stitch-stitch-stitch!

One of my hand-sewing inspirations for Seppa's garments comes from this image of using coloured threads in a running stitch from vertical and horizontal travel. It's organic and rustic, but functional. I also drew inspiration from Japanese boro with its distressed fabric scraps layered and stitched; though boro is generally tidier than my meagre efforts, I'm enjoying it for its mindfulness.

When I'm cutting fabric for making clothes, I save my scraps to test the sewing or serger's tension for the fabric, before I begin sewing on the garment itself. This means I often have more scraps than I needed for the test sewing, so having another outlet for use of the scraps is helpful.

The striped browns fabric has a small amount of synthetic, but appears to be mostly cotton. I picked up eleven yards of this stuff because it was either 50p/m or £1/m and I liked the woven stripes in it.

Backstory

I have a favourite hoody, it's a thick cotton (either 100% or 95%) that has acted as a windbreaker on many occasions and I wear it nearly every day since 2013. Because of this, there's wear at certain locations, one of them is the underarm-to-wrist sleeve seam, especially at the wrist. I'm using it to inform where I add patches of fabric to the linen-cotton hooded coat.

Deciding on threads and placement of the patch.

I went with top-stitching thread, because it's thick and visible, though it unravels with vexing frequency, so knotting at the end becomes a trial if I tried to use up as much of the thread on the needle as I can manage. The top-stitching thread also has a slight sheen on it that's a bit more than regular or extra strong thread.

In progress...

In the above picture, I've placed the patch over the sleeve hem where it joins the underarm seam. When I've worn the coat, that part of the sleeve, on both arms, likes to catch on things; this informed me of where to site the patch, as it would have worn or torn in that location.

The inside view that wouldn't normally be on display.

One never knows when someone else might glance at one and see the inside of garments, and so I've made some of those potential places visible with my work.

The two thread colours that I used.

When I ran out of what I had on the needle, I took the other thread colour and carried on. So the stitches are two very slightly different colours. I need to do that more often, pick two or three thread colours and not load on too much thread, and swap them to make the rustic, organic look into something authentic.

"Oh, I ran out of that thread, what else do I have to finish this particular patch?"

Some of my later patches forgot this idea. I need to return to it, so that rustic authenticity remains present.

Use those scraps!

The egg-blue stripe cotton scrap is from my tunic. I didn't bother with the crossings with it at this time, but I might at some later moment, because 'kit upgrades'.

This is how this section ended.

One thing that I forgot to do before the patches is that on the other sleeve, like the hood, I have some simple running stitches along those edges to stabilise the lining edges from rolling or moving too much and showing.

I now call the left arm sleeve "eye-sleeve".

I rectified my forgetfulness of the running stitch along the left sleeve hem by adding the running stitch and then burying the ends inside the patch.

Also, one might notice that the premade shisha ring dye-bled on the surrounding threads and fabrics. I came away from visiting a smoker; their secondhand smoke made my coat reek, and I didn't want my costume to continue to make me ill, so I had to wash the machine wash coat. Yes, I know, what a chance to take, machine washing a glass mirror. I put the coat in a sweater-washing bag to shield the mirror. I will have to find another way to neutralise any further tobacco odours.

I think on Friday, when I had the day 'to kill' at my host's home, I added another patch, because what better way to make use of downtime with limited resources? I did have the foresight to bring my sewing kit and a big bag of scraps with me to draw from so I knew that I could do something productive.

Some of my tools. Yes, milliners' needles.

Outside of the right sleeve.

Like much of the rest of my costuming, I had scraps of the IKEA cotton calico that I had dyed "coffee brown" and used for the linen hooded coat's lining. I snipped, then tore the rectangle of fabric, though one edge is still tidy because it was a cut edge. I did use different coloured threads this time.

The view from the inside of the sleeve.

This was the end result:

It worked for me.

Yesterday evening, I came across two very old (nearly twenty years old?) and worn John Lewis pillowcases that I'd set aside in the scraps bag, instead of putting it into the textile recycling. They're the right colour for Skywise, so I easily tore a piece from one of them and applied it over a side seam towards the bottom, but not at the bottom. I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to hem that bottom edge of my coat.

Big patch

I listened to the TV whilst doing this, it took me three or four tries to get it situated where I wanted it. I was thinking about what I was going to do, and didn't grab some safety pins or pins to keep this in place before I started the running stitches.

Finished.

I think this particular patch took me about two hours to apply. Admittedly, I suffer from SQUIRREL! So that might partly explain why it took the time that it did.

