Sasha Sews...

OMG.

So it took a few days to find the time to get the damn thing done. It's a hazard of having three children, two of whom are under two and have been sick. :( (here's part one.)

But it's done. It's in the washing machine right at this moment, and I am so excited to see how it came out. In the end I tossed it in with some clothes on warm/warm (because our water gets hot very easily) and put it in for a heavy wash with an extra rinse and fast spin. I am hoping to avoid waiting for a second cycle :D.

( Here's the before pictures: )

Part of the reason we switched to cloth diapers was A) I got over my fear of adding to the laundry I already hate doing and B) I did the math on how much diapers for two, for two to three more years was going to cost.

And then I found out about wool soakers. I mean, have you seen how OMG cute these are?! And that was it. I was 100% sold

So we've been doing cloth for about 4 months now and we have definitely found our preferences, and for the new baby we'll be doing prefolds for at least the first month, and however long it works well after that.

A couple months ago I bought wool for making soakers out of, since we didn't cloth diaper when Gus was a newborn I don't have anything that size, and I don't want to make a big investment *now* since this is our last baby. I decided I would make longies for Charlie since it will be cold for months after he's born and that will hopefully make it even easier to keep him clean and warm - one less thing to mess with. The added benefit of entertaining me while I made them, and allowing me the joy of making things for my baby was just excellent frosting.

I started a pair of Sheepy Pants but my heart wasn't really in it and I was struggling with some of the stitches and so I had some holes and it was lopsided and I got really really irritated with the DPNs on the one leg with the circular still in the other leg and it was all fiddly and I was getting ladders and then my tension was too tight and I said screw it and frogged it and went on to Roger's scarf I've been promising for like three years.

Which was actually fortuitous as it is a simple and repetitive pattern and all knits and purls and cables. I got very very good at reading stitches without having to think about it anymore, being able to put it down and pick it up and at barely more than a glance figure out where I was, and mastered counting rows, finally. (Also, cables without a cable needle, GENIUS.) And my fingers got more deft at the actual movement of knitting. I have gotten almost quick.

A desire to do lace in order to make a scarf for my BFF forced me to learn the terribly important SSK stitch, finally. I *thought* I had grasped the concept, but found that, no, no I really hadn't so I went looking for a tutorial. Thank God for the video in both styles, I knit English and too often a tutorial is only in Continental and then I am lost.

I also looked up M1R and M1L or M1B and M1F while I was at it, and suddenly the gusset made way more sense.

( So yesterday I set about making a pair of Sheepy's. )

So my three year old niece loves Harry Potter. And pink. And princesses. And she specifically loves Hermione's dress from Goblet of Fire.

And I am a giant softy.

So. Approximately 60 pieces of fabric later....

THIS (the one on the right, with the layers of leafy shaped ruffles?) is what I have waiting on my cutting board to be sewn together.

It's a good thing I have a month to put it all together heh.

I'm going to make a simple doublet, one without shoulder tabs, with attached sleeves.

I figure I'll do a "How I..." tutorial while I'm at it. And by How I and Tutorial I mean "If you've never sewn anything before in your life then you should be able to follow these directions, cause I had to figure all this shit out myself, so anyone should be able to follow along." :-D

Step the first. Make sure you have fabric. ( Fabric! )

No talking, just pictures.

( Click here mom )

Maria had this great green linen that we decided to turn into a fighting doublet. I was going to line it with black linen and make it reversible.

As we talked about it, we decided to do some trim on the green side, and the sleeves were going to tie in and it was going to be fabulous. We were going to do slops to wear with it that would be black linen with stripes of green down the side.

I was very excited. Once I got the doublet together, I was looking at it and realized it was begging to have a skirt instead of pants. I decided to sew the skirt in, make it all once piece that Maria could simply pull on and be ready to fight in. Because the doublet fits to her natural waist, in the past she's had problems with gaping between her tops and bottoms, and I am hoping to avoid that. Also, she looks so good in skirts I didn't want to put her in drag. By attaching the skirt to the doublet it makes for a stronger more cohesive piece of "armor" and easier for her to put on and pull off, and avoids the gapping problem at the back, and also her skirt won't slip at all.

