A Real Life Saxon Princess

When I met my co-worker's daughter Zoey, I kept thinking about how much she reminded me of the girl in this 1517 portrait by Lucas Cranach, Portrait of a Saxon Princess.

Her hair and eye color are the same, and even some of her facial features are very similar. And she's close to the right age. So, of course I had to make her the dress.

Since this isn't an SCA gown, and since she's likely to outgrow it so quickly, it's made out of a polyester satin and cotton or acetate velvet.

The bodice is made of the polyester satin with velvet guards along the sides and neck. A panel in the center has the gold "brustflek" stitched to the top. The gown opens along this side right seam, and is laced together over the white panel through lacing rings sewn along the sides.

The sleeves are finished separately and are likewise made of the polyester satin with velvet guards on the top and bottom of each sleeve section. The bottom section is bell shaped close to the wrist, as seen on the left hand in the inspiration portrait. The top and bottom sections are laced together at the elbow through ribbon lacing rings sewn to the inside of the sleeves, and the entire sleeve is attached to the shoulder of the bodice with three ribbons.

The skirt has three strips sewn along the bottom, two of velvet and one of embroidered satin (as I ran out of velvet), and is cartridge pleated to the waist. I wanted to experiment with rolled pleats, but didn't have quite enough fabric.

I think Zoey was very pleased with her dress. This project was all the more fun because she's 6, obsessed with princesses of the Disney variety, and was very excited to be able to dress like a "real" princess. She was an excellent model, and did a great job overcoming her fear of the pins used in the fitting stages.

Thanks, Zoey!

A Wicked Halloween - Galinda's Bubble Gown

Some friends asked me to make the Blue Galinda "Bubble" gown from the musical Wicked for their daughter for Halloween. She is a talented young actress and a big fan of Wicked. And if someone is willing to give me a fun challenge like that and buy me lots of pretty fabric, I'm certainly not going to say no!

Lots of pictures of the original gown can be found on this website. There have been many versions of the gown made for the many productions of the musical over the years. I was mostly using the original Kristen Chenoweth version of the gown for inspiration. However, I did incorporate the sweetheart neckline that appeared in later versions. And my reproduction doesn't involve quite as many sequins and sparkles.

The gown is made from a light blue polyester satin with a shimmery chiffon overlay that ended up being more of a periwinkle blue. I ordered the fabric online and wasn't sure of the exact color. But together, I think the it ended up being just the color I was going for.

The bodice of the gown is patterned in five pieces: two in the back, and three in the front, with princess seams creating a "V" shape that comes to a point at the waist. It's interlined with cotton canvas and lined with plain weave cotton. I thought about using some cable tie "bones", but with the stiffness of the canvas interlining, it wasn't necessary.

I attempted the super-poofy off-the-shoulder sleeves - they didn't end up quite as poofy as I was aiming for, but work nicely.

The skirt is cut as three separate full circle skirts that get progressively shorter. I wanted to have a couple more layers, but I ran out of fabric. Five yards only goes so far when you're cutting circle skirts! The "scallop" shapes were cut into the bottom of all three layers, hemmed, then all three layers were attached to each other, then attached to the bodice.

The neckline of the bodice and the hem of the skirt tiers were trimmed with a very simple, single row of silver sequins. The original gown appears to have rows of hand-applied individual sequins on the edge of each scallop. Since I wasn't going in that direction, I decided that less is more.

It laces up the back, as I couldn't muster my courage and get over my fear of installing invisible zippers. Some day I will master this skill!

For the accessories, she already had the Tiara, and her dad made the wand/scepter.

Pictures!

Here I've asked for a "Galinda" pose.

Here we're getting a simulated recreation of the highest, most dramatic note in the musical.

She's really very good at the "Regal" thing.

