New Projects
I've been much busier in the last six months than this blog would suggest. I've been updating more regularly on my livejournal, mainly because it's easier to update. I'll do a recap here for those people who might still be checking this site. Name Change After more than 12 years in the SCA, I finally decided it was time for a new name that reflected my primary field of interest. Lorenzo Petrucci is a citizen of the Republic of Siena sometime in the latter half of the 15th century. I've been doing a lot of research on Siena lately to flesh out my new persona. During those times when I feel the need to do 16th century clothes, I will simply become my own great-grandson, who happens to have the same name. Clothes I've been working on filling out my 15th century Italian wardrobe. The ultimate goal is to have enough clothes to do a week-long war. I'm getting close to that now, though I'd still like a few more pieces, especially outer garments. This doublet is made from a peach-colored cotton with a small diamond pattern. The collar and lower sleeves are quilted. It's built on the same pattern as my other recent doublets, which has been working very well. The giornea is reclaimed from an old circle plan cioppa that I was never entirely happy with. It's made of a lovely blue and gold brocade, lined with black cotton/linen, and trimmed with fake fur. It's definitely my favorite giornea at this point. This is the same doublet with a more recent giornea made of a dark red jacquard. I'm still not certain how well I like this one; I think I may need to redo the bottom stay tape to let the pleats flare out a bit more. Being untrimmed, it seems a bit more conservative than the blue and gold giornea. This is my latest doublet, built on the same pattern with a few tweaks. I adjusted the shoulder seams as I was making it, which brought the collar in nice and close. I also took in the side seams a bit, which makes it nice and snug. The main differende in this one (aside from padding the chest with cotton stuffing instead of layered felt) is the padding in the shoulders. I've become convinced lately that the shoulders of these doublets are padded, and the look of this doublet seems to bear that out. I'd really like a layer of interlining in the upper sleeves to help round out the shape, but these doublets are already somewhat too heavy for the weather I'm wearing them in. I've got plans for an ostentatious cioppa in the near future, and also a set of low-class grubby clothes to wear when I'm working in the kitchen or when it's too hot to get all the way dressed up. I've already got an old unpleated linen giornea that would be perfect for the latter outfit; I just need a light doublet and hose to go with it. Library I ended up using the book I made back in December as a tailor's manual. I decided to make some more books and give them out to other artisans, to eventually be completed and sent back to form a library of hand-bound, hand-written books on period crafts in a period voice. To date, I have distributed 22 books (including my own), though I have yet to receive any back. In the meantime, I built a carved wooden casket to hold them. It was my first wood carving project, and was a lot of fun to build. Casting I started tinkering with casting recently. My first project was a portrait medal to commemorate my name change. I started out with a master made from styrene card and epoxy putty, which I then used for some sand castings. The obverse is a self portrait, and the reverse bears my impresa with the motto "l'amour allume la flamme" ("love lights the fire"). I quickly learned that sand casting is slow, messy, and leaves very rough surfaces. I was eventually convinced to try carving my molds in soapstone. This is the same design carved in soapstone instead of sand cast from a positive master. The surfaces are much cleaner, though I was still learning carving techniques at this point. This is a one-sided medal I designed as an incentive for authors who send back completed books for my library. I need to go back and refine the carving, but for as small as it is (~1 1/8") it turned out pretty well. These little trinkets (~1 1/2" long) were designed as rewards for scribes who work on award scrolls. The mold makes three of them at a time. I've worked on a few other projects during this time, including some clothes for other people, but this pretty much hits the high points.
category: /italian | permanent link

Sack Hat
I felt the need for a ridiculous hat this past weekend, so I used up a piece of brocade I had lying around for this. I was able to put two other hats and a box with my button making supplies inside and it still fit fine.
category: /italian | permanent link

Silver Doublet
I've had this fabric tucked away for so long that I have no Idea where it came from. There was just enough to make this doublet with maybe a third of a yard left over. It's the same basic pattern as the recent red doublet, except with fewer layers of interlining and only a few layers of felt padding in the chest. It's a shame that most of this doublet will be hidden under outer garments and never be seen.
category: /italian | permanent link

A Green Cioppa
For our seventh anniversary (which is actually tomorrow) I made my wife a cioppa out of the last of my heavy green wool. I based it on portaits by Pisanello, Uccello, and Lippi. At first, I assumed that the trim on these gowns was fur, but the Pisanello portrait is clearly some sort of fabric. I constructed my trim by binding the edges with a strip about three inches wide, backed with quilt batting, and rolled tightly before stitching it to the inside of the openings. The resulting stiff roll does a very good job of keeping the neckline and sleeve openings smooth and round. The skirt is catridge pleated onto the bodice, a few inches higher than the waistline of the black gamurra underneath. The sleeves are my favorites that I\'ve done in this style. I attached the upper sleeves to the lower sleeves with felt-backed cartridge pleats, and box pleated the sleeve head into a band at the top. The lining of the upper sleeve is much narrower than the outer shell, and is hand-gathered into both openings. The lower sleeve is ladder laced with long, narrow ribbons with the ends tucked up into the sleeves. Three pairs of ribbons are stitched to the top of each sleeve head, and a piece of ribbon is stitched to the inside of each gamurra strap with corresponding loops to tie the sleeves onto. The other pictures in this entry are also from the event this weekend: a couple pictures of all my new bits and pieces worn together, and my daughter in her new green dress, ready to take over the world.
category: /italian | permanent link