Corsets and Costumes

I'm on a bit of a costume kick and this year I'm feeling a little 18th century obsessed! I've gone to a couple rennesance fairs and of course made my own costumes and I must say I was very happy with them. My first costuming adventure began after falling in love with the Lord of the Rings, I began drafting my own patterns and hand sewing my elven dresses which all things considered I think came out very well. But when I made my first corset/stays for the renn fair, that was a game changer. I love the weight and the layers and the shapes created by the clothing of yesteryear, if I could wear them all the time I probably would.

Well anyways, a few years ago ... Okay about 5, I bought an actual stays pattern packet rather then drafting my own. I found that half done corset in a bag last month and decided to finish it, it was only then that I realized it was an 18th century design ( not rennesance). But I liked it, and I was determined to finish so I started researching 18th century clothing and oh is it lovely! I am so excited to finish the stays and beggin the rest of the costume!

I've almost decided to go ahead and wear it to the renn fair anyways, I mean really half the costumes there aren't historically accurate and lots of people don't even wear costumes! I think only a handful of people will notice and probably most of them wouldn't even bother saying anything.

So here is some inspiration from my Pinterest board on costumes! And yes, I do plan to make my husband wear a kilt. I'll be sure to post costume updates along the way and I'll tell you why I love corsets so much.

Quilt Update 2

         

So I realized today that it's the third of May and I'd missed my first of the month quilt update. Obviously the update was not the only thing I forgot in the quilt department this month, as you can see I only managed to make 2 new blocks. Between the business of everyday life, a couple of big weekend trips, a cat napping baby and several other projects... I have plenty of excuses.

Quilt update 1

So it's been a month and I've only gotten 3 more done ... Wich is less then one a week. A little sad, a little less then I had hoped for, but still better then nothing. I think I have decided to make the backs of them solid white and black, though I have yet to decide on a filler I was thinking of using old dryer lint in an attempt to make this a very recycle friendly kind of project but my mother pointed out that I would either have to wash it very cairfully or do something extra to the lint so it doesn't bunch up when washing ... Or I could use regular batting .... Or perhaps a few layers of old sheet!

Paper Piecing a Quilt

I like quilts, I like making quilts and I like hand sewing and for a good long while I've been wanting to hand sew a quilt. A few weeks back I was looking for some quilting inspiration on Pinterest when I cam across a method called english paper piecing.

The idea is you cut the geometric shapes of your patern out of paper, then slightly larger pieces of cloth. Using pins, fold and secure the edges of your cloth around the paper giving you a perfect shape. Then simply press the pieces and stich them together. There's a great little tutorial over here at  Buttons and Butterflies.

So the other day I started my own, and I'm going to post my progress on the first of every month. You see, ever since I was a little girl I've had this terrible habit of not finnishing projects. But I'm going to break myself of that and you all and my quilt are going to help me do it. Even if it takes a year or more.

Now, without further a due I present my humble beginnings! 1 down 100 ... Or so-ish to go.