And to my favorite Galinda-in-miniature, I hope your gown made you feel even more Popular. :-D

Not a Costume - Birthday Present Playhouse

My grandmother gifted me with a bunch of circa early 90s Singer Sewing Reference Library books a couple of years ago. Many of them teach sewing techniques, and others give project ideas. In one of those books (Quick and Easy Sewing Projects, 1993), I ran across the instructions for this project.

Also, my nephew Jack had his first birthday in October, and I flew home to attend. After obtaining permission from my sister for bringing such a large present to her small house, I decided that I had to make this play tent for him.

All the fabric for this play tent is lightweight quilting cotton, in colors that match his room. I wanted it to be very breathable. The walls are made from four large triangles, with pole casings sewn between them. The poles are 3/4 inch PVC pipes with end caps on the top and bottom. They're held together at the top by a shoelace passed through a hole drilled a couple of inches from the top. When not in use, the entire tent collapses to a much smaller bundle of poles and fabric, and can be stored in a corner. It should also be fairly easy to take off the poles and wash when necessary.

He was a little afraid of the tent at first, but warmed up once my dad crawled in there with him. I think he likes it now. Hopefully he'll get a lot of use out of it over the next few years.

And while we're on the subject, I'll include an additional, proud Aunt, "Look how adorable my nephew is!!!" photo. Here, he's demonstrating his clapping skills:

Great Western War through the Ages, Renaissance

On Sunday of Great Western War, we celebrated the Renaissance, the period nearest and dearest to my heart.

I made this second attempt at a 1580s Italian working class woman in June (the first attempt, one of my earlier forays into SCA period costuming is documented here...). I failed to get any pictures before now, and June was about 20 pounds ago, so the fit is no longer ideal. And I haven't yet had a chance to take the bodice apart and take it in, so please forgive the poor fit. It fit better when I made it!

The dress is made of a heavier weight light blue linen, which I bought ages ago in the LA fabric district. The bodice is interlined with a cotton canvas and lined with a lighter weight linen, and laces up the front through lacing rings sewn to the inside of the bodice. The skirt is unlined and cartridge pleated to the bodice. Both the bodice and the hem of the skirt are trimmed with red wool.

I'm wearing the embroidered partlet I made a couple of years ago. I also recently finished the white linen smocked apron, and the loose pocket or saccoccia. The sleeves are one layer of linen, and tie in to the shoulder of the bodice at only one point. Lastly, I'm wearing a little linen cap over my hair. These are less common in depictions of Italian working class women as they are in other regions, but are seen in a few. The Anea Files has an excellent collection of images.

And here are the pictures!

And that's all for a Western War. Coming soon, a few non-SCA garb projects that I've been making for other people, including princess dresses and birthday presents!

Great Western War through the Ages, High Middle Ages

I think that if I hadn't chosen late 15th/early 16th century Italy as the time and place for my SCA persona, I would have probably decided to be 14th century. There's something about 14th century cotehardies. They're quintessentially medieval.

I've made what I call faux-hardies in the past - garments that look like cotehardies, but are basically built like a t-tunic, with no built in support. And I've made fitted cotehardies for other people. But I've never made a true, 14th century fitted cotehardie for myself, until now. And I see what all the fuss was about. They're kind of awesome.

I'm going to include a few construction notes and pictures here. The under-cotehardie is a dark green, heavier weight linen. All the support for the dress is built into this layer. Because linen stretches slightly, and because all the support for this gown is built into a single layer cote, you must account for the stretch while fitting. Otherwise, you'll get partway through a day and find that the fabric has relaxed, and things are no longer as supportive as they were that morning... Not a good feeling.

I started with my usual Gothic fitted dress pattern and cut out the four panels of the dress, two for the front, and two for the back.

Pin together the bodice of the dress on the back and side seams, to the point where the gores start. Also at this point, sew a strip of fabric as facing to either side of the front opening, make your eyelets. Then put on the dress and lace it up. Wear it around the house for 15-20 minutes to allow the linen fibers to warm up from your body heat and stretch. Then remove any slack from the side seams and pin them further in. Unlace the dress, straighten up the pins and make sure the lines are straight and symmetrical, and repeat the process. Here is the dress in the middle of that process, with pins in the side seams.

