Remember that list of things I have to make before Estrella War? Well, it’s still there–and not much has changed. :/
I started on my husband’s fighting tunic, but I made the sleeves a tad too big so that has to be altered before I can put the pieces together (thankfully I assembled the lining first, so I don’t have as much undoing to do). He also wants buttons, so I have to make adjustments for that. The embroidery is coming along but slowly. His rapier hood is larger than mine, with more seams to stitch, so even though I’m nearly done there’s still a good bit of work left on it. I have to stitch the trim he made for my fighting tunic onto the garment before I finish his. I have pants to make still (not complicated, but involved). And there’s a scroll I have to complete in addition to the sewing. I’m hoping to get a good bit of the prep work on that done today between my pre-work waking up time and the scribal class this evening.
There are a couple of things I had wanted to complete that I don’t think I’ll be able to this go around. I had wanted to make a coat of some sort (Viking style, of course) to wear at Estrella, but that’s not going to happen. I won’t be able to get decent material for it prior, and it’s just going to take up too much of my time. So it’ll be a cloak to keep me warm on those cold Estrella nights, at least this war. I had also wanted to make a Viking apron dress and under dress to go with the Viking “treasure beads” I got for Christmas, but that too will take too much time. I suppose the latter is for the better though, because now I can take my time on it and use those as one of my Arts & Sciences entries.
That’s right; I still plan on entering in the A&S competition for our barony, and despite some peoples’ reservations, I plan on competing for Champion. Go big or go home, right? Besides, I have confidence in my abilities, and I have a secret 3rd project in the planning stages that I think will at the very least be interesting to the judges. It sure as hell will be interesting to me to research, and any learning is a good thing. Yeah, there’s always the chance I won’t win, and I might be judged more critically if I enter for Champion and not a couple of Novice pieces, but I don’t care about either of those. I’m in it to prove that I can do it at this point. Go ahead and naysay; there’s enough stubborn Leo in me to push on and keep working towards my goal. And if I win? It’s all cherry at that point.
I keep telling myself that things will slow down after Estrella, but who am I kidding? I’ll be busy busy busy right up until and after A&S. That’s okay, though. I can do it.
Category: #design
Time warp
I’ve got plenty of time to get things done before Estrella War … right?
Maybe … maybe not.
Back when I was in the Yule Feast Crunch (much like Con Crunch, only no convention), I “triaged” my sewing projects, listing the things I need/want to sew or make in the coming months. The goal there was to have a quick visual of what needs to be done so I can prioritize.
I have failed in prioritizing.
First, I was supposed to make another bento box for an SCA tournament prize. (That project is cut out but not assembled yet.) Then, I was going to make new garb for Estrella War so we’d have more outfit choices. I was also going to make my husband a new fighting tunic. The list goes on, but those are the ones that were most necessary before Estrella–which is next month. Five weeks, more or less. While I still can get all those things done before, I realized today just how much of a crunch I’ve gotten myself into–again.
Work is hectic. SCA life is hectic. Oh yeah, and there’s the nasty cold I’ve contracted. Yay. I’ve also started embroidering my husband’s rapier mask hood for him … very time consuming, but I’m going to rationalize that by telling myself I can do hand embroidery just about anywhere, any time there’s decent lighting and a place to sit. The other stuff? Not so much, at least not at this stage of the process.
Time’s a funny thing. You think you have plenty of it, so you go about doing other things that may or may not be as crucial as the things with rapidly-approaching deadlines. Then it starts catching up to you; first you have two months (plenty of time!), then six weeks, then five-four-three-two-one-oh-shit-time’s-run-out-and-I’m-not-done! Yeah. It’s like that. I guess Einstein was right–it’s relative. Right now, I’m experiencing time at a slower pace, so I feel like there’s lots of time left. However, the closer to the event horizon (a.k.a. Estrella War) I get, the faster time moves. Tick-tock, man. Tick-tock.
