One of the things I find gratifying about medieval recreation is the idea of making new things or upgrading old things with salvaged bits of nicer materials. For me, that usually means thrift store finds. I’ve gotten decently good at spotting silk, wool, and linen in the racks. I shamelessly buy up white cotton flat sheets for undergarments. I look for things that will yield a yard of fabric at least – so that’s usually large suit jackets, long dresses or skirts, etc.
Some current bits and bobs projects:
Blue silk pin-on sleeves. I don’t have any gowns made of silk. These sleeves will be a touch of luxury whenever I wear them. The material is from a thrift store obtained fancy evening jacket, torn apart and pieced together to be large enough. They seemed to be coming together fairly well, save for the fact that the fabric stretched a bit as I was sewing it, and now it’s a tiny bit twisted. Not terribly, but I’ll try to avoid that in the future. I plan to wear the blue sleeves with my gold, red, and possibly green gowns.
Gold brocade sleeves, were originally attached to an old, poorly constructed yet luxurious gold gown from 2013. I remade it into a short-sleeved gown last year but saved the sleeves. There was enough fabric to shift the seam to the back and I removed the ratty faux fur that was originally on the cuffs. I’ll wear these gold sleeves with red, blue, or green.
Revisiting a prototype chemise Given that Gulf Wars is impending, I’m almost done finishing one of my prototype supportive chemises just to have another one for the weeklong event. Quantity over quality when it comes to underwear. This one is made from sheets and an old pillowcase. Besides, with a little bit of thread and scrap fabric I’m just saving it from the trash can.
Black wool hood I’m also going to see if I can rescue a previously started black wool open hood, cut from a ladies wool suit from the thrift store, and lined in black linen, cut from a skirt. I think the pattern was wrong but it might work. I’d wear this over another cap.
White silk partlet Not exactly salvage, but I’m making this from a cheap silk organza scarf. At the moment I’m held up trying to figure out the best way to do that. Need a little more research.
Girdle Book Finally, I’m kind of wanting to make myself one of those leather bound girdle books that hang from your belt. I’m not a huge fan of using my cell phone during events, so I’d rather have my schedule and other notes jotted down in something non-electronic. A few years ago, I made a tiny little book that I kept in my bag, and it was super useful, as it also worked well to hold my cash securely. I glued brocade to it and it had a ribbon to keep it closed. Now that I have my little leather pouch for cash and ID, I figure I can have this book hanging freely. I have a really lovely tan suede skirt from the thrift store that I plan to sacrifice for the girdle book!