Sew Geeky: Epic Fantasy, Alanna the Lioness

Hey guys, it's my favorite time of the month- time for Sew Geeky! I had to bow out last month because Cordelia changed her mind about what she wanted to be for Halloween, and I ended up with nothing to contribute! Making me extra excited for this month's post.

November is Epic Fantasy month, and it was soo hard to pick just one thing to sew- and I only had time to sew one outfit! I love epic fantasy- Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, fairies, dragons, wizards- I love it all. Really my love goes back to when I was eleven and asked my mom to buy me a book called Alanna: The First Adventure, written by Tamora Pierce. 

Alanna is a girl who doesn't want to be a proper lady, she wants to be a Knight- but girls aren't allowed to go for Knight training. Unhappy with the situation Alanna disguises herself as a boy, trades places with her brother (who wants to be a wizard and not a knight), and becomes a legend. There is magic, sword fights, and talking cats. I was hooked, and I remain hooked. I still read every new book Ms. Pierce puts out, and I re-read the entire series whenever I am particularity stressed and need a "vacation".

Alanna is fierce, independent, and determined. All qualities I see in Cordelia, so it was fun to tell her stories about Alanna as I was sewing this outfit for her. (She isn't old enough for the books yet, but I can't wait to read them with her)

Cordelia's leggings are self drafted out of brown velour, and some sort of stretchy gold velvet-ish fabric (I've never worked with anything like it, and I should have written the name down). Her tunic is an upcycled burgundy sweatshirt , with more of the gold fabric- to emulate armor. The tunic I made using the Bimaa Sweater.  I sized up to account for the limited stretch in the sweatshirt fleece, and I sloped the hem to make it longer in the back. This is my first Bimaa, and I'm convinced I put the cowl on backwards, so I'm anxious to try another one to see if I can do it correctly! 

The cover art for the books often show Alanna wearing gauntlets, and plate armor shin guards, and so I thought the color blocking was a nice way to give that look. Stitched to the front is Alanna's signature Lioness- not my best stitch work, but I think it still sort of looks like the picture of her shield.

Cordelia especially enjoyed sword fighting with a giant- using the awesome crocheted sword my sister made her. She lost some fights. . .

and won some! Taking these pictures were soo much fun!


As always please go check out the other amazing women sewing this month- you won't regret it because they made amazing things!

Kat, Annika and Kelley