Friday we had appt. with Phil, our personal trainer, which went pretty well, despite my continued frustration with not quite getting what should be something pretty simple. But most of it I can see improvement in, and eventually I'll "get it" on the other bits. Phil would probably say it's actually pretty complex...and it's part of retraining for the hips and knees, so really, I should be more patient with myself. Still. A reminder of how far I still have to go, I guess.

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Bought interfacing for the obi while we were down in the valley, so maybe that obi will actually get done this week. And, after struggling with possible designs and techniques for a layer over the base skirt for the winter queen costume, I finally decided to buy some light blue organza for it (polyester, which is one of the reasons I was looking at other options). One option I was looking at was making a beaded netting, but that would be a new skill set and for what I want to do I'd have to go from beginner to advanced in one summer, which I really don't see happening.

I've pretty much figured out waist measurements for that costume as well, which is more complicated than one might think. The corset I'll be wearing with it has a minimum of 30 inches. Currently I'm at 36" and am only comfortable bringing it down to 33" (I like to breathe), but I'd like to bring it down a touch more. I've been slacking on diet because yard work and moving stuff at the family farm wipe me out, but I'm going to work on improving on that, because too much bad food just makes things worse and I don't have time for feeling like crap. So my minimum goal, which I should be able to achieve by end of August is to lose one inch. In order to do that I'll be continuing to do yard work, so I'll be getting in better shape and be stronger, which is one of my life goals, so it's worth it. Because my goal isn't showing how thin I can be, but how healthy I can be; it's just that structurally for me that means I need to take more stress off the structure. *sigh*

Anyway, that still means working with a waistline that could be between 30 - 32 inches, because if I finally figure out the magic combination of exercise and diet changes (eliminating outside endocrine disruptor inputs as much as possible is key), I might lose more than my minimum goal. But I want to do a somewhat fitted waist for this outfit, not using elastic. So I'll be putting in laces instead of zippers or hooks and eyes. The laces for the base layer will be on both sides and will tuck inside the skirt. Single lacing or tie for the next layer, in the front. The topmost is a wide girdle with panels going down the front and back (sort of like some Ancient Chinese outfits had), and will lace on the sides. Those will be laced with ribbons that will complement the outfit and become part of the decorations.

The beading research wasn't a total loss though -- going to try to make some snowflakes to put on the girdle and panels.

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Minivan continues to have issues because of the malfunctioning body control module. L is working on that.

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We moved two more loads of stuff to the trailer in the minivan, as the pickup's bed was full of roofing slate. Also one trip to our house, because we're moving some of the more breakable stuff direct to here. So we now have a large mirror in the downstairs hallway waiting to be hung, a bunch of old house windows stacked in the carriage house, a serving dish in the house waiting to be cleaned and put away, and a rather large urn on the patio. Not sure if I'm keeping that last item, but I do love the deep blue glaze on it, so we'll see.

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Moar yard work -- digging, removing rocks, setting the newly re-extended drain pipe lower into the ground, putting hay mulch out along the lower meadow and in the area by the river that we're reconstructing, weeding, and mowing. Oh, and a little work building a rock wall. And I did some cleaning in the barn.

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The new rhubarb seems to be taking. The flower stalk is ridiculously huge. I may have to take a picture.

L noted what looked to be fiddleheads in the neighbor's yard and I agree with him on it. The neighbor said to feel free to take some, so looks like the new fiddlehead bed will be bigger to start than we thought.

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We took a break yesterday evening and went to see Godzilla. It was pretty good!

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Everything aches, but it's sunny out, so guess what? More work outdoors!

L did set up the table in the basement but it was late so I didn't do anything with it. Saturday I moved all our egg cartons and flats so they're on or under it, with some space to spare. Space shuffling continues, esp. as the trailer probably won't get moved until end of May...

We did finally get some fiddlehead ferns in pots; not in the ground yet as we needed to clear a space and it's taking time. Maybe today?

Started cutting out the obi pieces, realized the linen isn't stiff enough so I need to dig out some interfacing.

*sigh* Really need to plant some seeds in pots for the veg garden. Maybe today?

Have had enough sunny weather that I can dry laundry outside these past few weeks, a definite plus.

Going to a vigil in Greenfield this coming Thursday. I've taken plenty of political action over the years, including phone calls, letter-writing, and causing a little trouble for the state, but this will be my first time being at a political action in-person. More on the vigil in my next post.

Well, I was doing pretty well with the posting and then suddenly stopped. Phoo.

So! I've continued to muddle along on the sewing. Finished making both the silver and black kimono, still working on embroidering the mon.

