Sleeve boots and britches from an old green woolen overcoat. Red cotton wrap laces.
Here's the sole of one of the sleeve boots. And a bunch of Duke fuzz that jumps onto every last thing in my house. The boots are as comfortable as the shoes you use to make them. My feet despise shoes at the best of times but love the thick felted boots my friend Marion makes - I cut felted insoles to fit my feet exactly and my feet can breathe plus stay warmer than they do in anything else (cooler in the summer, too) ... they're the best thing EVER.
But people seem to think that if my footwear doesn't have exterior soles I'm just running around in the snow in thick socks. So these are an experimental compromise I guess.
The wrap lacing isn't by any means necessary. I just put them on to accent the red cotton cape I'm wearing. It's got one of those huge medieval hoods and creates a short skirt when belted. I push the top back behind my shoulders because I have stuff to do, but if I get cold I can pull either the cape shoulders back around or the big hood (or both). I tore the wrap lacings off the bottom, so the cape is really short now - mid-thigh - the hood is twice the size of the cape! But it's fun. I'll take a picture if I ever figure out how to do that.
Also, the boots can be worn inside or outside of the pants, or pushed down into 'scrunch' boots if you want, or tuck folded so they look cuffed. Again, I'll try to get photos of all this stuff, but being as it's two in the morning I'm not going to do it tonight. Cope as best you can.
Wire wrap bracelet and simple spiral ring - for this outfit I'll make these in copper. The bracelet snugs around my wrist closer than this photo shows; it's flexible enough to move with me, very comfortable!
Neck ring with twisted wire spiral dangle - this too I'll make in copper for this particular outfit.
Very simple twisted wire torc; actually a neck ring. This one has a 'knot' and fastens to itself at my throat. The one I'll make for this outfit will be all copper to match the rest of the accessories and may or may not have the knot that turns it from a torc to a neck ring. And no I'm not likely to wear both the torc and the pendant at the same time.
Additional accessories will be the copper shield brooch pin that my sister made for me from a copper disc, and a copper wire headband (single thick wire, twisted, or braided, depending on what I feel like when the time comes - maybe all three so I can take my pick).
I love the headbands - they're light, flexible and you can bend the ends to fit in perfect comfort - no more painful dents behind your ears! The first one I made ... I totally forgot I had it on and didn't remember until I went to brush my hair the next day! If you're 'en character' they can also be moved down from the top of your head onto your forehead for a circlet.
From the rest of that old hunter green wool overcoat I want to try to piece together a hat or cap or some such - we'll see what happens. Maybe I'll make a Robin Hood cap and stick a pheasant feather in it!
If I make a green belt (sash or with a double ring 'buckle') for the tunic, which I really ought to do because you can hang a really handy bag from a belt, I want to put some little copper wire spirals on it for decoration to go with the rest of the copper. Hmmm ... I could make a bag from some of the bits of left-over coat, and put a copper spiral or two on that as well. The thing about felted bags and belts is that you can cut slits into the backs of the bags and slide them right onto your belt. They don't unravel, you know. You can do the same thing with any kind of fabric bag, but have to seal the cuts. Leather you probably wouldn't have to, depending on how durable the leather is.
I was going to use the lining for a tunic, and might still, but not for this outfit I'm pretty sure. It's synthetic but that's not the problem. In some lights it looks like a really dark green but mostly it looks black. At the moment I'm leaning toward using my amber long-sleeved tunic with the pants and boots - and probably add a hooded or 'hoodable' cloak or plaid (rectangular piece of fabric that is easily adapted to a surprising number of looks).
My favorite plaid is five and a half feet by four feet, orange and brown mohair (Hudson's Bay before the logo change, made in Scotland) and I use it for everything. That thing is a photo shoot all by itself, I tell ya, the number of ways a person can use it. At the moment it's folded in half keeping my feet and legs warm (indeed - these new-fangled soled boots aren't anywhere NEAR as warm and comfortable as the thick felted ones. It's just shoes with the 'boot' tops attached, sigh ... my feet hate shoes remember). Earlier I had this plaid belted at my waist (vertical) and pinned around my neck - warm over-skirt and shawl in one. If your legs are cold or you have to have your arms free, un-pin it for a double warm skirt until your arms get cold again. Or belt it a third of the way up, pin it at another third, and you've got a 'hood' to pull up if you need to.
While I'm on the topic of outfits ... I have up at the shop a length of cotton that I dyed with elm bark last summer. Boiled the heck out of it just to see what would happen - the white cotton turned brown - another photo I have to take I reckon. Since I had my wood stove going (to do the boiling, you know, in my big dye kettle) I folded the length of fabric in half (two yards by 45 inches) and then again, then twisted the heck out of it until it twined around on itself and put it into a roasting pan in the oven of the wood stove to dry. Drying it that way created some great color variations!
Now it just needs a seam and a drawstring along a long side and it's one of those crinkled 'broom skirts'. If I hike it up so the drawstring is under my arms, and belt it (or not, I suppose), it's a sleeveless dress. Better be sure to tie that drawstring tight enough so it won't fall down.
If I want to use it for a chiton I can just wash it and not re-crinkle it. Never saw a crinkled chiton but might see if I like the look of it - and what if I put the crinkles in the long way instead of cross-wise, and cut a hole in the middle to make a kind of sleeveless tunic dress ... Talk about creating an interesting look. Considering the dye variations are side-ways ...
When it comes to dyeing with elm, I've got a brooched tunic made out of a pair of cotton dishtowels quick-dipped - they're a kind of light orange. And the tunic is nothing more than the pair of them brooched at the top to leave an opening just big enough for me to get my head through - and belted at the waist. It goes down to my hips. Got a pretty periwinkle pair of dishtowels (dyed with concord grapes and vinegar to set the dye) that I can put together the same simple way for another tunic.
If I want I can take the brooches off and use them for dishtowels. Or whatever I can think of.
One thing - these are over-tunics which means you want to wear something under them unless you're a really free spirit and live in an enlightened community. They'd be great over swimsuits, come to think of it. Just check to make sure your dye isn't going to bleed BEFORE you use them for that.
And I just had another thought regarding swimsuit cover-ups/warm-ups. There's no reason in this world that you couldn't take a couple of towels and do the same thing. Brooch them at the top and belt them. They're simple, quick, easy on easy off, and ... airy ... with those open sides your arms and legs are bare. When you come out of the water, dry your hair with them, dry yourself off with them, and then put them on for a carefree kind of dress. Plus, if you're wearing them, you don't have to carry your towels. And ain't that a perk!
Yep.
And it's now three in the morning and this woman is heading for bed. I have some erranding to do when the sun comes up, and then some copper accessories to make. Shall I wear my new pants and boots out and about?
Maybe I will, even though my feet will get cold.
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