16th Century Sewing Plans (Again)

I've been tweaking my historical costuming plans again. With the Renaissance Festival fast approaching, I know I need to prioritize and plan so I can get stuff done.


I wanted to make some sort of outerwear and I've decided on a linen jacket like this:

There's a pattern in the Tudor Tailor that looks really great for this sort of jacket. Plus layers are great for all day events.

I also really want to make an apron. Since I hate blackwork, I think I'll try some lace insertion.

See pretty lace work aprons!! (source: left, right by Jennifer Kluska)

I also have this great striped fabric that I bought ages ago for that Simplicity pattern. Now that I know better I want to make something more historically accurate. Thankfully, the fabric is a lighter weight than I remember and there's more of it than I remember so I'm going to make a dress!

The Italians did wear stripy garments like these two girls. (Giovanni Antonio Fasolol, c. 1560s: Paola Gualdo and Daughters)

And look at those great sleeves!

I also really like these dresses! ("Three Children with Dog" by Sofonisba Anguissola c. 1590)

Lily of Mode de Lis did a fabulous recreation based on this portrait.

I won't be doing a recreation of any particular portrait but borrowing details from different ones to make my own dress. The first part of this project will be to make a bodied petticoat to wear under the dress. I could use my wool kirtle but I want something lighter to wear on warmer days. (And in Florida!)

Eeep! I'm super excited for faire season!

Drafting Our Dirndl Skirt!

Today we are going to be drafting the pattern for our dirndl skirt!

Disney Day!

I was lucky enough to spend my birthday at Epcot this year!

I'm a huge Disney nerd but even at 25, there's no place better to spend your birthday than the happiest place on earth.

Epcot is my favorite Disney park because I love the countries! I've always wanted to travel to Europe.

Not to mention that you get to eat all of this amazing food! nom nom nom.

I opted to wear this great vintage dress since it was light weight and cool. It was 90F the day we went.

I purchased the parasol in China and it was great for keeping the sun off of my face.

We had such a blast running around like big kids all day!

For dinner, we ate at Chefs de France and had yummy French food.

It's the less fancy of the two French sit down restaurants but it is still really nice.

I just love Disney!

Announcing the Dirndl Skirt Sew Along

We are kicking off the dirndl skirt sew along part of the Vintage Playsuit Sew Along so let's get started!

Beach Babe

I couldn't go to the Florida coast without getting some shots on the beach! And I already had a great retro swim suit so off we went!

Warning! Photo heavy post ahead!

The swim suit is from Fables by Barrie.

I purchased this suit back in 2012 for my last visit to Disney but it hasn't gotten much wear since.

It features a great midcentury print!

And the high waisted bottoms have a cute belt detail!

We chose this beach for the great pier! It was so fun to shoot with!

Pier of awesomeness!

I'm not generally super excited about showing off this much skin on my blog but I've been working on posing and it really helps my self confidence to know how to stand to show my body in it's best light.

And I have reason to believe that I'll be wearing this suit a lot more often in the future.

Because we are moving to Florida! :D

Part of the reason for the trip was to do a moving scope out of the area we thought we'd like to move to and we're going to do it! We won't be moving till the end of the year but I will be downsizing a lot of my vintage wardrobe in preparation for moving out of state so expect more wardrobe sales on the blog over the next few months.

Are any of you currently in or from Florida?

Photos by Will Thorpe Photography willthorpe.com

Around St. Augustine

There's loads to do in St. Augustine which makes it a great vacation spot.

There are several alcohol tasting options but we chose to go to the newly opened St. Augustine Distillery. They work hard to use only locally sourced ingredients and purchase American made equipment. Currently, they only have vodka but they are working on bourbon, rum and gin (which are all aging as we speak.)

They give free tours and tastings. We ended up going fairly early (around ten) but you know, it's five o'clock somewhere!

Located in the same building is the Ice Plant Bar (and restaurant) where we grabbed some lunch. It was fabulous in side. They did an amazing job of restoring the original brick walls of the old ice plant and giving the whole place a very vintage feel. Even the waitresses and bar tenders were dressed retro!

There was also an antique mall in the Lightner Museum building. The entrance is on the left side more towards the back and you have to walk through a restaurant to find it. Alas, most of the shops were closed when we stopped by.

 

The next adventure of the day was sailing!

I'd been on a boat before but never a sail boat!

So I just had to wear an appropriately nautical outfit!

We went sailing with St. Augustine Eco Tours and it was amazing! While they can't promise seeing wild animals, we saw dolphins, birds and even a manatee on our trip! It was just fabulous!

One of the really cool things about the Eco Tours company is that the proceeds go to fund marine research, conservation and education in the St. Augustine area to help preserve the safe habitat for dolphins and other animals.

Photography by Will Thorpe Photography willthorpe.com

Of Lighthouses and Sea Urchins

Phew! I've got a backlog of vacation photos to share so expect extra outfit posts this week!

One thing I really wanted to bring on vacation was my playsuit so you'll get a sneak peak of it today! I still have a few pieces to finish before the end of the sew along though.

 I made the blouse from Advance 8511. It's super comfortable and easy to sew up!

 The shorts are ones I made a few years ago as part of the Wearing History sailor playsuit. They just happened to be the perfect color to go with my new playsuit!

We took these shots at the St. Augustine light house. The view from the top was phenominal!

 Of course, to get to the view, you have to climb stairs and stairs and stairs.....

 Thank goodness, we took outfit photos at the lighthouse keeper's house before climbing to the top.

 This outfit was just perfect! Can't wait till the rest of my playsuit is complete!

Photography by Will Thorpe Photography willthorpe.com