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Elena ``of Valhalla'' ha ricondiviso questo.


Your periodical reminder that all clothing is hand made by humans, usually underpaid!
Polyester doesn't breathe and sheds microplastics when manufactured, worn and washed!
Cotton farming takes immense amounts of water and pesticides!
Viscose can be made from recycled fibres & waste cellulose, but it's a fairly toxic process!
Linen is more ecological to grow but expensive!

"But what do I wear then, Sini?"
The garments you already own, until they fall apart or someone else needs them!
#Sustainability #FastFashion #WorkersRights

in reply to Just Bob 🇺🇲♒🐧

@Just Bob 🇺🇲♒🐧 @Sini Tuulia hemp has been mentioned in the thread already and it's basically like linen: better than cotton, which is a low bar, but processing it into fiber can be problematic, the dyeing process can be not great, it's going to be more expensive, and unless it's socks or another form of one piece knit there are still all of the problems with workers exploitation.
in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

@valhalla @bob Yes, we should definitely be growing more hemp and less cotton, hemp is a pretty good plant... But it's not going to magically fix the exploitative, resource intensive and wasteful nature of the garment industry of the present day!

The simplest and cheapest solution is just wearing the things that already exist for longer. This doesn't benefit the shareholders, but that's an added bonus. 😄​



spanezz ha ricondiviso questo.


Avviso contenuto: JKR, personal

in reply to Hypolite Petovan

Avviso contenuto: JKR, personal

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

@Elena ``of Valhalla'' You aren't remembering wrong, remember the Time-Turner intrigue? Turns out Hermione literally had to go back in time to be able to study for more classes.

rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.


and this morning I successfully prepared my #tea

and then left it in the kitchen (luckily I had to go there some 10 minutes afterwards, so it didn't cool down too much)

#tea
in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

e stamattina son riuscita a prepararmi correttamente il #

e poi l'ho dimenticato in cucina (per fortuna ho dovuto tornarci 10 minuti dopo e non si era raffreddato troppo)

#

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And I think it's time for a new #sewing update.

The shift is progressing nicely, I'm quite happy with the way the sleeves look, and it's getting close to being all assembled together.

In the weekend I've finished the market bag, which means that in category “long straight seams” I've started to work on a corded petticoat.

I've worked on it for more than one hour, and I'm about half through the first seam.

Maybe I should have done it by machine? But at least it is nice and relaxing work, even if it's going to take forever.

As for the lining of the stays… look! a squirrel!

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

two rows of cording done.

3 + (5 + 1) + (4 + 1) * 2 + (3 + 1) * 2 + (2 + 1) * 2 = a positive integer number

of 3 meter long rows of (thankfully) running stitch remaining.

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

due cordoncini inseriti.

ora rimangono solo

3 + (5 + 1) + (4 + 1) * 2 + (3 + 1) * 2 + (2 + 1) * 2 = un intero positivo

di cuciture lunghe 3 metri (per fortuna) in punto filza.

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

first section of cording finished!

it wasn't the longest one because it doesn't have a bottom seam, but it was the biggest because I've used thicker cord than I'm going to use for the next sections.

A picture from two days ago:

Questa voce è stata modificata (5 giorni fa)
in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

Prima sezione di cordoncini finita!

Non era la più lunga da cucire, dato che non c'era una cucitura sul fondo, ma era la più grossa, dato che ho usato dei cordoncini più grandi di queli che userò nelle sezioni successive.

Foto di due giorni fa:

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

I have lived just over six decades now and you are one of the women I admire most in all the world. You know and do so many things! :-)
in reply to Kermode

@Kermode here on the fediverse there are quite a few people who do all of the things I do (and even better)
in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

Also, have I ever mentioned that I have the Italian translation of the famous Reader's Digest sewing book, and that when I write these posts I often have to go through it to find the Italian terms I need for the translation?

Yes, I have learned the basics of #sewing in Italian, but everything else in English on the internet, does it show? :D

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in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Ah, e ho mai detto che ho la traduzione italiana del famoso libro di cucito di Selezione dal Reader's Digest, e che quando scrivo questi post spesso lo uso per trovare i termini italiani che mi servono per la traduzione?

Sì, ho imparato le basi del #cucito in italiano, ma tutto il resto in inglese su internet, si nota? :D

in reply to Ashnee HS

@ashneehs
Ditto for me with machines like lathes etc.

It took me a lot of time to discover that a gib is called "lardone".

https://yt.cdaut.de/watch?v=jRTHjP0sC-o

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

stesso problema anche con la maglia e l'uncinetto.
Avresti dovuto vedere la faccia della commessa a cui ho chiesto dell'interfaccia fusibile 😂 tutt'ora non mi ricordo come si dica in italiano
in reply to Vi 💙

@Vi 💙 credo che sia teletta termoadesiva

o almeno lo era ai tempi della traduzione del libro :D

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

@Vi 💙 forse anche interfodera, sempre termoadesiva (ho cercato su un negozio di tessuti dove so che ce l'hanno)

rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.


Low Fat, No Eggs, Lasagna-ish


Posted on March 10, 2024
Tags: madeof:atoms, craft:cooking
A few notes on what we had for lunch, to be able to repeat it after the summer.

There were a number of food intolerance related restrictions which meant that the traditional lasagna recipe wasn’t an option; the result still tasted good, but it was a bit softer and messier to take out of the pan and into the dishes.

On Saturday afternoon we made fresh no-egg pasta with 200 g (durum) flour and 100 g water, after about 1 hour it was divided in 6 parts and rolled to thickness #6 on the pasta machine.

Meanwhile, about 500 ml of low fat almost-ragù-like meat sauce was taken out of the freezer: this was a bit too little, 750 ml would have been better.

On Saturday evening we made a sauce with 1 l of low-fat milk and 80 g of flour, and the meat sauce was heated up.

Then everything was put in a 28 cm × 23 cm pan, with 6 layers of pasta and 7 layers of the two sauces, and left to cool down.

And on Sunday morning it was baked for 35 min in the oven at 180 °C.

With 3 people we only had about two thirds of it.

Next time I think we should try to use 400 - 500 g of flour (so that it’s easier to work by machine), 2 l of milk, 1.5 l of meat sauce and divide it into 3 pans: one to eat the next day and two to freeze (uncooked) for another day.

