New Project on the go...

I had promised he who supports me in all I do, some new fencing armour. Well, really he has several IOU s for Renaissance costumes, new fencing armour, a 14th century outfit and a middle class or working class shoemakers outfit. I've been gathering and ageing textiles appropriately but the inspiration really hasn't hit. In the past couple of weeks though, I've found gorgeous fabrics and some great pictures for the above and inspiration to start back at it again is once again flowing.

This week has been a rush to try to get new fencing armour ready for the weekend. It won't happen, not the way I'd envisioned it at anyrate.. which was a gorgeous striped doublet with laced sleeves and tied with points to his new venetians and the shirt. It might have happened or been close if I hadn't given in to the please put blackwork on the sleeves too - if it had even popped into my mind that I was using a linen blend 'cause it was the mockup and not the uber good linen as I was trying a new shirt pattern

I will admit, I have an ancient embroidery sewing machine. It is one of the early models. It is slow and only does a 4in x 4 in pattern maximum for each hooping. It is faster than by hand, but by no means fast. 58 inch of this pattern and about 50 of the half pattern took me about 10 hours to stitch out. Now to cut and sew the rest of the shirt.

My inspiration - Janet Arnold Patterns of Fashion: The Cut and Construction of Clothes for Men and Women c1560- c1620 , fig 116 ( part of a fresco by Paolo Veronese) and pg.53, doublet of Don Garzia, 4th child of Eleanora de Toledo. Awesome book by the way...