Julie's Elizabethan Merchant

Almost Finished!

2006-10-24T14:32:00.000-04:00

Its obvious that I was sewing frantically towards the end of this outfit, because I didn't post anything! I did manage to finish the doublet before our trip to the MD and PA faires this past weekend, though I didn't get to the sleeves. Which was rather unfortunate, considering how chilly it was. Poor Adam....

I really thought I'd have plenty of time for sleeves, but the doublet details turned out to take far longer than expected. I stuck with the slash idea, and because the wool I used was lightweight and thin, it wasnt' the sort that holds slashes. I faced the slashes in the same ribbon that I used along the slop panes, and I slashed it along the doublet the same way. Since I didn't want the ribbon's anchoring stitches showing through to the outside, I had to line the doublet (I chose pink linen), then turn the egding in, and then stitch only through the linen layer. Honestly, the stitches did manage to make it through to the outside in a few places, and they bother me, but I'm sure no one else would notice (too much)...

Here is a pic of the slashing process. Its like Valentine's day puked...

slashes

And some of the whole ensemble, sleeves to follow:

adam close--as you can see, the buttons were nixed in favor of hidden hookneyes. I actually think i'll leave it like this...I think it looks nice with the clean lines.

adam action

adam back--there were many comments on the stuffed "jiggly butt"!

12 Hours Behind Schedule

2006-10-15T00:45:00.000-04:00

I expected to be finished hubby's slops by lunchtime today. It is exactly 12 hours later. ;) We won't speak of the great frustration that one experiences when they discover they've made two right legs and completley neglected the left. That really sets one back....

Without futher ado, the Spidey slops (of 293 pieces, weighing somewhere between 3 and 4 pounds):

Front--ugh, look how chaotic my house is! And doesn't this look great with a T shirt? Hehe....

And the back... Never thought of Adam as a pear shape before, but now I have!

Left to do on slops:
1) Codpiece? I do want one, but I might not do it for this weekend's wear. (edit: I totally lied..I did this before I went to bed last night! Its pretty, way better than the walrus. )
2) Couching the canions. I won't do this now, but I think it might look nice as an addition later. LATER.... hehe

And then, of course, I need to do the doublet. I'll hopefully make good headway on that tomorrow.

Math is the Debil!

2006-10-12T00:31:00.000-04:00

After sewing numerous straight lines, I got to thinking....

Panes (lining, outer, ribbon edges): 104 pieces
Cords used for couching (thank god this is done!): 176
Base pieces (lining and outer): 8
Canions (outer and lining, yet to be made): 4
Waistband: 1

Which takes these slops to a grand total of 293 pieces. Wowser! I wonder how much these things'll weigh? Good thing we bought hubby that belt!

I'm still working on assembling the slop pains. Mispelling intentional. ;)
Off to bed...

New Shoes, Too.

2006-10-11T10:39:00.000-04:00

I've literally taken a page out of Beth's diary and made some "new" shoes for adam, using the same handy instructions.

I used some black men's dress shoes from the goodwill, though mine were $8 instead of Beth's lucky $1.50 find (D.C. goodwill inflation?). They were super shiney to start, so I "polished" them with a sandpaper block. Horrifying idea in real life, but really satisfying for costuming. They're still kinda shiny, but much less "is that plastic or leather?" They are leather, though, I assure you. ;)

I didn't have the good sense to take a before picture, but here is the after. I guess i'm gonna have to trim some of the lining from the instep on the left one, cuz you can see the white peaking through:

"new" shoes

A Snail's Pace...

2006-08-28T15:00:00.000-04:00

...better than no pace at all, I suppose.

I think this just over half of the slops-couched, but yet to be fully assembled. If I keep watching TV/movies and couching at this pace, I should be finished before I die. ;) I'm giving myself til Thursday to keep working on these, and then I reserve the right to move onto my own jacobean jacket outfit, since its debut will be before this one. Poor, poor hubby....

couching--Sorry for the extra-special-crappy photography.

Slop Experiments--Round II

2006-08-10T23:19:00.000-04:00

So, after deciding the buttonhole approach just wouldn't do/didn't look period/was generally "blah"....
Hubby and I revamped the idea. We decided to do chevrons with a bisector, as seen on a doublet from Janet Arnolds PoF.

Here's my experiment. Imperfect in its straightness, but well, um, that's period, right? ;):

slop prototype

I'm still going to slash the ribbon edges like in my first go round, but its not done in this example.

Anywho...only 27? more to go...This is how i'll be spending my 6 hour ride to NC. We're going on vacation this week!

Gearing Up

2006-08-06T23:14:00.000-04:00

I have been reminded that I have but 7 weeks to finish the costume for my next definite faire date. And since I want to finish hubby's before I start mine, that means I have only 7 weeks to finish TWO costumes. That was an inspiring thought...

