Spanish

http://www.spanishseamstress.org/docs-and-handouts/

http://www.spanishseamstress.org/other-iberian-images/basque/

Putting pics in one place.

so flat and ugly. was not the plan

This might be a winner. keep the fabric tight (eg no fluff under the bands like the green sleeves)

I think this could be too much with the brocade.

The girl at the far side of the table has great simple sleeves

original inspiration. not sure I'm keen to continue the attempts for these. 

Why? I thought I'd lost them.
I want to redo the sleeves of the gold frock for Yule. They turned out crap the first time. They collapsed. But I'm not sure what I want.
And what else will I need? Better partlet, banding on the skirt, awesome cuffs. I might have good cuffs already. Don't want sleeves - too hot.
Better hat arrangement...flat cap? perhaps. Borrow one? Nice idea.
And how long have I got? About 3 weeks.
Is it worth it? Do I care? I shall keep thinking.

Hmm.
I have very little interest or enthusiasm about sewing, the SCA, events, or the people I will run into there. Even singing isn't sparking me any more.
But I'd like to give it a few more goes before I say goodbye completely. So I think I need to start building an outfit that will keep me comfy and not make events painful.
I need a gooseboy outfit. And I'd like it for Yule. Five weeks.
What have I already got that will make this simple?
* A shirt with cuffs and collar. It's a little uncomfortable in the arm pits, but it will do for now.
* Yellow wool socks. but I'd really prefer white.
That's not much. I use to have the prefect hat, but someone nicked it at Festy.
What do I need, then:
* Big pants. Should be pretty simple. I've made 2 pairs before. Would like outa-period button fly please.
* Boots/shoes. My soft mary janes are just too early. This wants boots.
* Doublet. Removable sleeves. This may be the key to keeping my boobs in. Or perhaps I just wear a singlet. Sleeves can always be made at a later time.
* white socks.
* Look into hats.

I'd also like to explore some of the earlier boy stuff. Tights, short shorts, little U-front doublet. I've got the figure for it. And the hair. Do I have the patience to build the stripy tights?
Pros for making Gooseboy for Yule: No sleeves, can roll down socks, will be pretty quick, I have a shirt already.
Cons? T'ain't many.
Cons for making an early sexy boy for Yule: full length leggings will be warm. Doublets normally have sleeves. Tights require me to not loose my na-na.
Pros...? It would look awesome. Totally.

Guess it's time to look at a few pics, and check through the archives. Wonder if this is going to work for me?

Accountability, 8 years later

I made a dress, many many years ago. About 2003 I think. Black linen, red velveteen 'piping' and cheap brocade trim. It was losely based on many images and ideas, but not on any single one. It was the sturdiest, and easiest wearing frock I had, and I must say, I did an awesome job on it that early in my sewing days. I wore it to death, and it was nearly dead at our step up tourney in 04. I think it now belongs to Squish?
And then it was 2005, and I needed a new one, and I had this awesome pink linen that reminded me of the colours in the Ausburg seasons murals. Full circle skirt this time, and that really was the thing that made it look awesome. This time around, I had more access to round-fronted gown images. But really what I was doing was copying my old frock. And then Mel had one, and then we made one for J for Pennsic...
I left the pink one in America. I'd bought too much fabric to bring it back home with me. Duchess Megan got it, and I hope she wore it lots.
I made a blue version long before I gave that up though. 2006 I think. Slashy sleeves, just for fun. More linen, more short sleeves. C got many wears out of this when I was done. It now has a third owner, I think?
I threw some old pics up on flickr ages ago. A nice lady in Canadia has spotted the similarities in all our frocks, and decided to make one even though she was having trouble sourcing the One True Image.
I've since dropped her some of the images I used to build the original. But it's really got me itching - that wasn't all the pics. LoverBoy is at work, so I've stolen the computer where all my images are stored. Flickr now has a folder of all these ideas. Although there are still a few missing. Such as the Ausburg murals, and Alyxx's website. Or this awesome chicky. Or good old Dorethea. Or this lovely lady in red and gold.

At any rate, I'm now turning over projects in my mind. This whole thing may have got me ready to do some sewing again.

When I first started my original blog, I built this post. I'm putting here for more public access.

And maybe, just maybe, I'll start sewing again now that we've moved, and I'll post stuff about it here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Someone just sent me an email about Swabian gowns - and I thought I'd use my spanky new recording system to put up some images, and have a chat about the dresses.

The Goddess Myra first coined the phrase "Swabian", based on one of the images she found. It's stuck since then, although I'm not entirely sure that it would be an appropriate term for all of the beaded sleeve frocks. Then again, she reads a lot more than I do!

