Month: November 2013

Pesellino Cioppa: Pleating

15th century

The yoke of the cioppa was taken straight from my farsetto pattern, expanded a bit to account for layers worn underneath and little ease to get in and out of it. Looking at the source image, I decided that the pleated section would start just under the armscye, which made things nice and simple. I guesstimated how big I wanted the final hem to be, did some math based on the number of pleats I wanted, and came up with 4″ wide finished pleats at the bottom. Since they needed to be round, I planned for them to start at 6″ wide, with the extra taken up in the tucks and the curvature. I did some similar guesswork on the width of the pleats at the top, which came out to 3″ for each of the 24 pleats. This is the same ratio I’ve used in the past, so that was reassuring. Despite the lack of precision in the design phase, everything ended up lining up exactly where I needed it to go.

If none of that pleating stuff makes sense, there’s an explanation of what I’m talking about in this handout.

Here’s a picture of one of the panels:

IMG_0841Here the edges are basted together (they will be run through the serger after the pleats are sewn), the pleats are marked out, and one of the tucks has been basted. The basting stitches along the line of the tuck keep the layers together so I don’t miss one when I sew it. The top and bottom edges have also been turned under and finished already. Once all the panels are complete, they are sewn together at the edges and stay tapes are installed:

IMG_0842

 

Ode: Foreign Shores

Poetry

O father, I regret
The beardlessness of youth,
My wooden sword not yet
Exchanged for arms in truth.
For foreign shores I yearn,
But I must wait my turn.
Go in my stead!

My love, gone o’er the sea,
How anxiously I pace,
For each day I can see
Our child who bears your face.
On foreign shores of strife
I worry for your life.
With God I’ve pled!

My son, I’ve grown so old
That I must stay abed;
My stories have been told
And youthful days are fled.
Those foreign shores I’ve known
Have now become your own.
Like you I bled!

This was written in 2013 on the occasion of Veteran’s Day. The style is modeled on poems by Thomas Wyatt (e.g. “Blame Not My Lute“).

Triolet: The Tree

Poetry

A tree has roots that hold on to the ground
And limbs that reach up to the sky above.
While birdsong fills her branches with its sound
A tree has roots that hold on to the ground;
For all her gifts of fruits so ripe and round,
The bird cannot return her verdant love.
A tree has roots that hold on to the ground
And limbs that reach up to the sky above.

Decima: In The Garden

Poetry

My lady, you are like a rose,
A bloom of scarlet at your lips
And curves upon your rosebud hips.
As any worthy gardener knows
The rose is best that upward grows
Upon a trellis strong and true
So that it will not go askew.
And so, my rose, it’s plain to see
That I was clearly made to be
Entwined forever more with you.

My lord, your gardener astute
Would know which plants are worth their weight
And which are but to decorate;
The rose is pretty, bloom to root,
But in the end, it bears no fruit.
No climbing rose am I, you see,
But rather like an apple tree.
And your strong wood may serve me most
As, say, a bench, a fence, a post;
For my part, sir, I shall stand free.

This is a decima written in response to a poetry challenge.