Too Much to Sew

I have had very much to sew recently, and so far have had no time to take pictures or blog about it. Tobias and I are going to an event next weekend, and I still have to finish his tunic/doublet/cotehardie (what on earth should I call it?). So far I’ve only made the side and back seams, so I’m way behind. I also would like to have my over dress finished in time, but it’s looking dark so far. What with work taking up so much of my time, me being very tired when I get home, and having felt sick every day for more than eight weeks, my sewing has been irregular at best.

I also have a lot of other things I need to sew. If all goes well, we’ll receive an addition to our little family in December and hardly any of my usual skirts and dresses fits anymore. Most of them have been made to my measurements, and it didn’t take much for me to outgrow them. Sigh. At least I don’t feel sick that often anymore.

A couple of years ago I made a summer dress for casual wear, and now I remade it a bit. I raised the waistline, and added a flounce at the hem, as I wanted it longer now than when I first made it. The shoulder straps are the ties of the casing of the neckline (very adjustable, and should make it possible to nurse in as well, come that time), and there’s a drawstring at the waist, tying in the back. The skirt is a half circle, so there should be plenty of room for an expanding belly.

Yesterday we went to a friends wedding, and took the opportunity to get a few pictures of the dress. The surroundings were beautiful, one of the many small castles in this part of Sweden (mostly built by nobles in the 16^th and 17^th centuries).

The wedding reception was located in one of the old storage buildings, which was perfect. When I looked at the pictures just after Tobias had taken them I said something about looking so big, and he replied with a twinkle in his eye that it looked becoming on me. That made me laugh, but I’m grateful he like me even when I’m loosing my figure. Oh, how I’m looking forward to receive this little one! I pray that all will go well.

There were no toilet facilities in the old storage building, so we had to walk up to the castle for that. Now, Tobias and his family (as well as many others at the wedding) know the lady that runs things there, I know that there’s no one living in the castle anymore, and that it’s run mostly as a conference and kick of centre these days, so it shouldn’t have felt so intimidating, but I still felt weird walking up to the front door. It would have felt more natural to take the kitchen entrance. That being the case, I just had to have a picture of myself hesitating by the doors.

I guess that shows where I place myself on the social scale, huh? ;)

National Day

Today Sweden celebrated its national day, and the local open air museum hosted a celebration with a multi cultural theme. It was very nice, with food, music, etc. from many different countries. I, who love national dress of every description, thought it was nice, though there could have been a greater variety in cultures represented.

I wanted to wear my folk costume (in public for the first time), and Tobias asked his dad if he could borrow his, and that was all right. My father in law’s folk costume is from an area (Vemmenhög) just next to where mine’s from (Oxie), so Tobias and I matched each other well. I thought he looked very handsome in it. It consists of a cotton shirt, a wool waistcoat, breeches, wool stockings, a wool coat, a silk neck kerchief, tasselled garters and a felt hat. He left the coat at home, it being such a sunny, hot day, 26 degrees C (almost 79 degrees F).

I, who planned to have some detail pictures taken of my costume, didn’t want to leave out the knitted sweater, but decided to wear it anyway. It was quite warm, but not unmanageable. Several people told us we looked nice and (on the way home, a lady even stopped her car to compliment us), some asked if they could take a picture of us, which was fun.

And now a couple of close up pictures of my costume.

Tomorrow I'll start working full time. More money for us to live on, but less time to be together. The modern way of life is odd; couples and families seem to spend most of their time apart… I can live with it temporarily, but how can those who live like this all their working lives manage?

A Pair of Hose, Revisited

A short post to say that I (re-)finished the foot parts of the hose yesterday, and am very much pleased with them. They look several times better than before. As I said before, I really can't make the ankles any tighter, as Tobias can just get his feet through them now.

I didn’t bother with using the same kind of seam as the first time round, I just wanted them finished and done with now. I used strong, waxed linen thread for attaching the sole, and then folded both seam allowances up (having trimmed the “inner” one down to half), and secured by hemming stitches in wool. The hose are now done.

The next projects I have planned will be an over kirtle for me, made from the fabric Tobias is standing on in the above picture, and a tunic for him.