Crafty in Summer

I don't know about where you live, but around here we tend to hide from the summer heat as much as possible. Often, I accomplish this by means of doing crafty stuff but I just can't quite get up the urge to knit when the sidewalk out front just melted. Ok, I exaggerate for effect. The street is melted though, around the edges, no joke.

So I was doing a little research on-line. Some people just call it fooling around on the computer but I had sort of goal in mind. I wanted a summer outfit for the SCA that was different enough to stand out, but as light-weight and comfortable as possible. Also, it had to be seriously period and Western European according to our organizational charter. Right now, you can't throw a rock at an event without hitting someone in a sari (outside of place) or a chiton (outside of period).

When I was first getting started in the SCA I made a newb mistake. At my very first meeting I introduced myself as "Lady So-n-so of Other There"(not what I actually said). When it was kindly explained to me that 'Lady' is the title of an award given by the King, I was sure they were going to toss me out on my ear. Instead, a sweet lady pointed out that there were a group of people in period who had a habit of giving themselves Really Great Titles and that I should do a little research on the Rom or Gypsies. I jumped head first into that information, but I've never gotten around to making a proper, period Rom outfit. For one thing, they're just not really flashy.

Now I find myself looking for lightweight period gear and I think it's time to make that later period Rom outfit. First we consider the period sources. I've tried to put a few down at the bottom here. Then we see what other people have made along the same lines. Old Marian was one of the better researchers I know of and she died just recently. I'd be proud to wear her pattern.

So I took apart an unused Italian Renn styled gown for the large rectangle of skirt fabric. The fabric itself is a mid-weight gold and green striped poly cotton (ugh! hot) and I'm sewing a line of black cotton sheeting made into trim down it for the contrasting stripe. I've got some black ribbon I'll use to attach the drape at the shoulder and I'll be wearing it over a round necked linen chemise I made last year. I've got a rectangular silk drape with lots of hand embroidery on it that I can use for the turban and I'm hoping I can find ghillie shoes. If not, I may just wear leather sandals.

Later on, if this outfit proves comfy, I'll work on developing new and better turbans. Some of the ones in the pictures are huge and I'm sure there was a trick to them.

Back to sewing for me! What do you do to stay cool and alert in the summer?