So I'm working on my Flemish costume, making my first t-smock using Drea Leed's authentically pieced pattern (http://www.elizabethancostume.net/smockpat/index.html) .  It's actually fairly delightful--I'm getting a smock AND a lined partlet out of only 3 yards of material.

So last night I'm stitching away, and it's nearly done, and I try it on, and the biceps are too tight.  As in, way ridiculously too tight.  And I can't figure out why.  So I put it aside, figuring I now have to make some extra gussets (which would look weird since it already has gussets), and I'll finish it tomorrow.

This morning the alarm goes off at 6:15am, much earlier than usual.  My first two thoughts, both fairly irrelevant to waking up:

1. You need to remember your drum this morning.
2. Ya stupid moron, you sewed the sleeves on upside-down, with the bicep part where your wrists should be, and vice versa.

So now I have to disassemble pretty much the whole thing, re-gusset the sleeves at the correct end, re-sew the sleeves on, and try again.  This is what happens when you save trees by not printing the directions and run back and forth from the sewing room to the computer, deciding sometimes that you don't need to do that because you know what you're doing.  And when you don't plug your brain in.  Doh. (But the nice flared sleeves were working so nicely... :-)  The good news is that I will have nicely-fitting smock when this is all done.

peace,
J
at least I did remember my drum.

Okay, long story short, I'm probably going to re-vamp my front-lacing gown from the Faire into a Flemish common woman's overdress.  I had some problems with the grommets, and the bodice is a little too big, and a couple of other things make me not so happy with it. I'm very happy with the back, though, so I don't want to deconstruct it completely.  So I'll re-shape the front to be Flemish. (And make myself a new smock, and possibly an underskirt but more likely just a stomacher...)

So now I'm looking at everyone's research about the Flemish dress.  There's www.elizabethancostume.net/lowerclass/flemish-dress.html, which also has directions, and there's http://www.festiveattyre.com/research/working.html, which I think also has directions but also has really good research, and then there's Kass McGann's Reconstructing History pattern (which I think is right on target--she theorizes that the common woman's partlet was not just about keeping her chest out of the sun, it actually functioned as a bra and was a real support garment. Going back and looking at paintings, I suspect she may be right.)

So I'm looking at pictures like these:















And I can't help but wonder...WHY are all these men grabbing at the Flemish common women's boobs? What is up with that?

--J
who actually could use a little boob-grabbing lately; things have been a little slow at home...maybe this dress wouldn't be such a bad idea?

it's 9:10 on a Thursday morning. My kids are at day camp till 4, I am not expected at work today.

It's the first day of "summer break" for me.

First there was the convention, which sucked up most of June with busy-ness and extra work and hours and sweat and tears (95% gratis, by the way, which still sort of busts my buttons, mostly because when I said "yes" to the conducting part I didn't realize I was also saying yes to giving up the entire month of June), and then there was the convention itself the second week in July, and then there was the massive unending marathon staff meeting that was all day Tuesday and Wednesday of this week...and now it's just sort of Summer.  Now I get to start doing what I usually do during the summer (usually during June!), calmly getting my office re-organized, looking at what we did last year, looking at what we want to do this year, ordering music, composing music, getting together with other musicians and talking about all of the above (okay, yeah, it's fun, but it's also an indispensible part of doing my job, the hanging out with other folks who do what I do.  Cross-pollination, as it were. Creative and procreative intercourse. So to speak. :-) Also things like reading books, listening to music, just sitting and thinking, letting my brain do its underground work to recharge and rejuvenate for the ten month forced march that begins in August.

For the past 4 nights, I have slept well. Unmedicated, even un-herbed--I lie down, take my usual half hour or so (I hate that it takes me that long on a good night) to ruminate and quiet down my brain, and fall asleep till morning, wake up sleepy but rested.  This is the hugest gift in the world for a chronic insomniac who never quite seems to get enough. (I'm thinking a nap later this morning might be a good idea too.)

