Weekly SO

 My strong opinion this week, that I absolutely hate the fact that when one is looking for a place for an event, s/he cannot find ANY price (online or otherwise). Not even preliminary prices or ballpark figures or estimated prices, just to know, if it is worth to think about the given place further.

The ALL want you to write for an estimate, but with that they might be wasting their time as well as mine.  (Also, it is generally said, if you have to ask an "estimate" for the price, you cannot afford it).

Small spencer

There are a number of ways, you can make a regency outfit different. We could see that with my first white dress and the overdress...

For this simple white dress, to elevate it to an evening dress, or even a ball-gown, I only needed to add a small sleeveless spencer.

The fabric is a small piece of embroidered taffeta. I knew that one of the fabric-shops had a small piee, that was highly discounted, literally for years, because there were lines of sun-fading on it, when I went there, they used the piece for decorating a mannequine in the shop-window.

However, for this spencer I only needed small bits of pieces, so literally begged them to take it off and sell it to me (it didn't even had a pice anymore, they just blurted out a number, and I said okay, thats fine.

(Pattern was draped by me).

Photos: Norbert Varga @Bodeszphoto.
 

Weekly patternmuster (sewing) ... and a dilemma

 A few weeks ago, my computer totally crashed me, that meant, that all of the couple hundred open windows, some of them showing patterns I wanted to put into this "column" was lost.

And now, when I am looking, and putting words into search engine, so many things come up I like, but most of them makes me wonder, if they are bad AI patterns. 

For one, I want to collect patterns I like, maybe for later use. 

But then, I do NOT want to support anything AI related.

I have no way to check if those patterns work or not, even if they are made by AI or not. 

I said it enough, that most of the time, I only use patterns as a starting point, and do make mock ups, so not perfectly made patterns are no problems for me. 

So, what do I do now? 

For example, here is THIS pattern.

I like how it looks, I do love assymetric, foldover things, I would consider making it. 

BUT, it is supiciously cheap, and I suspect it is one of those not-good AI patterns. 

I know, I could make it work, but should I suggest it to others? 

What do you think? 

Napoleon and his time

 The Napoleonic (Regency) era is popular in most of the world, but we don't see much of it in Hungary. Yes, people know Jane Austen (ahh, the period/costumes they use in Jane Austen movies), and nowadays Bridgerton even more, but not much of either the history, nor its fashion. 

For men, there are some groups that reenact the Napoleonic wars, but for civilan life... it is close to nonexistent. 

Our group did dresses back in 2018, when there was that ball... upps, I have not written about that ball...

But there are pictures of those dresses (a plain white one and a blue oversress from saree-silk) in THIS post. When I made it, I had no pattern, and not much help with fitting. As much as I loved them, in every combinations, there were probems (the overdress was too wide, it kept falling off my shoulder)... To top of it all, I lost enough weigth that those things would've fallen off, even if they fitted me well in the first place. 

Last fall, when we went to the Palmanova Napoleonic event, I scratched the itch I had ever since I saw a video on Instagram about a size adjustable event, and made THIS dress. And then I made THIS spencer to go with it.

But this year, I wanted a "traditional" white muslin, regency dress, the one I started with many years ago, but much better. 

I was trying to find some pictures of the making, but (as usual? or as the typical ADHD way?) there is none, most probably, I made the thing in a hurry.

Interestingly enough, when I first saw the video of Amber showing the wrap around dress, I was completely enchanted by it, even asked her if she had a pattern for it (no, unfortnately she did not, though I would've bought it at once). However, I forgot about it, but Instagram somehow threw it before me, just as I was thinking about making this new dress. (Amber's insta reel is HERE)

As usual, I dug through my fabric collection, knowing that I have light, white fabric for at least 3-4 regency dress, and found a swiss dot one, I bought years ago (like in around 2017-2018) in I Love Textile.

I started out with a Black Snail pattern, but I modified that pattern so much, that its mother (umm, original designer) would not recognise it. 

I did make a video of the closure, but Blogger would not let me upload it (it says, the file is too big). 

I will try to make a reel out of it on Instagram, and link it here, somehow. 

But then, I also put the two picture (one of the old dress and one of this new one) to be able to see the difference. 

When I started making historical clothes in 2017 I was sewing for many decades by then. I thought, I knew everything, if not everything, but enough to... By now, I know I was brave and full of myself, and I had so much to learn. 

