There I Fixed It: Advancing Sleeves by 100 Years

but in a good way, not like this

At the (comparatively) last minute, by which I mean "about a fortnight ago", I decided to go to Coronation yesterday; and it being a genteel and courtly event, I wanted to be dressed all fancy-like...which of course, as I have just shared with you, is something of an issue for me[1].  The best option was to wear my 1540s Florentine silk gown, but I was feeling unusually Fussy™ about the sleeves; they had been wrong from the start, which I realized the first day I wore the dress, and my unhappiness had finally got to the point where I could not even with them any more.

What about them?  Well, let me illustrate, and then I'll explain how we got there.

Here's me (and my lovely & talented ronin-sister)
from the front.  Looks pretty OK, right?

Here's me, same day, from the side.  WTAF NOPE NOPE

So what happened?  As per usual, it was me plunging into a new technology without fully grokking the fundamentals thereof--partially due to time pressure, and partially due to not understanding the questions before they needed answers.  More specifically, I hadn't taken in how sleeve tech evolved between the 15th and 16th centuries; my chain of thought ran something like "the bodice of this dress is really quite like a gamurra in final shape, it's just that the seams are different; so I can use the same sleeve design I used for my gamurre."  Well, in fact, nope.  The gamurra has an inset armscye, which means you have a pretty dramatic shape change on your sleeve to get the thing to fit and still give you decent movement; it is rather like a sine wave, with the peak being at the top of your shoulder.  However, the 16th century dress, in a lot of cases, the sleeve isn't really part of the dress; it's a separate instance that you tie or pin or sometimes tack on, so if you have a massive amount of fabric up top, stupid things happen (as you see above)[2].

Eleanora di Toledo,
by Bronzino

The obvious answer is "make some new sleeves", but I don't have any of that silk left, so I took thought to how I could best frob them to better effect.  Step 1: look at some actual portraits, idiot (which I share a few of here for your delectation).

Anonymous lady,
by Pier Francesco Foschi

Bia de'Medici,
by Bronzino

The commonality I noticed is these ruffly bits at the top of the sleeve, which from that point are then attached to the shoulder of the dress in some wise.  Since much of my problem was "an excess of fabric at the top of the sleeve", I felt I could make something of this.  Of course, by the time I'd internalized all this information, it was the night before the event...

I started by running a gathering stitch along the point of the sleeve where the shape started getting all dramatic, and drew it in to make the sleeve's circumference about correct for my arm width, and pinned that solid.  I still had a goodly amount of fabric upstream, so I finger-pressed that to make a second ridge, and played around with that on my arm to see how it looked.  It was the right size, came up to an acceptable place on my arm, and gave about the right effect, so I sewed it all down.  

Lacking ribbon in any workable color, I took some acid-green silk dupioni and cut strips of it to serve as the sleeve ties. It's fraying like whoa, which is annoying, but I expected it; and once it finally gets fringed enough to stop dropping threads everywhere it will have a nice effect, I think.   And I finished it in just enough time to get properly dressed for the event.  YAY TIMING

We utterly failed to get any action shots of it on me, but here's it off of me:

a slightly different bow style is probably in order too

In retrospect, I might have done better to combine that extra fabric into a single pouf or valance instead of the two ridges; that's probably closer to most of what we see; but the silk, although stiff, may not have had enough weight to maintain that on its own.  In any case, it looks 100% better when I'm wearing it, and I'm pleased with the result considering the strictures I was operating under.

[1] I did cut out the blue silk under-dress last week!  It is, as they say, a start.

[2] On some other occasions we've tacked the sleeve to the back as well, which makes it somewhat less awful, but it still isn't great--the silk sticks out in all kinds of ungraceful ways.

Post-Pennsic Catch-Up

I promise I'm nearly done with this JPG

Another Pennsic survived, and indeed enjoyed (unlike last year's Bataan Death March).  The weather was, on the whole, nearly perfect; we had a marked decrease in camp drama; our small co-prosperity sub-sphere worked together to correct some problems[1]; and I wasn't killing myself trying to get things done to a deadline...which may be why I actually got some things done.  Mind you, it is still rather a drain to be den mother, hall monitor, and assistant principal to 70 variably-situated people, and I am nearly ready to be done with it so I can enjoy my vacation as a free agent, so I'm hoping to train up a padawan to take over in a couple years.  But let's get to the arty stuff.

Stuff worked on/finished/set on fire:

On Wednesdays, we wear pink.