Most of the images I found of beaded sleeve gowns were from about 1490-1500. Roughly.


This was the first image I found, and very soon after (about 100 pages in the same book, I think) I found two more. She is "portrait of a lady of the order of the swan, 1500" (although I have also seen 1460s attatched to this image).
I have a theory that this is Beatrix Frangapan. I might go into that later.











This is Ursula Greckin, circa 1500. This is a very different dress shape - Myra's inspiration, I believe? She does a beautiful job: http://www.myra.hem.nu/costume/ (hope she doesn't mind!)








This is Barbara Wespach, half of a diptich showing her and her husband. 1500. I love her hat:

So much so that I made a copy of the bead work. I wish I'd had time to make the black stripes too:

Well, that was a beautiful example of formatting! I wonder what it will look like...

Finally, a tiny black and white image in the back of a German Portraits book gave me a design I liked. A few years later, I found the image in colour, and discovered that the dress was RED, not black!! Boy was I excited!

She's a bit hard to see here. The kneeling figures, bottom right -
In gold: Markgrafin Sophia, Princess of Poland
In red, and parti-coloured black/green: Margarete, Sophia, Anna and Elisabeth, her daughters.
Sophia was the Markgrafin of Brandenberg.

The image is from the REVERSE of the altarpiece in the Swan Chapel of St. Gumbertus in Ansbach - the larger image is here:
http://www.schwanenorden.de/Bilder9.htm





So this is my first version - testing the pattern, and my beading skills. There is a piece that covers the bust - like a brestfluck - and the red 'banner' is felt. It was quite an experience. I've never been happy with the amount of beading though. I always felt that there should be more.

And here's a very bad photo of me, in MarkII.

And here's the sleeve, beaded but still on the frame. If I'd had the time, I would have kept on going. Gold lattice work on the 'land', smaller tendrils on the roots, more spangles. Maybe even more tree. It took 3 weeks to do - that includes about 4 days off school. The banner says "Rowani", which is the name of the SCA barony I live in, albeit misspelt.

There are a few other examples of beading on single sleeves in German artwork that I have found since then.
The Babenberger family tree (as found on Mrya's web site - see, told you she was a goddess!) shows a few women in dresses with beaded sleeves.

For example:

Thoman Burgkmair

1515? I think?

The 6 month update

So, in June, I started a new festy frock. And then I stopped.
I picked it up the other day and had another go - the bodice is only a few minutes off rings time.
Reading over that original post, not much has/had changed. I forgot the straight grain in the shoulders, and had to put it in by hand...when was the last time I did that with a machine? 15 years ago, I reckon. I'm contemplating boning in the opening, and have put straight tape there too to do it. And I'm wavering towards the orange trim.
The trim in mind is a wholesale roll of cotton bias in a citris orange. I'm a little worried that it will just look too cheap, though. Will pin and look.

Also on the go:
A highnecked shirt for me. Still to do - neck band/gathering, cuffs, hem. Ruff? I really do think it should have one.
Fz socks. Perpetually.

Dreaming of:
Another small coat with mega shoulders.
A boy coat with swinging skirts.
A huge coat for me.
At least one more shirt.

Plan for today: get rings on, try on, cut skirt pieces, finish seams on skirt pieces, start pleating.

Movement at the station...

I started a new frock yesterday.
I want more comfy stuff for Festy, and the yellow frock is comfy, so I'm building another. Only this will be a little less 'sheepgirl' and a little more 'wealthy farmer's wife'.
It will have a gapped opening where the lacing shows. It's a part of a theoory I have at the moment about me, my boobs, fitting and comfort. I'm not building sleeves for it either, though if I ever get the urge I could always whip some on.
I was considering a really dark brown wool with black trim, but then I found some navy tabby stuff that had never left its Fine Wools bag. It burns like cotton, smells like wool when wet, and has stretch one way. It's almost black in sunlight. It drapes beautifully. Not quite the warm colour I'd had in my head, but that's ok - the brown will make a delicious coat one day.
I'm running the stretch up and down on the bodice, because it might help me when I'm turning the neckline over. And I'll run the stretch crossways on the skirt, so it doesn't fall oddly. No one need ever know.
It's washed (glad I did - it's roughed up a little, and looks great) and the bodice is cut, side seams together. Boning chanels in, and need to remember to stiffen the front edge as I finish it, and straight grain the shoulders. I always forget that.
I'm going to make adjustments to the shoulders/waist etc. as I go, because I can. And I'll decide later about the kind of trim, because it's not intergral to the building stages. I'm leaning towards simple black velveteen, a few mil off the bodice edge. But it could also look awesome with hot orange.

I have not sewed since Festy. Not surprising really. Might try to get back in this week.