A&S Update...

So I've mostly settled on my A&S entries for Adiantum's competition in January.  I'm torn between doing a reconstruction of Livia's hairstyle, and doing a research paper on the position of Ornatrices in Roman households.  The former would be easier, because I've worked out how to accomplish the hairstyle already, my trouble would be how to flesh out the documentation to make it feel like it was worthwhile.  On the other hand, I have very little actual research on the position of Ornatrices within a household, though I have done a little preliminary book searching.  I mostly like the first option because of the visual aspect of doing the hairstyle is a little flashier, and I'm known in the area for hairstyling.

The other entry I'm intending is my soon to be made Housebook dress.  I decided to make this dress because my family has graciously given me tickets to go back to Texas for a visit at the beginning of December.  I'll get to be home for Stargate's Yule, and was pondering whether or not to make something new, and was talking it over with my best friend.  We both mentioned that the only dress we were interested in making at the time was the two different styles of dress that we would be wearing with the cute red fringed hats I made months ago.  Since the styles were different, and the colors were different enough, I felt we wouldn't be too terribly twinkie, and we could go ahead with the plan.  We've now challenged each other to make a fancy new dress, though The Boy thinks there should be a prize for the "winner." Her boy has promised to take us out for a drink.

I've been working on it slowly, and most of the info is posted over at our shared blog.  I've got the underdress, the hemd, done enough to wear, though I would like to hand finish all the seams before entering it in at Midwinter.  I've included the inspiration image, which of course I can't find the actual citation at this moment, but came originally from Eme's Compendium.  You also get a couple photos of me in my hemd and cute red fringed hat, and a lovely Paint sketch of my pattern for my hemd.  It came out of about 4 and 1/3 yards of 3.5 oz linen from Fabric-Store.com, which I had originally bought back in February to make a smocked hemd for my Trossfrau.  I've gotten the bodice patterned, but now need to figure out the sleeve pattern.  I also got to use a fantastic local resource, the Eugene Textile Center, to dye the wool coating I was given as a thank you to a gorgeous teal color.  The whole thing is coming along, but I have about a week and a half left to sew the whole thing together, if I allow time out because of travel to Seattle for Thanksgiving.  I'm hoping it will all come together, but I think it will be okay.

Trossfrau standstill, and 15th cent german

So I'm getting no where on my Trossfrau.  I can't afford to buy the trim I need for the tross, and that prevents me from really getting started on my dress, which is silly, but not completely unreasonable.  I should do a mock up of the bodice based on the pattern, and work on the hemd for underneath.  That would at least get me some progress.  Who doesn't like new undies?


So 15th cent german clothes are slowly edging into my desires.  I have so much free time right now since I'm unemployed, which causes me to daydream about what I'd make with money if I had it, which is silly because if I had a job, then I would have the money, but wouldn't have all this free time.  I'd probably get more done than I do now, because I suck at time management when I have lots of time.


The main wishful thinking project is a 15th cent german dress, maybe like the ones from the Housebook Master, though I'm really in love with Hans Part (Babenberger Stammbaum).  I haven't decided on linen or wool, color or details really, but I want one of them.  The 3/4 sleeves and variety of bodice details make me more excited for this style than I've ever been for any gothic fitted dress.  I've seen GFDs, I've made GFDs, I'm no longer interested because everyone seems to have one.  The quest to be slightly more unique strikes again.


In other "news" I've recently become a convert to joined together braided pigtails.  I know it sounds weird, but those german ladies knew what they were doing.  I've never believed that anyone went around with loose hair, maiden or otherwise.  My hair tangles at the thought of being loose, braids are the only way to keep my hair from rats nests.  Especially now that it's just past my waist, longest it's ever been!  A pair of pigtails are more functional than loose hair, and cuter too.  But I've found that they still slip over my shoulders at inconvenient times and get into whatever I happen to be bent over working on (frequently the dishes).  So for the most recent workday at the Egils site, I tied the two braids together.  Though they slipped sideways, they never got far over my shoulder and didn't get in the way of my work.  Crazy eh?  And after the work day, when we're headed home soaked from the rain, I twisted the loop around my head and ended up with a relatively secure, if goofy, hairstyle; exactly like the hairstyle from the Unicorn Tapestries too.


