Good heavens, what a bad blogger I am! A whole month escaped without a single post. :( Oh, May... it's been real but I'm glad you're gone. What a crazy few weeks!
The one really good thing about being behind on posts is that I have loads of pictures to share. So...
Warning: Picture Heavy.
Things which occurred during the Very Merry Month of May. . .
My very first craft fair!
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| Setup |
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| Signage! |
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| Jewelry display--could use some work, but it's there! |
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| Making a pearl bracelet while I waited for customers to come by... |
The fair was, essentially, a total bust. The organizers hadn't really gotten the word out sufficiently so it was *very* slow. I did manage to make my entry fee back, plus some gas money, so there's that! I did learn a lot, though, so I'll call it experience and look forward to my farmers' market this summer!
SO much sewing!
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| Costume Cat would like you to know this is *her* fabric |
I don't have many pictures of the madness that surrounded the prep for my craft fair, but be aware that my husband and I pretty much could not see our bedroom floor for a solid 2 weeks. When we move, I demand a dedicated sewing room; my tiny bedroom corner is maddening! My bed became a cutting table/feline napping station--which meant washing my stuff twice because CAT HAIR. Sigh.
MORE sewing!
For Christmas I received a very generous gift card from my in-laws for me to purchase fabric with. Naturally, I snagged several yards of this fabulous reproduction print cotton from Colonial Williamsburg (and a few other things). It's been "in progress" since March, but the fact that I felt like I was going to get heat stroke in my heavy linen gown at an event in Mid-May, I was extremely determined to get it finished in time for our Memorial Day parade. I managed it, but not without frustration! It is the first gown I draped 100% on my own AND my first "en forreau" backed anglaise AND my first time making a skirt a la polonaise with internal tapes AND my first time making self-fabric ruffles (but that was easy/fun)... I'm shocked it came out as nicely as it did.
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| The back pleating before I pulled in the side seams to create more of a "V" shape. |
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| 1 of 8 times I attached the straps & sleeves... |
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| I seriously hated this part. |
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| Attaching the skirt. |
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| Ruffles! Pinked edges! |
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| The ruffles were created by stitching channels and pulling a piece of jute twine through to gather. I won't be doing it this way next time, but at 1am the day of the event it was just fine... |
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| The inside looks like a drunk person stitched down the straps but I care not. |
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| Prick stitch: my favorite. |
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| Completed gown! Reasons I don't have a picture of it on me include... |
1. I was exhausted after finishing it and didn't even try it on.
2. I spent the entire Parade day chasing around my 2-year-old *without* my husband to take pictures of us running around like crazy people.
3. My husband tried to help me out by washing my gown with a load of reenactment clothes--including my bright red linen petticoat. So for the last 2 days I've been removing pink color bleeding stains. :( I am so depressed about this but I WILL get them out, darn it!
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| Just realized I lied and I do, technically, have a picture of me in the gown! 18th Century Starbucks, pre-event. Yep. |
Even MORE sewing/Visitors/Events/Historical Sew Monthly
In the middle of the month my favorite person D came to visit. Of course we had an event taking place while she was here, so the obvious course of action was to outfit her completely... right? It also happened to fall right in line with May's challenge for the Historical Sew Monthly: Practicality.
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| She is wearing a tissue linen shift, cotton fichu, organic cotton sateen petticoat (thanks, old sheets!), woven cotton bedgown, blue check cotton apron, linen-cotton cap, clocked stockings, my daughter's hat, and, well, "stays." The ugliest stays in the world. Just take my word for it. They kept her upright, though! |
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| My daughter thinks D is the greatest person in the world, so I pretty much didn't see her the whole 5 days. |
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| That heavy linen gown I mentioned + obscene humidity + a general predisposition for being too hot = NOPE. At least we look okayish! |
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| The Little Lady examining all the fun stuff the toymaker brought to another event. |
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This humidity we've been having is absolutely no joke, so the Little Lady had to strip down to her undies on more than one occasion. I'm going to have to make her a summer gown as well. OH NO, tiny adorable gowns, the horror...
Extreme Excitement: A commission! |
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| Fancy beeswax cakes for your sewing pleasure. |
If you're volunteering at a certain *Costuming Event* this summer, chances are you'll be receiving one of these. I really have no idea if I'm supposed to talk about it or not, but I'm so thrilled to be asked to help out that I can't handle it! Long story short, I was asked to create 100 wax cakes to give out to volunteers. It took a considerable amount of time to make them (I kept running out of wax/my daughter thought they were food and/or toys/my labels refused to print/etc.) but I'm so happy I got the opportunity.
Extreme Excitement: Sexy Red Damask!
This isn't something that took up my time, but it DID happen in May. I was scouring the clearance fabrics at my local Joann's, not really expecting to see anything made of an actual natural fiber, when this beauty popped out at me. I grabbed it immediately and fished out the tag, which said 100% Cotton in very clear, wonderful letters. Even better? $5.50/yd down from $26/yd! I bought the entire roll. Can you say Christmas gown? I'm thinking something like this awesome round gown:
But then I think, maybe I should do something fancier? So of course I have a Pinterest board dedicated to ideas now.
That's it from me! Happy sewing. :)
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