Gallery of In Progress Projects

[gem]

More Saxon progress pix! (It looks really, really weird with no sleeves!)



I semi-finished the skirt (it needs to be hemmed, and there are still two more velvet guards to put on, but they have to be done by hand and take *forever.* I figure they can wait until the very end! Or later.  ), and the bodice is now almost completely finished--just needs the hook & eye tape to attach the brustflect. The brustflect? Um, we'll talk about that later. 

I also took a closeup of the cartridge pleats, which I did with drapery pleating tape. Sorry--forgot to get a photo of the inside! Will do next time I work on the skirt. You can see that it makes the pleats nicely chubby! I was worried about the visible seam on the outside, where I sewed the pleating tape down, but it doesn't seem that bothersome. It will all look *much* tidier when it's attached to the bodice and I shake the pleats out.

[Irma]

Hand bound eyelets for the pink gown.  GEM, this shows more detail of the print; do these still look like gillyflowers?
https://sphotos-b-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/561926_642793072405907_777785813_n.jpg

[gem]

Oooh, absolutely! They definitely look like carnations! (Gillyflower is such a fun, period word, though. I'm not sure how or when we started calling them carnations, although I know the name comes from carnal, meaning flesh, and is for their pink color. But then what was wrong with "pinks?")

***
I finished my Obnoxious Saxon Hat!!!


(A little grainy; evidently my looking glass is dusty!)



It's made of dark green velvet I had in my stash, plus some apple green faux dupioni lining... which I sewed in upside down (shiny-side-up). Erg. The top looked a little bare, so I dug around in my junk jewelry drawer and found a filigree pendant.

I love how huge this thing is!

[Rowan MacD]

  Seriously don't know why I like that hat, but I do.   
It is just plain strange looking to my modern eyes. 

[Irma]

Fabulous hat!

[Rani Zemirah]

Oh, how FUN!!!  Saxon hat?  I've never even heard of it before. 

[gem]

Thanks! It was really fun to make. I got another picture with it cocked all the way to the side, like you sometimes see. 

Rani, you might have seen them with reproductions of Lucas Cranach paintings. It's sometimes called (by reenactors) a tellerbarret or "platter hat." (Although the German word for hat is hut. (shrug))

[Rani Zemirah]

Well, it's really amazing!  I LOVE the plumes! 

So, it's two separate layers, or tiers, of fabric, then... one below the plumes and one above?

[gem]

Rani,  you can see more detail of the construction in this recent thread, which contains two sets of free instructions--a .pdf from a Pennsic tellerbarret class, and a link to the pattern I used. It's a firm round brim, and a floppy square top, with the feathers in between (the feathers are sewn in a ring around the brim).

[Rani Zemirah]

Now, see... I read that thread, and there was no picture of the top of the hat... and because I didn't go look at the actual pattern I didn't realize there was more to it than just the brim layer!  I suppose I should explore things in a bit more depth once in a while, eh?     

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Beautiful as usual, gem!   

[gem]

I am finally getting around to posting photos from opening weekend. I'm putting my Valkyrie here, because it's technically still a WIP (I still need to make a proper chemise and skirts), and because I didn't get a lot of really good shots of just the armor itself. Still!!!!



Some more photos & information on my dress diary.

We were a big hit, and I had two proposals of marriage (well, one involved the drinking horn merchant offering to liquor Milord up and hit him with a rock, but it amounted to the same thing ).

[Rani Zemirah]

Oh, very nice!  And the armor does sit very nicely indeed, with the proper underpinnings!  lol 

I actually really adore the chemise you're wearing!  It's lovely...

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

Gem, your new garb is beautiful.  I love it with the orange chemise.  It makes the gold pop.  What colors are you planning for another skirt and chemise?  Because I think what you have now is perfect!   

[Serenity]

Gem, the Valkyrie outfit is stunning!  I agree that the orange is perfect with the gold.  What other colors are you looking into?