A Tale of Two Kirtles

So last weekend was a Tale of Two Cities as we packed up the car for a flying visit to Liverpool. Missy was very pleased to see her buddy Ren and the hubby and I caught up with my oldest friend, her hubby and kid who, about to turn 2, was definitely the epitome of toddlerdom.

It was a mixed visit. We managed to play on the switch a bit, had a long chinwag and some walks. Both hubby's we're out of commission - our friend owing to a lads night the day before. My Hubby was out of action after a foul pizza (he has - 2 to dairy atm, and he rolled a critical failure against that pizza). We've been experimenting with a suspected dairy intolerace for a few months now - he was never very good with digestion, always being bloated, but has gotten significantly worse after a really bad stomach bug. 

And to top it off, both myself and my friend have had really bad news regarding the health of a parent recently.

I won't go into detail here. Out of respect to her privacy and also because I'm still not really done processing things on my side. Just understand some cathartic tears were shed. Not all visits are sunshine and daisies, but we both definitely needed to see one another.

Hence no update last week. This week has been a quiet one - hubby went off on his own boys break Friday through Saturday, so I got to work on one of my most ambitious projects to date. 

So ambitious in fact that I made a mockup! 

 

Ignore the neckline. I'm that happy with the mock up I'm keeping it for myself so will change that.

Roxy, my Manchester based sister, has joined a viking reenactment group. Which, in and of itself is super cool, but that means she needs a historically accurate costume. Which is where I come in. Despite Roxy more than having the skills to make one herself, she's a knitter. Even though she rarely follows them, she likes to have a pattern in front of her. She likes adjusting patterns into new things. She does not like squiggles on a scrap of paper like so:

She also lacks the complete unbridled enthusiasm I have to take on a large project that I can sink my teeth into and have examined by masters of thier craft. The above mockup was indeed based on the above squiggles and I now have a proper paper pattern. So I made this:

A (as far as matters) historically accurate under kirtle. Think viking underwear. The long seams are serged and machined, with the neck, cuffs and hem hand stitched using linen threads picked off a scrap peice of linen.

Such tiny stitches and I am beyond pleased with the result. The decorative overdress is next, which is in cranberry, and I am twice as excited to make that one. Alas, the weekend is over, so I'm gonna chip damage that one during the week. 

I did manage to get out the house this weekend and met up with my local friend for a dog friendly lunch and walk. We had a catch up and it was good to touch base and have a normal day following last weekend. So all in all its been a proper reset of a weekend. 

Missy was not ignored for all the sewing - and her patience was well rewarded. She definitely approved of her pupcakes, as you can see! 

Until next time!