Candlemas

Well, I managed to get all of the items I was working on for Candlemas complete. Teresa was very happy with her new apron dress. Angie was thrilled with the Ghawazee coat, she might get to even wear it a few more times, before it's too big. She's lost 40 pounds and is still going. So the plan is to start yet more new garb for her, in a smaller size. I think we'll sell the stuff that is too big if I can't adjust it. Margaret was thrilled that I completed her gold silk kimono (construction done, embroidery needs finishing) she did manage to stain it 1st time out. But it can be covered with more embroidery, so no real harm there. Dave needs new pants, his current pair of Thorsburg trousers are pulling apart in the seam. I've decided I need to finish the head-dresses I was making for Angie and myself. It's been over a year since I touched them. I had the chance to talk to fiber peoples over the weekend and got some pointers. Looks like I will be attempting to tension Norse clothing with a frame for the purposes of the tablet woven trim.  Dave's keeping his eye out for a deal on a book that was recommended 'Woven into the Earth'. I'm also planning on starting a new tunic or two for Dave. Hopefully I will get to start those on Friday. I will be using the russet linen I bought for him. We have several events coming up and it would be nice for everyone to have something "new" to wear.

Kimono Update

Margaret came over to the house yesterday; she had the day off from school. We laid out and cut her Hadajuban and Susoyoke. Hopefully we're using a light enough material this time. Margaret overheated at Pennsic this last year. I also got her to try on her new Nagajuban, I finished yesterday. We added a kimono and I proceeded to make her suffer through me learning how to tie a "butterfly" knot for an yukata kimono (informal). Here is a picture of her wearing the yukata and practicing her embroidery.

I attempted to add the pillow (padding) to achieve the correct body shape and realized after completing the obi that it wasn't in the right place. But Margaret was happy and spent an hour or so practicing walking (little steps) and bowing to persons of various rank. (This is quite amusing to watch) Also showed her the season/color combinations and got her to pick out what she liked. Which will make things easier in the future. She didn't even complain about wearing green this time. I think she's figuring out that she can wear any color she wants and look good. I showed her a design I was working on and she asked "That's not going on a kimono for me is it? That's too much work." I assured her I had no plans to use it on a kimono at this time. (heehee) I'm planning to use it sometime down the road. 

I spent last night trying to decide how I want to do the straps on the apron dress. I still haven't made up my mind, fortunately I have a few days left. The gold/yellow trim looks wonderful, thinking about adding it to the straps as well. I'm starting to think I won't have time to do additional embroidery on the bottom, which is too bad because it's so pretty! 

Also worked on the ghawazee coat today. It's moving along faster than I expected, I thought it would be noon when I looked at the clock, nope, 10:30. The changes I  had to make to the original design look just fine, so all things considered I'm happy there. I figured out that using glue to tack the lacing loops in place is sooo much easier than pinning them. With any luck I should have the coat completed today. 

Weekend Post

I did not get a whole lot done yesterday. But I did manage to complete the next two panels for Margaret's Obi. They look like this:

Look, I added a bird!  I figured I had to add something other than flowers, to save my sanity if nothing else. Plus I'll get to use a different style of stitches.

I almost added bees to the second one. But I do not have a design for them I like at the moment. So this one is just flowers. I may do another bird or two in upcoming panels.











So far today i have cut Margaret's new nagajuban (under-kimono). I'm glad I thought to check color combinations before I started though, because her current kimono is orange and it's early spring. So she got green; I didn't have enough of any other color that was appropriate.  I still need to make her a new hadajuban and susoyoke (undershirt and skirt) her last ones seem to have disappeared. I think I have just enough white left to get them both done. Fortunately those will only take a day to make. I should have the nagajuban done yet tonight. I think the worst part of sewing kimono is that it looks like you're almost done and you're only a third of the way through the instructions. I haven't figured out if the obi she's got is the right color, but I know I don't have time to do anything about it. But now that I've posted regarding what I'm up to, I have to get back to doing. More tomorrow.

Getting things done

It's been a pretty good day so far. I have finished the trim for the upper part of the apron dress. I still need to do the re-enforcing stitch work on the gores, but that shouldn't take long at all. Perhaps I'll even have time to do some actual embroidery on it too. Here are photos to show the process I am using:

 Preparing to start working. Holding fabric in my left hand, the needle is being held by the fabric.











Pick up the warp with my right hand and twist twice in a clockwise direction.

Pinch the trim under my left thumb, pick up the needle with my right hand. Bring the needle through the fabric from front to back between the two warp threads.  Make sure the needle goes over the thread in back. (Should have made a photo of that...)









