Faster Than Handsewing

Hiatus

2007-02-22T11:13:00.000+09:00

Somewhat obviously, this blog is on hiatus.

Blogging about sewing projects will resume when the sewing does! Estimated time for unearthing the work-in-progress sewing box is July 2007.

WIPing

2005-11-08T09:42:00.000+08:00

Despite the long silence, there has been a small amount of sewing work going on. While I thought the new couch and organised baskets of things to sew might mean completion of projects in months rather than years, I'm afraid the delights of the new couch have resulted in more lying around and less sewing. Nonetheless, here is the current Work In Progress list to (hopefully) get me motivated:

Silk Banner (large) - outlines traced on. Still needs to be properly outlined, painted, and hemmed.
Coathardie (grey-blue cotton/linen) - body fully sewn, lacing made. Still need to sew sleeves and hem.
Chair cover (silk) - have been given materials and instructions.

And there's the entire shelf of fabric, but I'm not thinking about that right now...

Kingdom of Heaven

2005-05-08T19:03:00.000+08:00

Fearing another King-Arthur-esque episode (ie not seeing the latest probably dodgy medievalish flick when it first came out, then being too scared by the reviews to pay good potentially chocolate-buying money on it at the video shop) I went to see Kingdom of Heaven this weekend. It's amazing how much difference the correct movie-going companion makes, and having someone who comments in the same way about similar things does make it so much more fun. So, my impressions:

Orlando Bloom - pretty, was at least trying to act, and mercifully only had a bad attempte at facial hair rather than the chest-wig I had been warned about.
Siege weapons and seige tactics in general - I'm sure it's a bad sign that I find siege weapons sexy. Having said that, this film had some damn sexy ones. And I got through the siege tactics without yelling at either side to be sensible, which is a Good Thing and a contrast to most other films.
Costume - men's costume generally good (always nice to see coifs), also (from what I know of it) the armour. It does appear, however that the pink shirts for boys phenomenon is working back in time (see Orlando in one of the well digging scenes). If all you are wearing is an undershirt, undershirts are white goddamit! And on that note, the day a main male character wears braise and hose rather than wussy and incorrect trousers I shall simultaneously have a heart attack and start to worship them. As for the women's costume - well, I'll confine my rant to suggesting that the princess of a European Crusader Kingdom doesn't need to look like an extra-cheap-for-you bellydancer. It's not they didn't know better: the poor suffering refugees in the exodus from Jerusalem were dressed correctly. Now I live in dread of the amount of henna and jangly gold coins that will show up at the next event.
The Poncing. The Large Amounts of (Unnecessary and Anatomically Incorrect) Blood Spatters. You can't say they didn't have fun.

But the supposed point to the film, the whole issues of religion, reaaly didn't work. When the main character starts off by stabbing and burning alive the local priest, you can probably guess that a meaningful engagement with faith and religion is not on the cards. While the film did make its gestures in the direction of interfaith comparisons (the whole 'god wills it' and variants became rather repeditive), the characters that the film implied we were meant to like and admire were those without faith, contrasted with the Evil Fundamentalist of Either Side and the Self-Interested Bishop Who Is Only In It For The Perks. In some ways it might be easy to sit back and say, yes, to have a space where all faiths are tolerated and no-one really believes in them anyway is the way to go. But the failure to try and understand what a person of faith might do in this situation was ultimately, for me, the failure of this film.

But having said that - Blood! Gore! Siege Engines! Go and have fun, and don't expect much more. I'm now off home to dinner and costume drama on the ABC. Got to love Sundays.

Event Picture

2005-05-06T12:31:00.000+08:00

IMGP0911
Originally uploaded by Karen_Hall_.

There are more picture posted up on my Flickr account. But now I have to run to lunch, flicking my new hairstyle in a Pantene-model-approved way as I go.

St Cellach's Preparations

2005-03-31T16:34:00.000+08:00

Forget about St Patrick's Day! We proudly present St Cellach, the newly appointed patron saint of Scholar's Centre celebrations.

And in preparation for the glorious day (April 1):

The Alcohol Knowledge Test written by hoppersplit on Ok Cupid

Bourbon
Congratulations! You're 109 proof, with specific scores in beer (60) , wine (100), and liquor (78).

Screw all that namby-pamby chick stuff, you're going straight for the bottle and a shot glass! It'll take more than a few shots of Wild Turkey or 99 Bananas before you start seeing pink elephants. You know how to handle your alcohol, and yourself at parties.

I don't know if I believe that...

Public History

2005-03-31T09:48:00.000+08:00

Not that I normally link to news, but this controversy about Kingdom of Heaven, a film about the Crusades, and its similarities to the work of one historian caught my eye.

However, Fox lawyer Bonnie Bogin said that he could not "claim a monopoly on history". "The elements in Warriors of God are no more than historical facts which have been in the public domain for more than nine centuries," she said.

Back home

2005-03-10T10:13:00.000+08:00

I don't have nearly as much to say now that I am back home, in my normal routine. Half the contents of the backpack still need to be put away (Aragorn still needs to be taken to my carrell) and Sunday morning pump class dispelled any illusions I had of building up muscles from carrying my backpack.
I did buy a set of funky wooden buttons in Christchurch, so I'm starting to plan an outfit around that.

