Adelheid in the SCA

What an honour! At Hartwood Yule, the Princess gave out three of her favours, and one was to me. I've enjoyed being part of their Highnesses retinue as an attendant. It has really opened my eyes to previously unknown parts of the SCA - especially service and outreach. I've so much admiration for their Highnesses, and their wish to spread (inflict!) joy! I've a deeper appreciation for how much joyful work is involved on their parts and through the work of their considerable and impressive team. With much gratitude, AW

It was time to try doing sleeves.  Using Morgan Donner's "Drafting a Medieval Kirtle Dress Pattern" video as a guide, I drafted sleeves.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yED06QFK2Q4  These were ok, but I wanted them sightly looser and the swirly twirly s curve was a bit too voluminous. So tried again... I cut down the s curve and the seam allowance, that's why it looks so much shorter. I also widened the sleeve to the original seam allowance at the wrist.  This seems to have worked. I measured the s curve on the pattern against the armscythe and they seemed to match. I went ahead and "mounted the arm piece". It fit so much better than I anticipated, and didn't have to gather or fuss over anything. And here's me with it on, lacing not done up but you get the idea. Could be a touch higher on the shoulder. Could be a curved sleeve like some kirtle patterns have so it's not so bulky especially around th...

Home today, not feeling well, but need something to keep my mind off of feeling sucky. Perfect time for an easy, low consequence project. Cute, isn't it. I made this very early on in my journey as I figured good headwear would compensate for a variety of garb issues. I clearly didn't know what I was doing and made the cap too big! I figure that can be cut, hemmed, and the strip repurposed as that unter... Well I forgot the word but it's the strip of linen that you pin things to. The wulst is also crooked... Go home wulst, you're drunk! You can see it's too high and narrow by the grey arrow and all kinds of shifted to the side of the white arrow. A few tucks, some pins, and that's more the idea. That photo cracks me up! Must be the cold meds. Before... After! Now to figure out how to put a veil on it! YIS AW

I learned a few things about Adelheid this weekend. She is constantly revealing more of herself, much like a statue emerging from a block of marble. Adelheid Wyss is German Swiss from early 16th century. She is from a small town in the Berner Overland but moved to Zurich as a young woman.  She married a wealthy man and had children. Her husband unfortunately passed away, and her sons are grown. She has a small house and lets out rooms, preferably to travellers visiting the Abby. Her children are nearby. Her husband left her well off and she is shrewd and careful with her business. She is comfortable, eats well, and likes finer things but hates to part with her money. She prefers good quality and long lasting over flashy. She especially likes fancy little things her travellers leave - fabrics, spices, yarns... all sorts of things she might not otherwise have access to. She is a little behind fashion and is quite conservative, being middle aged and raised in a village in the Alps. Sh...

Last year, I said I wanted to make Mead. The sisters jumped in with both feet cause those are the kind of cool women they are. We did three batches, about 2 weeks apart. The first was blackberry with about 1 pound of honey. The second was almost exactly the same, but with 2 pounds of honey. Here's how they compare: The second has a much deeper colour. I was initially underwhelmed by the first batch, but it tastes lovely after sitting for a year. It's a really light, easy drinking mead. The second tastes freaking amazing, much more of a punch to it, getting closer to a port wine. The third batch was forgotten for a year and just recovered today. So with just the fruit being pulled out of it, here's what we got. This is peach and/or apricot. I can't remember how much honey I used for this one, but will guess a little over 2 pounds. I can't wait to try it. I'll give it a couple weeks to settle, then will have a taste test of the ...

We have a dress! There it is, hanging with the underdress I am hoping to wear, if it isn't too hot (it's poly), and my trusty and very comfortable green linen... Tunic? Kirtle? Underdress? To get here... As the time for the event clicked closer, it was time to quit worrying and to just start the final construction. Skirt... Check. Bodice? Check, but too long in front. Guards? Check, but corners are rough.  To fix the bodice hitting in the wrong spot, I decided to just close my eyes and cut. I laid out the bodice and noticed how much the front overhung the back. I folded, marked, and then... Cut. Terrifying!  Problem solved. Then I made a slit in the front of the skirt and did a little hem. The thread showed more than I wanted but it's ok. The fun part. Pleating! As I am fast running out of time, and I have no court clothes, I pleated the only way I know... Divide and conquer! It's the technique from the pattern of the red ...

Who doesn't need a smocked apron? I took some inspiration from here, and went in with my usual overconfidence. What's the worst that could happen? Where she references A or B smocking, I decided to try technique B.  http://www.medievalsilkwork.com/2010/06/smocked-apron-tutorials.html  I took a piece of linen, about 40 inches wide and I'm not sure how long. Rolled the side seams, then hemmed the bottom. One side always looks better than the other! I used silk thread and I just love how it looks. Then, I centred the smocking, 10 lines, and drew the dots 1cm apart. The dots started to disappear much more quickly than I was prepared for, so that was a drama. I followed Katafalk's tutorial on honeycomb smocking using linen thread (https://katafalk.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/honeycomb-smocking-tutorial/). Overall it will look ok, but I didn't "nail it". The first time I did honeycomb it was around wrists and I had ga...