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.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bram Stoker's Dracula Movie (1992) Synopsis Pt. I

Image
Going back a little further here on the movies that I feel are now 90's classics, I definitely want to review this movie that I felt had good acting, really good special effects, perfect actors that matched the characters in the novel, and of course the beautiful costumes that surprisingly carried cultural and religious symbolism. I'll also talk about the comparisons between the movie and the novel itself. While the movie is tightly based on the novel, there are some contrasts that I'm sure you will find just as surprising. (Spoiler: This is a synopsis) The movie opens up with Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker, a solicitor, embarking on a long and arduous journey into the Carpathian mountains of Transylvania to meet the elusive and mysterious Count Dracula. . . . I'm sorry, that's not how it began. That was in the book. The movie actually opens up with a viscous war going on in 15th century Transylvania, with Prince Vlad Tepes (played by Gary Oldman), killin
Read more

Fichu construction & Tutorial

Image
First bit of progress done With only 5 days left until the battle reenactment at Mount Vernon, I realized I didn't have anything to work on for a demo for my seamstress impression. Then it hit me: why not a fichu/neckerchief? It would be really easy and quick to sew, and I wouldn't have to keep track of all the pattern pieces (considering it's only a giant triangle). That in mind, I got right down to it and started cutting the fabric out of 100% cotton striped remnant I picked up from Burnley & Trowbridge this past weekend. While I could have sewn this up in a heartbeat with the sewing machine, I opted to be more traditional and sew it all by hand; I wanted this piece to be historically accurate for educational purposes (since sewing machines weren't invented until the late 1800's). I won't have this project finished until Sunday for demonstration purposes, but I can't wait to have it completely finished. If you'd like to make your own,
Read more

Time Skip Perona Cosplay dress Part II

Image
As mentioned before in my last post I'm getting started on my Perona cosplay early for Anime USA. For the dress's construction, I made the bodice out of a corset pattern, and added a zipper in the back and a large ruffle on the bottom to act as the top skirt tier for the dress. For the next couple of tiers I had to do some brainstorming, because if I continued to sew all 4 tiers to the bodice, the weight alone would cause it to slide down. Now there is the option of sewing clear bra straps to the bodice, but at the same time they're not really something that I'm fond of. With that being said, I grabbed the next color, the orchid/lavender, and used an elastic waistband and made a skirt. This would relieve the extra gravity off of the bodice, and focus on the hips. As I worked my way down each tier, I did have a few mishaps such as making the ruffles; with all of the fabric being seriously heavy on my little sewing machine, it would unravel and I'd have
Read more