Tudor MercWench Smith

*Ding ding ding* Round two!!! Three months out till the next event and here's my project list for my own kit, in no particular order Mend - hem and buttons on the last minute shirt I was working on at Gaines ✅ (finished before I even posted the list so I could feel like I was ahead of the curve) - hem the purple petticoat from Gaines - mend the grey short slops, probably put in a gusset - possibly alter the black booties I have to make them look more period - possibly re-pleat red petticoat - reinforce some weak points on my stays - reshape hat, find new pin Make - waist coat (top priority) - scarves, head and neck - 3rd skirt - 3rd pair of slops - under drawers - Mantua, possibly - apron - knapsack - women's shift - bum roll Shop for - more stockings - frail/grass basket Gear - Chest/trunk refinish (possibly my next project, found one for free, antique but not period, needs a few repairs and refinishings and I have to decide if I want to add hardware to make it look more period) - better/more dishes and cookware

Probably what I need for motivation! I ended up phoning in Halloween due to personal issues so another year with store bought costumes and then we finally ran out of bed sheets with neck holes and bathrobes that would suit for the annual st Nicholas day play at church, so last week and this week have been dedicated to five quick n' dirty byzantine tunics. so maybe by Christmas I can find time to do my mending from ft Gaines and start on all the additional kit I want. But by then.... will definitely need motivation!!!

What....you need more then 24 hours?? Bounce back faster! Lol jk jk Glad you made it home safe finally

Am I going to have to actually learn about nautical navigation now, to lean into this joke? I feel like I have to learn nautical navigation lol...

I suppose I should finally sign the muster officially at this point rather then just considering myself a stow-away.....

Ok.....so it's been almost a month since Massacre Island, so I have to ask......what's next!?!?

One of us! One of us!

Is this where we all start to chant "one of us! One of us"

Omg! What a good find!

You have barely even STARTED recovery mode! Lol. You do remind me that waistcoat needs to be on my agenda.....I like the jacket made but let's be honest did not wear it for more then five minutes......

Working on planning phase for Halloween costumes....made difficult by the tiny mutineers not wanting to commit to a costume theme.....maybe I can convince them to be pirates and then at least my outfit is done lol!!! After that, agenda is mend the slops I popped seams on, finish the hems on the last minute shirt and petticoat. After that is the shirt I owe Stynky then after Christmas I might take a stab at stays. I might also wait on those til I can get a custom measured pattern. We shall see....

I believe it was something akin to "I'll take the two women and one other"......now if only he'd say it in bad French lol

Despite the mostly sleepless night, Tudor arose with something tantamount to her usual vigor. Groggy, with aches and pains that would not let her even pretend to forget what had happened, but in the turmoil of the night, she had fathomed new depths of herself. Hardships had always acted as a chrysalis for her, a way to take herself down to the very essence and rebuild herself into something both the same, yet new. The events of the day before did not break her, did not change her position on this crew or even tarnish the uncommon trust she had started to build amongst her crew mates. As such, she could not and would not continue to lay a-bed and wallow, even if she was technically still confined to the cabin, by the Captain's orders Stretching as she walked over to the chipped shaving bowl, she made a mental note that they would have to procure a new one, or seek a skilled tradesman to see it repaired. A silly small thing, perhaps when the ship itself still was far more damaged, but she could not right the ship. This she could. There was a recipe for a paste like substance floating around in her memory - perhaps even a temporary repair could suffice. Before she could manage to summon it however, she realized the water in the bowl was still a murky copper color, fouled from cleaning her face the night before, and would not do so well at the task now this morning. Instead she walked it over to the window, opened the hinges pane and dumped it, using a deep breath of the fresh wind and salt spray to energize her, where splashing her face would not. Turning back into the room, she took note of Ajay. She had not so much forgotten that he was in the room, but rather, they had spent the night in the same room but yet in different worlds. Those two realities had now returned to one, and she smiled at his presence. The sense of security his presence had given was one of the things that had let her march through that parallel existence with no fear of assault from the other. She noticed the tooth, clearly spat from where he sat, and wished there was anything she could do to help him, but at a loss for where to even begin, she instead just shot him a smile. "Thank you for sitting watch last night. I apologize, I am sure it was not very restful." Knowing there was a very little chance of him fully understanding the words she had said, she hoped at least the sentiment would carry through. Rather then waiting for an answer she set about gathering up the oilskins and waistcoat the Captain had left in a heap on the floor, laying them out better to finish drying, and finding joy and solace in the mundanities of otherwise righting the room, all the while listening to the voices that carried down faintly from the deck, to see if she could gather any update on the ship's situation.