No pictures, because by the time I thought about writing a post we were already more than halfway through eating it :)


https://blog.trueelena.org/blog/drafts/low_fat_no_eggs_lasagna_ish/index.html

#6

rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.


Elastic Neck Top Two: MOAR Ruffles


Posted on March 9, 2024
Tags: madeof:atoms, craft:sewing, FreeSoftWear
A woman wearing a white top with a wide neck with ruffles and puffy sleeves that are gathered at the cuff. The top is tucked in the trousers to gather the fullness at the waist.

After making my Elastic Neck TopI knew I wanted to make another one less constrained by the amount of available fabric.

I had a big cut of white cotton voile, I bought some more swimsuit elastic, and I also had a spool of n°100 sewing cotton, but then I postponed the project for a while I was working on other things.

Then FOSDEM 2024 arrived, I was going to remote it, and I was working on my Augusta Stays, but I knew that in the middle of FOSDEM I risked getting to the stage where I needed to leave the computer to try the stays on: not something really compatible with the frenetic pace of a FOSDEM weekend, even one spent at home.

I needed a backup project1, and this was perfect: I already had everything I needed, the pattern and instructions were already on my site (so I didn’t need to take pictures while working), and it was mostly a lot of straight seams, perfect while watching conference videos.

So, on the Friday before FOSDEM I cut all of the pieces, then spent three quarters of FOSDEM on the stays, and when I reached the point where I needed to stop for a fit test I started on the top.

Like the first one, everything was sewn by hand, and one week after I had started everything was assembled, except for the casings for the elastic at the neck and cuffs, which required about 10 km of sewing, and even if it was just a running stitch it made me want to reconsider my lifestyle choices a few times: there was really no reason for me not to do just those seams by machine in a few minutes.

Instead I kept sewing by hand whenever I had time for it, and on the next weekend it was ready. We had a rare day of sun during the weekend, so I wore my thermal underwear, some other layer, a scarf around my neck, and went outside with my SO to have a batch of pictures taken (those in the jeans posts, and others for a post I haven’t written yet. Have I mentioned I have a backlog?).

And then the top went into the wardrobe, and it will come out again when the weather will be a bit warmer. Or maybe it will be used under the Augusta Stays, since I don’t have a 1700 chemise yet, but that requires actually finishing them.

The pattern for this project was already online, of course, but I’ve added a picture of the casing to the relevant section, and everything is as usual #FreeSoftWear.


  1. yes, I could have worked on some knitting WIP, but lately I’m more in a sewing mood.↩︎

https://blog.trueelena.org/blog/2024/03/09-elastic_neck_top_two_moar_ruffles/index.html


Elena ``of Valhalla'' ha ricondiviso questo.


the funny thing when you learn a little about linguistics is when you observe people saying or writing things weird you no longer go “argh that is wrong please correct it” and instead you go “huh, this is interesting, please tell me why you do that, where did you learn that, does your family do it too, does the other version feel less right, do you teach this to your children”

rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.


Denim Waistcoat


Posted on March 8, 2024
Tags: madeof:atoms, craft:sewing, FreeSoftWear
A woman wearing a single breasted waistcoat with double darts at the waist, two pocket flaps at the waist and one on the left upper breast. It has four jeans buttons.

I had finished sewing my jeans, I had a scant 50 cm of elastic denim left.

Unrelated to that, I had just finished drafting a vest with Valentina, after the Cutters’ Practical Guide to the Cutting of Ladies Garments.

A new pattern requires a (wearable) mockup. 50 cm of leftover fabric require a quick project. The decision didn’t take a lot of time.

As a mockup, I kept things easy: single layer with no lining, some edges finished with a topstitched hem and some with bias tape, and plain tape on the fronts, to give more support to the buttons and buttonholes.

I did add pockets: not real welt ones (too much effort on denim), but simple slits covered by flaps.

a rectangle of pocketing fabric on the wrong side of a denim

piece; there is a slit in the middle that has been finished with topstitching.


To do them I marked the slits, then I cut two rectangles of pocketing fabric that should have been as wide as the slit + 1.5 cm (width of the pocket) + 3 cm (allowances) and twice the sum of as tall as I wanted the pocket to be plus 1 cm (space above the slit) + 1.5 cm (allowances).

Then I put the rectangle on the right side of the denim, aligned so that the top edge was 2.5 cm above the slit, sewed 2 mm from the slit, cut, turned the pocketing to the wrong side, pressed and topstitched 2 mm from the fold to finish the slit.

a piece of pocketing fabric folded in half and sewn on all 3

other sides; it does not lay flat on the right side of the fabric because the finished slit (hidden in the picture) is pulling it.


Then I turned the pocketing back to the right side, folded it in half, sewed the side and top seams with a small allowance, pressed and turned it again to the wrong side, where I sewed the seams again to make a french seam.

And finally, a simple rectangular denim flap was topstitched to the front, covering the slits.

I wasn’t as precise as I should have been and the pockets aren’t exactly the right size, but they will do to see if I got the positions right (I think that the breast one should be a cm or so lower, the waist ones are fine), and of course they are tiny, but that’s to be expected from a waistcoat.

The back of the waistcoat,

The other thing that wasn’t exactly as expected is the back: the pattern splits the bottom part of the back to give it “sufficient spring over the hips”. The book is probably published in 1892, but I had already found when drafting the foundation skirt that its idea of “hips” includes a bit of structure. The “enough steel to carry a book or a cup of tea” kind of structure. I should have expected a lot of spring, and indeed that’s what I got.

To fit the bottom part of the back on the limited amount of fabric I had to piece it, and I suspect that the flat felled seam in the center is helping it sticking out; I don’t think it’s exactly bad, but it is a peculiar look.

Also, I had to cut the back on the fold, rather than having a seam in the middle and the grain on a different angle.

Anyway, my next waistcoat project is going to have a linen-cotton lining and silk fashion fabric, and I’d say that the pattern is good enough that I can do a few small fixes and cut it directly in the lining, using it as a second mockup.

As for the wrinkles, there is quite a bit, but it looks something that will be solved by a bit of lightweight boning in the side seams and in the front; it will be seen in the second mockup and the finished waistcoat.

As for this one, it’s definitely going to get some wear as is, in casual contexts. Except. Well, it’s a denim waistcoat, right? With a very different cut from the “get a denim jacket and rip out the sleeves”, but still a denim waistcoat, right? The kind that you cover in patches, right?