• Partlet: Much to my joy, I found that Past Me had actually cut one out already.  I sewed it together and hemmed it in the field, and it was ready for my class Saturday morning, along with--
• Elizabethan working kirtle: you know, the one I cut out last year and finally finished last month?  Was miles too big around my torso, and also the neckline is kind of verkachte.  Fortunately the partlet covered the latter, and my posse pinned the back seams more tightly so I didn't look like a complete goober.  So, there's some fix work to be done in the fall sewing. (I have more thoughts about the cut for a later post.)
• Linen Gothic Fitted Dress: I finished it before leaving! other than the eyelets and hemming, which I also did in the field.  I'm particularly smug about it because I did the pattern adjustments on my own & on the fly, which is not at all easy, but my eye is clearly getting better at this.  It too is rather too big, but I'm not 100% sure that's wrong for a working dress; something else I shall expand on in a future post.
• The Pourpoint: I got the new lower sleeves quilted & pinned before leaving, and I showed the beast in the A&S display, in pieces, as a work in progress (wherein I also got to work on it, at least a bit).  Now it's just $*@&# buttonholes all the way down.
• Linen Trousers Mk. 2: the first time my dashing consort wore them, he split the seam at the back of the crotch gusset.  I hate pants.  Pants are stupid.

learn and fear these arms!

I also finally got to hang the banner I painted a couple months ago, which is another nice smug feeling.  It is rather a bodge job (I tacked some of the messy edging I'd cut away onto the top as fast-and-dirty ties), and it should really have a pole and all; but this worked for the moment (as it was, I only got it hung up on 2nd Monday) and I can improve it later.  

Speaking of improvements, I now have a list of them for our pavilion; most involve textile printing of some kind.  I missed the series of classes that The Subject Matter Expert was holding--not only was I up to my ass in camp foo, but you needed to bring some materials that I didn't have a prayer of getting together in time--but the Printed Textiles in the Middle Ages FB group is full of info and I am hoping to start with something small and not particularly important; namely covers for our camp coolers, because ugh.  When I have some confidence in the technique, I want to print a canvas floor for the pavilion[2], ideally to look like the tiled floors you see in all the 14th c. illuminations.  And on the non-textile front, we're planning to paint the pavilion poles (not in designs, just colors); and I picked up a plain white folding shelf unit to keep the tent's inside a little less of a rubbish tip, and I want to do some designs on that.  Maybe acanthus leaves, maybe armorial bits, we'll see.  

For the fall schedule, I'm keeping some flex in case I'm needed to help with a wedding dress that's set to launch next month; but the general prioritization looks like this:

1) FINISH. THE. POURPOINT.  AAAAAAAA.

1a) and the test version, too.  oh god more quilting

2) Do the small bits of mending required post-Pennsic.

3) Knock together a new pouch, as the one I made, guh, ten years ago? more? is crappy and falling apart and was only a kludge to begin with.  

4) *deep breath* Make myself a set of high fashion Gothic fitted dresses; the under-dress of the blue silk I got at Birka a few years ago, and the over-dress out of the silk and gold lampas l I just ordered from Sartor.  I need to make something for myself that isn't an experiment or a kludge job.  ...There might end up being pearls on it.  I'm just sayin'.

I'm not going to look past that point for now, but hovering in the parking lot is the bunch of really nice linen we also ordered from Sartor, because for next Pennsic my dashing consort is getting a full kit of Field Gothic.  Currently figuring a blue tunic and ochre hose, and once those are done I'll see what will go well as a hood (maybe a dark red).  And I do want to make him a full-on Modern Maker fancy 16th c. suit, too.

That'll do for awhile.

[1] HEY KIDS INTROVERT SPACE 

[2]  You might think that the next step after that is painting the pavilion itself, but I don't have a strong feeling of what exactly I'd want to do, so Imma let that marinade for awhile

Work Is Occurring Yes

Many buttons.  Too many buttons.

This post will be more laundry-list and less explicative, because we're into the pre-Pennsic sewing crunch and I have six quarts of boeuf bourguignon to make, vacuum-seal, and freeze today.  So without further ado, here's what I've been up to:

• Put lacing holes in the late-period suit my ronin-sister made for my dashing consort last year, and added cloth buttons on the front closing of the netherhose.  Which latter was warm-up for...
• Made all the buttons for the pourpoint.  At least, I hope that fifty-five will be enough.  *thud*  For the flat buttons, I'd bought some felt to insert, but even with two layers (and it's pretty thick felt) the result was still too squishy; so I messed around a bit and found a way to cover the pewter forms I'd gotten for this in the first place.
• Cut out a new, larger pair of lower sleeves for the pourpoint, which I have to set up & quilt today (something I have been in massive amounts of avoidance about).
• Made a green linen apron for 16th-century working clothes.  Well, I mean, apron tech hasn't really changed over the medieval period (take a rectangle of fabric. tie it around your waist.  wipe your hands on it.) but we actually see green linen ones as a specific and recurring item in 16c. England, so there it is.  Also I had a bunch of dark green linen. --Now, the truth is, that's probably supposed to be a wearing-out apron and not a grotty-job apron, so I still actually need an apron for doing grotty jobs; but this is not today's problem.  
• Knocked together a 2nd pair of generic linen trews for my dashing consort, in case it's another stupid hot year.  In spite of redoing the pattern per his feedback on the first pair, somehow they still came out too short-waisted and bind his bits. Snarl.
• Cut out a linen GFD.  This is not going to be any kind of show piece, it will be machine-sewn oh yes it will, but just something cheery and cool for hot weather in case it's another stupid hot year.  (You sense a theme here?)   Especially since my blue dress is reaching end-of-life.  