I’m not gonna lie; I’ll probably be sewing right up until we leave. It’s just what I do, I guess. I’ve always been that way. School projects? Research papers? Yep, that’s been my modus operandi. Time warps in on itself until it’s almost gone, and I’m caught scrambling.
One of these days I’m going to learn to use time to my advantage, and I’m going to finally be finished before the last second.
One of these days.
Time to get cracking.
The great debate
I want to branch out, but am I diving in too deep?
Let me explain:
There’s this thing in the medieval reenactment group that’s called “Arts and Sciences,” which is basically focusing on medieval and Renaissance period art and, well, science. As science-y as they got back then, anyway. There are also annual competitions on a baronial and kingdom level. I was considering entering my latest embroidery project as an arts project in the next competition (which is in July). The problem? I found out today that I have to enter in three different categories in order to compete.
Okay, there’s the embroidery, sure, but what else can I do? Garb? Yeah, I can probably make some garment(s) for a secondary entry, but the third thing? Maybe … illumination? I could try that, but my drawing/painting style isn’t really up to even medieval par yet. I can make pretty scrolls, but it’s nothing that could be considered a medieval style. And as far as calligraphy goes, I can trace the letters fine and mimic the strokes, but I’m not actually doing true calligraphy … yet. Can I get there by July? Eh, maybe. Maybe.
Decisions, decisions. I really want to enter. Like, really. I haven’t entered an art competition, seriously entered something, since I was a kid … and that was, like, when they kind of made the whole class enter. I just never had the confidence. Now I want to, though. I want to make myself break out of that comfort zone. It’s just–what will my third thing be?
I have a few months, but the clock is ticking. I know there’s some kind of deadline for entry, and there are research papers involved, not to mention the second and third projects to make.
As if I needed more on my plate lately. *Sigh*
EDIT: I have been told that the three-entry thing is for Champion, not just for regular entry. I have the option of entering one or two pieces as a novice, so that takes a little stress off…but now I want to try just to see if I can. Plus, I learned that there are other categories that I didn’t even know existed, like poetry/prose, drawing, painting (not illumination), and leatherwork. So I have options, and ones that I’m more comfortable with. So “the great debate” is still on, but it’s a slightly different debate now…
In stitches, part deux
That’s it. I’m hooked. I’m going to embroider all the things!! Tunics, coats, hoods … whatever I can wrangle up that I think would look good with some embroidery.
Remember the Little Red Fighting Hood? Well, I didn’t end up doing knotwork embroidery along the edges of it, but I did do some herringbone stitches along the seams. They turned out a little wonky and uneven at first, but not too bad for a beginner who didn’t bother to mark out even lines or anything:
Yeah, not the greatest, but again, I’m a beginner. Next up, I decided to try a little addition to the herringbone that I’d seen on Pinterest, using a different color of floss:
Still not 100% even, but it looks a lot better. Now I have four seams with that stitching treatment, which gives me this:
Ta-da! You see now why I didn’t do the knotwork? The proportions would all be off. As it is, the design may end up being a touch too close to the bottom corner of the panel because once I put the lining together and stitch it to this, it’s going to be shorter on the bottom there.
Overall, though, I’m proud of what I accomplished and can’t wait to do more.
Well, maybe I can wait just a little more.
Like until tomorrow.
After bed.
I’m turning in early. The new year is nigh, but I’m going night-night early because I’ve had entirely too much going on lately and I need to rest. These ol’ bones ain’t gonna be happy if I stay up ’til midnight tonight.
In stitches
Check off embroidery as a new addition to my crafting repertoire.
Yeah, that’s right, as if I’m not busy enough lately, I’ve decided to take up the time-consuming art of hand embroidery. Not including cross stitch (which I feel is a more specific type of embroidery and not really what I’m doing right now), I’ve finished two pieces: a “tester” piece to see if I could do it, and a panel for a new fighting hood I’m making.