Outline of a sewing machine with teeth and crossed bones below it, and the text “home sewing is killing fashion / and it's illegal”

And I may have screenprinted a “home sewing is killing fashion” patch some time ago, using the SVG from wikimedia commons / the Home Taping is Killing Music page.

And. Maybe I’ll wait until I have finished the real waistcoat. But I suspect that one, and other sewing / costuming patches may happen in the future.

No regrets, as the words on my seam ripper pin say, right? :D


https://blog.trueelena.org/blog/2024/03/08-denim_waistcoat/index.html

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

@Julian Andres Klode 🏳️‍🌈 OTOH, today I was wearing the same outfit with black wrist warmers that looked a bit like sleeve protectors, and it felt *very* vintage office.

rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.


Jeans, step two. And three. And four.


Posted on March 7, 2024
Tags: madeof:atoms, FreeSoftWear
A woman wearing a regular pair of slim-cut black denim jeans.

I was working on what looked like a good pattern for a pair of jeans-shaped trousers, and I knew I wasn’t happy with 200-ish g/m² cotton-linen for general use outside of deep summer, but I didn’t have a source for proper denim either (I had been low-key looking for it for a long time).

Then one day I looked at an article I had saved about fabric shops that sell technical fabric and while window-shopping on one I found that they had a decent selection of denim in a decent weight.

I decided it was a sign, and decided to buy the two heaviest denim they had: a 100% cotton, 355 g/m² oneand a 97% cotton, 3% elastane at 385 g/m²1; the latter was a bit of compromise as I shouldn’t really be buying fabric adulterated with the Scourge of Humanity, but it was heavier than the plain one, and I may be having a thing for tightly fitting jeans, so this may be one of the very few woven fabric where I’m not morally opposed to its existence.

And, I’d like to add, I resisted buying any of the very nice wools they also seem to carry, other than just a couple of samples.

Since the shop only sold in 1 meter increments, and I needed about 1.5 meters for each pair of jeans, I decided to buy 3 meters per type, and have enough to make a total of four pair of jeans. A bit more than I strictly needed, maybe, but I was completely out of wearable day-to-day trousers.

a cardboard box with neatly folded black denim, covered in semi-transparent plastic.

The shop sent everything very quickly, the courier took their time (oh, well) but eventually delivered my fabric on a sunny enough day that I could wash it and start as soon as possible on the first pair.

The pattern I did in linen was a bit too fitting, but I was afraid I had widened it a bit too much, so I did the first pair in the 100% cotton denim. Sewing them took me about a week of early mornings and late afternoons, excluding the weekend, and my worries proved false: they were mostly just fine.

The only bit that could have been a bit better is the waistband, which is a tiny bit too wide on the back: it’s designed to be so for comfort, but the next time I should pull the elastic a bit more, so that it stays closer to the body.

The same from the back, showing the applied pockets with a sewn logo.

I wore those jeans daily for the rest of the week, and confirmed that they were indeed comfortable and the pattern was ok, so on the next Monday I started to cut the elastic denim.

I decided to cut and sew two pairs, assembly-line style, using the shaped waistband for one of them and the straight one for the other one.

I started working on them on a Monday, and on that week I had a couple of days when I just couldn’t, plus I completely skipped sewing on the weekend, but on Tuesday the next week one pair was ready and could be worn, and the other one only needed small finishes.

A woman wearing another pair of jeans; the waistband here is shaped to fit rather than having elastic.

And I have to say, I’m really, really happy with the ones with a shaped waistband in elastic denim, as they fit even better than the ones with a straight waistband gathered with elastic. Cutting it requires more fabric, but I think it’s definitely worth it.

But it will be a problem for a later time: right now three pairs of jeans are a good number to keep in rotation, and I hope I won’t have to sew jeans for myself for quite some time.

A plastic bag with mid-sized offcuts of denim; there is a 30 cm ruler on top that is just wider than the bag

I think that the leftovers of plain denim will be used for a skirt or something else, and as for the leftovers of elastic denim, well, there aren’t a lot left, but what else I did with them is the topic for another post.

Thanks to the fact that they are all slightly different, I’ve started to keep track of the times when I wash each pair, and hopefully I will be able to see whether the elastic denim is significantly less durable than the regular, or the added weight compensates for it somewhat. I’m not sure I’ll manage to remember about saving the data until they get worn, but if I do it will be interesting to know.

Oh, and I say I’ve finished working on jeans and everything, but I still haven’t sewn the belt loops to the third pair. And I’m currently wearing them. It’s a sewist tradition, or something. :D


  1. The links are to the shop for Italy; you can copy the “Codice prodotto” and look for it on one of the shop version for other countries (where they apply the right vat etc., but sadly they don’t allow to mix and match those settings and the language).↩︎

https://blog.trueelena.org/blog/2024/03/07-jeans_step_two_and_three_and_four/index.html


rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.


/me rants at aspell for daring to suggest “sexist” as a correction for “sewist”

sewist. it's a word. learn it.

and no, it's not “sewer”. I'm not a sewer, ok.

(go and suggest a patch for the dictionary file rather than ranting on the internet? naaaaaa, too much effort :D )

reshared this

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

/me gesticola col bastone contro aspell che suggerisce “sexist” come correzione per “sewist”

sewist. è una parola inglese. imparala.

e no, la parola giusta non è sewist. non sono una fogna, ok?

(alzare il culo e preparare e suggerire una patch ai file del dizionario, anziché lamentarsi su internet? troppo sbattito :D )

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las_lallero ha ricondiviso questo.


Vendo macchina da cucire Singer 8280 usata

Chiedo 100 euro trattabili, consegna in zona Varese / Como (se proprio
proprio necessario si può organizzare per zona Milano).

Mi pare che sia stata comprata nei primi anni 2000, il modello era in
vendita e presente sul sito singer fino all'anno scorso.
Ovviamente è ancora presente il manuale originale, completo di istruzioni di
manutenzione base.

Non la uso da qualche anno, ma era perfettamente funzionante e ad una prova
veloce mi pare che lo sia ancora.

Ulteriori dettagli nei commenti

#mastoMercatino @Il Mercatino del Fediverso 💵♻️

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

ciao, se non l'hai già venduta e sei disposta a scendere a 85€ la prendo io (ti andrebbe bene consegna Saronno?) 🥰
in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' Il Mercatino del Fediverso 💵♻️ ha ricondiviso questo.