Part of me wants to burst into activity, make sure I don't "waste" this free day.  Fortunately, most of the other parts of me are stronger and are beating that part up with pillows and nerf balls till it shuts up and agrees to several hours of reading, dozing, tv-watching, and possibly sewing if I feel like it but probably not. (Our family costumes are done and ready to go, so why bother?) (Okay, I know why, because I just got my package from www.fabrics-store.com yesterday and there are about 11 yards of linen ready to be made into yet another chemise and gown. Yes, I cracked again; the doggy bag portion of that site is addictive, and when 4 or 5 yard pieces show up there, I tend to snatch them up, because I know I can make a gown out of that. But we will most likely only get to the Faire once; I'd hate to have to choose between gowns.  I'd like to wear this one once at least, before I tear it apart and do something else with it--which I almost definitely will because YIPPEE I've lost enough weight that it's already a little big in the bodice and I need to either take it in or more likely cut it up into a Flemish overdress, which would solve the problem...) (But I digress...)

So I will stay home, lie around, maybe take the dogs for a nice long walk later but mostly just Enjoy Laziness for a whole day.

Bliss.
--J

I am so completely excited...I'm almost finished with my first-ever kirtle, and it looks really really good.

( Some photos and more blathering under the cut...but not of the finished dress. Yet. )

I've found a new diet trick.

In the evenings, rather than being tempted to munch on whatever munchables we have around the house, I now sew.

During the kids' naps (er...during the hour each afternoon I force my kids to remain quiet in their rooms without any other interaction) (no one actually naps, except for sometimes me) I work on fitting a bodice, finishing seams, sewing stuff together, any of the machine stuff.  As much as I possibly can in one sitting.

Then at night after the kids are in bed, in front of a dull tv show or a Buffy dvd (I'm on season 2 the second time around) (Buffy is not even remotely dull, to clarify--I just know it well enough that I can look away for stretches and not miss anything I didn't already know about), I do the hand sewing.  Last night I pleated the neckline and cuffs of my new linen leine onto their bands; tonight I will whipstitch the binding down. Tomorrow in the morning after I take the dog to the vet, I'll sew the bodice and lining together for my front-lacing dress, and put the skirt pieces together; tomorrow night I'll finish the armscyes by hand and pleat the skirt to the bodice.  If I have enough time, I'll pause the video long enough to machine sew the skirt to the bodice and then press play again while I whipstitch the lining to the pleated skirt. 

I used to dread handsewing like the plague.  I'd do anything to avoid it, even lame-looking machine tricks. (And I still stand by the gathering foot; I hate hand gathering with a passion.) But now that I'm trying to make something that will look really nice, clothing rather than "costume," I'm trying to do it right and discovering it's really not so bad. And when I've got a lapful of nice clean faux-saffron linen, last thing I'm going to do is head for the chocolate  or potato chips, ya know?

I'm also discovering, to my surprise, that pleats ain't so bad after all.  For years they've intimidated the hell out of me, usually because at the time I was using commercial patterns.  They still intimidate me there.  But if it's a question of, okay, I have this much fabric and it needs to be pleated to this much band or binding, I'm discovering I have a fairly good eye for estimating.  And in the end it's easier and looks cleaner than the old (and completely non-period) drawstring or elastic trick.

I still don't press anything.  But I keep a spray bottle of water by the sewing table, and instead of ironing I just dampen the linen and fake-press it that way.  I just can't stand a hot iron in the summer, plus I'm scared a dog or kid will knock it down and burn it-him-her-self if I just sort of leave it out and/or on.  The water works fine. :-)

Okay, back to my day job...
--J

When I first got my sewing machine about 6 years ago, I bought most of a bolt of white muslin, cheap $.75 stuff.  Last night I actually came to the end of the roll. I thought it would never happen.