The test piece was just on a small scrap of fabric:
Being the person that I am, after I finished that piece I decided to start on a project that I will eventually wear. Yep, one little 3 inch thing (that was pretty much entirely done with satin stitches) and I was ready to dive into something more substantial. It still was simple, but I used a couple more types of stitches… so that’s progress, right?
Here’s the second one:
This will either be the front or the back of my new fighting hood. I haven’t decided where yet, because I like it so much I don’t want it covered up by my gorget all the time. I also don’t want it damaged by lots of rapier stabbing. Guess it’s going on the back. Lol
I’m going to put the top two layers of the hood together and stitch some knotwork along the edges, too, before I add the inner layer and close it up. Lofty goals for someone who just got started, huh?
I already have another embroidery project lined up (for my husband), and I think I’m going to choose embroidery as my first Arts and Sciences entry. I just have to pick a design, do the research, make the thing, and oh yeah, write a research paper for the entry. No sweat.
By the way, I did take my meds this morning, and I will take them tonight even though it’s going to be a late night for me. And I’ll take them tomorrow morning, and so forth and so on.
'Tis the season
Just a few more days until Christmas! Not that I’m Christian, but I like to celebrate the spirit of gift giving this time of year. I think that giving presents to friends and family to show your appreciation of them is something I can totally get on board with, regardless of the religious reason for said gift giving.
I’m a little disappointed that I’m not going to get done sewing one present in time to mail it out, and that I wasn’t able to get to the post office to mail out another one. Then there’s the one I ordered last-minute the wasn’t on the Prime program, so it won’t arrive before Christmas. And it took me forever to figure out what I was getting my husband–so that will be late, too. Boo. None of the recipients mind that their gifts will be late, but I still feel guilty that I didn’t get everything in on time.
Despite the fact that I create an Amazon wish list every year of stuff I’d like to get, I’m not really concerned with what I end up getting. Its the spirit of the season, those friends and family that I mentioned before, that really matter. Seeing how happy they are with their gift(s) (or pretend-happy, depending on how good a job I did of selecting/making said gift) is what makes me happy, not necessarily what kind of haul I end up getting. To be honest, I don’t know if I’d even be disappointed in the slightest if I got no presents–so long as I still was able to buy/make for those I care about.
As the year draws to a close, I think back on my one “resolution”/goal for the new year: to get the first draft of my WIP in finished. I blew past that goal and even finished the first draft of the sequel, plus got a publishing deal. I’m still amazed that I accomplished that much.
This isn’t where I usually post my goals for the next year, but since I mentioned it let’s just get that post out of the way, shall we? Here goes:
- I want to continue working out with my husband and my friends to gain strength and endurance (and hopefully lose a bit of weight)
- I don’t want to break my motherfucking foot again…or any other bones
- I want to continue to learn and grow in my rapier practice–maybe win a small tournament? We’ll see
- I want to get Book 2 finished enough to send it to my publisher for consideration
- Oh yeah, I want Book 1 to be published. I want to see it in print in a bookstore. Maybe some book signings? We’ll see on that one, too. Oh, and to get at least started on Book 3 🙂
- I want to make it through my current sewing project list and then some (that one might take up the entire year lol)
- I want to do my hardest to push back some of this social anxiety to the point where I can enjoy SCA events more and not get overwhelmed by the number of people I don’t know that are around me
- I want to learn a new art/craft. I’ve already started trying to embroider something, but that might be my “new” thing seeing as how I’ve only just barely started
- I want to stand up for myself more. On those occasions where my social anxiety is not under control or for events/meetings that I don’t want to go to, I want to be able to say “Hey, honey, I don’t want to do Thing X; can I stay home/in the tent for it or maybe do Thing Y instead?”
- I want to move into our own home and out of this freakin’ apartment
This probably isn’t a comprehensive list of goals for the coming year, but I think they’re all reasonable. Attainable.
I used to grab a 3×5 index card and jot all these goals down, sticking the card on the fridge for “motivation,” but I don’t think I’ll do that this year. I can keep a running tally in my head of things I’ve accomplished that I set out to do.