The pillowcases will make a good addition to the fabric-scraps-for-patches, for that authentic, rustic, random effect.

I didn't use top-stitching thread for this one, I used the extra strong thread. I also didn't change colours, so another patch with two or three different threads might appear layered over this one.

Future patches:

I want to make a small painted Skywise wing patch, about 10cm tall, to apply to my coat's sleeve. I also want to carve some stamps and use paint to make some painted patches of the Virtuous animals, so that I can add them to the sleeves too; and a horse.

Hint of a near-future sewing and Seppa project...

Something that I've wanted to make for the past twenty, maybe closer to thirty years...

A Tibetan Panel Coat.

My desire is to start tracing or cutting the panel coat next Monday.

Yet more kit.

It's all still works-in-progress, but it might entertain a reader of this blog to see another of the objects in their various states and conditions.

Seppa's belt.

The belt, it's still very pretty and clean and neat. It needs a bit of abuse and some stains and oils and waxes once I've finished tooling the leather. I might add the Varushkan spider on it somewhere. There will be some D-ring loops for it as well, so that I can hang some tat onto the D-rings.

Concerns

I do have them.

One that's been hanging over me is what I'm doing with my legs below the knees. I will wear my tactical boots, for the ankle support and that I can walk in them pretty much all day in relative comfort. Not as comfortable as trainers, but the trainers don't mesh with LARP and have no ankle support. I do have some metal-slats greaves, and I have padded canvas leg armour, but the tactical boots have a thick padded cuff that ends around the bottom of my calves, and that dead space between there and my knees, has me worried about how to adequately fill in that area so I don't harm my already wonky and fragile knees when the leg armour tilts on the boot top fulcrum and slams into my patellae. Leather straps around my ankles not withstanding, I'm too heavy for the greaves not to tilt into my knees.

I do have two pairs of winingas, or leg wraps, or puttees, all three names pretty much mean the same thing. They don't really work with the boots, and I'm again stuck with that dead space between top of the boot and the 15cm or so to my patellae.

Another option is a boot topper or gaiter, but there's that dead space again. I suppose I could have the gaiters made to knee height, and then stitch in a very thick padding to fill the dead space.

I'll have to ask the group to see how to get around it.

Side notes

I may have to make a few vertical pouches to hold the mana crystal cards and any herbs or resources that I have spare.

I think tomorrow, I will try to start drawing the lines-to-stitch on the coat so that I can add the Varushkan Virtue animals.

I'll be starting to plan out my 2020 bullet journal; my goals will be less ambitious, but perhaps more realistically achievable than the outright failure of this year. This is related to this blog and this character.

I will be listing my sewing patterns at some point, with which Empire nations they could best work with.

Kit think and rethink

Kit think and rethink

(or what're the origins and influences of one's kit)

Someone else asked about the soft kit portions of Imperial Orc costume, and one of the nation's leads, Matthew Dawes-Wood, answered with this (edited for clarity):

"When I speak to new players about how they're gonna develop their kit I always talk about the origins of the kit they're wearing, I always envisage imperial orc kit specifically to come from one of two places, either orc made or salvaged from another imperial nation.

"I see an imperial orc being able to get away with wearing almost any other nation's kit but with an orc "filter" over the top. Whether it's a Varushkhan caftan or a Dawnish tabard with a bit of ageing and repair work it becomes a salvaged bit of imperial orc kit.

"As for imperial orc made kit I always over-engineer things and make them to look like they're designed to last forever so it might become an item of worth, big chunky over-stitching, simple robust designs, leathers and canvas instead of silks and softer materials. I know the brief says we're just as handy as everyone else but it's about the visual and putting the "orcs are different to humans" message across.

"Something some players do to give a bit of ancestral heritage to their characters is to add a bit of a barbarian twist to their kits, a bit of shoulder fur for Jotun, some robe and magic stuff for Thule, the more Greek look for Grendel and super ragged-dirty look for the Druj, this could be a useful tool for giving away clues as to an NPC's professional focus."

The past week or so, I've been thinking about where Seppa's ancestors hailed from and where Seppa and eir parent(s) came from as well. One of the ancestors was a Highborn slave who was also horse-thief, horses within the Empire went extinct at least two centuries before. The other was a Varushkan slave. But recent heritage influences are Varushkan and barbarian Thule. By recent influences, I mean that Seppa's parent(s) were emancipated about a decade before Seppa's birth, so there will be some influences in Seppa's garments.