Out of Ice

2005-02-24T05:28:00.000+08:00

If I thought New Zealand was surreal before, then the experience of looking across a wall of ice to rainforest certainly convinved me that it is. On Tuesday I went for the full day guided tour of the Fox Glacier, on of the few glaciers in the world to descend almost to sea level. The glacier was amazing, literally ice blue in the caves and crevasses, and filigreed like packed down snowflackes on the surface. At some points avalanches had dposited rock and dirt on top of the glacier, looking like someone had sprinkled cocoa powder on bubble bath.
Now I'm in Hokitika, a former gold rush town, with the obligatory wide streets and former pubs on every corner. It is now the centre of the greenstone (jade) industry, and having been here for almost twenty four hours already I'm getting rather sick of the sight of it. So the plan for the rest of the day is to visit the beach and the cemetary, just for something different. I'm sending this message from a fishing shop with a gun display up the back and country music on the sound system - a little scary!
Tomorrow I catch a bus over the mountains back to Christchurch, through Arthurs Pass, and then home on Sunday. This has been a wonderful experience, but I will be happy to be home. No more pillow lucky dip (Fox Glacier is the worst so far I think), no more heavy backpack (I'm going to kick butt at pump class now), and proper kitchen equipment - and getting to see everyone again.

'Mountains, Gandalf, Mountains!'

2005-02-21T12:22:00.000+08:00

I'm at a lovely backpackers in Fox Glacier - beautiful gardens, music in the background, the only downside being the spa not working at the moment. I'm trying to remember where I was for my last update, Wellington I think. Anyway, after the minor trauma of losing my credit card there, I got the ferry south across to Picton. I advise not going to the Wellington Museum of City and Sea before the trip, not because it is a bad museum (it's rather good) but because most of the second floor is devoted to ships wrecked in the crossing between Wellington and the South Island. Forebodings aside, the trip was good - a little windy, but coming into Queen Charlotte Sound in the evening was one of the best experiences of my life. Rows of purple mountains like washes of watercolour paint, golden orange light of the sunset streaming out through the clouds.
The next day I went kayaking, which was great fun. We visited a friendly seal and saw giant stingrays, as well as millions of mussels begging to be grabbed and eaten - Papa would have loved it!
Then the annoying bit of playing the trip by ear happened. I'd booked to catch the train down to Christchurch on Saturday, but that night the town was litterally full , and I ended up at a homestay run by the mother of the owners of one backpacker place. It was in the suburbs, and to catch my bus to Wanaka early the next day I had to get a lift into town with one of her sons. With ten minutes to get there, I made it just in time, and still alive, and I am now a firm beliver in St Christopher (and I don't care what the Vatican says about him)!
The mountains are amazing. I'm having a rather postmodern response, in that once they get over a certain height I just can't belive they are real, not images. Yesterday at Wanaka, an 'alpine village' by a lake surrounded by mountains, I kept looking round for an interior (exterior?) decorator to tell them that the backdrops were rather overdone, and far too stereotypical.
Tomorrow I'm doing a day walk up the Fox Glacier. Maybe getting closer will make it more real.

A long-ish update

2005-02-15T14:29:00.000+08:00

Well, it has been a while since I last posted, and I haven't really gone into detail, so here is a catchup.

ANZAMEMS Conference
I really enjoyed this - well run, fascinating papers, friendly people. The powhiri (Maori welcoming ceremony) was fascinating, and I think rather unusual given the inclusion of Latin verse to represent the 'visiting' culture. The food was excellent, as was the free wine at the two receptions, and providing free internet (and good-looking computer help-staff) was a nice touch. There were only one or two papers that were duds, and a lot had me both inspired and envious.

Waiheke
I've probably gloated over this section of the trip enough now, and should shut up, but no. Someone said to me that he could recognise Kiwi girls around the world by the shapes of their calves, and after the busy day of tramping around the island I can see why - 184 steps up from Onetangi Beach to the hostel. The 'Sculpture on the Gulf' exhibition was amazing, seeing the island and the artworks at the same time. I've posted some pictures at Flickr (though only a selection due to the vagaries of computers). We also saw some exhibitions in town, trying to avoid the rain. The next day I headed out to the wineries: Saratoga Estate, which was very hospitable despite still cleaning up from the post-Wine-Festival-party two days before; Te Motu, with a French man running the tastings ('This one is more like animal' must remain one of my all time favourite wine descriptions); and Onetangi Road, where a helicopter was departing as I left, having flown someone over as part of a fiftieth birthday present. I even managed to do a little sun-baking, coming up a little red the next day.

AVSA
While most people stayed in college dorms, I was over in a hostel, so I felt a little out of it. But the papers were interesting - my favourite being on the supernatural archaeological object - and I did enjoy it overall.

TranzScenic
I boarded the train at dawn, and stepped off after sunset - a long day and a lot of distance covered. The first part of the trip was through the back suburbs of Auckland, with final glimpses of the two harbours. Then on into what appeared to be Hobbiton-country, an impression reinforced by one building signed as 'Buckland Hall'. On into the Waikoto region, farming country interspersed with swampy sections where the insect noises rose over the rumble-clatter-clack of the train. By Hamilton we had caught up with the weather, and the rain was bucketing down. Then the uphill climb began, through an amazingly textured landscape, jungle-like bush, harshly dry and windswept hillsides, gorges and water running over grey rocks. Occasionally the train passed beehives, looking like stacks of archive boxres that had made a break for freedom, and evolved into a range of colours. All sorts of odd impression - a giant statue of the Virgin Mary on top of a hill, a sheep truck named Shaun, Two graves topped with grand Victorian angels on an isolated hill in the middle of nowhere. I saw all sorts of animals: sheep, cows, deer, goats, horses, pigs, rabbits, ducks - most of the meat-eating options in fact - but also meat-eaters in the form of two hawks. The final part of the journey ran beside the Tasman Ocean as the sun set, the water silver-grey and roughly forbidding.

Wellington
And here I am now, having seen Te Papa (the museum) which was a good experience, though not as fantastic as I had built it up in my head. The interactive part were fun - I'm glad there weren't too many children around to compete with. My main impression of the city so far is the large amount of public art. I think I quite like it here.

And I thought my interpretation was wierd!