Speaking of things to do, I had better get cracking on the gift I’m currently working on. It’s taking a lot of hand sewing because I can’t figure out a good way to use the sewing machine on the weird angles without screwing it up.
Until next time!
It feels good to be a Lady
Last night was my husband’s first SCA feast as Feast Steward, and it went amazingly well! The food turned out great, and everyone enjoyed it.
I spent a majority of the time sitting at the table because of das boot. I did get up a few times, though, most notably for the Order of Precedence procession and *drum roll please* my Award of Arms! My husband got his as well, so now we are Lord and Lady. 🙂 I gotta admit, I teared up a little when Her Majesty was going over her speech about why she was giving me the award.
My husband and I are apparently unusually active in the Society for as new as we are, so our AoA was presented fairly early on, for our kingdom at least. Some people play for years and years before getting their AoA, but we’ve only been playing since March. We have taken on a lot in that short time though, such as our Baronial officer positions, the Queen’s Guard, and of course his feast stewarding.
I never thought I’d be so happy with such a seemingly little thing. “Lady.” It’s kinda cool. It feels good to be recognized for the hard work I’ve done. Sure, I get thanks all the time, but this is something I can take and frame and look at as a reminder when I start feeling like I’m not appreciated or recognized.
Our scrolls turned out pretty cool too; they’re even coordinated. Check it out:
Those birds are freaking cute!
The next big thing for us will be Estrella War. It’s the biggest war in our kingdom and I think one of the biggest in the SCA. My husband has been to a couple of Estrella Wars, but this will be my first. It should be interesting. I’ll be getting my Oleander, another award (one that’s given to all female fighters their first time on the Estrella battlefield) there. I’ve been making the belt favors for it to help out.
The other highlight of the event last night (for me at least) was the response to the garb I worked so hard on. Everyone loved the gown I wore and apparently they loved my husband’s garb as well. I didn’t get a picture of him in his outfit, but here’s my dress:
I had a lot of help, but I’m still proud of how it turned out. It was pretty comfortable. I still have tweaks I want to do to it, like making detachable sleeves, but it was completed and that’s what matters.
Now we’re off to Star Wars! A good treat after all that hard work.
Hanging by a thread
It’s almost here: the Yule feast that my husband’s in charge of cooking. The theme (which you may recall if you follow this blog) is Italian Renaissance. As Viking personas, we had no Italian Ren garb. None. So I’ve been scrambling to make two full outfits.
Did I mention I have no clue how to make period-accurate Italian Ren garb? Yeah. There’s that. I had patterns for my husband’s clothes (which, being “costume” patterns and not “historical” patterns, are not quite period-accurate either), but I needed a lot of help with my garments. Thankfully there are some really kind, really helpful ladies in our barony who were willing to give me their time and attention so I could be properly attired.
I’ve still got a few things to finish, but with (hopefully) a half day at work today, I should be able to finish everything in time. I have to:
- re-sew the snaps on the stomacher of my dress because the dress ended up needing to be taken in a bit more (yay!)
- add the buttons to my husband’s pants (and the belt loops he requested for extra security; not “period,” but they’ll keep the pants up lol)
- finish the sleeves, collar, and hem on his shirt
- add as much fancy trim as I have time to slap on there
- iron the damn things
Once the sewing and ironing are done, I have to bust my butt to clean up the craft room and transform it into a guest room again. I have accumulated quite a bit more fabric since the last time I cleaned/straightened in there, so it looks like a trip to Wal-Mart or some such place is in my future so I can get more storage for all that crap. Then, once our guest is gone, I have to bring things back out again so I can try to get the one Christmas present I plan on sewing done before the holiday. I doubt I’ll be able to, though, and it makes me feel bad. I know I had a lot going on lately–sickness, injury (oh yeah, forgot to mention: I broke another bone on my foot back at the last war event), work, and garb–but that doesn’t stop the guilt from eating at me.
