III. What Was Finished, What Remains, What Was Learned

Someone once told me about the Order of the March Hare. It’s about as unofficial as you can get. All you need to do to be in it is to be sewing a piece of garb that you plan to wear to an event on the day of that event, on the way to it, or even at it. So I was still hemming my pellote on the morning of the event, and had pinned the trim the night before and had starting sewing that on as well. I did not finish it, but at least I was able to show what I had completed.

So here is the ensemble, such as it is. The camisa had been done before the competition and was considered an underpinning. The linen head wear and socks, the faux silk crespina, were commercially purchased at virtual Pennsic last year. The saya was completed in time for the event, and the partially completed pellote is hanging in the background.

I was asked during the judging portion what I had done differently from a prior attempt at this uniquely cut garment, which was out of this beginner’s comfort zone, particularly for drafting a pattern that does not exist commercially. I said that I added 1/2″ across the front panel so it would not be so tight across my chest, and I also subtracted one whole inch from the right side armhole, so it would not pinch so at the armpit. Where the left side is concerned, I had tried to make the gap a little less wide, but it will always be a little daring. What can I say, I’ve lived to a venerable age for that time, I can afford to raise few eyebrows. Que se fastidian las chismosas. Let the gossips be bothered.

The cording would have been tubular tablet-woven silk of the same fabric type as the saya, but I have not the budget/skill/time for that, so I used strips of fabric of the same type as my saya (a cotton-poly blend), sewed, pressed, turned, and slip-stitched so it would look passable.

So what is left? I am going to finish hemming all three layers of the pellote, and getting some narrower complementary trim for its neckline. I plan to finish that before the month is out, to post the entire ensemble here while we are still able to do so.

This was educational and entertaining. My many thanks to the people of Barony Beyond the Mountain for hosting this unique event during these unique times, to my husband Lord Wilhelm von Freiburg for putting up with the long hours I spent on this (and for cleaning out the sewing machine when the bobbin got fractious), and to Buddy the feline fabric tester, who made it his personal mission to test the liner for maximum comfort when my back was turned.