Ironed the old black silk hakama today -- they're not in too bad shape, one little tear near the bottom of one leg (mendable), and one tiny burn hole at about knee/upper calf height (not mendable because it would show too much). I made them for when Kai and Genevieve were king and queen and were doing Japanese for their reign. The burn hole surprised me, but I did wear them to Pennsic, so at some point I was too near a fire apparently.

Converted my old white skirt (from when I used to do garland dancing) into knickers for the Loli outfit. Pictures later.

Shortened an old SCA skirt, as the bottom edge was frayed and ragged from being over-long -- part of doing a Spanish well-to-do look. Added gold bullion fringe near the hem so that the bottom of the fringe is at the hemline but it has the fabric in the background to add substance and depth to the fringe. Lyle and I went to a Steampunk party at the Springfield Museums -- great music, fun crowd, great art, and all for $10 for both of us.


Finally mended the leg seam on the silky pants that go with our old Chinese Tai Chi outfits. Also discovered a repair I needed to make on my long petticoat, so that's done too.

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Still working on clearing an area for part of this year's veg garden, but with all the rocks in the soil I can't work on it for very long periods. The goal is to also clear out the grass to the south of this area for the herb garden. Making progress but feeling a little discouraged because it isn't done yet. I need to get out there again today, if only to harvest some stinging nettle, but going to try doing a little more digging too.

L has helped when he can, but he's also been working on keeping the pasture down, clearing all the old plant debris and digging out stumps, removing some of the fencing, etc. The fencing's quite a job, with not only posts to remove but also the fencing is well stapled and/or tied to the posts, and the fences that were still standing had rocks holding down the bottom edge -- underground. Might not have started out that way, as the fencing isn't new, but hard to say. The fencing that's down is this pile that got partly taken down and rolled into a messy pile and left there, and then brush and brambles grew through and over it. I started the work of getting it out and L has continued it. Some of the fencing is salvageable and some not so much.

We gave some of the neighbor's garden stuff away. More to go. The greenhouse is mostly empty.

The grass is growing now, and L has done some mowing already.

Finally getting back to sewing, and the top kimono is still kicking my @$$. Measured and pinned the openings for the sleeves oh so carefully (because lined, so trying to make sure right sides are where they should be, etc.), pinned oh so carefully to the body...wrong edges, both times. So the curve at the bottom of the sleeves is on the side nearer to the body instead of being nearer to the wrist...*sigh* Just had to walk away at that point. At least I put the neck band on correctly :P

Tomorrow, I re-cut the bottom of the sleeves, because quite frankly I'd rather make them a little shorter than rip all that work out -- especially since I'd probably just screw it up again.

Really, I just want to be done with this part and move on to the obi and get the embroidery for the other 2 mons set up finally. And get on to other projects besides.

So, yesterday was more recovery from the weekend, although I did get in some sewing. I wish I could sew as quickly as I used to, but still working on endurance. Mostly, my brain gets tired of working out all the details, I think. You wouldn't think there was much to work out on a kimono, but this is the lined one and there are no directions for that, which always makes attaching sleeves interesting... also, I couldn't figure out the overband so I left it off. But the sleeves are attached and just need clipping, pressing, and finishing (under arm area and attaching the sleeve lining to the body so it covers the shoulder seam).

Trimmed the bottom edges today and started hemming.

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Boned a chicken and put the bits back into the fridge. Thinking about making chicken and rice with the garam masala (but no dairy).

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Upped my supplements over the past week -- just Vitamin C and fish oil pills. They might be helping, but too soon to say. Deep breathing exercises seem to be helping overall, and in particular with getting more sleep.

Monday I started laying out the kimono pattern on some silver/grey shantung silk. There isn't actually enough for a proper kimono, but as this layer will be under the top layer, nobody's going to see that, esp. as they'll all be tucked into the hakama. This has the advantage that I could always wear it mundanely with a sash, over pants or a skirt. Figuring out the size was interesting, as I seem to have misplaced that part of the pattern. Fortunately, I made an underlayer based on this pattern ages ago, so I measured on part of that (I did horrible, non-traditional things to that garment, taking out seams because I had wide fabric and putting in seams at the shoulders -- probably I was either struggling with keeping the silk from shifting over that long a distance, or I simply didn't have enough space to lay out that many yards at once).

I'm using the Folkwear pattern, which has quite a bit more information on traditional methods, design, and wearing instructions than I remembered it having. When I last used it, I made my sleeves longer, but I was trying for Kamakura period, not Edo. I cut the sleeves one inch less than in the pattern, as the silk is somewhat heavy and I don't want it to rest on the seam of the outer layer. The outer layer is also somewhat heavy material - 5.3 oz. linen, in black.

