Slow Going and Socks

It has been slow going round here. I'm back to teaching, which leaves me tired a lot, and back at the gym, which makes me more tired.

Also the ginger cat has decided it is absolutely necessary for her to be constantly petted and reassured.



And my sewing machine is doing something upsetting, which keeps snapping the top thread after 2 cm of sewing.

So I've only been getting anything crafty done at lunchtimes at school.



A simple toe-up sock, trying out a heel flap technique. Otherwise simple rib, and simple yarn, dyed by me with Kool Aid. Grape and Strawberry specifically.

Little things. Little steps. Today I will give the ginger cat a kiss and her toy mosue and try to get something bigger accomplished.

Jim: Everyday Jerkin/Doublet Part 2

Following on from this part, I am now at the stage of adding the arms (and altering that annoying doublet tab which hangs slightly too low).

I wanted to have very slim fitting lower arms, with a slightly puffier look at the top. To achieve this I sewed together strips of sleeve material, and a 'feature' material to fill the gaps. I'm using the back of this, as it's a slightly creamy fabric, with white fleur de lys.










I French seamed them and then sewed the seams onto the main sleeve strips, to keep it flat inside, but also to enhance the look of the 'feature' fabric being behind the sleeve fabric. At the top I created a facing and sewed it in place, along with the other half of the ribbon ties to attach it to the doublet.

I then needed a lower arm piece, which I decided to make out of one piece of material. As it needed to be quite tight fitting I started with a shape that was 12" circumference and tapered down to the wrist at 10". I added ribbon decoration here to tie it in with the main doublet body.



Because the upper arm tube wouldn't naturally fit in the lower arm tube, I pleated the 'feature' fabric so it was behind the sleeve fabric until it was the right circumference. This went between the two folded layers of the lower arm and was sewn inside to keep everything neat.
















Altering the doublet tab was quick and easy, and only involved unpicking half the waist to get right. I'm much happier with the levels now though. I also added the leftover ribbon to the back to create a pulled in pleat in order to fit it more tightly to Jim's body, as the waistcoat was originally quite loose.



And there we have it. One finished doublet, modded from a waistcoat. Minimal amount of money spent, but quite a lot of time. Jim's currently wearing it with one of my blouses (see through for extra League sexiness), plus some plain black work trousers and knee high boots.

Jim: Everyday Jerkin/Doublet Part 1

The brief: A warm jacket style top based on an old piece I started years ago. Mostly to practice my altering skills and allow Jim to allow himself more kit, without worrying over cost and effort.

The build: This used to be a velvet waistcoat, lined in sheeting. It will be altered at the shoulders for a better fit and cut up to a high waist. The offcuts will either be used to add some tabs, or to create sleeves. There is some similar enough/different enough material that will be used as the sleeves if necessary. A selection of light gold lining has been chosen for slashes in the sleeves.

The fabric: Red (curtain) velvet waistcoat from about 5 years ago, lined in red sheeting and with some bargain bin trim. Additional fabric are all offcuts from curtain shop closing down sale, plus some sale ribbon from the Indoor Market.

Cost and time: Cost is very rough, as some of this material was bought over 10 years ago, but my best guess is somewhere between £6-8. Currently sitting at four hours, having finished the body.

Process:  Our starting point.

Overly long for the period we're playing, doesn't do up at the front, doesn't sit right on the shoulders and has never actually been sewn shut at the armhole. Oh dear.

The first thing to do was to re-pin the shoulders on Jim, so that I knew we had a good fit. They were quite far out from where they should be.



I then checked Jim's natural waist level onto the waistcoat and cut it straight off. After that I un-seamed the bottom pieces, giving me two lower front quarters, and the back half. I chopped the back half straight up the middle, turned all the pieces inside out, and then seamed them up to create four doublet tabs.




















As Jim wanted detachable sleeves, it was easiest to pull the shoulder seams apart at this point, and sew the armholes closed first, including ribbon ties into the sewing. After this I sewed the outer shell at the shoulder on the machine, then pinned the lining together to hand sew.

