Making a full kit in four months

[madPete]

Here is where I got that recipe. This guy knows what he is doing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHma3dpYqRw

The video is about 8 mins long and there are some good tips in there. If you need some shellac, drop me a line and I will send you a ziploc baggie  full. But you need to start now.

Between getting the supplies, and dissolving the shellac is gonna take you a week or more. You have to let the shellac dissolve at least a couple days (video says a week). Shellac is also called french polish and can be found at wood working stores, but the quantity is way more that I needed for hats.

[madPete]

by the way, the waistcoat looks great!

I need to finish my breeches, the leather roll for the kitchen utensils and something for the auction.

I was going to make some clothes for the trading blanket, but don't think theres time now.

 

[Tudor MercWench Smith]

1 hour ago, madPete said:

Here is where I got that recipe. This guy knows what he is doing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHma3dpYqRw

The video is about 8 mins long and there are some good tips in there. If you need some shellac, drop me a line and I will send you a ziploc baggie  full. But you need to start now.

Between getting the supplies, and dissolving the shellac is gonna take you a week or more. You have to let the shellac dissolve at least a couple days (video says a week). Shellac is also called french polish and can be found at wood working stores, but the quantity is way more that I needed for hats.

 

Thanks for the video link! Seeing that you can "reactivate" the shellac with steam makes me more comfortable with the idea of trying this. My chief concern was doing it but shaping it wrong and then having it stuck in a shape I don't like.

 

If youve got a baggie to spare I will take you up on the offer

[madPete]

On 3/23/2024 at 7:41 PM, Tudor MercWench Smith said:

Ok so we are a month out from 1721 and I'm hitting the panic sewing phase .....except unlike last time I have not been meticulously sewing every spare second I get. Lol

So some executive decisions were made tonight... mainly I finally made the call to yoink the sleeves off the blue jacket I made during last round to turn it into a waistcoat. A waistcoat was the #1 thing I needed to add to my kit, and I have no good fabric in the stash, and budget for kit upgrades went out the door with the plumber last week so any hope of new fabric and patterns went off the table. All in all I think it was a good choice. Just gotta whip up the arm holes and if I get nothing else done, I will be good to go.

 

Your colorful language "I finally made the call to yoink the sleeves off the blue jacket"

has me asking... Is that done with a cutlass, a drunken pirate with a broken rum bottle, or a sailor's fid?  😁

[Tudor MercWench Smith]

23 hours ago, madPete said:

 

Your colorful language "I finally made the call to yoink the sleeves off the blue jacket"

has me asking... Is that done with a cutlass, a drunken pirate with a broken rum bottle, or a sailor's fid?  😁

All cutlasses have been confiscated least the mutineers get a hold of them (again) and they have yet to figure out to reach the rum bottles but it's just a growth spurt or two away til they do at which time the bottles are bound to break.

Alas, twas done with some period appropriate(ish) scissors between breaking up brawls amongst the crew.

 

In other news, what does one do when one can't sleep at 12:30 at night from anxiety? Cut out the pattern for a Mantua and trim up some scrap linen into a neck scarf of course!

I guess this is one way to make up some time on my projects list....

 

 

[madPete]

9 hours ago, Tudor MercWench Smith said:

All cutlasses have been confiscated least the mutineers get a hold of them (again) and they have yet to figure out to reach the rum bottles but it's just a growth spurt or two away til they do at which time the bottles are bound to break.

Alas, twas done with some period appropriate(ish) scissors between breaking up brawls amongst the crew.

 

In other news, what does one do when one can't sleep at 12:30 at night from anxiety? Cut out the pattern for a Mantua and trim up some scrap linen into a neck scarf of course!

I guess this is one way to make up some time on my projects list....

 

 

Zoinks!

[Mary Diamond]

Sleep, lovely sleep, what a concept!

Freshly returned, I am in similar throes - many irons in the fire, as it were. Lovely latchets are due to arrive Friday 29, to be tested and broken in. Assorted sewing projects sit in a waist high pile, awaiting my attention… we shall see what actually gets finished.

Glad you came to the conclusion to take the sleeves off for a waistcoat- you can always add them back on once you have more time. The mantua can be a bit fussy - pay attention to the fitting, whipping ahead of time or thoroughly pinning to test fit, and you will be fine.

[Tudor MercWench Smith]

On 3/26/2024 at 4:21 PM, Mary Diamond said:

Sleep, lovely sleep, what a concept!

Freshly returned, I am in similar throes - many irons in the fire, as it were. Lovely latchets are due to arrive Friday 29, to be tested and broken in. Assorted sewing projects sit in a waist high pile, awaiting my attention… we shall see what actually gets finished.

Glad you came to the conclusion to take the sleeves off for a waistcoat- you can always add them back on once you have more time. The mantua can be a bit fussy - pay attention to the fitting, whipping ahead of time or thoroughly pinning to test fit, and you will be fine.

Thanks for the tip on the Mantua....it might have been the lateness of the hour but as I was looking at the pattern and reading the instructions it might as well have been a foreign language.... not sure how well it will go....