But that is also a lesson. No matter what are you doing, and how long you are doing it. There are always things to learn, and it is not a shame to redo things, to do things again, (and again, and again), just to be able to do it better. 

Fabric: I LOve Textil

Photos: Bodeszphoto

Time for socks....

So, we are back from Prague (too), and though we still have an international event to go, it is much closer, and shorter, than the Italianor the Czech trip was.

I am trying to get back to a more regular rutine, which also means, more regular posting...

Also the time is here, when I start to change my short, cotton socks to handknitted ones. 

Yes, I wear my socks. I wear my handknitted socks from the end of September, until about April, continiously. (and yes, I do wash them, in fact, I wash them in the washing machine. That is the only handknitted item I put in the machine, everything else gets washed by hand.

Anyhow... new socks. I started them earlier this year (much earlier, like in january, or maybe even last year???), because short, modern socks are things I can knit in the car, even in the dark (yes, I knit the historical stockings in the car as well, but during the daytime, as they need to be shaped, so looked at, at least once every round- though I did become much better of that too - meaning, keeping track of the zig-zag -and the connected decreases- in the dark, but then, that is a topic for another post). 

While we stayed in Prague, I got to the point with the (historic) stockings I am working on, where it needs light, and attention (turning the heel and picking up the stitches for the feet), and I was too tired on the way home, so I dug out the modern socks I stopped working on months ago. It seemed less of an efford to pick up the stitches and trying to figure out where I was with them, than turn the heel of the historic stockings. (Also, I am running out of the DPN's I am using for socks and stockings, I needed to free up some). 

I could see the advantages of having a system for knitting these simple socks a standard way of doig them, so I could easily find my way back, even after months of neglect.

Thus happened, that two pairs of short-ish socks, the ones that go into my fall shoes, and shorter boots, got finished. 

Actually nothing special abot them, both of them were made from leftover yarns I keep picking up in the second hand shop, they are not simmetric, as the Yarn Harlot says, they are fraternal twins.

Both have their toes, heels and cuffs from a different, solid color, I found going well with the colorscheme of the base-yarn. 

Yarn: random, unidentified sockyarn.

Needles: 2,25 Knit Pro.

Obelix at Orfű

 It was one picture, but ended up a longer story...

There is a big historical festival, and its main point is the evening procession.

The foundation is there for many-many years by know, however, with more-or less visibility...

What do I mean by that? If the procession have huge roman legions at the beginning, a walking band of brass wind players, and you have fire jugglers before you yelling yelling "to infinity and beyond" every 50 meters, and small, child sized ponies behind you... with a smallish group (10-20 people) no matter what you wear, you are kind of invisible... 

And we arrived to wearing the turn of the century bathing suits one year (read its full story here).

And while we were originally talking about it, some of us tried to convince Norbert to wear one of those tank topped, stripy things much like these ones:

To which he just grumbled: 

"Right, and you know how woud I look like in that? Like Obelix..."

Our leader found it so funny, that she literally fell under the table laughing, and the idea stuck... 

That year, in our Xmas party, we did a little sceene, in which N. was Obelix (but messing up everything like having a beard, making Getafix (me) a women, etc... 

Of course, I made his dress for that... (don't even ask... I could not just use any blue/white striped material, the exact width and number of those effing stripes were... how sall I put it... 

Non-negotiable. 

I ended up sewing together stripes of white and blue fabric

(and let's not even get into how *I* ended up making the only more serious piece of costume).

Anyhow, we did the sceene, N overstepped his shadow appearing on the stage AND even talking, he was cute and all..

And then those stripy pants were packed up and forgotten... almost. 

Last year when we went to the Orfű festival (its kind of an alter-rock fest, one of our favorite), I started to nag N, how fun it would be if he would dress up like Obelix for a day... 

Of course, knowing him, his shyness, and all that I did not much hope I can get through him... 

But loo and behold... This year...

He did. 

The festivalgoers LOVED him. 

He had so many pictures taken, and, I think, he had fun. 

Now, I can retire those pants, knowing, they weren't only used ONCE... LOL.

Weekly SO

My weekly SO (Strong Opinion), is that I am ever so glad, that nowadays, the 1st of September (the traditional "end-of-summer" "school-is-starting" "new-season-is-starting" time, the kind of "real-start-of-the-year-time" has no meaning for me anymore.  I have been tied to it for the longest, my shcool years, my son's shcool years (with only a few years respite between those).

