Tiger Lily's Threads

Enjoyed my 3rd year at the Fort Frederick Market Faire in Big Pool, MD. On the way there, we've experienced freak weather such as a snow storm, rain & sleet. The temperature kept dropping from 41 to 34 to 50. By the time we reached Ft. Frederick it was as if we stepped back into February…it was very cold. Luckily, we were prepared with sweaters and wool cardigans. Being out in the mountains with weather like that reminded me of the Irish countryside or Iceland. Around 11am (when they opened) we met up with our friends Ben Bartgis, William Knight, and Ms. Bartgis and pretty much went on a whole shopping spree for everything we wanted/needed for next weekend's event, as well as for personal use. For example, my unit Lieutenant bought some really nice reproduced furniture, A really cute liquor chest, and some wearable items that were requested by my unit mates who weren't able to make it up for the trip. As for my husband and I, we looked at reproduc...

So, I'm a little behind on my sewing and knitting mostly due to work however, I do have a few things on my "to do" list that I'd like to knock off before the month is over. 1. Get my sewing corner established. A couple of days ago, I spoke with my mom about using the spare room she keeps her things in as a sewing room mostly because I just don't have the space like I used to back at my old apartment. 2. To finally finish my 1809 Regency Day dress. It's been on my short mannequin for a while now mostly because I've left my regular dress maker's dummy in storage. All I have to do now, is just add the skirt, and the buttons and voila! It'll be ready for the spring/summer Regency event(s). 3. Get started and finish my Historical Sew Monthly project for April. The French Revolution Cockade 4. Redo my husband's 18th century waistcoat. Right now, it's a hodgepodge of different fabrics with very different prints. I don't' know what...

Now that it's finally the weekend, I could finally sit back, unwind, and work a little on my sewing. I know that I have several UFO's laying around as well as my March and April historical sew monthly challenges that I was supposed to be steadily working on, but today I wanted to work on a UFO that belonged to my husband, that I never got around to finishing. Last year, I attempted to start on his 18th century waistcoat. The fashion fabric was made up of the same navy blue duck canvas that I used for my stays, and the lining was made up of light muslin. Fast forward to now, it seems that I only cut out 2 of the muslin pieces and didn't have any left over, so instead I am using leftover tartan plaid cotton fabric that I had from Hobby Lobby from when I made my 1940's skirt. However, after putting it all together, I'm not really a big fan. Both fabrics  are clashing against one another, and it kind of reminded me of a hobo waistcoat instead of something an 18...

A little off topic of anything historical, but this little mini project is absolutely the cutest thing I've ever come across on the internet!!! Here's the tutorial ! 

I haven't been doing much sewing lately, mostly due to my job and being super tired and un-interested in doing much of anything except eating and sleeping after I get home. But when I do have enough energy, I like to look around Pinterest at 18th century silk dresses. Their beauty and construction is a huge shock and awe to me, especially the beautiful and very time consuming Robe à la Française, aka "the saque gown". I recall at an event last year, where the saque gown was pretty popular. They looked so elegant and yet at the same time such a challenge to make for someone who has only sewing 101 under her belt, that I often thought whenever the opportunity to make the dress came up, that maybe I should set it aside for when I'm a little more skilled at sewing vintage or more complicated patterns like this. Or go to a workshop that teaches how to make one. But sadly, classes like that are in Colonial Williamsburg, and since I live in the ...