week (or so) in bullet points

[anotheranon]

• Two snow...events. Not enough to slow things down, but enough to look pretty and make the freezing weather a little more bearable.
  
• Cut out and pieced the scholar's robe that I've been threatening to make D. for some years now. This is technically an update for the past 2 weeks as it took one weekend to draft and one to cut out/piece back together.
  D. is a tall guy, so I had to shove all the furniture in the library against the walls just to get enough floor space to draft the pattern. Cutting it out was more manageable, as the fabric was only 36" wide I cut up the pattern and pieced along the selvedges as was done in period (another example, if you scroll almost to the end).
  
  Also discovered a subtly brilliant 16th c. tailoring technique with help from the good folks at the FB Elizabethan Costuming group. I was confused when the "armhole" on the large back piece just wouldn't line up with the front. Turns out that is the back shoulder seam - the curved edge trains the bulk of the fabric backwards; the back armhole is just a straight edge. The drape is even apparent at 1/4 scale sample I ran up in scrap. Such a small change, such a large effect.
  
  To give you some idea of the size, this is just the back, and not laid out flat either:
  
  


• Go the F**k to Sleep, Avengers version is the funniest thing I've read all day. Here's Samuel L. Jackson reading the original [YouTube, starts about 1 min in, NSFW] if it helps you imagine Nick Fury reading it.


• Lesson learned from brief illness earlier in the week - sometimes it's better to just give in and be sick, hydrate and rest than try to power it out. Yes, I know, this shouldn't be a revelation, but it is.


• Weekend: getting rid of clutter and getting a proper lamp and something to put a suitcase on for the guest room.

Comments

[hrj.livejournal.com]

I may need to try another scholar's robe just to try out that version. (Also: because I haven't gotten the hang of how Alcega's sleeved are supposed to work.) the two I made for 12th night both used the back yoke approach to manage the fullness. (I think I was interpolating between one of Alcega's designs and something in Arnold.)

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

I originally thought I'd have to use a yoke, but couldn't figure out how to draft one. I'd love to see photos of your finished robe, if you have them!

[hrj.livejournal.com]

There are some linked to on my fb account (taken by other people). See if this works:

3/4 back view (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4149339055356&set=t.1848155179&type=3&theater)
front view (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4149339015355&set=t.1848155179&type=3&theater)

If those links don't work, check my timeline photos for early January.

[dustdaughter.livejournal.com]

I don't know about you, but I've already had enough of snow and winter in general. Thursday was bitterly cold and the bus system was terrible in its response to the weather.

Thanks for the Avengers poem. I needed a laugh. Also got a little misty at the 'This is your official downtime, agent' line. *Sniffs* Oh, Agent Coulson, son of Coul.

And if more people followed your lesson and just stayed home when they were sick the world would be a better place, especially public transport!

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Man, it would be a public health miracle if sick people would stay home! I definitely understand that some people can't, but them what can (like me) should be smart and do so when needed.

Re: Coulson - that's Whedon for you. Killing beloved characters since 1999 (or whenever he killed off Willow).

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

LOLing at the lullaby ... glad to see you're also unearthing treasures in the fanfic sites. :-)

The shoulder/back armscye construction in the robe is VERY interesting ... thanks for providing the pattern sketch so that I was able to "see" it. Have been thinking how wonderfully comfortable that would be used in a regular shirt ... even tucked in there'd still be full freedom of movement for reaching and lifting. Something to consider ... ***eyes shirt fabric stash***

Am still working hard myself at mastering that stay-home-when-feeling-under-the-weather thing ... have been getting much better at it over the past couple of years, though. ;p

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

If you're making a loose fitting shirt and want to train the bulk of it backwards, this might be a possible solution. If you ever do, let me know!

Re: fanfic - enjoying the Avengers 'verse far more than I should!

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

Exactly what I was thinking. My life has always been full of reaching and lifting in odd directions and I can't stand wearing closely tailored upperbody garments because they either restrict movement in some way or if they don't, they ride up or move in some other way that requires them being yanked back into place. And I tend to love men's shirts because they have the shoulder room that lets me move without them riding up or untucking. It's not so much about training the bulk backwards as the knowledge that all fabric strain from reaching/lifting is across the back of a shirt (mine is anyway ... I stress the back seam of armholes rather than the underarm), so having the extra fabric located below/behind the shoulders instead of distrbuted all the way 'round makes sense. Shall be pondering this and will definitely let you know if I do something with this notion.


Re: fanfic - enjoying the Avengers 'verse far more than I should!

Same here with the X-Men and Excalibur 'verses ... glad to hear you've been having fun. ;-)