The first thing that comes to mind right now is that I want to yell about the stupid parts of the first night of the new semester...however, it's just not worth it! So let's look at the good side instead...oops...is having a stack of work to grade after the very first meeting considered a good thing? hehehe Well, I did it to myself, but on the other hand, they actually accomplished something big on their very first night! So I guess that's a good thing. So many classes, the first meeting is at least partly a waste - hours are scheduled but students can't do anything the first meeting except get their syllabus and instructions on how to be ready for the second meeting, and go home early. I don't like wasting that first meeting, so I had everything that we needed for them to work on samples and stay for the entire class time, and they did! So that's a YEAH!
I've got an awful lot to do before that second meeting, to be properly ready for it, but I'll manage. It's actually feeling kind of fun.
The whole semester-class-teaching thing timed itself rather badly though...I'm right in the middle of getting ready for Estrella War. How can I take time for teaching? lol...oh, yeah - the pay check, which helps make Estrella War possible for me...shucks.
But my preparations are progressing. I have my first "Dame Angele's Very Warm Coat" mostly done - built anyway - embellishment will happen down the road a ways. I have a second coat - a light-weight, Viking caftan inspired coat - in the works too. Have cut 2 shirts for Chris, one 12th C. gown for me, and have made the first of 2 or 3 hats. Also have one chemise, 2 or 3 veils, and one half-circle cloak in the works.
Fabrics are on the cutting table for 2 more shirts for Chris, several assorted gowns and sideless gowns for me, Chris' warm coat, and a few other pieces. And yes, somehow I'm going to build garb and teach classes, all between now and Estrella....and build my tent.
Pictures soon, I promise!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Aarrrrrghhhhh...
I've got pictures of the new hat in the camera, but I can't get them out. The cable has disappeared! Figures.
Spent yesterday with Dame Angele and friends, making our new Really Warm Coats for Estrella. Mine is together except for the hem. Of course, embellishment is another story and will take some time. I'll cut Chris' this week and should be able to have them both done in plenty of time for war. Embroidery will happen when it happens.
I've got two shirts cut for Chris and ready to sew up. Will try to get one more shirt and a couple of gowns cut this evening. I have far too much fabric pulled and matched to patterns, all for garb for war - way more than I can hope to get done between now and then, but it is fun to actually be excited about sewing again. It's been a while.
I'm thinking about crop-circle-inspired motifs to embellish my coat. Many of the crop circle designs were probably inspired by much older, even ancient designs, and so could be quite appropriate! I'm thinking of designs with lots of circles, and wool circles like they're using for the penny rugs that are 'back in' in the crafting & sewing world. The circles are available die-cut from a variety of on-line sources...and some are pretty reasonable. I can't imaging cutting very many circles by hand, but die-cut might make this project happen.
I bought a gorgeous piece of home dec fabric for a Persian-type coat, but after this weekend's coat class, I'm going to make it the same as the other new coat, so it will happen a lot sooner.
Sheesh, I need to take a lot of pictures.
Ok, back to work!
Spent yesterday with Dame Angele and friends, making our new Really Warm Coats for Estrella. Mine is together except for the hem. Of course, embellishment is another story and will take some time. I'll cut Chris' this week and should be able to have them both done in plenty of time for war. Embroidery will happen when it happens.
I've got two shirts cut for Chris and ready to sew up. Will try to get one more shirt and a couple of gowns cut this evening. I have far too much fabric pulled and matched to patterns, all for garb for war - way more than I can hope to get done between now and then, but it is fun to actually be excited about sewing again. It's been a while.
I'm thinking about crop-circle-inspired motifs to embellish my coat. Many of the crop circle designs were probably inspired by much older, even ancient designs, and so could be quite appropriate! I'm thinking of designs with lots of circles, and wool circles like they're using for the penny rugs that are 'back in' in the crafting & sewing world. The circles are available die-cut from a variety of on-line sources...and some are pretty reasonable. I can't imaging cutting very many circles by hand, but die-cut might make this project happen.