• For the Highborn nod, the scapular and probably the möbius scarf.
• For the Varushkan nod, embroidery and their Virtuous animals.
• For the Thule, I'm going to add some blue cloth panels to the fabric portion of the warskirt.

Still, there is the Skywise kit brief to keep in mind as the largest guiding principle for how I dress Seppa. The possible finer and softer fabrics that I was going to cut, now won't be needed for Seppa. I will need to go through my enormous fabric stash and filter for the coarser fabrics, such as the osnaburg and canvas and wool. Though I will likely still add some of the synthetic suede, just to use it up. As to weaving materials, I could look at using the coarser yarns and the mohair, since mohair is so itchy and unpleasant, it can be used for the rougher areas.

Much to think about, yes...

Seppa's embellishments inspiration

Pinterest, the great time-sink, yet a place to search for inspiration.

I have a Skywise board where I'm tossing ideas into. I now have some different ways to patch and mend those new garments to help give them the needed personalisation. Remember the colour palette is mainly beige and brown, with some cream and sky blues.

I also need to find my Zoom-Loom so I can do some patching squares.

Back to the board, there's one image of various coloured fabric scrap rings stitched down via running stitch I rather like the look of this, and it'd be a way to incorporate the sewing scraps.

Another was running leather thongs or fabric strips through cloth, then using a topstitch or strong thread to trap the thong and/or cloth strips to its base. It would act like interfacing, in that it would stiffen the area.

Then there's the Japanese boro and Indian kantha, both are for quilting layers of scrap fabrics; I would like to implement it somewhere into Seppa's kit.

I also have some batik stamps, I think those might need a strip of fabric of their own. One of them is a horse.

Another item that came to me is to make a diagonal shoulder-sash with words like 'Skywise' and 'Loyalty' and 'For the Empire' embroidered onto it, so the humans don't mistake me for the barbarians.

I'll have to throw them at the group and see what they think.

Then there's the glow-in-the-dark threads; as a Day ritual mage, having some stuff that shows up after sunset seems appropriate to me.

Also... I tried on some of the kit, getting a feel for how it might come together , its look and feel of it in motion. I made a tunic from the Simplicity Nativity. Next is a coat in canvas so I have an extra layer to embellish.

I do want to add some Varushkan Virtuous animals. Maybe some Wintermark runes, such as Ophis, but I'm kinda indifferent to most runes.

Looking forward to the arrival of the nalbinding needles, so I can add some of that to my crochet and knitted pieces. Also, antler and wooden objects are calling to me more than bits of bone, but I do have some bone tubes so using them (at last) might be good too. I'm less metals and leather, and more cloth and needlework for some reason.

Remember that you're a soldier.

Kit ought to be practical for the most part. However, I'm also a mage, so there might not be much in the way of armour wearing. But soldier... remember that I'm a soldier.

Off-topic, but...

I picked up some mapping nibs, stylus, ink, and inkwell. I want to make some Empire-related ATCs and for letter writing and sketching. I've started scribbling in a black leather book that has (mostly OOC) notes about Seppa and eir coven ey will be joining.

Seppa, customising and adjusting shop-bought kit

Last night I finally felt well enough to work on some of Seppa's costume; it carried on into today. The efforts are not huge or visible from a distance, these are small alterations to shop-bought kit that are only visible if someone is near enough, and if the layers change or move and reveal their presence. I know they are there, even if others never see or notice them.

The Burgschneider satchel and Shaila necklace:

The Burgschneider satchel, no longer as plain as it was, I've added a few wandering, playful stitches to differentiate my satchel from anyone else's in the field. I used an electric blue embroidery floss to make the stitches.

The necklace came from Shaila and originally, it was on a black shoestring and perfectly sized for my naked neck, but too short for mask and neck scarf and all the layers. So I used an off-white corset lace and reused the button, and followed the pattern the original crafter used to mount the metal dangles. The necklace came with some tattered bits of string, I usually remove those for my belly dance costume, but I left them on this time. I might use some blue or cream shoestring to control the bottom half of the necklace, otherwise it can go everywhere and damage itself in a ruinous tangle.

A closer look at the stitches on the satchel.

I had no plan for what I was doing, I was needlework doodling.

The Burgschneider scapular:

In the spirit of 'much and crudely repaired', I decided to cut the stitches that held the hems intact, but also held the clothing labels from the Burgschneider scapular. I then repaired the cut stitches with off-colour or blue sewing threads to make the repairs obvious.

It might be difficult to see what I did in the following pictures. The blue-thread stitches have no functional purpose and are there to decorate the neckline that will be invisible to other players, unless the wind lifts the scarf. In the back of the neckline is some off-colour thread where the labels used to be; again, invisible to other people unless they're handling the garment or the scarf comes away.