And here's what I ended up with. Along the edge of the fabric is where I originally though the seam line should be, and the pin line shows where the seam ended up.

Then, continue with the rest of the dress. You need four gores. Here's a trick my friend Daisy showed me on the most efficient way to cut gores. Cut a strip of fabric the length your gores need to be and the width of your fabric.

.

Fold it in fourths like an accordion.

Then cut this diagonally.

You end up with three whole triangular gores, and two end pieces, which you can sew down the middle to make a gore.

And here's the sleeve pattern I came up with. I think sleeves are my least favorite part of sewing these types of gowns. I'm so accustomed to detachable sleeves that I find it especially trying to have to match up the sleeve cap with the armsye.

I put self-fabric buttons along the arm from the elbow to the wrist. They're fitted enough that I have to unbutton the last couple of buttons to get the sleeve over my hand. Also, because of the fit of the dress, when I put it on, I have to mostly lace it, then let the fibers warm up and stretch for a few minutes before I can lace it all the way closed.

The blue overgown used the same pattern, but with a tiny bit more ease in the side seam, as this layer didn't have to be supportive. It buttons up the front, and the sleeves end just above the elbow.

I also made detachable tippets - they fasten around my upper arm with a hook and eye. I usually hide the strap under the sleeve of the blue overgown. And I'm wearing the gown with a simple white linen barbette and veil.

Pictures!

Here I'm showing off my tippets...

And here you can kind of see how the tippets attach under the short sleeve of the blue overgown.

And I just had to share of picture of this lady from the Romance of Alexander. She and I share a similar color scheme.

Great Western War through the Ages, Dark Ages

On Friday of Great Western War, we celebrated the Dark Ages. I decided to go Viking.

I have stated in the past that I would never make a viking ensemble, as I found them boring. We all eat our words sometimes. I've recently begun hanging out around artisans who recreate elements of viking culture, heard stories told, and viewed some amazing embroidery. So I've now decided that Vikings are anything but boring, and I needed to learn to dress like one.

The under dress is a simple brown linen t-tunic with 4 gores (which was probably too many. Two side gores would have probably been plenty).

The apron dress is purple wool that I've had in my stash for a while. I wove the trim and belt myself on my inkle loom from a pattern designed by my friend Natalie. The apron dress is probably slightly too big. It's cut with three straight rectangular pieces and three gores. I cut the three rectangular pieces so that their width when stitched together would match my bust measurement. It's probably correct, but looks a bit big to me, as I'm more accustomed to sewing for eras where clothes were more fitted. I may play with the pattern a bit.

I made a Dublin style cap/coif (with the point) rather than a Jorvik style coif (which is rounded), as I thought they were adorable.

Pictures!

The broaches are from Raymond's Quiet Press. I bought the smallest ones I could find, as they are less heavy and less expensive. I made it all the way to Great Western forgetting to put together some beads to wear between the broaches, so I bought and inexpensive necklace and shortened it.

Great Western War Through the Ages, Antiquity

I've been sewing up a storm, I promise. I've just been woefully neglectful of blogging about it.

This year's Great Western War had a theme of War Through the Ages. Each day of the war Thursday through Sunday had a theme of a particular time period, and the fighting scenarios, classes, and everything else was geared toward that theme. The time periods were roughly Antiquity, The Dark Ages, the High Middle Ages, and the Renaissance.

With Thursday's Antiquity theme, we were going slightly pre-SCA period and celebrating ancient Greece and Rome. I went for more of a Greek flair and wore a simple chiton which I've blogged about previously. The bottom purple layer is handkerchief weight linen, and the top layer is red silk georgette. It's belted under the bust, and pinned at the shoulders with pins which I've made from recycled gaudy gold early 90s post earrings.