First year EVER this has happened. It's only June, and I'm already thinking about family RenFaire costumes.  And last night--all in one evening--I made my daughter a little front-lacing gown and most of a skirt, and my son a new shirt and most of a tabard.  She can still wear last year's chemise and biggins, and he can still wear last year's pants.  (All of the above indeed made from Stash.)

I also, in stopping at JoAnn's to get grommets, committed the kind of heinousness I often commit when entering a fabric store; it's been a while, though, so my defenses had weakened over time.  There was all this linen-rayon blend in perfect Renfaire commoner colors for like $3 a yard. So instead of what I'd originally planned, which was not only to clothe the whole family by the Faire but to do it all just from my stash, I'm maybe going to break even between fabric used and fabric purchased.

It's weird--I like to sew, but I have less than zero interest in using pre-made patterns.  For me the fun is all in figuring out how to do it and creating patterns myself.  My son's shirt this time looks pretty awesome (though the gussets are a little sloppy) and my daughter's gown is sort of my prep work for my own that I want to make next.

And this year it's my turn: I'm tired of taking adorable kids to the Faire and looking crappy myself.  My old muslin chemise that was the first thing I ever really sewed looks like it's the first thing I ever sewed.  The cheesy blue skirt looks like it's made from dollar-a-yard cotton broadcloth.  And while a good arisaid can cover a multitude of sins, it's summer, and I'd rather not add the weight.

So I'm making myself a gown this year.  Basic kirtle, probably fastening on the sides (period or not), of brown linen I've had in my stash for a while.  Square neck, pleated skirt, nice and full.  And I'll either make an underskirt or a Flemish-type overdress from some of my new linen-rayon stuff.  Or what the hell, maybe both.

I have, also in my stash, 4.5 yards of saffron-ish yellow handkerchief linen and 6 yards of white...so I haven't entirely decided whether my underclothes will be Flemish or Irish...but I'll have a new smock or leine when all's said and done.  And some kind of caul or kertch, but that'll wait...

If there's time, my husband will get a new pair of pants, and possibly my daughter a new chemise because the one she has really is too small...but this year I want a decent costume, something that'll last me a while and can be built on. 

Sigh. So much fabric, so little time...
--J
--J

Well, with surprisingly little angst or time, the sling is made.  At this point I think I've made about 20 of them, so I've got it down pretty well, and when I use linen (2.5 yards cut all the way up the middle gets me two slings, and each long piece of fabric has one good selvedge that doesn't need hemming) it goes particularly quickly.  I love linen. One barely has to iron, just make a fold and dampen it a little, and there's your crease. :-) (I'm such a lazy-ass.) I think I finished this one top to bottom in about 30 minutes.  Don't tell the woman I'm giving it to; I naturally want her to think I slaved for hours.:-)

So now my friend Katie will have a lovely red linen sling with silver aluminum rings (from slingrings.com/ --the definitive source for sling rings, although I really liked my heavy steel rings that I got from...somewhere. I forget where.).  It has a simple fanned shoulder (no pleats; I didn't have the patience, and I like the fanned ones myself)

For anyone who sews even a little, baby slings are a GREAT thing to learn to make for baby gifts or for one's own use...I used mine until literally last summer, when my daughter was 3.  We had a mei tai we'd use for hikes, and I always kept a ring sling in the car in case she fell asleep in the carseat when I needed to go shopping and couldn't manage to carry her in my arms.  Once one gets past the learning curve, these things are AMAZING.

For the record, pretty much everything I know about sewing slings I learned from the lovely Reverend Jan (of sleepingbaby.net  or her baby crafts site www.sleepingbaby.net/jan/Baby/index.html) --either from her directions there or something she linked to.   She's also here on LJ, at jan_andrea ...) 

Jan, by the way, is the one who also clued me in to not hemming the selvedge side--not out of laziness (at least, not totally!) but because then, after the sling is made and you're wearing it, it's REAL easy to tell which "rail" you need to adjust when something's too loose or too tight.

So...we have baby gifts.  Good to go.