Speaking of hair, we're heading out the door to go see Tangled, again for The Boy, first time for me!

I miss being employed...

I haven't bought fabric in what feels like ages. (It was like last month really)  I want to buy some linen or wool to work on a 15th c german dress to go with my cute red fringe hat.  Not a huge number of people do 15th c german, though you can find it on several peoples websites.  And yes, I do realize that I'm not capitalizing german, it's conscious.  Germany didn't exist as a country until well after SCA's period, but germanic groups existed then.  So I'm trying to be more accurate.

And more unique.  I like the idea of doing something different from most people.  The group I've moved into already has someone who is "The Roman Lady,"  and although I do it better, (full of modesty I am, or full of something) it's not going to get me the little bit of notoriety that I want.  For some reason, I want to be known for something.  I'm usually a pretty quiet person, rather self-conscious for the most part, but I want to have a little local famous.  Or maybe a little internet famous.

But I don't have any fabric to do a new dress out of.  I also need to buy the fabric to do the guards and lining for my trossfrau.  I could just use something cheap from Jo-ann, but I don't have the money for that right now either.  I'd like a good wool flannel for the guards in a rusty/dusty orange and a blueish red.  They'll be fantastic with the greyed blue wool of the dress.  I've had this color combination in my head for years.  While my wifey and I were shopping at High Fashion Home in Houston, I came across a piece of trim that had those colors in it.  The trim wasn't really anything worth buying, a brocaded something that didn't really look like anything period, but it was a gorgeous color combo and it has stuck with me for years.

I'd like a blue linen for my bodice lining.  I could use the leftovers from The Boy's gambeson, if I ever get my ass in gear on that project.  I can't decide if I'm going to line the sleeves or not.  I don't think so, mostly because of the slashes in the sleeves.  I'm hoping that I'll have a job soon so I can buy some fabric when the opportunity arises.  If I can't find the time in April, I think I'll see about shopping in Portland when we go up to pick up Himself's parents when they come for a visit.  That means I have plenty of time to research where to go buy what I'm looking for.

The gambeson needs another mock up, since I didn't draft in a waist seam before.  I should really work on that sometime this week and get the patterns finished so I can move on.  The thing I never noticed before about dress diaries is the long amount of time it takes to finish something.  It's not really taking me any longer to do these projects than anything else, but because I'm trying to keep track of it, it feels like I'm taking FOREVER between steps.  Must chill.  It will be done when it will be done.

Fitting for The Boy's Gambeson...

Went okay.  I'm alway nervous about men's clothing, especially as most guys can't handle stuff that's very form fitting.  The armholes on this gambeson are going to be HUGE, but I think it's necessary for him to be able to fight in it.

So... progress is being made on Himself's Christmas present.  Since we were moving at the end of December/early January, we decided to do Christmas in February.  So I'm only a month late so far.  The goal is to get my part of his fighting kit all pretty before he decides to participate in any Coronette tourneys.

I need to get the pattern drafted, a mock up cut out and basted, and try it on again.  Eventually, crazy shaped sleeves will have to be patterned, but till then....

So the list of projects grows ever longer.  I'm going to have to write things down here so I can remember what's on the list.

Big projects:
Trossfrau
Gambeson
Figuring out what The Boy wants for new garb

Little projects:
Purple Roman
New Habib Stuff

Emmm.... I'll figure out more projects to add to the list later.  We all know this can't be the entirety of my project list.

Loving Blogger so far...

Adding in pictures has been remarkably easy.

Yesterday Idonia and I had a sewing day.  It was rather productive on my side.  She draped me for a Gothic Fitted Dress, which seems to be all the rage here in Adiantum.  I'd just made a ridiculously cute hat from 15th century Germany, and it's the right dress style to go with the hat.  I drafted the pattern, then sewed a second fitting mock up.  After that, I worked on a pair of shalwar for The Boy, since Habib is making an appearance at Egils in a few months.  Then we tweaked the neckline to make a pattern for the Trossfrau.

We came back to my house where The Boy was making us a tasty, tasty dinner, and went out to hang with friends later.  All in all, a good day.

