Month: May 2016

Ren Faire costume, last update

So!  We went to the Tennessee Renaissance Fair a few weeks ago, and I have forgotten to post pictures until now.  It was astonishingly and refreshingly cool the weekend that we went, which meant that I got to wear my cloak without getting hot.  I meant to take more pictures, but it was a lot more crowded this year than last year and I tend to get overwhelmed in crowds, so mainly just didn’t want to add an extra “thing” (taking pictures).  Not a good excuse, but whatever.  Most of these pictures below were taken right before we left, actually (except this one, which was taken at Castle Gwynn).

renfaire

So!  Here is the costume.  I made the skirt out of sheets from Southern Thrift.  I made the brown dress part from a size 4XL dress I found, also at Southern Thrift; I cut it down the middle, hemmed both sides, added eyelets to the top, and took in the sides.  I made the cloak last year, of course.  I made the waist cincher from a roll of leather…cut my pieces, added eyelets, and then found a book of renaissance designs on archive.gov, printed one out, and traced it onto the leather.  I ended up stitching MOST of it, and then adding some gold highlights.  Also threw together a quick belt made of the same leather, for carrying around my pouch (made from deer skin leather), and the dagger and mug that I bought on-site.

renfaire detailrenfaire full tworenfaire full

SO!  I thought it turned out really well!!  And I would really like to be able to wear this in public without going to LARPing events.  Maybe we should start taking road trips to ren faires in nearby cities.  I hear Atlanta has a pretty great one, actually…..

Update!

I am SO CLOSE to being finished with this costume.  I’ve decided to just wear something sleeveless underneath the brown dress part (I’m sure there’s a more precise term for this), instead of doing a chemise or anything.  I cut out the leather for the waist cincher yesterday but realized that I don’t have enough eyelets to finish it — so I’ll need to get more of those before I can put lace in it and wear it like an actual garment.  But the pictures give you a pretty good idea of where it’s all headed.

I made the skirt out of two sheets from Southern Thrift, and the brown dress part is just a modified brown dress, also from Southern Thrift.  I just took it in some (it was huge), cut it straight down the middle and hemmed the sides, and added the eyelets.  I’m going to use a leather lace for this – instead of the twine in the pictures, btw.  The twine is too rough, and leather will go better with the outfit.

I’m not sure if I’ll actually end up wearing the cloak, because it’s sure to be hot, but IT LOOKS SO GOOD.

Anyway.  Will post a final update soon.