2005-02-10T17:08:00.000+08:00

Tonight I feel the virtuous glow of someone who has delivered all their conference papers. My Victorian Studies paper today, offering a lesbian reading of Rosa Praed's Fugitive Anne (1902), seemed to hold together. One audience member managed to see the direction my thesis was going in - which proves that it makes sense to other people, and my arguement is not a figure of my imagination! But the most amusing response was an extention of my reading, suugesting that the exploding volcano at the end could be read as an explosion of lesbian desire, the volcano as a giant breast. I'm not quite convinced, myself.

Back from the island...

2005-02-09T06:42:00.000+08:00

... and no, I wasn't voted off Survivor-style (Survivor Vanuatu is still playing here in NZ).
Rather, I have spent a lovely three days out at Waiheke Island, which is a bit like Rottenest crossed with Margaret River. Before that was ANZAMEMS - which despite being stuck in a rather stuffy venue managed to pack in lots of stimulating papers. More updates, details and pictures soon.

Hilly and humid

2005-02-03T08:12:00.000+08:00

My short description of Auckland has now changed to those two words. The university is straight uphill from where I'm staying (with Lesley and Olivia), and even the five minutes it takes to walk there is enough to get you over-heated.
The conference has been interesting so far - I have learnt to beware of old men who study classics or very early medieval history when it comes to question time - but I have been enjoying the papers. Both Lesley and Olivia's presentations went well, and I'm on this afternoon. We've been making the most of the catering (food very good, coffee very bad) and the free drinks in the evenings.
Now I need to go and finish my paper (and I dare anyone else to take the title of Queen of Lastminuteness from me!).

Auckland

2005-01-31T04:14:00.000+08:00

I've arrived in Auckland. It seems very hilly to a Perth girl.

Fireworks

2005-01-29T12:31:00.000+08:00

Fireworks
Originally uploaded by Karen_Hall_.

My Australia Day was spent fairly quietly, with a walk down to the harbour and then exploring the bookshops of Glebe. I'm trying to be restrained, but I have a suspicion that I will re-enact my first England trip in having most of my backpack weight coming from books.
In the evening I went up to the roof garden of the youth hostel to watch the fireworks - they were going off at three different points on the horizon, and then closer, at Darling Harbour. Seeing the orb suspended off the Harbour Bridge (left from the New Years Eve celebrations) yesterday made me imagine how spectacular that lot of fireworks would have been.

Glebescape One

2005-01-29T12:26:00.000+08:00

Glebescape One
Originally uploaded by Karen_Hall_.

Glebe is the type of place I would love to live - old terrace houses with wrought iron lacework, and lots of green trees. It really doesn't feel like my mental image of Sydney - all bustle and big buildings - rahter, it seems more bohemian and village-like.

Sydney Streets

2005-01-29T12:23:00.000+08:00

Sydney Streets
Originally uploaded by Karen_Hall_.

Anyone that has stopped me walking into traffic knows that I can be a bit hopeless at times. This is what happens when I meet the crazy drivers of Sydney..
Actually, I haven't been run over yet. But I've been walking to the University of Sydney each day, and there is always interesting things to see on the streets of Glebe, like these remnants of a 'look before you walk' campaign.

Fridge Cooling

2005-01-29T12:20:00.000+08:00

Fridge Cooling
Originally uploaded by Karen_Hall_.

And here we all are meeting the fridge...

Tallulah

2005-01-29T12:19:00.000+08:00

Tallulah
Originally uploaded by Karen_Hall_.

My old bar fridge finally got replaced with a full size (possibly slightly yuppie style) fridge, and was named Tallulah. Points (and maybe coffee when I get back) to anyone spotting the movie reference...

Fun With Lemmings

2005-01-28T05:21:00.000+08:00

To all those (few) people that may have been attempting to follow my travels through this blog, I apologise for my lack of posts. I had planned to do a big picture upload and extended commentary this evening, but I'm off with Jill for fish and chips instead (assuming the rain currently bucketing down stops). And so I head back to the library, into the depths of the Fisher Library to play with lemmings, Vampires from Venus, and Weird Golden Bikini Tops of Amazing Perkiness - and yes, this is all thesis related. The joys of researching pulps!

Sleep-deprived in Sydney

2005-01-24T17:25:00.000+08:00

It takes very little for Sydney to irritate me. Everytime I come here, I seem to spend at least the first few hours convinced I hate the place. But to go back to the beginning...
In a premium performance as the Queen of Lastminuteness, I spent all Saturday recovering from the fridge-cooling (I'll post pictures from the party when I am awake enough to work out how to do more than type at the YHA computers) and then most of Sunday running round panicing. Booking the day before meant I ended up booking in to YHA Glebe rather than Central as originally planned. But I did finally end up packed and ready (with the last minute addition of aa alpaca hat, which I will model when I'm in NZ - it's very sexy!).

The flight was hideously crowded and I got a centre seat at the back of the plan, and nowhere near enough sleep. Arriving in Sydney at 3am-ish Perth time in stickily humid weather was a great kick-off for my usual love-hate (no, make that plain hate) relationship with Sydney public transport. But eventually I got to Glebe, and got to check in there and then, and thank god shower. Glebe YHA seems nice, and I really like Glebe - old terrace houses, green trees, way too many bookshops.

Then it was straight into Fisher Library. My state of awakeness can be measured by the fact that I voluntarily drank coffee (only three sugars, and I actually liked it - but they seem to do better than standard Guild here). Weird Tales today, and I'll probably tackle Astounding tomorrow. Right now, I'm about to fall asleep on the keyboard, so goodnight from me.

Still Life with Heifers

2005-01-20T12:01:00.000+08:00

Still life with Heifers
Originally uploaded by Karen_Hall_.

My first attempt to go digital in the photographic world. The black and white blobs are two cows - my Christmas present from Tara ('These heifers made me think of you!').