Ero un po' impensierita, perché a marzo inoltrato non mi si era ancora palesata "la cosa da imparare a fare quest'anno"¹, ma ieri @valhalla e @mercatino credo mi abbiano risolto il problema 🥰

¹ anziché fare i "buoni propositi" d'inizio anno, che tanto poi restavano propositi, da qualche tempo ho iniziato a provare a imparare una cosa nuova ogni anno.

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Elena ``of Valhalla'' ha ricondiviso questo.


Avviso contenuto: toot fondamentali

in reply to las_lallero

Avviso contenuto: toot fondamentali

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Avviso contenuto: toot fondamentali


rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.


@LaVi 🕊️📚🐈I think I know somebody else who could use that excuse :D


that's the new excuse for Deutsche Bahn: Service is interrupted due to a giant cat sleeping on the tracks.



I was luceting and suddenly my mother put To Tame a Land (Iron Maiden) on her phone, and my hands tried (and failed) to get into the rhythm of the song, and the rhythmic movement attracted a worm… er… and my hands stumbled because I'm not that good at luceting and I was trying to go too fast, and then my hands tried to pick up the rhythm again and… it was intense.

I need to train and try it again. But not this close to bedtime.

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

Stavo usando il lucet e senza preavviso mia madre ha messo To Tame a Land (degli Iron Maiden) sul telefono, e le mie mani hanno cercato (invano) di prendere il ritmo della canzone, e il movimento ritmico ha attirato un verme… volevo dire… e le mani hanno inciampato perché non sono *così* brava con il lucet, e stavo cercando di andare troppo veloce, e poi le mie mani hanno cercato di riprendere il ritmo e… è stato intenso.

Devo allenarmi e riprovarci. Ma non quando è ora di andare a dormire.

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rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.


/me, walking in town> the only thing that annoys me about the rain is the way the traffic gets louder
@Diego Roversi > the only thing? what about wet and cold feet?
/me, wearing woolen socks and hiking boots> what wet feet?
in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

/me, camminando verso il centro> l'unica cosa che da fastidio della pioggia è quanto il traffico diventi ancora più rumoroso
@Diego Roversi > l'unica? e i piedi che si bagnano e prendono freddo no?
/me, con addosso scarponcini da trekking e scarpe di lana> quali piedi che si bagnano?

reshared this


rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.


The #sillyDream of tonight was finding and buying a #metal LP¹ from the band Iridium, titled of course Iridium, with a big *shiny* #FountainPen nib on the cover.

And now I have a voice in my mind that sings

♫ Iridium point / on a nib of steel / workers in a German plant / laying down iridium points ♫

to the tune of Medieval Steel (by Medieval Steel, from the EP Medieval Steel, of course)

¹ or maybe it was an EP? something round, 12 inches in diameter, and in a square cardboard sleeve anyway :)


Elena ``of Valhalla'' ha ricondiviso questo.


Gattone comasco se ne va a zonzo, piantando i propri bipedi umani nella disperazione. E io mi gioco ancora la carta del #PersoETrovato che più volte ha funzionato.
Confido in voi e nel vostro prezioso passaparola. Grazie!

#CercoTrovo #mastodonperilsociale #mastodoncats #gattidimastodon

in reply to LaVi 🕊️📚🐈

Ho come l'idea che cercare di "bloccare" quel gattone possa essere controproducente.
Unknown parent rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

Elena ``of Valhalla''

@LaVi 🕊️📚🐈 @rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua magari invece se vede un umano che gli parla in gatto si avvicina spontaneamente e si fa anche prendere in braccio

meglio ancora se l'umano parla in gatto *e* offre un tributo in croccantini, ovviamente



#sewing update

the drawers have been finished. I haven't worn them yet.

the binding on the bottom of the #AugustaStays is done, that on the top is almost all attached, and then I need to sew it to the back. I'm procrastinating the cutting of the lining.

I've cut and started hemming the shoulder sack / marked bag. Wait, have I just started a new #handsewing project before finishing the ones in progress? Who does that kind of things (me. the answer is me. :D )

this morning I finished the last machine seams on the denim vest and attached the buttons, I need to to the buttonholes and then it's wearable.

the pieces for the shift have been cut, except for the fact that the side gores are still attached to the main body. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to sew everything together (and that may change the exact size of the gores).

And I've realized that I've probably done one of the seams of the drawers wrong¹: I can fix the instructions I'm writing, but then they won't have a picture of that step until I do another pair of drawers. it will have to be.

¹ as in: perfectly serviceable, but not the way the book I was following probably intended.

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

Aggiornamento sullo stato dei progetti di #cucito

I mutandoni sono finiti. Non li ho ancora indossati.

L'orlo inferiore delle Augusta Stays è stato ricoperto, su quello superiore ho attaccato quasi tutta la fettuccia, ma devo ancora fissarla sul retro. Sto procrastinando il taglio della fodera.

Ho tagliato e iniziato a cucire la borsa a sacco. Un momento, che borsa a sacco? Per caso ho iniziato un nuovo progetto di #cucitoAMano prima di aver finito quelli in corso? Chi è che fa queste cose!?! (io. :D )

Questa mattina ho finito le ultime cuciture a macchina sul gilet di jeans e attaccato i bottoni, mancano gli occhielli e poi è indossabile.

I pezzi della sottoveste sono stati tagliati, tranne il fatto che i godet laterali sono ancora attaccati al davanti e al dietro. Sto cercando di capire come assemblerò il tutto, e a seconda di come li cucio cambiano leggermente le misure.

E mi sono resa conto che probabilmente ho cucito parte dei mutandoni nel modo sbagliato¹: posso sistemare le istruzioni, ma vuol dire che per quel passaggio non ci sarà una foto fino a che non farò un altro paio di mutandoni. è così.

¹ funziona perfettamente, ma probabilmente non è il tipo di cucitura che intendevano nel libro che sto seguendo.

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in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Today we could see the yellow ball in the sky!

So in the afternoon I went on a frenzy of doing part of a seam, taking pictures, then doing another bit of a seam elsewhere, more pictures, rinse, repeat on the shift.

I hope I have enough half-done seams (and repeats of the same seam in a symmetric position) for the next few days of rain :)

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

Oggi si vedeva la palla gialla nel cielo!