And I'm sorta psyched...I wrote a new piece for our contemporary choir, for Easter, and we rehearsed it tonight, and it...okay, I'll just say it Doesn't Suck and leave it at that.  If I can get an accompaniment written out, it might be publishable.  I write enough crap that I'm sort of able to tell when I've done something non-crappy. We'll see.

Time to go home!
 

--J

My in-laws are leaving the rehab center today and going back to their dark over-furnished anything-but-accessible house in the city. I'm worried about them, I don't think they should be there, I feel powerless to do anything to help them...so in my usual happy overfunctioning way, I cooked.

I am fairly certain I got this trait from my mom, possibly passed on sideways to her by Aunt Helen or I suppose her own grandma.  It's an irresistable impulse: to demonstrate care for loved ones, friends, family, whoever, we Make Them Food. The amount and the frequency of the food produced is in direct proportion to the perceived area of non-control, worry, etc. I know this isn't a rare thing; it's culturally encoded into a lot of women, I think. (The whole "someone died; must take over a casserole" impulse.)  And it's honestly not one I feel any need to fight or resist--it makes me happy, it makes (hopefully) the people who eat happy. (And again: it's a tribal thing. :-)

I went fairly nuts. Giant pot of goulasz, few quarts of pasta fazool, some arroz con pollo, baked chicken and potatoes.  And put it all into nice two-dinner-sized plastic containers in the freezer, so we can take a few over whenever we visit them and pretend we haven't gone to much trouble. Not too much salt in anything, whole grain pasta and rice, generally healthy stuff.  Plus there's some goulasz and arroz/pollo for us to eat over the next few days as well.  I just went nuts. Literally about 15 thaw-and-eat dinners for 2 in our big freezer, not counting the two casserole dishes in the fridge for us.

It was surprisingly fun.  Coordinating burners and timings (it's all fairly timing-neutral food anyway) and ovens and washing and re-washing pots so I could use them again, planning shopping lists and buying what I needed and getting it done, and testing the goulasz every so often to see if the meat had yet gone to that lovely fall-apart stage yet...I don't know why making a huge amount of food grounds me so much, makes me feel like I have worth on the earth and a place in the world and all that weird nebulous crap. Maybe because my life's work is about something so ephemeral that it only really exists while you're listening to/experiencing it, I find these concrete Production kinds of activities so rewarding. 

(And if I can commit to this, maybe one afternoon a month, we won't be eating pasta around here all the time.)

Speaking of which...my next project is my felted sweater quilt, in which I try to clean out some of my thrift store wood sweater hoarde and make something useful out of it. I'll take pictures of my progress along the way this time, I hope, and we'll see what happens.

I bought a lovely warm Gloverall wool coat from a Canadian seller on ebay. I've been saying that this guarantees we will have at least several weeks of warm weather, starting the day I receive it. It should come today (or Monday at the latest)...this weekend we're supposed to go up to 50. Sigh. I can't complain too much, though, it's not like we won't have winter again, but it's very ironic and Murphy-like.

Must take children to sitter so I can get some work done...
peace,
J

Oh. My. God.

Did I really just spend $75 on two patterns? I think I did.

Okay, okay, talk yourself down.  How much $$ have you spent over the years on your stupid Simplicity patterns, a buck or two at a time, that you never ever actually sewed with? (Answer: not quite $75, but a lot.)

And the single pattern you've used more than any other, how much was that? Yeah, okay, my Elizabeth Lee tie-back thing, $14 plus shipping. 

And how much have you spent on linen that's currently sitting in your closet waiting to be made into the gown and smock that you just bought a pattern to sew?  Answer: no, don't ask that or I'll hyperventilate again, and it was ON SALE, dammit!

I have a birthday in less than a week. I haven't bought anything for myself in ages, except for secondhand or really on sale or desperately needed.  I'm taking gigs right and left, and that one wedding end of september overpaid me by $50, and I've been eyeing these patterns for months in one case, years in another.

