Entari pictures (as promised)

Almost forgot my pictures (eek!)

I had to piece together the bottom of the silk lining, as it was not quite the same size as the finished linen

I then finished sewing on the really awesome trim - it goes all the way down the front and around the bottom.









Adds a really nice shimmer to the flat black of the linen.  I am very pleased with this particular piece.

Entari is DONE

Which means the entire ensemble is DONE

Done

Done

Done

DONE, I tell you  ;o)

Am rushing around, trying to meet some deadlines for work, so I won't be able to post pictures until next week - but they'll be coming soon.

WHEW!!!  ;o)

Wow - time flies

I just realized that there are only 15 days left in the challenge

eeek!

Actually, I am mostly done.  (famous last words, right?)  All I have left to is hem the bottom of the black entari.  Sleeves are in and the little gore tips in both sets of fabric are (now_laying down nicely.  Documentation is pretty much done, so I guess I better get cracking!

I am SO close to being ALL done. ;o)

A bit of an explanation may be in order - My original plan had been to make the 4 levels, plus extra credit

1) - Gomlek
2) - Dress and Pants
3) - Entari (formal coat)
4) - Accessory (turns out to be a veil and cap)
5) - Kaftan

Well, I still want to make the Kaftan, but at the moment, it hates me.   I gave up fighting it last week and have been devoting my sewing time to the Entari. 

Here's a sleeve

and its reverse

I left the tassles on - may keep them, just for show

I am VERY excited to say that it is almost done.  I have to add under-arm gussets, adjust the lining at the hem and probably add the leftover trim somewhere.

But that, as they say, is that - the requirements of the Challenge will have been met.  ;o)

Now, since I still have some time between now and the end of the Challenge, I have some ideas

The outfit needs a sash desperately - I am still under budget and could weave something.  I have a Cintimani design in mind for my tablet loom.  I could sew something, but will only do that as a last resort

I could still finish the Kaftan, but I think it needs to be redesigned.  The triangles are driving me crazy.  I HATE the way they look and if I am going to handsew 96 of anything, I had better love the end product.

Level 4 is DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have spent hours (if not days) looking for examples of some sort of accessory that 1) I can make and 2) that I would want to wear.  (If you think a hennin is awkward and odd by modern standards, you should some of the Turkish headgear - omg)

Anyway - I finally decided on a cap and veil - just because they are only things I can bear to wear - I am just not a huge fan of medieval headgear.

The cool thing is that I learned to felt AND used some of our Husky's blown out coat to make the cap.   The *other* cool thing is the cap works very nicely underneath my coronet  ;o)

 

So, I bought the wool roving at some point (not really sure when) to test out spinning (can't stand it), looked up 'how to felt' as well as the history of felting online and mixed 1/3 Husky fur to 2/3 wool to felt a little cap.  Once the cap was constructed, I used an old football of mine to block into shape. (the test piece on the left is 100% Husky, just wanted to see what it is like)

We have so much fur just from the past year and 1/2 of puppy-dom, that I am very tempted to follow through on my standard threat and make a rug.  

After the Challenge was issued, I bought a couple of yards of handkerchief weight linen  - just in case I needed it as a 'fall-back' accessory.  I actually have enough to make 3 different veils, plus who knows what else.  As mentioned earlier I used linen thread pulled from said purchase to hem the veil - completely by hand.  *That* was an interesting endeavor, let me tell you.

I blame Rogue ;o)

for putting the cockamamie idea in my head of hemming my new linen veil with threads pulled from the leftover fabric.

Yes, I managed to do the whole thing, yes, it actually looks really good.   Still, how cracked of an idea is that?

I usually use a blind stitch to hem items by hand, but this linen is soooo fine that the blind stitch was leaving huge holes.  So I switched to a running stitch which worked really well.

Some good progress

I have made some very good progress on the entari - so much so that I am behind on my pictures.  ;o)

I had *just* barely enough silk for a complete lining - had to piece together 1 of the side gores, but the fabric didn't mind and it went together very well.

Here's a shapeless mass picture - taken so I could verify that the outfit would work

and another one with the lining sewn in.

this last one has the lining sewn in, the relocated trim pinned and the lining sleeves still attached.

I have decided to flip the sleeves - the silk is just too pretty to hide, but too light to function by itself.  So, I am going to make trumpet shaped sleeves with the silk showing off.  Will try to keep the upper arms narrow to go under the kaftan, but not too narrow to over the dress and gomlek.

I put the entire outfit on just a bit ago (no, you do not get to see yet) and was pleased.  It is incredibly heavy and WON'T be worn during most of the year (holy cow that's a lot of fabric).  But is coming together nicely.

oooo - pretty!

Ya know - I just love silk.  Wish I could have more of it  <sigh>

Still chunkin' away at the triangles and dress trim, but needed a bit of break and thought I'd get started on the entari.   Cut out the black linen and then started eye-balling the gray silk that will be the lining. 

