It’s been a minute!
In late December 2020, I decided to take a mulligan on the Calontir Clothing Challenge. While I loved the concept of the Challenge and working on a project at the same time as other, incredibly talented artisans, I had several other opportunities and responsibilities emerge in both my SCA and mundane lives that meant completing the challenge would mean taking shortcuts resulting in a garment I wouldn’t feel represented my best work.
Instead, I am continuing to work on the Henrican ensemble, separate from any challenge deadline. The status of the items is as follows:
- Smock: The main seams of the smock are sewn, all by hand. I still need to cut and finish the neckline, as well as the bottom hem – the neckline at least I was waiting on having a completed kirtle (and possibly gown) before finishing, just to ensure the neckline fits as I prefer.
- Kirtle: The main sewing of my kirtle is mostly complete. I opted to build my kirtle with minimal boning – unfortunately I failed to account for how much width the boning takes up in the pattern I’m using (Tudor Tailor), and since I did not build a proper mockup in advance I didn’t give myself a chance to catch my error. Lesson learned! I have built a mockup of my gown bodice in a canvas fabric, so I know that the gown bodice should perform some additional cinching and support, so I will be carrying on with the garment as constructed. To complete the piece I’ll need to hem the bottom and add trim to the neckline. I may decide to add a silk velvet guard on the bottom of the skirt edge to protect it from dirt, that can be a very late addition.
- Gown: I’ve built a solid mockup of the gown bodice and I’m generally happy with it. I need to adjust the shoulders slightly so that they do not slip off with the added weight of the sleeves. I’ll be building full sleeve mockups as well to make sure my armscyes are behaving. Then it will be time to take a deep breath and cut my silk!
- Tie-on false sleeves: This is one piece I have not yet touched. I’ll be making a mockup (obviously) before delving into proper construction. I’m a little nervous that I don’t have enough green silk remaining – there may be a fabric order in my future!
- Acessories: Honestly, I can’t even think about this yet. I’m sure once I have the other pieces built I can look at accessorizing.
I’m not sure if I’ll be tackling another Henrican after this for a while – there are lots of moving parts! I DO want to look at what would happen if I drafted the garment using Bara methods rather than altering a pre-printed pattern, though. And in my fabric shopping I came across a dotted silk that would an interesting option for a Jane Seymour-inspired sleeve turnback…
I am seriously considering livestreaming some of my sewing sessions on twitch, as well. If I decide to do so, I’ll try to get the word out.
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