Colonial Market Faire 2015 Part I

The Colonial Market Faire is finally here at the Benjamin Banneker Museum! 

What did I do to get ready????

Again for the 4th night, I pulled yet another all-nighter to get everything ready for today's event. At the very last minute, I decided to augment one of my older gowns and turn it into a small jacket. I probably didn't finish sewing everything until 2:00am; it got to the point where I was just too tired to continue on with the trim, so I decided to just work on it while sitting at my display table. 

Anyway, I finally got to wear my new Caraco jacket that I finished on Thursday, and surprisingly it   was very comfortable. It didn't feel heavy like my other Robe L'anglaise's when I bustle them (especially in this hot weather).  

Speaking of weather! 

Sometime in the middle of the day, it became a whopping 85 degrees and the humidity wasn't helping at all. At first it didn't bother me too much considering I was wearing cotton fabric and stayed hydrated, but sadly I still ended up succumbing to heat exhaustion and had to go inside to cool off for 40 minutes ( NOTE: It's very dangerous when you stop sweating, if this ever happens go inside to cool off immediately!) I learned that from my first experience while down in Colonial Williamsburg 2 years ago for Under The Redcoat, so this time I was able to catch the signs before it got any worse. 

Anyway, while at the faire I got to see a lot of friends I hadn't seen in a while, and scoped around at all of the sutlers. I was very tempted to buy things, but decided to hold off. I also got to take pictures with Benjamin Banneker and interact with a lot of the visitors. 





The exhibition table was a success. The display was to show what women wore day to day during the mid 18th and early 19th centuries. A lot of people stopped by to take a look and ask a lot of questions and inquire if I take commissions. While this is mostly a hobby and gives me something to do I do while reenacting,  I sometimes do take commissions. However to be honest, because I'm still very new to sewing, I am nervous about how I would mass produce gowns and other items for people all at once, and often wonder if I can work on certain patterns with ease. The 18th century gowns that I have are mostly from the Mill Farm pattern, but maybe if I dabble with J.P.Ryan's patterns some more, I will feel more comfortable with working from a wider plane. Plus, I still need to learn how to make men's clothes. But I guess one lesson and one project at a time right?

Well, anyway, I'll be back tomorrow and will definitely take some more pictures of the festivities as well as some other happenings in the historic area.



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