Quindi nel pomeriggio ci ho dato dentro nel cucire una parte di una cucitura, fare foto, fare un altro pezzo di cucitura da un'altra parte, ulteriore foto, eccetera eccetera sulla sottoveste.

Spero di aver abbastanza cuciture a metà (e ripetizioni della stessa cucitura in una posizione simmetrica) per i prossimi giorni di pioggia :)

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

time required to carefully measure and pleat two sleeves: X¹

time required to:

a) pin an approximation of the pleating pattern on half of one sleeve, to see whether it fits
b) make a custom pleating board with a precise version of said pleating pattern
c) pleat two sleeves using said pleating board

probably at least 4 × X, if not more.

Can you guess which option I've just chosen?

Can you guess that I'm a programmer? :D

¹ I don't know exactly know how much it would be, but I'd estimate a few tens of minutes

#sewing #prematureOptimization

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

tempo necessario per misurare con precisione ed effettuare delle pieghe su due maniche: X¹

tempo necessario per:

a) appuntire in modo approssimativo le pieghe su metà di una manica per verificare che la misura sia corretta
b) realizzare un ausilio per pieghe su misura con la versione precisa di quello schema di piegatura
c) piegare le due maniche usando il suddetto ausilio

probabilmente almeno 4 × X, se non di più.

Si indovina facilmente cosa ho scelto di fare?

Si capisce che sono un programmatore, vero?

¹ non so con precisione quanto sia, ma stimerei qualche decina di minuti

#cucito #ottimizzazionePrematura

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

And I've just realized that if I had done one of the seams in a slightly different way it would have been more accurate to the description in the book.

I've changed the instructions I'm writing.

Do I want to unpick the seam and do it again to take pictures?

#sewing #historicalSewing

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

E mi sono appena resa conto che facendo una delle cuciture in un modo leggermente differente sarebbe stato più accurato rispetto alla descrizione data nel libro.

Ho corretto le istruzioni che sto scrivendo.

Ho voglia di disfare la cucitura e rifarla per fare foto?

#cucito #cucitoStorico

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

the custom pleating board was in the wrong size. It results in pleats that aren't deep enough to manage all of the fullness.

I could measure directly on the fabric, or I could use the second half of the poster paper sheet and make another one.

On a more positive note: the vest is wearable (not done. I have ideas.), and one half of the top binding of the #AugustaStays is done, and I'm on the way to finish the other half!

#sewing

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

l'ausilio di piegatura era della misura sbagliata. Fa delle pieghe che non sono abbastanza profonde per gestire tutta l'abbondanza di stoffa.

Potrei misurare le pieghe direttamente sulla stoffa, oppure potrei usare la seconda metà del foglio di carta da poster per farne un'altro.

Passando alle buone notizie: il gilet è indossabile (non finito. ho idee.) e metà dei margini delle Augusta Stays sono finiti, e sono ad un buon punto con l'altra metà!

#cucito

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Se hai bisogno di carta 70×100 fai un giro per le varie sedi di partito: saranno felicissimi di regalarti rotoli di manifesti obsoleti.
in reply to rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

@rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua eh, ma per stirarci sopra stoffa bianca (e anche abbastanza trasparente) è meglio se non è ancora stampata, prima che con il caldo e il vapore si trasferisca qualche pezzo della stessa.

e poi dovrei andare tipo nella sede della lega? quelli che mettono in giro manifesti (e che spediscono volantini cartacei) qui da noi sono loro…

in reply to rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua

@GustavinoBevilacqua si ma devi scegliere bene il partito, con un manifesto di Salvini si può AL MASSIMO incartare la lettiera usata dei gatti...
in reply to Carlo Ricchiardi rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

@Carlo Ricchiardi @rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua la lettiera non è compostabile?

il manifesto di salvini credo che vada nell'indifferenziato, e poi ti fa alzare il prezzo della tassa dei rifiuti

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

binding done!

I should really cut the lining pieces now

(instead I'm currently hemming the market bag)

#sewing #AugustaStays

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

margini rifiniti!

adesso è decisamente ora di tagliare la fodera

(invece sto facendo l'orlo della market bag)

#cucito

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

The second attempt at a custom pleating board worked just fine, I'm currently working on the sleeves of the shift.

I still haven't cut the lining pieces for the #AugustaStays

And I've made myself a new sashiko thimble, and patched the old one which was failing, because I'm using it on the market bag (and will need to use it for the next task in the “40s underwear” project)

Not historically accurate, I know. But much faster, and gives exactly the same result.

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Il secondo tentativo di ausilio di piegatura ha funzionato perfettamente, sto lavorando alle maniche della sottoveste.

E ancora non ho tagliato la fodera delle Augusta Stays.

Però mi son fatta un nuovo ditale per sashiko, e riparato quello vecchio che si stava bucando, perché lo sto usando per la market bag (e lo userò nel prossimo pezzo per il progetto “biancheria anni 40”)

La tecnica non è storicamente accurata. Ma si cuce molto più rapidamente, e il risultato è esattamente lo stesso.



rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.


yesterday evening there was a salamino on the dinner table.

apparently, one grain of pepper from it ended up on the bread.

the same bread I had this morning for breakfast.

in the last bit of bread I was having.

#earlyMorningTrauma

reshared this

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Io stamattina ho versato dell'acqua a @CodroipoBehemoth in un bicchiere che pensavo fosse pulito, invece aveva residui di vermut bianco sul fondo.
La(L)colazione dei campioni

Elena ``of Valhalla'' ha ricondiviso questo.


Hey #knitting folks: what books/resources do you recommend for making clothing items based on your measurements, and then using gauge in your chosen yarn/stitch from there? Any type of garment or accessory is fine, but bonus points if you know of something that guides you on making tights/stockings (leggings with feet?)

Thanks in advance, everyone!

in reply to Ashley Reynolds

@Ashley Reynolds This is the first sock pattern I've ever used and has been my sock pattern since then, some times extended up the leg by taking measurements and winging it :) https://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/PATTuniversalsock.html

however it's just a socks pattern, afaik most other things on the site are regular knitting patterns with precalculated numbers

in reply to Ashley Reynolds

I know that Cat Bordhi published something that describes sizing socks in great detail, particularly to different size/shape feet. Almost too much detail because socks will shape themselves to your feet if they're roughly the right sort of size. She talks about measuring all sorts of parts of a foot, sole, insole etc, so very detailed.
Unfortunately I don't remember which book. She also invented the sweet tomato heel, my favourite. Very smooth, easy to do.

rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.


no, un momento. siamo al 24 febbraio.

perché sta facendo un temporale *estivo* con grandine?

