page.

I have a few more items that need photos before I can do up their pages, which if the weather holds I hope to do this week. Sunlight is often best for photography, when I can. I'm also working on a new blog area, which will cross post to here. I'm just being held up by technical glitches.

And I hope to do up a book review tomorrow, once I figure out which one to work on.

Drafting & Constructing a Simple Doublet... [Book Review]

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 05:37:24 GMT

So, I promised you all book reviews starting tonight, so here is my first official one. eleanors_closet had asked if there were any on period tailoring techniques. Sadly, as far as I know those were tailoring secrets and none were written about in the 16th century (if I am incorrect, please, someone let me in on that secret).

There are tailoring books, including Alcega's, and I could have done a review on that book (and may, in the future). But her question made me think of a modern book that helped me when I made my own husband a doublet in 2004, as seen here. Don't let my bad interpretation of a doublet fool you with the information from this book. My husband didn't want certain things, like actual stuffing for the peascod shape, which changed the look of the final garment I made. It was also my first attempt to make something period, and ended up making it more peri-oid instead.

The book is "Drafting & Constructing a Simple Doublet & Trunkhose of the Spanish Renaissance" by Robert W. Trump (ISBN 0-9623719-2-0). I bought it many years ago from Green Duck Designs for $15 (their price sticker is still on the back cover). I see from addall.com that the book is now out of print, and the cheapest is $48. Perhaps a library can get a copy for you if you are interested. It is a simple softcover book, that was published by a small publishing company. Alfarhaugr Publishing Society of Eugene, Oregon. Printed originally in 1988, with this edition 1991. RW Trump was known as Robert Sartor von Pays Bas within the S.C.A., and was a pattern maker and tailor for the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and the Opera Theatre of St. Louis at the time of the book's publication. According to this web page, he was made a Master of the Laurel in 1978.

The book, according to the Introduction area, was originally presented as a set of six lectures for the S.C.A., then the draft and garments presented as six individual papers, and then with some editing was brought together into this one book. So, instead of chapters, the book is broken down into six books, as you can see in this photo below. The books are 1. Doublet Draft, 2. Doublet Construction, 3. Trunkhose Draft, 4. Trunkhose Construction, 5. Accessories, and 6. Appendices. This photo below shows the different sections (click and click again for a larger view).

So, what is inside? Well, the book title/titles pretty much says it all. There is info on how to draft and then sew up a doublet and a pair of trunkhose. The doublet information is based on Libro De Geometria of Juan De Alcega, 1589, otherwise known as the Tailor's Pattern Book 1589. Trump uses the version that was translated by J. Pain and C. Bainton. Since Alcega did not give a pattern for trunkhose or breeches, Trump adapted the examples take from Patterns of Fashion by Janet Arnold and offers a simple pair of trunkhose.

Trump states that he intended this book to be for those who want a method of interpreting the clothes in "as faithful a manner possible, while making the work as little labor intensive as possible without sacrificing the basic physical construction practices of the time." The patterning method is modern, and was created by Trump, as he also wasn't privy to how the tailors of the 16th century either. In other words, he created a flat pattern method of his own which he called the Sartor system. He says he bases it on what was known from period practices, but to be as simple as possible for modern folks. The garments are designed to be both machine and hand sewn.

So does his Sartor pattern drafting system work? Well, at this point I have to go from hazy memory, but yes, in most ways it does. At least for the doublet which was the only portion I have used so far. Basic measurements are taken, and a basic set of lines are drawn. Some of the lines are based on general proportions instead of actual measurements (which if your man is not of average proportion somewhere can be a problem). He does this in three stages, and he is pretty clear in each step as to what is needed.

The photo below shows the finished shape of his doublet draft, with some of my measurement notes penciled in. Trump also discusses the cassock, and while no specific pattern is given, if you get the doublet draft down, the cassock becomes an extension of the doublet with some minor changes which he discusses.

After encouraging a person to make a mockup of the basic doublet pattern, he then gets to Book 2 to construct the doublet. I bet you are wondering what this doublet looks like? We finally get to a drawing of it on page 31, with a dark b&w photo of it on page 32. I didn't take a photo of the photos, as well, they are dark enough that it is hard to tell what the man is wearing. And if you can't tell, it is supposed to be a peascod shaped doublet, tho' not heavily so.

