Grettir has also made the class notes for is I.33-Liechtenauer Symposium available online.  You can download them here.

This past weekend was Atlantian Crown.  I had a fabulous time but, as usual, I brought my camera and didn’t take it out all day.  I really need to stop that!

Finally, I spent most of Sunday working on it and I’m now nearly finished with my current Foundations Revealed article.  Now I’m hoping that if I really dedicate the rest of the week to it and don’t allow myself to get distracted I can finish it early and possibly be free to day trip Tourney of Friends this weekend.  We’ll see how it goes.

Once the waist band was attached I tried them on to double check the fit and the leg length to see if I needed to shorten them at all.  Everything looks good so far and I think once I hem them up a 1/2 inch they will be perfect.

I had briefly considered taking a picture of them while I had them on last night but since they were unflatteringly only safety pinned on I couldn’t bring myself to do it.  The buttons and hemming should go very quickly though so I should have some new pictures soon.

So it looks like I really might have new pants for Coronation next weekend.  Next up is a new doublet although I’m not sure if I will be able to finish that in time.  I’d really like to but we’ll just have to see.

I had posted recently that the first project of my great wardrobe overhaul was going to be new rapier armor.  Since I wanted to base it off of depictions of suits worn by soldiers in De Ghyen’s The Exercise of Armes I spent several hours pouring over my copy of the treatise.  While there were several examples of men wearing trunkhose, most appeared to be wearing venetians so I decided to start with a pair of those first.  Most of the venetians depicted appeared to have legs that were gathered or pleated into a leg band but a few appeared to be made with a fitted knee similar to the ones depicted in Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion.  Since I’ve always like those pants but never made a pair for myself I thought this would be a great opportunity to finally have my own pair.

I decided to make my venetians out of a burgundy wool flannel which I purchased from B. Black and Sons several years ago.  The are lined with linen and the pocket bags are also made of linen.  Since many of the venetians depicted in The Exercise of Armes and the ones I was basing mine on from Patterns of Fashion also had contrasting trim on the sides I decided to trim mine with pink linen bias tape that I made myself of a remnant I had left over from a previous project.  Pictures of the pants currently in progress can be found in my gallery.

A pocket in my new venetians.

One of the things that has always attracted me to late 16th Century menswear is their pockets.  There are several examples of trunkhose and a pair of venetians depicted in Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion that include pockets.  Until recently though I’d always been a little unsure of adding them to my own trunkhose.  Even though I thought they were awesome I had always been afraid that if I tried to add them into my own pants that I’d mess them up and end up with big ugly holes instead of ultra cool pockets.

When I decided recently to redo my wardrobe starting with new rapier armor I decided I need to defeat my fear of making pockets.  My new rapier armor would contain the pockets I had always envied in the extant examples.

I started with a pair of venetians patterned after those in Patterns of Fashion.  I still need to attach the waist band and hem the legs but I have successfully completed the pockets so I thought I would include a tutorial on the process.

Adding a Pocket to Your Trunkhose or Ventians

This tutorial is based the Venetians depicted on p. 86 and p. 87 of Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion.  That pattern was drafted up from the original and a muslin made to ensure a proper fit.

Marking the pocket slit.

1. Mark the pocket slit on your hosen based on your pattern. 

Cut open the pocket slit.

2. Cut open the pocket slit. If you have carefully pinned both sides of you pants together to ensure that nothing shifts you may cut both slits at the same time.  However, if you are concerned then just cut one at a time.

The linen for the pocket bag.

3. Cut the linen for the pocket bag.

Measuring the pocket slit.

4. Measure the pocket slit.

Transferring the measurements.

5. Transfer the measurements of the pocket slit to the pocket bag.

The pocket slit sewn up.

6. Sew up the pocket bag taking care to leave the opening that will be sewn into the pocket slit.

The pocket pinned into the pocket slit before basting.

7. Baste the top of the bag to the edge of the pants and carefully pin the edges of the pocket slit and the bag opening together.

The pocket sewn closed.

8. Stitch the edges of the pocket slit and bag together using a whip or blind stitch.  To reinforce the tops and bottoms of the pocket slit use a button hole stitch there.

A finished pocket.

9. Repeat for the other leg and enjoy your new pockets!

In honor of this being my first ebook and the Holidays I’ve decided to offer it at the reduced price of $4.95 USD through Christmas.  On Dec 26th the price will go up to $9.95 USD so if you want to pick one up get it before Christmas!

Enjoy!

I spent nearly all day on Saturday working on my upcoming article for Foundations Revealed.  My last two articles for the magazine were on hosen and this one is on Elizabethan bodies.  I’m very excited about it and I got quite a lot accomplished.  All I need to do this week is work on the days I have mapped out and will be done in plenty of time for the deadline.

Sunday I fought and marshaled at House Red Wolf’s demo.  I had a good time and we got quite a bit of interest.  I’m looking forward to seeing some new members to the barony at future events, practices, meetings, and workshops.

I was particularly glad to see such a good turnout of support for the NCSU demo.  Many of us got our start in the SCA in student groups when we were in college.  Sadly however our local student groups have been suffering for the past few years and at points have had to go inactive because we didn’t have any students to keep them going.  These times were especially sad because they meant we loss use of University facilities (which were always great sites for meetings and small events) and we also lost the ability to hold recruitment demos for new students.

I know it can sometimes be hard to continually try to recruit and retain students.  Their class schedules and the work they have to put into their studies means that they can’t always participate regularly and retention can be difficult.  But I really think the enthusiasm and energy they bring with them both when the can participate and after they graduate make any potential additional work totally worth it.  I’m very excited to see our student groups coming back to life and I’m really looking forward to doing what I can to help them.

1. The Geoffrey Nightcap Embroidery Pattern: Created by Laura of Extreme Costuming this nightcap pattern is simple and elegant.  A great place to start for a new embroiderer!
2. The 1560s-70s Flanders Gown: I’ve been working with this pattern for my own Flanders Gown and I’ve been very pleased with the clarity of the directions and how easy it has gone together.
3. The Netherlandish Working Women’s Outfit: Netherlandish working class clothing is always elegant and comfortable.
   
4. The 14th century Grand Assiette Pourpoint: It can be hard to find a pattern for the grand assiette pourpoint and draping a pattern on yourself is difficult.  I was really pleased with the quality of RH’s pattern and I’m looking forward to starting mine as soon as my Flanders Gown is finished.
5. The Fruitseller or Common Woman’s Dress: I just love the simple elegance of RH’s Italian working women’s dress pattern.

* To see more of Reconstructing History’s many patterns and notions from a wide variety of time periods visit their website.