From Twitter 07-17-2010

( I'm not dead, I'm just tweeting )

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olive oil lamps, and linen

Today I cut out, assembled, and finished two aprons, one of a cotton-linen blend all machine-sewn of the type that wraps all the way around, to supplement/replace a sort of ugly green one I designed and made and wear constantly, and one almost entirely hand-sewn of 100% linen to wear at Pennsic whilst in full garb.
I also made progress on a supportive linen shift, and mentally did a lot of sorting.
And I completely (except sleeves) assembled a blue linen self-supportive dress, of the Gothic Fitted Dress type, from an adapted version of the pattern chargirlgenius drafted me lo these many moons ago, and which I have used umpty zillion times now. This will be the best version, I am already sure in my heart of hearts.
And I will write about it and finish that writeup I was doing for her mumblecoughayearago.
I've done slight alterations on my other three GFDs. (I have three? Oh gosh, yes I do! Wow.) So all of them should be wearable. I need to do a bit more finishing work on a few other garments from last year, and I have a few things half-assembled that I need to take a hard look at.
But.
I think I am basically set for garb. I still want to make a haversack, into which I can put my camera and its lenses and a bottle of water, so I've still got a hand free to, you know, actually take a picture. Or so. But I don't know how easily that will go together. (Amusing aside, from Z: "A haversack is a sack of having. Like a Bag of Holding." He then proceeded to look Bag of Holding up on Wikipedia, as neither of us is a gamer but we read gamer-themed comics and so know about things without really understanding them.)

I really want to make a Pennsic-friendly re-enactory haversack-thing and embroider "Bag of Holding" on it, for Liesl. Maybe I'll get around to it soonish. Maybe not.

So it was all in all a good weekend. And, bonus-- I got to do some writing last night, and am really thinking a lot about Barbarians_Novel. It's progressing. (I'm thinking about Vikings_Novel too, but really only in terms of what they're wearing. When I wrote that thing I really didn't know anything about Vikings. I kind of have to throw it out. But there's some good stuff in there. Ish. Maybe. Haven't read it in a couple of years.)

I need a betareader. Like, in general. But I kinda need someone with a lot of free time. Cuz damn. I'm wordy.

Edit: Oh. Ha ha. I forgot to write about the olive oil lamps. Lolz. (Aside: I was thinking today, that I sort of can't wait to be an old lady so I can tell some flabbergasted whippersnapper that "LOL" was invented during my lifetime.)
I picked up a few cheapie glass tealight holders at Michael's the other day, and mentioned to Z that I'd planned on converting them to olive oil lamps. So tonight while I was sewing he sat and worked out how to do it. He took a bottlecap, whacked a hole in it, pulled some string through it, and sat it in a glass with olive oil in it. Bingo, it burns just like a candle, looks like a candle, smells like a candle, no smoke, no mess. Pennies per whole lamp full. So we'll probably make some more of those for Pennsic. Guess what-- documentable to period, easily! It's a Swampie A&S project.