I'm still working on how to reinforce the bodice of the dress.  At the moment, I've decided on interlining the bodice with canvas and no corded corset.  After the whole thing is finished, if I think it needs more support in order to smooth out wrinkles, I can always add a corset later.

Trossfrau part 2

Feb 17^th

So I never did finish talking about what’s going on in the outfit I want.  I’m pretty sure I want the dress to be squared-necked, open in the front, closed with hooks and eyes, and to have the usual guards at the neckline.

I’m not 100% sure of what I want the skirt guards to look like.  Part of me is leaning towards the ever popular stripes of some sort around the bottom, part of me likes the “no frills” no stripes look of the girl above, and part of me wants to go for the triangles similar to the skirt right next to the woman with The Jacket.  I’m kind of liking the triangles the most right now, especially since I’ve never seen them before and they would go far in my “quest to be slightly more unique”™.  The main body of the dress would be in this dusty, cadet blue wool that I have plenty of from High Fashion Fabrics that my lovely ex-roomie bought me for my birthday years ago.  I want to do the guards in some combination of red and orange, but a darker, more burnt orange, and a slightly blue-red.  Depends on what I can find out there in the great wide world.

I’m not crazy fond of that particular hat, simply because it’s so plain, but a few feathers could spruce it up, and it’s a wonderful look at the top of a hat.  I’m tempted to make a variety of hats to wear with this look, but it’s one of those things that’ll wait till the inspiration hits to see what kind of hat(s) there will be.  At the very least I want a caul of some kind to keep the hair in check.  And a wide brimmed red something to keep the sun off.  And something with lots of feathers… and something small and cute… and maybe one of those wulsthulbes… and maybe… and maybe… and maybe….

(I like hats, can ya tell?)

I’d love a pair of wide-mouthed shoes to go with this outfit.  I don’t really care for the ones that are slashed, but want a pair that are wide and plain, with an ankle tie or buckle to keep them on.  Most of the styles I’ve found on the internet run around $70 or more, so I’m kind of hoping that I can find someone that can teach me how to make them, or is willing to barter for them.  To go along with these fantastic shoes, I want to make linen or wool hose, and I really want to try to make a vertically striped one for those awesome mix and match moments.

As far as other accessories go, I’ll need to find a belt, a pouch, and I would love a square canteen like that.  Has anyone seen that?

Part of me wants a high-necked smock, and part thinks the low is more appropriate.  Time to go count the smocks… Back soon….

So I’m counting smocks, and I’m willing to co-mingle rich and the not-so-rich, but I’m only counting secular woodcuts, not religious images.

High-Necked-23

Low-Necked-14

Jacket-26

I found someone wearing a jacket AND a high-neck smock, I could do it if I wanted.  (p. 237)  Second image of someone wearing both (p. 1388)  Third image of both (p. 1543)

So my rough counting has revealed that high necked smocks appear more often than low necked, but some form of separate neck and chest covering.  I decided to mostly stick to lower class, but I came to this decision part of the way through volume 1, so it’s not completely accurate, but it’s good enough.  I still can’t decide whether or not I want the higher neckline or not.  I want to try smocking, but I can always try it on an apron.  I think I want a lower neckline, simply because I want the opportunity to display the vast tracks of land.  I can always come back later and make a high-necked smock later, but I think the lower neckline works better on younger women, and I want to make the most of being in my twenties while I still have a few years of it left.

So now that I’ve decided that, it’s time to get someone to help me draft a pattern.  I’m debating the idea of doing the sleeves in a raglan style, but I think that’s really only necessary if you want the “falling off the shoulders” look that’s rather common with the high-necked smocks, but doesn’t appear to be as common on the low necked.  I think I’ll pattern in a shoulder strap and run the guards over the shoulder strap and perhaps over the sleeve if necessary.  I think the guard on the bodice needs to be about 2” wide, which is an aesthetic choice based on the size of the guards in the images.  I want to do the guards around a square neckline in both front and back, although there are a few images of V-neck backs, and rounded scoop-necks.  Although these two styles would be a step on the “quest to be slightly more unique”™, I’m more fond of the square necked styles and that’s why I choose it.