The dress was going to be reversible also, and the black side was going to have green bands at the bottom. But as I started assembling it I realized an important thing or two.

One, hemming it to be reversible was going to be a nightmare. Two, with the bands on one side it was not going to look as good. Three, in order for her to fight in it reversible wasn't going to be an option to get the buttons where they needed to be.

I could do the hem, not really a big deal, but trying to line up bands on both sides was not something I wanted to do. I didn't even want to deal with the button issue.

So I started pulling it all together with the intention of making it pretty and durable and one-sideded, as you know, most clothes are. I still liked the idea of the bands, and somehow, instead of Italian, it decided to be German. *G* In an effort to bring the skirt closer to the doublet top (Yes, Alyssa, in this case the bodice is a doublet. :P) I used the same green and made two wide-ish bands along the bottom of the dress. I also realized that by pleating the skirt directly into the doublet bottom I had added about three inches to the front, where the doublet points, and also the lines were all droopy as a result. So I ripped out the front, cut off the points and pleated it back in.

Now she has a doublet (without a point in the front), with attached skirt, that looks vaguely bodice-ish, and will button up the front and have a high collar. ( Click here, mom. )

I've been sewing like a fiend lately. I have been bitten by a bug and that bug's name is "Make New Stuff NOW."

So , just to keep track:

Finished:

• Silver Hood.


• Muslin Smock.


• My Purple Cotte. Turned into a purple sideless surcoat.


• Scarlett Cotte.


• Green wool doublet.

In Progress:

• Prize Play Cotte Re-set the collar to be slightly off-center to account for the buttons.



• Roger's Purple Houppelande. (Is cut out. Need lining fabric.)



• The Brown Dress (which is now a brown doublet and a red doublet.)

Still to begin:

• Test gambeson for the Thayne Gambeson



• The Magdalen Dress for Amanda

And I have a list of projects for Maria:

• Black linen cotte (is cut out and partially assembled.)


• Black/green reversible fighting doublet w/attached skirt (is partially assembled)


• Camicia (Is cut out by someone else, I just need to sew it together.)


• Kirtle (needs hem and hand stitching finished.)



• Reversible sleeves for the wool doublet


• Red wool kirtle


• Blue velvet dress - need dye


• Yellow and black dress - need to pattern


• Dupio - need fabric

The Brown Dress is actually a doublet/kirtle combination with a black skirt. But I love the brown striped fabric I'm making the doublet out of so I'm calling it the brown dress.

Here's the bodice. ( Mom, click here. )

I've been sewing like a fiend lately. I have been bitten by a bug and that bug's name is "Make New Stuff NOW."

So , just to keep track:

Finished:

• Started and nearly finished the Silver Hood. I need to finish the final seam.


• Muslin Smock.


• My Purple Cotte. Turned into a purple sideless surcoat.

In Progress:

• Prize Play Cotte Re-set the collar to be slightly off-center to account for the buttons.



• Scarlett CotteStill need to finish the buttons on the arms, and the lining hem.



• Roger's Purple Houppelande. (Is cut out. Need lining fabric.)



• The brown striped dress. This mess has drastically changed from what it was. Will make post later.

Still to begin:

• Test gambeson for the Thayne Gambeson



• The Magdalen Dress for Amanda

And I have a list of projects for Maria:

• Black linen cotte (is cut out and partially assembled.)


• Black/green reversible doublet (is partially assembled)


• Green wool doublet (Need the tabs on the shoulders and the collar attached.)


• Camicia (Is cut out by someone else, I just need to sew it together.)


• Kirtle or pants for the reversible doublet (we haven't decided for sure yet.)



• Reversible sleeves for the wool doublet


• Black wool kirtle


• Red wool kirtle


• Blue velvet dress - need dye


• Yellow and black dress - need to pattern


• Dupio - need fabric

The purple cotte has decided it wants to be a sideless surcoat instead. I have indulged it in this wish for freedom to express its true inner-self and we are all the happier for it.

Picture to be provided as soon as I have a dress I can wear under it. Heh.