FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Ciri
(click images to to enlarge)
Outline the story …
A few months ago I began listening to the Witcher audiobooks by Andrzej Sapkowski and became utterly gone on the series neck-breakingly fast. As a result, it was a fairly easy call to decide on the character of Ciri for the competition. Ciri was born into the royal family of a powerful kingdom, but by the time the series ends she has lost her kingdom (along with most of her family) and embraced the life of a witcher, a specially-trained itinerant monster-hunter. She is magically chaotic, occasionally bloodthirsty, necessarily a survivalist, and canonically queer. In short, she is very much not a Sexy Fantasy Lady For The Male Gaze™, and non-sexy fantasy costuming is one of my favorite things. My goal was to design a practical outfit she might wear on the road, either as a witcher or during her time riding incognito with a gang of adolescent outlaws.
I hadn’t seen the show or played any of the games when I began designing the look, and the books had a great deal of inconsistency when it came to describing fashion and clothing, so I had more or less a blank slate to work with. Given the descriptions of general technology and lifestyles peppered throughout the stories, I would assume the era to be roughly analogous to the mid/late medieval period. For regional flavor, and to acknowledge the Polish author and presence of Slavic mythology in the stories, I primarily used the Rus Viking and medieval Slav cultures as inspiration.
Outline the construction…
In a rare showing of good sense I decided to only attempt to complete one of the garments for the competition, but naturally chose the most complicated one. Even so, it took longer than expected, largely because I said “I’m not going to do historical practice,” and then proceeded to do everything by hand anyway (if not entirely historically). I drafted the pattern to be assembled from panels and gores, with minimal shaping, and the length and sleeve-length were calculated to allow for free movement even with other layers underneath. Each piece was assembled independently (albeit bag-lined), resulting in a quasi-flat-lined garment with un-pretty but technically finished seams. The outer layer is a fleece-backed cotton knit fabric that I bought on sale a year or two ago, the lining is made up of the decade-old remnants, and the interlining is pieced together out of wool blend scraps leftover from some of last year’s projects. The trim at the cuffs and hem was tablet-woven from a yarn that proved much more finicky than anticipated, but overall I’d consider the weaving effort a success, especially since this was my first time working with a complex pattern.
All in all, the finished garment is heavy and quite warm, but not overly bulky. I still need to add closures (and possibly pockets), and of course the full outfit would include several other garments, but I did the photoshoot in 24F (-2C) and stayed warm, so that’s a win in my book!
This is really beautiful work and the trim is incredibly well done!
Beautiful work on the tablet weaving! I hear wool is tricky since it likes to stick to itself. Very beautiful coat:)
I LOVE this! Tablet woven trim!! I just learned to tablet weave and did not recognize it at first glance, so it was fun to discover it upon closer inspection. What a gorgeous piece and very very wearable… totally doing a note to self for some far in the future potential project. This totally gives me Maker’s Lust!
That tablet-woven trim is gorgeous, and perfect winter colors! The rare warm-but-still-shapely winter coat, well done.
I’m reading the Witcher book right now and this garment really matches the character! It look very comfy and you did a stunning job with the cuffs and hem details! Good luck with the competition!
The tablet-woven trim is amazing!
the trim is so great and it looks very well-fitted on you 😀
You made a piece so good that I really want to recreate it! That trim is gorgeous. I only know Ciri from the games, but I could totally see her wearing this.
This looks so warm and cozy! Fits beautifully and I love your trim work. Adore it!
your phrase “Sexy Fantasy Lady For The Male Gaze™” made me laugh and then sigh. Oh, fantasy… Anyways, this coat is fricking awesome and I’m astounded that you tablet wove the trim! Wow. I love the trim on it, makes me feel like she may no longer have the royal purse but she’d still appreciate beautiful handwork and attention to detail, ya know? Beautiful work, thank you for sharing it:)
It looks like a cozy and practical coat. I love the woven trim. It adds a nice touch, decorative but still understated to match the colors of the coat.
I had to laugh, because the first part of the description sounds very much like me. I love the jacket on its own, but for Ciri it is absolutely fantastic! And please add pockets, everyone needs pockets!
Great job! Your trim is so striking and the coat looks quite cozy!
The weaving for the trim is well done! Love this jacket.
This looks amazing! I do viking reenactment and this coat is just so inspiring! I’m very impressed with the fit of it – my enternal gripe with the viking age is how shapeless most patterns are(assumed/likely to be), but how much I personally like a shaped waist. You have got such an amazing shape in the coat, I’m so impressed! I hope I can do as well as you on my next project.
Very well done!
This is so cool, real viking chic 😀 The tablet woven trim is gorgeous, I love it.
That trim is gorgeous – I really must look into tablet weaving! It does look very cosy too – definitely a win in my book.