A Dedicated Follower of Fashion

Here's a sneak peak at my "marquee" dress for Gettysburg - I'll get nice pictures and do a proper writeup then. But here are a couple not-great dummy pictures for you, as proof that it's done! (Except for sewing in the pocket, and taking the undersleeves off my grey dress, washing them, and tacking them into this one. Which I should do sooner rather than later...) And this dress weighs a TON. Well, ten pounds, which is rather a lot for a dress, I think! I like my buttons. :)

I'm being a bad blogger...but I'm vain and like to post pictures of things I'm making that look like something! And I've been bouncing around between Gettysburg projects like a hopped-up flea. But lately I've been talking up my blog to some new people I've met ("oh, yes, I have a blog..." *tries to look important*) so I probably should update it at least once this month, eh? First off, I'd like to say hello to all the lovely people I met yesterday at Fort Mercer. *waves* Another Amanda wandered across this blog and realized, hey, we're practically neighbors, we should meet up at this event! Her regiment was quite friendly (and only thought I was a little weird for dressing up on my own and going as a member of the public, haha)...I think I'll be seeing more of them! :) And had an open house at the Indian King Tavern on Saturday - so I had a very 18thc weekend! I didn't get any pictures, as they were just rewears; cream jacket and ...

A fair majority aren't for me, but I'm still sewing! I neglected the shop a bit leading up to the tea last weekend, so I've primarily been mocking up and starting to sew things for selling this week. Namely, md-19th-century winter hoods. Yes, very specific! Mainly because I'm going to Gettysburg in November and want a warm head if it goes down to freezing again...and figured while I'm making one for me, might as well make them for the shop, right? Somebody might want one! 1860s black silk winter hood And I've got another version in pieces on my ironing board, that will be pink with white marabou trim! I did spend one day off sewing just for myself, and managed to knock out the bulk of my 1860s quilted wrapper. I also managed to put the sleeves on backwards. WINNING. It's a snuggly wool-cotton flannel, trimmed with pre-quilted silk. It still needs a lot of finishing touches that I haven't bought yet (200 frogs or so for closures, etc)...and ...

On Saturday, the Indian King Tavern in Haddonfield was kind enough to let me host an 18thc tea with some of my friends. And my friends were kind enough to show up for it! And at least a few people members of the public thought we were interesting enough to listen to us ramble. Always good. The traditional 18thc shoe shot. ;)

This past weekend was Victorian Belvidere - it's a cute little town in north Jersey that has a Victorian-themed sort of festival every September. They have house tours, teas, a baseball game, a fashion show, and lots of vendors. Oh, the shopping. That was about 90% of the reason we showed up. ;) It's very much a "wear something Victorian! Ish!" sort of event, so Robin and I wore hoops, and Alice her mid-1870s (all very impractical for shopping in tents, natch). We were very bad with the photo-taking this year (partly because nobody wore anything new, partly because we were having far too much fun to remember to take pictures), so the only one of all three of us is from some helpful person who shared it on Belvidere's Facebook page. courtesy Marianne Meyer-Garcia

I enjoy having an online shop, but it's way way cut down on my Sewing Things For Me time! If there's only time for a little bit of sewing in the day, it has to be for the shop. Doesn't help that the bird dress is at the point of "why doesn't it just TRIM ITSELF??" For Cloth Fair, I've made a big pink mushroom hat aka 1780s capote (I didn't list it as "mushroom hat", but do you know how tempting it was) and a very practical linen apron. You know it looks like a mushroom . And I say this with all affection. I love this style! Aprons is aprons . But everybody needs aprons, right?? For me: Finished yet another cap (and did not take a picture) in my never-ending quest for the Perfect Fluffy Cap - still not perfect, but quite nice and very acceptable for this event. This event, specifically. :D Did get the sleeve trim on the bird dress, at any rate. There is TOO MUCH GATHERING left to do! *flops*

I had grand ideas of having a Grand Opening for my etsy shop...and then realized that wouldn't be til next year sometime, as I'm such a slow sewer! Anywhoodle, I like making hats and accessories and things (have you noticed?), so I finally got round to opening an Etsy shop - both for the aforementioned Hats and Things, and for a few very old costumes that I'll never wear again, but are too nice to pick apart or donate. No outfits that date to within the span of this blog, though! Not yet... I'll post hats and things here as I get round to listing them - they'll also be listed under the new "Accessories" tab at the top, with links as long as they're available. I'm still feeling out what people might like to actually spend money on, so I'll probably have one of each style in the next few weeks. I'm mainly going to focus on 1750-1820ish, as that's what I know most about, and like to make the most! Suggestions and/or comments from pe...