Sunday, May 27, 2007

Link to Moy Gown article

http://www.reconstructinghistory.com/irish/moy.html

If you scroll down through this article you will come to the painting "The Birth of the Virgin Mary" by the Workshop of Michael Pacher (Austrian, d. 1498), to which I refered in my post the other day.

The Plan (Revised Edition)

I made some progress yesterday with Finian’s tunic. It’s not quite at the one-piece stage, but I did get to fit it to him, and after a little bit of tweaking I think it’s looking quite good. The side gores are sewn in, the sleeves and underarm gorse are pinned in and the neckline has been cut out. He is quite set on his wide sleeves – he wants to put his hands inside the opposite sleeve in true Jedi style. For warmth, of course. I hope to have it all put together by the end of the week so it can hang in the bathroom for a week before I hem it.

I washed my wool yesterday and have struck a small hurdle – it’s not right for the Moy Gown Mark II. In my mind it was a lovely, buttery yellow medium weight wool blend. In reality its more like a beigey tan colour and quite light. It will make a wonderful underdress to something, and in summer I might wear it without a top layer. But for an event in winter, not quite right.

Having accepted that I am not going to buy any suitable wool in the next week or so, I have resigned myself to the fact I won’t have a new frock for Baronial change over. I do however have loads of the stripy wool left over from Sam’s tunic. I did consider making myself a tabard with side lacings to wear over one of my older frock, but I don’t want to look too matchy matchy. So I have decided to make myself a hood out of the wool, lined with left over burgundy from the cotehardie inspired, recently renovated frock. After making a pattern last night, I have cut out the wool and will cut out the lining tonight. Hopefully it will be together this week too.

I would like a new under dress for the Moy Mark I with nicer sleeves, in a slightly heavier cotton. We will see how the brain and the budget are doing after the Melbourne trip next week. Otherwise I might just go with 2 layers of underdress for warmth, the hood and a mantle on top.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Moy Gown Mark II

So, what will Belle wear to the Ball? Well, the Baronial change over anyway.

As the Moy gown was such a success I have decided to make a long sleeved version with a higher neckline. The advantages of this include that I only have to re-pattern the front panel to get the new neck line right, and fiddle about with the sleeves a little.

So, here is my ‘inspiration’ picture of gowns very similar in style to the Moy gown…. Or at least it would be if the link to her page was working. Hmm, will have ot get back to you with the picture. Moy Mark I was based on the lady on the right, with the short sleeves. I made the neckline lower as that is how the extant article appears to have been made. This time I am aiming for something more like the lady on the left.

So, step 1 is to re-pattern the front panel.
Step 2 is to wash the wool blend fabric I bought for this dress over a year ago (and hope I still like it).
Step 3 cut, pin together and check fit. This lady: http://matildalazouche.livejournal.com/ (see the Moy Gown entry) likes a slightly more snug fit, but I like the way mine hangs away from the body. Still, snugger might be warmer… will see how it feel in the pinning stage.
Steps 4 – 6 sew sew sew.
Step 7 accessorise
Step 8 Look beautiful!

3 weeks until Baronial Changeover

The Invest/Devest of the Rowany B&B is on 16 June. Note to self - I should book..

The plan is that Finian and I will each have a new garment for the event. Finian will have a new woollen tunic. He greatly admired one he saw at Festival. It is a T-tunic with gores, snug but not fitted, made of wool and worn with pants, possibly with those cross-hatching ties up the legs. The week after Festival I was op shopping and I happened across many metres of fabric that may have been wool. The colours are earthy browns, olives and tans, and the pattern is striped. I thought it would suit Finian’s new garb vision, and at $5 seemed bargain. When I got it home and washed it, that familiar wet dog scent confirmed it is at least partly wool. Score!

I have measured the now remarkably lithe Finian (he has lost about 7 or 8 kg since Xmas) and drew up a pattern. Feeling brave I cut it straight form the wool rather than make a fabric pattern. It more or less fitted him – I had made the body too long, but a quick hoick and re-pin fixed that. The gores give shape and movement but don’t look too feminine or bulky. The sleeves look too long to my eye (wrist length) but that’s what he wanted. I would have gone with elbow length and layered it over a long sleeved cotton tunic/shirt, but I figure we can always shorten the sleeves later if he wants to.

Poor Finian suffered a minor injury when I tried to peel the tunic off him and an ill-placed pin snagged his ear! Ouch! I don’t think he’s forgiven me yet.

So this weekend’s tasks include getting the Tunic to the one-piece stage, if not completed.

Becasue it's Friday

I will update you on my sewing progress soon, I promise. In the meantime:

Your Lucky Underwear is Blue

You are caring and extroverted. You've made relationships your number one focus, and your lucky blue underwear can bring some balance to them.
You thrive in one-on-one situations. You are a good listener and a natural born therapist.

Sometimes you let the concerns of others become too important in your life, leading to stress and worry.
If you want more balance, put on your blue underpants. They'll help you take care of yourself first.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

More Meme

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:
7
Mind:
6.3
Body:
7.3
Spirit:
5.6
Friends/Family:
6
Love:
7.3
Finance:
8.1
Take the Rate My Life Quiz


I think my financial score is so high beause my wonderful husband is terrific at maintining our budget and I always know exactly how much I can splurge on eating out, going for coffe or buying shoes. So really, it's his high score not mine.