Friday :)

It's friday, yay! just like this entire term this week has flown by. i was busy catching up on sleep from Reenactorfest and then the amazing Blackhawks game on tues (we won). then the next thing i know its friday once again and i have a fun weekend to look forward to. i am having a sewing day with the bf, hopefully we will have some reeancting costumes! on top of that valentines day is on sunday (i still need to finish the scarf for the bf).

but my most exciting thing this week was the fact that i found a small spinning wheel for about $46.00 on ebay and bought it YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! this means that i should be able to spin through all of my roving rather quickly once i figure out the wheel itself, good thing i have the alpaca and lama fiber saved up so i can practice and not use all my beautiful wool. should be fun!

happy crafting! i'll post some pics of the outcomes of our sewing party :)

Reenactorfest

This past weekend i attended reenactorfest and it was amazing. Basically it's like walking through a history book, everyone is dressed in period dress, and they all stay in character. i wanted to faint, it was like a dream come true. on top of all that, there was a large selection of yarn and roving since they are both nice compliments to a woman's outfit no matter what era she is from so i went yarn crazy. i got 16 balls of roving (at a very cheap price mind you) and two skeins of yarn, plus another drop spindle (which i love more than the first one but dont tell it i said that).

Hopefully i will actually get into reenacting sometime soon, i dont think i could handle a year away from it. Elizabethan, renaisance or the american civil war are my top three choices, and we already have some good connections with some romans and greeks in case we want to do that route :)

Hopefully i'll remember to post some pictures here in the near future :)

In other news, i finished shawl #7 of 2010 (and #5 of the South Bay Shawlette pattern though mine are hardly shawlettes any more since i've been using worsted or aran weight yarn to make the pattern not fingering weight) which just happened to be the two skeins i purchased at Reenactorfest. it is the most amazing color of lilac-y purple and it is now sitting on my shoulders keeping me toasty while i write this and look outside at the potential blizzard :p and i finally have a shawl pin in which to pin it together, which is awesome because all of my shawls used to fall off unless i used a safty pin which i didnt like the look of.

oh yes, of course, the reenactorfest ball on saturday was fantastic! everyone was in their period ball gowns or suits (or what not) and every song the dj played was from a different era (renaisance, civil war, swing...) so we danced some renaisance dances and watched some civil war dances, it was all great fun and hopefully next year i will have a gown to dance in not just a sun dress.

Thats all for now i suppose. i am going to a hockey game tonight for a friends b-day and i'm going to wear a team shirt but i am so happy with my shawl that i am wearing the shawl over a turtleneck to class then i will change before the game, how could i deny myself the comfort of a huge wool shawl when we might be hit by a blizzard?

Happy Crafting :)

Shirt/Bodice

my fingers are aching but i think i might attempt the bodice tonight. though it is less fabric than the skirt, it will probably be more sewing. if only it was possible to crochet this piece and have it look just like the skirt. i am making plans to crochet a shawl for my ball gown.

i feel kind of silly about ordering my ball gown, i love it and i havent even recieved ti yet, but i rushed into buying it without thinking of the historical acuracy. luckily for me, it is historically accurate and was really cheap for a ball gown. on top of that i got to choose the color satin and ribbon i wanted, so it was still a great buy! once it arrives i am posting pics, ive been dreaming of it since i payed for it.

i also have another day dress coming in the mail. it cost me about 4 dollars, 9 with shipping, so i figured even if it was a bust, i wasnt emptying my wallet over it. it should be here before the ball gown.

now i will have three outfits to wear for reenactofest 6 in chicago two day dresses and a ball gown, it just so happens there is a ball.

the white shirt i am wearing in the toher pictures was actually purchased to wear under a short sleeved day dress for undersleeves. now i can use it as a second bodice for my skirt which gets me two outfits in one :D

the only dilemma i have is what shoes to wear for my day dresses. i have a pair of black lace up converse that go to my knee and could possibly pass as boots but i'd feel like i was betraying my costume. i just dont want to shell out the 40-60 dollars for a cheap pair of boots. a trip to the local good will is in order.

sadly the jo-ann by my house (5 min away) is now offically closed. i am confined to hobby lobby for fabric unless i want to drive 30 min to go to the other jo-ann. im sure the pull of jo-ann will be too strong and ill be over there in no time.

well now i am off to relax for a bit before diving into more sewing :D perhaps by the end of tonight i will have myself a bodice! now that i think of it, the sewing shouldnt be all that much. 2 front pieces, one back, four pieces for the sleeves, its totally do-able.

happy crafting

That was easy...

So i awoke at 10 am not 8 am as planned, but it didnt really affect my plan for the day. after tampering with the ancient sewing machine for an hour and a half i gave up on that idea and decided to make my dress the old fashioned way. Last night i got all the peices cut out so this morning i sewed two of the three 40"x47" together then i sewed on the third peice but i did not connect the two. instead i folded down the top of the skirt that would sit at my waist and sewed in the elastic band.

note on the elastic band: if you are going to be sewing a dress/skirt and are using sheets, try to cut out the pattern with the already hemmed part at the bottom so you dont have to hem the skirt. then if you are also taking fabric from the fitted sheets with the elastic band, you can cut off the elastic band and save it for later.

i ended up making my skirt a drawstring skirt because it gave the effect of being a pleated/bustled dress with out all the extra work, and it is adjustable :D

i havent gotten around to the shirt/bodice part of my dress, but i think for now i will work on an apron, which i shall make out of a old pillowcase :D

all in all my new day skirt cost me all of $0 which makes me a very frugale seamstress. i'd say this was a very sucessful day.

the pattern for this dress was taken from http://www.shasta.com/suesgoodco/newcivilians/womenswear/dresses.htm

thats an awesome site if you are looking for descriptions of what women wore and didnt wear during the civil war days. :D