2005-01-19T09:38:00.000+08:00

Prince, my gorgeous beloved puppy dog. Requiescat in pace.

The Teleology of Cricket

2005-01-14T11:07:00.000+08:00

On Wednesday night I went to the first Twenty/Twenty state cricket in Australia, down at the WACA. Cricket has always been at traditional bonding point for my father and I, so off we went, taking my mum along for her first ever live cricket experience. For the non-cricket indoctrinated, twenty/twenty cricket means each side has only 20 overs, rather than the usual 50 of one day cricket, along with various other rules designed to encourage lots of action for the audience.

Cricket, to me anyway, is as much about people-watching as it is about the match itself. There was the spot-the-other-women-in-the-bar game (8 women, 1 girl in among the very long queues), doing the Mexican wave (and seeing if it made it through the members stand), and watching the rahter violent competition for the beach balls.

I missed the certainty you get in going to a test match that you can look away from the game for five minutes and nothing will have happened, the sense that a whole day of relaxed spectating and drinking and talking stretches before you. And so for a moment I found myself thinking, 'oh twenty/twenty is okay if it will lead people to coming to other cricket matches and eventually getting the proper original experience.' This made me realise I was setting up teleology of cricket, in a similar way that an author I'm reviewing does with Lord of the Rings merchandise and the books. Tracing origins may be useful, but if it obscures a fuller understanding of what is going on or what people or doing with these 'derivative' forms that usefulness is lessened.

So a reflective thumbs up for twenty/twenty, and a nostalgic resolution to go to a test game sometime.

Reconnected

2005-01-11T09:51:00.000+08:00

Back to the essential tool of all medieval people - the internet! The wonderful thing about my lack of internet access over the holiday break (while the university is closed down) is that I can't feel guilty about not doing net-y things. So I have been to the beach, read my Christmas doorstop book (Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, which I enjoyed thoroughly, down to the footnotes!) and generally did less work than I should have.

Now I'm back at uni, with munchkins taking over the campus, and an adventure/quest to undertake - searching for pathways through trackless renovations - every time I visit the library cafe.

My breakfast reading this morning was the Lonely Planet New Zealand Guide. (For some reason I can't eat breakfast without reading.) I have come to the conclusion that when it comes to holiday planning, I am an incurable Western Australian country driver - "117 kms - that should only take an hour." Or not, when you factor in things like settlements and landscapes that aren't dead flat.

And with an Italian-themed feast this weekend, I've decided I need a new dress. No handsewing this time, it's going to be a quick (but hopefully not too dirty) machine job.

Chocolate and Christmas

2004-12-26T11:46:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas, world!
After a full roast Christmas lunch and lots of champagne yesterday, today it is time to lay back and recover. The water down at the beach was beautifully cold and clear this morning, and I've already lost one game of Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit (but only just). Lacking interesting the Boxing Day Test (I've had had my silly-cricket-phrases-giggle already over 'orthodox right glance') and the Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race - and the resulting battle for the family television - I thought I would post a recipe from my Not-Quite-Christmas Dinner held on Wednesday.

As-Yet-Unnamed-Chocolate-Dessert

One block dark chocolate
Four tbsp unsalted butter
Two tbsp water
Two tbsp sugar
Five eggs, separated into yolks and whites
One packet Italian shortbread
One espresso

Melt the chocolate, butter, water and sugar in a metal bowl (or saucepan) placed over a saucepan of boiling water, stirring constantly. Once all melted, take off the heat and let cool for a few minutes (one track and announcement on Triple J). Stir in the egg yolks. Beat the egg whites into stiff peaks and gently fold into the mix (if beating eggs with a fork start beating a lot earlier). Place chocolate mix in fridge. Get a springform cake tin, line the bottom with greaseproof paper, and then make a base of shortbead finger that have been briefly dipped in the espresso (leaving gaps is fine). Cut other fingers in half, and place around the edge, cut end down. Pour about half the chocolate mix in, place another layer of shortbread dipped in espresso, and then pour remaining mix. Refrigerate for at least another few hours.
Serve with raspberries and cherries sprinkled over the top.

An Odds and Ends Post

2004-12-21T11:21:00.000+08:00

Some interesting thoughts on feminism and how we read and write blogs.

Mazzy is a Bad Influence - she has got me hooked on Bunny.

On the sewing front, the Italian camisa is slowly taking shape seam by backstitched-with-linen-thread-seam. In another few weeks it may be together enough for me to tell if more gores will be needed, though hopefully not. Working with linen thread has been okay - not nearly as nice as silk but still a step up from evil unnatural fibres.
And speaking of unnatural fibres, I'm using them to make some Christmas presents. It felt both decadent and dirty to walk out of Spotlight with 100% artifical non-medieval-looking brocade and dancetime satin. The machine should be coming out of the box tonight and after that it's back to the purity of natural fibres.

Not The Nativity

2004-12-10T11:30:00.000+08:00

This goes way beyond having four wise men...
I think I will concur with Rowan William, and echo 'oh dear...'

Research Remembering

2004-12-10T11:08:00.000+08:00

This is more a note to self: Refractory with articles on fandom.

Chaos Follows

2004-12-10T10:43:00.000+08:00

'Chaos follows.' This warning on the library printer (about the dangers of printing multiple jobs at once) seems applicable to my life at the moment.

The lights have just gone off (and luckily, now back on again) and the sound of power tools is resonating through the library. The joys of working in the university out of term time when it is assumed that library renovations won't inconvience anyone. I'd work from home but I can't face the thought of moving all the accumulated junk (no, research, really) from my carrel. Working at this time of year is difficult - the hot sunny days (and early library closing times) suggest days at the beach and evenings on the balcony with wine and cheese, while a number of accumulating and overrun deadlines (what first two thesis chapters?) mean that this student-free time should really be spend being productive.