I remember the feeling, how I could NOT enjoy the August 20th celebrations, because they ment the end of teh summer, the thightness in my stomach, the feeling of "The End"....

But now my son is also well out of shcool, and absolutely NOTHING ties to that date, our reenactment season is still on, the weather is still warm...

Weekly patternmuster (knitting)

Which means a sign, that I am coming back... slowly, but surely.

My days are still hurried (like I have about two days to do about a week's worth of translation), I still need to wash up a bunch of clothes, and then pack them up, before we leave for Prague... But yes, I always say, life is beautiful, when (a lot of things) happening in it. 

In other words, a true Saggitarious way, I will sleep when I am dead. 

Anyhow, I am here, already drank my morning coffee  can of Coca Cola, had my caffeinated painkiller (formerly known as Algoflex Duo that unexplicably dissapeared from our pharmacies), now only brought in from either Austria or Germany by a totally different name - but it is still the only thing that can deal with my morningheadaches).

So, I was thinking for days how to come back, and since today is Monday, the Monday weekly patternmustern seemed to be innocent and easy enough. 

As for knitting, I am still waiting for the "pendulum" to move out the utterly boring, basic colors (i.e natural beiges and grays), and utterly boring shapes. To simplify things I opened up Ravelry to see, how many pages of patterns I have to look at to see something that makes my jaw drop. It took about 5-6 pages to see something I opened seperately thinking "okay, these are not bad" (but then again, NOT jawdropping). And it took me the 9th pages to see this one.

Now, this is really something. 

Jawdroppingly gorgeous. 

The Baltic Storm Sweater.

Wow, wow.

Would I knit this? Absolutely. It is special, it is colorful.

Will I actually knit this?  Maybe not in the near future, but that is only because the serious lack of time. 

While I would not say I cannot do Intarsia (and I suspect, this one does have a serious amount of it), I am not as proficient in it as in other colorwork techniques. 

However, reading the description, it is a top-down sweater, with a round yoke and there is more than 70 projects of it on Ravelry. So, I am not saying never. It IS certainly something I would attempt one day. 

It ain't over yet

The last few months were incredibly busy, incredibly tiring, but also pretty satisfying, from many points. Of course, there were mishaps, problems, and all that, but looking back, I think, wow, I cannot believe, we did all that. 

And just as the title of this posts say, it is not over yet. Not the events, not the work, nor the summer. 

I do have to say out loud, that I am ever so glad, that the 1st of september does not effect me anymore, not even through my son, it (or these last days of august) does not fill me with dread, the feeling of everything is over, and the feeling of hate school and school-season.

And while I am trying to wrap up things, I think about coming back to the blog, with full intensity.

I do have many things to tell you about, many things to show you (though, some of you could catch a glance of some things on FB or Instagram), and now I am wondering, what order should I put them...

Timewise? The oldest first and catch up? Start with the least impressive things and go to the ones I am most proud about? Or just random? 

What do you think? 

Also... What are you most curious about? Events? Travels? What I was making? 

Weekly patternmuster (sewing)

 Still looking for the perfect pair of barrel leg...

№1109

 

Weekly SO

 My strong opinion this week, that the new Coca Cola Zero design is highly misleading.

One cannot see at the first glance if it is regular or zero. Yes, you have to read, and the black wave is there, but still... 

I do not drink anything with artificial sweetener, for me it tastes bitter and have a nasty aftertaste

In the last couple of weeks, I've reached for my regular drink out of some fridge (in stores) only to find, that it is NOT my regular drink, but a zero. 

(And let's not get into the fact that in many places they only put zero into the fridge, so you are kind of pushed drinking that shit.)

Pink ruffles

Since I have been told that some of you indeed wants to see 6 meters of pink ruffles, so there you go :-) :

I was also asked how I made them...

No pictures of the making, but: I measured and drew up 8 of 12 cm wide stropes across the fabric. (Remember, that the warp thread usually stronger than the weft thread, so if you are cutting straight ruffles, cut them-if possible) across the grainline). I cut them with my scallope-cutting scissors. They are much like the zig-zag scissors most crafters are familiar with, but the scallops it cuts are ointing to one side, so those lines had to be cut twice. I mean if I wanted to be the two sides simmetric. 

