A few words

 I had the most wonderful aunt. An aunt that made sure to take me to medieval fairs and markets when I was younger. An aunt that was the only one in the family that knew about the band Eluveitie and in her work as a priest led many teenagers through their confirmation by being a game master and doing role playing games. ( I was really envious that we didn't have that kind of confirmation studies around here). She knew her Tolkien by heart and since she read Harry Potter in Swedish, two days after the final book had been released in English she phoned me up and said "I know that you don't read the books, but I know that  your friends read them in English so now you have to tell me who survives and how it all ends". 

So many rounds of shopping, going to concerts, opera and the movies. And as a niece in the same size and with a shared love of pink I was lucky to get so much clothes from her. I am sad that she didn't move back to Falun earlier so we could have had some more time, I had even planned to bring Bilbo and read it loud for her, despite me not liking Tolkien at all. But the smile when we greeted her when she arrived and we told her that was home in Falun, even on the same street where she lived when she lived here, and when you in a sudden burst of clarity said "how long should I have it like this" makes me think that she decided to let go, now that she had come home and was sure that she had us around not just for yourself but for her husband as well. And of course with her sense of humour and being an Uppsala person at heart she made sure to hold out and not leave on the last of April, but a few hours in on May 1st.

As a costumer she also meant something for my development. This is a photo from the midnight premiere of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. I am wearing an ill-fitting  dress made out of cheap cotton. She was dressed as a hobbit.

This is her at her Lord of Rings-themed 50th birthday party a few years later, and I made Eowyn's moruning gown for her (she didn't want the high neck or veil though). This velvet dress and the Arwen dress that I made for myself was the first time that I realized how important being careful when cutting and pressing seams were, that sewing was something more than just feeding pieces of fabric through a machine. When we cleared out their apartment two years ago I found this dress, even if it was missing the gold underskirt, so I brought it home and have it among my costumes as a very loving memory of her.

Things are about to change

 So there isn't a lot of activity here anymore, and one big reason is that I haven't had a lot of passion for making new costumes. A big reason has been that I have not been happy with what has been going on with my body. I have always been a big and curvy girl, but over the last years I have noticed that my weight is just creeping upwards and I can't get it to stop. There seems to be correlation in that I can either control my weight, or have good control over my autoimmune disease (type 1 diabetes). I am now weighing more than I have ever done before, and no matter if there are medical reasons I don't feel that I fit into any costumes anymore.

After some time of investigating my weight issues, and it was so nice to hear that I do keep a healthy enough lifestyle and that it's not a simple issue of "eat less, excercise more" I have decided to do a gastric by-pass operation. I want to do it now before I gain even more weight. A gastric by-pass isn't just about not being able to eat, a lot of the effects come from the reprogramming of that metabolic systems that occurs with the operation. I also have no idea what will happen with my body, the great majority of course looses weight but it's very individual on how much you loose. For me the important thing is also to stop gaining weight, even if I of course hope that I will get back to a size I had a couple of years ago. It will also take quite some time before the weight stabilizes after the operation (first you usually drop weight, then you gain some again, and then it stabilizes).

That being said this weekend was the last chance for me to be out wearing costumes and nice clothes before the operation, that will take place on November 10th.

First my mother was invited to a ceremonial dinner at her old student nation, so it was time to bring out a ballgown when I came with her. This is actually a gown that I have bought, not made, since I have outgrown all my old gowns and I bought it last year when me and my husband went to a ball the weekend after our wedding. I was busy enough making my wedding gown, so it was out of the question to make a ballgown as well.

Then I missed the first day of the local convention AvestaCon, since I was driving me and my mother home from the dinner that day. But on Sunday I was trooping with Swedish Garrison and Nordic Base there, and since one of the great things with AvestaCon is that they have professional photographer Johan Falkenström there, and you get one free photo for every costume, I got some nice photos of first my jedi.

He doesn't take photos with the light on for the lightsabre, and I haven't had time to ask someone to fix it for me. 

