Sometimes there are those projects that taunt you for years. They sit on whatever surface you keep "current" projects on and stare at you while you work on other things. When you finally get tired of it, you box them up and put them in the garage. But somewhere in the back of your mind is small voice, nagging you to just finish them. A year (or ( Read more... )

I'm teaching two classes on 16th c. German clothing at Estrella, and liable to do a trunk sale of accessories as well (I have too many chains and hat-bobs!) Class info below - please cross-post if you like ( Read more... )

I just surveyed 88 color images of Cranach's women, in process of trying to plan the brustfleck for the Maleficent dress. 83 of the images had a gold base-color, 3 were black, 1 was white, and 1 was red ( Read more... )

I have too many ideas and fabrics in my head to keep them all straight. ( Sixteenth-century German gowns galore... )

I'm still on that German underwear kick. Wool unterrocks (that would be underskirts, or petticotes) for Estrella are next on the docket. I have a bright red-orange wool poplin and a gold satin-finish gabardine to use as the base colors. The question is: do I guard them? And if so, in what, and in what colors? I do want them to be washable, ( Read more... )

Pearled goldhaube. Several years ago, I took some gold and white shot silk, cut what I thought then was the right shape for a goldhaube, and set set black/gold metal cording on it in a 1/2" criss cross pattern over all of it. Then I alternated crosses of (real) pearls and tiny gold beads at the interstices. Then I took my hiatus from re- ( Read more... )

The diamond wool twill I picked up off of ebay arrived. It's dark red and dark (natural) grey. Yum. Now, what am I going to do with 17 yards ( Read more... )

hrj posted "Why to-do schedules should be flexible." I agree wholeheartedly! I managed to get most of Monday's list done, except for repairing the tent, because I didn't have an extra grommet. I had to go get black silk ribbon at Laci's in order to finish the hood edge the way I wanted, and I didn't finish the hem until yesterday morning. But being ( Read more... )

Sewing night was an absolute blast night. It waxed philosophical in all the right, wine-induced (on my part, anyway,) ways. One of the best at-home evenings I have spent in a very long time ( Read more... )

Yeah, yeah, I know that my second favorite word in the English language is "both," but did she *have* to point out that my brustfleck should be as cool as my sleeves??? I have a piece of tangerine (limey-yellow/orange shot) silk for the base fabric, and am now noodling around on pearl patterns. There's a fairly simple interlocking circles pattern ( Read more... )