So I didn't get any pre pack photos and some of these will be posted in the event page but here's some shots of the results of effort in action for those that didn't get to see it in person. Notes to self.... re-enforce seams even if it seems tedious linen drawers wouldn't be a bad idea, slightly heavier weight shirts might seem too hot but won't be as bad as having to wear multiple layers over the hankie weight, custom sized stays pattern is in my future Taking a breather for a week or so, then focusing on Halloween....then will probably be back to projects come November

Technically at Fort Conde; "OY!!!! I NEED MAN HANDS!"

Have raided the spoils of New Orleans airport.....

First leg done! Changing planes then on my way...

Cases are loaded up for the early flight in the morning!!!

I will try to get some pictures tonight before I start my final moves on washing/packing!

We are now at panick sewing phase.... The Smee pants are done but not hemmed, or flat felled on the interior. Chances are neither if these things will happen but they are functional and look decent. Slight fraying adds a quaint charm methinks. Got a second white shirt cut and the basting for gathering put in. Started trying to put sleeves together but forgot a gusset which I took as a sign to pack it in for the night. I'm pretty confident I can have the bulk of construction done before the event and u can work on the hand finishes on site. A second skirt will hopefully be cut this week too. Have to prewash the fabric first though. I had hoped for a sleeveless waistcoat still too but as I haven't done one of those yet and I definitely don't have time to prototype, I'm sticking with the two garments I feel I can actually get done in the same time. The coarse linen I picked up to make a poor girl's Turkish towel is too thick to get through my machine so I'm pinking the raw edges and calling it good. This does also tell me though that my hopes of doing up a canvas haversack is also off the agenda just due to equipment failure. Maybe I will cut one or two to do by hand on site though. Otherwise....I feel pretty ok about what I've made/collected/acquired. Few other last minute purchases and I shall be ready to get on a plane roughly this time next week.

However they are useful! One serving bowl size, but the other smaller ones would probably suffice nicely for small eatables. I just gave them a hard clean today, the previous owners seemed to have gone to heavy on oiling them, and then letting grime collect on the sticky. They are drying up now, and I seemed to have gotten them into usable order, so will be there and can be used as needed. And honestly, I don't care if they come home to me....considered throwing them in for the auction if we didn't need them in camp but not sure they would get any money bid for them, with the condition they had been kept in

Second skirt crisis is solved....found someone who had extra yardage of the same colour purple linen they were willing to sell and mail me. So once that gets here second skirt will go together quickly. To fill the gap in time, I got an unrelated project cut tonight, ready to be serged this weekend, and then decided to just q&d another pair of slops. Had a "linen weave" cotton home Dec fabric roll in a nice gray. Too heavy for skirt, but felt decent for pants. Definitely akin to a canvas weight. Decided to go for the short open leg cut this time (husband calls them "Mr Smee pants"). Much like my second shirt and most of the red skirt I just ran the bulk of the seams through the machine. Which meant I went from washed uncut fabric to main build done in an evening. Tomorrow I will focus on waistband and hem, hopefully done by the weekend so I can finish unrelated project.... I feel like I might end up liking these better then my first pair, at least as far as aesthetic goes.

1. Make something go "boom" 2. ??? 3. Profit

Ok so... Red skirt is done. I want to do a second skirt. I have two 2-yard+ chunks of purple linen that are close-ish in shade but different enough that it's highly noticeable. They are both wide with. I could cut one into a skirt with enough width but not enough length or vice versa. Or I could try to piece them (or another alternate color) together....but how without the color change looking bad or noticable. Any ideas? Kick panels at the bottom, extra width waist band? Parti colored skirt body?