At the moment I'm working on papers for two conferences in February. One is for 'Victorians and the Other' (the AVSA conference) which I've called 'The Other Women: Interrogating Sexuality in the Lost Race Romance', and the other for 'Old World, New Worlds' (the ANZAMEMS conference) titled "My brother, my captain, my king': Old Masculinities Meet New Technologies in Lord of the Rings'. Research for this paper involves playing video games, so maybe working over summer won't be quite so bad.

And it is almost Christmas - which makes a Christmas junkie like me rather happy. I've put up my decorations at home (if in a slightly improvised kind of way) and the sisterly decorating of the tree at my parents happened last week. Tomorrow I plan on an exceptional organised present shopping expedition, because the tree really does need the finishing touch of presents underneath it!

Bits and Pieces

2004-11-29T10:27:00.000+08:00

On a food theme - apparently (in the US anyway) the tomato is officially and legally a vegetable.

Going more academically - seeing that I need to write my paper on Lord of the Rings video games and masculinity over summer, I was rather intrigued by this account of the conditions such games are produced under. [Via Torill]

And because it is heading towards summer in Perth (even if the weather doesn't realise it yet) - some cultural stuff:

A blatant plug for Dust, a play by Looking Glass Productions. It sounds like a great play, and having gone to the quiz night and bought fundraising chocolate in support of it, there is no way I'm missing it.

The Opening Night for the Somerville Film Festival was last night. It began with pre-drink drinks on the Mathilda Bay foreshore, with dolphins cruising in the river only a few metres away. The weather drove us to a second picnic spot undercover at the music building, before heading over to the Friends of the Festival pre-film drinks in the Tropical Grove. The traditional overindulgence in champagne and chicken sandwiches was complicated this year by food alternatives - samosas, dips, olives and other nibbly things. We heard that this change from the way things have always been done has caused consternation within the committee ranks. I'm ambivalent about the change, myself.

Anyway, the opening film was Ae Fond Kiss. The story was about a romance between an Irish Catholic woman and Muslim man in Glasgow, but what I found most enjoyable was the way that the story was told - understated, naturalistic, definitely 'show not tell' that left the viewer to make sense of the characters and events in their own way. A huge contrast to Saturday night's film, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, where there was no escaping the narratorial voice.

Secret Identities

2004-11-29T09:48:00.000+08:00

For the past week Blogger has been telling me that I am someone else. Every time I logged I had a new identity. Obviously the universe is trying to tell me to accept my fragmented, multiple postmodern subjectivity, but I think I'll ignore that for now while I try to remember what I wanted to blog about over the last week.

Yummy?

2004-11-22T10:22:00.000+08:00

The Gallery of Regrettable Food - if you want to go retro in bad way... [via Maud]

Your Train Will Be Arriving...

2004-11-22T09:56:00.000+08:00

Full service has resumed.
Your train will be arriving in five minutes.

In other words, normal (or as normal as it gets) broadcasting has resumed on this blog. From now on, the plan is to blog indiscrimatorily about sewing and other hobbies, study and life in general.

Results

2004-11-04T13:12:00.000+08:00

Kinda says it all...
Back to silence.

Cyborg Citizens Hit the Nineteenth Century

2004-11-03T17:28:00.000+08:00

I wasn't planning to post for a while, but I'm having a surreally interesting experience this afternoon. I'm alternating between checking CNN's predictions of the US elections and reading Geoge Eliot's Felix Holt. Apart from the usual dire 'nothing really changes in politics - it is all too depressing' kinds of response, it has also set me thinking (as other people are) about the contradictions between democracy, citizenship, suffrage, and effects. Us non-US people can jump up and down all we like, obsessively check the results as they come in with the gut level impact of 'this means something to us' but ultimately for all the cyborg citizen rhetoric we are like Eliot's miners in the pub - materially, we don't count.

I apologise if this doesn't make much sense. A few days of bad sleep and eating patterns and political nausea does that.

Public Service Announcement

2004-11-02T09:53:00.000+08:00

This blog is temporarily closed for personal reasons.
Normal service should resume in a few weeks.

Good Intentions (with hobbits)

2004-10-29T10:46:00.000+08:00

I went to the Perth Blognite on Wednesday, which ranged from fascinating to creepy to amusing to allergic (raw fish is a Bad Thing).
Anyway, I am now filled with good intentions about blogging more often, and more meaningfully, also playing around with the page set up a bit more, and this will happen once I overcome a) marking b) apathy and c) the whole should be thseis writing/doing various volunteered for stuff/sewing and other projects guilt. So whether good intentions become practice is somewhat questionable...

And for the hobbits - a new species of hobbit size humans have been found (or at least their skeltons have been found) in Indonesia. Who says that writing a thesis on lost races is irrelevant?!?

Music Manuscript

2004-10-21T14:19:00.000+08:00

One project that has been sitting on the pile for ages is writing out music that our local music group (currently called 'Solaris Cantus, formerly known as The Anealan Players) performs in a period style.
Here's a 15th century manuscipt with the cutest illuminations!

Help - I'm being quizzed

2004-10-15T13:55:00.000+08:00

Sucked into the world of internet quizzes again...
At least I can live with these results!

I am a hybrid of:
Academic Girl
Progressive Girl

Click on the pictures below to read more:

Take the 'What Kind of Girl Are You?' quiz at CookingToHookup.com

Camping?

2004-10-15T10:53:00.000+08:00

Just because I really don't need another project...

15th Century Italian Tents

But hey, as much as I love my dome tent there is no way I can pretend it is anywhere near correct!

Calender

2004-10-14T17:03:00.000+08:00

I've just changed the calender in my study carrel to October - and it is now officially Legolas month! This is a Good Thing. In fact, it is probably so far the best thing to happen this month.