My favorite photo was with my jawa, and a borrowed tusken rifle

AvestaCon is held in a wonderful old iron foundry that has been turned into an art museum, and I found a table with a lot of old rusty machinery and stuff, so more photos were taken with the jawa in its true element, and I hope I can share them soon.

Plans for 2023

 As I said in my last post, where I recapped 2022, I haven't really found a balance to fit creating things into my new life in a partnership, and I am not happy with my body anymore. Due to that I don't really have a lot of plans for the coming year, but there are two events that will probably be my focus.

First of all there is the Celebration Europe over Easter, so April. I don't plan on any new proper costumes, but I would like to do some fun fandom fashion thing. I fell in love with some Star Wars costumes, mainly from the TV series Andor and Kenobi, in 2023 but they are simply too complicated and the fabric would be too expensive for me to manage to finish them before April. So something fun and comfortable is the plan.

Then in June there are the big 500th anniversary of king Gustavus Vasa becoming king, and I am involved in the project group that will recreate is parade in Stockholm around Midsummer. That means that I and my husband need something suitable to wear. My plan is to either finish my pink gown, that I got into a wearable but not finished state in Visy in 2022, or see if I can remake my courtgown to fit me, since I have added a lot of weight since 2020 when I made it.

For my husband I will need to make him a proper pair of 16th century trousers or hose, we haven't agree on if he would accept wearing hose and codpiece yet, and he needs some nice headgear. I also want to remake the closure of his coat.

I think I will stop from doing any other great plans, and simply see if I get inspiration to make something else.

The yearly recap - what did I do 2022?

 Looking back at 2022 my feeling is that I didn't do much, but what I did I was spectacular.

The honest reason why my productivity has gone down is simple - I'm in a partnership now and there simply aren't as many evenings by myself where I don't do anything but watch TV and sew costumes. I still haven't really found the balance, where I can get time to do make things, in my new life situation.

The other thing is that I do have issues with my weight. I am not happy with how I look right now, and I don't feel inspired to make new costumes for my body at the moment. I am very grateful that I have been referred to a medical investigation on why I am just gaining weight all the time. It is really nice to be with a medical team that doesn't judge or simply say that I need to eat less and move myself more, considering that I eat healthier and excercise more than a lot of people that don't have weight issues. I am really hoping that we will find something to help me take control over my body again in the coming year.

Anyway, on a more positive note here is what I did get done:

The first part of the year was spent making sure that my lovely David would be able to join the feasts with our 16th century guild.

It started with me remaking one of my old shifts into a smocked man's shirt.

Then our first guild feast of the year was in January, and with restrictions back in force he needed something to survive a Swedish winter evening outside. I made a quite generic wool jacket. It's reversible so he can wear either the black or red side out. It isn't based on any particular year or painting, but works well for late medieval.

Later in the year his mother gave me a gorgeous sand coloured wool that I turned into an early 16th century coat for him.

Between his two jackets I turned 40 and made an 18th century pair of stays and a jacket for my birthday party.

Then it was time to turn my attention to the main object of the year - my wedding attire. I started with making a full new set of 1910s underwear.

And then it was the wedding gown itself, made from 6 m of duchesse silk satin, purple/gold silk brocade and a full set of handmade buttons of the same fabric as the dress. I was really happy with the result, and the day was just wonderful.

So maybe it wasn't such an unproductive year anyway, even if I didn't get any cosplay projects done.

Favorite photos of 2021

 Despite a pandemic there were still some events taking place, the biggest being Medieval Week in Visby and ComicCon in Stockholm. I also got better at taking photos by myself with a tripod and selftimer. So here are my favorite photos of 2021, without any specific order.

Looking back on 2021

 So what a year 2021 has been. I had some really big, or rather one really big thing happening to me, and that really affected my costuming.

If you don't know in 2021 I met the most wonderful guy in the world, and he's now my fiance and we are planning our wedding for 2022. That being said, I got some things done, even if most of it was before I stopped being single.

