Past projects...

Update:
At the moment I am working on some rather tedious handsewing which adds insult to injury by also being visually uninspiring. To wit: there's not much to talk about on the current project except that it proceeds apace. I should have the sleevelets all sewn up by the end of the day tomorrow (I had a lot of handsewing to do on the lining for them before I could finally sew them on) and then it's on to the buttons and buttonholes! Which should be more visually enlightening and require me to post some more photos...

In the meantime:
I thought you might be amused to see what else I get up to (costumewise) at the Washington Renaissance Fantasy Faire in Gig Harbor Washington this past season. Our guild is the village guild and I have assumed the role of guildmaster for the coming year, but in past years I was the masked fool Calabash.

Enjoy!

I'm told this one looks a little sinister. Honest, that's
the guild songbook I'm holding and I'm singing.
I'm not plotting to overthrow the crown... honest!
The jerkin I'm wearing has been 'aged'. I made it from a jaquard
upholstery material and then beat it to heck with various
abrasives, including steel wool, wire brushes, sand paper
and then actual stones! Then I buried it for a couple
of days in the garden and dug it back up.
Now it's perfect!

Egad! Someone caught me without my mask on!
Lucky thing the camera didn't break!
I have a LOT of crap hanging from my belt in this picture!

Free Calabash! Free Calabash! Free Calabash for everyone!
Every morning I led the Queen's procession in chains and spent
the whole time running away and trying to convince patrons to
pick the lock while the Queen's Guards chase after me
and haul me back into line. It's a lot more fun than just
shouting 'Here comes the Queen, get out of the way!'

The quilted coat is the work of my beloved wife and is one of my
most prized pieces of garb. It's the length of a frock coat and swirls
nicely when I spin around, or roll down a hill,
or get tossed around by the guards or... or...

Why are the ale wenches always picking on me?
Seriously, I discovered that the mask scared small children.
Or it used to until I started hanging the braided green ribbons
out of one nostril. Now kids think Calabash is the coolest!
Face it, even Darth Vader wouldn't have been intimidating if he'd had a sniffle.
"LUKE! I am you (sniff, sniff, SNORT) your father!"



Incidentally, the burgundy doublet I'm wearing in
these shots was the one I made for when I was
Captain of the Queen's Guard. (The 'Scots Guard' we
protected the throne... or at least the cushions...) I'll try
to find some better shots of it. It was my first 'serious'
attempt at a doublet.