I didn't get as much done this weekend as I might've liked, but at least I did something! First, I worked on getting Adam's shirt wearable so that I could fit a doublet over it:

shirt collar

The shirt isn't actually finished--there are still buttons and button loops to be added to the sleeve cuffs, and I'm considering doing a black border on the cuffs to make it go better with the top of the shirt. I figure the 6 hour drive to NC we have next weekend will give me plenty of time for such handwork:

trogdorcuff
Having the shirt in hand, I wanted to work on the doublet pattern while the model was available and willing. The flemish doublet, while appropriate for peasant gear, is not structured enough for higher class elizabethan wear. I started with that pattern and altered it until it was snug but comfy, and fiddled for a seemingly interminable amount of time trying to figure out the blasted collar. Collars are a PITA!

doublet fitting

I also wanted one of the v like collar backs, so I'm working on getting this to lie flat. I think its just a matter of carefully handworking it, and I didn't want to waste my time doing that on a mockup:

I think I'm gonna really like this detail (unless it all goes horribly wrong!!!).

That's all for now. Tomorrow I hope to cut out the lining and fashion fabric for the real doublet. And maybe cut out some of the slops so I can have them all ready to couch with cord for my long car-ride. Wish me luck!

Confronting One's Enemies

2006-07-17T11:19:00.000-04:00

Obviously, I love costuming. But I really hate one very important part of it--making shirts/chemises/camicas/shifts. So....boring! And yet, as simple as they may be in concept, I almost always screw it up somehow.

I've been avoiding that shirt for some time now (~4 months, but who's counting?). Let me tell you, Trogdors do not appreciate that kind of neglect. Seriously. They might come burn your cottage if you're not careful. Or they might decide to spontaneously stain a shirt that has been sitting undisturbed in a sewing room for 4 months. Don't ask, I have no idea. I do hope those spots come out.

To punish the Trogdors for soiling their shirt, I've decided that this one will be his middle class shirt, which is why I'm moving it from the thunderhosen diary. Besides the mysterious stain, I'm rather unhappy with the weight of the linen I chose for it (its heavier/coarser--5.3 oz, I think). I'd like to make hubby a finer one for his higher class thunderhosen outfit. I know what you're thinking--"if you hate shirts so much why are you deciding to make another?" Well, the answer is that I'm that crazy. And that picky, apparently.

This weekend, I really wanted to sew, but I'm at a stand-still on the slops (waiting for the couching cord to arrive), and I couldn't start the doublet since I didn't have the shirt to fit it over. I had no choice but the shirt, which is why I worked on it. :)

I added bigger underarm gussets to make up for the poor fit the first time round. I over-compensated, cuz hubby now has ridiculously huge gussets. I'm halfway thinking I should take them out and try some moderate ones, but I'm halfway thinking I don't care enough...

Knowing that this is now going to be a middle class shirt, I didn't didn't feel so bad slapping a modest neck ruff right on there instead of having it a seperate piece like the higher classes might do. I used the 5:1 ruff instructions on the eliazabethan costuming site, like I did for my flemish partlet. I used a 94 inch length of linen selvage (hubby has a big neck), and fancied it up a bit (aka "disguised the selvage edge") with a black blanket stitch. The ruff gathering and blanket stitching took me ages--so, while I did spend much time sewing this weekend, I don't have much to show for it yet. I confess, though, that when I finished, i did NOT want to attach this ruff to his shirt. I wanted to steal it and attach it to something for ME!

shirtcollar

The finished neck band and ruff are attached to the shirt, but the shirt is as yet unfinished (still need to whip the inside collar in, add buttons and loops, and I've got a few ideas for additional embellishments on the rest of the shirt. I'm also going to extend the motif on the neckband so that it comes closer to the edge. Apparently ruffs add diameter to the required neckband (duh), and I hadn't compensated for that when I blackworked it the first time.

Slops Experiments

2006-07-05T00:48:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I know...I don't usually use patterns, but I admit it--I've been basing this on Margo Anderson's elizabethan man pattern. So if it looks familiar to you Margo Anderson fans out there, that's why. I had to change it quite a bit to have it fit my short barrel-o-fun husband--pretty drastically. Basically, I've preserved the crotch area of the pattern cuz I haven't had luck in drafting that area of pants without help. :) Its so much easier to have a pre-drafted crotch area...hubby doesn't like when i approach his no-no places pins-in-hand. I can't say I blame him, but in my defense I've NEVER stuck him. Men so protective of the family jewels!

As for my changes to the commercial pattern: I elected to make the lining more fitting, and allowed for much more extra fabric for the underlay (that's the black) of the slops so I could get extra puff. I'm doing the slops according to PoF instead of Margo, and I'm also doing away with the interlining, cuz poor hubby will be oh so hot as it is. Oh, and I embedded pockets! Hubby is quite happy about that. PoF's first slops pattern has a pocket hole, so i feel completely justified in supplying extra convenience for him.

Here is the lining in pale yellow (seems I'll never be rid of those pale yellow linen tablecloths!), and the underlay in black linen (which i dyed myself--kinda splotchy, but pretty decent for home dyed black, I guess). You can see there is quite a bit extra fabric. This is but one leg's worth.

