Max's Fighting Coat

I just realized I never posted photos of my hubby in his finished coat!



Handsome devil, Ain't he? I also made him a matching hood as well.

I'll be using the un-tweaked pattern I used to his fighting coat to make him a nice piece for court garb this coming May War. Gotta keep the fella cleaned up, I tells ya!

Steampunk Sketch

o as I've said, my next project will be my steampunk costume (and probably worked on the same time as garb since I'm kinda of a garb adict).
Anyways, I don't plan on making anything brand new but completely tweaking and revamping my costume from the 2007 Deadlands Halloween party. My character was Dr. Regina "Reggie" Black, mad scientist. It's a costume that has a lot of potential but I never got around to refining it.
Here's the rendering of the 2.0 version as well as a photo of the original costume.



For some more photos of the original costume and my plans, check under the cut.



The guns on the rendering are the ones I plan to pick up on ebay and modify into steampunk guns. I really have some interresting ideas for them that I can hopefully put on paper.



The changes are pretty small. I want to refine the coat, make it more fitted around the waist. I also want to do some destressing on it to give it texture and personality. The fabric is corderoy so it should texture nicely.I'll also be adding the gold braid to the buttons and pockets to make them pop.


I weill need to take in the vest since I've lost weight. I also am cosidering changing the clasps. I sculped them out of sculpty but I think I want something bigger and more metalic. I'm debating on the shirt. While I love the color, I think I might want something more feminine under the vest. The shirt is up for debate.


Unfortunately, those goggles have pretty much bit the dust. I love them but I made them quickly which ment they weren't ment to last long. I"m considering picking up some welding goggles to modify. I still want to keep the gadget-y look to them. The goggles were inspired by the goggles from the movie Sleepy Hollow. I think I'm going to try for a more delicate look as seen here.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vheloFCFy9I/SIzo6EdVfEI/AAAAAAAAAI0/gPEyDO5CHqs/s320/goggles4.jpg
But not that exact style. I still plan to keep them on top of the head.

I'm also considering making pants in brown/tan instead of reusing the black ones. I think brown would lend better to the look of the costume. The boots I actually own. They are in black though. But honestly I think it will look fine since I'm going more for a wild west mish mash look as opposed to anything super refined.

I also plan to make a belt for a gun holster and another belt with some test tubes connected to it.

I think this is going to be a long term project. One I plan to work on periodically and come back to over a course of a few months.
And thats all for now, folks!

Fighting Coat, Gawhzee, and Persian Coat.

My Husband Max's Rapier fighting coat and A few other things for Estrella War.:).

So We're gearing up for Estrella and I've been sewing a bunch. The big project was Max's fighting coat for Estrella. Its my first fighting coat not to mention my first male garb that wasn't a T-tunic. It turned out better than I expected.:)


It looks a bit wonky on the dress form since the form is for a woman and is much smaller than Max. It looks pretty darn good on him though. Hopefully pictures of him IN it will come after Estrella War.

With the left over fabric, I made myself a Gawzhee.


I reversed the fabric so it wouldn't be too matchy matchy with Max's coat.

Detail of the clasps:


It can get pretty chilly at Estrella so I dress in layers. Though sometimes my cloat gets in my way. So I put together a persian coat out of linen to wear when I'm not in the mood to put the cloak on.


THis is my first try with a persian. I had to play with the pattern to remove the darts in it...but unfortunately I made it a bit to small so this won't be closing. The sleeves are a little wonky but nothing horrible. I can probably fix it on my next go around with a persian coat.

Detail of trim:


I also cranked out quite a few pair of pants, and a tunic and a coat for a friend (unfortunately I didn't get pics of those yet)

I plan to take a short break from SCA garb for a bit and move on to working on my Steampunk costume next for a little variety.

Thanks for looking!

Finished Italian Ren of the Orange

Myself and my beautiful friend Ty at Caid 12th Night.




