well, i've been working on my faire costumes. i will be dressing up for the renaissance faire and dicken's victorian fair this year.. i can hardly wait!

my mother in law, vickey, and her cousin, aunt trudy, are amazing seamstresses. they are working on my renaissance faire outfit. i decided to be a pirate wench maid. they're both in a guild for the faire so it's always fun when you know people who are participants. as for the dicken's victorian fair i'm a middle class home maker.

i don't have anything to make for the renaissance outfit but for the victorian fair i have quite a few things to do. i made a venice lace choker which i shall be posting a picture of in a few minutes here. i'm making a hair fascinator that's almost complete. my friend, jeremy, knits and he's knitting me a pair of fingerless gloves and a reticule which i will be adorning with beads and lace. i'm planning on linig the reticule with red satin all by myself. i'm glad my mother taught me a thing or 2 on how to sew. she's been doing upholstery for over 10 years.

i actually bought my dress but i might ask vickey and trudy to make my victoran dress next year. then i realized my dress is a decade too late for the dicken's era.. grrr. i also had to make some adjustments. i'm changing the stretch waistband to a hook waistband so it doesn't look all bulky on my waistline under my bustier. i'm also hiking up the underskirt shorter because i'm short! i don't know why the lady made my underskirt 45 inches long when i'm only 5'5" tall with a 31" inseam. the sleeves were supposed to be bell sleeves with ruffles at the end. the sleeves were not tapered to give it a bell sleeve look, instead they were straight and just looked baggy on my arms making them look awkward. so i had to sew in stretch bands on each sleeve on the seams of the ruffles to give it a puffed, full look. i will post up pictures as soon as things get put into place!

i have until september to complete my wench outfit and until december for my victorian dress. wish me luck!

-- meks