Breaking the Plateau - 22.4! 22.4! 22.4! I've broken my plateau at only 21 pounds lost, and this morning registered a grand total of 22.4 pounds lost! *hee hee*

Let's see, what have Liz and I been up to for the past week, other than obviously eating right?

Thu Jan 4: Last ditch sewing - Liz opted to stay home while I spent a few last hours with Meala on our "sooper seekrit" sewing project. Around 9 pm I headed back home, and only stayed up until about 1:30 am (if I remember correctly).

Fri Jan 5: The day of the Big Reveal - And now, the final conclusion: The big "sooper seekrit" sewing project was that (a) Meala would have a new outfit, (b) I'd have a new outfit, and (c) [trumpet fanfare] Raphael (Saul) would have a new outfit as a surprise. Ta-da! First, Meala came over and put a casserole in the oven so we could all enjoy a nice Shabbat dinner and do all our frantic last-minute sewing. I couldn't finish my overdress, but I did lots of hand-work for all three of us for the last day. The final solution for Saul's doublet was to spiral-lace the cord (with hand-woven kumihimo cord, tea-stain dyed to make it match better) to cinch closed the front, as well as to lace the sleeves to the body of the doublet (i.e. they're detatchable sleeves). But whereas we used an eyelet trim on the hidden sleeves seam, we used hand-placed eyelets to close the front of the doublet, and so I stitched those on between dinner and the big-reveal Coffee and Dessert.

Bad for us, Saul arrived exactly on time. (eep! couldn't he be late?) Liz had slipped out for coffee at the bookstore and just some quiet time of her own, so Meala and I had the house to ourselves for the reveal. Our final presentation included:

By me:
(1) A white linen/cotton blend (with a textured weave) for the shirt, complete with blackwork (and gold thread) embroidery on the collar and cuffs. [I didn't do the blackwork itself, but hand stitched it to the collar and cuffs.] (2) Grey linen drawstring narrow (fitted) trousers.

By Meala:
(3) A black linen doublet with red & blue paisley brocaded edging on the shoulders, wide red & blue paisley brocade on the waist band (eppelets), detatchable sleeves made with "panes" (which are strips of linen so that another cloth will show through from underneath) with beige/tan silk peeking through for the upper-arm, the white shirt peeking through from the forearm, banded with silk and paisley at the upper- and lower-arm, and banded with paisley at the elbow. [The sleeves made me cry, they were so pretty!] (4) And a reverseable jacket/overcoat in dark red brocade and black linen, trimmed in dark gold wool.

The doublet and the jacket are both "fighting legal" for fencing, which means they fulfill all the armor requirments for our rapier fencing. The shirt is "fighting" legal because there is no slit on the neckline or the wrists. The pants, well, they were my second pair I made because the first ones were too small. These are also too snug for fighting, but I'll make a new pair later with enough slack for full fencing movement.

Saul was absolutely stunned. The photos of the reveal are stunning, and they really show off how impressed he was with our work.

Meala's dress was also done. The overdress is a brocaded rose-dusty pink with green highlights, with a hand-woven lucet cord couched on and green beads in patterns, green buttons, lined tabs on the shoulders. Hanging from the doublet is a lucious brown linen, with two appliqued rose/pink brocade diamonds. The skirt is open from the waist to the floor, showing the underdress. The underdress is in neutral beige, with a green panel in a diamond to show through the overdress. Her outfit is also completely fencing legal armor.

My underdress is completely done. I used a bright yellow linen, and the neutral beige silk for the sleeves and a stomacher panel in the front. The stomacher is designed to look like another dress underneath, and is hand-stitched so that the seam is invisible. The sleeves are also in the same silk. The overdress, which isn't done, will be a black wool and dark purple wool. No sleeves, so that the sleeves that show are the neutral silk. And the front will have a plunging reveal to show the stomacher from the underdress. I promised Meala that I would have the overdress done by this weekend's Bardic Collegium, which is awfully close to having it done by 12th Night.

I had to keep the pants and shirt overnight, because the blackwork wasn't completely sewn on by the reveal, and the pants were too long and needed the drawstring added. But we made plans to meet him at the site in the morning, and he could get dressed on site.

(I almost forgot that Meala =made= pie for our coffee & dessert. Liz helped by peeling, coring, and cutting the apples, but they both rock massively!)

And then, of course, I stayed up late to make the final sewing happen/finish. *grin*

And now, what you've all been waiting for: Pictures of the Big Reveal!!!



Sat Jan 6: 12th Night - We looked stunning! Everyone! Liz wore a loaned outfit from Caterina, who bought it at Pennsic years ago. It was only a few inches too small for Liz, but we were able to add short linen extenders to the skirts and make it completely work for her.

Bonus! More Photos!



Besides the amazingly wonderful costuming finished and the fun of the event, the competition for Bard of Caid was held at 12th Night. The photos include Alexandra (Lilya), Catelin, and Mathias and their performances in the various categories: A period documented piece, a piece you consider your best performance, a piece based on or inspired by Rumi (a Persian 13th C poet), and a piece composed on site during the competition including the randomly selected words "scion," "hands," and "honor."

Sun Jan 7: Dinner with Rhieinwen, Coffee/Pie with Marcos - Liz and I first cleaned up around the house, picking up the whirlwind sewing mess. A quick phone call to Dayle to determine that she's actually in town and free for dinner, then we hit the road. We had a lovely visit, and Liz got her first chance to see Dayle's historic home. Then we headed over to our favorite deli for dinner, and had a wonderful evening together. It had been years since they'd seen each other, and so it was a wonderful way to relax and recover from all the hard work the past week.

Then we came back home to meet with Marcos for some social time over coffee and pie (thanks to all the wonderful leftover pie from Meala on Friday!), then off to well-deserved sleep.

Mon Jan 8: Council - During "work hours," Liz started working through my fiber stash in the living room, opening boxes, finding stuff, refolding, resorting. And in the evening, we went to the Baronial council meeting and then socializing at Carl's Jr. with friends.

Tue Jan 9: Finished Fiber Stash - I thought it might take four days to get through all the stuff in the living room, but Liz finished it all in just two days. So I took some extra time in the evening to rearrange the furniture and boxes, to vacuum, and get the house in good order. Now you can actually get to all the fiber stash shelves, all the cloth, all the office supplies, all the spinning, and all the art supplies. It's amazing! I feel like dancing around and squealing all the time that my entire house is organized and cleaned up.

Liz went to a private fencing practice with friends and I went to the studio with band, and then we all met up again over coffee. Chatting in the parking lot till all hours was fun, but of course we're really tired now today!

Wed Jan 10: Today - Liz is learning how to use my sewing machine today, and practicing sewing. She's made little bags and things for a stuffed animal, and is just playing with scrap cloth for now. Before the end of this week, she'll try her hand at her first costume, since we all sew our first outfit and we all hate it, but eventually sewing improves. *grin*

Tonight we'll go to Baronial fencing practice for the second time, and socializing at IHOP afterwards.

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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Liz, Melissa (Meala), and Saul have made my last week the most wonderful