I finished the sucker!
No, I'm not suddenly short armed. Those sleves are so voluminous that you can't see my elbows bent. I was hoping for that;)
Its ment to wear with or without a chamise. It was so dang hot yesterday night though that I opted for no Chamise. Not very period but MUCH more comfy while I sweated like a teamster.
The hem still needs to be taken up one more inch though. Its a bit long for my taste.
The dress involves 8 1/2 yards for orange silk. I was a large orange puff ball.
Here are some detail shots.


I bought this pin off a jewelry resaler and it was perfect to finish the dress off.


The side buttons I found at Joann Fabrics. Usually I don't have much luck finding good buttons there and I pick buttons up at SCA events. I Lucked out this time around.


My cuff on the sleeves...which you can't see under all that yardage. I think I may finish off the cuffs with a button to cover up the hook and eye I have there currently.

I'm extremely proud of this garb. Its perfect court garb for my SCA persona and it was very comfy. It will look more complete when I find a metal belt to go with it.
Next entry will probably be my husbands Raiper fighting coat and random persian coats for war....unless i get completely distracted by shiney things.

Orange Italian Ren IS GO!

No time like the present, right? That, and 12th Night is this coming Saturday.



Want to see the progress I made in one night?



I only work half days on Wednesdays so I dove on in after I got home. I just came to a finishing point a couple minutes ago. I desided to go more period and pleated the skirt and the Sleves instead of gathering them. Overall the look is far more elegant and finished.
I went with side closures again since I didn't have decent grommets and I also found some great buttons for slide closures.
I gotta admit, Silk shantung? Drapes BEAUTIFULLY! It pleats like a dream and gives plenty of volume.
The fit ain't half bad wither. The bodice pattern Is slowly getting better and better. Its still not perfect, but then neither is my body so it seems to all work out.;)
All I have left is:
Sew buttons on the sides
Close up the side seams on the skirt
put the cuffs on the sleeves
Hem the skirt
Hopefully finished product pictures come Friday night.

Italian Ren Experiment - Part 3 and Bonus

Not too bad for just an experiement. It helped me determine where I need to tweak my pattern. The shoulders are a touch too big for me unfortunately. This creates a weird problem with the detachable sleeves (which I've made, but are in dire need of tweaking).
Overall I'm pleased with the results. But when I do this again with my beloved orange silk I'll be doing some more teaking of the bodice. I also plan to raise the waist line more.
Here are the new buttons. They're far more durable:


And while I was working on this experiment, I felt the need to make other garb. Here's a Linen Tunic Dress I made for random SCA events:

I really love how this came out. I especialy love the color scheme.
Sorry about the blurry pic.

And the trim is nice. I salvaged it off an old piece of garb I made horribly years ago. I'm glad I was able to save the trim.


Next Entry will probably involve my next Italian Ren or Steampunkery.:)

• Mood:accomplished

Italian Ren Experiment - Part 2

Okie Doke then!
Made a large amount of progress so far!
I fixed the not enough fabric problem by...well..buying different fabric. I managed to find an interresting Taffeta that is the same green as the old fabric but in a paler shade (and on sale as well. WOO!). I like it better than the original choice. The texture on it as well ads a lot to the bodice as well.



I took away the added stripe of trim on the top. With this new fabric it looked to busy. I like the choice to let the fabric speak for itself and just use the vertical trim lines




Here be the Skirt! The sides have yet to be sewn up. Its not as patchwork looking as I thought it would be with the bodice being a different color which is good. I know I should have pleated the skirt for period reasons but I didn't since I was just experimenting. My Orange Ren will definitely have the pleates.
It look me a couple tries to get the waist right. First it was too long and it looked like an 80's prom dress. I shortened it and it became a Disney pretty princess dress. I ended up hacking off a good inch and a half of the bodice. Now I'm a lot happier with the look.


I put a pannel of the green in the back of the dress too just to keep it all tied together.

The sleeves are in progress so far:

I have them cut out and I plan to make them detachable and reversable (one side green and the other side brown).

So far So good! I just need to finish the following.
-Sleeves
-Replace the buttons (I found out the current ones are really crappy)
-Sew up the skirt seams
-Hem the skirt
-Make the chemise

So far this is coming along a lot better than I anticipated.:)