I promise I'm not dead.

I know, I know -- it's been a while. Things have been busy and all the usual excuses. But I am still making stuff, honest, and when I come back from vacation next week, I'll make time to write a post to update y'all on my recent activities. Til then, a little peek at some leatherworking stuff I've done in the last week or so:

A simple cuff bracelet for a small gift exchange...

And an experiment in braiding around a core with eight strands-- a new skill which isn't as difficult as I thought it would be!

When I come back, I'm sure to have lots to show you, and we can celebrate five years of "Wenny Makes It!"

See you after vacation! 

Back in the Saddle, Again.

Ahhh, springtime. When a young girl's fancy turns to thoughts of --saddles?

Yep. At least, if that girl is me. I've spent the last two months working my tushy off, and the only way I managed to get through it without losing my happy smile is I promised myself a really nice treat at the end of it all. I had a certain dollar amount in mind, and then a generous tip became involved, so I kinda splurged a little and got myself a sweet vintage Bona Allen saddle that was at the secondhand tack shop. I dickered them down on the price. You know how you look at a price and then counter with something super low, knowing they won't take it and then you can always go up a little? Well, they took it, right off! Guess this old-fashioned rig had been hanging around for a while and the seller was happy to have an offer.

I can't quite decode the serial number, but this saddle was made somewhere between 1963 and 1974. I'm leaning more towards '74 because the style is very like my '79 Circle Y. Saddlemaking goes through trends just like any other fashion, and like bell bottom jeans, this one just has that 70's vibe.

It's in very nice shape, so all it really needs is a good clean and condition (done!) and some detail work. Like that silver spiral lacing along the edges -- that's damaged in some spots, so I've ordered new and will replace it where needed. You can't see it well in the picture, but the lacing goes all down the back edge of the fenders (the leg parts between seat and stirrup). I've never seen a saddle with that before. That's where it's in the worst condition, so once that's fixed, it'll look proper dazzling!

Someone had put on a nylon seatbelt-like material latigo and off-billet. (The things that hold the cinch in place to keep the saddle on the horse when riding.) I see a lot of folks using these, and they're perfectly safe, I'm sure, but I personally don't care for the look. I had a leather latigo on hand, and making an off-billet was easy: just two layers of leather stitched together with a few holes punched in. The stitching takes a while because I do it by hand. It's not difficult, but it's tedious. I watched tv. This took up the season opener of Game of Thrones and all of Jurassic World.

I didn't want to have to switch over all my accessories every time I need to change saddles, so I needed a breastcollar to go with this saddle as well. I had an old tatty fleece-lined one that I got in a box of stuff at a yard sale. It was so nasty; the fleece was hard and full of dirt, and nothing I did seemed to help. Just picking it up made a dry dirty dustcloud puff up. *cough cough* I cut the stitches and tore off the fleece. 

I thought replacing it with new stuff, but fleece absorbs a lot of sweat, and takes a while to dry. Once wet, it keeps moisture on the leather, so even washing is a problem -- especially in a humid place like the Pacific Northwest where tackroom dampness is a constant battle. But I couldn't leave it with the rough side exposed, or it would chafe the horse. A smooth leather lining was the answer. After cleaning and conditioning, I laid it out and used it as a pattern to cut new lining pieces. More stitching for me! 

Once I get this all sewed on and dyed to match, I'll remake the center medallion and it'll be ready to ride. 

Not-So-Creepy Baby.

There's a saying, "Never apologize for your art." And I think I'm going to lead with that because from the reactions I've gotten so far, my latest project is a little controversial. A lot of people find these dolls creepy.

I'm not sorry I made it. Not one bit. It turned out beautifully, and it's a gift for a good friend who will enjoy it; anyone else's opinion does not matter. She told me a while back that she wanted a reborn baby doll -- one of those ones that artists make look like a real baby. I've been keeping an eye out for one at my usual sources with little success (at least, not at an affordable price) and suddenly it hit me: I have skills. Maybe I could make one myself. I mean, it's worth a try. I can do things. I looked up some how-to videos on YouTube and got a little creeped out but not dissuaded. I decided to give it a shot. 

