Ok, I've talked to several people and I will start simple. I'm going to make an apron for my German dress.
I'm digging in my linen boxes to see what color I will use. I also want to do blackwork on it.
This will be fun.
Pet

codpiece continued

Ok So here is how far I am.

as always all the pictures can be seen at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77086627@N00/sets/72157619995383885/
As one can see the linen inside part is done.
Disappointingly it did not quite turn out the way I wanted. I know what I would have had to do different to get the look that I wanted.
This happens to me every time I make a Codpiece. You think I would remember it, but nooooooo. The next time I pattern out a codpiece (it would help if I didn't always loos the patterns for my codpieces) I do the same dame mistake I always make and think "hay isn't this the part I mess up and need to do different...........??????................. neaaaaaa thats later on"
And then happens what happens every time I think the codpiece is not soooo bad and actually it looks pretty cool like that and well they did have this shape........... bla bla bla............
So this is wat It will look like with loots of slashings.

Gottfried

Handsewing tip of the week (#4)

Why doesn't the back look as good as the front?

One of my biggest problems when I was learning how to handsew is that, while the front looked more or less ok, the back was a mess. It took me a while to figure out how to fix this.
One reason this happens, is that your needle is going in at a diagonal and not straight up. If you are doing your running stitch one stitch at a time (needle down, pull, needle up, pull) it helps if you check the back every time you make a stitch at first, to train your hand to put them in the right place. Another way to fix this is (if your fabric is thin enough to allow it) is to make one whole stitch in one go (down up, pull). With this, you really need to watch not only the length of the stitch, but the length of the negative space between the stitches, as this is your stitch on the back.
Now, if it's just a matter of some stitches being longer than others, you can always cover it up with a flat-fell seam. Uneven stitches running diagonally to the seam can affect the way the garment sits and falls, though. I know it's frustrating, but don't hesitate to take out part of a seam and re-do it! You'll be happier in the long run.

Still no second piece

I have not been working on the second piece and that may be a good thing. A friend, with whom I discussed at length that the secrets of sewing lies often in the order of assemblance, has told me to try and sew the joining of the leg part to the upper foot part first. I will try that, alas, I have also found some other pictures.

These are fancy and purportedly women's hosen

http://www.bildindex.de/bilder/mi00773g13a.jpg

But frankly I doubt it, because the site linking to it was englishspeaking and the notes underneath the sock says that this is an exhibit of a Dommuseum, a clerical museum, and it would seem awfully frivolous for that. also the note gives no indication of this being a lady's garnment. What is an interesting detail ,though, is the upper right corner of the stocking in the picture.

Now this picture is rather straightforward and it does show black hosen on the lady:

http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/ConsulterElementNum?O=IFN-8100144&E=JPEG&Deb=47&Fin=47&Param=C

and another picture of a woman getting raped ... but she is wearing socks

http://www.cottesimple.com/alms_purse/egerton_dinah.htm

Elisande

For the German Participants

Just a heads up that Karstadt is selling wonderful raw silk, 90 cm wide, in all colors, for 8 euro a meter (if you need some for your project)

Greetings from fair Atlantia!
I have decided to accept (with some trepidation) Lord Gottfried's challenge.
I'm making a coif...but first I have to embroider it. I haven't written the documentation down yet...but hopefully I can get to that this week.
Isabel of Tir-y-Don

Gottfrieds codpiece starts

Hi all
Well I have been very lax lately in getting my project started, but it is on its way now
So that I don't take up to much room I will only be posting one picture here but the rest can bee seen till the end of the challenge at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77086627@N00/sets/72157619995383885/

So what I have done is made the pattern for the codpiece this will be cut out of linen and the wool.
The silk will stay like it is an attached to the linen once the linen and wool parts are sewn together.
Right now I am sewing the Linen parts together. Once that is done it will be stuffed as hard as I can with scraps I have left from other sewing projects. Then sew the last bit shut. After that I plan to throw it in the washer to mat it down as much as possible and stuff it some more.
Once the Wool part is sewn and the silk has been attached to the Linen part, the linen part (with the silk attached) will be put in the wool codpiece.
Here a picture of me working on the linen part


Gottfried