Belt and Championship

2004-10-04T11:17:00.000+08:00

This 14th century Italian belt looks like it might be tablet woven (though it is hard to see under the enamel decorations).
This weekend was our Baronial Championship, and I ran an Arts and Sciences competition which was for favours (any style, any medium, to be made over the weekend). There were seven entries, all wonderful. I made a piece of tablet weaving that may end up being a bookmark, or gart, or goodness-knows-what, but I got to try out continuous warping (yay - quick and easy), satin-style weave (pretty), and dropping the brocade weft to the back to turn (nice neat edges).

Spanish Perfume?

2004-10-01T11:53:00.000+08:00

Manual de mugeres en el qual se contienen muchas y diversas reçeutas muy buenas (Manual of Women in which is contained many and diverse very good recipes)
A 16th century Spanish book with recipes that might be useful for the Kingdom of Lochac November A&S competition.

Looms and Stitches

2004-09-30T17:02:00.000+08:00

Still hunting down the elusive linen loom width info, but here are some starting points:

The St Louis Shirt - An extant garment from the 13th century, with estimated loom width of 24" (what's that in cm?).
14th Century Sewing and Textile Information - wool being woven on horizontal looms at 81-108". The horizontal loom allowed much wider fabrics to be produced than the warpweighted (upright) loom. Silks seem to be much narrower, but this varied by type of fabric and complexity of design. However, there is evidence for tabby-woven linen fabric with a thread count of approximately 20 threads to the centimetre (both warp and weft).

And more sort-of support for using silk facing around the neckline of linen undergarments.

Because I really should be doing work...

2004-09-29T13:09:00.000+08:00

I played on the internet instead, and found more useful pictures. In some you can see a fine pleated effect in the gap where the gamurra (overdress) laces up in front - which does suggest gathering. However, on my 'the fabric makes a difference' argument that I was thinking through for the sleeves, I'm wondering if you can get a similar effect by setting the pleats in the fabric by wringing it out to dry (kind of like a cheese-cloth-y look). Okay. I'm going to test this. This camicia will have an ungathered neckline.

Camicia Pattern

2004-09-29T11:24:00.001+08:00

It will have gussets in it. This seems to be supported by extant garments, pictorial evidence, and practical experience. I'm still hoping to find out linen loom widths for 15th-century Forence, but the sleeves and body are going to be constructed out of geometric shapes (no tailoring). Again, this is based on extant garments, but also the production of camicias in this period - a definite labour division between professional male tailors employed to cut outerwear, and home or non-guild production of camicias by women. This labour division suggests that camicias were not seen as requiring professional tailoring techniques. I wouldn't use this speculation as my main evidence, but it does support the geometric patterning idea. Length to mid calf also seems to be well supported.

The areas I'm still debating over are sleeve width, and gathering.
The tendancy in SCA camicia comstruction seems to be towards really huge sleeves, but the pictorial evidence doesn't really support this. I'm wondering how much of the really huge sleeve thing comes out of trying to get the puffed-out look in sleeve gaps when working with cotton fabric. Using linen should mean that the fabric will hold creases and the puffed-out look, not neccessarily requiring as much fabric. The 15th century also seems to be a point of transition from the tighter sleeve of earlier periods to the late period big sleeve. I'm still thinking about this.
The gathering issue seems also to be a transition period issue. I can point to strong evidence for non-gathered necklines before the 15th century, and also strong evidence for gathered necklines after, but the 15th century remains debateable. I'm tending towards non-gathered for two reasons - I can pictorially support this, even if gathered isn't ruled out, and of course, it's easier.

I should collect my fabric from the line where it has been sitting for the last week, and get started soon.

The Incredibly Overdocumented Camicia Project

2004-09-22T10:19:00.000+08:00

I'm using this blog as a research tool, to record both the research and the process of making my latest project - a late 15th century Florentine chemise.

Areas I will be looking at are: fabric (I've already got the fabric, as Spotlight had almost light-weight linen on sale recently, and sale=good on my budget, but I want to collate more info on period fabric choices), pattern/cut/design, production (who made them, what might they cost etc) and basically any other information relating to camicias I can get my hands on.

One starting point is an overview of 16th century extant Venetian camicias.

Medieval Dress Diaries

2004-09-17T11:02:00.000+08:00

In beginning the research for the "Incredibly Overdocumented Camicia Project" (more on that next week) I came across the idea of period dress diaries:

"In order to discern the intense interest and care lavished on their garments by the rich families of Florence, we only have to turn to their family logbooks (ricordanze), in the pages of which their clothes are lovingly detailed. As a matter of practice in the Quattrocento, the clothes that were part of significant events in the family's life were recorded in these accounts..." (Carole Collier Frick, Dressing Renaissance Florence, p. 79)

Okay, I know that the ricodanze and contemporary dress diaries have different purposes, styles, and media - but the idea of a connection did amuse me.

Here's a good review (and authorial reply) on Dressing Renaissance Florence.

Silk

2004-09-15T11:59:00.000+08:00

"If this fabric was human, you'd want to marry it."

I was lured into looking at the Dharma Trading website, more specifically, looking at the silk fabrics. The quote above is taken from the site and is, unfortunately, true.

I need to go away now and calm myself down with the 'can't afford it now' mantra of the credit-card-maxed-out student.

Weekend Work

2004-09-13T10:20:00.000+08:00

53cm of brocaded belt - this is the longest piece of brocaded tablet weaving I've done! Now all I need to do is finish it off by trimming the ends of the metallic weft, putting a buckle on one end, and plait the threads left at the other end.
I re-read the bible for broaded tablet weaving, Nancy Spies' Ecclesiastical Pomp & Aristocratic Circumstance, and think I finally understand the bit about turning the brocade weft before it hits the edge of the piece (which is what I have done up till now). I won't replicate the explanation here, but I'm definitely going to try it out when I overcome my hatred of metallic thread enough to try brocading again.