A closer view of the neckline where the back repair and front decoration happened; the off-colour stitches in back, and the blue thread decoration in the front.

In the side-seam was another label; I broke the stitches, removed the offending label, and closed it up again. I had some spare thread on the needle, which resulted in another little doodle. It may or may not be visible, depending on how I layer, and that depends on the weather.

Seppa's Freeborn shawl:

I picked up this secondhand shawl from Quercus Emporium at a pagan event. It has no black in it, the dark colours are grey or dark brown. The beads are peacock blues and greens. I was going to pin it at the shoulders to drag around my upper arms to add an extra layer of warmth if the weather's nippy.

A Freeborn who has some RP with the Skywise orcs has offered to say it was a gift from them.

A close up of one of the paisleys.

Some potential jingle and tat:

Some of the items in the picture are too shiny and will need handling to add a patina to to give them the aged appearance. I suppose I could set them outside for the Long Dark, but the magpies might pilfer them.

With Imperial Orcs, every piece of tat has to be an item-of-worth, meaning each of these will need some sort of heroic/worthy affiliation to them because hearth magic. (yay) Thankfully, I was already sorta doing that with Ieri's tat, even if it wasn't heroic, much of the tat ey wore had a reason, even if it was a tiny or personal reason. So I will have to think about what each item's significance will be, and then try to elaborate as I can, and hopefully remember it all when someone ends up asking.

The metal belt will likely end up hanging from the warskirt; but I might add extra jump rings between the plaques to open and curve it so it can drape between two points, rather than hang straight down. I might add a few bells or leather bits to it to add some character.

The metal animal skull... uh, I've had this for decades, I have no idea what animal it was modelled after, but I like it. Maybe it was a former pet that Seppa had encased in metal.

The antique ring and bell, I have a rough story for that one. *eyes Ese*

The gender badge is by the ever-creative Steph Morris and will be used to help hold the neck scarf in place and probably attached to the scapular to stabilise it. It also means people should correctly use my pronouns because it'll be impossible to miss for those with eyesight.

The axe head is a Skarsind medallion. I'll need to read up on how and when the Imperial Orcs gained Skarsind, as that's a bit of history I'll need to know if I'm going to have the medallion on me.

The brass spiralling cloak pin will need that patina put onto it. I figure it can help with the shawl above to keep the shawl from moving too much.

The capsules will probably end up on the warskirt or on a forearm piece; the less around my neck, the better, as learned from my Freeborn who had far too many things around eir neck.

What's not pictured is some of my Freeborn's tat that will need restringing to change it from Ieri's to Seppa's tat. One thing that didn't stay long on Ieri, which I won't bother with changing, is the 50p charity shop necklace that I restrung all those months ago, and added a bell onto. I figure it can go straight onto the warskirt as it is, just tacked onto something for stability and support.

Seppa first attempt at putting it all together.

The other day, I put together the rough idea of the components that I did already have (currently lacking any quality embellishments) for the Seppa character and here are the pictures I took of the ensemble as placed on my dressmaker's form.

Regrettably, it presently reads feminine to me, and as I'm non-binary, this is generating some 'bleh' that I'll need to remedy before April 2020/E1. Gender pronoun badges notwithstanding.

On to the descriptions and explanations...

The Front view:

Some of the elements need editing, such as the metal dangles necklace, it's currently too short to wear over the scarf, so I'll need to lengthen that.

I didn't include the off-white cotton boxing arm wraps or the grey wool felt leg wraps, because there's nothing for them to cling to.

I also need to make the camel-brown boiled wool waistcoat that will go between the off-white-almost-ankle-length-scapular and the long-sleeved hippy granddad shirt. The shirt's chest pocket isn't visible, but I have now removed said pocket and the neck label tags, because when I wore it camping on a very hot (for England) day, the labels were scratchy and irritating.

The circles panel is a strip of curtain fabric remnant that I liked the printed pattern circles. I will probably fix it to the fabric portion of the warskirt, and add some embroidery/stitching to it to give the circles extra texture and visual interest. I don't know if this will become an item-of-worth, or it's just a decorative feature that helps busy hands when waiting, or when sitting in conclave. Another thought's just come to me, that I could stitch the panel onto the scapular after the remnant's embellished, and that would protect the back of the remnant from wear-damage.

