We share the glory of our victories

And here’s the last Assassin’s Creed costume: a Brotherhood outfit for my dad.

Last time I posted about this outfit I had finished the jerkin and hood. The doublet took longer because it is made of 64 pieces. For instance, there are 6 tiny pieces in each lower sleeve cap.

I used several different techniques to join the pieces in order to look as close as possible to the references. (Topstitching with zig-zag turned up a lot.)

 Shown here: bound and topstitched, straight-stitch topstitching, and zig-zag topstitching.

I had been planning to line the doublet, but in the end I decided to have a red facing only on the collar. Any more would have been unnecessary bulk.

The fit of the doublet was disappointing. The muslin I made fit properly but the real thing ended up being too big, and I’m not sure why. And fixing it would be very complicated. Thankfully, the original is not a closely fitted garment and the sash holds it together. (Actually, I haven’t made the sash yet – how I make it will depend on how I decide to make the insignia for the belt. The sash in these photos is just leftover fabric)

To get the decorative design down the side of the cape I didn’t even consider hand embroidery! I found a trim at Lincraft that worked perfectly.

I haven't made the leather attachments for the capes yet, but I plan to work on that later in the year.

I made both our undershirts at once, assembly line style.

Mass producing cuffs.

All the cuffs do up with small Dorset buttons left over from the Lucy costume I made earlier in the year.

Dad’s shirt has a ruffled collar which I made with cartridge pleating. My test run worked, but wasn’t quite right so I opted to be lazy and sew it down by machine. If I figure out a better way of constructing it I might redo it more carefully.

Overall, I was very happy I got to make this. Working out how to put it all together was a great challenge which I enjoyed. However, in this, and several other outfits I’ve made recently, I have not been as successful at achieving the desired fitting as I would like to be, especially when working from measurements. Even though I would like it to be a bit better, it has turned out fine and I’m happy with it and Dad is very pleased with it.

Assassin’s Creed belongs to Ubisoft.

You had plans, and look where that got you

I had a plan for sewing this year. It would ensure everything was done in time for deadlines, avoid ‘busy’ times of Real Life and give me a feeling of accomplishment for use whenever I was stressed.

• The assassins would be finished sewing by the end of 2014 (tick – finished at 3am on the 31st).
• Eowyn, a ‘quick’ and ‘easy’ costume, would be done by the end of January.
• Before Uni went back at the end of February I would have fitted the patterns for my Regency dresses for JAFA and got a fair bit of the sewing out of the way.
• March would have been spent finishing the JAFA outfits well ahead of the April event.

What actually happened was I finished Eowyn at the start of March.

Then, starting on my regency outfits, I discovered that my bodiced petticoat gave me terrible backache. I tried it on for 10 minutes and was still sore 3 hours later. I don’t know how I survived at JAFAs past. My short stays are just as bad – which I suspect is why I still thought the petticoat was an improvement; and it was definitely better in terms of bulk under the dress.

So step one was not fitting dress mock-ups but rather new underpinnings. I tried to adjust the bodiced petticoat but I couldn’t work out a way to fix the problem. I believe the pain came from the straps being too short, but if they were made longer the bodice no longer stayed in the right spot. So I’ve spent the last few weeks patterning and making long stays.  I will need a new chemise to go with the new stays but I don’t have time to make one now. I will have to make do with a bulky old one or perhaps my slimline 1913 petticoat.

Another complication was the expiry of my sewing machine. In 2008 I inherited my great aunt’s 1976 Husqvarna 2000. Aunty Gladys had been a keen sewer and wanted her machine to go to whomever of her relatives showed an interest in sewing. That machine served me very well but at its last service I was told it was broken beyond repair. So not only was I behind on my plan, I had to research and buy a new machine. I was able to use my mother’s machine for the majority of the sewing on Eowyn and the stays but needing to get my own new sewing machine was another thing niggling at the back of my mind. Last week I bought a Brother NV610 so sewing life is getting back to normal.

Now that I have a sewing machine and my stays are nearly finished, I have finally got to the ‘fit and make two regency dresses’ part of my plan. Except now I have two weeks instead of two months. My original plans were for a ball gown from a fashion plate and an evening ensemble of my own design. I am preparing myself for the likelihood that these may not happen. But the Uni holidays are coming up and I have made regency clothes before so I have hope… We’ll see what happens.