Kirtle is done!...maybe...

The Herringbone wool kirtle with wool accent & wool trim is complete.  I think.  I had JUST enough trim to do the bottom and I mean JUST enough...I literally have less than 1/2 an inch of it left lol.  I may still do some fingerloop braids to go around the edges of the neck and the wrists.  It just seems too plain to me but I don't want to do a blanket stitch with the herringbone pattern. 

I ended up flipping the trim on the collar, I really loved both sides so I figured that if I did one side for the arms it should be perfectly fine to do the other side for the collar.  I matched the collar for the bottom trim. 

Its a little bit big, and the shoulders are a bit wide...I really need to get someone to measure me PROPERLY so I know exactly what width I really need to use. But it still fits very well and its a good length too.  I am VERY happy with it.

100% hand sewn
Herringbone wool Kirtle
Red Wool accents
Wool trim
Linen Thread

I'll raise ya 2 gores & an Arm band =)

Well I have managed to get both side gores done and one arm band finished.  I decided not to do the blanket stitch on the arm band this time.  I think with the herringbone pattern it would just be too much.  I think the running stitch is much cleaner and makes the trim stand out better.  At least I hope so...

Should finish the other arm band tomorrow then start stitching the body together and put the neck section on.  I may do the trim on it a little different, just depends on what I feel like when I get to it.  I will probably still do the blanket stitching around the neck opening with the Terra Cotta linen thread but I will see how it looks once I get everything else sewn in. 

I am honestly quite surprised with how happy I am with the color blending.  I was really worried it would not look right with the herringbone pattern but, I am really digging it!!!  Costuming Karma at its finest heheh...

Rogue

Official Kirtle has been started...

I managed to get the herringbone wool cut for my kirtle tonight.  With the help of some of the "Garb Gals" (a group you should all look into on Facebook if you aren't there already!) I figured out how to make the pattern work on the arms & gores.  Its what I was dreading most.  So it is all cut out, I have found the right wool to use as my neck & arm borders and found that one of the trims I got at Crown from Calontir Trims will work out nicely for it.  Tomorrow I start sewing, with the lofty goal of possibly having it ready to wear for 1000 Eye's Baronial Birthday a week from Saturday!  Guess we shall see lol...

In finally making the decision on going with the herringbome wool, I can now go ahead and use the light weight purple wool I have as my circle cloak.  I have 4+ yards of 90" wide fabric so I think I can get a circle cloak out of it.  Since its a lighter wool than the weight I made Magnus' cloak out of it won't kill my shoulders and if I find its not thick enough I can always go back and line it with linen should I feel the need.  So, things are progressing nicely and I should be on track to finish these two things before Thanksgiving then all I will have left are my braes, hose, phrygian cap and garters.  Which should be fairly easy...(she says hesitantly) lol!

Rogue

An Update...

Well, I have learned a few things since my last update.  I have washed my "practice" kirtle and I now realize that only using 2 strands of linen thread is not going to work.  Several of my blanket stitches have come apart due to stress.  I can now see why the thicker linen thread (80/3) is a much better option.  I just wish they had more color choices!  I think the 3 strands will be fine for the embroidery thread...that gets twice the use out of the length at least. 

So obviously I will be going ahead with my real kirtle now, and use the herringbone wool I had originally planned on.  I am just not sure how meticulous I need to be pattern wise.  for the arms & side gores, should they be exact?  I'm not sure I have enough fabric to make everything exact.  With herringbone is it that noticeable?  I guess once I get to cutting I will figure it out in a hurry lol! 

I am still holding off on my braes & hose as those are going to be a bear.  I am doing the wrap around braes, not the preformed leg pattern and I am having a hard time finding a pattern reference for those.  And I just haven't had time to make the pattern for the hose yet.  But I will! 

The last two items, the leather garters and the phrygian cap should be fairly easy.  Although I am still working out how much of a "smurf bump" I want on the top lol.  Once I get that down I am going to most likely make a couple for gifts as well.

I took a little time off from the ACC to do gift #2 which was a linen tunic for Brynjolfr, the Queen's Champion.  He stepped up and took on autocratting Ely's Knighting when it had to be postponed and I knew he didn't have much garb wise.  Of course without measurements (because it was a surprise) I made it a bit too large, so I am going to have to rip some seams & cut it down a bit.  Luckily he will be at Solstice and I can gift it to him then!  He at least got to see what I was doing and I got to see just how too long I'd made it. 

I can not judge clothing size any more!  I used to be able to look at something, know it would fit and it be perfect.  Now, I can't judge for crap.  Not for me, not for Greg not for anyone...it SUCKS!!! 

I am headed upstairs to try and cut my kirtle out...pray for my soul!

Rogue

Kyrtle done...maybe

I decided to make a "practice" kyrtle to get myself ready for the real one.  I kept looking through my bins of fabric and kept coming back to my linen/wool blend I had put aside to make my first bliaut.  It just didn't want to be a dress.  So, when I started putting trim to fabric, it was the perfect choice to match the wool trim I had gotten at Calontir Trims when I was at Gulf Wars.  Thus it was decided...

I also had a very BIG BOON at Hancock's on 33rd St. here in Salt Lake.  I had gone in a couple of weeks ago to buy felt for some projects I want to do for the Kingdom Barony's.  I wander over to the embroidery thread because I can use cotton on the projects and I notice that this store has a DMC Linen Embroidery Thread display, but very few skeins left.  I file it away in the back of my mind. 