I've attempted to style my hair similar to a hairstyle from and ancient Greek bust I saw somewhere. It's a little uneven.

The lake at Great Western makes for a lovely backdrop. We were fortunate enough to be camped on the lake shore.

I also completed a new painted silk banner prior to Great Western with help from some very knowledgeable and talented artisans in my shire. From the left it depicts the populace badges of the Kingdom of Caid, the Shire of Al Sahid, and my personal device.

Here it is flying proudly over the camp prior to the rest of my household's arrival. I am in love with silk banners, and will have to make more. They make camp look so festive!

1480s Florentine Hair - A Tutorial

One of my personal soapboxes about SCA garb is that people should pay more attention to the details - you put all that work into making a dress/doublet/tunic. So why stop just short of your goal? Make and wear some accessories! And ladies, if you're not covering your head with a hat or hood or veil, then do your hair!

And so, to further this goal, here is my tutorial for one Renaissance hair style, popular in 1480s Florence. In addition to the inspiration portrait from the previous post, here are some additional examples of the style in portraits.

And lastly, this lady is wearing almost the exact same hair style, but without the white snood/cap thing. Instead, her hair is elegantly twisted in a coil and taped down with ribbons.

All of these ladies have their hair parted down the middle. The top and back sections of the hair are pulled back, pinned in a bun, and covered with a cap, while a section of curly or wavy hair hangs down near the temple. My hair is very fine and straight - the only way I can get it to hold a curl is to curl it wet with sponge rollers or rag curls, and let them dry that way. I have no luck with curling irons or hot rollers. So, for this tutorial, I chose to curl my hair using the rag curl method. I haven't researched whether this method was used in period, but it is certainly technology that would have been available to them at the time. And it works well for my hair type. Please feel free to curl your hair using whatever method works for you. Also, please excuse the self-portraits, as I had no one to help me with the picture-taking side of things.

So, to begin. Wash your hair, towel dry the excess water from it, and comb it out.

Pull back the hair from your temples to just below the crown of your head and secure this hair out of the way in a bun or ponytail. Section off two pieces near your temples by making a part from just behind your ear straight up to meet the top section. Secure the remaining hair at the back of your head out of the way.

Now you are left with two sections of hair between each temple and ear. Curl these sections however you like. I'm doing rag curls. With the hair still damp, place a strip of fabric over a finger or two and wind the hair around your finger(s). Then you can roll the curl up the last couple of inches and secure it it place by tying the fabric strip in a single square knot.

...and proceed with the rest of the hair.

I braided the uncurled sections of hair, mostly to keep them from getting tangled with the curling rags while I slept.

And then I went to bed. The hair dries overnight, giving me beautiful curls that actually stay in my hair for at least most of a day. Woot! And here we are the next morning:

I went ahead and removed the braids from the uncurled hair sections, and pulled this hair back into as smooth a bun as I could manage. I kept the center part in place. I tried to arrange the top section so that the sides kind of swooshed over the top of the curled sections.

Then, start taking down those rag curls!

If you hair is shorter than mine, you can probably stop here and just leave the curls hanging loose. I'm convinced that the ladies in the period portraits had the temple sections of their hair cut shorter. My hair is about waist length, and I am not willing to cut it. So I decided to swoosh these sections back and pin them to the back bun. They look a bit short here, but it worked out well, because my hair fell a bit throughout the day, and the curled sections looked longer.

I ran my fingers through the curls a bit to break up the ringlets, then wrapped the very ends of these sections around the back bun and pinned it in place. Then, I pinned my cap/snood/caul over the back bun, and was ready to go!

It held up relatively well throughout the day. As I mentioned, the curls fell a bit and the side sections looked longer. I got several compliments on it. It's amazing how much of a different in your overall look it makes to put a little effort into your hair. I encourage all SCAdian ladies to try their own period hair styles, then show them off and spread the word!