So.  Happy Birthday to Me.

I'll go home and type a hundred times now: I will not buy more patterns till I've made up the ones I've bought; I will not buy more patterns till I've made up the ones I've bought; I will not buy more patterns till I've made up the ones I've bought; I will not buy more patterns till I've made up the ones I've bought; I will not buy more patterns till I've made up the ones I've bought; I will not buy more patterns till I've made up the ones I've bought; I will not buy more patterns till I've made up the ones I've bought...

(Hey, that cut and paste function makes it easier...:-)

Renfaire Day was yesterday...we'd had the date scheduled for a while, and even though we really should have spent the day working, unpacking, organizing, shopping, etc. we went anyhow.

I have to say that my daughter was beyond adorable--although it killed me that after I had her all dressed to go in her little white gown and biggins hat, she insisted on putting a skirt on over the gown, thereby removing any sense of "period" that she might have pulled off.  But she was cute.  (I wanted to apologize to every noble I saw, and say, "yes! I know that children in this time period would have just worn the gown and hat, really, I do! I tried!)  And of course I had no time to sew at all, so my beautiful "saffron" handkerchief linen still sits in storage somewhere, and my white handkerchief linen sits somewhere else, and neither my leine nor my Persian undergown got even started, let alone the rest of the costumes to go with them...so I stuck with my crappy muslin first-thing-I-ever-sewed chemise and cheap-dollar-a-yard-poly-cotton-broadcloth skirt, covered with my yes-I-know-it's-not-wool-but-it's-too-friggin-hot-and-this-was-a-buck-a-yard-at-Walmart-before-I-stopped-shopping-there piece of questionable-fibered "arisaid" plaid.  Hubby wore his old shirt and my cheapy khaki pants, Bear wore the same outfit as the year previous, complete with plastic sword in plastic scabbard.

I'm in an awkward and uncomfortable position, for me at least.  I know I can make decent costumes, or at least considerably more decent than what we currently have, and considerably more period than most of what one can buy at the Renfaire shops.  Therefore I am far too cheap to buy costumes from anyone else, even if they can probably make way nicer ones than I could.  Can't afford the really nice ones, don't quite want to buy the not so nice ones.  However, even if I do have the skill, and the ridiculous fabric collection, I utterly lack the time to actually plunge into the making of anything.  I still have this damn Thomas Merton paper hanging over me, I have a choir year starting up at church,  I don't even have any furniture (including a table for the machine) in the room I allegedly will sew in.  So for the third year in a row, I have worn the same crappy-ass costume to the faire.  

Then there's my daughter--last year I made her a chemise that dragged on the ground but had a six inch hem...I figured she'd get maybe 3 years out of it.  This year she needed all six inches let out--and it only came down to her ankles.  Terrifying.  Is she going to grow that much every year until she's as tall as me?  Is she ever going to get 2 or 3 years out of anything I ever make for her?  I want to make her an actual little kirtle, since by next year she probably will be too old to wear just the gown and biggins (I so wish she'd gone for it; God, she was adorable!), but it's a lot of sewing to do for a costume she'll barely get to wear.  

Sigh...I remember when I had time for hobbies.

--J

I am the laziest seamstress who ever lived, I am sure.  I'm the kind of seamstress who bitches if there are too many seams to sew, which is why I hardly ever make muslins, which is why I hardly ever sew anything I would really need a muslin for.  In the worst-case scenario I will buy a cheap-ish fabric of the same basic drape and hand as the "good" one I want for the better dress, and make the "muslin" into a dress I can actually wear. Usually the cheapie version turns out to be my preferred dress of the two, but whatever.

While I was pregnant, I discovered Elizabeth Lee Designs patterns for nursing moms (www.elizabethlee.com).   

This is a first...I'm actually considering family costumes for the Renaissance Faire more than 12 hours before we get in the car.

A pleasant day, all in all.