#teamInverno

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rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.


Jeans, step one


Posted on February 19, 2024
Tags: madeof:atoms, craft:sewing, FreeSoftWear
CW for body size change mentions

A woman wearing a pair of tight jeans.

Just like the corset, I also needed a new pair of jeans.

Back when my body size changed drastically of course my jeans no longer fit. While I was waiting for my size to stabilize I kept wearing them with a somewhat tight belt, but it was ugly and somewhat uncomfortable.

When I had stopped changing a lot I tried to buy new ones in the same model, and found out that I was too thin for the menswear jeans of that shop. I could have gone back to wearing women’s jeans, but I didn’t want to have to deal with the crappy fabric and short pockets, so I basically spent a few years wearing mostly skirts, and oversized jeans when I really needed trousers.

Meanwhile, I had drafted a jeans pattern for my SO, which we had planned to make in technical fabric, but ended up being made in a cotton-wool mystery mix for winter and in linen-cotton for summer, and the technical fabric version was no longer needed (yay for natural fibres!)

It was clear what the solution to my jeans problems would have been, I just had to stop getting distracted by other projects and draft a new pattern using a womanswear block instead of a menswear one.

Which, in January 2024 I finally did, and I believe it took a bit less time than the previous one, even if it had all of the same fiddly pieces.

I already had a cut of the same cotton-linen I had used for my SO, except in black, and used it to make the pair this post is about.

The parametric pattern is of course online, as #FreeSoftWear, at the usual place. This time it was faster, since I didn’t have to write step-by-step instructions, as they are exactly the same as the other pattern.

Same as above, from the back, with the crotch seam pulling a bit. A faint decoration can be seen on the pockets, with the line art version of the logo seen on this blog.

Making also went smoothly, and the result was fitting. Very fitting. A big too fitting, and the standard bum adjustment of the back was just enough for what apparently still qualifies as a big bum, so I adjusted the pattern to be able to add a custom amount of ease in a few places.

But at least I had a pair of jeans-shaped trousers that fit!

Except, at 200 g/m² I can’t say that fabric is the proper weight for a pair of trousers, and I may have looked around online1 for some denim, and, well, it’s 2024, so my no-fabric-buy 2023 has not been broken, right?

Let us just say that there may be other jeans-related posts in the near future.


  1. I had already asked years ago for denim at my local fabric shops, but they don’t have the proper, sturdy, type I was looking for.↩︎

https://blog.trueelena.org/blog/2024/02/19-jeans_step_one/index.html

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Elena ``of Valhalla'' ha ricondiviso questo.


Since this month, we have the piracy museum/collection in-house. Around 2000 illegal disks and cassette tapes with movies, software, and music. The stories behind brands like Twilight, Crazy Bytes, WinWarez, Braun MTV Charts, and Moviebox are now shared in the music, as well as the hunt from the copyright authority to stop this. It's a piece of culture and fits right in the museum! #HomeComputerMuseum #retro #museum

kamikat ha ricondiviso questo.


I haven't finished my Augusta stays yet.

The Cassandra Stays pattern has been released.

https://thedreamstress.com/2024/02/meet-the-cassandra-stays/

what is going to happen?

#sewing #HistoricalSewing

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TFW it's the last day of carnival, and as you get dressed with your perfectly normal dress to go outside for mundane reasons you worry that people may ask you what you're dressed as

(which is not a big problem, as long as they don't decide that I'm dressed as something and so I'm fair game for being covered in nasty plastic foam from a can)

#sewingPeopleProblems

in reply to Uriel Fanelli

@Uriel Fanelli @LaVi 🕊️📚🐈 più che altro il burlesque tende ad essere una versione eroticizzata degli anni 50, che non necessariamente coincide con lo stile con chi indossa abbigliamento vintage nella vita di tutti i giorni
Unknown parent

Uriel Fanelli

Uriel Fanelli is ignored

Questa voce è stata modificata (1 mese fa)


Avviso contenuto: dream, earworm

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

Avviso contenuto: sogno, canzone che rimane in testa

reshared this

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Avviso contenuto: sogno, canzone che rimane in testa

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

@Elena ``of Valhalla'' "LAA LA LAAA LALALA'.... ODINO! LAA LA LAAA LALALA' VALHALLA!"

...mo' chi me lo toglie dalla testa?

(corretto per una maggiore aderenza al materiale originale... gh.)

in reply to Fabio rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

@Fabio non so, puoi provare bevendo un crodino :D
in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Avviso contenuto: dream, earworm



And with the jeans almost¹ done, I've cut a vest out of the leftovers, using a block² from a victorian manual (that I want to check for fit), but to be made with no regard for historical accuracy.

I've also cut three (3) small pockets, to test their positions and size, but I'm not going to do welt pockets on jeans, I'm also going for a simpler method for those.

¹ one pair fully done and worn yesterday for the whole day with success, the other pair is still missing some handsewing and the belt loops
² https://sewing-patterns.trueelena.org/historical_womenswear/drafting_methods/cutters/index.html#vest

#sewing

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Avendo quasi¹ finito i jeans, ho tagliato un gilet dalla stoffa rimanente, usando un modello base² da un manuale dell'ottocento (del quale voglio controllare le misure), ma realizzato senza la minima attenzione all'accuratezza storica.

Ho anche tagliato tre (3) taschini, per provare le posizioni e dimensioni, ma mi rifiuto di fare una tasca profilata sul jeans, userò un metodo più semplice.

¹ un paio completato ed indossato ieri tutto il giorno con successo, all'altro paio mancano ancora delle rifiniture a mano e i passanti.
² https://sewing-patterns.trueelena.org/historical_womenswear/drafting_methods/cutters/index.html#vest

#cucito

Unknown parent

Elena ``of Valhalla''

@Kermode velcro. is. evil.

I don't think that there is really a way to make sewing it non-painful (but maybe somebody else knows one?)


Elena ``of Valhalla'' ha ricondiviso questo.


