I've got some great legs!

[norsegirl]

Today was armouring with the Lost Vikings, like every non-event Saturday. Fenrick had me working (and helped a LOT) on making legs. They have a really flash system, and this neato jig/mould for making perfect knees. I showed up an hour and a half later than they open the armoury (ooops), but that wasn't a hindrance. Fenrick already had the knees all cut, drilled and finished as a gift to me - yay gifts! He also had all the rest of the leg parts pre-cut (trade with someone else from ages ago I think), so I just had to finish the edges, which wasn't hard work at all. By the end of the day I had a really great set of legs that are just missing the strapping to hold them to me, but are otherwise complete. Fully articulated with a knee cop, two lames and thigh and shin guards. They're really phenomenal! Can you tell I am totally thrilled with these?

I'm also finished sewing my elbow cops up (leather). We just have to dye them and then boil and wax coat 'em and strap 'em to me. Fenrick is getting Hjalti to make me a helm. Everything else seems to be coming together remarkably well. And Fenrick gave me a really nice 6' length of rattan to make into a two handed sword or spear.

Now I have to look up Inga's gambeson notes and make one of those (and I'm thinking I should do that soon - before I get a job and don't have all this free time) and I have to figure out how to make fighting pants.

And as per usual, I cut myself. Embarrassingly, this time, I cut myself while attempting to clean the blood (my blood) from a previous tiny cut off the knife. Note to self: next time I go to Hjalti's, bring both beer and band-aids.

Comments

[rectangularcat]

I was noticing this weekend that most fighting pants look like flannel plaid pyjama pants.. coincidence - I think not... As for a gambeson, yrsa posted about that fairly recently.

[eve-the-just.livejournal.com]

Locally, fighting pants are like big, stripped awnings with elastic waist and ankles. The idea is to cover the lovely plastic legs, because while they are effective, they ain't pretty. What I need to figure out is how to make pants so the crotch doesn't rip, since dear husband has ripped EVERY SINGLE pair I have ever made for him. Maybe he's just really tough on them, but I don't imagine fighting will be nice to them either.

As for the gambeson, thanks for the link, I'll go investigate...

[sionnach-sidhe.livejournal.com]

I understand the whole "pants" issue... So far, nothing has really worked for too long, but the tips I have to give are these:
Reinforce EVERYTHING. Yep, that means using your serger/zigzag to go over the raw bits, and then folding the extra bits down and topstitching, much like on jeans. If you have the patience to french seam the wole thing too, more power to ya.
Make sure the fabric is good and strong. The top winners for fighting pants so far seem to be those horrid "gab ends" and heavy cotton twills.
If you're wearing armour underthe pants, then reinforce the knees with a few layers of extra fabric on the inside (there may even be neat patches you can buy, complete with iron-on adhesive, but I haven't tried that yet). Remember, it is easier to sew the extra fabric in before you sew up the pants (yes, I know this from experience, grr).
Unless you are a very very clever person, just go out and buy a pants pattern (this is where the uncanny resemblence to pjs comes...)
So that's about all I can say after a kazillion years of sewing fighter pants for Corrig. Glad to see that you're having fun putting together the rest of you armour! Make sure to put up some pictures when you get it all done :)