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Showing posts from May, 2014

Sewer's Block

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Sadly, I don't have any motivation and/or materials to start on a project or finish one. However, with the unlimited supply of yarn I have, I've been working on knitting baby sweaters for my little cousin's arrival as well as preparing for an upcoming outing this weekend. I'll definitely post pictures of it, but in the meantime, stay tuned :D

Belle Movie Review

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Just got back from watching the movie "Belle" by Amma Asante. Belle is based on a true story about a mixed race girl (Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay) growing up in 18th century aristocracy. While struggling with her identity as a mulatto and where she belongs in the society she was raised in, she also dealt with important things such as pushing the cessation of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade in England and their territories through her great uncle's decisions in the court regarding the Zong Case , as well as finding a husband of high status who would consider her despite her appearance. This movie is so powerful and emotional, that a few people in the audience as well as myself, were moved to tears. I love the fact that it showed each of the character's pivotal points of what life was like for them; dealing with both the political and social struggles of what was considered right and what was considered the norm in English society during that time. A g...

18th Century Strapless Stays Part: I

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With my unit's Rev. War reenactment coming up next month, I thought now would be a great time to finally make my first pair of stays. Thanks to a good friend of mine, the pattern I am using is from J.P. Ryan's strapless stays. The pattern is very easy to follow with no worries about tiny pattern pieces, or difficult to read instructions. I'm thinking of possibly doing a review about it later on down the road when I make another stays with straps (that way I can make some comparisons). When I first started my construction, I used 1 of the 2 yards of the fabric I bought from the 18th century market fair two weeks ago. The fabric is a beautiful and durable heavy duck canvas that I figured would work for this project; that and as soon as I saw it on the sales table, I knew that I'd had to have it.  Now for the fun part! After a few hours of tracing and cutting the linen fabric that I had laying around, I started piecing everything together to get the ri...

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival 2014

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Went to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival today at the Howard County Fairgrounds. It was fun, energetic, and very tempting.  With only $5 in my pocket (I wanted to see what I could buy with only that much), I went fiber hunting  and button/pin hunting, and even picked up a few business cards from booths that I really had special interests in and wanted to patronize later. My finds were successful and well worth the bargain.  For instance, out of all of the fibers that I priced at the festival, I find a gorgeous wine colored Merino roving for only $2.50 an oz. I also found a button/pin for $0.27, and 3 up-to-date knitting pattern books from All About Yarn , for only $1 each.  As the festival was winding down, I managed to watch a sheep sheering demo, meet new people, and even meet up with some old friends in the knitting group that I used to frequent.  In retrospect, It's very possible to get some pretty neat stuff for only $5 and as always sh...