Goals for the week

Well...I didn't finish for the IRCC.  I'm really disappointed, but I'm still going to make the clothes.  In fact, I'm going to enter D's shirt in an upcoming "gift" themed arts & sciences competition.  I'm pretty excited about that because it will be my first A&S competition in my nine.years in the SCA!  I just need to get it completed. 

I'm also getting started on the Artemisian Costuming Challenge.  I am being sponsored in by someone who wants a Tudor gown.  This will be my first Tudor and I'm really looking forward to it. 

So, here's the to-do list:

Tudor gown trial run
Blackwork on cuffs for D*
Pants assembled for D
Start on buttonholes on D's orange doublet**

* If I finish the cuffs I'll get started on the collar.  I want the collar to have blackwork on the inside and out.  Any of you embroidery folks, is it best to assemble the collar and embroidery through all layers or should I embroidery two collar pieces, then assemble it? 

** I've decided to be crazy.  My original desire was to hand bind the buttonholes (something I've never done), but was going to skip that since I was running out of time for the IRCC.  Since I am officially too late for that anyway I've gone back to the hand binding plan.  Anyone done it before?  Any tips?

Button, button, who's got a button?

I do!  I finished all of the fabric buttons for Dennis' orange under doublet.  I learned this technique from the amazing Noelle of Adventures of a Wanna-be Seamstress and this is the first time I've used it.  I got lots of practice, too since I made 25 buttons to go down the front of the doublet!  I almost made 30, but I think 25 is enough.  I can always make more later if necessary.  These were fun and shockingly simple.  It only took me a few hours total to do them all.

This week's to-do list

My goals for the week:

Lacing strips for orange doublet
Orange buttons
Find beads for the brown doublet (and if I have to order them on the internet, order stuff for a belt, too)
Start the embroidery on the brown doublet (as soon as I have beads)
Start blackwork for shirt
Test Dennis' pants pattern
Construct Dennis' hose
Make my underskirt, I need at least one new one for this gown

If I get all of that done I'm going to try to finish the pink and lavendar kirtles that I didn't finish for Uprising. The pink one just needs some form of attachment down the front. The lavendar one needs the skirt attached and then lacing rings on the side backs. I'm hoping that one works out...it's sort of a test run for the kirtle I want to make out of the gorgeous purple linen I recently acquired.

A post of otherness which contains talk of breastfeeding, you have been warned

First and foremost we took the little M into the pediatrician today for another weight check. He had his six month check up on the 31st and hadn't gained enough weight for the pediatrician's liking. The pediatrician (whom I LOVE! I would recommend him to anyone in the SLC area who is looking) was concerned that the little man wasn't getting enough to eat and wanted me to top him off with formula to see if he was still hungry, then come back a few days later to check his weight. I was really unhappy with that plan because I had made it my goal since before he was born to breastfeed him exclusively. However, having the tiny's best interest at heart I did attempt to top him off for the few days, but I did my best to get him to nurse as much as possible before I offered him a bottle. The most he took at one time was about half an ounce, so once I really started pushing him to eat he was getting enough. I started feeding him every two hours, whether he acted hungry or not. We went back in for a weight check last Friday and he had gained an ounce, which wasn't too shabby for three days, but still wasn't what the pediatrician was looking for. We were offered two choices, one was a three day blitz where I pumped constantly and feed Malcolm pumped milk combined with formula to see how his intake versus my output compared. The other option was a one week test to see how much weight he would gain if I continued really pushing him to eat. We chose the one week and it was up today. We went back to the pediatrician hoping for at least three ounces of weight gain. He gained EIGHT ounces! All of us were ecstatic and the pediatrician said I was doing the perfect thing and wants us to come back in two weeks to see how he's progressing, we're looking for 12-16 ounces of weight gain in the next two weeks. Hopefully Malcolm and I can keep this pace up, but if you are looking for me at Uprising I'll probably be holed up somewhere comfy and shady feeding the little man.

Quick formula/breastfeeding disclaimer. I don't have a problem with formula, I know it's the perfect option for a lot of families...I just didn't want to deal with it. My not wanting to give Malcolm formula is all about my own personal goals, and having done it for a few days I can say that for my situation it was a MUCH bigger pain in the rear end than breastfeeding.

This week's goals and what I did on Monday

IRCC goals for the week:

1. Assemble Orange slashy doublet This is taken off my list because I somehow forgot that I needed to make lacing strips for the waist and arms before I could assemble the doublet, therefore:
2. Start lacing strips for orange slashy doublet
3. Cut out brown doublet
I haven't chosen the lining, yet...I'm thinking of maybe tea dying some linen, but I want to do some subtle embroidery on the velvet so I got the important part cut out
4. Purchase/find in stash orange embroidery thread (I haven't found anything I love so this may be deferred to Uprising where hopefully I can find something wonderful)
5. Test Dennis's pants pattern
6. Start Orange fabric buttons (ohhh Noelle, do you have a magic trick for cutting these out? Thank you Noelle!)
7. Test version of partlet Post with pictures to come

Other sewing goals this week:
Assemble and attach to skirt new version of pink linen bodice (which is also a test run of my IRCC bodice)
Assemble purple kirtle
One more other undecided kirtle
New whites for everyone
Two pairs pants for the tiny one
Doublet for the tiny one
Finish black doublet

You can't tell that it's the week before Uprising, can you? My to-do list difficulty is being compounded by my darling mini. He is not gaining weight as fast as the pediatrician would like, so we're back to nursing every two hours (measured from start of session to start of session) during the day, he nurses for 30-60 minutes each time, so that means everything has to be done in hour long chunks. However, the alternative is not one I'm willing to face without exhausting all other options.

Yesterday I spent baking and not touching a piece of fabric at all. There is a couple that we met through church who has become good friends with my entire family. The husband's health has been poor the entire time we've known them. His goal had been to make it to his 90th birthday next week. Unfortunately he passed away in his sleep last week. His wife asked me to make a birthday cake to celebrate his life for the reception yesterday. A 90th birthday deserves an awesome cake.

On top of the top tier it says "Happy 90th birthday Stan". The paw print is for his dog who adored him. She was so loyal to him that during a recent, unexpected hospital stay she chewed her way out of her crate so she could go look for him. On the bottom tier is a blue star for his 40 years of service in the US Air Force and a red maple leaf for his years in the Canadian Air Force. On the middle tier is a heart with their anniversary in it and around the top it says "I'll always remember I love you". Stan was in the hospital once and was very disoriented, he couldn't remember any of the standard questions (name, date, where are you). His wife asked what he DID remember and he said "I remember that I love you." After that he told her every night when they went to bed that he would always remember that he loved her.

Happy birthday Stan. We'll miss you.

Slash slashety slash slashen

I finished all of the slashes on my husband's under-doublet.  Now I just need to decide what to line it with.  It is a lovely burnt orange silk and the over-doublet will be brown velvet.  I can go the subtle route and do a tea dyed linen or I can line it in white so that you get little white flashes everywhere.  Decisions, decisions!

The fitting breakthrough

Just before finding out I was pregnant I made a velvet b-front Venetian.  I loved it, but then put it away when I was expecting.  I put it on the other day to get an idea of the fit when lo and behold, it fit perfectly!  Even without a corset!  I'm going to tweak the pattern a bit, do a test run from purple twill, then on to the silk!  I am changing the plan for my undergown slightly.  It will now be either v-front or solid front.  I'll decide really fast.

Yay purple gown!