Skywise Seppa - idea for the front

The Right-side view:

The metal plates belt and the peacock beaded brown shawl came from Quercus' Emporium. I haven't yet decided how I'll attach or place the metal plates belt, which is too short for me to wear around the waist, so it was just hung to the belt as a 'thing' (ie tat).

The wooden beads looped on the belt is a curtain tie-back. I've used detachable rings to allow me to move and adjust. I think when I've settled on placement that isn't a nuisance, I'll give it a permanent attachment to the future warkskirt.

Speaking of the warskirt, the red base the pigskins and deerskins are attached to is the wrong colour for the Skywise brief, and this warskirt will be dismantled. The red base will recycle for NPC/barbarian/slave kit.

Also, recognising that I'll probably sweat/freeze, there is a wooden cup on my belt to remind me to drink water. Relatedly, I need to test to see how difficult/easy it is to use the tiny loo cubicles with the kit on. From my observations, Imperial Orcs are never seen half-dressed.

Skywise Seppa - idea for the right side

The Back View:

Recycled from my Freeborn character, Ieri, is the large brown leather belt pouch. I have tried crushing it a bit and twisting it some to help soften the leather as it has been quite stiff. I use this pouch for my mobile phone, my character notebook, and rustic pencils.

One will see there's a second grey-sand mesh scarf. I bought this in H&M several years ago and it was another that I was going to discard due to disuse... but dammit, I like it, so I kept it. The scarf will get purpose amongst Seppa's kit.

Skywise Seppa - idea for the back

The Left-side view:

The smaller brown pouch and the stoppered wooden bottle on a thong are reused from Freeborn Ieri's kit. The smaller brown pouch has also had some crushing and twisting to help loosen the leather some; it also came with a flaw of the buckle-tongue was about 3mm too long and it was skin-lacerating sharp, so the Dremmel came out to cut off the too-long tongue and then grind the edges to remove the burrs and blunt sharpness. The purpose of the smaller pouch might be anything from pocket-watch to car keys to meal and drink tickets.

The wooden bottle is another of those 'I bought it years ago and I don't remember where' but it is lined to make it drink-safe and watertight, and the cork fits well. I use it to physrep potion bottles. It rides on a popper-strap to make it easy to take off and use for play.

Like the off-white scapular, the cotton satchel comes from Burgschneider, and the strap is far too long for my too-short torso, and during the Long Dark, I will be shortening the strap and probably adding some blue stitches to embellish the satchel and its strap. I have another satchel of the same company make and model, but in green that I've used for Ieri. Similarly, this satchel will probably get songbooks, an OOC-bag to contain touch-up makeup for hands and face.

Skywise Seppa - idea for the left side

Other notes:

The white martial arts trousers have taken some work to stain with the likes of grass and dyes that bled onto the fabric so it's not so discordantly white. I will look at taking some abrasion tools and rubbing the knees and then finding some different-stained canvas to patch the knees to give them some character. I'll have to see about finding something rusty and mud-staining to rub into the knee areas.

Orcs in general tend to have well-worn and rustically patched, mended, and embellished garments; everything shows signs of wear, but they value things that have a history of use.

I will add that I have several more beige, stone, sand, and the like coloured scarves. I might take one or two and turn them into a möbius head-shawl to give my head a respite from a hot sun or a cold wind.

To-do list:

• Warskirt onto blue/beige/brown belt panel
• White Raptor Wing motif painted into a brown fabric panel to attach to the warskirt in a prominent placement
• Metal plates belt and the wooden bead curtain tie-back turned into permanent warskirt features
• Add the horse motif for ancestor item-of-worth
• Add the antique brass ring and battered hawk bells for ancestor item-of-worth
• Find more tat in the bronze palette
• Decorate and personalise the orc mask
• Scarves turned into a möbius head-shawl
• Metal dangles necklace - lengthen strap
• Make the boiled wool waistcoat for a torso-warmer
• Embellish and attach the circles remnant to the scapular
• Abraid and stain the white trousers' knees
• Shorten the satchel strap and embellish the strap and bag with blue and brown threads/floss
• Test going to the loo with all the kit on

Recent additions... Yeah, another dance-related post

A month or two ago, I bought these, unfortunately for me, even with my narrow shoulders, they're too tight across the front to use in dance... unless I want to slice through a lot of embroidery and lose several tiny mirrors. These are all loaded with glass mirrors. The embroidery is beautiful. It's a tragedy that none of the choli fit me.

Black Banjara choli

Close up of part of the black choli

The red-yellow-'P' choli

Close up of the 'P' choli

The yellow 'triangles' choli

Close up of part of the yellow 'triangles' choli