I am sewing a lot. I love it. Here is another piece that I whipped up in an afternoon using a sari that was gifted to me by a friend. The sari had such beautiful boarders that I didn’t want to cut off or disturb, and the only pattern I… Read More »Dark Orange Essos Dress
Jake needed another pair of viking pants in a different color. Lucky for him, our bed sheets decided to rip in the washing machine, and I wasn’t going to let all of that good cotton go to waste. So here he is in his new pair of giant pants featuring… Read More »Gray Viking Pants with Side Panel
A great success in cotton jersey! I have a lot of clothes for the fair; many I made myself, some pieces I’ve purchased, but even in the depths of my vast collection I was lacking a neutral knee-length base layer that could also be worn alone. You know, something for… Read More »Cotton Jersey Faire Dress
I made a sweater! I am on a mission to clean out some of my fabric stash by making each yard into the garment of its dreams. I have had this gorgeous lightweight cotton jersey sitting in a bin since Black Friday of….2014? Finally I’ve made it into a comfortable… Read More »Gray Cotton Jersey Sweater
A slightly less hideous application for this vintage fabric that I bought a whole bunch of for super cheap; I made a button down shirt. Previously, I made a vintage nightgown out of this stuff that ended up looking like a hospital gown. With so much extra fabric that I’m… Read More »Vintage Fabric, Try Again. This Time, a Shirt!
Not everything that I sew can turn out cute, okay? Does that mean that I should exclude the ugly things from this blog? Maybe. But this is the first thing that I sewed from start to finish in the new house and the new sewing room so it’s getting a… Read More »Not Every Project Is a Masterpiece.
This weekend was very Game of Thrones around my house. Jake and I are preparing for King Richard’s Faire this upcoming weekend and so our individual chores were much more medieval than usual. In addition to drinking sweet mead-like drinks, altering costumes by hand and being gifted some vintage furs… Read More »Viking Drinking Horn Holsters
I once had a silver clamshell purse. It was small and couldn’t fit my entire cell phone, but the silver purse was cute and matched my formal attire as well as any bag I owned. I owned the silver clamshell purse for many years, but didn’t use it that often.… Read More »Iridescent Brocade Clam Shell Purse
More costume accessories to showcase! My ultra-functional canteen bags! Ever been to an event and not drink enough water? That’s every event, right? I try to drink a lot of water every day, but it’s really hard when you’re busy having fun walking around at a convention or fair. So… Read More »Viking Costume Pleather Canteen Bags
Here’s a closer look at the simple Viking-inspired hat that I made as part of Jake’s winter Viking kit, worn at last weekend’s Vermont Winter Renaissance Fair. The shape is super simple, and historically based but also still popular today. I used a Luxe fleece instead of wool because of… Read More »Closer Look at the Fleece Viking hat
No, I haven’t even seen the History Channel series. I prefer to get all of my information from books, lecture series, and historical reenactment. I cannot get enough information on Viking clothing, lifestyle, social structure, combat strategy, trade habits and armament. It’s all I’ve been sewing lately in preparation for… Read More »So I’m Really Into Vikings Right Now.
I’ve been so industrious lately! I had some extra fabric leftover after making my mom this sweater, so I decided to make some more winter hats and a pair of arm warmers.I just love this fabric so much; it feels so good against the skin, it’s hard not to make… Read More »More Winter Hats
Last night I finished another commission piece! It’s a Sophie Hatter cosplay dress, a character from the animated film Howl’s Moving Castle. I’ve cosplayed as this character myself in the past, so this was my second time around making this dress. It’s a fairly simple design, with a very forgiving… Read More »Completed Sophie Hatter Commission Dress
Last night I finished a cozy sweater for my mom. I’m trying to make more clothes for other people to improve my tailoring skills. This sweater is made from plush “Luxe fleece” from Joann fabrics. It is thick, soft, and has minimal stretch. I used a pattern to make this sweater,… Read More »Big, Warm, Fleece House Sweater
Here are some shots of a Princess Kraehe cosplay wig commission that I just finished and shipped out this week. It was my first experience with a heat-resistant wig, which were much less common back in my wig-wearing days. The material was lovely–soft, shiny, easy to work with, and very… Read More »Princess Kreahe Cosplay Wig Commision
Hats! Hats! Hats for all the children! This Christmas is all homemade hats courtesy of my new sewing machine, and my need to learn how to use it. Jake has a LOT of nieces and nephews, and they’re all getting hats. Fun fleece hats made with anti-pill blizzard fleece from… Read More »Fleece Hats for Everyone!
