11th Century Bliaunt - Green FINISHED

I got my new to me Necchi 575FA machine this afternoon.  It's so amazing.  This baby works like a charm.   I was able to finish the trim on my Bliaunt and make a Kate Holly Clark special chemise.  One of these days I will post the directions for this, but it takes drawing and I'm really bad at that.

Here is my new machine.

Isn't it great.

The model number.

 Here is the finished Bliaunt.  I'll get pictures of me in it when I can.

Well, that's it.  I love this pattern so there may be more variants in the future.  Thanks for sticking with me on this one.  It was longer than it should, but I got two great machines out of it and learned that unless you are just a beginner or don't sew that much, stay away from plastic throw away machines.

11th Century Bliaunt - Green - Back in business

Thanks to a very wonderful friend (Kate) who seems to collect used sewing machines I'm back in business.  She had an older Necchi that was sitting around doing nothing, so she gave it to me as a spare machine.  Once I got it cleaned up and de-linted (wow, there was a lot of lint), I started playing.  Yes, I spent $10.00 for a download of the users manual.  I figured out what the problem was with the tension.  Got everything adjusted and, bam, can this machine chew through a hem.  I'm going to have to get more bobbins, because my old singer bobbins won't fit.  Not a problem.

It's it pretty.

I got the gussets sewn in and I got the sleeves and bottom hemmed up.  All I have left is the trim and this one is in the bag.

Thank you my dear Kate for getting me back in business.

11th century Bliaunt - At an impass

Well, I thought I would be posting that I finished my green Bliaunt today, but I've hit a major snag.  I got the gussets pinned and sewn up and the arms sewn up.  Tried it on and realized that the bobbin thread hadn't caught.  I spent two hours sewing and fighting with a jamming bobbin and cleaning and taking the bobbin casing apart only to have it all go up in flames.  Argh.

Good news is a guy in the town 15 minutes away fixes singers and gives free estimates.  I also have two wonderful friends who are going to loan me a sewing machine and to help me find a backup.

OK, next...

11th Century Bliaunt - Green - Day 1

I've changed a few things on this one.  It's a few inches longer and I have to put a back gusset in along with the two side gussets.  The side gussets are right triangles and the back one is two right triangles that I will sew together.  The fabric is a beautiful dark green cotton.  It is a bit shorter than 4 yards so I had to finagle just a bit.  Hey, no problem, it was free (thank you Kate).

Today I got all the pieces cut out.  Front and back pieces, two bell arms and four right triangle gussets.  The neckline is a bit more square.

I trimmed the neckline and then covered the back top with bias tape.  Then I sewed the shoulder seams together.  I turned the piece right side out and sewed the back neck down.  I then pinned on and sewed the sleeves onto the body.  Not bad considering all I intended to do way cut it out today.

Neckline

Back of the neck

Arm seam

11th Century Bliaunt - The Green one

I'm making another Bliaunt in dark green with a white/green thistle trim.  Here is the fabric and the trim.

11th Century Bliaunt - Pictures of me in it

Front view

Side View

Side View

Arm

Back

11th Century Bliaunt - FINISHED

It's finished.  I am so happy with the way it came out.  I hemmed both sleeves and trimmed them.

I then hemmed the bottom.  I am thrilled that there was enough trim to do the bottom also.  I have so much left over that I made a cross over belt out of some of it.  I basically just took a nice long length and sewed the ends over.  i will probably add tassels to the ends. 







The next thing I need to complete this is a stomacher.  This is next.

11th Century Bliaunt - Day 3

It is fully sewn up.  I sewed the gussets to one side, went to pin it to the other side and, %$#@, ripped the gusset out because I sewed it on backwards.  Pinned it and sewed it on the right way.

Once I had the gussets sewn the correct way, I pinned the other side up.  It gets a little tricky so I start pinning from the underarm down to the hem.  I pinned both sides and tried it on.  That way, if anything needs to be adjusted, I can do it before it is all sewn up.  I tried it on over a tee shirt so I could judge what it would fit like with something underneath because I will be wearing it with a chemise.  It fit fine so I struggled out of it (yup, pins and all) and went to the sewing machine.  One side all sewn up, including the sleeve seam and that is when my bobbin empties.  I never have that kind of luck.  It usually happens mid seam :).  Re-wind the bobbin and sew the other side up.

Here is the bell sleeve

Here is the full length.

All that is left is hemming the sleeves, the bottom and trimming it out.

Onward and upward.

11th century Bliaunt - Day 2

Today was sew the body pieces together, trim out the neckline and sew on the sleeves day.  I wanted to do the side gussets too, but I over did it with visiting my SIL at the hospital then running five different errands in five different stores, so I was completely out of energy.  But, I was determined to do some sewing today.

The first thing I did was sew some thin grosgrain ribbon on the top of the back piece.  This will make the back of the neckline look cleaner and make it smoother.  I trimmed the front neckline.  It came out more V neck instead of scoop with a keyhole.  I definitely need more practice with necklines other than square.  I may redo the trimming later.

Once the shoulder seams were sewn, I pinned the back neckline down and stitched it down.  I think it looks clean and neat.

I then centered the top of the sleeves on the shoulder seams and pinned them down.  Back over to the sewing machine to stitch them up. 

This is as far as I got today.  Tomorrow I want to get the gussets in and stitch up the sides and the under sleeve.  Then I can try it on and hem the sleeves, then trim them.  Last will be hemming the bottom and seeing if I have enough trim to do the whole hem.  If not, I may do something down the sides.

Stay tuned.

...and so it begins - 11th Century Bliaunt

I'm making an 11th century Bliaunt.  This is a gown that is tight fitting on the top and flowing on the bottom.  It has long sleeves that starts tight at the top and bells out towards the bottom.  It has a shallow scoop neck with a keyhole at the middle.  It can also have a square neckline, but I'm going with the scoop.

I cut two pieces for the body, the front piece has the neckline cut out.  I cut two sleeves that will bell to about 18" at the end.  I also cut two gussets that will give the fullness starting at the waist to the end.  Traditionally, this style is made with a gusset in the front and back also, but I'm not that fond of sewing in gussets.  I need more practice before I'm completely comfortable with this.

I have enough fabric left over to make a belt.  I'm also making a stomacher of a blue brocade to go with it.  An 11th century stomacher is a very wide belt that laces up the back.  You can either wear a Bliaunt with a stomacher or a belt wrapped high under the bust, crossed in the back and tied in the front.  You can also wear both, which is my plan.

The trim will go around the neckline and the sleeves, and if I have enough around the hem.  Underneath this I will wear a chemise of blue/gray with tight sleeves all the way down.  I plan to eventually do some embroidery around the cuffs and neckline of the chemise.  We'll see about that.  A veil of the same fabric will round out the 11th century outfit.

The fabric is a cotton/linen blend and the trim is a tapestry type trim.

 

Oh, by the way, I need to complete at least two Bliaunts and one, preferably two chemises and veils for the second weekend in July for GNEW (an SCA event which I will be vending and attending as a new SCA member).