Here are the two assembled, so you can get an idea of the amount of poofage (keep in mind its not stuffed....yet). I've also done one experimental slop pane, which is laid on the base for your viewing amusement. The pane is about 2.5 inches wide all together. I'm still deciding whether i like this width...

slop plan?

As for the slops decorations, I've been taking notice of examples in the portraiture where slashes are reinforced with buttonhole stitching. There are several showing this technique in some Elizabeth I portraits, and more than a handful of examples in the male portraitures too (sadly, its late, and i'm too lazy to dig them up, so for now you'll have to take my word for it).

Anyway, this is my machine's buttonhole stitch (cheating!), and the edge is a "silk" bias ribbon that I've slashed every half inch. I deem it silk--its old as the hills from a previous generation's stash and in a burn test seems similar enough to my real silks. But I'm painfully bad at burn tests, so who knows. It also holds its slashes quite well, which seems an anti-synthetic trait. Yes, I'm still trying to convince myself. :)

slop detail

I'm still deciding. I'm not entirely sure i like the button hole slashing, and it doesn't really open much to reveal the black linen underneath anyway. I'm trying to come up with other possibilities for decorations before I decide. I did just buy an embroidery book.... and there's always couching, which I think'd be much faster than either of my other options. I do like the diagonal lines, so I'll probably conserve those no matter what method I choose. I'll likely alternate the diagonals from pane to pane to get some fun zigzag action.

The Mad Hatter

2006-06-20T21:13:00.000-04:00

Well, I actually started this hat over on another page, but since hubby seems to have included it in his merchant concept sketch, I'm relocating it here....

I've actually managed to finish something!

I made the plastic canvas hat forms (post on the thunderhosen page), and all was left was to cover them with fabric. I used a scrap of black cotton velveteen. In case you're curious about my construction after that:
1) cut a large round to cover crown (radius of crown plus a bit for a rolled hem), and 2 rounds of fabric to cover the brim. I have used cotton velveteen on both sides, though my bottom side is pieced in two halves (fabric conservation is SO period). I allowed ~1 inch on either side of the plastic form--the outer rim for seam allowance and the inner for making a nice clipped curve like in PoF (page 94).

2) I traced around my plastic brim donut right onto the velvet's wrong side and sewed the top and bottom together (without the plastic in there, i don't think my sewing machine would appreciate plastic)
3) Join plastic canvas brim and crown sections with the age old technique of granny yarn.
4) Slip previously sewn velvet brim over the plastic brim donut. This kinda worked like a steering wheel cover, and I got a nice tight fit from the tracing method. Clip inner curves so they lie flat along the crown, inside and out.
5) I gathered my crown fabric along three lines, as in the PoF example...one right next to top of crown, one in the middle, and one near the brim. I did 45 pleats on all three levels, in concentric circles of cartridge pleating--I drew wagon wheel spokes on the wrong side of the fabric to keep the pleats even.
6) Put cover on crown, tighten pleats and fuss with them all you're willing to. I fussed a lot over getting the pleats even. They're still not even, but well, it looks fine to me anyway. Whipstitch crown cover down to brim cover (i pushed mine flat for this, though you could leave them sticking out like true cartridge pleats).
7) Make lining to fit inside crown. Mine is a red "silk" (quotes mean its synthetic! ;)) I attached mine to the upper edge of the crown and then whipstitched into the brim. I would like to add a "sweat band" so the lining doesn't get too nasty, but don't have the right material for that right now. (mental note to lint brush this puppy!)

8) Decorate!

Adam's ended up like this, I took the inpsiration from the william cecil pic in PoF:

image from Janet Arnold PoF

I did learn an important lesson, though..if you want the brim to lie flat, you must cut the donut hole in an oval, rather than a complete circle. Cuz yeah, humans don't have perfectly round heads (unless its charlie brown). Still, i think the wavy brim is period, so it doesn't bother me:

image from Janet Arnold PoF

That's all folks...back to daydreaming...

More Practice

2006-06-16T23:30:00.000-04:00

Well, I've got pretty complicated plans for the hubby's thunderhosen project. They keep changing, so I'm not even entirely sure what's going on with that at the moment.

In the meantime, I figured a bit more work acquainting myself with men's garb was in order. I recently tinkered in menswear with the flemish man project, but its a rather unstructured garment compared to later elizabethan wear, so I think I'm just working my way up.

I bought some very bright red wool (think superman's cape) from trimfabrics.com for a pretty good deal, and I think it deserves to be something. That something is a middle class (merchanty) elizabethan costume.

Once again, I set hubby to draw himself something he'd like to wear (within precise specifications, of course), and this is what he came up with:

concept sketch

Yes, those are peacock feathers in his cap. Luckily, i've got vases of them in my house, so i'll gladly sacrifice a few! I'll say nothing of the liberties he's taken with the codpiece....

Anyway, it'll be red wool and black linen. I'll probably slash the slops a bit, and I think I'm going to try to use deep maroon piping around the doublet (and on the slops' panes if i have enough).

Now...back to daydreaming and procrastinating....