Since I was late with my October jacket update I wanted to make sure that this month I was on time. 

Although I made good headway on my sleeve I did not get it finished.  I was a little bummed because I had really wanted to have it finished but in the end I think my biggest problem was setting a schedule that was too aggressive.  I think perhaps I need to take some of my own advice and break it down a bit further and set some smaller goals.  It does look really gorgeous though.  I found my self just staring at it several times over the weekend thinking how lovely it will look when it’s done.  I’ll be posting pictures tonight so stay tuned! 

My PerCoFiMo this past month met with mixed success.  I finished my black wool hood which I was very happy about but I found that I wasn’t really pulled to work on any of the other projects.  I did a bit of mending but mostly when I had time to work on a project I wanted to work on the jacket so that’s what I did.  Sometimes the muse is stronger than others and you need to take advantage of it when it is.  

As for future projects, I discovered this month that I am in desperate need of new rapier armor.  What I have doesn’t really fit well.  My pants are too big and I’m not really happy with my current fighting doublet pattern.  I’m not swimming in it like I was in the old one but I’m not really happy with the waist line and I like the neck line either.  Plus the button holes are too big for the buttons and they keep popping out.  So I’m decommissioning it into a practice doublet and starting anew.  I’ll be placing a fabric order shortly after Christmas.  I also picked up some patterns from Reconstructing History at Holiday Faire.  I picked up their Flanders Gown pattern, their Pourpoint pattern, and their 14^th Century Jupon pattern.  And in addition to projects for me Coty has some things he’d like too.  So I’m looking forward to a lot of sewing this winter.  Looks like I need to sit down, make a list, and set some priorities!  So what about y’all?  Do you have any projects you are planning this winter?

The Jacket Project 

My jacket currently stands at 18 hours in with an estimated 35 hours to finish the current sleeve and gores (btw I have a couple new pics up of how it looks so far).  Obviously this is my top priority for PerCoFiMo.  I had two events last month that needed prep work and I let myself get side tracked on some other things as well so I really need to buckle down and get in my 10hrs a week on the project. 

Black Wool Hood 

My hood is very close to done.  All the seams are sewn and all that’s left to do is the flat felling.  This all needs to be done by hand but, based on the hood I made for Coty last year, I’m estimating it will only take me about 5 hours to finish.  Since this should be quick to knock out I’m going to set this as 2^nd priority for PerCoFiMo in the hopes that getting something knocked out quickly will help renew my inspiration to finish others. 

Falling Band and Cuffs 

The falling band and cuffs are my 3^rd priority because I really want them for 12^th Night. I’m not making new clothes for 12^th Night because my black silk suit fits very nicely again but I do want to make a nice falling band and set of cuffs for myself to spiff it up.  I’ll be sewing them completely by hand but I don’t really have an estimate yet on how long it will take me. 

Green Linen GFG 

Next to the jacket I expect this will probably take the most time.  Everything is cut out but I need to take the pattern in a bit and nothing in sewn together yet.  I really want to finish this gown because I love my red linen one so much and want another comfy GFG for spring and summer.  It will be mostly machine sewn although all the visible finishing will be done by hand.  I’m thinking about making this my 4^th priority though since I probably won’t be wearing it much until the spring. 

Complete mending

 Part of me wants to take this one totally off the list because a PerCoFiMo is supposed to be fun and I hate mending.  On the other hand the point of having a PerCoFiMo is to push yourself to finish all the things that you’ve been putting off and the mending definitely fits that bill.  So I don’t really know what I’m doing with this one yet.

Begin Flander’s Gown

Now this is tough because it’s a project I’m really excited about but at the very least I need to get through my falling band and cuffs before I really get it started.  So this may be bumping the GFG out of 4^th place.  I have my fabric and I have the fur.  I need to order linen for the lining and make a decision about the pattern.

*Note: most priorities are subject to change based on the whim of the project executor.

Reorganizing:

One of the big things that I did was reorganize the menu at the top of the page. I’ve removed the Weekly Inspiration feature. It wasn’t really working with the site the way I wanted it to and I think it would work better as a blog feature anyway. I also reorganized the menu items so that my hand sewing and embroidery projects are now under the clothing section.

New additions:

On the A&S 50 page I’ve added links to all the projects I could. I’ve also added two new modules: one displaying my 3 most recent blog posts and one listing the projects I plan to accomplish during my PerCoFiMo.

PerCoFiMo:

As I mentioned in an earlier article I have be thinking about declaring a personal costume finishing month to help motivate me to finish up several sewing projects that had been on the back burner. We’ll I’ve decided that November with be that month and I’ll be keeping a list on my website of the projects I’ll be working on which ones have or have not been finished. While I won’t be able to finish my jacket in one month I do think I can finish the sleeve I’m currently working on and all the gores. I may even be able to make some good progress on the second sleeve which would be awesome. (The monthly status post for the jacket project will, of course, be coming on the 31^st.)

Tonight I’ll be working on the next Silver installment. It should be up this evening or tomorrow.