Then sewed the pieces together at their shorter ends, so I got an about 10-11 cm wide, 12 meters long strip.

Changed the bobbin in my sewing machine to a fresh one (nothing like running out of the bobbin-thread at the middle of a stitchline, you are planning to pull to ruffle up something).

Turned the machine to its longest stitch, and loosened the bobbin-thread a little (it does not really matter, if you are loosening the needle-thread or the bobbin-thread, it is just easier to pull the one that was thighter).

Run two stitchline in the middle of the ruffle, approximately 0,5 cm apart (for me that is the width of the machine-s foot - I am sewing with an old industrial straight-stitch machine). The bobbin had about 10 cms of thread after I finished :-) Yeah, I won the bobbinthread-chicken game!!!)

I treated the two line as one, I held the two bobbin thread together while pulling.

Then I pulled the thread that was left thighter in the sewing machine (in my case it was the bobbin-thread). 

I did not try to ruffle up all of it at once, but did it in 150 cm pieces, To do that, in the places the ruffles were sewin together, I pushed a thicker knitting needle under the stitch and carefully pulled the loop up until I could grab it with my fingers. I pulled each piece from both ends, while I kept checking its length. I kept pulling and pushing the ruffles until the 150 cm piece became about 75 cm and the ruffles were more or less even, then did the next piece. The threads that were pulled out were tied together very carefully. 

After that, I left my hadns to rest for a day and then I pinned the ruffles on. 

They were sewn on by hands, but that is another story.
 

Weekly patternmuster (kötés)

I brought a shawl today. 

Just because I always loved those wing-like shawls.

The pattern is HERE.

 

Short comment

 There is something surreal to look for info on living history / live historical interpretation, and museums, and find yourself staring a picture on screen... of you. 

HERE

I think this is the closest I will ever get to being a cover girl.

Weekly SO

 My strong opinion this week is, that I did definetly overestimated my time and abilities, and on order to finish the work I need to, I need to concentrate on them (instead of writing blogposts). 

Sorry everyone, I'll try to bring some posts, even if they are only the short comment type, meaning a picture and a few words... (are you interested in about 6 meters of very pink ruffles I made the other day?).

On the other hand, if you like what you see around here, and feel like to keep me company, just comment. Not for the algorythm (as it really does not work with these blogs), just for the fun of it. I do miss those days, when serious discussions and long comments happened under some blogposts. 

Weekly patternmuster (sewing)

 While doing these posts I often wonder, what is what you might be interested in, because it could be easily something totally different from what is a bee in my bonnet at the moment... Like I am still obsessed with bubble/barrell leg pants, but would you be annoyed, if I'd post yet another one of those patterns?

Or, like a few days ago, absolutely by chance (or the algorythm) I've seen a jester pants on Vinted, that would've been lovely for a cosplay or a larp /while, I still do not exactly understand how a larp works, and it is still one of my heataches, that we do not have those american type of Renessaince Fairs. Anyhow, I've put it in my favorites, just out of pure curiosity. Like I was curious, just how fast will it be sold (it was gone practically in no time)...

And now, once again, out of pure curiosity, I searched Etsy for a "jester pants sewing pattern", and the results included some cool jester pants... but then, who needs jester pants in the middle of the summer? 

And then the results included bubbly, ruffly (etc) underpants, drawers, bloomers which could be cool in themselves, or as part in either historybounding or lagenlook or boho chic dressing... 

Which one would you prefer to see? 

For now, I am showing one of those jester pants, and next time, I will show some bloomers, okay? 

It is fun, it could be cool for a costume, a cosplay... and the pattern for the bolero IS included.

You can find the pattern on Etsy, HERE.

Weekly SO (about the "deadly" Zara pants)

There are articles (and tiktoks, youtubeshorts and whatnot) about these pants (and wide legged pants in general). I've already seen mentions of them this week, but this article popped up in my feed. I know it is in Hungarian, so here are some similars in English (Here and here).

Anyhow, they are all about how dangerous these wide legged pants are, and how many people suffered injuries while wearing them....

Now, I've been wearing wide legged pants for decades, I always loved them, and always preferred them, even when very thight trousers were in the height of fashion. 

Never ever did I fall in them, I've only caught my feel in their leg once or twice (and that was decades ago). They are not more dangerous than -let's say- a long skirt, and like with long skirts, you have to learn how to wear them. 

