General Update

I try not to post too much here that is overly personal, mainly because that's what other pages are for.  You're here for the arts and junk, am I right?  I'm breaking that general rule now, but this is slightly related, so forgive me.

I was slated to finish the Kirk tunic this week, in time for Field of the Clothe of Gold.  I worked on it Saturday and felt confident that with Sunday to work on it, and Tuesday to finish it (being a local State holiday), I'd be set to finish both the tunic and make a scroll.  It was not to be.

Sunday morning we ran errands and when I went to the basement at about 2:00 pm to get working, I discovered that the entire basement was flooded.  The carpets in both Sven's office (from which he works daily - a critical part of our livelihood), and my studio were saturated.  There was standing water in the storage closet and at the foot of the stairs, and some water/wetness pretty much everywhere else.

Sunday was therefore spent tracking down the landlords, and disconnecting/moving all electronics in addition to starting the investigation of where on earth the water came from.   The landlords left our home with no answer after looking at all pipes, indoor and out, running sinks,  etc., as well as inspecting ceilings and walls.  They had no answers. Monday was spent emptying the carpeted rooms of everything (no easy task, I assure you), so a carpet guy could come suck up water and start some fans to dry them out.  He couldn't find any answers either.  Add a professional plumber to the list of people who checked everything out to determine a cause. 

The carpets are now dry and tacked back down.  This is a mighty big blessing, as the smell of wet carpet pads and added humidity in the house were making life miserable.  The baseboards and paint job in my studio are in poor shape.  I'd care much more if it were my own home, but as it is, we're likely only to be here a few more months.

It's time to start moving things back in, but must do so in a careful manner, as the cause was never determined, and I worry it will happen again.  I did have some patterns ruined from the mess, but nothing critical or heart-wrenching.  I did have a moment of panic about my Moda a Firenze book though.  Luckily it was sitting on top of some cardboard which soaked up water before getting to the book. 

So anyway, have you ever had disaster strike your "creative zone?"  How did you cope?

The Kirk

A few months ago, Sven asked me to make him a Norse tunic inspired by Captain Kirk's gold uniform.  While not necessarily period, I'm making certain concessions because this is what my husband wants, it's fun and silly, and hopefully a few people will "get it," and it will make them smile.  In searching the wonderful web for images, I found two distinctly different uniforms.

The difference here is the gold bands around the wrists (congratulations, Captain Obvious).  Sven picked out a braided gold trim, and asked that we go with two bands instead of trying to do three as the top version has.  I'm glad for many reasons, not the least of which is that middle band appears to be broken/woven into the fabric or something.  Hooray for the easy way out!

The tunic is coming along nicely.  I am felling my seams by machine instead of by hand in order to finish this in time for him to wear to an event on July 28th (which I also have to finish a scroll by, on top of some other artistic endeavors with deadlines).  I am hand sewing and felling the underarm gussets, however.  This is because every time I try to do those by machine I bugger them up.

I also hand finished the neck facing.  Here's some poorly photographed evidence.  More photos will come after it's all finished.

Have you ever used modern things as inspiration for your historical dress?  If so, I'd love to hear about it!