More tunics

This weekend, we went camping at July Coronation.  I wanted to finish a tunic for Ben and have him model it for the Costumer's Guild, and at the last minute, an opening became available in the competition schedule, so I decided that I would enter the Tourney Garb contest.  This meant I needed a full outfit, so I got him to put on a pair of pants that were a little too big for him (hand me downs were very medieval), the new linen tunic I finished at the 11th hour, a wool tunic from two years ago (that barely fits him) and a liripipe hood.  While he modeled happily for a minute or two, after that, I had to hold him, display him (by laying him on the table like a surgery patient), and allow him to curl up on a chair.  Not the most cooperative of models...

I hand finished the seams on his tunic, making a hand-sewn, invisible, flat-felled seam--which means I didn't top-stitch it down through all the layers, but whip stitched it down.  Because it's linen, this will tend to unravel horribly if the seams are not finished, and I wanted it to survive washing.

Here's the finished tunic on Ben--it's a little long, but it should fit him for a couple years.  I'm still waiting to find out the results of the competition.  It had rained almost all weekend, was humid and muddy, and we were surrounded by mice and/or rats in the field.  It was dry for the morning, so I thought we should get the tent down early, but then it started to rain again and I wanted to get the tent down quickly...once it was down and packed, it was after lunch, everyone was hungry and I just wanted to go.

I've been working on Tyrssen's tunic commission.  I have been finishing the seams on the red tunic while we were camping at July Coronation.  We were camping in a large, mostly-flat hay field which was home to a number of field mice...or possibly rats.  Not the nicest thing to think about--living amongst rats--but it added to the medieval ambiance.  I carried the tunic around with me and worked on it as time permitted.

I should be finishing up the red tunic by tonight, and the deadline for these tunics is coming up quickly.  Last night I laid out the yellow linen for Tyrssen and cut out the pieces for the next tunic.  This morning, I pieced it together, and will begin finishing those seams after I finish the red one--possibly by tonight. I can work on it while sitting in the car during soccer camp.

I have also been working on my Journeyman level in the costumer's guild.  It requires 10 items to be entered--two garments, two accessories, two items in teaching or writing (class taught or article written), take two classes or enter two contests, and two more in any of the previous categories.  The entries so far have been:

1. Linen Bocksten tunic (Ben's, pictured above), Sweden, 1330-1360.
2. Liripipe hood, 14th century (Ben's--shown at the same time as the Tourney Garb contest).
3. Persian underdress, called a Pirihan, 13th century 
4. Turkish Chirka, a second layer that goes over the pirihan but under the entari, 16th century (I think).
5. "Shirts and Smocks" class taught by Laurellen de Brandevin, Oct 11, 2003, Dragon's Mist.
6. "Picture Parsing" class taught by Elizabeth de Rossignol, Oct 11, 2003, Dragon's Mist.
7. "Medieval Socks & Knitting." From the Skin Out newsletter, Costumer's Guild, Sept Crown issue, AS XLV (2010).

As for the two items in teaching/writing, they conflict with what I've already done--Scandinavian and Middle Eastern--so I will need to write a couple more papers to publish in the guild newsletter to satisfy #8, then make a couple more pieces from another region and time period...maybe something German, Flemish or Elizabethan.  

But I also need to rebuild some handouts for classes I've taught and get some documentation together to fully satisfy the challenges.

Feel free to leave comments or notes of encouragement!

Elewys