kareina: (stitched)
Monday evening I went to bed early, since I wasn't feeling well, and woke in the middle of the night drenched in sweat, which appears to have been enough to chase away whatever virus had dared to try to infiltrate, because I have been feeling pretty good since then. Tuesday morning I had the energy to do my morning phone-app workout before work, but I choose not to try walking or biking, since I knew that I would have my first meeting with my personal trainer that afternoon, and I wanted to be certain that I still had energy when the time came.

It worked, and the meeting went well. The session was mostly about him seeing what I can and cannot already do in terms of balance, flexibility, and strength, and he gave me a few things to work on at home over the holidays. The real workout program will begin in January.

After the meeting I returned to my office, ate a quick lunch, and worked another couple of hours. Then I had a light snack and went over to the Phire practice and hung out for a bit. No aerial silks on Tuesdays, since we are in the Dramasalan, not the gym, and there isn't a place we can hang them (but we did brain storm some possibilities), but I did pass on the exercises I was given to S, who would love a personal trainer, but student budgets don't stretch that far. If I make a habit of working with her, I will, in theory, better remember what he taught me.

Then I spent the rest of the evening helping V with the last of the sewing for his costume for the new Star Wars movie premier, while O worked on painting the accessories for his. It would have been smart to head home early, but I was having fun, and we were making good progress on the costume, so I stayed till we were done, and then went home and did yoga, and finally got to sleep somewhere after midnight.

This morning I again had the energy to do my morning workout, but I didn't get out of bed early enough to walk or bike in, so I got a ride with [livejournal.com profile] lord_kjar. To make up for it I took the scenic route home from work today--through the forest of the Nature Reserve. It takes a bit longer (53 minutes vs 45), but totally worth it for the increased beauty. The mid-day sun at this time of the year does clear the horizon, but not the tree line, so the forest is well lit, but in an ethereal way, with lots of dusky purple, pink, and blue tones to the snow. Since temperatures today are around -10 C the trees were all lightly coated with ice, letting them partake in the light show.

Not that we have much snow yet--the total accumulation is not more than 4 or 5 cm, but it is enough to make the world pretty. And to show the tracks of everything. That path is mostly used by people, dogs, skiers, and, in the latter part, snow machines, but deer and rabbit have also crossed the path.

This evening I will be joining some of the Phire guys for the movie, which is a good opportunity to use the movie gift certificate I was given for my birthday. I didn't need to make a new costume--I still have the jedi-inspired robes we made for a party my first year in Sweden, and, of course, there is a light saber in the sword cupboard...
kareina: (stitched)
Around a decade ago now [livejournal.com profile] learnteach gifted me with some of the most amazing fabric I had ever touched--a lovely blue herringbone wool twill that is so soft and snugly that I am willing to wear it against my skin for those middle of the night privy runs at a camping event. Sadly, when I cut the fabric to make a tunic from it I must have done something wrong when doing the math, because the gores wound up a fair bit too long for the length in which I cut the tunic. The tunic goes to around knee level, but the gores reached from hem past the waist and all the way to the bra-strap. Oops. I have no idea how it happened, but I have lived with it like that ever since. I did pleat together the top of the front center gore and stitched it down to belt level so that it didn't look quite so odd from the front, but other than that I just accepted it, because the fabric was so truly wonderful, and it was my favourite tunic for years.

However, after moving to Drachenwald, getting a "real job" and having access to other nice (but still not that nice) fabrics and some really nice tablet woven bands I wound up making myself a new wool tunic that has a much nicer cut, and, with the trim, is just enough fancier that I haven't been wearing my old favourite blue tunic as often.

Then, yesterday, my apprentice gifted me with a beautiful blue and white laurel-wreath inspired tablet woven band, and I wondered what to do with it. Then I thought of my old favourite tunic, and checked, and, yes, yes indeed, the trim does look lovely on that fabric.

