Brrr....ooh, cool!

Those who live outside of Arizona, especially the Phoenix area, may not be able to appreciate this, but it is so COOL to be able to say BRRRRRR........

And there is even a play on words in there!  Yeah!

Finally, the heat left, the nights cooled off, we got some rain, and when I went outside in jeans, tank top and sandals, it was actually kind of cold!  It's cold enough to be able to wear clothes!  hehehe Well, yes, we always do wear clothes, but oh, how nice to be able to put on anything I want and not roast!  Sweaters, jackets, long-sleeves, even stockings - all of those things that just hang ignored in the closet, or in the drawers, finally I get to wear them!

We're having a really nice day here!  It's kind of chilly!

And it worked!

At the end of a long day, the hair is coming loose and everything is looking pretty ragged, but here's what I came up with late last night.  I wore it to Coronation in the Kingdom of Atenveldt (Arizona), and it stayed put perfectly.  There is a 4-5" wide, wire comb inside the front edge, pointing towards the back inside the band and it never slipped a bit.  The bun I made seemed a bit too low at first, but I had to work the band around the bun, and then the bun seemed to help hold the band in place too.

Construction was pretty simple - a 3" wide band of buckrum, the length needed for the desired circumference.  I folded it in half lengthwise, then wired both edges with millinery wire.  Covered it with a strip of brocade, with the raw edges just floating loose inside.  The brocade was machine stitched onto the band.  The gold fabric I pinned and fitted to the band, so that it is smooth on the top and sides, with some tucks across the bottom, to form the little bit of snood-like bagging.  There is one row of pearls stitched in place right against the gold, and another will be added on the front edge.  

I started this around 7:30 last night, and finished hand-stitching the one row of pearls around 11pm.  That time period did include a trip to the fabric store to get the brocade.  I'm very happy with how it turned out, and am going to experiment with some variations, now that I have some ideas about how to proceed,  

These pictures aren't great, but then, I did have to do the point-the-camera-at-yourself trick.

Headdress on the fly - need an Italian option in a hurry!

A while back, I found a sweater in a resale shop.  I'd never wear it, but immediately I saw possibilities for re-purposing it with the foremost option being some sort of head-covering - cauls perhaps.

Now I'm making a fast decision on the first item to cut from it, something that will pass for Italian Renaissance, more or less.  And I need to slap it together this evening because I'm going to wear it tomorrow.  With my hair and lack of hair-handling skills, the simpler the better.

Ideas that I've found and like, include these:

The Elizabethan "Cloth of Gold" Escoffion pattern from Lynn McMasters, seen here:

http://www.lynnmcmasters.com/index.html

Well, you'll have to click on Patterns, and scroll down to find the pattern, probably 2/3 of the way down.

Eleanora of Toledo, c. 1562 by Bronzino.


The snood-like garment worn by Eleanora of Toledo.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crimsongriffin/3496487711/

This is a reproduction based on images as discussed on the page linked above.

Katherine B's intriguing headdress, discussed on her Flickr pages.

La donna gravida by Raphael, 1505-1506

Another snood-like piece.

http://juliesdressdiary.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html

Embroidered caul.

These are pictures of the sweater, but it was not easy to photograph, so they're not very good.

 The fabric is a mix of a golden-yellow yarn - cotton or acrylic - I've no clue, together with a fine metallic (mylar probably) thread.  It reflects light somewhat and sometimes seems to sparkle.

Regrettably, I'm just no good at arranging images in blogspot/blogger, so this is about the best I ever manage.

Overall view of one side of sweater.

 Another closeup of the fabric.

 Trying to get even closer.

 Holding a single layer of the sweater fabric up, facing towards a window to try to show the little bit of open-work in the makeup of the fabric.

Another view with the window in the backgroune.  The light section on the left is the space between my thumb and fingers behind the fabric.

With as much fabric as the sweater has, I can probably do 2-3 pieces.  

1. A snood-like piece - smaller than the "Rosie the Riveter" pieces of the 20th C., maybe with a band as seen in the La donna gravida image, above.

2. A smaller piece, sized like the Eleanora of Toledo headdress, but less open-work than hers since I'd be starting with this knit fabric.

3. A piece like Katherine B's, above.

4.  A caul style, similar to the embroidered caul, above.  

There might be a bit too much similarity between some of these 4 options, but I've got the fabric with which to play, so why not try them all.

Pattern-wise, I think that I have Margo's Elizabethan Wardrobe Accessories, and there is a caul shown in that collection.  I'm considering buying Lynn McMaster's Gold Escoffian pattern.  I have some buckram Juliet caps that I could manipulate, not to mention plenty of buckram, crinoline and wire.

I've crocheted snoods before, but have not cut one from fabric, so I'll have to figure out what the best size and shape for the flat pattern would be.

Ok, I've talked myself through my options, right here on my blog again!  Sure helps to talk through my blog instead of talking to the walls!