I bought a gorgeous piece of home dec fabric for a Persian-type coat, but after this weekend's coat class, I'm going to make it the same as the other new coat, so it will happen a lot sooner.
Sheesh, I need to take a lot of pictures.
Ok, back to work!
Friday, January 14, 2011
I'm making a tent....and my life keeps getting stranger....
Well, first things first in the land of strangeness...I have a licensed teenager living under my roof. What on earth happened to the tiny baby that we brought home such a short time ago? Whoa....where did the years go? Well, clear the sidewalks people - he's driving!
Back to the tent thing. Yup. I'm building the cover for an old carport frame, canvas, waterproofing, the whole darned process. I got the fabric cut today. Guess what. Forty yards of fabric weighs just as much in a pile of folded pieces as it did as one piece on a roll...darn it. This thing is going to be heavy! Fortunately, the finished cover will be in 3 pieces, so hopefully not too heavy for me to manage on my own.
With the tent cut, and waiting for thread to arrive, I'm moving on to cutting garb. I should have been doing this back in November, but that's water under the bridge...or some other such cliche. Anyway, regardless of how short time has gotten until Estrella begins, I WILL have enough garb to get through the week - somehow!
I'm ready to cut 3 or 4 shirts for Chris, 2 very warm coats (at a workshop on Sunday), some gowns, sideless gowns, a couple of chemises, the lining for the viking coat that is waiting, and whatever else I can squeeze in. Oh, yeah, at least one more hat - with a big, fluffy fur band. I'll try to get a pic up of the hat pattern test run...more on that story in another post...it's cool.
So, back to the cutting table.
Back to the tent thing. Yup. I'm building the cover for an old carport frame, canvas, waterproofing, the whole darned process. I got the fabric cut today. Guess what. Forty yards of fabric weighs just as much in a pile of folded pieces as it did as one piece on a roll...darn it. This thing is going to be heavy! Fortunately, the finished cover will be in 3 pieces, so hopefully not too heavy for me to manage on my own.
With the tent cut, and waiting for thread to arrive, I'm moving on to cutting garb. I should have been doing this back in November, but that's water under the bridge...or some other such cliche. Anyway, regardless of how short time has gotten until Estrella begins, I WILL have enough garb to get through the week - somehow!
I'm ready to cut 3 or 4 shirts for Chris, 2 very warm coats (at a workshop on Sunday), some gowns, sideless gowns, a couple of chemises, the lining for the viking coat that is waiting, and whatever else I can squeeze in. Oh, yeah, at least one more hat - with a big, fluffy fur band. I'll try to get a pic up of the hat pattern test run...more on that story in another post...it's cool.
So, back to the cutting table.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Back in the groove...or...the same old rut? hehehe...what's the difference?
I don't know. Some days it does seem like I'm stuck in a very unproductive rut, but maybe not.
I'm cutting the canvas to build my 'tent', a cover for a carport pole set to be used for SCA camping events. I really hate sewing large objects. That's why I passed on starting a slipcover business many years ago, and why I don't do wedding gowns, well, that and the fact that wedding gowns are usually accompanied by brides' mothers.
I'm also plodding along with the cutting and building of enough garb to get through a full-week-long event - Estrella War - it's getting here too fast! I'll have garb, just not sure how much.
I had decided, after Southern Crusades, that I would definitely have a good hat for Estrella, something with a gorgeous band of thick, plush fur, faux fur of course. I started looking for faux fur options...wow. FAKE fur is expensive! However, I did find a reasonably priced coat on e-bay, some interesting fur trim from the fabric store, and a couple of other fur pieces. That just left me with the pattern...sheesh...how can something so simple be so difficult. None of the big 4 have a hat pattern that is right for this. I did find one on-line, and have been experimenting with it, with 3 different versions partially assembled.
