ethereal seamstress wrap-up

I didn’t get to post about the last-minute push to finish everything for my judging presentation.

I got my basic hose finished at 4am on Saturday. I didn’t get to put the tops on them to really make them Viking thigh-highs, but that’s on my punch list. They are incredibly comfortable and I want to make more to really refine the patterns. There was a certain amount of jiggering about when attaching the top of the foot to the leg, and I want to play around with assembly to see what the easiest way might be. There could be a class here, so I’ll try to take good notes.

I did develop a little hot spot on the side arch of my right foot, but I couldn’t find any lumps or rough spots in the foot of the hose, so maybe there was a wrinkle inside my shoe. I’ve always been tender-footed, even when I was skating and abusing my feet regularly, so if it’s not that, I’ll probably just end up putting a bandage on my foot before I get dressed. I’ve been wanting an excuse to buy a Wellys kit.

I did the judging at my Mom’s house. Her background was less chaotic than my house. I was still sewing the straps on my smokker during the judging of the first group, and I sewed the tablet weaving to the front loops while I was wearing the dress. The loops that come over my shoulders from the back ended up being too long; fixing those are also on my punch list. The smokkr itself is really comfy, and I want to make another one, but I’m not entirely thrilled with the shape I developed. I’m going to play around with this pattern as well.

I also want to try this sort of pleating on linen, because I think it would be super-cute on a summer dress.

Speaking of linen, my serk turned out well, but it wasn’t till Saturday that I realized it was too big for me. Originally I was going to take in the shoulders. I was looking in the mirror, and realized that the neckline in particular looked too wide for me, and while I was chatting with my mom (who loves the handkerchief linen I used to make it), I grabbed a handful of fabric at the center front. Pinning 3” out of the front of the serk brought everything in where it needed to be, so fixing that is yet another item on my punch list. I’m just going to sew the line first, then trim away the excess and finish the seam. That way, if it goes haywire, I only have to rip out the stitching; I haven’t destroyed the front of my gown.

I think that my presentation went well. I haven’t gotten my comments back from the judges yet. There were some weirdnesses with the judges for my group that bothered me. I didn’t know who my judges were, as only two of them had introduced themselves to me, and I only saw one of those two logged in during the presentations of the Early Period group. Turns out that our group only had two judges, because of the four people that were lined up to judge, one dropped out a bit before end of the competition, and one ghosted the event entirely. I have some further questions about how events of the day went down in regards to my group, but I will ask those in the future.

I am not in any way contesting the results of my skill division. Bartholomew Sharpe deserved to win. His presentation and accomplishments are beyond reproach and I strive to be as efficient in my making and as fearless in trying new skills as he is. The issues I had with the judging in my time period group rocked me hard, harder than I expected, and those are issues are mine to cope with, so I’m going to take my time to unpack them. If I force it, it will not go well.

I enjoyed the process and the presentations. (If you want to see my presentation, it’s right here on YouTube. I’m going to help organize the competition next time, and I’m looking forward to that. I’m really hoping that we can make it even better next time, fostering community amongst the competitors and excitement amongst the populace. I really want to make it fun.

That wraps it up for me for the Ethereal Seamstress Challenge. Next up… The Laurel Challenges! Stay tuned…