So I taught myself to cochet. And promptly made Fanchild some mice. And then I discovered there were some flaws to how I was doing things. Like holes where I decreased. Yuck. And a hole at the beginning of my mice.

So I called Amanda who told me about the Magic Circle and Invisible decrease.

She's the best friend ever.

( Have some pictures. )

So my three year old niece loves Harry Potter. And pink. And princesses. And she specifically loves Hermione's dress from Goblet of Fire.

And I am a giant softy.

So. Approximately 60 pieces of fabric later....

THIS (the one on the right, with the layers of leafy shaped ruffles?) is what I have waiting on my cutting board to be sewn together.

It's a good thing I have a month to put it all together heh.

I'm going to make a simple doublet, one without shoulder tabs, with attached sleeves.

I figure I'll do a "How I..." tutorial while I'm at it. And by How I and Tutorial I mean "If you've never sewn anything before in your life then you should be able to follow these directions, cause I had to figure all this shit out myself, so anyone should be able to follow along." :-D

Step the first. Make sure you have fabric. ( Fabric! )

So. Yellow Doublet. The doublet itself is done, The sleeves are close, they need buttons, and then both need lacing rings. \o/

Still not in the mood to talk. SO more pictures!

( Click here mom! )

No talking, just pictures.

( Click here mom )

For reference - it takes me 2 hours and 15 minutes to make a doublet from cut to hand stitched collar. I haven't done buttons or button holes yet. I'll time to see how long that takes. (Forever, probably, ugh.)

Anyway. Doublet. Made from my brand new OMG IT FITS pattern Bri drafted for me tonight. I love that woman SO MUCH.

Pictures! ( Click here, mom. )

Maria had this great green linen that we decided to turn into a fighting doublet. I was going to line it with black linen and make it reversible.

As we talked about it, we decided to do some trim on the green side, and the sleeves were going to tie in and it was going to be fabulous. We were going to do slops to wear with it that would be black linen with stripes of green down the side.

I was very excited. Once I got the doublet together, I was looking at it and realized it was begging to have a skirt instead of pants. I decided to sew the skirt in, make it all once piece that Maria could simply pull on and be ready to fight in. Because the doublet fits to her natural waist, in the past she's had problems with gaping between her tops and bottoms, and I am hoping to avoid that. Also, she looks so good in skirts I didn't want to put her in drag. By attaching the skirt to the doublet it makes for a stronger more cohesive piece of "armor" and easier for her to put on and pull off, and avoids the gapping problem at the back, and also her skirt won't slip at all.

The dress was going to be reversible also, and the black side was going to have green bands at the bottom. But as I started assembling it I realized an important thing or two.

One, hemming it to be reversible was going to be a nightmare. Two, with the bands on one side it was not going to look as good. Three, in order for her to fight in it reversible wasn't going to be an option to get the buttons where they needed to be.

I could do the hem, not really a big deal, but trying to line up bands on both sides was not something I wanted to do. I didn't even want to deal with the button issue.

So I started pulling it all together with the intention of making it pretty and durable and one-sideded, as you know, most clothes are. I still liked the idea of the bands, and somehow, instead of Italian, it decided to be German. *G* In an effort to bring the skirt closer to the doublet top (Yes, Alyssa, in this case the bodice is a doublet. :P) I used the same green and made two wide-ish bands along the bottom of the dress. I also realized that by pleating the skirt directly into the doublet bottom I had added about three inches to the front, where the doublet points, and also the lines were all droopy as a result. So I ripped out the front, cut off the points and pleated it back in.

Now she has a doublet (without a point in the front), with attached skirt, that looks vaguely bodice-ish, and will button up the front and have a high collar. ( Click here, mom. )

So the brown dress has become The Brown Doublet...that cannot be worn until I lose at least another 10 pounds.

Oops.

But! It's pretty. Here, have some pictures. ( Click here, mom. )

I've been sewing like a fiend lately. I have been bitten by a bug and that bug's name is "Make New Stuff NOW."

So , just to keep track:

Finished:

• Silver Hood.


• Muslin Smock.


• My Purple Cotte. Turned into a purple sideless surcoat.


• Scarlett Cotte.


• Green wool doublet.

In Progress:

• Prize Play Cotte Re-set the collar to be slightly off-center to account for the buttons.



• Roger's Purple Houppelande. (Is cut out. Need lining fabric.)



• The Brown Dress (which is now a brown doublet and a red doublet.)

Still to begin:

• Test gambeson for the Thayne Gambeson



• The Magdalen Dress for Amanda

And I have a list of projects for Maria:

• Black linen cotte (is cut out and partially assembled.)


• Black/green reversible fighting doublet w/attached skirt (is partially assembled)


• Camicia (Is cut out by someone else, I just need to sew it together.)


• Kirtle (needs hem and hand stitching finished.)



• Reversible sleeves for the wool doublet


• Red wool kirtle


• Blue velvet dress - need dye


• Yellow and black dress - need to pattern


• Dupio - need fabric