So without further ado, let's meet the primary materials: 

Okay, this is a vinyl baby doll made by Berjusa. I got it from an online auction at a very nice price because -- well, look at it. That baby has seen some serious playtime. It was soiled, the stitching had several mends, and it was stuffed with chunks of foam that made me wonder what they'd been soaking up over the years. My first order of business was to detach the limbs and head, empty the stuffing into the trash, and carefully take apart the pieces of the body so I could use them as a pattern to make a new one. 

Top: icky unwashed baby arm. Bottom: baby arm freshly scrubbed with baking soda and peppermint soap. What a difference! 

After scrubbing, the baby's skin tone was a little orange-y. I needed to neutralize some of that orange to give it a more natural appearance. I read a lot of online tips about painting the insides of the limbs with lavender paint, but what I ended up doing -- and what worked really well! -- was using blue tinted hair dye. I started out putting just a tiny bit in lots of water and pouring it into the parts, but I soon realized a faster, better way was to just dunk the parts right in. count to five, rinse, and bam -- no more orange. 

The kitchen table gets lots of natural light. Perfect place to work - and Dave was gone to Emerald City Comic Con, so I didn't have any interruptions like horrified screaming.

Here's the clean, neutralized head. I'm glad that the eyes are shut, because painting something that watches me would be a bit unsettling.

I used acrylic paints, sponges, and a big fluffy brush to put some more lifelike color on the vinyl parts. I could go into details, but a girl's gotta have some secrets and if you just google "diy reborn doll" you'll see all the same videos I did and know what to do. 

And here's the head after painting to a more natural-looking (hopefully) mottled flesh appearance. I think I did a pretty good job. If it weren't for that plastic stick coming out of the neck, I'd think this was a picture of a real baby.

Okay, that binky? Magnets. Super-strong magnets. You cut off the rubber sucky part of the binky and glue one magnet there, and then you put some glue on another magnet and drop it in the baby's head. Hold the binky where you want it, and the magnet in the head will attach itself to the proper place inside. Then just let it sit for a day so the glue can cure, and you have a cute accessory. If I'd have been thinking fast, I'd have put a magnet in the baby's hand, too, so it would look like it was sucking its fist. 

But it was too late for fist-magnets, because the arms and legs were full of pale tan aquarium gravel. 

I just used a kitchen funnel to dump it in there, and then glued circles of cardboard over the openings. That duct tape you see is just holding the cardboard in place til the glue dries. Gives the pieces a nice realistic weight and solidity. 

These arms and legs had been sewn to the cloth body. Usually there is a thin ridge for zipties, but not for this doll. I had to sew them to the new body. 

For the body I cut pieces from a pale tan oxford cloth shirt. Strong and lightweight, just perfect. I stitched the arms and legs using the same stitching holes, adding a touch of glue to the inside hems for extra strength. 

I used a bag of marbles to add weight to the baby's body. To keep the marbles quiet, I stitched long tubes of fleece fabric. I'd drop in a marble, tie it with a piece of thread, drop in another marble, tie it off, and so on. I ended up with a long, intestinal-looking rope that was soft and heavy and didn't rattle or clink one bit. Perfect! I coiled it inside the baby's body and then padded around it with polyfill stuffing. A sock full of gravel and more polyfill cushioning went into the head, giving the baby a total weight of about six pounds. 

A trip to the thrift shop later, I had a gender-neutral sleeper suit, a cute ducky hat, and a blanket. I puffed a tiny amount of baby powder onto the body to give the doll just the right scent, dressed it all up, and it's all ready to go to my friend for her birthday. 

                                     

I hope she likes it. It was something different and interesting to make, and I have to admit that buying baby stuff was fun. Everything was so cute and tiny! And not a bit creepy.

Meet Linus!

