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Romantic Clothing - The Irish Cape |
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Written by Martha Marques
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Wednesday, 17 December 2008 19:53 |
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This is a picture of What to Wear in an Ice Storm. It is an Irish Cape made from an authentic pattern from the 1800's. Because it is my nature and I can't help it I tweaked the pattern a bit by making it a little less full at the top and a little more full at the bottom. And I also lined it with GoreTex so that it would be both water and wind proof. But the fabric itself was woven on the AVL (otherwise known as the Big Freaking Loom) by me. It is my first piece of fabric that I wove on the loom and is a striped wool warp woven with white merino which makes it both soft and misty. I also lined the detachable hood with linen to hide the GoreTex and to boost the Authentic Irish Feel. The ice storm in question was the one that took out power to most of the Eastern Seaboard last weekend and bedecked trees and powerlines with incredible beauty in order to make up for the inconvenience of the electricity thing.
This cape is a gament that I have been longing to make for decades. But the Hawaiian/Arizona/Virginia climate doesn't really call for being seriously swathed against the cold. That is one of the reasons that I am so happy to be back in Maine, the land of freezing cold temperatures, drizzling rain and sleet, and galeforce winds....to which the Irish Cape is cheerfully indifferent. Here.....look at this picture.
Now you see the genius of the hood. It pulls up to completely cover your face, blocking the wind from every direction except the little bit in front which allows you to see where you are going. And you can pull the folds of the fabric completely around yourself without exposing your arms or your hands. With a warm woolen socks and a good pair of boots (see them there at the bottom of the picture) you are completely swathed up in warmth and cheerfully indifferent to the weather. Plus you look like something out of the past wandering about the streets of Portland, Maine. You would think that this is way too theatrical a look for the modern woman, but I have had a surprising number of inquiries as to where garments like this might be found. Alas, you have to make them yourself. Here's another picture
I am setting out to wander the streets of Portland incognito. No one will know it's me.......... |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 17 December 2008 20:11 )
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The AVL or Martha and Joe's Great Adventure |
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Written by Martha Marques
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Wednesday, 10 September 2008 11:02 |
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I recently acquired a large (5 x 6 x 7 -- that's in feet) floor loom at a greatly reduced price, mostly because it was big and complicated and not like most looms and consequently nobody really wanted to invest the time to assemble it, figure the darn thing out, and then disassemble and reassemble it. So we packed the loom in pieces into the back of the Mini Cooper, which is a bit of a feat in itself since the loom is at least as big as the Mini Cooper and brought it home with some partial manuals and paperwork dating from the 60's to figure it all out. We thought it would take about a week of concentrated effort, and in fact the first try did. Then more figuring, warping with a big 10 yard warp, discovery that we had figured it wrong. Sadness.
I then cut the warp off the loom with about a foot of fabric completed and rewarped and rethreaded the whole thing with a certain grim determination. But when I sat down to weave, satisfied that everything was just as it should be, I discovered that, in fact, I had wound the warp correctly the First time, and rewound it incorrectly the Second time. After beating my head against the wall for a few hours Joe came home and put his not inconsiderable head to work on it. After some computer research and careful thought he figured out to hang the weight on the arm that maintains the warp tension in reverse, so that everything worked....not exactly as it should perhaps but it did work.
I wove off the warp and cut the web off the loom and then washed the fabric, ending up with 7 yards of excellent soft, supple, tweedy woolen matereial to make an Irish cape. And now the next time we should be all set.....I think.....but I have been here before and am not altogether sanguine. Here is a picture of me threading the loom with great patience.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 14 September 2008 18:17 )
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