To celebrate Conversations being back on the Play Store and to deny Google their 15% cut I made the app free for the next ~48 hours. 😜

If you are new here: Check out #XMPP. It's federated, provider and vendor independent instant messaging. It’s great!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.siacs.conversations

Or get it from #fdroid - That version even has address book integration and public channel discovery! 😂

in reply to Daniel Gultsch

Or get it from #fdroid - That version even has address book integration and public channel discovery! 😂

👍👌👏


Elena ``of Valhalla'' ha ricondiviso questo.


Titoli delle voci su #Wikipedia >> Google Translate

Elena ``of Valhalla'' reshared this.


Elena ``of Valhalla'' ha ricondiviso questo.


I just got an amber alert with a bit.ly link that redirected to twitter and I would just really love it for governments to not base public information systems on the flimsiest chain of adversarial platforms imaginable

reshared this


Elena ``of Valhalla'' ha ricondiviso questo.


I think people who write concise posts they want to go viral never actually want replies.

So why not create a social media that doesn't have a reply feature, just people posting and sharing is they want to?

It could be a platform full of viral-wannabe bores, all lumped together.

Me, I want replies.

Unless they go on too long and I can't be bothered to read them.

in reply to Lydia Conwell :mastodon:

@Lydia Conwell :mastodon: @Diego Roversi lately a lot of the blog I'm reading are using static site generators and skipping the comment section (and a few other ones are in the same situation, but using a fediverse thread as their comment section)


After years of sewing together this morning my sewing machine told me her name!

It happened while she was going through too-many-to-count layers of denim while hemming over a flat felled seam.

I supposed I should respect her privacy and avoid telling which name it is to everybody on the internet.

#sewing #sewingPeopleThings

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

sei sicura che fosse il suo nome e un neanche troppo velato insulto? 😁
in reply to Vi 💙

@Vi 💙 no, no, era un nome, non funziona come insulto

di solito quando mi vuole insultare si rompono gli aghi, e questa volta non è successo (per ora, non ho ancora finito i jeans :D )



A bit of a #sewing update.

Last weekend I was sewing the Augusta Stays, but I knew that while watching fosdem videos I could get to a point where I needed to do a fit test, which is not really compatible with fosdem, so I got ready for it by cutting a new top for myself in cotton voile, like the one at https://sewing-patterns.trueelena.org/contemporary_unisex/tops/low_waste_elastic_neck_top/index.html but with a bit more fullness and an attempt to give a ruffle look to the neckline and cuffs.

I started sewing on Sunday afternoon, and during the week it has progressed nicely, I've now reached the approximately 10 km seams around the neck (then there will be 5 km of seams around the cuffs, and it's done, I have already hemmed the bottom.

However, this meant that I procrastinated starting the binding on the stays. I hope that next week I'll find the courage to do them.

On the machine-sewing side, instead, I've been working on the jeans, but there were a couple of days when they just weren't working, so I stopped and did something else, and they are still stuck with the front and back assembled, and they need to be sewn together, and then finished with the waistband and hems. Next week, too.

OTOH, on the living room table there is now the last bit of elastic denim leftover with a pattern for a vest on top: it's a block from a victorian book, but I'm going to make it very simple, as a sort of wearable mockup for the pattern block.
https://sewing-patterns.trueelena.org/historical_womenswear/drafting_methods/cutters/index.html#vest
I'm not going to actually cut it until I've finished the jeans, so that I'm 100% sure I don't need any more pieces for them, because the vest will use most of the usable leftovers.

Oh, and the distractions when stuff wasn't working involved reading the Workwoman's Guide and taking notes for more handsewing stuff for the near future. A hint on what may be had by looking at my openclipart account :) https://openclipart.org/artist/valhalla

Basically, I didn't do what I had planned to do, but it still wasn't that bad of a week.

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Un aggiornamento sul #cucito.

Lo scorso weekend stavo cucendo le Augusta Stays, ma sospettavo che guardando i video del fosdem sarei arrivata ad un punto in cui serviva una prova, che non è molto compatibile col weekend del fosdem, per cui mi sono portata avanti tagliando una nuova camicetta in voile di cotone, tipo https://sewing-patterns.trueelena.org/contemporary_unisex/tops/low_waste_elastic_neck_top/index.html ma con volant su collo e polsi.

Ho iniziato a cucirlo domenica pomeriggio e nel corso della settimana è andato avanti, adesso sono al punto in cui devo fare circa 10 km di cuciture sul collo e poi circa 5 km sui polsini, e a quel punto è finito (ho già fatto l'orlo sul fondo).

La cosa però ha comportato il procrastinare il rifinire gli orli delle stays, spero settimana prossima di trovare il coraggio.

Quanto al cucito a macchina, stavo lavorando sui jeans, ma ci sono stati un paio di giorni in cui le cose non funzionavano, per cui mi son fermata e ho fatto altro, e sono ancora fermi al punto in cui i davanti e i dietro sono assemblati, ma vanno cuciti assieme, e poi mancano cinturini e rifiniture tipo orli. Settimana prossima.

D'altra parte, sul tavolo della sala c'è l'ultimo pezzo di jeans elasticizzato con sopra un cartamodello per un gilet: è un modello preso da un libro vittoriano, ma ho intenzione di realizzarlo in modo molto semplice, come mockup indossabilke per il cartamodello.
https://sewing-patterns.trueelena.org/historical_womenswear/drafting_methods/cutters/index.html#vest
Prima di tagliarlo però voglio aver finito i jeans ed essere 100% sicura di non aver bisogno di altri pezzi, perché con il gilé userei la maggior parte dei ritagli di dimensioni significative.

Oh, e tra le distrazioni di quando le cose non funzionavano c'è stato leggere la Workwoman's Guide e prendere appunti per altre cose da cucire a mano nel prossimo futuro. Un indizio su cosa potrebbe essere sul mio account openclipart :) https://openclipart.org/artist/valhalla

Fondamentalmente, non ho fatto quello che mi ero ripromessa di fare, ma tutto sommato non è stata una cattiva settimana.

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

The top is finished!

(don't mind the fichu-like scarf which may or may not be there to cover the thermal underwear I was wearing under the top)

And I've also had @Diego Roversi take pictures of most of the jeans, so that in the next couple of weeks or so I can hopefully finish and publish the blog posts for them.

As for binding the stays. we don't talk about binding the stays :D

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla'' rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua ha ricondiviso questo.

La camicetta è finita.