That’s not all in the sewing department; I have gifts for the women who helped me, a tournament prize, more garb (with a February deadline this time–easier Viking stuff), and assorted odds and ends that I want to make. Seriously, I have a list. Typed up. Because I’m a nerd.
Why am I typing this instead of cranking out garb? Well, I’ve gotten to a step that I can potentially skip, but I need to wait for my husband to wake up so I can ask him if he minds if I omit the step. He’s been stressed enough about the event, though, so I’ll let him sleep. I can find other things to do until then.
But as soon as he’s up and has made a decision, it’s back to the grind.
Crunch of a different kind
Anyone who has read this blog for a decent amount of time may be familiar with my recurrent Con Crunch–the time when a convention nears and you’re scrambling to finish your cosplays in time. One could almost say I have chronic Con Crunch, or Triple C. No matter how much I try to plan, I never seem to be able to get my costumes done without a last-minute scramble.
The SCA has proven to be no different. I seem to always be in that Crunchtime zone where I worry that I won’t finish the garment(s) before the event I’m making them for. Prime example: the Italian Renaissance-themed Yule event that’s in less than two weeks. I have my camica done, my outer dress mostly done (still need to hem it and adjust a couple things due to my recent weight loss), and my husband’s pants mostly done. I still need to make his shirt and doublet, though, and–if there’s time–an underskirt for the dress. Since I made mockups of the shirt and doublet, I know it won’t take too terrible long to get them done once I have a chance to just focus, but I have one little problem…
I think my right foot has somehow gotten re-injured. Like, it’s hurting bad enough I worry that it might have become re-broken. Seriously, the only thing that helps for any length of time is to wear the stupid fracture boot that I got from the podiatrist this past February when I first broke it. Here’s a photo of the x-ray for reference:
Yeah, that circled part is the nice little break with the nice little chunk of bone was taken off. According to the podiatrist it was pretty much healed after a few weeks in the boot, and he told me I didn’t really have any restrictions. Cool beans, right?
Well, that “crushing” fracture (as the doctor diagnosed it; to this day I still have no clue how it happened) has been increasingly painful since I decided to wear my medieval period shoes for a couple of days at a recent event. Now, I’ve got gel insoles in them, but they’re not memory foam like my beloved Sketchers–which I ended up changing into for the remainder of the event after the medieval shoes started making my right foot hurt. Or at least that’s what I thought was the cause…now I’m not so sure.
Did I take a wonky step in those shoes and not notice? Knowing me it’s entirely possible, but it’s also possible that there’s something else going on. Something less sucky, perhaps? Regardless, I won’t know until I see the podiatrist again in a couple of weeks. Lucky me didn’t have enough openings at work to be able to get in any sooner. So it’s been over three weeks of moderate to severe pain in my right foot, with another two to go.
Oh, yeah, and I also have trouble controlling the sewing machine pedal with my left foot. So there’s that adding to the already stressful #currentmiddleages crunch. Yeah, no, let’s not use that term again. The alliteration is all well and good, but it feels a bit forced. Costume Crunch? That could work. The garb is essentially medieval costumes, after all.
Fingers crossed that there’s not a bone crunch mixed in with this Costume Crunch. I won’t find out until after the Yule event, so I have to suffer for a little longer.
Speaking of crunches, I suppose I should get cracking on the shirt and/or doublet.
Except this boot is keeping the pain at bay.
Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.
Dragging
I’m so tired lately. The kind of tired that seeps into your bones and settles in. Part of it is the chronic insomnia I have, but a lot of it is that I ran out of my Adderall before I could get more and my body is telling me what a fool I was to let that happen.
Still, I have things to do. I’ve got to finish my Italian Renaissance dress, start on my husband’s garb, make Christmas presents, and a whole slew of other things. I’m so tired I can’t even think of what I need to do.
Oh yeah, I remember one thing… I have to work today.