Mom's outfit is almost complete!

OK, my mom's far from being the diamond-and-fur kind of lady, so she wanted something real simple, so I ended up making her a light chemise and a pink kirtle, at her request for simplicity. The chemise for her was a bit harder to make (OK I know my own body size better than anyone else's) but it ended up turning out OK. Although the sleeves are a bit bulky (might make them thinner) and the neckline was too wide, but at least the kirtle came out great so that she can still wear a bra for comfort and support. (She doesn't go all out in the historically accurate "from the skin out" thing like I like to do...)

The hat is still tentative. I'm using my two invaluable resources, MedCos and the book The Medieval Tailor's Assistant as guides to what my mom might want. Looks like we might either do a black cotton hood or a thick linen veil, since she doesn't want a hennin at all.

We also got Christian's faux suede poulaines in the mail from http://www.costumeshoes.com/ . They are comfortable and don't have a super-buffed sole like the $70 boots we had to return to Silvermane (duh! Supershine the sole so that he can slide his way to TRF! Crap made in India!) and they fit really well and don't have any problems unlike the boots with the seam too far up the foot of the boot. The only real "problem" is that they have hidden Velcro fasteners! I forgot to take pics, so I'll be sure to take some tomorrow.

Now I'm thinking of buying me a pair of women's brown poulaines from the same company, since you can't beat the price (about $40 with shipping) and they have all sizes and colors (brown and black) in stock. The only thing is, I won't be wearing them the first day because they won't be coming in the mail by then. Plus I'm going to have to cough up some more money for linen stockings from Historic Enterprises, because I just don't feel like making them after doing all this work. And, what's the point of wearing shoes with no stockings?

Also got in the mail today a 1 gig digital camera chip (thanks to my dad the techie), so now I'll be able to take over 1,000 photos every time we go to TRF!!!

A Pretty Pirate

I was recently sent pictures of one of my clients, for whom I made the waistcoat and breeches. Remind you of someone???

Please note: New e-mail Address

Unless "Comcastic" means "utter crap", then it was "Comcastic" that they made me change my e-mail. This is such a sacred thing that should not be touched, it's like a part of me.

OK, that being said, I'll stop whining like a baby and give you my new e-mail. But I think I did have a right to whine, considering the VERY DAY I GOT MY BUSINESS CARDS IN THE MAIL, lovely Comcast informed me about how they are changing e-mail adresses and getting rid of area ones like houston.rr.com.

So here it is: mavallas@comcast.net . And don't forget the "a."

So boo on Comcast. I would boycott it if I could, but it would be stupid. Like boycotting water. It's like that vital, because I don't know what I'd do without broadband Internet.

Houp, waistcoat, breeches, pouch, chaperone

Been working on Christian's houp today and finally got pics of how I did the pleating, as it was rather challenging to do. Luckily, I had help from The Medieval Tailor's Assistant and one side came out really nice (as pictured of course) but the other I need to redo I think because Christian was being all wiggly in his fitting - even though he's 25, he acts like he's minus the 5 when it comes to fittings : (

I think the buttons really give the breeches and waistcoat a more finished look. I especially like the simple gold buttons on the breeches. Even though the waistcoat had shank buttons, they were oddly a lot easier to sew on than on the ladies' frock coat. I guess the shanks ("stems") come in different sizes from short to tall, with the taller ones being the easiest to sew on.

Also this weekend I started making the frock coat from the extra fabric from my client's coat. It should be done by the first week of October (provided the client gives me the buttons on a timely basis) and I'm hoping it will be posted on eBay soon. It will be my eBay debut regarding my costumes!

Waiting on fabric to come in the mail for my other client's frock coat - I guess once his wife got hers, he couldn't help but be a bit jealous! So he's getting one too, same type of fabric, just with a different swirl pattern, gold on black. Should look very dashing and manly, and quite an upgrade from his first coat, which really wasn't too bad to start off with!

And, since my client is quite talented in the leather-making dept (which I try to stay away from - one mistake and it's ruined - unlike fabric!!!) so he made my fiance a really nice pouch to wear on the belt he's currently making. It's funny receiving something hand-made after making that very person home-made stuff in return! The pic isn't the best, but it's against the beautiful blue wool that his houp is made of. There is a dragon on the button - tried to capture it but I guess I was too close. My client even weathered it to make it look used! How cool is that??

Lastly, I went for a (hopefully) final run to HL yeserday and hope I have everything I need. I got my mom some pink calico solid for her kirtle, white cotton for her chemise, black for Christian's chaperone, and some more silver grommets and quilter's block, totalling about $45.

Learned what not to stuff a chaperone with: scrap fabric. It makes it too bulky and heavy, even when it was cut into strips. Boo. And I was trying to "think green" too. And he still jokes about stuffing it with the hair of dead women, as one source says ....hmmm.....haircut anyone? (I think I'll stick to poly stuffing, although real wool would be cool!)

Other commissioned projects I've been working on

I've been working on two garments for the same client; one is a waistcoat and one is a pair of breeches. The waistcoat is coming along very nicely, with a "homespun" cotton look in the front and a faux suede in the back. (Luckily she chose it for the back because making button holes wouldn't be easy - you can't make mistakes since faux suede is not a woven fabric.)

She wanted it to look like Elizabeth Swann's waistcoat, so I custom-made the back tabs and used some grommets I had left over from my kirtle. Funny style how the back is much shorter than the front. I would've thought it would've been even all around. The lining really made it look period, as I used a cheap muslin (for breathing purposes in the Texas heat!)

The breeches are comical - I never knew exactly how they were constructed until I made this pair. There are two tabs that are hooked together and the flap buttons over them. And to boot, they are baggy in the bottom, but I've heard that is historically accurate.

Arr! Pirates be happy with me work!

Here is the finished pirate frock coat which was tailored to her specifications, since no pattern I knew of had a dramatic swallow-tail hem, nor a band that went around the bottom of the garment. It did take some work to alter the pattern, but it was a good challenge; a challenge I really needed, as a lot of things I make are easy. I generally fit perfectly in a Simplicity/McCalls size and never wanted/needed to change a pattern so drastically before, so I'm not used to altering patterns.

It took 30 buttons, which really topped it off nicely. I thought it looked pretty nice as it was (not that I didn't want buttons) but the addition is just breathtaking. (Note how there are no buttonholes - the buttons function as weights to keep the stiff lapels down! Plus they look so darn good!)

The coat fit her perfectly without tailoring, as it has princess seams (which you can't really see in the pics but they're there) which are for "female allowances." The way men's patterns are shaped, I don't think it would have laid on her the same.

I promise to post more pics on my Webshots after we go to the TRF in October.