Finished at least until I decide to do some huge hand embroidered design on the back. This Viking age coat is made from “Luxe” fleece from Joann’s an embellished with a woven trim, polyester bands on the sleeves, and lots of hand-stitched embroidery. I patterned the coat myself and it… Read More »Men’s Viking Kaftan Is Finished!
A post two days in a row? Whoa! Today I have for your some vague progress photos of the Viking kaftan that I’m working on for Jake. What’s a kaftan? It’s a long coat. Above is a sketch of the design as it sits now, after many revisions. We originally… Read More »Men’s Viking Kaftan WIP
I have progress shots of the Viking age hood that I’m making! This hood follows the same popular pattern of the one excavated from Skold harbor (Skjoldehamn), on the Norwegian island of Andoya in 1936. The self is a waxed canvas, and the lining is a “luxury” fleece from Joann’s. This fleece… Read More »Skjoldehamn Viking Hood Work in Progress
On October 15th, 2016 we had an absolutely fantastic time at the Connecticut Renaissance Faire in North Haven, CT. The CT Ren Faire isn’t as big as the King Richard’s Faire, and it doesn’t have permanent faire structures, but the people and programming is top-notch. This mid-fall faire was also… Read More »Connecticut Renaissance Faire and New Viking Costumes
Last weekend me and my crew attended the King Richard’s Faire. What a beautiful October day to travel through time, wear flowers on my head, and shop for weaponry. We saw some big cats to whatever they wanted on stage, ate stew from a bowl made of bread, and Kelley… Read More »King Richards Faire
Granite Con was a blast once again! As always, the variety of vendors, good programming, and unrivaled access to guests of honor made this another memorable year of convention-going in Manchester. This year’s convention had an unofficial Star Wars theme, and so, on fairly short notice, my friends and I… Read More »Star Wars, Belly Dance, and Granite State Comic Con
Every costumer has wrestled with the issue of where to put their cell phone while in costume. Some costumes can’t have pockets, and often times carrying a purse clashes with your look. But in order to move through society we need to have some money and an ID on us,… Read More »Quick Underskirts Phone Pouch
After seeing them all over Pinterest, I decided to make myself a trendy, convertible “infinity dress” to wear to a friend’s wedding. This style of dress is appealing to me because it can supposedly be worn an “infinite” number of ways, hence the name. Well, I’ll tell you right now that… Read More »Formal Infinity Dress
I have recently completed the largest sewing commission I’ve ever accepted. Very rarely do I accept commission work when it comes to garment construction; it is very time consuming, mistakes are costly, fitting another person is challenging, and the price tag is often prohibitive to most of my would-be clients. But for… Read More »Large Evening Wear Commission Complete!
My latest little sewing project is this pair of flowing palazzo pants! They took me an afternoon to make and are sooo comfortable and breezy. I am in love with this fabric, which I got at Joann Fabrics during their black Friday sale. It is lightweight, soft, and drapes beautifully.… Read More »Palazzo pants
It’s Spring! Happy Ostara, everyone! The Vernal equinox. Winter is over. Spring is the season of creation, and to kick things off, I have made a quick and easy medieval loop belt. I sewed a long tube of hunter green poplin left over from the dress the belt is featured on,… Read More »Medieval Belt
I have finished sewing an iron-age-inspired tunic dress, a new staple of my costuming closet. The desire to sew this gown came to me after looking at all of the warm costuming options that the Vikings wore. After attending an unseasonably cold Connecticut Renaissance fair in October in my… Read More »Iron age tunic dress
Want to see all the sweet patterns I scored at Joann’s annual $1 Simplicity pattern sale? I know you do. What am I going to do with all these patterns? I am going to sew so many things! At $1 per pattern, when they normally retail for $15-$20, how could… Read More »Pattern Haul
Another small sewing project complete! In about two hours time I whipped up these funky harem pants for dance using Simplicity sewing pattern 5359, and this wild cotton print I got at Joann’s Black Friday Sale. This pattern was ridiculously easy. It consists of 1 pant leg cut twice, and a… Read More »Harem Pants for Dance