Going back my plans for 2021 was

• a wool nightgown
• a simple 16th century shift
• a pair of 16th century hose
• a regency outfit for a ball
• finishing the 1520s courtgown by making the cape
• Princess Daisy 
• Jedi librarian

The regency ball was cancelled due to the pandemic, so I didn't do anything regency related.

Out of the plans I did make the wool nightgown a simple standard medieval gown that will work medieval farmer from the viking age up until the renaissance. I just realized that I haven't posted about it all though.

The simple 16th century shift was made by remaking an older shift, it also fitted HSM challenge four. 

Me wearing the new shift

Princess Daisy was a success, when I finally finished her in time for ComicCon Stockholm.

Me and Tom/woodsling as Luigi and Daisy

I think my jedi librarian was my favorite project of the year though, and the one I'm most happy with. It also got approved as a jedi with the Rebel Legion.

As for things I hadn't planned, this is what I got done.

The winter started out with restrictions due to the pandemic, so we and my friends in our 16th century guild met up outside in the winter, and I needed something to keep warm.

The first thing I did was an historical jacket. I made it to be generic and fit most time periods from the 16th to the 18th century. It was mostly based on 16th and 17th century images though.

Worn with my mustard kirtle and one of my 16th century hoods, but without the wulst, I finally felt that I had something 17th century to wear, as I did at the annual Christmas fair at the Falun Mine.

I also made a hood out of black wool.

The most unexpected project was when I got picked as a pattern tester for the Selina blouse from Scroop Patterns.

I finished the pocket for my traditional costume, an embroidery that had been started more than 15 years ago.

This was finished in June, and then I wasn't single anymore, which explains the lack of updates for the rest of the year.

As for the HSM challenges I finished a few at least.

Challenge - on your head

Challenge - closures

Challenge - zero waste

Challenge - joy 

Challenge - purple

Challenge - the costumer's new look

I have also started a bunch of cross stitch embroidery projects for borders to 16th century shifts and veils, and it would be fun to finish them and actually use them for something.

Midsummer celebrations

 It was time for the yearly outing of my folk costume, from Vika. Just like last year all official celebrations were cancelled due to the pandemic, but my boyfriend was invited to a small private celebration and I joined him. For the first time I could wear a complete costume, with my brand new pocket. 

I even took the time to starch the loose lace piece (stycke in Swedish) that goes under my cap.

And since it's around 7 years since I shortened the skirt of my costume it was about time that I rehemmed the apron to the new length as well, instead of just pinning it up with safety pins. The new hem is quite bulky since I didn't want to cut anything but just folded it under it self. You never know when you might need the fabric so I try to not cut anything off the costume.

It was also really fun that our host collects folk costumes so that he can lend them out to his guest, and he had a partial male Vika costume that he lent to my boyfriend. I thought it was very cute that we were a matching couple.

The borrowed costume was missing the vest, so he had to have the jacket closed all the time. Maybe if we go there next year and he can borrow the costume I can see if my father's old vest to the costume could be adjusted enough to fit.

I had brought my violin with me, and then there was a traditional birch trumpet in the house. I just love this photo.

And to prove that at least one of us can actually play the instrument we are holding.

I don't know a lot of folk music, but it was fitting that this piece that I'm playing is a walz from the neighbouring parish from where we were.

crosstitch cuffs continues

 After I finished the neckline embroidery I started with some embroiderry for a pair of cuffs as well. I don't have any deadline, it's just something to keep my hands busy while I'm watching tv or doing other stuff.

I once again selected a pattern from the German patternbooks. This time I wanted to do something fairly big, but also a bit organic and not just geometric. 

This time I wanted to do the second pattern from the bottom. I liked the little flower buds. It was also a pattern that was a bit more complicated to figure out the best stitch order. In the end I started with the ribbon, and then I continued with each flower for itself. 