I've dipped back into historical sewing, but in a different sort of way. When I got this American Girl "Kaya" doll, I knew two things right away: not a girl, and not going to wear the commercially available fringe-and-feathers stereotypical nonsense. 

So meet Linus Charbonneau, an eleven year old boy of Metis heritage living in North Dakota in 1982.  He likes playing basketball and racing slot cars with his older brother Leon.

During the height of the North American fur trade, many French trappers and fur traders took native women as wives. The women served as important social go-betweens, guides, and translators for the newcomers to the native population, and the resulting mixed-heritage generation is now recognized as the Metis. 

Linus is wearing some typical regalia of his French and Chippewa heritage. It's modern, but based on traditional clothing from earlier generations. 

The red wool coat is called a "capote". They are constructed from a single Hudson Bay Company blanket. Red and black ones like this were popular, and also cream-colored ones with wide multicolored stripes. Length also varied, from shorter hip-length jackets on down to mid-calf or more. Linus's coat is quite long, but it gives him plenty of room to grow. 

Capote were usually worn tied shut around the waist with a wide woven sash.  The sash is probably the most recognized article of Metis clothing: brightly colored, intricate, and useful. Folded over and tied around the waist, it was a perfect pocket to stash small necessaries, and a single thread was occasionally pulled from the long fringes at the ends to use for quick mends.  I haven't made a sash yet because I'm still learning fingerweaving, so that will have to wait for now. I want to do it justice! 

At the back is a generous hood, with a black tassel. The tassel was decorative, but also useful to tuck into the sash to keep the hood from flapping around while it was down. 

French traders carried lots of silk ribbon. It was light to carry, colorful, and popular in trade. One of the ways native people used it was as decoration on shirts and jackets. Today ribbon shirts are a part of many tribes' powwow regalia. Linus is wearing a blue cotton calico with shell buttons. The blue ribbons represent the Metis people, and the yellow represents prosperity. The Metis are well-known for their exceptional beadwork, so Linus has a small beaded flower at his collar.

Beading was often done on fabric which was then sewn onto garments. This way it could be removed when the garment became worn, and put onto something new. This is the very first beading I have ever done, and I'll admit it's not the greatest. It's also on a small scale, so those beads should be about 1/3 the size they are, but jeepers, I'm new at this! Someday I can re-do them properly in tiny wee beads, and then it will be easy to take off the fabric and replace it with glorious, beautiful, in-scale work. 

Here's a close-up on my nascent bead work. I think it's pretty, though not a patch on what real Metis work looks like, of course. 

All in all, I learned a lot while designing this outfit. Metis history is fascinating and it was interesting to see how the French and native cultures blended together.  I still have moccasins, that sash, and a bag to make in the future, so you may see more of Linus later on. 

Now go make something! 

Sorry, not sorry?

Sometimes I look at my blog now, as compared to previous years, and I think, "What the heck happened?"

I mean, when I started out, this was going to be all about me hand sewing reproduction garments, discussing my methods and techniques, and posting brag pictures of my beautiful wool. linen, and silk clothing.  I was going to find similarly creative people so we could learn from each other. Maybe get some custom orders. At least gain the sort of status where I could show up at a con or event and have maybe one or two people say "Oh, hey! I read your blog!"

Then horses showed up and leatherwork and restoration got interesting for me. Should I really do this post about the saddle? I asked myself. It's not like the stuff I usually do. But I did, because hey, they certainly have worked leather throughout history. Maybe this saddle isn't as historical as all that, but if you do leather for historical times, some of the sewing techniques and cleaning methods would be applicable.

Steampunk stuff. Fixing beat up old trunks. Doll stuff.

It's diverted quite a way from my original intent. My stats page shows me people are still reading about the same as always, with the most popular post being the one with the steampunk plague doctor's mask. It is pretty cool, but I know the main reason it gets so many hits is because someone linked it on Pinterest and shared my old technique of marking off stitching holes in leather with a fork. That and my rambling post about the St Birgitta's cap are my two big hits, far and away.

