The Pentathalon Trip
Ok, I am finally not too frazzled or mopey or whatever emotions I've been going through this past week, in order to write up a bit about my trip to L.A. for Pentathalon (finally!).
After getting everything frantically done (with hand cramps), packed and ready to go, I was on the road by 2:10pm that Friday to head south to Teleri's home, to meet up with her and a friend of hers, Melisande. I got there the same time her friend arrived from Sacramento. We chatted a bit, packed up and was on the road fairly quickly. I followed their car all the way down south to eowyna and Jamal's home, even through the worst parts of L.A. traffic, which didn't get too bad till we were near the airport.
I had a great time that weekend, with excellent hosts who were happy to help me with everything from a quiet room to sleep soundly in, to nice wines to relax with, great conversations, and breakfast early Saturday morning so I wouldn't have to worry about it before setting things up Saturday at the Pentathalon location, a high school in Garden Grove.
Saturday morning was early check-in and setup of my five entries in four different rooms. I thankfully saw aliskye turn around a corner or I wouldn't have known where to go from the parking lot. We chatted a bit while in line waiting for check-in. While I hadn't practiced my presentation setup as suggested, I did mentally go over what I wanted and needed, so set up went pretty quickly. Well, my dress took a long time, but it was because I decided I wanted to completely dress Bessie Blunt (my sewing dress dummy) up with the smock, petticoat and kirtle, along with a simple pearl necklace. I still finished off with setup with 10 minutes to spare before judging began.
As I was leaving the campus I did see marymont and hugged her hello before she got deep into her judging of food.
Yes, I left campus, and did not go to the Friendship Tourney (although standing in line it was a little tempting to sit and chat with what few folks I knew that were not judging). With maps in hand provided by Eowyn and Jamal, I drove all the way back into the heart of LA, and went to the FIDM Museum instead to see their display of movie costumes. They had a variety of movies, from a Robin Hood, to The Last Airbender, the current Tempest, Young Victoria (only 1 dress), Burton's Alice in Wonderland, and others. Sadly, no photos at all were allowed, not even without flash, so I can't share what I saw there. I did take a few photos of the outer areas, which was a nice park and waterfall area.
From there, I then drove around freeways and streets, and got lost trying to get to LACMA. I finally realized the road I was on with the right name, had become another named road, so I stopped for lunch at a local McDs, then went back the other way and finally found the museum area. There I visited the Fashioning Fashion exhibit before it disappeared. I took so many photos I nearly ran out of battery life at the tail end, so I did not photograph everything there - just most of them. I will be getting the book soonish, even tho most of the garments are not a time period I was interested in. It just was incredible the clothing that was there, the embroidery, the fabric details, the undergarments ... all fairly upclose and personal. There are a number of folks who have already posted their pics so I won't be sharing mine at the moment, but I did get ideas for various things, including a better understanding of embroidery stitches since one large piece of embroidery I got up close and viewed their stitches, which sadly my camera did not capture really well. I also took pics of interesting fabric patterns and designs. I was annoyed that a Fortuny dress was all covered up, only showing a hem! I then drove back to the host home, and passed out for an afternoon nap. Driving around in LA is rather stressing for me, as I am not used to that much traffic on such busy freeways.
Dinner was simple but good, more wines shared, I shared my husband's cookies for dessert, and we enjoyed a lot of conversation about a variety of topics, including what it is like to be a judge which was enlightening for me. It isn't so very simple it seems, and here I thought it was hard being a participant.
Sunday was a bit more laid back in the morning, but my caravan friends went home from the host home, as one had a 7-8 hour trip ahead of her. I went to the high school to find out how well my items did, and to see other folks' entries. I had been told of a few I would want to look over their documentation, to see how I might improve mine for future reference. I did take photos of all the entries, and again drained a second battery pack by the end of the day.
My entry photos are posted on FB, which you should be able to see the photos from here (if not, someone let me know and I'll change the settings again.) I already posted about how well I did, and I am still rather surprised but very happy about them. I was also pleasantly surprised by the number of strangers who congratulated me for my accomplishments, which was surprising but great.
I dug out my papers & certificates again today while finally unpacking, and will be putting them into a binder for storage in some manner. I appreciated the notes from the judges on how I can improve what I've done, and what to explore next. However, the notes on the soaps will be for minimal info, as I think on that I will stick to making modern soaps. Essential oils for scents are a lot easier to apply. My husband did later suggest using a coffee mill to grind the roots finer than the food chopper could for anyone interested in attempting period soaps.
After packing up my things again, and saying some goodbyes to folks I knew, I finally got on the road and headed back home. Dinner was at a Denny's (which I think I want to avoid that one from now on as it is an older one and not that decent anymore). Then home a little after the kids bedtimes. It was a long adventure of a trip, but worth it.
On Pentathalon, the only thing I've got to say is stick to your strengths if you want to win. At least that's what it seemed to me, from what I saw on the winners items. Congrats to them all. I will probably enter something or a few something in two years, but I don't know if I will do all five again. And I must be better prepared ahead of time as well.
