IRCC4 - Mango, Marigold, Ivory, Beige. The Feathers are Here!

This year's inspiration fan is a fluffy multicolor marvel.

Since the feather selection in my town has dropped off considerably of late (and it was never good) I decided to finally try getting feathers on the internet. Did you know they come in colors? LOTS of colors! And many sizes, types and prices too. The inspiration fan strikes me as being fairly equal amounts of four different colors. I got 4 12-packs of dyed ostrich feather drabs in the 9"-12" length.
I plan to pair them up and stitch them together to make 6 plumes of each color. Perhaps I'll have extras!

IRCC4 - Parts for my fan have started to arrive

After a short stint of shopping on e-bay I found a great option for a metal frame for my first accessory item. I think this hairbrush will make a great feather fan!

Step one was to take it apart. The brush is held in the frame with three short nails so I just pried them up and pulled out the bits I found.

As you can see, there's quite a lot of stuff in there!

The original brush-head is wood and perfectly shaped to fit the frame so I will probably try to use it to hold my feathers. I think I can remove what remains of the original bristles pretty easily (they are in the disintegrating phase) and if I drill the original holes all th way through the board I should have lots of attachment points.  Now I just have to keep resisting the urge to use it as a giant bubble wand!

My feathers are due to arrive today or tomorrow so I hope to make some progress on this layer this weekend.

IRCC4 - Busy, busy , busy!

I find it hard to keep it simple. I may be the very last to discover this fact, but it's true! :)

Since I can't yet bear to pull out the blue silk embroidery from the sleeves I stated for a camicia for last years IRCC (3)--nor (apparently) can I stand to finish that embroidery--I was a short some pieces for my new Franken-camica for IRCC4. After much hem-ing and haw-ing I decided to use my original front and back panels as the sleeves for this camicia and add new panels for the body of the dress. And then began the debate about finishing...hemstiching...insertion stiching...maybe I should just go ahead and finish the original sleeves after all....

Eventually I was able to reason with myself and stich together

 and hem.

 

This whole thng goes a lot faster when I'm not fancying it up!

IRCC 4 - The Plan

I'm inspired to attempt to recreate another picture that I happen to own appropriate fabric for the gown

Leandro da Ponte Bassano - Summer (July) - 1595/1600 - dining outdoors

I intend to stay true to the details of the original so...

Layer one: A white camicia with a small self ruffle at the neck and wrists.

I already have a plain white cotton camicia that I made about a decade ago and I love most things about it except for two things, 1) I sort of gather/smocked using a single row of back stitch that tends to break when under stress, and 2) the neckline tends to disappear below the neckline of the gown when I am getting dressed-especially in the back-and after I drag it out, the fabric tends to pooch out underneath the stitching line and give me funny puffs between the neckline of the bodice and the neckline of the camicia.

I plan to make my new camicia out of linen and smock and line the neckline using the instructions from http://katafalk.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/patternmaking-for-the-kampfrau-hemd-chemise/. (Adapted to place the neckline above the bust rather than at the neck, of course.)

Layer two: A black and gold open front sottana, trimmed in gold, with ladder lacing and matching sleeves.

Layer three: A sheer silk overgown with gold trim. I am fascinated by sheer silk overgowns as seen in the picture. Layer three is going to be a big adventure as I try to collect more information about this variation of outerwear.

Layer four: The painting includes a set of pearl earrings with a matching necklace featuring a drop pearl in the center, a white handkerchief with lace edging, a white partlet with an attached ruff and a yellow and white ostrich feather fan with a gold sculptured handle. I think those all sound mighty fine, so that's the plan!

Treasure trove of images of medieval people of color!

I've just run into the most wonderful blog, full of images I've not seen before, and sorted by date!

http://medievalpoc.org/mission-statement/

Medieval/Renaissance Geek...Runs in the Family

My Grandmother died a few years back and among other things I inherited a cookbook focused on medieval cooking and feasting. Now her sister, my Great Aunt, died just before Easter and as momentos from her estate I picked three brass rubbings that she and Grandma made from Medieval English burial monuments and this absolutely humongous cookie mold. I think the Ren. Geek blood skipped a generation with my Mom, but I look forward to keeping the family tradition alive. :)

And I'll be using this mold at our next Feast!

Largesse Project #2a - Constellation Region Card Deck

A few years ago I read about an SCA member who was making a game using matching pairs of heraldry painted inside shells. Her project seized my imagination and it has been quietly stewing in my brain...and then, by lucky coincidence, or fate, or something, I recently became Herald for my Barony and also took the first steps towards making largesse. Those new commitments poked about in my brain, discovered the stewing pot of an heraldic matching game, and a deck of cards for an heraldic game of Pairs (aka Concentration) is the result!

I haven't yet discovered enough information about the devices of our local populace to put together a local deck (although that is a long term plan of mine) but I thought a 'get to know your neighbors' deck of the Middle Kingdom would be a great place to start. Upon discovering just how many groups there are in the Middle Kingdom, and that we are conveniently grouped into regions, I decided to break the final project up into smaller pieces. I started with the region I reside in--Constellation

I collected a list of the Baronies and shires of the region, as wells as a map and images of their heraldry and worked in 'Paint' and 'Publisher' to create my deck. I then printed it out on card stock and cut them apart. The finished deck was wrapped in some misprints I had made on plain paper and labled with a sticker which includes instructions for playing the game

To play you lay out all the cards face down and take turns flipping them over in pairs to try and find a set. If they match you keep the pair and play agin. If they don't match it is the next persons turn. The game can be played by any number of people.

I've made up the first batch of ten sets for my local Baron and Baroness to distribute but more will be made soon to send to the Crown. And then I'll get started on the next region!

Update: 4/21/2014

I just wanted to mention that since there has been such interest in these cards I will be posting the PDF on the site so you can print them too. I just want to color correct some of the images and get some of the rougher edges smoothed out a bit. Give me about a month or so to do that work and get some sets sent to the Midrealm Royals and then I will put it up!