My embroidery got a bit squashed, I counted wrong so I missed one row going down on my first part of the ribbon, and rather than redoing it I made the ribbon in total two rows more narrow, one less on each top and bottom. I still have some more flowers to add, and then I'm thinking about adding a row above and below the pattern.

Over the weekend I've been up in the mountains in our cabin. We don't have tv, so it means some time to craft. I took advantage of being there with my mother, so that she could help me to untwist some bundles of silk embroiery thread, so that they are ready for use whenever I need them.

It was such a lovely weekend up in the mountains, even if it was a bit chilly. The temperature was down to -28c when we arrived. Saturday was the warmest day with -15c. I can't help but wanting to share some nature porn.

There are few things that are more lovely than an open fire.

When we arrived I first had to shovel enough snow for us to actually get into the cabin. Great fun when it's - 28, or not.

On Sunday I went out for some cross country skiing. There is a special stillness in the air when it's cold and you are totally alone with just the sound from your skis and ski poles against the snow.

The cabin from the ski track

The colours when it's this cold are also amazing. This is when dusk started to set in.

2020 costuming review

 I think I can easily say that just as for many of us 2020 didn't exactly turn out to be anything close to what I thought it would be when I posted my costume plans in early January. My plans were to make my 1520 Swedish courtgown, Princess Daisy from Supermario in winter attire, Enfys Nest and a Jedi librarian. 

What became obvious to me was that all inspiration for cosplay projects disappeared at the same rate that all events got cancelled. For cosplay I need an event to aim for. In the end the only cosplay related thing I did was to make a mudhorn egg for my jawa. Even that isn't totally finished since I need to add more paint and attach a string to carry it with.

It was easier to keep the inspiration going for historical projects, and there the Historical Sew Monthly (HSM) is a great inspiration with 12 challenges to complete during a year. My main costuming project that took the most time and energy was that I did manage to finished my court gown project, and I was lucky to get some wonderful photos of it as well.

The more unexpected costuming projects that I did year was when I on a whim decided to make a 1920's one hour dress, and take it to a workshop in educational time travel.

With all big events cancelled, one got to appreciate the smaller things you could do in the vicinity. Like when a friend posted on FB that she wanted to go to a local mansion that is from the early 1900s in period attired. I love 1910s fashion, so I finally added both underwear and outerwear to my Rilla corset from a couple of years ago.

The rest of the things I made were mostly smaller stuff, that fit in with the HSM challenges, so I will make a separate post with just a HSM20 recap.

A quick face mask, or two

At the moment I see a lot of posts from my friends all over the world where they are making face masks. Face masks are not mandatory, and I have seen very few in use around here, but when an online friend in another European country kept talking about him being unable to find face masks to buy and having to make do with a tea towel bandana I reached out and offered to make one and post it to him. I made the masks some time ago, but I didn't want to post about them until I got confirmation that they had arrived, and it's obvious that with so much of the air traffic down the mail services are slower than usual.

I used the patterns and instructions that are available here.

I made two. They take quite a small amount of fabric, costwise it was more expensive to buy premade bias tape and cotton tape for ties.

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There are two layers of fabric, an outer good looking fabric and a plain lining. All the fabrics and tapes are made of 100% cotton, and before I started working on them I actually boiled them in a pot on the stove to make sure that they can be washed on high heat.

In hindsight it would have looked so much better if I had bothered to switch to white sewing thead

I used the male sized pattern, but when I tried it on myself I think it would be fine for me as well, so I think the pattern run a bit small.

The pattern calls for elastic to keep the mask on, but my friend wanted ties that he could tie around the head instead. They are attached like the elastics in the pattern, with one long piece of tape on each side, going out on the bottom and the top of the mask. There is a pocket for inserting a piece wire over the nose, to help with the shape, but I didn't add one since it would be easier to send them ifthey were totally flat.

All it all I could help a friend with 30 minutes of work. (I'm not going to start producing them in any way though, but if it's needed I know how to make one for myself in the future).