My goals for April were:

• Make the next version of the gonete.

• Start design decisions and shopping for the saya verdugado.

• Figure out how the heck to be a Royal Champion and what that means!

After taking almost a week to rest and recover from March, I decided it was time to revisit the gonete. I’ve had a few design alterations in mind given how the pink one wears. The first change was to raise the armscye. This should hopefully help the drape of the bell sleeve. Next, I lowered the hem significantly. Ideally, this will allow for the waist to sit better as well as add additional weight so it doesn’t pop up quite so much. Next, I changed the shape of the neckline. I like the neckline on the pink gonete, but I wanted something a little more dramatic than I had previously. I dropped the corner of the square neckline to allow for a wider and slightly lower terminal point. This is a purely cosmetic change. From a construction standpoint, instead of just having two layers of fabric, this second version will have three. First, a linen lining and a cotton canvas interlining are sewn together, then the hooks and eyes will be attached to those two layers. Here, I’ll be stealing a trick from Meisterin Kolfinna- on her German, she has the hooks and eyes alternating which side each is on. The theory is that this will a) help distribute the direction of the tension and b) if it comes undone, the likelihood that ALL of them will is much lower. Once that is complete, a cotton sateen will make up the outer fabric. This fabric is much more flowy than the pink wool, and it’s my hope that the drape of that fabric will help the bell sleeves also sit better than previously.

I did take some time to hem my green linen dress. I did not make this dress, it was a hand-me-down, but it is a darn comfortable casual dress for when I just don’t want to worry about my clothes. It’s great when the weather is planning on being unpredictable as well. It was, however, several inches too long for me so that had to get changed. It proved ideal for Bloodbath this month, where it alternated between breezy, hot and muggy, and drizzly. Speaking of Bloodbath, I had a lovely day. The only real work I had on my plate was A&S. I volunteered to judge and Bea was kind enough to help me and Sof’ia learn and get more confident in our A&S judging. I was nervous thinking I would light on the wrong things and wrong priorities, and having that little safety net made it a great experience. I also was on the look out for some A&S to highlight as Her Majesty’s champion (more on that below) and found a fantastic entry from a newcomer who entered their very first A&S at the second event ever they attended! It was a spectacular first effort and I cannot wait to see what they do. I brought my belt to work on at for my small portable project, and managed to get a decent amount of cord threading done! It’s slowly coming together and I’m looking forward to it actually being usable.

I did have a strategy meeting with HRM and several of her advisors regarding what being Queen’s Champion looks like. For me, it will be displaying at Known World A&S at Pennsic even if I won’t be present, potentially displaying for Champion’s War Point if they allow for a non-present entry (not likely), and all around advocating for A&S wherever I go. I’ll be using the Oak a bit as well to help spread education on the Silk Road theme. So now, every time I go to an event, I’m going to try to find an artisan to champion to the greater population of Atlantia and will use my online platforms do to the same. One of their other requests was that I teach on persona development a bit. I’ve submitted a virtual class for Summer University on the subject but I’m sure I’ll get pulled in a few different ways as well.

Bea was an enabler this month and I bought several pieces of new feast gear kit off of her to flesh out some of my serving ware. I particularly wanted a slightly larger plate for my own use and a pitched to hold water throughout the day/meal in. She had those in her stash and given that’s she’s moving soon, she wanted to downsize and I was happy to help. I also acquired a small stoppered jug from her and a small jar I plan to use to hold some Duke’s Powder in for transportation. All of these additions made me think about my feast gear transportation set up and led me to acquiring a new feast gear box. This one is listed as a wood toy chest on Joann’s but is a great addition for all the feast gear stuff I use regularly at events. I grabbed some ring handles to go on the sides, and intend to seal and paint it with my device and someday badge. The best part is that the chest also doubles as impromptu seating/footrest! It needs to be stained and sealed, and definitely deserves my device or badge painted on it, but that’s for another (warmer/drier) month.

I had to take a quick break from the gonete to order more hooks and eyes, and while that was happening, I worked on a quick wrap skirt. This is from a piece of beautiful green linen Bea had. I unassembled what was done to the piece, and then re-pleated it to match my waistline. After a quick rolled hem on the sides and bottom, I added a strip of herringbone linen tape to the top to act as ties. I wanted to attempt one of the wrap skirts that seems to be typically worn with the gonetes, but I believe pleating is not the way forward. I expect a half circle skirt probably is most likely. It’s very possible I will disassemble the skirt again to try for gonete version 3.

The hooks and eyes method I attempted on the gonete did work well. However, after two attempts at this garment, I have come to the conclusion that this garment cannot be supportive, invisibly closed, AND perfectly smooth all at the same time. The physics just doesn’t work especially when breasts get involved. I think I’m going to need to revisit for a third try. Of those three possibilities, the supportive sizing is I think the thing that has to give. I could add another inch total to the garment and it should work exactly as needed. I could add that inch to the cornflower blue version I’m currently working on, and I have not yet ruled that out. If I add a gore down the side, I will need to take the shoulder straps up to balance it out but I think it’s do-able. I will pursue that further next month. Adding additional anchor points to the hooks and eyes did help on the pulling and gapping some, without changing the fit of the garment much. I have not yet hemmed it, as I think I’ll need to add some sort of weight to the front corners to keep them from popping up still (see picture to the right).

The work I did on the saya verdugado was fairly theoretical again this month. I did some sketching and I have chosen the pattern pieces I’ll be using as the base pattern for the bodice. I think, given the silk I have and the fact that the pattern is going to be broken up by the striping containing the ropes, I’m going to use gores to achieve the fullness in the skirt. This should allow for a smooth inset at the waist, while still achieving the bell shape I want from the skirt itself. I’m very excited to get started on this once the Blue Gonete is completed.

The Oak had a fantastic month, with a bunch of new submissions and the launch of our new social media channels. I am so proud of my team and couldn’t ask for better folks to work with.

My May goals are:

• Finish the Blue Gonete (its new name) and document the process.

• Begin construction on the saya verdugado.

• Get back to reading Jews, Food, and Spain finally.