The plan is thus - Cut most, if not all of the edging off and move it front opening, around the neck and maybe the bottom;

use the striped part of the silk for the sleeves
and for the top of the lining;

should (?!?!) have enough of the silk left to completely line the linen, with lots showing on the outside (the re-positioned edges) and having the gores slit to flash.

It may seem odd to have the silk inside the linen, but structurally, it makes sense.  The silk is pretty fine and while the linen isn't monstrous, I think it would hang really weird.  Plus, I really like the look of the black with the gray and silver accents

Layer 2 DONE

Woohoo (again) !!!

The dress is Finished!  Just completed the hem and the sleeves.

(Will post pictures of the extra credit (braided trim) as soon as it is attached.)

Layer 1 - Extra credit

Here's a picture of the fingerloop braid and eyelets I did for the side lacings on the salvar (pants).

The braid pattern is the one color version: a round lace of v bowys -- c. 1475 found at fingerloop.org

Layer 1 - DONE

Hallelujah  and pass the peanut butter.

The gomlek and the salvar are done ;o)   Front, side and back pictures - as requested.

slowwwwwly making progress

It has almost been a month since I last posted - bad, bad, bad.    Super way busy with what seems like 3 full time jobs (I only get paid for one) ;o)

However - over the past few days, I have made some progress.  I removed the sleeves from the dress,  lowered the top of the side gores, cut about 2 1/2 inches from each shoulder and put the sleeves back on.   MUCH BETTER.   I'll do some before/after pictures once I have the whole thing put back together.

Next step with the dress - finishing frenching the other side and hand-stitch the seams down, hem the sleeves and bottom and it is DONE!

2 steps forward, how many back?

While my mom was here this weekend, she took a look at my outfit and gave me some pointers.  Don't get me wrong, she was very nice about the whole thing.  Any added emphasis is mine  ;o)

I need to riiiiiiiiiiiiip out the sleeves of the dress, shorten the length of the shoulders and drop the bottom of the armpit down a ways.  Otherwise, the dress is wearable, but not very comfortable (kind of like most of my clothes - I have rather wide shoulders and very few clothes fit, off the rack)

Anyway, I have one sleeve almost completely torn out (remember, everything has been frenched/flat felled/sewn forty million times, so it is not speedy) ;o)

If I can get them put back together in time, I'll have quite a bit of handwork to do to/from Crown this weekend, but on top everything else?  Dunno

Oh - I missed this one

I decided pleat the front and back of the pants and lace each side.

I even made eyelets  ;o)

Lotso triangles...

So here is the first triangle added

And here's the beginning of the layout - this is the back

Right now, I am rather concerned that this is going to be too small around, especially with a gadzillion layers underneath.   I do have enough fabric left over to add to the girth if I need to.  We'll see. . .

Trim progress

Been braiding a lot of trim lately.

Here's the same 2 'broad lace of 5 bowes' against 2 different fabrics

My dress in the recycled cotton

The chocolate kaftan.  I might use the same patter for both items, but guess which one really deserves it?

And just for the heck of it - some others I've been playing around with 

That thing that has been taking up my time?

Well, here's a picture of it.   A very nice, parti-colored cotehardie for my sweetie. 

I used a Medieval Misc. pattern for it, which worked very well and pewter replicas of Elizabethan coins for the buttons.  The sleeves are a silky type fabric picked expressly so the poor man does not melt into a little puddle in the summer time heat (which is where he wore it for the first time).  It is definitely a winter outfit for him

Yea! - I have made some progress!!

Managed to get a strip of silk bamboo braided for the entari

AND (drumroll, please....) The pants are almost finished!   Had a bit of an issue with the silly britches - I reduced the pattern a LOT, but still ended up with 20 pounds of fabric bunched up around my hips (used a casing and just gathered it together - per the pattern) and it all went POOF

Not an acceptable outcome.

So, I am pleating the front of the pants and probably using a hook/eye closure on each side.  (I may also pleat the back)   This particular combination may not be period with these types of pants, but frankly - I don't care.   They look MUCH better this way

;o)

bummer ;(

Have been completely and totally sidetracked on another project and haven't been able to do ANYTHING

<sigh>  At this rate, I'll be luck to have the different pieces constructed, let alone decorated.  I am hoping to get back into things soon - Maybe November will be quieter  ;)

I almost have the dress done - just need to finish the flatfelling and do some hemming.   I think I'll do the pants next and on to entari!

New Idea! (again)

So, I am building my documentation as I go along.  (I know - will wonders never cease?)

Anyway - one of the pictures I am using for inspiration shows a lined Entari (robe).  I had just finished writing that I did not have any fabric running around that was light enough and slick enough to act as a lining under the linen, on top of the cotton dress - when I remember this:

I bought a whole bunch of this lovely silk years ago and made most of it into a Palestinian dress that is marvelously comfortable to wear.  There is about 2+ yards that is fringed for a veil, but it just does not work as such, plus I have about a yard and a half left over from the dress itself.


So. . . . . I think I found my lining!!