Ruff-ling my Plumage

Ok, last post to get things up to speed!

No doubt about it...I'm one fancy gal. Ostentatious may as well be my middle name. Nowhere is that more apparent than in my faire projects. Evidence below, naturally.

Goody McMannis and I stepped out in style at the Sonora Celtic Festival to start the faire season out right! My giant ruff made its debut, paired with my first attempt at rolled hair. It's basically symmetrical victory rolls, which is no problem for a vintage gal. I originally intended to wetset it the night before to try the popular 1590s fryssed hair, but I didn't end up having the time. Hopefully I'll get a chance to test that style out at some point this year, and of course I'll be sure to document it here when I do. I really dug this whole look!!! In front of ye olde 19th century Blacksmith, of course.

However, I must confess that I am getting rather sick of the tan waistcoat + gray petticoat combo. I suppose it's because it is currently my only option. More incentive to get the blue waistcoat done and get a move on to my green kirtle. I definitely don't want to be stuck wearing this same outfit the entire run of Northern!!

I hadn't been to this faire since it was in its previous incarnation in Calaveras! The drive was great in my new Impala (Baby was made for road trips--town to town, two lane roads). The faire itself was really nice and we enjoyed ourselves. Definitely bring cash though if you go, even the ticket booth was cash only! Even though it's technically a Celtic festival, at least 2/3rds of the faire was historically-minded. Next year Becky and I hope to return--but this time as vendors!

Also, March features my favorite holiday--MY BIRTHDAY!! I managed to pick up a couple of Elizabethan books as gifts, Sleepless Souls: Suicide in Early Modern England by Michael MacDonald and Terence R. Murphy and Janet Arnold's posthumous Patterns of Fashion 4. As can be expected, PoF 4 is incredible, and the multitude of colored images take the cake. AND THEN ANOTHER MANIA STRUCK!!! Smock! An embroidered one, with a high neck and carnation-pink silk embroidery! Who could say no to that?? Since my name may as well be J. Thaddeus Toad, I am following my latest mania and have started researching, accumulating, and preparing to make my very own smock, while simultaneously continuing to work on my waistcoat. I ordered (and laundered) some beautiful linen from Wm. Booth Draper (WLG 105 ~4oz White Linen). I also ordered some really lovely silk thread for the embroidery, Soie Gobelins #2914. Of course I had to fall in love with a color that is inactive, and I've only tracked down two spools so far. Crossing my fingers that it will be enough!! The design is also pretty much finished, but it's still awaiting approval from my Guild Mistress, so no sense listing it yet. The base of it is the "Eglantine" pattern from Practical Blackwork (http://liadain.fatcow.com/id3.html). Although I have a lot on my costuming plate this year, someday my smock will come! (And hopefully before the end of Northern!)

Smock, 1630, Victoria & Albert Museum, T.2-1956

Smock, 1600-1618, Museum of London, A21968 

If you thought I was snooty before, I assure you that my snobbery will soon be taken to whole new heights. You have been warned. I am signing up for the Cabinet of Curiosities course (http://www.thistle-threads.com/teaching/projects/onlineclasses/casket/casket_registration.html) as a present to myself for finishing graduate school. Be prepared for jealousy-inducing knowledge and embroidery goodies. Speaking of grad school, I successfully defended and submitted my thesis. Hardcore awesome!!! Umm, I mean, insooth, 'tis a glorious daye!! Yeah, that.

While I will not be surprised if others want to follow me down the path of historical snootiness, be wary that it comes with a price, and I don't mean just the price of silk and wool!

Folsom, Interrupted

I visited the Folsom Renaissance Faire with my little cousin Brooklynn the weekend after Northern ended. So, I've had a draft of a post for the Folsom Ren Faire done for a couple of months now waiting to post. However, then I started thinking about internet safety and identity control and decided not to post her pictures after all (this was really hard because they are SOOOOO CUTE). So here is an abridged version of the post to record what I wore and to encourage others to visit this lovely little faire.

The Folsom Renaissance Faire is a great small faire, lots of fun with nice booths and good atmosphere, and close to home to boot. It is also situated right next to the fantastic Folsom Zoo. It's definitely amusing to pop over to the zoo and wander around in your Elizabethan finery. Don't miss this bonus activity--make sure to take a break and see the animals!

I took my plain waistcoat up a few notches with my red tall hat and snazzy jewelry for a change. I think it's a pretty good look, though in truth the hat should be worn with finer clothing than I have. Oh well, it was more about having a good time and being together, rather than worrying about the highest level of accuracy. Can't beat myself up too badly for not having my wardrobe up to par--just need to keep sewing!!

A Winter's Tale

While Folsom marked the end of the 2013 faire season, I of course didn't stop scheming and sewing through the winter months. Christmas brought me a haul of Elizabethan goods--topped off with my very own ruff from the Renaissance Tailor!

 

Progress was painfully slow on the blue & orange waistcoat. However, it definitely helped to get organized by making a project work box. In this plastic shoebox, I only keep the current part I'm working on and the relevant tools to complete it--in this case the pieces of the sleeve & cuff, thread, pins, notions, and trim. That way, I can take it anywhere and pick it up anytime: just grab and go! As long as I maintain the system by keeping it neat and up to date, I have no excuses and nothing standing in the way of my sewing.

Unfortunately, I managed to get viral myelitis, a virus in your spinal cord that I DO NOT RECOMMEND, which kept me from sewing for several weeks due to the pain in my neck, back, and arms. That was, of course, followed by a round of the various winter colds that I thought I had escaped. I managed to make a little progress on days I felt better but it was few-and-far-between for a while.

I even managed to break a needle handsewing--I didn't even know that was possible!!

Finally I managed to finish one sleeve though, and it looks soooo awesome!! The wool-tape trim I ordered from Burnley & Trowbridge looks so incredible! This is the first time I've really used any trim on a project and I'm so happy I went for it. It really adds to the richness and authentic feel of the garment. From now on it is definitely my policy to add trim to EVERYTHING.

Waistcoat progress was interrupted, however, when I was overtaken by a fever, and the only prescription was a sewing work-bag for faire based on the one in the Lady's Guide to Plain Sewing II (pgs 6-7) from 1789. The style & shape is older, fortunately, and a bag of this type is completely conceivable for the late sixteenth century. Here's one from 1669...embroidered by a 10 year old! How embarrassing, I feel so inadequate now!

I made mine out of mulberry-colored "stuff" aka worsted wool, that I ordered from Wm Booth Draper along with some linen tape for a drawstring. This wool is the softest, finest wool I could ever imagine. If it wasn't for the fuzzy selvedge I would think they duped me! I will certainly be making some garments out of this wondrous "stuff" in the future! I added an embroidered name tag that includes my faire name, Mistress Anne Harris, and my guild so that hopefully it won't get lost or mistaken! It was so much fun to make a personal item for Anne, and it definitely helped me to start getting a feel for and starts fleshing out her and her world. Look for more "Anne projects" to come!

With that mania quenched, I have gone back to the waistcoat and just finished the second sleeve. On to the body! Hopefully I'll have a wearable garment sooner rather than later. Only four months until Northern! I'm shooting for Valhalla at the end of May/beginning of June, but sooner would be even better so that I can move on to my other big projects for the year!