Countdown to the Ball: 18 days

The last week or so was spent figuring out how I wanted to do my sleeves. There are a lot of options for this time period in Italy, and it took a bit to decide if I wanted two part sleeves, one part sleeves, lacing, tacked at intervals, solid, slashed, ect. Adding to the issue is the fact that wheelchair + weightlifting means that my biceps are not on the usual measurement charts so I needed to draft a pattern and drafting sleeves is not my forte.

In the end, like most tasks that are built up to be much worse in our heads than in reality, it wasn't that awful. I looked at a ton of pictures on Pinterest and then decided to go with a single piece sleeve with a deep elbow cut and lacing at the forearm and wrist. I made a quick mockup in the fabric lining and then changed a few things, made a second mock up and then cut the fashion fabric. As a running theme for this project, I had barely enough fabric so I ended up sewing the fabric and lining together with a narrow seam, flipping it right side out and then hand stitching the butted edges together.

I also got my hands on the clear plastic I needed to trace Adam's patterns and got those traced and cut out. There was NO extra fabric of his black at all, and fitting all the pieces on the fabric looked like a jigsaw puzzle from hell. But we got it to work. Pants are cut and were sewn yesterday, so now we're just waiting on the buttons.

So we're at doublet and hat? Possibly hat. And still on the hunt for my underdress. And packing for Pennsic. And finishing some things for the kiddo. So no stress at all.