In fashion history every period, every time has its excesses, people doing things in excess. Its not the fashion that is the proplem, but overdoing it.

Its not the corset, but when you overthighten it. Its not the high heels, but when they are way too high, way too thing, way too... Its not the wide legged pants, but when they are too filmsy, when they are too long. 

These commercial, ready to wear clothes (especially in fast fashion) usually designed to at least 180 cm tall, 50 kg twentysomething girls, no wonder, that they are way too long for an average (160-170 cm) tall women, and their feet get caught in them. However, we do not know/practice getting these clothes fitted to our body. 

I never wore high heels, nor do I wear (much) manmade fibers), and my problem with commercial wide legged trousers, that they are not wide enough. 

Weekly patternmuster (knitting)

 This week, I am bringing you...

Johanna... 

I like that it is a "simple" top down yoke sweater, with minimal sewing, but the different directions of the stripes gives it a lot of interest.

Playing with yarns, yarncolors, maybe the use of self-striping yarns can make the sweater utterly unique.

Like a cartoon caracter (Red Ripple Jacket)

The last step in recreating the outfit of the rubber-factory / bike wheel advertisment was a red jacket. Because I wanted to use the jacket in other sets as well I made some compromises between copying the drawing exactly, and making something suitable for something else as well. 

For the fabric I went to the first place I usually go- to I Love Textil, where I asked the sales-guy, Csaba, if he has some red wool... "I'll see, what I can do for you" he answered, then in three days I received a message from him, saying he found one few meters long piece in their warehouse, do I want it... YESS, please, of course. As always, I was ever so glad for his fast help.

Because of the size of the SLEEVES, 

I decised I use the Truly Victorian pattern for the Ripple jacket. As with the other items in this ensemble I used a pattern that I already knew, and fitted to my body, at the beginning of the year, with the black striped, HA Steampunk set. Back then I modified the pattern and used a smaller collar, and added some bits to the front to be able to close it directly with buttons. 

This time, while I left the smaller collar, I went back to the original closure, mostly because on the ad and on the other fasion plate I want to recreate with it has a non-closing jacket. 

I already started practicing some tayloring techniques with the srtiped jacket and the technicolor coat, now continued the practice. Added horsehair, used pad-stitching. 

As with the striped jacket, I added a small pocket to store my pocket watch. 

Also added boning to enhance the body skimming shape.

You know, I love fun linings to my stuff, back then for the black-and white set I used red striped lining, for this red jacket I added a wite lining with dark gray stripes.

Now, I can use it opened, or close it with the narrow button-straps.

The fabric-covered buttons are self made, with the help of a set I bought off from Temu.

For the first time I wore this ensemble, I used it with a black straw hat, but later I got a red one, but we had a chance to photograph it with the red one yet, though it also has its own story.

I desparately searched Vinted (and e-bay and Vatera) for a red girardi-type of hat, but I was not succesful, until I looked at the austrian Vinted site... The only problem was that Vinted is divided to zones, and while from Hungary I can buy from Poland and Greece, I cannot shop at the site of the country's direct neighbour - go figure. But then , I remembered, I have an ex-collegaue of mine living in Vienna, who do comes to Hungary time-to time. I sent her a message asking for help, to which she replied, she does not do Vinted, but her partner does. I did ask a second time, and though I only met them once or twice, the answer was yes. They ordered it for me, and we've met, she handed it to me, and I owe them one :-)

On the event itself there was a club, whose profile is old bicycles, including a few real, big wheeled pannyfarthing as well, and we asked to use one of theirs to our first try to reproduce the advertisement. 

Maybe because of the striped split-skirt, maybe because of the high contrast, bright red, or the graphic effect of the two, all day I felt like a cartoon-figure, and looking back at the picture, I see myself in them as one. 

I wrote about the split skirt here, about the shirt and the waistcoat here.

All the fabric for the jacket (including the horsehair canvas and the lining) came from: I Love Textil

(in fact all the fabric for the whole ensemble - underwear,shirtwaist, waistcoat-, except for the split skirts striped cotton, came from them).

Jacket pattern is from Truly Victorian. 

work pictures came from my phone, modelled pictures were shot by Norber Varga @Bodeszphoto.

Short Comment

 Why do I have not only thread, but also embroidery floss, decoration, (and other stuff), in my stash that goes perfectly with the most impossible shade of pink fabric?