Also windows. So I was really worried about installing windows on a new ssd in case I had to use my 8 disc and then have to update… but it turns out Windows 10 stores information about your hardware so you can change your harddrive and keep your current version of Win 10 so.. yay? Downloaded the iso already just waiting to afford the ssd.

But it does look like I have an error that power cycling can’t fix so I do have to get a new harddrive and you know, install the O/S.

On the other hand I should be getting my Marie Antoinette lace asap. Youshop charges by volumetric weight not actual weight- my lace is 1.5kg! So… 2 and a half pounds. Lighter than Elsa as it is lace not a solid sheet 🙂

After this run of bad luck I’m trying to not get too excited (rib, then virus, hen antibiotics, and all the resewing of projects this year, and the ssd failure.)

https://www.facebook.com/pg/thefrockchick/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1379486728790602

So if anyone is reading this and hasn’t “liked” my page please help by taking some of this excess of stash off my hands. I’ll put it on ebay and local auction sites soon.

I can guarantee you will not find the lace for cheaper, the taffeta is half he price I paid and there are no sales here in NZ that get that low.

(oh learning about partition typoes, about ahci, about the lifespan of an ssd which is finite and potentially will just stop- given how much I played my game on it and how many times I moved libraries of files… and that it is five years old I want a new ssd rather than risk losing the data on it.)

Also am typing on my netbook which is now linux Mint powred, with my usb keyboard and mouse and monitor so it feels like normal. I can cope for a short while until I get the new ssd. Luckily the stuff for my workshops are all on my site or newly thought of and written down.

So it may be time to warm up and then sew some more of my Cleves gown. I keep avoiding trying to create a document on my netbook because I expect it to overload- but it’s not actually doing too badly 🙂

I’ve always had an issue on my comp that Win 10 will not boot. Turns out this is very common, and specifically to my mix of motherboard, ssd, and win 10.

Essentially win 10 considers the ssd to be corrupt. So it really is not trusting its own source…

In the past just leaving the bios open for a few hours has worked but not this time.

The motherboard can see it- recognises when I change connections. It’s Windows. And it may well be when it updates.

Anyway. So I now am at my tiny netbook with the hyper sensitive touchpad that is also shiny so kind of is at time not at all sensitive.

I have to remove Win 10 from this as basically it updated using other computers in the network and it simply is too big to even run. Let alone try to explore.

So I like to not just recreate garments but to understand how they came to be made in different ways.

I look at society at large as well as technological advances.

A pattern that seems to repeat is to shift the focus of care of fine detail when technology can make a process faster/cheaper/safer

So very early dress is often incredibly carefully stitched. Tiny invisible stitches. But the garments are not complicated- seams tend to be straight.

Fast forward to the 16th Century and you have looms and many workers on them making fabrics faster. You see stitches that are functional being made faster and a lot less carefully where they aren’t seen but a lot more complexity of cut and layers.

By the 19thC you get very dimorphic clothing for men and women with totally different fabrics and fitting and construction. And it’s not that one is better than the other but the investment of skill is applied in different ways.

For example in the 1880s you have tailors suits for men from wool with hair canvas to build up their shoulders and otherwise not change the shape of the body but the appearance.

For women of the time the corset shapes the body itself. Once you do that you don’t bury it under layers of fabric. So you get bodices that are flat lined. To make it sit as closely as possible and to avoid stress wrinkles the two layers of fabric are generally very stable but much finer than we tend to imagine them to be. They fit like a glove over the corset so what we see is the solidity of both layers.

So jumping back to the 16thC I ask myself where is the expertise applied and what is given to less skilled hands.

And that is cutting and fitting is by the master and sometimes journeyman, but all the plain stitching is by the hands of many apprentices. And apprentices were children.  Children who were learning their trade and expected to learn quickly and work even faster.

So under those circumstances you learn to be as conservative with your time as possible. Stitches that are functional and stable are more important than hiding them, getting as many done as possible to earn your keep most important.

And this bears out. Stitches are neat and hold the different layers of fabric Just So but there is not an extra stitch anywhere. Not where they are not needed. You save that kind of fancy work for where it will not only be seen but be needed.

Linen goods of the time though are still made with the old technology- straight lines, tiny stitches to the point they can be invisible.

So this is why I am passionate about the technical aspect of costume. Each stitch, each cut, each trim is the work of many people who are at different stages of their career and reflect current technologies.

Day one: exposure

Day two: symptomless but probably infecting others

Day three: operation Dragon throat of fire, operation endless swap.

Day four: Operation watch the congestion.

It’s so much better today. Throat doesn’t hurt at all, headache not so bad but stuffy nose.

So this is great. Also I am keen on all my projects again 🙂

Got some more Padme bodice drapery trimmed and pinned. Got my Cleves braid off and Heat n Bonded to make it as self supported as the rest of the brocade. Pinned back in place. Next step is to cut some canvas for interlining and then overcast all the way around again. I have done this several times. I should have had this finished in Feb…

And I forgot to say! I got my Valois hemmed on Saturday at the SCA Music evening 🙂 So time management has been difficult but well balanced. So this means I can put my Cleve hem out to work on. Knowing how long it takes.

Also I need to do a separate post about that 🙂

I also had to break up a fight between Mr Fluff and Mr Carlo, I got scratched, it’s not too bad, but I was worried Mr Fluff would be too shy to stay. But he is still spending time indoors.

What’s happened is that Mr Fluff being so big managed to defend our house from all the other cats near us. So Mr Carlo never has to interact with them, or makes the assumption that it is his own presence (pheromones) that are doing the trick. So he sees Mr Fluff as an enemy. Mr Fluff knows Carlo was here first 9again those pheromones) and so he doesn’t attack.

So while Mr Fluff is actually dominant it is Mr Carlo who thinks he is. Mr Carlo would be bullied by several cats if Mr Fluff wasn’t here. But he has not made that connection.

I think we are the ideal candidate for that plug in cat pheromone system.

With a separated rib you are at risk of extra funtimes. Avoid accidents kids, they aren’t just a temporary annoyance they can have lasting impacts.

Anyway. I have a virus, I didn’t meet anyone with symptoms so this is a very nasty one so watch ou . I will be ensconced in my room as soon as I get home from my rheumy visit. Oh yeah. Today is the 4 month check up to see if I can get my infusions twice a year. This may influence that decision except I’m fairly sure it’s the Leflunomide that is more of a risk as I have already had to take half the dose.

Time for paracetamol!

If I can be upright I’ll try and get the early historic section of my site up.

Oh and I have a handy xml editor so am going year by year through my LJ to find the actual content and get that content back in my site. So far 2002 has been done. I was so young. It’s okay behbeh me, you grow and you learn.

THEY ARE BACK!!! All the old late historic files are back! (copied and pasted so to make it easier 🙂 ) There are heaps of unfinished projects that I’ll get up at some other time 🙂