Here's a part of what I've got to work with, turning these from what they are into what they will become.
Indeed.
It's the middle of the night and I feel like getting right to work on some of the sewing projects for the Sister Collections.
NOT gonna happen as it is actually a terrible idea to start any such thing when dead tired.
However, tomorrow is right around the corner so I'll see how far I can get with some of this stuff ...
... because ...
Come the day after tomorrow there ought to be at the post office a couple of packages for me. In those packages I expect to find some fabrics.
Said fabrics, mostly, won't need any stitching because they are Caileen's Signature Plaid (if it's what we expect - hard to guess from an on line photo) and all of the dress cloaks. The stuff that will need stitching is for a long tunic dress and one of Caileen's surcotes.
So ... tomorrow I'll grab a hefty hank of fabric and make a mock-up of the tunic dress I'll want for that new fabric, so I won't be experimenting on the 'good stuff'. I can use the Sass tunic for a pattern but make it somewhat bigger and quite a bit longer because the dress is full length and needs a fuller skirt. And while I'm in the sewing mood (assuming it doesn't fade away by morning) I can mock up a surcote too. That ought to be fun.
Truly. It probably will be a great deal of fun. Part of the experiment I want to try is to hang the fabric on my big blank wall and project the patterns from the on line photos (free to use) onto the fabric, chalk the lines, take the fabric down, do the cutting, and stitch it up. The thing about doing it this way is that I can size the patterns by simply standing myself up against the fabric and marking my shoulder lines. Using those as guides I ought to be able to get the projected image to line up right. That's the working hypothesis anyway.
If it works I'll have the mock-ups to use as a pattern for the actual garments.
See? Fun!
And I can take photos as I go along, to use in the blog I started for the Collections.
There are plenty of fabrics in my sewing room just waiting for me to get to them. Tomorrow will be a good day to tend to them.
I badly want to make a tunic for the Alianora Collection out of the black and white plaid fabric I got for her. For that one I can most certainly use the Sass tunic as a pattern with no alterations at all. It would take a whole fifteen minutes except that I'll have hemming to do (*sigh*). I despise hemming. And I'll have to finish the neckline (*double sigh*). I hate that worse than I do hemming. But I'll do it anyway.
What else do I need to tend to tomorrow?
Oh yeah.
I still have to make that left green boot a tad bit smaller so it matches the right one.
And I reckon put drawstrings into everything that needs drawstrings.
I can get that flirty little apron skirt hemmed and a drawstring strung through the front and back pieces.
None of this stuff needs to take all that long, thankfully.
I've also got the cut pieces of leather for the Warrior outfit to get fitted and stitched, and the hilts of swords and knives done to fit into the scabbards and sheathes. I can use Aine's red outfit to wear for fitting it all together and to see how it might look when it's done.
This next is not a sewing project but needs to be done. I've got to hie myself to the lumber yard and buy some sheets of plywood - 1/2 inch ought to do it I should think. It's for the shields and for the stand-up figures I want for my courtyard to keep me company. I'm glad nobody's more than eight feet tall.
I really only need four shields (for the Collections) but can get eight out of one sheet of plywood so will no doubt make eight of them. I have to say that I was quite very relieved to find that the particular kind of shield I want for the Characters do not have to be convex. WHEW. They're technically called targes and it makes me pretty happy to know that they're just fine for the sisters to have used back in the day. Not that it matters overmuch as these are simply props, but it's nice to know that they're the right props.
As for the figures, they're not really to keep me company, although I reckon they'll do that too. They're for the display I want for during Fair time this summer. How fun will it be to have the Characters standing around being awesome? Mamm and Caht/Catan (oh boy, a Wild Cat of Chattan in my front yard, better not let Duke see her - remember he growled at the Danann portrait!). I can use that one great photo of Mom for Mamm, and change the clothes - or just use the book's cover photo, better yet. Danann and Sidhelagh ... Alianora ... Sass ... Caileen ... Aine ...
I'll need eight sheets of plywood for the figures plus one for the shields. I can use the other half of the Caht/Catan one and make a Sidheach too, using one of my Duke photos so I've got to choose one of those too.
It won't be so very different from doing the six by eight foot cover paintings and might be more fun when it comes right down to it.
And no I don't plan on doing ALL of the casts of characters from ALL of the books! Can you imagine the crowd that would create? Geez.
Heh.
I just had a fun thought.
What if I made the faces of the Characters 'removable' by cutting out the ovals around them (fasten them on from the back) like the old fashioned things where people put their own faces into those ovals and take photos? I think it would be great fun! We might have to put a step behind the Danann one, and if I decide to include Ullin we'd definitely have to have a step back there since I know very few people who are seven feet tall.
Yep. And I wouldn't have to cut the figures out. On the other hand I'd have to paint in backgrounds behind the figures. Even so, I think I'd rather paint than try to figure out how to get them cut out. I have the tools, mind you. I'm just not altogether sure I have the requisite skills. And the backgrounds don't have to be all that detailed, just general impressions ... for that matter, choosing this route means the figures themselves don't have to be perfectly detailed either.
Back to sewing for goodness sake.
I'm trying to remember what all I've got to work with.
I know I've got a dark green that I can quickly turn into a long dress tunic that will fit me, using the Sass tunic for a pattern. There's some dark blue too, for that matter, and a sky blue, and some pink. The last two I'm pretty sure are destined to be simple little shoulder-brooched chiton dresses and need only to have their ends hemmed (*sigh*) because the selvages take care of the top and bottom! And there's plenty of plain white for making the mock-ups.
Ah! I'll need to get that crinkled elm-dyed fabric stitched to take a drawstring. It will be great as either a long skirt of a belted dress, depending on whether you put the drawstring at your waist or under your arms with a belt at your waist.
You know, the kicker of all this is that most of these things are nothing more than rectangles of fabric. Unless I wear them out and about (or somebody does) nobody's going to realize what they can look like. The good news is that the weather will eventually start warming up so these oh so simple belted chiton dresses can become my regular choice of clothes whenever I go anywhere.
Note to self: I need to invest in leggings and long-sleeved 'liner shirts' for when I wear the arisaids - so I can quickly and easily demonstrate the different looks that they can take. I've got basic black but the colors would be a lot of fun, too. Fortunately my hair will go from casual to formal with the placement of one clip so that helps.
'Close to Home' can (and will) become the accessorizing outlet. We might even sponsor a fashion show if ever I get these things finished enough to show them. Fair time would be great for that I do believe. On Friday, now that I think of it.
And no, the motive isn't to sell these (they're mine own) but to let people know how fun, affordable, and simple they are.
What I would purely love to see is a bunch of women making their own personal statements by creatively using the ideas to design and wear their own. What the heck. It's just a rectangle of fabric that they either already have or can buy in a flash. Okay maybe two flashes since the only 'local' place I know of that sells fabric by the yard is Ben Franklin's in Harvey, twenty minutes away. However, everyone's got flat sheets for their beds, even me. Of course I use mine for clothes and paintings and such, but I do have them.
Anyway, if we're going to have a fashion show I've got to find models who are willing to give up a couple of hours.
*laughing*
At least we don't have to wonder if the clothes will fit! That's another beauty of this whole concept. The exact same rectangle of fabric can be used to make clothes for someone who is as short as my sister at four foot ten to Bekka who is six feet tall. That's another point that would be quite very fun to demonstrate!
And wouldn't I just love to draft people I know and like to be the models for this? Yes. I would.
And that's just about enough of that for this night. I'm going to take a power nap and then get my behinder to work on what needs doing!
I have to remember to take photos as I go along.
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