For documentation future reference
After getting everything frantically done (with hand cramps), packed and ready to go, I was on the road by 2:10pm that Friday to head south to Teleri's home, to meet up with her and a friend of hers, Melisande. I got there the same time her friend arrived from Sacramento. We chatted a bit, packed up and was on the road fairly quickly. I followed their car all the way down south to eowyna and Jamal's home, even through the worst parts of L.A. traffic, which didn't get too bad till we were near the airport.
I had a great time that weekend, with excellent hosts who were happy to help me with everything from a quiet room to sleep soundly in, to nice wines to relax with, great conversations, and breakfast early Saturday morning so I wouldn't have to worry about it before setting things up Saturday at the Pentathalon location, a high school in Garden Grove.
Saturday morning was early check-in and setup of my five entries in four different rooms. I thankfully saw aliskye turn around a corner or I wouldn't have known where to go from the parking lot. We chatted a bit while in line waiting for check-in. While I hadn't practiced my presentation setup as suggested, I did mentally go over what I wanted and needed, so set up went pretty quickly. Well, my dress took a long time, but it was because I decided I wanted to completely dress Bessie Blunt (my sewing dress dummy) up with the smock, petticoat and kirtle, along with a simple pearl necklace. I still finished off with setup with 10 minutes to spare before judging began.
As I was leaving the campus I did see marymont and hugged her hello before she got deep into her judging of food.
Yes, I left campus, and did not go to the Friendship Tourney (although standing in line it was a little tempting to sit and chat with what few folks I knew that were not judging). With maps in hand provided by Eowyn and Jamal, I drove all the way back into the heart of LA, and went to the FIDM Museum instead to see their display of movie costumes. They had a variety of movies, from a Robin Hood, to The Last Airbender, the current Tempest, Young Victoria (only 1 dress), Burton's Alice in Wonderland, and others. Sadly, no photos at all were allowed, not even without flash, so I can't share what I saw there. I did take a few photos of the outer areas, which was a nice park and waterfall area.
From there, I then drove around freeways and streets, and got lost trying to get to LACMA. I finally realized the road I was on with the right name, had become another named road, so I stopped for lunch at a local McDs, then went back the other way and finally found the museum area. There I visited the Fashioning Fashion exhibit before it disappeared. I took so many photos I nearly ran out of battery life at the tail end, so I did not photograph everything there - just most of them. I will be getting the book soonish, even tho most of the garments are not a time period I was interested in. It just was incredible the clothing that was there, the embroidery, the fabric details, the undergarments ... all fairly upclose and personal. There are a number of folks who have already posted their pics so I won't be sharing mine at the moment, but I did get ideas for various things, including a better understanding of embroidery stitches since one large piece of embroidery I got up close and viewed their stitches, which sadly my camera did not capture really well. I also took pics of interesting fabric patterns and designs. I was annoyed that a Fortuny dress was all covered up, only showing a hem! I then drove back to the host home, and passed out for an afternoon nap. Driving around in LA is rather stressing for me, as I am not used to that much traffic on such busy freeways.
Dinner was simple but good, more wines shared, I shared my husband's cookies for dessert, and we enjoyed a lot of conversation about a variety of topics, including what it is like to be a judge which was enlightening for me. It isn't so very simple it seems, and here I thought it was hard being a participant.
Sunday was a bit more laid back in the morning, but my caravan friends went home from the host home, as one had a 7-8 hour trip ahead of her. I went to the high school to find out how well my items did, and to see other folks' entries. I had been told of a few I would want to look over their documentation, to see how I might improve mine for future reference. I did take photos of all the entries, and again drained a second battery pack by the end of the day.
My entry photos are posted on FB, which you should be able to see the photos from here (if not, someone let me know and I'll change the settings again.) I already posted about how well I did, and I am still rather surprised but very happy about them. I was also pleasantly surprised by the number of strangers who congratulated me for my accomplishments, which was surprising but great.
I dug out my papers & certificates again today while finally unpacking, and will be putting them into a binder for storage in some manner. I appreciated the notes from the judges on how I can improve what I've done, and what to explore next. However, the notes on the soaps will be for minimal info, as I think on that I will stick to making modern soaps. Essential oils for scents are a lot easier to apply. My husband did later suggest using a coffee mill to grind the roots finer than the food chopper could for anyone interested in attempting period soaps.
After packing up my things again, and saying some goodbyes to folks I knew, I finally got on the road and headed back home. Dinner was at a Denny's (which I think I want to avoid that one from now on as it is an older one and not that decent anymore). Then home a little after the kids bedtimes. It was a long adventure of a trip, but worth it.
On Pentathalon, the only thing I've got to say is stick to your strengths if you want to win. At least that's what it seemed to me, from what I saw on the winners items. Congrats to them all. I will probably enter something or a few something in two years, but I don't know if I will do all five again. And I must be better prepared ahead of time as well.
For documentation future reference
- I noted that some folks used an appendix of additional info, like photos of their items during creation. Some were a photo a page, but I think I could do ok making say 4 photos a page.
- I need to remember for cooking that not only should the period recipe be given, but the modern recipe/redaction be given as well.
- Add in more references of books/items that may have played a part of what I created, even if I didn't fully use said reference.
- More like a report, less a personal account of item creation.
- The embroidery judges appreciated being able to see the backside of the piece, even as a garment. I also got tips on making blackwork more reversible which I want to try on a set of collar & cuffs.