Giant Parti-Colored Kirtle Of Doom!

O.K., so I didn't get the kirtle finished in time for the first weekend. It's looking like it's going to be ready for the second! (Of course, since I didn't have it ready for the first, I ended up borrowing my boyfriend Mark's one extra set of garb for this past Monday, and went to faire as a boy.) *grin*

Here it is, all laid out, pinned, and ready to be sewn (except the sleeves, which I fitted onto myself).


I got no sleep last night whatsoever, opting instead to watch many, many episodes of "Dharma & Greg" and sew buttonholes. These are my very first hand-stitched buttonholes, so I think I did ok for a first try. I had Mark pin me into the dress to figure out where the buttons should go, since my measurements must have been quite off somewhere, and thus the really crooked row of buttons. I made the buttonholes as straight and as evenly spaced as possible, hoping to make up for the randomness of the buttons.



Here's the (almost) finished kirtle! The bottom edge isn't hemmed yet (if you look closely, you can see pins), and I think I'm going to make a very, very small hem on the sleeves (to hide the machine zig zag edge). Since it buttons instead of laces (like my natural-colored kirtle does), it's not *quite* as tight as I'd like, so I'm thinking about sewing some minimal supportive padding in the bust area, just to help prevent sagging.



By the way, I'm using 3.5 oz. handkerchief-weight linen from Fabrics-store.com. I used a mid-weight linen for my cream-colored kirtle, and I like the way it drapes much better, though the part-colored kirtle is a bit better when it's a bajillion degrees outside. *grin*

In Which I Express My Affinity For Parenthetical Statements

It's going to be a long night. and I spent a lot of time today (technically yesterday) practicing music and learning new songs for Kansas City Renaissance Festival (for which we're leaving this Thursday night). Since we've got a 3 day weekend coming up, and I'll jump at the chance to *not* wear my too-small-and-therefore-tight-and-uncomfortable Moreseca bodice (it works better when it's cold out), I've decided to go ahead and use the 3.5 oz. handkerchief-weight cobalt blue and forest green linen from Fabrics-store.com that I've got left to make a parti-colored fitted kirtle to wear one day this coming weekend. When I'm done, it'll look something like the kirtle on this page but with no hood (yet.) My first kirtle (which I made out of mid-weight natural-colored linen) turned out really good, but I'm going to widen the neckline by an inch on each side, add 1/2 an inch to each front center edge (so it won't be *quite* so tight when I sit), and shorten the whole thing by 2.5 inches since the first one ended up really long (not sure what happened there...) I have all of the green pieces cut out, and now I'm taking a short break to eat the chocolate chip mocha muffin loaf I baked while I was cutting the pieces. Mmmm.

I know, I haven't posted any pictures of my first kirtle. It's because I finished sewing it in the car on the way to Pennsic, and no one has posted any pictures of me from Pennsic (though I *know* there are a lot out there, because people took pictures of us every time we busked). I will get pictures of me wearing it next time I have it on, and I'll get pics of the blue & green kirtle after I'm done with it. For now, I leave you with a picture of the chocolate -

"What do you do?" "Oh, I collect hobbies."

A few days back, I answered an email I got from the Austin Crafts For Free group (think Freecycle for craft supplies) from a wonderful woman who had quite a few inkle looms and was not only giving most of them away, but was also offering instruction on how to use them. I sqee'd loud enough to disturb the neighbors (ok, that *might* be an exaggeration), and told her I'd love to have a loom and some instruction. Yesterday, I drove over to her house and met a mother and daughter who were also interested in learning, and we all had a lovely couple of hours of instruction and trying out our new looms. I started with a very basic weave (no patterns yet, though I'm dying to learn how to make some of the ones I've seen), and used the same yarn for the warp as for the weft - a really pretty blue/purple/teal variegated yarn of the plain "Red Heart" variety.


Here's the loom -


Here's my first weaving!




I can't wait to learn and weave more!

More Amelie Treasuries

Amelie is such an awesome movie that I had to make two more treasuries on Etsy!

The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain, Part Deux

The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain, Part Trois

New Collection / New Treasury!

My Beadmaille Mask has been featured in an awesome collection over at Artfire -

What Kind Of Mask Do You Hide Behind?


Also, I've just created a treasury on Etsy inspired by one of my favorite movies -

The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain

We Are The Children Of The Revolution!

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."

"Love is a many splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love!"

"Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. And then, one not-so-very special day, I went to my typewriter, I sat down, and I wrote our story. A story about a time, a story about a place, a story about the people. But above all things, a story about love. A love that will live forever."

Behold - a selection of treasuries that embody the very soul of bohemian ideals!

He loves me, He loves ME and that is worth everything by thesedefineme on Etsy
Truth. Beauty. Freedom. But most of all ... Love. by AsteraPallas on Etsy
One night at The Moulin Rouge by thesoapgoatsoapshop on Etsy
Bohemian... by Nataliaraya on Etsy
{ Master Filmmaker Series: Moulin Rouge Part 1, Costume } by alienlabel on Etsy
Moulin Rouge! by zombiedisco on Etsy
Courtesan by SarahRoseReynolds on Etsy

It's Raining Treasuries!

My "Beautiful Courtesan's Wedding Necklace" was just selected to be part of two Moulin Rouge-inspired treasuries - "Truth. Beauty. Freedom. But most of all ... Love." and "He loves me, He loves ME and that is worth everything".


"Love - is a many splendored thing...love lifts us up where we belong...all you need is love!"