A&S Century Challenge - Budget Sixteenth Century Undergarments

I'm still sick, so everything lately has been extra challenging.

On Saturday I went to a scribes meeting and learnt about gilding manuscripts and made a start on a new scroll.

I had an inspiring & productive A&S/training on Sunday, and came home feeling exhausted (but motivated). Lots of follow up stuff to do after that one, including paperwork.

Yesterday I faffed around adapting patterns for a little while; a task I always find challenging.

Today I grabbed a couple of minutes to cut out a test run fitted smock from an old cotton quilt cover. I have always made Italian style camicias, but sometimes they can be a little bulky for more fitted styles of late period clothing. I'm always nervous when cutting fabric, but I'm not worried today because I got this quilt cover at the op shop for $3. I should get 2 undergarments from it.

I'm looking at making a modified version of (g) - smock with simple hemmed neck and sleeve.
Image from The Tudor Tailor, reproduced at https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/a6/9f/58/a69f582207ca2d77815540ae11de6988.jpg

Tudor Tailor Patterns

I recently celebrated a birthday and was delighted to be given some patterns from the Tudor Tailor shop (http://www.tudortailor.com/). I will be attending a Tudor Feast in the next eighteen months, so Tudor clothing will be on the agenda soon.

What I Am Reading At The Moment

Recently, someone asked me to post about what books I am reading at the moment.

Currently, I am reading the following


The Savage Garden - Mark Mills

"The Savage Garden is the second novel written by British author Mark Mills. Set in 1958, the story tells of Cambridge student Adam Strickland and his trip to Tuscany, Italy; which started off as a chance to study the old, Italian renaissance architecture of a garden owned by the aristocratic Docci family and results in Adam solving two murders: one from the 16th century and one just after World War II. His discoveries shake the entire lineage of the Docci clan including his love interest Antonella's life."

Text and image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Savage_Garden



The Shakespeare Secret - J. L. Carrell

"A modern serial killer - hunting an ancient secret. A woman is left to die as the rebuilt Globe theatre burns. Another woman is drowned like Ophelia, skirts swirling in the water. A professor has his throat slashed open on the steps of Washington’s Capitol building. A deadly serial killer is on the loose, modelling his murders on Shakespeare’s plays. But why is he killing? And how can he be stopped? A gripping, shocking page turner, The Shakespeare Secret masterfully combines modern murder and startling true revelations from the life of Shakespeare. It has been acclaimed as one of the most compulsively readable thrillers of recent years."

Text and image from: http://books.google.com.au/books/about/The_Shakespeare_Secret.html?id=h1kQq6cCFdwC&redir_esc=y

Mary Boleyn The Great and Infamous Whore - Alison Weir

A full length biography of Anne's sister and Henry's mistress.

More information available at http://alisonweir.org.uk/

The Samurai and the Courtesan - Lesley Downer

"1868: In the Floating World of Japan’s exotic pleasure quarters, sex is for sale and the only forbidden fruit is love. Hana is just seventeen when her husband leaves for war, leaving her alone and very vulnerable. When enemy soldiers attack her house she flees for her life across the shattered city of Tokyo and takes refuge in the Yoshiwara, its famous pleasure quarter. There she is forced to train as a courtesan."

Text and image from: http://www.lesleydowner.com/books/the-courtesan-and-the-samurai/


And I always refer to these Tudor Tailor books at least once or twice a week:

Images from and more information available from: http://www.tudortailor.com/

Easter gift

Because I have been a tad focussed on working on the blue drill dress, I can't believe that I forgot to share my exciting news: my parents gave me a copy of The Tudor Child for Easter! It really is as fantastic as everyone says it is; it has many excellent portraits, as well as the detailed recreation instructions and photographs that owners of The Tudor Tailor would recognise and expect.


Poster from the exhibition and picture of Jane and Ninya from  http://www.tudortailor.com/

Tudor Child Exhibition

The Weiss Gallery is having an exhibition of Tudor Children's clothing to celebrate the launch of the Tudor Tailor's new book 'The Tudor Child'.



Details can be found at: http://www.weissgallery.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=149&tabindex=148&postid=11901

Speaking of this exciting new publication, look what arrived on the doorstep last week:

I dropped some pretty big hints about wanting this signed edition of the book for my birthday. I did get to have a sneak peek at a friend's copy. Now I just have to wait. Seven months suddenly seems like a VERY long time!

Birthday gifts

I just celebrated a birthday and I got terribly spoilt. Two of the gems I got as presents were:

from: tudortailor.com

and 

from: careycompany.com

There is so much new information in these books; I need to rethink the projects that I had planned for the next six months!