I was trying to decide if I want to line them or not. Noble/formal wear was usually lined, at least according to the Folkwear pattern, and Bat Girl would be the daughter of a prominent person. But I wasn't sure how many layers I want to wear, despite the hotel being climate-controlled. Plus I'm not sure how well a med-wt. linen would drape if fully lined (probably with more linen). What I've settled on at this point is fully lining the silk layer both to protect the silk and to create a uniform drape when worn by itself, and to only line the sleeves of the top layer. The sleeve openings will be wide enough to glimpse the inside of the sleeves, so having a different color showing would add a little depth/detail.

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I also started work on embroidering the mon. Not too bad, but wondering if I can actually make two of the three of them look identical or not...

Here is the free dress I got from a friend, which is getting used as part of the project. It's size 7/8, which I am not, but that's okay. The skirt overlaps off-center, which is one of the reasons I picked that cute Lolita dress that I posted a little while back as an inspiration piece.



I separated the bodice from the skirt, cut the skirt to half its length, and have been using the lower part to make ruffles, fill out the upper skirt more, and up-size the bodice.


The bodice is lined but the skirt isn't. As originally designed, one would wear a slip with the dress, so no problem. But my plan is for an opening in the front, so I made and attached an underslip to the skirt, from another one of the white Holyoke curtains.

The purple pleated ruffle on top of the edge ruffle I made from the same linen fabric as the ruffle skirt -- make a long strip of fabric, sew it into a long tube, press it flat, pleat and attach. The lace trim is some funky 1980s stuff I found on etsy.

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Pinned the overskirt onto the ruffle skirt and pinned a piece of lace onto the top, just to give a general idea of the direction this is going. The top is going to become a bolero jacket, with some sort of ruffle going around the edges, over a white blouse.



I'm not sure I have enough of the dress material left to use that for the edge ruffle; if not, maybe a nice lace ruffle would work... I want to put a pleated ruffle on top of that, along with the lace trim, to go with the over skirt. And of course now I'll need a nice white blouse underneath the jacket, but that's okay, as I'll then have a blouse I can wear for everyday wear. I'm much happier with this reworking of my original plan; two layers on top just feels more balanced. Also, I'd rather not have a synthetic against my skin, both in general and specifically because Dragon Con will be warm with all those people there...unless it's a microfiber designed to wick moisture away from your body, synthetics usually just aren't worth the time of day.

At least it's a dry snow...was getting tired of soggy boots and socks the past several days...

The Night of Love and Chocolate at Elmer's this past Saturday was lovely, as usual. The chef was showing off his skills, to good effect. The chocolatiere is the owner of Unbridled Chocolates, in NH. He always comes down himself to do the dessert part of the night. We're going to have to try making hot chocolate at home again soon -- I asked his advice on getting the chocolate to mix more completely, and he said what works best for him is to start with very little of the liquid component, just enough to make the chocolate into sort of a sauce/syrup, and then gradually add the rest of the liquid (milk, almond milk, etc.).

Still trying to stabilize my spine and keep it properly aligned. I have it to where it's mostly just the upper left quadrant of the back giving me grief, and it's possible that the mid/lower right is getting a bit less tight. Soaking, rolling, and then exercises with correct posture.

Finished putting trim on the lavender dress' skirt ruffle last night. Also cut out a hood and mantle yesterday and rummaged through some fabric. More rummaging today...I should try to keep an eye out for things I want to get rid of, as well as looking for some project stuff. There's a crafting swap in town this coming weekend.

Trying to put some links in one findable spot...

[EDIT] BATS: http://printsofjapan.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/i-am-going-bats-bat-batty-bats-part-one/

Kabuki (history):
http://www2.ntj.jac.go.jp/unesco/kabuki/en/4/4_01.html

Kosode:
http://www.wodefordhall.com/kosode.htm

Attaching collar to kosode or any other kimono:
http://danabren.blogspot.com/2014/01/how-to-sew-kosode-or-any-other-kimono.html

General post on happi coat (mostly I wanted to make sure they existed in Edo period):
http://voices.yahoo.com/the-origin-japanese-happi-coat-4611707.html?cat=7

A little bit of history on kabuki theatre makeup/kumadori:
http://thestorybehindthefaces.com/2012/01/20/kumadori-japanese-kabuki-theatre-makeup/

Katsura/Wig:
Color: http://www.trocadero.com/stores/japaneseartsite/items/896695/catphoto.jpg (lion dancer)

Possible wig: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Adult-Red-Asian-Japanese-Kabuki-Theatre-Drama-Costume-Wig-/161188904843?pt=US_Costume_Accessories&hash=item25879b7f8b

I would be putting at least some of it up into "ears"


Ninja:
http://www.neatorama.com/2010/07/26/ancient-ninja-separating-the-men-from-the-myth/#!tD857

Haven't really found much on the kabuki theatrical ninja. Going to look into getting/making fan and clawed gloves.