Meltintalle's Closet

• http://mantuadiary.blogspot.com/2008/07/pockets.html
• http://www.coletterie.com/tutorials-tips-tricks/continuous-bias-tape-tutorial
• Another source for pockets via American Duchess

Somehow, deadlines always help in getting stuff done. The end of the year and being able to use the completed: 2012 tag on this project since all I had left was little stuff turned out to be just enough. I freehanded my initials and the year after cutting the slit down the middle. It wasn't the most efficient way of doing them, but I didn't know how much to allow for binding the slit so they had to be added afterward.

I'd say it's about 88% hand-work; the bias tape is sewn together and the inside of the seams are done by machine. 

For his llama costume entry this year Little Brother #2 decided that he wanted to be Robin Hood and his llama could be Will Scarlett. Not surprisingly, the shirt from the Robin Hood costume I made him back in 2008 didn't fit him anymore. So I used the following links and a heathly dose of fudging to make him a new one. (I put more work into his costume than he put into the one for the llama. XD )

• http://www.renaissancetailor.com/demos_shirt.htm
• http://www.sempstress.org/skill/hand-worked-eyelets/
• http://crossstitch.about.com/od/patternsfromyourguide/ig/Alphabets-/CS-Alphabet---Six-Stitches.htm

I used a light cotton in a dark green and eyeballed the measurements against one of my T-shirts. It is possible to rip nice squares and rectangles on the grain of the fabric, so that's what I did for most of my pieces. For the shoulder gussets I did right angle triangles instead of isosceles triangles. If I'd been paying close attention, I could have pulled the underarm gussets from the scrap ripped to square the edge of my fabric and used more exactly two-thirds of the 3 yards of 45" fabric... the little nibble out of the remnant piece makes me sad.

Friends and I had recently visited an exhibit on Nordic Lace and I noticed on the shirt from a man's wedding outfit that embroidery was used to hold the placket down. So I put my brother's initials there because I didn't have time to do the entire alphabet like on the piece I'd seen. I did two handworked eyelets to close the collar. The cuffs are currently loose. I don't know if they will eventually get eyelets and lace shut or hooks and eyes or a button and frog or... never be done at all. :p 

We wonders, yes, we wonderss. *cough*

I had an opportunity to dig my Narnian/Pre-Raphaelite/Medieval/Renaissance gowns and pieces out of my closet recently, and that reminded me of the need for pockets. Because pockets are wonderful things and besides Gollum there's also a song about "Oh I bet you'll never guess/ What I've got!" and a lovely list of keys and bicycle rings and... Anyway. Pockets. 

I've seen it done where people with the same dilemma use their 18th century pocket recreations with their gowns and I think this will work with the gowns I have. But since it's for fun and practicality, I thought I'd do something fantasy for the pocket embroidery. 

First I went through a list of extant pockets for inspiration as well as visiting a site that sells pocket kits (see Bristol and the Blue Thistle stomacher in particular). I'm considering doing my initials and the year on the back, in something simple because it's the least visible side of something that's really supposed to be invisible... so I was thinking white on white, maybe.



For the front, I'm envisioning something Rohan inspired. Twisty knots and galloping horses, though I can't decide if I want to do it all in shades of blue and possibly silver, (because that's rather Elvish, just like my screen-name, and my favourite colours) or bright and somewhat random colours based on what comes to hand when I go looking for thread. 

The dimensions came from Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion Vol. 1.

I've hit my first snag in my plans.

I transferred the embroidery pattern I found in A Scholehouse for the Needle (pg 30) to the first sleeve and merrily stemstitched my way down the motifs. I was almost done when I decided to transfer the second sleeve.

( Ah, you see my mistake already! )