I think Idonia will pattern me if I can find time to ask her.  Getting the pattern made is the next step.  After the dress is patterned I can make the smock, and then work on The Jacket can begin.  I’ve already got the blue wool for the dress, and the white linen for the shift.  I’m hoping to find a pretty silk brocade, but would be willing to settle for something cheaper if the pattern and colors are right.

Trossfrau redux...

I'm going to just copy paste the text from my saved copy of my diary in individual posts, similar to how they were originally written, including the day I wrote them, so it doesn't appear as though I'm so awesome to have come up with all this in the last few minutes.

Feb 16^th

I’m starting to do a little research on my Trossfrau.  So this all started after the move to Oregon; I decided that I wanted a new project, and to make a dress that was more complicated than my usual Romans.  You know, almost anything?  So I stared trolling through the links I’d saved to my bookmarks.

At first I was lusting after the Flemish working women’s, but soon realized everyone had a version.  In my “quest to be slightly more unique”™.  I choose to go Landsknecht.  Yeah I know Flemish and German are crazy different.  But there were fewer of them, they offer much more customizing options, and I already had a huge chunk of fabric to make one.  Though technically, it was intended for a Cranach, but let’s be realistic, I’m never going to make one of those.

The Curious Frau’s website had introduced me to the Trossfrau, and I’m eager to get going.  I fell in love with this jacket.  I mean, L-O-V-E.  I’ve started looking for fabrics to make it from, and I haven’t really decided how to make the dress underneath it yet.  Or the smock under that yet either.

All in good time.

So my goals with this dress (besides just making it):

1) Some degree of authenticity,

2) Some serious effort to write a Dress Diary (starting now)

3) To do well in the An Tir Costuming Contest 2012

That’s right; I want to enter a contest.  Me, who shies away from even looking at the entries, I want to entry one of the highest level contests in my Kingdom.  SMRT folks, I am so smart.

So let’s break down what’s going on in this outfit, and where I want to deviate from the original.  I love, love, LOVE that jacket.  It’s one of the few motives I have for making a Trossfrau (the other is German Hats!).  I want that jacket, in some bright color if I can find a nice brocade for it.  Probably in either red or orange and gold, should I be able to find something not too crazy expensive and with a nice pattern.

From looking at other images from the same book, The German Single-Leaf Woodcut: 1500-1550, the cuff isn’t on the jacket, but on the sleeve of the dress underneath the jacket.  I’m loving this simple style of sleeves, only a little bit of slashing at the elbows and the decorative cuff that’s left open at the hand.  I think I want to incorporate this sleeve and cuff into my dress, even though the cuff on the woman with the jacket is clearly not split.

I can’t decide if the line on the forearm indicates that the sleeve is split and has some form of closure, or if the artist is just documenting seam placement like is shown on the side of the bodice.  I’m wishing for an opening since I would love to be able to open the sleeves and roll them up like in this image.

So APPARENTLY LJ won't allow to me to put up any more photos without difficulty. So we'll go to bed tonight, and deal with it some other time.

Tomorrow I want to dig through Vols. 1, 3 and 4 of the German Woodcuts in more depth, and decide whether or not I should do the high-necked smock with this outfit, or if I should do the vast tracks of land approach. I'm thinking I should do the tracts of land, since I haven't seen any high necked smocks on anyone wearing an over garment of any kind. Usually they have one or the other, high-necked underwear or partlet/gollar/jacket. Also, in my flipping through the books, the high-necked smocks seem to be mostly on older or wealthy ladies, not poor, young things. But that is for another night.

So I've decided to switch from LiveJournal...

I've found that most all of the blogs I'd been coming across lately on my internet research have been on Blogger. So I think I'd like to try it, and see how it differs from LJ.  Here's to a first hand experiment in blogging, something I consistently fail at.

I'm really hoping that keeping a dress diary for my Trossfrau dress will encourage me to A) blog more, B) work on the bloody thing, and C) join the illustrious ranks of those who have come before me and I worship for their time and dedication.  In the next update, I'll go through and post the few things I've already written, and the new never-before-read recent changes!