The line drawings are much better than the photos, as you can see in this image below. Remember, this is a small-published book from the 1980s, when full colored photo books like we get today were very expensive to print. That Trump also included these line drawings alongside the photos really help to clarify what is going on. He does also include line drawing schematics to clarify certain sewing & tailoring techniques, but it is not like modern Big 3, or Margo Anderson pattern company that give step by step line drawings. You have to read each step, and reread it sometimes, to understand what it is Trump is explaining in his drafting and construction information.

Trump also provides info on how to create laced in sleeves. You can also sew them in, which for men seems to be the historical method (or at least it seems so with what few extant doublets have sewn in sleeves). His patterning method for the two part angled sleeves seems very simple and straightforward, and I will be experimenting with the method for my own set of instructions.

The next two chapters are on drafting the pattern for the trunkhose, and on making them up. As I mentioned earlier, I did not use this info, as my husband wanted a simpler pair (that were horrid, but that wasn't Trump's fault - perhaps I should have done them with his method). But the info within seems as clear as the info on the doublets were.

The chapter on Accessories covers three items. First a codpiece which is based on an extant one of 1560. Then a simple set of informal ruffs that Trump calls Fraises, which seems decently made although a bit confusing at a glance - using only 2 pages and one illustration. He then provides info on making modern tying laces using modern ribbon and heat shrink electrical wiring insulation, among other materials. I know he was trying to keep things simple but period looking, but I suggest today making braided laces with metal tips instead, if you can.

Book 6 is the Appendices, where he locates the Measurement Formulae that he used in his pattern drafting system. Then a glossery of terms that is helpful, from fabric types, to garment terms, to specific patterning terms that Trump uses like "muscle point - On the front of a man's chest, that place where the large muscle attaches the chest to the arm, near the bottom of the shoulder joint. The distance between the muscle points is called the Front Width". I hadn't known that before.

So, that is the book in a long nutshell. I know there are more modern books that offer mens patterns for the period (and I will cover those later), but this one was my first for understanding a man's set of historical clothing, and Trump covered it well. Trump offers various notes along the way, and tries to include as much period references as possible. The drawback to his historical comments is that he does not share his specific sources if they are not Alcega or Arnold. Should I need to make another man's doublet, I won't hesitate to use the information in this book. As I do plan someday on making a woman's doublet, I'm not sure how accurate his patterning method would be on me (I doubt the proportions would be the same), but his construction methods would be helpful.

If you have any questions, please ask in the Comments. If you have any suggestions for books to review, please let me know in the Comments.

Future Book Reviews

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 01:23:09 GMT

I recently realized that I should be doing book reviews on this blog. Why? Well, I have a very large personal research library of books, that took me years to hunt down and add to the library collection (note the linked collection is not complete). I also have had a life-long love of books, and know what makes a book good, to my mind of course. ;-)

I have done a few book reviews before, but those were incidental as I bought them and commented about them, and I realize that I haven't done books that I thought I had covered.

My plan is to do this once a week, which will cover about 50 books if I should get through the year. Of course, it will be my opinion that I will be giving, as any reviewer does. I will be providing photos of the interior so you can see what is inside any given book. Does not mean my opinion is right or wrong, and folks are free to politely agree or disagree with my thoughts in the comments.

But which book should I start with? My focus will be on books on 16th century topics, mostly costuming books, some art books, and even modern sewing books if I think they are helpful in some way.

So, dear readers, are there any books out there you want to know more about? Any book I should start with or add to the list of first books to review? Please comment if you do, and hopefully they are already in my collection. The first review will be on Sunday.

Thinking of the New Year.

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 07:16:27 GMT

It is in just a few days, and why not come up with direction for next year - especially since I've been floundering a bit directionless for far too long. This is why I've not posted anything in over a month, as I've done very very little creative this past month.

A friend asked on the Eliz. Costume FB group "New Year's Sewinultion~ What will 2013 bring to your wardrobe?"

I thought about it for a bit this afternoon, and it hit me as I was putting on another ratty old t-shirt on, before heading out to see The Hobbit, I don't want any more costumes at this point, what I really want is real clothing for me, that looks nice, that fits nice, but is as comfy as the old t-shirts I own, but far nicer looking.

