Christian enters an entire ensemble of men’s landsknect clothing in the UFO Challenge.
Entered in the categories:
- Why didn’t I just finish this? Least amount of work required to complete the project / closest to completion
- Old enough to drive, vote, or retire. Project that has spent the longest time to complete
- Finally, knocked the bastard off! Most longed for project / most relief on completion
In Christian’s own words:
The project as completed for this challenge includes the following items:
- Wams (doublet)
- Hosen and underhosen (two layers for the pants)
- Garters
- Leather belt
- Hat
- Linen coif
The shirt for this project was completed for an earlier challenge.
When was it started?
My Project Books says I started this project in April/May 2018, and then re-started it again in 2022. I had long been planning to make such an outfit for myself, having made one for Tycho many years ago (sometime prior to 2005), but the right fabric and occasion were elusive. I started the outfit with a linen shirt, which was completed for a previous Southron Gaard (Persona Gubbins) A&S Challenge in 2019/2020: https://southrongaardarts.blogspot.com/2020/10/pgc2019-christian-baiers-landsknecht.html (and that project itself was delayed due to the vicissitudes of COVID).
When I reopened my project bag for this UFO challenge, it was a pleasant surprise to find that everything was largely completed; the only things to be finished were the eyelets and points for the wams and hosen, making the garters and coif, adding the belt mounts to the belt leather, and completing the hat with a suspension system and a feather.
Why was it not completed in a timely manner?
The fabric was thicker than preferred, making the outfit only really suitable for a winter event, delaying the completion until an appropriate event came around (in this case Yule 2025).
I cannot recall the date when I picked up the red and black wool fabrics from which the outfit is made, but these were short ends on sale (from the now defunct Fabric Vision); the short length of fabric made them affordable, but created further challenges and delays in trying to get a whole outfit from 1.5m of each colour.
In addition to taking a long time to find an appropriate fabric, COVID created a many-months-long delay as my usual linen thread merchants either no longer operated, no longer shipped, or ridiculously increased their prices, during the pandemic.
The patterning took longer than it should, because not only was I trying to achieve a period pattern and good fit, I was also trying to create a more masculine silhouette; and then try to fit that pattern on to the available fabric.
Appropriate tools for the slashing were just not available or macgyer-able at a reasonable cost, so yet another delay. Thanks to Baroness Isabel Maria for the loan of her lovely Elizabeth pinking set, which was wonderful to use, albeit a little undersized.
Local leather supplies for period-appropriate-weight belt leather are also now few and far between; I finally managed to pick up some belt leather on holiday overseas last year. The belt fittings I acquired maybe 10 years ago, but hadn’t got around to identifying an outfit until now. thanks to Sir Tycho for punching the holes and bashing the rivets.
The hat blank I acquired for around $2 in a sale at Farmers many, many years ago. I almost finished this hat two years ago, but as I hate wearing hats, I didn’t have a compelling enough reason to finish it. For this project, hiding my less than masculine-16thC hairstyle necessitated a hat, as well as a linen coif. The coif was made from the last of the scraps of the shirt fabric. Both these projects were finished in an evening.
This project also tended to be put on hold while I worked on other projects that were more suitable for other upcoming events.
Lessons learned:
When you purchase materials for a project, don’t skimp; you may need more in the future and you may not be able to find the same or similar materials, at the same price, in the same place.
It sucks living in a small island at the end of the earth, but especially so during a global pandemic.
Don’t forget to date your projects in your project book, so you truly know how delinquent you have been.
Read more about the UFO Challenge and the entry categories here.