I am hoping to complete all of the above items as well as a partlet before we leave; let's see what happens.

Various Devils In Details

Nothing to see here, move along

I spent most of the last while working on [REDACTED], and after some few setbacks and, ahem, learning experiences, it's done and I'm tolerably pleased with the result.  Don't worry, I took a bunch of photos and you'll get to hear all about it later, if without the piquancy of my in-the-moment emo.

I have now turned my attention to the linen kirtle I cut out last summer and, like an idiot, was trying to finish at Pennsic, which I want to have done for Quest (which is Memorial Day weekend).  And now that I've hauled it out and started really looking at it instead of just robotically executing "here are the pieces, sew the thing", I have a couple of concerns.  The minor one is easily resolved, at least once there's someone over who can pin me in: the front neckline is wayyyyyy too high.  Like, almost no drop from the shoulder.  I'm not sure how that happened, but it did; but I don't want to try and amend it freehand, but I can assemble the rest of the thing, leave the neckline unfinished, and then have someone mark it on me.  (The back, at least, seems to be in the right place, so I can even close it up to the shoulder seams.)

Somewhat more concerning is that the center fronts are quite curved.  Now, this is perfectly normal for my 14th century stuff; but my understanding of the 16th century is that we're all about the straight lines because we have support happening inside the garment layers[1] and that's going to force your shaping so your pieces can be more cookie-cutter.  Certainly all the example pieces and published patterns have straight fronts, so I think this is Not Right, particularly for a working-class dress.  On the gripping hand, what I need is a passable light linen dress comfortable for the Cambodian summers we've been suffering, so a) does it really matter for this garment since it's not a show piece and b) do I have time to get consultation/help with amending it and c) is it even something that can be amended at this point?  

Um?

It is possible that the answer to all three of those questions is a big whompin' No.  

But to keep my options open as long as possible, I'm going to finish the skirt and attach it (I'm OK with where the bottom of the bodice is hitting) and by that time I'll have a sense of whether I'll be able to tap someone to have a look at it (the usual sewing night this week is prorogued for a birthday celebration).  Or I can start training the dashing consort on how to pin someone in--though when I consider how long it took me to get the knack of it, this may not be helpful for the current undertaking.

Other minor nits that have occurred to me:

• I had originally planned to bind the neckline with a contrasting linen, but I'm not sure whether this would be appropriate for a working-class under-dress.  On the other hand, I'm mostly going to wear it alone, so a wee bit of ornamentation would not go amiss.  I can't find period guidance either way.
• do I need a strengthening strip around the skirt waist like we do for cartridge pleating (I think maybe not, because again, working class basic?); 
• a facing for the center front to strengthen the lacing holes would be smart[2]; 
• the Tudor Tailor says to self-bind the armholes, rather than other finishing techniques, and I'm wondering why; 
• I really need to make a shift with a more U-shaped neckline for this late period stuff and also maybe my shifts should be a little longer (a lot of them are barely knee-length)

Of course, after all this, it'll probably be one of the years where Quest is 40 degrees at night and pleasant during the day.  So I'm hedging my bets by finishing the refurbs on at least one pair of my consort's wool Venetians, too.

The Trello board I mentioned in my last post continues to work well; so well, in fact, that it was proposed to me that I could teach a class in Agile Project Management Techniques As Applied to Your A&S Work.  Do we think this would be a useful / valuable thing?  Would it play in Peoria?

In other news, I am engaged in a Kafkaesque struggle to understand what the East Kingdom actually expects of you reporting-wise after you have held an event.  The only thing I've learned is that 1) everyone has a different idea--and I asked some experts, I can tell you--and thus 2) no one really knows for sure.  So I have started to document what I've found, because this is silly.  (I still, after two weeks, do not have an answer of where I'm supposed to send our duly-collected waivers--you know, the ones you're supposed to turn in within ten days.)  Hey, guys?  This kind of disorganization is why more people don't throw events.

[1] or under, for later and fancy rich people
[2] this is, in fact, what suddenly caused me to go HEY FRONT NOT STRAIGHT WHYYYY