But then the newest issue of Threads arrived and they have a new column in which they pick an old article and do a review of it in a condensed version. Back in Issue #56, Dec/Jan, 1994/95, they had an article on EXACTLY the hat that I'm trying to make! YEE-HAW! The review version of the article is NOT TO SCALE! It's been reduced down considerably, which I figured out because the hat pattern pieces just looked so wrong. I pulled my copy of #56 and took a look at the original version of the article, over more pages and with the pattern at 100%. Yay! It works! Test run in some fake sherpa from JoAnn's - a short, slightly sparse sherpa on one side, brown faux suede on the other. Not quite finished, but it looks pretty good! Maybe one more test version before I go ahead and start cutting up the coat.
Cloak class on Saturday. Yes, I know how to make a cloak, but I'm curious as to what the class cloak will be like and will enjoy time with others with this same costuming interest. Then on Sunday, the Warm Coat Class - a tunic-like coat suitable for medieval and for the COOOLLLLLLDDDD weather at Estrella. Yes, I could probably manage it on my own too, but I'm going at least partly for the fun!
As I'm cutting surcoats and gowns and such, I'm eyeballing my fabric stash with a slightly different thought process. I guess I've seen enough interesting garb at events to be able to see my fabric differently. Maybe some of my pieces won't be exactly period correct, but they'll look good and be fun to wear, not to mention that my stash will shrink a tiny bit - always a good thing.
So, I guess I should get off of here and get back to my scissors.
I'm cutting the canvas to build my 'tent', a cover for a carport pole set to be used for SCA camping events. I really hate sewing large objects. That's why I passed on starting a slipcover business many years ago, and why I don't do wedding gowns, well, that and the fact that wedding gowns are usually accompanied by brides' mothers.
I'm also plodding along with the cutting and building of enough garb to get through a full-week-long event - Estrella War - it's getting here too fast! I'll have garb, just not sure how much.
I had decided, after Southern Crusades, that I would definitely have a good hat for Estrella, something with a gorgeous band of thick, plush fur, faux fur of course. I started looking for faux fur options...wow. FAKE fur is expensive! However, I did find a reasonably priced coat on e-bay, some interesting fur trim from the fabric store, and a couple of other fur pieces. That just left me with the pattern...sheesh...how can something so simple be so difficult. None of the big 4 have a hat pattern that is right for this. I did find one on-line, and have been experimenting with it, with 3 different versions partially assembled.
But then the newest issue of Threads arrived and they have a new column in which they pick an old article and do a review of it in a condensed version. Back in Issue #56, Dec/Jan, 1994/95, they had an article on EXACTLY the hat that I'm trying to make! YEE-HAW! The review version of the article is NOT TO SCALE! It's been reduced down considerably, which I figured out because the hat pattern pieces just looked so wrong. I pulled my copy of #56 and took a look at the original version of the article, over more pages and with the pattern at 100%. Yay! It works! Test run in some fake sherpa from JoAnn's - a short, slightly sparse sherpa on one side, brown faux suede on the other. Not quite finished, but it looks pretty good! Maybe one more test version before I go ahead and start cutting up the coat.
Cloak class on Saturday. Yes, I know how to make a cloak, but I'm curious as to what the class cloak will be like and will enjoy time with others with this same costuming interest. Then on Sunday, the Warm Coat Class - a tunic-like coat suitable for medieval and for the COOOLLLLLLDDDD weather at Estrella. Yes, I could probably manage it on my own too, but I'm going at least partly for the fun!
As I'm cutting surcoats and gowns and such, I'm eyeballing my fabric stash with a slightly different thought process. I guess I've seen enough interesting garb at events to be able to see my fabric differently. Maybe some of my pieces won't be exactly period correct, but they'll look good and be fun to wear, not to mention that my stash will shrink a tiny bit - always a good thing.
So, I guess I should get off of here and get back to my scissors.
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