Finding belt fittings

I know there are many fine folks out there who make beautiful fittings for belts. I am aware of the research and talent they put into their work, and I've seen the lovely results. Unfortunately, I can't afford to spend the entirely reasonable amount that their work commands. If I were heavily involved in reenactment it would be another story, but as I only wear these outfits to suit myself once or twice a year, there's no way to justify the expense. However, I do still want to make my stuff look as suitable as possible. That's when the creativity bursts into full flame.

So, belt fittings. I went to one of my favorite little hideaways, a shop called Fun Junk . Nancy, the owner, always has dishes full of odds and ends and pieces and parts on some tables in the front of the shop and I just knew I'd find something workable there.

I wasn't disappointed. For five bucks I got a handful of these cog/gear things.  They're thin steel an inch across and I think they look rather sun-like. I cleaned them with some degreaser and brushed on some antique-gold Rub-n-Buff to make them a little more visually impressive. I'm going to play around with them, some gold metallic thread, and some pearl beads I have and see if I can come up with something that looks right to me.

The buckle and the tip end are another matter. Still have to figure out something for that. The obvious answer is taking up metalcraft myself, and I have considered it -- but doggone it, I can't do everything. There just isn't time. Or room in the garage. Plus, Dave gets nervous when I work with fire.

More pics of belt progress and perhaps a final decision on those sleeves for the new blue, coming up. Thanks for reading!

Oh, who can wait?

I was so taken with my exciting plan for my new belt that I pulled out some velvet and linen "just to see how it looked". Famous last words, am I right? Next thing you know I have the ironing board and scissors out.

I cut a two inch wide band of each, about eight feet long. I want to have lots of room to work with, and I'll adjust the length later on in the project.  I pressed in a deep hem, basically making two long strips of linen and velvet bias tape. I wanted the extra layers to add body and weight to the belt so it would drape right and stand up to the weight of whatever ornaments I find to put on it.

Putting the seams to the inside, I whip-stitched the length of both sides, being very careful of tension so that there wouldn't be any wrinkling or twisting. And here's the result so far.

I am very pleased with it! I think it's going to turn out very nicely, once I've added some frippery to it. I have ideas concerning some metallic thread and beads, and I'm keeping my eye out for adornments in all my usual places. Yes, thrift stores. Of course!

Real quick!

Here's a pic of the new blue so far. It looks almost exactly like my other ones. Sleeves and lacing eyelets are forthcoming. Look at that gorgeous color!

Belts. I mean, girdles.

I know, I know -- women wore girdles, not belts, but the word makes me giggle every time. In the interest of keeping a straight face, all the encircling straps of the waistline are belts to me. Call it a strike for equality. And so, belts.

I have two belts. One is the popular leather ring belt that every medieval-hobbyist has worn at one time or another. It is functional and reasonably attractive and performs its duties sufficiently, but it's a bit plain and everyone has one like it, for good or ill. The other was featured about two years ago on this blog and is made from a broken rein and twisted wool. I like it but it needs to be retied often and the metal doohickeys I put on it always snag on things.

Time for something new, yes?

I got some leather the other day and was thinking I could cut a belt from it. Maybe I could punch an openwork design in it with my leather hole punch, or get some pewter decorations to attach. As I wanted something decorative -- a bit pretty, if you will -- I clicked around on the internet museum sites to see what I could find in the way of extant inspiration.

I could not find a single openwork belt design. Shoes, yes, plenty, but no belts. Either I'm not looking in the right places, or they weren't prevalent -- at least not enough for any to ever find their way into a museum. Bit of a disappointment, really. Ah, well.

Then I found this belt from the Musee National du Moyen Age, Clunny. Is that velvet? Yes, I think it is! And look at the shiny!

(Sorry it's in two bits, but that's how the pictures were on the site.)

This is a bit more fancy than I was thinking, and the big round bits stick out a fair way so I know they'd be catching on things and scratching chairs and getting dented and causing no end of nuisance to me. But I do like that velvet idea. It looks like it's on a even-weave linen backing, and would certainly be easy enough to make. Another nice feature is that I can cut it all in one piece, whereas with the leather I have, I would have had to join up two or three pieces to make the length I want. 