(ignorate la sciarpa che potrebbe essere stata infilata a coprire la maglietta termica che stavo indossando sotto alla camicetta)

@Diego Roversi si è anche prestato per fare foto alla maggior parte dei jeans, per cui nelle prossime settimane spero di riuscire a finire e pubblicare i post relativi sul blog.

Quanto agli orli delle stays, quali orli delle stays?

reshared this

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

two tabs of the stays have been half bound (i.e. I've sewn the tape from the front, not yet from the back).

tooManyToCount remaining

#sewing #AugustaStays

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

due cosi¹ delle stays sono stati mezzi-ricoperti (ovvero ho cucito la fettuccia sul davanti, non ancora sul retro).

ne mancano… TroppiPerEssereContati

¹ termine preciso di sartoria storica, eh :D

#cucito #cucitoAMano

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

all of the bottom edge of the stays have been half bound.

I hope that sewing the tape from the back will be less fiddly than doing the first seam on the front (I hope), and then there is the top edge, which is significantly longer, but also much easier (I hope)

#sewing #AugustaStays

in reply to Elena ``of Valhalla''

Tutto l'orlo inferiore delle stays è stato rinifito a metà.

Spero che cucire la fettuccia sul retro sia meno incasinato della prima cucitura sul davanti (spero), e poi c'è l'orlo superiore, che è decisamente più lungo, ma dovrebbe essere anche più facile (spero).

#cucito


Elena ``of Valhalla'' ha ricondiviso questo.


You learned how much a shirt cost in the the middle ages! And how much a linen tunic cost in the Roman Empire. This week, find out how much a garment cost in the Late Bronze Age https://www.bookandsword.com/2024/02/10/how-much-did-a-garment-cost-in-the-bronze-age/ #histodons #egyptology #amarnaAge #materialCulture #cuneitoot


a colour photo of the stone remains of the temple of Dendur in a glass-roofed space at the Metropolitan museum of art. The temple consists of a stone gateway, the stone foundation of the front wall, and a one-chamber sanctuary with a two-column porchEgypt gave the US a temple from the reign of Augustus and it is glorious https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/547802 There is now a video about the Temple of Dendur (have not seen it) https://smarthistory.org/temple-of-dendur/

I have posted about the cost of a shirt in fifteenth-century England, and the price of a tunic in the time of emperor Constantine. That is not the earliest date which we can explore! Writing on scraps of stone from Egypt and clay tablets from Ugarit tell us how much a garment cost in the Late Bronze Age around 1500 to 1100 BCE.

Many short everyday documents survive from the village of Deir el Medina. The village was built to house workers for the Valley of the Kings, then abandoned in the Late Period when it became clear that burying all the kings along the same wadi would not keep them safe. The villagers had access to scribes who managed the King’s work, but they also lived in the Red Land of the desert where texts painted or scratched on potsherds and limestone fragments did not wash clean or sink into the mud when the Nile flooded. And so we know all kinds of things about these ordinary Egyptians which we don’t know about farmers and carpenters who lived in the Black Land along the Nile and in its Delta.

At Deir el Medina, a simple garment of rough linen cost about 5 deben (a weight, usually of copper). Janssen suggested that the families which built tombs in the Valley of the Kings were paid 12 to 15 deben per month in goods and services, including grain worth 9 deben. It is pretty typical of the world before the 20th century that 60-75% of most people’s incomes was spent on food and drink. The workers were probably a bit wealthier than the average person in an agrarian society (and certainly in New Kingdom Egypt). Their houses were built on plots about 5 × 15 metres which would be very familiar to medieval townsfolk or villagers. If we assume that a month has 20 working days, then paying 5 deben out of a month’s income of 12 to 15 deben was 6.66 to 8.33 days’ income for that garment of rough linen.

two offwhite linen tunics, one inside out, and an open chest of clothingTwo linen tunics and some loincloths from the New Kingdom in the Museo Egizio, Turin https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tunica_leggera_4KA3530-HDR.tif

We have more prices from the Bronze Age city of Ugarit in Syria. The people of Ugarit wrote a unique alphabetic cuneiform script. Their city was destroyed in the disorders at the end of the Bronze Age, so many everyday documents were baked in burning houses and buried in mud-brick rubble. In these documents, a garment which is probably a tunic (ktn, probably the same root as Greek chiton and possibly English cotton) cost 1.5 to 2.5 shekels. Interpreting these prices is hard because we don’t have evidence for wages and incomes. In 1975 it was not even clear whether a shekel at Ugarit was 1/50 or 1/60 of a pound! The traditional standard in Babylonia was 1 shekel of silver to feed, fuel, and clothe a family for a month but that may have been optimistic. These garments were probably woollen, whereas the medieval shirt, Late Roman linen tunic, and New Kingdom Egyptian garment were all linen. But the prices from Ugarit are the first which I have seen where the price of a basic garment might be one or two months’ income for a family.

I am not sure where to find prices for garments from Old Babylonia or Old Assyria, but it might be possible to work out prices for garments in those cultures. That period around 1800-1500 BCE is probably as early as we could estimate prices from contemporary documents.

I wrote this post from the fragments of old notes so I can’t give exact page numbers. Projects like Jansen’s are unfashionable because there are so many unknowns and so many factors that can affect quality. Readers of Terry Pratchett novels or shoppers at retailers in Canada know that not all boots or cotton slacks last equally long and work equally well. In the 20th century, it was more fashionable to construct price series for basic commodities such as a bushel of wheat or the wage of a country thatcher. But I still think that prices for clothing in historical documents give a feel for the past, and are more reliable than guessing how long hobbyists today would need to make the same garment. When you have a spindle put in your hand before you can walk, or spinning and weaving is the only way you can feed your children, you get good! Today the old tailors of Naples tell anyone who listens that by the time someone has graduated from university they are too old to learn the art of tailoring.

Further Reading


Jac J. Janssen, Commodity Prices From the Ramesside Period. E.J. Brill: Leiden, Netherlands, 1975.

Robert R. Stieglitz, “Commodity Prices at Ugarit, ” Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 99, No. 1 (1979), pp. 15-23 especially page 19

Colin Clark and Margaret Haswell, The Economics of Subsistence Agriculture (1970)

(scheduled ?)

https://www.bookandsword.com/2024/02/10/how-much-did-a-garment-cost-in-the-bronze-age/

#ancient #ancientEgypt #economicHistory #historicalClothing #LateBronzeAge #tunicCosts



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