That will have to wait till I've more time to dedicate to it.

Last night's insomnia project was taking the cut pieces of the auction shirt I had cut and turning them into less pieces and more shirt.

The main seams on the body and sleeves were machined, with the body getting a French seam treatment and the sleeves getting a hand finished flat felling...I would have flat felled the body seams too but time and ability to keep my stitches consistent over long stretches made me go with the French. It still looks an lays nicely and will be a strong seam, and then any visible stitches will be hand done.....

Forgot how much I did miss hand stitching. I shillyshallied so long on hemming my skirt previously cause I somehow forgot how much I enjoyed the hand stich work. Then again, that would be an aggressively long line of stitch, so my concern was probably valid. Oh well...

Progress from last night and tonight....

 

 

I intended to do a narrow cuff but I now worry it might be too narrow. But otherwise I'm pretty chuffed with the results so far...

[madPete]

nice work! the narrow cuff is fine.

Now what are ye making for the auction?

[Tudor MercWench Smith]

23 minutes ago, madPete said:

nice work! the narrow cuff is fine.

Now what are ye making for the auction?

The shirt is for the auction! 

In other news, Mantua project is on hold. Went to get some of the grey fabric I made my Mr Smee slops out of off the roll and only had like 3 yards when the pattern calls for 6. An alternative roll I had in the stash has enough yardage but even washed is far to stiff (it's basically a canvas, but will make ab excellent coat for my SCA garb once time allows). So now I have to decide if I want to do it out of either the same blue i did the jacket-waistcoat out of or the striped fabric that would make an excellent gown in general but might look too fancy for what I'm trying to do with this garment. Oh well, c'est la vie....

More shirt work today and putting together a canvas lining for the trunk

[madPete]

6 minutes ago, Tudor MercWench Smith said:

The shirt is for the auction! 

 

guess I missed that!

[Tudor MercWench Smith]

On 3/30/2024 at 11:47 AM, madPete said:

guess I missed that!

In fairness, I do blather a lot of nonsense in my posts lol....Easy to miss.

I'm secondary fairness, the shirt is also actually more Stynky's contribution....I traded him my labor making it for some other fabric. I wasn't even going to toot my own horn about it, honestly, but I need people to ooh and ahh over my gathers and gussets appropriately or I lose all wind in my sails. 

In other news, shellac has been soaking in isopropyl alcohol since Sunday night, and I've got to say I think it's about ready....no floaters or sticky bits! 

I went with the isopropyl instead of methylated alcohol as it was cheaper, available in smaller volumes and because I guess there are some nasty health risks from methylated that I didn't necessarily want to wear on my head....I know the stuff is jus a carrier and will evaporate but why risk it when according to all I read 91-99% isopropyl does the trick.

Might start spraying the hat down tomorrow..will see. Don't really have anything to shape it on.

[madPete]

ooooh... aaaahhhh... Nice gussets!😁

 

Have some large rubber bands or string handy and/or some blocks that you can prop up the brim after soaking it thoroughly. Let it dry and evaluate. Repeat until you are happy with stiffness. Once its close, you can do smaller sections at a time and shape them.

 

I made a wooden hat block that shapes the crown flat and holds the size. I've used it a couple times now.  By the way I found another black felt hat at Goodwill today. Not sure I will have time to do anything this time around, but its a larger size so at least I dont need to stretch it.

[Stynky Tudor]

On 4/2/2024 at 9:46 PM, Tudor MercWench Smith said:

the shirt is also actually more Stynky's contribution....I traded him my labor making it for some other fabric

I'll take credit for finding the material at the Thrift Shop, but the main credit goes to you for your hard work sewing. From what you've shown so far, the shirt looks amazing!

[Tudor MercWench Smith]

On 4/3/2024 at 1:38 AM, madPete said:

ooooh... aaaahhhh... Nice gussets!😁

 

Have some large rubber bands or string handy and/or some blocks that you can prop up the brim after soaking it thoroughly. Let it dry and evaluate. Repeat until you are happy with stiffness. Once its close, you can do smaller sections at a time and shape them.

 

I made a wooden hat block that shapes the crown flat and holds the size. I've used it a couple times now.  By the way I found another black felt hat at Goodwill today. Not sure I will have time to do anything this time around, but its a larger size so at least I dont need to stretch it.

In lieu of rubber bands, string or blocks I used.....cardboard, straight pins and one of my kids' keepy-uppy balloons....but the initial spritz and shape seemed to go great.... (Decorative red cord added after drying to get a visual on where it would sit and to determine if I needed to adjust the shape at all)

 

I feel like the crown looks slightly wide and bulbous when it's sitting there but when it's on it looks pretty snazzy. 

Spray worked great, went on nicely, dried startlingly fast. Made it just slightly stiff without feeling hard or crusty. Ultimately went at it with three rounds of light mist. Might do a bit more when I get home tonight. We shall see.