Pull the thread tight, place needle back in fabric, prepare to repeat process.

I also managed to complete the stitch outline for the first panel of Margaret's obi today. I have the next panel drawn out and will probably start stitching it down next week. I'm planning to complete all the outline work prior to beginning the embroidery, because I am not stretching the fabric in the Asian style (I'm using a hoop) I want to put as little stress on the actual embroidery as possible. If you look closely at the narrow end of the branches you can see where they cut off abruptly, this is where the next panel will start. I need to draft the next two panels today or tomorrow. Each of the flowers will be done in either white or pink (they're magnolia blossoms) the branches of course will be a combination of browns. I am also considering adding a bird or two, mostly because I figure I'm going to be plenty sick of flowers by the time I am done with this project. I did happily remember where I could find a mature magnolia tree. This allowed me to take some photos of the branches for reference, so I don't end up using the two branches I have drawn over and over again (this also qualifies as boring). 

I spent some time looking for new books that I want use in my research. Now to go give our librarian a headache by asking her to track them down for me. They are: Woven into the Earth, Cloth and Clothing in Early Anglo-Saxon England, Viking Clothing, and Icelanders in the Viking Age.

Things To Consider

I'm working on the trim for the apron dress today. I'm running into a few small problems. Problem #1: Following the directions in the book-wrapping the weft around the edge of the fabric is leaving the warp room to move around (closer to the edge of the fabric). Current Solution: I modified my overcast stitch into a buttonhole stitch. This creates a twist in the thread on the back side of the fabric and seems to be holding the warp in place. Having re-read the section in MGR-NCP (Medieval Garments Reconstructed: Norse Clothing Patterns), I discovered no additional helpful information. It simply says the weft is overcast. I considered that perhaps I was not pulling the stitches tight enough, however pulling the stitches tighter causes the fabric to bunch creating a wavy upper edge. Happily the addition of the buttonhole stitch has improved the appearance of the trim. I have to consider that the direction of my twisting could be part of the problem. The information in the book does not state which direction the warp was twisted clockwise/counter clockwise, and this could effect the way the trim lays. If the drawing in the book is accurate, then I am working in the correct direction. (See post "The Trouble Begins for image) Problem #2: My hand is cramping from holding the fabric taught and the new twists in place while my other hand is manipulating the needle. This means I have to take more breaks. Which is not the way I like to work, I want to sit down and work for at least an hour at a time. But I'll deal, probably better to take extra breaks anyway. I'm really hoping to have the chance to run these issues by some of the other fiber/fabric folks next weekend at Candlemas. I also want to do additional research on the apron dress. At least in the case of the Greenland finds, as summarized in the book, they were big on symmetry, going so far as to even add false seams to garments. My current pattern for these aprons does not comply with this. I am curious to see if this desire for symmetry was  local particularity or if it was a habit elsewhere that was brought by the Norse to the settlements in Greenland. If symmetry was of significant enough importance to cause the addition of false seams, then potentially I will need to re-work my pattern in the future.  More on this as it is discovered.

Another day in mostly the right direction

Well, I haven't done much sewing so far today. I picked up the bias tape I needed yesterday and had to make a compromise on color, but I'm ok with what I was able to find. I did some research on the kimono side of things, even found a website that was helpful. It lists the 'proper' color combinations for specific times of the year. Sadly Margaret is still kimono 'poor' and when these next two are done, will still be short two. The standard at the time was an under-robe, 5 kimono, and a highly decorated over-robe.That doesn't take into consideration that the colors I have made so far cannot simply be combined to make a complete formal outfit. Evidently Orange, purple, golden yellow, and pink cannot be worn together as this would be of great scandal and in poor taste for her persona. Fortunately we generally only have her wear two at a time (technically scandalous as she would not be considered fully dressed. But honestly, you try making a 16 year old girl wear 6 layers of clothes. Not to mention getting her to walk like a lady instead of an American teen)  I also found some hairstyles that I think will work; to complete the outfit. I have almost completed the outline embroidery for the 1st section of the obi. It's approximately 107 inches long, the design I have almost complete is about 8 inches long. But the entire obi wouldn't have had embroidery, just about two thirds of it...needless to say, the obi will be a long term project. I'm estimating another two months.

Margaret informed me yesterday that she doesn't want to see the kimono until it is completed. I guess she wants to be surprised. The golden yellow one has red embroidery. Originally it was going to be a design they call "thunderline" which involves making a squared curlicue in each square. Not sure if I will add this part or not. I may just do the geometric design. 