I've said it before elsewhere, and each year I think about what I might want to wear, but each year it remains on that back burner, and that is getting cold and old and moldy back there. So, other than the bit of stuff I will be working on this week for 12th Night (if I get working on it), it is time for a change in direction, and that back burner of ME clothing will move front and center. If I get inspired, I'll also do other costumes but they will not be my focus.

It will have to include (in no particular order since I'm just getting my thoughts down)

pants, comfy ones
shirts, semi-fitted if possible, maybe a few that are tunics and loose, and since most are for around the house working, they will have to be comfy and not get in my way.
skirts, long for winter, short for summer
vests, long and short, to spruce up those basic outfits when I leave the house - and a place to embellish more.
new bras - those are a must
shorts for the summer.
Maybe a light jacket or two for more business or dressy occasions
A dress? Is there anything I might need a dress for? My eldest son's wedding, maybe, if not a pant suit or something.

But more than just the list of the basics, as I need a lot of basics, I would like them to reflect a bit more of me. Some will be plain, but I have trims of all sorts just sitting around waiting to be used, and I rarely use them in my historical costumes. So why not use them on my not-so-mundane clothing, yes? And I've a lot of fabric of all sorts that are waiting to be made into something - about time they get to speak for themselves for modern clothing.

And as inspired while I watched the Hobbit, trimmings and embroideries are a must in some fashion. Both elves and dwarves used some form of interlacings; the dwarves had angular ones, the elves more freeflowing natural ones. I like interlacings of all sorts, so that I look forward to using/making.

Maybe, in doing this and focusing on my own every day wear, I may break through this wall blocking my creativity elsewhere.

Finished Wool Shortgown

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 05:37:04 GMT

Yep, finished! It's been finished since before I went to West Kingdom's Collegium a couple of weekends ago, but I've been sitting on the photos until now, mostly to focus on house cleaning.

The photos I have also includes another little tool I used to mark out the pattern, both cutting and sewing lines, since the pattern was made without a seam allowance. It is called a Double Tracing Wheel, and I think it was made by Clover (my package was different than what I see online). I bought mine a few years ago during a trip to L.A.'s Garment District, and only now gave it a whirl. I'll be using it more often.

The gown is seen worn over my red damask kirtle, which it was not designed to cover, so there are parts that do peek through. But it really shows the difference between the two garments which I rather like. I may have to make a red linen kirtle just for the contrast with this gown.

I'm not sure what else I can write up about this project, that wasn't covered already. So I'll just give you the link to the progress photos, which include those I took after a day at WK's Collegium, taken at the hotel. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

1510 Wool Short Gown

November ArtEvDaMo

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 05:25:15 GMT

November is usually Art Every Day Month, and usually I do play along. And usually I loose steam about halfway through the month.

This year I will not be specifically participating, although I do plan to do as much creative work as I can find time for. However, I also have plans to work on gathering research and writing stuff for Pentathalon, and maybe another outlet as well, so not all creative stuff this month.

That, and I've got other things I need to focus on. So, maybe next year I will make a strong daily work on being creative.

Return to hand sewing!

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 00:56:02 GMT

It really isn't until your hands are sore that you realize just how much you use them. Especially the off hand, for me my left hand, that was the injured one. I had pinched a nerve, and had to stay off the hand and minimize its use for awhile - over two months now. I have only recently been doing hand exercises to help improve it since the left hand is still weak. The hand still has twinges of soreness, but not the sharp pains I was getting, which is good.

This did mean that the wool short gown had to be put aside, as I couldn't do more than a couple of eyelets at Great Western War before the left hand complained again, and that was in early October. But yesterday I tried another eyelet and was able to continue and finish up the whole set. I am taking breaks to let the hand rest.

I also did something different for me. I had read in Seventeenth-Century Women's Dress Patterns: Book 1 about how eyelets were sewn with one very long thread, linking each eyelet under the fabric. Well, I normally use short lengths of thread, so I tried to see how many eyelets I could do with a whip stitch of linen thread (50/3 Londonderry). I used a length of thread roughly a yard long or a little more. I was able to sew up 5 eyelets spaced 3/4" apart. Not bad! I did a couple of backstitches before and after each eyelet to keep the tension from pulling on already completed eyelets.

