The estranged dressmaker

Another option for the title would be the alienated dressmaker, both are more or less equivalent. And here in Germany, strangers are blatantly referred to as "aliens" (no, I kid you not). The official translation of the Ausländerbehörde, a.k.a. the place where I go to get my visa, is the aliens department...

Anyhow. I'm far away from home, and I have extremely limited supplies when it comes to creating costumes. Which is, you know, that thing that I reaaaaally enjoy doing. With this in mind, I decided to attempt my first ever completely by-hand garment (no sewing machine yet), and what more perfect time period to pick than the 14th century? With some tips from my friend Peryn (her deviant account here: http://arasiyris.deviantart.com/) I started gathering materials for this new project.

14th century kirtle

First, some reference pictures. The kirtles are the under-dresses, seen in pink, black and yellow in the second picture.

I bought some fabric when I was in Paris (insert here the high-pitched noise that girls make when they see puppies or babies). I have black linen, gold block printed silk, and purple cotton (which, it turns out, has a little bit of spandex in it, so it's not as stiff and offers some stretch). Although I'm aiming at somewhat of an historically accurate garment, I have to make some compromises. I decided to use the cotton for this kirtle. Already there, we find three blatant inaccuracies: cotton was not common, spandex didn't exist, and purple was a colour reserved for royalty since it was extremely expensive and difficult to acquire. But for a first project that I'll probably only where in my room, I think they can be forgiven.

I had absolutely no drafting equipment here, and I decided to make do. I bought the cheapest-largest sketchpad I could find, fashioned a ruler/straight edge with a piece of paper. Materials I already had: a pencil, an eraser, a measuring tape, a pair of paper scissors, and my knowledge.

In this image, as can be seen, I have already drafter the bodice of the kirtle. It has no darts, the shaping is found at the sides, centre back, and at the top of centre front. Now, this is actually just a tentative draft, I have no certainty that this will actually fit me. Self-measurements and self-fitting is a little tricky. It resulted in a lot of awkard poses in front of the mirror, holding a stiff piece of paper and trying to make marks on it. Something like that:

I think the bodice will fit, so I went ahead and drafted a medieval sleeve to fit the arm opening.

Next challenge in this process, laying out the pattern on the fabric. That took some planning, as I only have 3 metres of fabric.

And some re-planning during the process, as I had to alter the sleeves and remembered that seam allowances are important to take into account.

I had previously washed the fabric, and left it to air dry in my room, artfully draped between the cupboard and the ladder.

 Fabric which then required to be released from it's crinkles. To the makeshift ironing board!

 Laying down the bodices pieces and tracing the outline of the skirt in chalk. I have no proper cutting table, but the thick carpet is perfect, really. The fabric doesn't slide around like it would on a hardwood floor, and I can pin into it without any problems.

 Drawing the the four gores that will give more volume to the skirt.

 And tah-dah! Two front pieces, two backs, two sleeves, four gores, even some extra fabric left over. I can use that extra fabric to make the buttons that will go on the sleeves. And I already have some purple thread as well as a leather-ish string that I'll use to lace up the front of the kirtle.

The ridiculously small sewing kit that I brought with me should be sufficient to get me through this project. It contains the basics. Good fabric scissors, snips, thimble, seam-ripper, pins and needles.

I'll need to baste the pieces together and check the fit before I commit to anything permanent. It should take a while to sew up together, but it's not a bad thing. I have lot's of free time, and I'm really broke. It's a win-win situation: an efficient way of keeping me both occupied and entertained.

Finally a new project!

I know, I know. I have neglected to update this since last February. My bad, I'll blame it on being too busy for anything outside of school and work, and work, and work.

Buuuuut, now I'm in Germany. I just started a new job, which affords me loads of free time, so I'll be able to finally do some creative work. Oh creative work, how I have missed you these past months. I can't wait until I find a sewing machine here (hopefully), otherwise I'll have to sew everything by hand. Which is fine, but I can't say that my handsewing skills are quite as good as some other people I know... *cough* *Peryn* *cough*. :)

Soooo! New country, new projects. Let's start from the beginning. I arrived in Weimar two days ago, and a few hours later, the lady who has been in touch with me all summer came over to my apartment to give me some goodies, namely: a blanket, a pillow, a towel, chocolate, and a handy little book called "Wie man deutscher wird." Or, how to be German. Exciting!

The absolute first point in the book is about wearing slippers. Or house shoes. Oh German, I love you. Great, I didn't bring any slippers. Let's fix that.

Now, I can't just go out and buy a pair of slippers. That would just be too easy/logical/straightforward.

Naahhh, I like a challenge. Seeing that aside from two giant scarves, all I've ever really knit were a mitten and a half, half a sock, and some funky shaped dishcloths. This is going to be fun. Or will it?

Also, while I'm at it, might as well go all out. Not just slippers, oh no, ELF SLIPPERS!!

                                           

Something like this. I found the pattern online here:

http://web.archive.org/web/20101121072753/http://caron.com/projects/ss_chunky/ssc_elf_slippers.html

I couldn't have picked something easier, eh? Oh well, let's see how it goes.

So, having brought only the most minimal of sewing kit with me, I needed to gather the raw materials to be used for this future creation of mine.

I found a bastelladen (craft store) in town and went in. Bought three skeins of wool yarn (they didn't have any acrylic, it's a really nice store). In hindsight, I see that I chose green and yellow like my hair. I swear it wasn't on purpose, it just happened. There were so many pretty colours to choose from: navy, dark red, a nice pink, they were out of purple though. I hope those three skeins are enough, I don't really want to buy more. Pure wool like this isn't exaclty cheap. Also needed to get knitting needles and yarn needles. I want to get the pack of five straight knitting needles, but I wasn't sure they were going to be quite long enough for the width of the work in the first stage. So I got a circular one.

Note to self: next time I travel, I should bring my knitting needles and stitch markers with me. They take virtually no space, and I wouldn't have had to buy new needles, and now I have to get creative with the stitch markers, because the store didn't have any. Also, I would have saved about 10€.

Well, now I know. And now I have even more knitting needle. Almost all of them in this exact size. 

I'll start these right now! In progress pictures will be posted as the slippers come to life, if all goes according to plan.

Update 21. September, 2014

There, my houseshoes are done!

Just in time for me to get a huge cold. Now I can wear my slippers, drink all of the tea, and be ultra lasy while my cold wanes away, hopefully soon.

 

First picture is the basic knitted shape, done in mosaic pattern. See how it's knitted flat, rather than in the round. I thought it was strange at first, until I realized that in order to get the toe to curl, you have to sew it together while pulling
tightly on the yarn.

Second picture is one slipper just sewed up, next to an already finished slipper with the cuff done in ribbed stitching. The cuff is also extra long so that it can be folded over.












This one shows the cuff being knit in the round.

And the finished pictures, with the cuff folded over. SO COMFY!

Also, according to my German book, tip #50 tells me that I need to do an exaggerated bye.

Tssssssssssssschüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüü-hhhüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüsssssssssssssssssssssssssss!