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Cinnamon Rust Medieval Gown

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My latest masterpiece is complete. Inspired by illustrations of 14th century noblewoman’s dress, adapted for modern ease-of-wear. Does anyone else ever feel rushed for time in a dress that takes 10 minutes and a second-set of hands to lace up or get out of? For those certain events were time… Read More »Cinnamon Rust Medieval Gown

Crochet Sontag Shawl

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Have you ever heard of a sontag? It’s a historical women’s shawl that was worn wrapped around the body and tied at the waist to keep the arms free for work. It was probably in widespread use before the American Civil War, but that’s about when it started showing up… Read More »Crochet Sontag Shawl

Sleeve Embroidery

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I’ve been making a new dress for the 2024 cool faire season, and to make the project take much longer than usual, I decided to add intricate hand-embroidery to the shoulders. I’ve done minimal embroidery on small projects in the past but am so in love with texture wherever I… Read More »Sleeve Embroidery

Gold Vest and Obi Belt

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Who doesn’t love having two garments with the storage requirements of one? Also, the best costumes have a lot of layers. Therefore I have sewn a vest and belt set which is fully reversable! Pattern created by Frankenstein-ing a women’s tunic pattern, I actually had one side of this vest… Read More »Gold Vest and Obi Belt

Blue Free-Size Caftan

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I’m diving back into drafting my own patterns while further exploring the most efficient use of fabric. That’s right, sewing with rectangles. Last year I obtained a free bag of fabric from my local buy-nothing group, in which, were two one-yard, 60-in-wide lengths of knit polyester. One blue, one pink.… Read More »Blue Free-Size Caftan

Family Plague Faire 2022

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Another year of plague, another Family Plague Faire. Our annual backyard Renaissance Faire turned three this year and continues to expand in attendance becoming a staple pre-holiday potluck. This year we moved to the third week in November, ever searching for that weather sweet-spot. This year we came pretty close… Read More »Family Plague Faire 2022

Halloween 2022

Happy Halloween, everyone! Somehow after a vow-renewal and a mini-moon to Florida we still managed to have a spooky costumed Halloween-weekend. This holiday is a priority. So what did we wear? Saturday we sponsored a hole at a spooky Disc-golf tournament where we won the costume contest in our raiders-from-the-north… Read More »Halloween 2022

Prepping for Plague Faire

With faire season 2020 cancelled, my social cadre and I are planning our own socially distanced, hygienically responsible backyard fair for the future if our local numbers continue to improve. It will be black-death-themed, of course; our own little plague party, except not in a crowded palace. Time to get… Read More »Prepping for Plague Faire

Pirate’s Bottle Holster

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I’m in denial over the cancellation of much of my Renaissance Fair season. This consolatory accessory is a custom bottle holster to re-purpose glass kombucha bottles into faire-bound drink containers. Sewn from a thin and soft faux-leather, this was my second attempt at making such a holster. My first attempt… Read More »Pirate’s Bottle Holster

Celtic Plaid Belly Dance Pants

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The troupe has a Celtic-themed belly dance show coming up in March for which we are preparing quite the little dance number. To tie our look together on stage, we ordered 30 yards of the same miscellaneous cotton plaid, from which we will each be making a garment–or rather I… Read More »Celtic Plaid Belly Dance Pants

Re-purposing Army Surplus Bag

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Functional pouches are a life-saver in costuming. Purses, cell phones, car keys, and wallets do not time-travel well, and can only make the journey when well hidden inside a decorative bag or pouch. For the upcoming Winter Renaissance Faire in Vermont I am planning to wear black leather armor, but… Read More »Re-purposing Army Surplus Bag

Cardinal Dog Costume

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I thought the dog already had a new costume for Halloween this year? Yes. She does. But this idea is just so cute. Give the people what they want. What they want is more dog photos in costume. Earlier this season I sewed Tovi, our almost-two-year-old Belgian Malinois mix a… Read More »Cardinal Dog Costume

Works in Progress, Fall 2019

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I have too many projects in progress at once, and therefore nothing newly finished to show you. So instead, we’ll all have to settle for a quick works-in-progress post. I am making Jake a new tunic and just finished this elaborate neckline last night. It took considerable time to make… Read More »Works in Progress, Fall 2019

