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. 

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