Current project plan: Florentine late 15th century gamurra (light blue cotton/linen), then giornea and linen camisia to go with it (potentially beaded sleeves). Then summer fabric transitional Tudor, with tablet woven trim and belt. Finish these before adding more things to the list.

Today's link - a really good fibre site (which reminds me to rescue my spindle from the car).

Moving Slowly

2004-09-09T15:27:00.000+08:00

Well, I'm up and about with some assistance still required, but I have made it as far as a computer with internet access.

I've been working on the brocaded tablet weaving in the last few days, and I can see this piece being finished in another week. I've remembered that the trick to tablet weaving is a) maintain a deep suspicion that is the thread can do something horrible, it will, b) always tying up your cards whenever moving or adjusting the loom, and c) somehow staying confident that it will all turn out right.
For this piece I'm using multi-strand fake metallic embroidery thread for the brocade weft. This works okay for coverage (ie there are no gaping holes in between the rows of the pattern), but the multi-strand aspect isn't as authentic as it could be (medieval brocade wefts generally being single or just doubled). I'm keeping an eye out for something better, but somehow I suspect metallics are always going to be horrible to work with!

The Historical Needlework Resources Website looks cool - not quite enough to make me actually do embroidery, but I think it will be a good place to raid design ideas from for future tablet weaving projects.

Not Going Anywhere

2004-09-06T09:19:00.000+08:00

This weekend I had a rather painful reminder that drinking and dancing don't always mix well. At the moment my right knee is swollen up and I can't walk without crutches. My tablet weaving loom has been moved downstairs, so I may get some quality time with it when I'm stuck in bed!

Tablet Weaving

2004-09-03T10:51:00.000+08:00

I've been having evil thoughts about my next project. I wouldn't mind doing some more tablet weaving.

At the moment I'm paused on a brocaded piece that will become a baby-size belt, but when that is finished off I'm tempted to try either learning to weave twill, or make a belt to go with the transitional Tudor dresses. Or even double face tablet weaving. Too many options, too much indecision.

Mending

2004-09-01T13:51:00.000+08:00

You'd think someone that chooses to handsew outfits for fun wouldn't mind doing the occasional bit of mending. Maybe not.
My mending pile dates back to last summer at the moment, and I have alterations that have to be done by this weekend.
I hate it when sewing becomes a chore.

Odds and Ends

2004-08-31T08:59:00.000+08:00

Just some odds and ends today...

A summary of lining fabrics in some 16th and 17th century extant garments.

Experiments in dagging (cutting decorative designs into the ends of garments).

Bal Report

2004-08-30T14:27:00.000+08:00

I never thought I'd complain about being cold in garb. Saturday night was down to 3 degrees, and I'd swear Claremont Town Hall was colder than that. So I can now say that three layers of fabric, one being wool, is not overdressed for the Perth climate.
I was pretty happy with the way the dress worked out. It draped nicely, no problems with buckling when it was laced up, and the sleeves contrasted nicelywith the last 5cm or so tuned back. The hem was about 3cm longer than floor length (just enough to be a tripping hazard) but by the end of the night I was beginning to get the knack for grabbing the skirt in the right way to both save me from falling over and to have something to swish while dancing. All in all, yay! And I'm now a Silver Rondel.

Now I need to start thinking about the next project, which will be a summer outfit. I'm tossing up between another transitional Tudor or a late 15th century Italian.

French Hood Dilemmas

2004-08-27T13:33:00.000+08:00

I had pretty much finished the french hood last night (the coif part, tube for my hair, and buckram-lined front bit all done) with the three separate parts pinned together, when I looked in the mirror and thought 'No way is this going to survive a galliard.' So until I wire the thing to death, I think a plain coif will be the safest option.

Still going on the banner - it's the Kingdom of Lochac device. I'm theoretically couching down a silver cord around the edges of the cross, but its so thick that my sewing is more like bad tacking than anything really resembling embroidery. Oh well, maybe this will save me from ever being made to embroider again.

The Rules

2004-08-26T11:53:00.000+08:00

1. No cutting after 10pm
2. No machining after 12pm
3. When you stop handsewing depends what time the next day you need to wear what you are making.

These are the rules, these are good rules. The few times I have broken them I've ended up stuffing up what I was working on, so I can say that with confidence.

One chemise finished, french hood waiting on the purchase of more black thread, and the banner I've been "voluntold" (like volunteered but without the choice part) to finish has some decorative cord attached. One free night until this all has to be ready - let's see how the rules go.

Link for the day is spiral lacing - it's good to know how to be tied up properly!

More stormy night sewing

2004-08-24T11:06:00.000+08:00

Finished off the hemming, and made a broad lace of five bows (it's a little fingerloop braided ribbon) in red perle cotton. I'd love to use silk, but that will have to wait until I do a bulk order of silk for tablet-weaving and other fibre projects.

I've cut out the chemise that will go under the Tudor kirtle, and am trying adding gussets under the arms. I've been told this gives a much more comfortable garment, so we'll see how that goes. I'm using white cotton lawn fabric.

Silly

2004-08-23T16:23:00.000+08:00

Fibre/geek humour...

On the home strait...

2004-08-23T12:04:00.000+08:00

Almost done! Forty little brass rings sewn down within an inch of their lives (I tell you, the fabric will rip before these things come off), final front seam on the skirt done, lining hemmed, and only the wool left to hem.
Yay!

Now I just have to make a chemise that goes with the low-cut neckline (which, I have to confess, will be machined) and the french hood to go with it.

