Break for my hands

The worst part about hand sewing is that it isn't possible to sew for long period of time without taking a break. My fingers just get a little achy.

I have most of the trim on one half of the doublet sewn down. I am still looking for the most efficient way to stitch the trim in place, and have mostly settled on a type of zig-zag that goes only through the top layer of fabric. Nearly all of the trim is covering the top stitching I had to do to get the outer fabric to hold the shape correctly.

Which leads me to another problem that is going to become apparant soon.

I bought all they had of the main type of trim from wal-mart, and was only able to get four yards. I really want to carry the trim that goes down the middle of the front, all of the way over the shoulder and to the back. But I also want to use this trim around the base of the collar, and down the front of doublet opening, which will serve to cover the areas where I have to machine sew the button loops. I also want to use it around the waist, and on the tabs. And around the shoulder rolls.

You can see the problem. There is no way that I will have enough of the trim to do this.

For now, I am counting on Wal-mart to reorder the trim. Hobby Lobby and Joann Fabrics have a similar trim, but it is not as nice looking, and there are noticable differences, not the least of which is that the scroll work is not as well done. It looks cheap, and doesn't have the weight to it that the wal-mart trim (I KNOW - BLASPHEMY!!!) has.

I do have about six yards of a narrower scroll trim. I used part of it to set off the inner boundary of the bead work, and will mirror that boundary on the other front part of the doublet. I could use this around the waist, instead of the wider trim, and the repeat that at the top of the tabs. This would give me a double row of trim that would equal the width of the wider trim. I also found an interesting trim at Joann that could be used around the top of the tabs, which would give more textural variety, and look very rich. I wouldn't need much of it, and could repeat it around the shoulders to tie the top and bottom together visually. (oooo.... I'm going to have to go shopping, because this just popped into my head). It's not very expensive at all.

In fact, none of the trim has cost very much. The 1/4 inch trim was about $.35/yard, and the 1/2 inch trim was $1.24/yard. The beads were $1.27 for a 9 gram bag, of which I will use not even half (bought for another project that never got started). The trims are what make an historical piece of clothing feel more accurate.

Well, time to get back to my sewing. I have just about two inches of trim left to sew on the right half of the doublet. I'll add the buttons, and perhaps the button loops. Then it will be time to pin the beading guide to the left side, and make sure it matches up as well as possible. Then I can start beading that half, then quilting, and adding the trims. I should be able to get a ton of work done today, as the only errand I have to do is a trim run to Joann Fabrics...

I love this project!!!! I've learned so much!

I can't wait to apply it to a noble dress for me!!!! (Oh, and my son wants to be a squire now, so that means I may have two projects to work on before the Des Moines Renaissance Faire opens Labor Day weekend...).