So I put the tunic on, and looked closely at it, and decided how I can fix it. Tonight I accomplished the first couple of steps. I have taken out the front and back center gores, slit the front the last little bit to the neck line and then sewed the front shut back down to waist level. Next I need to also slit the back and sew it down to the waist level. Once that is done I can sew trim around the neck line. I am still not certain if I will sew it right to the edge of the neck, and then change the silk band on the inside of the neck to only be the same width as the trim (so that the seam where it attaches on the inside isn't visible from the outside), or if I will sew the trim down a bit back from the edge, so that it covers the other edge of the silk inner band. Though the more I think of it, the more I am leaning towards the latter. Since the body rectangle will now be slit fully to the waist front and back I am also planning on sewing down the neck trim in two segments such that the leaves are upright on both sides of my neck, which will help emphasize the "wreath" aspect of the trim.

Once all that is done I will need to take out the side gores, and also remove the little extra trianglar gore bits that I added on each side of the little square underarm gores, to make the tunic looser (because I was somewhat heavier a decade ago than I am now). Then I will be able to sew shut the armpits and sides to the waist. Then I can cut as strip off of one side of each of the front and back center gores to make them a bit smaller, use that strip to extend the hem of the body rectangle down about 8 to 10 cm, then sew all of the gores back in, this time with their top points at waist level. Then I can sew trim onto the cuffs of the sleeves and around the hem, possibly along the level of the seam attaching that extra length.

If all goes well it would be great to wear it to the Frostheim event next Friday. My apprentice really impressed me by taking the yarn I gave her at Norrskensfesten and turning it into trim so quickly, the least I can do is then turn the trim into a costume just as quickly. Wish me luck that the end result is as nice as I think it has the potential to be.
kareina: (stitched)
I already mentioned that I was up late at the SCA event on the weekend because I was having so much fun. Well, that pattern has continued into the week, too--I haven't made it to bed before 01:00 all week, but am still getting up early enough to do the 45 minute walk to work in the morning. Mind you, I am not arriving at the office at 07:00 or 07:15 as I often do, but instead more like 07:30 or 07:45, but I am still the first one in my corridor. However, I have still be going home at 11:00 or 12:00 when [livejournal.com profile] lord_kjar goes home for lunch, so I may want to work a few hours on Friday to make up for it.

So far this work week has been spent researching travel and accommodation for the conference in Australia in February, reading my student's thesis drafts, and compiling information as to what standards are available, from where, and for how much, so that we can decide which ones to get now, to have ready when the Laser Ablation-ICP-MS arrives, and which ones we will wait on till the lab is generating a bit of income from fees paid by the users. (It is farily obvious that if the department doesn't have the budget to cover a full time salary for me, they don't have a huge budget for buying standards, either. (not that it is broke or anything, just that, like at most unis, the cash available in the department is mostly tied to specific research grants, and can't be used for things not directly related to those projects)).

At home I have been focusing on projects. I want a new bliaut--my first one is getting worn out. We have some lovely dark blue silk that I want to use, and have been wondering if I want to do it with or without the tummy gathers that was fashionable in the 12th century. I haven't been all that happy with the gathers on brown wool bliaut, but that has more to do with the fact that they don't always sit right, and often need adjusting. Somehow I don't think I would have that problem with the lighter weight silk. However, another issue with the brown is that the skirt is heavy enough that even though when I first lace the dress the hem is all one length and up off the ground, over the course of the day it droops on the sides and people start to step on it while I am dancing, which isn't an issue with the older blue bliaut, since it is only just long enough for me, even unlaced (the brown is longer than I am tall when it is unlaced).

But what has really and truly decided me on skipping the gathering this time around was the hours I have spent doing two different cutting diagrams--one if I make it extra long and gather it up, and the other if I don't. The latter option lets me get another set of skirt gores out of the fabric, transforming the skirt from just under 3/4 circle to just about a full circle skirt. Can you say "dancing skirt"? I apologize to people who care about 12 Century fashion and think that this style is better with the tummy gathers--I am going to go for the fuller skirt instead...

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