I think the most annoying thing was the wool fabric that prefers to keep the eyelet closed, at least in the beginning. After a few stitches, several uses of my awl while sewing, and two passes on the whip stitch, I now have lovely eyelets that hold open very nicely. In fact, I think I like the linen thread that I heavily waxed better than the silk buttonhole twist I've used before. I'll know more when I lace things up.

This photo shows both front and back sides of the bodice side, where it laces. No boning was used at the edge so it does pucker a bit but I'm not worried about it.

There is a layer of modern tailor's canvas under the folded back layer of wool to help stabilize the eyelets. It is the first time I've used this, as I usually have some form of canvas interlining. But this time the bodice has no interlining layer, in part to see what happens when I don't use it. This gown really is an experiment in various things.

Next section is to sew the skirt parts, front and back, to the bodice.

Playing with a cord maker

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 02:04:26 GMT

For my fancy short gown project, I want to embroider gold thread twist onto a guard/welt of silk in a fairly simple design. I've found in my stash a nice dark teal cotton velveteen to use for the gown itself, with a light teal blue silk taffeta I can use for the sleeve lining. I did not want to use the taffeta for embroidering on, and found some black silk satiny (charmeuse?) fabric that will hopefully show off the gold embroidery nicely. Black silk fabrics were often used in the warrants for embroidery.

However, for the gold twist I don't want to hunt down & pay for many many many yards of cheap gold twist (especially since most come in only 3 yard rolls). I love gilt thread in fine embroidery, but I can't afford to pay for that much gilt twist for a garment. So, I decided to see if twisting passing thread might work. I had done a short bit by hand/pencil for my big embroidery project, and it worked ok, but it was not very tight a twist, and it was hard to keep the thread from untwisting itself during the process as the pencil slipped out.

So, I figured there had to be a better way. Thankfully there is, and it is battery operated instead of hand cranked, so after some stalling I bought it. It is called the Cord Maker and Fringe Twister, and was created by Lacis (the folks who have that wonderful lace store & museum in Berkeley.)

This is what the cord maker looks like out of the box (click to see larger image).

I got it last week, but only took it out of the box this afternoon. It takes two AA batteries, and after hunting down a pair that was recharged (we use lots of rechargeable batteries around here), I got to playing with the machine. Seriously, it looks rather kinky, but it works pretty well once I got things working right. It really pays to read the little instruction pamphlet.

So I gave it a whirl, and the following is what I came up with (photos under the cut). The threads have to be held by the hooks, so the threads are doubled and inserted under the hooks, with all the threads knotted together and held away from the maker. The cord maker twists each set of strands in one direction. Then when all is twisted and under tension, you flip the switch and the whole thing twists in the opposite direction to join the strands together. The background fabric is the silk satiny fabric I will be using for the embroidered guard and it reflects a lot of light.

The cords/twists are, from top to bottom:

Benton & Johnson #371 in white gold (single strand)
2 strands doubled and twisted
3 strands doubled & twisted
2 strands blue DMC embroider floss with 1 strand of passing, doubled and twisted.

Click on any of the photos to see a larger image.

This is a close-up view

This view is without direct light, to minimize the glare and shine of both metal threads, and the black satin I put them on. It is possible to overtwist and kink the threads if you aren't careful (like I did on one of them below).

I really like this cord maker, so far. These are samples, so I used about a yard of thread to make the samples. I've not tried out longer lengths yet.

The only drawback so far is that the ends nearest the hooked portions will not get twisted, so that is a loss (as seen in the overview photo). And the knots will have to be cut off as well. But with longer lengths I should have some decent lengths of twisted cord to work with. I may need help with it at a longer length, although the instructions suggested tying the end to a hook, clamp or door knob.

I also realized with the metal threads, that the thicker threads will also not bend as easily as the thinner lengths, which is why I did not do a 4 strand test. I need it to remain flexible. I'm looking forward to making and embroidering for the short gown now. I guess now it is time to frame up the slate frame, and figure out a specific design to work on. Don't worry, I will be doing a sample piece first once I have that figured out.