 Angie gave me back one of her ghawazee coats to iron for her. Turns out she washed it with the lacing intact. It also needs a few minor repairs. I'm starting to think I need to provide care instructions with the garb I make. 

And So The Trouble Begins

The trim I decided to use on the Apron dress is pretty but not what I had originally planned on . Here's the problem. My current reference- Medieval Garments Reconstructed: Norse Clothing Patterns, has this wonderful information on how garments were finished, the length of the stitches, the number to the inch, ect. In the section titled "Footweaving and tablet-woven piping" it discusses the technique I initially tried. Where you have "a combination of tablet weaving and stitching where the weft thread in the tablet weaving is also the sewing thread that secures the edging to the cloth." and then a great illustration showing how this works from the front and back side. It looks like this:

Image A shows the back side of the fabric, image B is the front side. Keep in mind this was done on a much smaller scale creating a weave that is so compact the weft is only visible on the reverse (back) of the fabric. For those who are not overly familiar with weaving and it's terms. The "weft" is the stitches wrapping around the side of the garment, the "warp" is indicated by the threads running up the length. It looks fairly straightforward. Here's where I ran into problems. I could not maintain proper tension on both the garment and the threaded cards, WHILE, threading a needle through the warp. I attempted to use the footweaving technique to apply tension however it only works for a few inches and then I had to hunch over because of the shortening of the warp as I worked. So I turned to a simplistic version of the same technique where I only use two threads on the warp. This allowed me to use my left hand to hold the garment and warp in place, my right hand did the stitching and twisted the warp together and I used my foot to apply tension to the other end of the garment. I'm not all together happy with my results thus far, but I figure it's a start. It has been suggested that I clamp the garment to a table or other sturdy item and work with it under tension that way. I have yet to try this due to time constraints. I also hypothesized to my husband that perhaps they stretched the fabric on a frame to complete this part. The book alas does not offer an opinion. Besides being decorative, this was part of the finishing techniques, and was done after the seams had been completed. I will continue to post updates on this technique as they develop. I am currently unaware of this method being used with in our group and look forward to seeing how it is received. 

In other news, I need to go shopping for supplies for Angie's ghawazee coat, although the lining is together and all the pieces are cut. I need lacing and bias tape to make the lacing/button loops out of. So I'm at a standstill there until after I make the trip to town today. I am also altering the design somewhat by adding the sleeves in a different color. I'm actually on track to get things done on time and without sewing away all night the night before! 

I have not touched the kimono today, but will take it with me when I go to work, sewing while I wait for Margaret to get out of school. Thus far it is the only project not presenting me with some type of issue, unless you count the part where I sewed the sides together before I attached the sleeves. Not a huge problem but they are much easier to attach prior to sewing the sides. Thankfully it's a simple fix. 

Photo Update

Here are photos of my current projects.

Concept drawing for kimono
Pink outer kimono, yellow inner kimono, dark plum obi

Part of the embroidery design for the obi
Magnolia blossoms, they will be stitched in
pink and white

Pink kimono, with blue fan embroidery,
I will be adding a design to the fans themselves

Yellow inner kimono with red embroidery, each square is approx 1 inch
The design is on the bottom left and bottom back.

The ghawazee pattern for Angie's garb

Fabric for Angie's ghawazee coat

The "Viking" apron dress

Detail from Apron dress, decorative stitching on the gore seams

Detail from Apron dress, twisted piping trim on the top edge

Starting Out

Well, I'm starting another large group of projects. This time I thought it might be interesting to document my progress via a blog. I sew almost everyday, so I shouldn't run out of things to say. I must confess I can't start with day one, because several of the projects are already started. But I will post pictures of their current status and then update as I proceed. I am trying several thing I haven't done before and fully expect set backs along the way. The projects currently underway include: kimono and obi for Margaret (this is a full set of garments, from the slip and undershirt, two embroidered kimono and an embroidered obi), a ghawazee coat for Angie, a Norse apron dress for Teresa (with authentic trim), and a Norse shirt for Dave. I will of course continue to add projects but this is my starting list.
I am using the book: Medieval Garments Reconstructed; Norse Clothing Patterns by Lilli Fransen, Anna Norgaard and Else Ostergard as reference for the Norse/"Viking" garments. It offers a lot of great information and some new skills for me to master.
The kimono research is being done in various mediums, mostly focused on the embroidery techniques at the moment. I am using Painting With a Needle; learning the art of silk embroidery by Young Yang Chung. While it focuses on the Korean perspective, it has been a great resource.
The ghawazee coat is honnestly not period, but does get plenty of use within the SCA, and was specifically requested.