Still no updates on the Mantua plans. Still trying to pivot from my fabric stash failure. At what...three weeks out I'm trying to decide if that would be too ambitious 

[Tudor MercWench Smith]

1 hour ago, Stynky Tudor said:

I'll take credit for finding the material at the Thrift Shop, but the main credit goes to you for your hard work sewing. From what you've shown so far, the shirt looks amazing!

We will have to call the sizing "Mens XL?". I did my best to match it to general standrd size proportions while still working with the width of the fabric and leaving no scrap lol. Guess I'm finally one of those people who doesn't use patterns but cuts to measurements and just sews it.....at least when it comes to rectangles. Anything tailored give me a pattern or I'll cry....

Side note....need to work with checked patterns moee often...my cuta and stitches have never been so straight lol

[madPete]

6 hours ago, Tudor MercWench Smith said:

In lieu of rubber bands, string or blocks I used.....cardboard, straight pins and one of my kids' keepy-uppy balloons....but the initial spritz and shape seemed to go great.... (Decorative red cord added after drying to get a visual on where it would sit and to determine if I needed to adjust the shape at all)

 

I feel like the crown looks slightly wide and bulbous when it's sitting there but when it's on it looks pretty snazzy. 

Spray worked great, went on nicely, dried startlingly fast. Made it just slightly stiff without feeling hard or crusty. Ultimately went at it with three rounds of light mist. Might do a bit more when I get home tonight. We shall see.

Still no updates on the Mantua plans. Still trying to pivot from my fabric stash failure. At what...three weeks out I'm trying to decide if that would be too ambitious 

Excellent, looks like a successful effort! I swear by it, cause its so easy to sneak up on the shape you want!

 

[Stynky Tudor]

14 hours ago, madPete said:

when it's on it looks pretty snazzy

Excellent job, it looks great - the red cord is a nice touch too.

 

21 hours ago, Tudor MercWench Smith said:

We will have to call the sizing "Mens XL?".

Consider the job well done.

You are now relinquished from servitude.

What are you going to do with the rest of your life? LOL

...and thank you again for sewing that for us.

[Tudor MercWench Smith]

And away we go again....

 

Found a king sized duvet at the Salvo for $7. Thought it was a cotton with some sizing on it but turns out it's a poly cotton, so a bit tuck but will work for my macaroni prototype. And at just shy of 6 yards it's significantly cheaper then any other waste fabric I was scoping out. If it turns out very nicely, I suppose it would be usable in an emergency, or sellable to people who like wearing plastic lol

[madPete]

1 hour ago, Tudor MercWench Smith said:

And away we go again....

 

Found a king sized duvet at the Salvo for $7. Thought it was a cotton with some sizing on it but turns out it's a poly cotton, so a bit tuck but will work for my macaroni prototype. And at just shy of 6 yards it's significantly cheaper then any other waste fabric I was scoping out. If it turns out very nicely, I suppose it would be usable in an emergency, or sellable to people who like wearing plastic lol

And it begins again!  good for you. You cant find test material cheaper than thrift stores. Sometimes you even find good stuff.

Since I started SlopsByChaaps again, I've been churning out slops and waistcoats. I've got a couple to finish up, but posted some on Etsy shop.

I think your hat looks good. It has attitude and works!

[Mary Diamond]

13 hours ago, Tudor MercWench Smith said:

And away we go again....

 

Found a king sized duvet at the Salvo for $7. Thought it was a cotton with some sizing on it but turns out it's a poly cotton, so a bit tuck but will work for my macaroni prototype. And at just shy of 6 yards it's significantly cheaper then any other waste fabric I was scoping out. If it turns out very nicely, I suppose it would be usable in an emergency, or sellable to people who like wearing plastic lol

A great way to start! Lots of fiddly pleating with a mantua, but not bad to sew.

[Tudor MercWench Smith]

I am possibly a lesser evolved brain, cause the pattern/cutting instructions on this just....baffled me. Until I was like, a third of the way into my cut, and I finally understood where and how all the pieces went. This is literally why I do prototypes .....

 

 

Have to take the mutineers out to the park and have a crew budget meeting after they asleep this evening so might not get much pinning/sewing done tonight but will post progress if I do....

[madPete]

7 hours ago, Tudor MercWench Smith said:

I am possibly a lesser evolved brain, cause the pattern/cutting instructions on this just....baffled me. Until I was like, a third of the way into my cut, and I finally understood where and how all the pieces went. This is literally why I do prototypes .....

I used to say pattern instructions are written in Danish and they may as well be. Cause I dont get most of them either. especially modern ones.

[Mary Diamond]

Having seen this pattern and instructions (many years ago - perhaps it has been updated?), I sympathize. 

[Stynky Tudor]

On 5/30/2024 at 2:26 PM, Tudor MercWench Smith said:

...instructions on this just....baffled me.

Back when Kass/Reconstructing History frequented the Pub, a few of us had similar issue, they are great patterns however. I usually ended up trying to compare them to simpler online sources and store bought (none period) patterns to make some bastardized monstrosity.