Had a living history event bright and early today and managed to finish my outfit last night at 11:30 pm. Ugh. The event went well though. We had a couple schools come to a local museum where we gave educational demonstrations about Manitoba's Selkirk Settler history. I was at a station with another lady where we talked about what kids wore 200 ( Read more... )

I got the fronts attached to the backs at the shoulders, so I pinned the side seams and had a try-on. I was expecting to feel frumpy and butter-churny etc, but OMG, it's actually kind of cute! With regard to the Regency pattern I drafted for this, I think the fit is good, but I would like the waist to be about half an inch to an inch higher, the ( Read more... )

The petticoat is done. And the back pieces of the shortgown bodice are together with the back skirt partially attached. I backstitch top-stitched the side-back fashion fabric pieces onto the back fashion fabric and lining. Then I whipstitched in the side-back lining pieces on the inside. It's all tidy and looks nice. I am attaching the back skirt ( Read more... )

I tried on my petticoat yesterday so that I could fit the straps. So you get (not very exciting bathroom mirror) pictures! The fabric is a cotton print from the Old Sturbridge Village collection by Judie Rothermel and I found the actual fabric on the OSV website, which dates it to 1822, so a bit after this outfit, but still pretty close. This ( Read more... )

I finally watched Crimson Peak yesterday. Some parts scared the bejeezus out of me. It also reminded me of some classic horror/Gothic/suspense things, kind of Hitchcock meets Gaslight meets V.C. Andrews meets the Brontes. I loved the design. The sets and costumes were glorious. I am especially fond of this gown:

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Now that I am not frantically scrambling to move, finish essays, and prepare for a conferece, I can take time to do things at home. This mostly involves cooking and cleaning, to help out the family and to prepare for my stuff to arrive. It's not fun, but it's good to feel accomplished and productive. Plus, I get to sleep in ( Read more... )

Got my apartment stuff sorted out (keys on the way to me and bill paid) and thinking about other things, like what is on the sewing docket for the coming year. I've mentioned my projects before but I'm kind of sad that all of my upcoming projects are already decided. I like it being a bit open-ended. But since the reason for these projects being ( Read more... )

I have a variety of things that I want to sew in the coming year and a half. Some of them have deadlines or events, which is good for making sure I get things done. I'm excited about getting to try new eras as well as having eras that I can now do fairly comfortably. I still need to make more underthings, which is sort of a downer, but I am looking ( Read more... )

I attended my first meeting for my local living history group. It was a lot of fun. The people are super nice, welcoming, friendly, and fun. There was an annual general meeting and then a sewing session. I got a welcome gift as a new member of a period appropriate sewing kit with flat wooden spools for thread, needles in red flannel, little metal ( Read more... )