When I started here four years ago, I thought about naming this "The Wennaisance" because how clever is that, but as a more avid 14th century girl, I decided that was a bit off-base. I went with "Wenny Makes It" because it was easy to remember, I could not think of anything else quickly, and I wanted to get started. And I'm glad I did. Whenever I get hung up on how far I've strayed from the original middle-ages intent I started with, I just remind myself that four years is a long time for an active mind to stick purely to one thing. I make a lot of stuff. It's all valid here.

Sometimes I feel like I'm disappointing my original readers. Maybe they see I've updated and think "Oh, I wonder if she's sewing a new gown?" and then they look and... "Nope, it's something about buying rope at a boat shop. *sigh* What a weirdo."

So if you're one of those, all I can tell you is to stick around. With all the stuff I find to interest me, you can pretty much bet that it won't be boring. And I still have some lovely wools and linens that need to be made into clothing. and a bunch of ideas.

No Dress for the Tomboy

I've entered a gift exchange on a AG collectors posting board. After filling out a form detailing my general likes, dislikes, and the sorts of things I'd like to receive, I was given the information of another person, a $35 spending limit, and four weeks to ship them my gift.

I was terrifically excited while waiting to get my giftee's name, so I jumped the gun a little and started work on a beautiful, glorious, complicated outfit. I know, I thought, I'll make this amazing dress and undergarments and a hat and they'll be so completely blown away! I had this cute fabric that was pale yellow with tiny navy blue stars on it, and a new pattern I'd just gotten and wanted to try out for a dress styled after one from the 1850s and I was just raring to go.

The bodice and sleeves are lined with cream-colored silky fabric. I hate doing linings on regular human-sized clothes, and let me tell you, it isn't any more fun on wee little dolly things, but it really makes a nice finish and looks impressive.

The pintucks, the two-part sleeves, the lining-- it was not an easy dress to make, but look how gorgeous! And entirely stitched by hand with silk thread; why, it's a work of ART.

I knew my giftee was going to be blown away when she opened this. And I was ready to add a petticoat and a wrap made of navy blue raw silk with a fringe, and, and, and...

...and then I got my giftee assignment and she was not interested in fancy dresses. Her doll is a tomboy.

Dozens of doll people in this exchange, any of whom would drool unabashedly on this starry frock I had made, and I get the one who says her doll likes to tinker with car engines.

Challenge accepted. 

I set the silk and pintucks aside and pulled out some brown wrapping paper. I was going to make a pattern for mechanic's coveralls.

They're really just pants and a shirt connected at the waistband -- just like how a dress is really just a blouse and skirt connected. I did some quick sketching and measuring, came up with a pattern I thought would work, and whipped up a quick toile to check it.

Once I was sure it would fit and look right, I cut my pieces from an old work shirt. Blue stripes were perfect for that mechanic look, and the doll's name on a bit of iron-on patch to make a nametag added just the right touch. (They still need finishing on the collar and cuffs, but I had to get this post up while I had time!)

But what's a mechanic without her tools? So I set off to find some tiny crescent wrenches (thank you, Home Depot!) and then cut a scrap of oiled leather to make a tool kit. Flannel pockets hold the wrenches and two screwdrivers neatly in place, and the whole thing rolls up. Two buckled straps hold it shut, and there's a comfortable rolled leather handle to carry it all.

Look at that cute thing. That is a totally legitimate set of tiny, real tools. I bet I hear the squeals of delight all the way at my house when she opens this up. When we receive our exchange gifts, we're supposed to post pictures of them on the collectors forum so everyone can see what we got. I know it's prideful, but I'm really looking forward to reading what everyone thinks of my handsewn coveralls and tool kit.

I wonder what my gifter will send me?

Quickie: buttons!

Guess who was lucky enough to find a string of Victorian-era metal buttons at the thrift shop? There's about three dozen of them in a few different styles. They're about half an inch wide and so pretty.  And look at that awesome price!

Now to come up with a project to put them on...