I go to start making the kyrtle and realize the one skein of linen thread I have that truly matches the fabric will probably be all used up.  So instead of going with the wool thread (no clue how that will shrink) I remember "Ohhh I think Hancock's had some of this color or at least close to this color left on that display".  So the next morning I head over.  I find they have ONE skein in the same color and quite a few in "almost" the same color so I grab 4.  I head up to the cashier and the skeins ring up for ONE PENNY each!  The girl looks at me and says "Wow, that's a hell of a deal" and I tell her to wait one second.  I run...yes RUN back to the display, scoop up ALL the rest of the thread and run back to the cash register.  I end up with 68 skeins of Linen thread for $.068 cents.  That's HALF the price of one skein! 

Of course I call various people out of my area and tell them to check their Hancock's as I drive to the other one right by my house.  Of course it doesn't have ANY (although it did have 5 rayon skeins that were priced at a penny so I got those).  I even checked online and damn no luck.  I guess Hancock's is going with a different brand of embroidery thread and they were closing out the DMC line.  Shopping Karma at its best.

Anyway, I get back and start sewing my new kyrtle, in hopes of having it ready for Crown.  I end up finishing it at 1:00am Friday nite as I sit in my hotel room in Pocatello waiting to be able to go to sleep.  I hang up my new Kyrtle and feel satisfied, but as I look at it hanging there, I realize it looks sort of plain along the bottom.  So, I do what any exhausted Squire would do, I take it back down, climb back into bed, turn on "Top Gun" and sew trim all across the bottom.  An hour & a half later (2:30am) I finally finish and fall quickly asleep before I decide there's something more to do.

I wore it to feast at Crown with my white linen under shirt and it was plenty comfy.  I do need to adjust my measurement book for my wrist size, I seem to always make them too big.  I did a blanket stitch around the collar & the cuffs and it turned out very nice.  I am so pleased I am still considering making this my ACC submission kyrtle, however, the flat felled seams in the gussets under my arms are still bothering me.  So upon the suggestion of Varia and Aelia Sophia I will leave the kyrtle til last & if I have time to make the herringbone kyrtle I will.  If not, I have a perfectly fine, hand sewn kyrtle that will do nicely.  My holdout on the herringbone is matching the patterns, because...well...I'm OCD like that! 

In other news, while I was digging through my bins for linen to make a new tunic I want to gift someone in a couple of weeks, I found a really nice piece of gray herringbone wool I had forgotten about.  Its not a large enough piece to do much with but I realized it would make a PERFECT wool wrap for when I need a light cloak.  So last night while I was watching Castle, I backed it with black linen and hand sewed the edges with some of the thicker linen thread that I found at the Needlepoint Joint.  I had originally thought I could split the threads but it didn't work out that way, so the wrap turned out to be the perfect use for the thicker weight.  Tonight I will blanket stitch the edges with some great wool yarn I have so it will lay correctly. 

Then I will knock out the tunic before I start on the braies hardcore.  I want to get the gift done because this person has really stepped up to the plate in helping with an event & I can give it to him in person later this month if its done.  Otherwise I'd end up mailing it and that's kinda boring lol.  Lets hope my guesstimating his sizes works...

I will post some photos of the "practice" kyrtle later tonight when I get home.  I did take documentation photos just in case thankfully lol...

Rogue

Surprise birthday present for Magnus...shhhhh!!!

Since I know he has no clue this blog is out here I am fairly safe to post the progress of his birthday cloak.  I decided to take up the 50 before 50 challenge and my goal is 50 hand made gifts by 50th year.  So the first of my gifts is for my Squire Brother Magnus.  He is an 11th cent. Varangian guardsman.  He bought the 8 yards of RED wool almost a year ago and it has sat in my house waiting to be made since then. 

He just turned 26 and I could not figure out what to do for him for his birthday.  Then it hit me...he still needs his cloak & I needed practice handsewing.  So, I decided to make it for him.  I feel guilty because I didn't use linen thread, he had purchased heavy coat thread for it already.  But it is fully hand sewn and all thats left now is rolling the collar, sides and hem. 

I had thought about applicqueing bear paws on the front but I don't know that I will have time to do it since I want to give this to him Saturday morning at Harvest War. 

I had originally thought that I could count this as my ACC cloak peice but alas, as I said, I did not use linen thread, I have one back seam that is turned in the wrong way and the nap of the wool doesn't match on all sections.  A couple of them got turned over to the other side and I didn't realize it until after I had finished the section.  So, I really don't want to have anyone judge me with such blaring mistakes already.

But it was great practice and I enjoyed doing it, and it still counts as 1/50 of the other challenge!!!

R

Trade done! Thank you Morgan...you amazing Vicaress!!!

Many of you know Morgan & I did a little trading.  We finally completed the exchange over Coronation weekend!  I had sent home (via Royal carriage from Baron's War) some chocolate silk for her to use in the ACC.  So this weekend in exchange, she taught me how to do finger braiding and how to make braided trim.  I will be using this technique to make the drawstring for my braies & the ties for my hose.  I may also use it as trim on my tunic and/or shirt. 

Once you get the hang of it, its very simple.  I have done a few test pieces but I think on my way up to Harvest War the weekend of the 15th, I will stop in & get some of the thicker linen thread and see how that braids up.  If it doesn't do well I will use cotton but I think the linen will work nicely.

I haven't gotten a new piece cut out yet but should have the braies cut out tomorrow.  I was just too tired from Coronation & the drive home to do anything but veg.
 Sometimes you just gotta give up and watch vampire TV =)