I also needed to add front ties to pull the doublet closed at the waist, although only a few. To save myself having to reopen the front I added them on top and covered then with some ribbon, which also added a bit more flounce. In retrospect I should have just reopened the front. While I sewed the trim on neatly many years ago, it turns out I didn't sew it the same distance away from the edge on both sides.

After this it was a simple enough job to pin the tabs to the outer shell, machine sew it, and then hand stitch the lining in place.


Annoyingly, somewhere along the way, one of the front tabs has hung down more than the other. I'll fix that tomorrow, and other than that, everything is very nice indeed.

Empire: Costuming the League

Over a year ago PD announced that they would be ending their then current campaign, Maelstrom, and starting a new campaign in 2013. This campaign is Empire and I am massively excited about it.

A group of us started planning what we would sort of game we would like to play within Empire, and where this would best fit in the setting. The nation that captured our imaginations the most was the League. This is a nation of colour and intrigue, or fighting bravos and underhand politics. Perfect for us and our play style.

Also, it really helped that the costuming for the League was so bloody beautiful!

And of course I became extremely excited about making these costume. Possibly more so than was seemly.

Currently I am making costumes for myself and two others; Joe and Jim.

Jim is intending to play a Ritual Mage and wants some very flash clothing for rituals, as well as everyday clothing.

Joe will be playing a politician, aiming for Senator, so wants constantly noticeable clothing to make him stand out from the crowd.

I haven't yet decided what I'll play, there are far too many things catching my eye. However I will be aiming for some sumptuous gowns, as well as some more practical doublet and hose combinations.

My intention is to record my progress here in order to have a record for other people looking to make their own clothing, just like Tim and Jess are doing here.

Matching chemises

Everyday Doublet for Helen

Everyday Doublet for Jim (Part 1)

Everyday Doublet for Jim (Part 2)

I wonder....

if this time I can keep up my good intentions. I hope so.

This was always meant to be a repository for my crafting process, but over the years every time I've tried to pick it up, I've been distracted and forgotten about it quite quickly. However I now have something to chronicle that I would like to share and that I would like to remember. This bodes well.

Some little background about me then, as this is all horribly out of date.

I teach Physics, so there'll be some of that cropping up.

I run and play LRPs, so there'll be some of that.

I am a feminist and try to keep abreast of politics, so maybe a smattering of that.

I knit, sew, tat, weave, quilt and many, many other things.

I am over on Ravelry here. There'll be a lot of that cropping up.

And I have two beautiful cats. They may also feature.

Anyway, as a precursor to the upcoming project(s) that have enthused me, I'll leave you with this:

I am about to begin....

my three weeks of Doom. (Whoop! Whoop!)

Today I pack myself up, head off out to .......

Locko Park for the Moot, come home on Sunday, then bug out again on Monday to head to ......

Knitcamp. Friday I head back from Knitcamp, straight to .......

Tournament Stud to crew Odyssey. And when I head back home from that on the Monday I have a whole half a day to turn myself round and get ready to head off to ........

Rome for 8 days before getting home for a whole day before rocking out to ......

The Gathering at Locko Park.

Then home, and back to school. Phew!

And this is after having been out to the cinema twice, been to the pub, been to a wedding, played Exalted, been shopping 3 (3! me!) times for new clothes, caught up with Lorna and Rikk. Double phew!

Wedded Bliss

Yesterday I watched a wonderful friend and her equally lovely fiance get married. It was a small, family and close friends affair and I felt really privledged to be there. Ellie had put a lot of time, effort and careful thought into the wedding, and it showed.



The day was immaculately planned, with the sort of little touches which make it even more special. Beautiful music, lots of coffee, excellent food.





The venue, Dunsley Hall in Kinver, was amazing, perfectly decorated and with discreet staff.





Jim looked gorgeous, even if he won't admit it.





The table we were on was really friendly and fun, and I'm glad we got to meet (or meet again) everyone on it. I got a little mobbed by the kids who wanted their photos taken in the afternoon. I did manage some lovely shots though, and as soon as I have parental permission I'll share them on my Flickr account.

I also took some time to play about with my camera more and captured some shots of myself.





I'm liking my new hair, make up and style. Long may it continue.

And many, many Congratulations to Ellie and Dan.