Stuck in the Monastery

2004-08-23T12:00:00.000+08:00

Apparently, I would be Umberto Eco's Name of the Rose if I was a literary classic. Bah. I want to be Lord of the Rings. [via Tama and Torill]

Sick Days

2004-08-20T11:52:00.000+08:00

It's hard working out when to take a sick day when you set your own hours. I've been struggling into uni through various bugs this winter, but decided on Tuesday that enough was enough, and maybe having a chance to recover might be a better option. So two internet-less days at home, feeling better, and I've discovered a previously unknown passion for slalom canoeing.

Not much sewing done though. The most productive thing I've done has been making fingerloop braided cords (see here for examples of fingerloop braiding) that are being sewn into the edges of the bodice, which will hopefully minimise any wrinkling once the lacing is in. My mission for this weekend is finding a fishing shop - they sell small brass rings that are perfect for lacing (no matter what anglers use them for!).

Tudor Kirtle

2004-08-17T14:37:00.000+08:00

Given that I haven't put pictures up yet, I thought it might be useful to show the sort of thing I'm making. This site has, amoung other useful things, pictures of Tudor kirtles of a relatively similar style to mine.

Silly Ads!

2004-08-16T10:52:00.000+08:00

I've just noticed the silly ads up above my blog - sewing machines for a blog about not using them?!? Got to love (in)appropriate advertising.

Racing

2004-08-16T10:39:00.000+08:00

The Olympics over the last few days have provided good background sewing noise, but have lead me into thinking more abstractly about deadlines and racing. For someone as hopeless as me at sport, it looks like people just go and go as fast/hard/whatever as they can until they get to the end. But really, it is a lot more managed than that - I was amazed watching a freestyle race where the woman who won seemed to be barely kicking - it isn't just flat out all the time.

The point where these thoughts intersect with my life and sewing is the tension between sewing as a kind of zen exercise and sewing as producing something to wear by a certain time (the current project needs to be done by Saturday 28th for Bal d'Argent). At the moment there's a plan for a managed approach, but somehow I suspect it will end up in a panicing rush to the finishing line.

The other deadline aspect is uni work - which I really have to go and do now.

Pleating 101

2004-08-13T10:23:00.000+08:00

Went looking for instructions for cartridge pleating this morning (not for me - I'm not that insane), and thought I'd post this nice summary of pleating methods. I'm using box pleating at the back of the skirt, as it will give me a bit of spring at the back without interferring with a smooth line in the front.

Dark and Stormy Night

2004-08-12T15:43:00.000+08:00

Last night was dark and stormy (if slightly unoriginal), and so I was glad to have two metres of wool fabric to play with! Seams are all finished on the skirt section, and now I've started on the bodice section. The skirt seams where done in running stitch with a back stitch every four-ish stitches for stability, but the bodice section will be under a lot more strain, and so it is being backstitched all the way.
Than I will be on to the sleeves, and finally a note of colour. I'm lining the sleeves in blue silk, cannibalised from a pair of pajama pants bought over at the markets in Sydney. The label said 100% silk, but I didn't entirely believe it, and decided to play with matches for an educational cause:

linen: (smell) paper/burning leaves (ignites) Takes a while to ignite. The fabric closest to the ash is very brittle. Easily extinguished by blowing on it (residue) powdery ash

cotton: (smell) paper/burning leaves (ignites) Steady flame. Easily extinguished by blowing on it. (residue) powdery ash

rayon, tencel, viscose: (smell) paper/burning leaves (ignites) Burns readily with a flickering flame that cannot be easily extinguished. (residue) powdery ash

silk: (smell) burning hair (ignites) Burns readily, not necessarily with a steady flame. Not easily extinguished. (residue) ash easily crumbled

wool: (smell) burning hair (ignites) Harder to ignite than silk. Flame is steady but more difficult to keep burning.

polyester, acrylic, nylon: (smell) burning plastic, acrid (ignites) Catches fire fast but sometimes puts itself out. It bubbles, sizzles and melts. (residue) ash is hard

(Burn Test chart from Kass McGann's wonderful introduction to medieval clothing)

Having burnt a scrap of the 'silk' fabric, I can now say with more confidence that it is silk. Which is good, because the colour is a beautiful sky-blue that will look great against the ivory wool. I really do need to get hold of a digital camera to put some pictures up.

Seam Finishes

2004-08-11T09:09:00.000+08:00

No Stitch last night (last minute cancellation), but ended up doing a little bit of stitching anyway. I'm finishing the seams on the wool section of the skirt - just tacking down as (theoretically) wool is less prone to fray than linen, for example. This is my first time working with wool so I guess time will tell if the theory matches reality.

Today's link is"Dark Age Stitch Types", which also has a bit on hemming and seaming finishing/treatments. A bit early for this Tudor piece, but still interesting.

Silk Thread

2004-08-10T10:38:00.000+08:00

My number one advice to handsewers out therewould be to use silk thread (well, no, it would be to measure twice, cut once, and always pin and check your seams are on the correct side of the garment, but silk thread would be number three). Compared with using normal sewing machine thread, which snarls and tangles and is generally horrible, silk thread is great. It rarely tangles, it glides through material, looks pretty and feels nice.

If you ever wondered where this stuff came from here is a look at the producers, and then getting the thread from them to you. My current evil master plan involves finding a class of primary school children willing to look after silkworms for me so I can try out the reeling process myself.

Had a rather bad day at the office yesterday, so last night I consoled myself with bad television and doing the seams on the skirt (ivory wool). Now I need to finish the seams, and then start on the bodice, which might happen at Stitch and Bitch tonight (my sewing group - no bitching allowed if you aren't stitching).

Blogging, not sewing...

2004-08-09T12:22:00.000+08:00

Well, having started setting up this thing, I have to go and do other stuff...
But to begin the sewing updates - the early/transitional Tudor dress currently has the skirt lining and bodice lining sewn (though not to each other yet). White linen and silk thread (which rocks - more on this later).