Once I get the blue dress done, probably over the weekend, I'll start work on my new belt. Between now and then, I can put my mind to where I can find decorative pieces to finish it properly. 

New Blue, part Two

Gave it a test try on, and wasn't pleased with the fit over the hips. Why do I never seem to remember that the gores I always want to leave out are important for that area of fit? Well, no matter. I'm adding two side gores in the spirit of an extant Herjolfenes garment that I hope will give me the ease I need in a manner consistent with the period. I'm just glad that I had enough of this fabric to do this extra cutting. 

I'm not doing the front and back inserts, because I've already cut that part of the skirt generously, but my side gore inserts look very much like the the ones shown here. Oh, and look at that -- a long sleeve with buttons. No thank you! I'm thinking I'll just do a long plain sleeve. Or something. Stay tuned for me to whimsically change my mind on that, too! 

It's called the creative process, people! 

New Blue, with Sleeve Questions

What possessed me last night? Perhaps I just missed the feeling of wool passing through my hands, after so much leather and linen work. For whatever reason, I suddenly found myself taking a five-yard swath of lightweight blue wool from my stash, and cutting out my basic dress pattern.

Actually, my basic pattern is just for a fitted bodice. I cut my skirt fullness however the amount of fabric or my personal whim dictates. This one doesn't have any gores. I've just cut a trapezoid shape onto the bottom of the bodice pattern to create fullness. My bottom hem circumference should be about 225", which I think should be plenty generous. 

The bodice is lined with some scraps of peach-colored linen that used to be a tablecloth. It has a few dime-sized drips of something (gravy?) on it that left a stain, so I got it for a dollar and I figure no one will see those blots but me, since they're inside. I handstitched, turned, and pressed the four bodice linings during the Game of Thrones season finale. 

Once I hem all four pieces, it's quick work to seam them together. The lacing eyelets on the front will probably take an evening's worth of grinding. Then the hem and I'm done except for the sleeves. 

Sleeves! I was meaning this to be a between-season sort of dress, good for those days when it's a bit brisk but not cold, or a bit warm but not hot, so I was thinking that elbow-length sleeves would be nice. I've seen linen underdresses with shorter sleeves -- made one myself, in the case of my parti-colored linen dress. But I can't remember seeing a wool dress with anything but long sleeves, usually with massive amounts of buttons. I've seen shorter sleeves with tippets, but only on cotehardies that are worn over other dresses.  I even Googled "14th century dress sleeves" and looked at all the images that were from respectable sources. 

As I wear my linen smock under everything, it's not like my naked arms will be exposed, but is there any historical allowance for elbow-length, tippetless sleeves on a wool dress? Or should I just bow to convention and do long sleeves, or make ones with tippets? Advice, please! 

Does this steam make me look fat?

I'm coming up with ideas in my head for a new steampunk ensemble. I got some new leather the other day that I'd like to make into suspenders of some sort, with a belt and pockets, and I'm going to re-purpose some caramel-colored duck cloth canvas into a skirt. With boots, a work shirt, and a cap, it'll be a cute adventure-mechanic sort of look, I hope.

Scribbly handwriting is just part of my creative process.

I've been clicking around the internet looking at pictures for inspiration and I've met up with a few problems. It's hard for me to determine if something I like will look good on me because I have a very skewed internal picture of myself. For one thing, I think I'm much younger than I actually am. Costume events are a young person's game, it seems, and at 47 I don't want to make myself ridiculous. The other thing is that there's about three inches in variation throughout my hips/waist/bust so I rather resemble a tree trunk. The steampunk trope of corsetry seems to be the answer here, but I have learned to my regret that putting a corset on me just makes my thick middle look more fancy, rather than creating a waistline.

Click back and see my purple and gold equestrienne outfit, and you'll see that I managed to look very steam-y without a corset or goggles (amazing!).  A jacket with a peplum can do wonders for creating the illusion of a figure.  But I'm struggling to work out a way to wear a shirt/skirt combo that looks hardworking and not too fussy, but doesn't make me look like a big fat load, either.

I'll keep thinking on it, and let you know what I come up with.  If you have any suggestions, I'd love to read them in the comments! Thanks!