Striped Summer Dress

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I really didn’t think I was going to have a blog post for you today, as I haven’t finished anything in a while and I’ve been so busy enjoying the summer sun. Many projects remain in progress, but I haven’t really had the time or desire to put in the… Read More »Striped Summer Dress

New Belly Dance Belt

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Whipped up this new belly dance belt a few days before a performance to match this bra that I made a few years(?) ago. I had plenty of extra fabric lying around from the bra top, a super comfortable performance stretch. The pattern was simple enough: a rounded triangle essentially,… Read More »New Belly Dance Belt

Leather Spaulders and Pauldron

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Now that I’ve purchased the base for an armored ensemble in a breastplate and back-piece from Medieval Collectibles, it’s time to add my own shoulder armor to take the look to another level. This children’s body armor is perfect for me because it’s made for the very small and is… Read More »Leather Spaulders and Pauldron

Green Dragon Scale Bodice

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Another pleather bodice for the books. This one in an incredible metallic green scale pattern sourced from my local fabric warehouse. I used the same pattern as my last brown bodice with slight modifications to the front so that it would close fully instead of leaving a gap. The two… Read More »Green Dragon Scale Bodice

Brown Harem Pants for Dance

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A year after the big move I was still searching for a good fit in a new dance studio when I enrolled in a 3-week advanced winter session of Belly Dancing in a not-so-local movement arts space. Wanting to impress my new classmates with my array of dance attire, I… Read More »Brown Harem Pants for Dance

Witch’s Pointed Hat

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Halloween isn’t a season, it’s a way of life. Actually, I did make this hat for Halloween 2018, but haven’t made the time to post about it until now. I’ve always felt my costume collection was suffering by it’s lack of a proper pointed hat. Most of the things that… Read More »Witch’s Pointed Hat

Reversible Costume Cape

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Another quick-sew to use up some fabric lying around my studio; I made a reversible red and blue bubble cape with hood and yoke. Some subtle red paisley lining fabric leftover from one of Jake’s earlier jerkins seemed like it would make a good red cape of cloak. A red… Read More »Reversible Costume Cape

Post-Granite State Comicon

This past weekend Kelley and I attended Granite State Comicon as vending artists in their Artist’s Alley and Dealer’s room. I had a wonderful time and met some really cool people! With Halloween coming up, many of you asked if I had a store online or made custom masks. Yes,… Read More »Post-Granite State Comicon

Granite State Comic Con

This weekend (Saturday and Sunday), Kelley and I will be exhibiting and selling our wares at Granite State Comicon! You can find us in the Artist’s Alley, booth number 907. I’ve included a map below with our table circled.  Granite Con will be held at the Radisson Center of New Hampshire,… Read More »Granite State Comic Con

Spring Leather

Remember all of those fairs I have been vending at? Well, I have accumulated a bit of new work that I haven’t had a chance to photograph and share with everyone due to the chaos of fair preparation. I still have lots on my plate, but now that two back-to-back… Read More »Spring Leather

Manga Doodles for Halloween

If you were unaware, I teach a manga class for children every Wednesday night in Medford, MA. Last week we were creating some characters for Halloween, and while the kids were concentrating on their task, I whipped up these little doodles. They seem to like it when I draw with… Read More »Manga Doodles for Halloween

A Successful Open House.

I want to say thank you to everyone who came out to the open house this past weekend at the Western Avenue Studios. I had a great weekend and made a lot of new contacts. I practically ran out of business cards and promo bookmarks, and I am very grateful… Read More »A Successful Open House.

Leather Crafts

The craft gallery at Shaunart.net has been updated with ten new leather pieces. All medium to large jewelry and accessories, each item was made from vegetable tanned leather: hand-cut, carved, and painted by me. You can find all of my leather items currently for sale in my Etsy shop, but… Read More »Leather Crafts

Portraiture

Part of my senior thesis project was to do a series of three. I chose to do a series of three portraits, of three women, in three different modes of costume, interacting with three different classifications of animals. The first portrait is of a woman in a tradition costume. A… Read More »Portraiture

Alter-ego: The Snake Charmer

Here is the first assignment from my oil painting class. Our task was to define an alter-ego for ourselves, and to paint our likeness on this fantasy identity. I decided that my alter-ego would be an exotic snake charmer, hiding from the dessert sun in her lavish arabian, or maybe… Read More »Alter-ego: The Snake Charmer