A Fractured Fairytale

Time for the annual year-end review. This was a bit of a lean year in terms of sewing and creativity for me, but I’m very proud of everything I made. My goal over the past year, like previous years, has been to focus on quality not quantity, and I feel that it showed in my work. That’s not to say that everything I made it perfect, but I actively tried to grow my skills and choose to redo things until I was happy with the result. Nothing like practice to keep you sharp. Read more...

I’ve always wanted to visit Colonial Williamsburg in December. All the lovely holiday decorations around town look so festive and cheerful – a perfect antidote to winter blahs. Serendipitously, a group of us all had thoughts to visit this winter and we were able to spend a long weekend together relaxing, eating, and enjoying the sights. Read more...

This jacket started its life in the Burnley & Trowbridge workshop I attended last year. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I had a hard time conceptualizing the design for my jacket on the fly, and while I liked the finished jacket, I didn’t love it. It didn’t match the image in by brain, even if I couldn’t quite articulate what that image was. So I let it sit half-finished for a couple of months before I attempted to rework the jacket using the existing base. I managed to get something a little closer to the picture in my mind; still it wasn’t quite right. Back to the UFO pile, where it marinated for a good 6 months before I was ready to tackle it again.
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In my everyday life, I rarely wear any makeup. To be honest, I’ve always found more than a swipe of mascara and some tinted lip balm to be intimidating. Still, over the years I’ve learned to use modern cosmetics to recreate a historic look, and overall, I’ve been pleased with my efforts. However, I’ve been curious about historic cosmetics and hair products for a long time, and decided to try a few from LBCC Historical to see how they work for me. Read more...

Early last November, I made the seven-hour trek down to Williamsburg to attend my first Burnley and Trowbridge workshop, “A Fitting Jacket”. I’d been interested in them for years, but never worked up the courage to attend. Either the timing didn’t work for me, or I was too intimidated to sign up. Of course, I shouldn’t have worried. It was challenging in some ways but in the end, it was a wonderful experience.
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