The hip/sciatica is still bothering me, so I'm not doing a great deal of walking around, and still no machine sewing. At 2:05 today I kissed Sean goodbye as he left for his flight to Winnipeg for two days, then London for a few days, and finally on to his fieldschool in Egypt. His website, with blog, is here, so I'm feeling a little mopey. Especially since I still can't machine sew, even though Olivia's quilt top is done, Anton's quilt pieces are cut out, and I've bought the backing fabric! I also bought fabric for two simple skirts (I'll be making the one the model is wearing, but without the welts and buttons over the kick pleats). One is red, white, pink, and black flowers; and the other is a beige linen. Fabricland is having a massive sale, so I couldn't pass it up. Once I can finally sew again there will be an absolutely flurry of FO's! I find I sew more in summer, I think because it's an activity that needs a certain amount of time set aside to do each step (at least in an apartment as small as ours, that doesn't have a craft room set aside where I can leave projects out as I work on them), and in the winter with school it's easier to just pick up my needles and knit a few rows. Plus I like knitted winter stuff more than knitted summer stuff :D

Speaking of sewing, my new research project idea for the Fort is to develop a new pattern. Every year, each student (both High School/Experience and University/Student) has write a research project about the fur trade. You can also choose to develop a new historical pattern/recipe/etc. Since I'm not wild about the current jackets (look at the 1858-1880 riding habits on this page) since they, as I say, don't seem to be historically accurate to 1815. Evidence from research I've done also says that women wore coats that "fell to fullness either from the waist, or more commonly the bust". Ergo, I am making what might be called a half-robe or spencer or pelisse. My pattern uses a bodice from a long-sleeved empire-line dress, then adds a "skirt" which falls from the bustline to the top or mid-hips. I'm drawing heavily from Katherine's finished half-robe. I can't wait to make other things from her wonderful free patterns as well.