Feasting Medieval Style

And that brings us to last night. I attended the Medieval Feast at Abbeystowe. It marks the launch of the Abbey Medieval Festival week with the Tournament next weekend. I have to say that the feast was amazing. There was so much food and it was of such an amazing variety.

In terms of costume, I pulled together something new for the occasion. It is loosely based on a gown from Lord of the Rings but in more of a medieval style. I am only mildly pleased with how the ensemble turned out. It looked pretty great on my mannequin but not as much on me. I am thinking of a few changes for the next time I wear it, but medieval is one era of costuming that I am rather good at failing. And as they say, you learn from your mistakes.

Steamy Sunday

Let's start with Sunday of a week ago. I went to a steampunk meet with my cousin. We met up for afternoon tea at the French Twist in town at the Barracks on Petrie Terrace. The food was divine and the place was beautiful, but unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos inside. I did get a couple of shots on my new little purse camera though.

As for my costume, I pulled out the key maiden outfit that I wore at Supanova earlier this year. Only this time I made a couple of changes. The biggest being the use of my long curly blue wig and the cold weather meant that I could go a little stronger the makeup. I pulled out the false eyelashes, some heavy blush and to top it blue lip colour. I really like the transition of the costume with the wig. It compliments the blue taffeta in my costume nicely. Shame I didn't get a full outfit shot though.

History is Alive in 2011

It's been a weekend ago now, and I have yet to put up my photos from History Alive. For those not in the know History alive http://www.historyalive.com.au/home.html is a Queensland Living History Foundation run event that encompasses all periods of re-enactment across Queensland and is provided by the re-enactors. As one myself, I camp out for the weekend in full style. My group, RIFF, covers a wide range of eras. This time, we decided to again go as Regency gentry and set our encampment up as a picnic.

We headed out Friday afternoon to set ourselves up, so that come Saturday morning, we would be ready to open our day with a full regency breakfast.

My parents also came out with my Aunt and Uncle for the day to see the sights and enjoy the shows. I handed over my camera to my dad and told him to take some photos for me. So you can get a good idea of what is on offer.

The main display that we run at the moment is on the Saturday afternoon, we hold a tiffen (tea) for the ladies, gentlemen and officers of the other re-enactors in our period. It is always a smashing success and wide have a great variety of food, all historical of course. Macarons, a pineapple, cupcakes, chocolate cake, scones, ginger cookies...

There were only four of us ladies on the Sunday with our two boy helpers. But we still managed to have a nice time. It had rained overnight, so everything was a little damp in the morning, but the brisk wind and a smidge of sunshine dried all our tents and shelters out nicely.

It also proved the event for me to use the new table that my father made for me. It is based off an actual historical table that we found on an auction site. I love how it turned out an am extremely proud of my dad for putting it together for me (it was my Christmas present from him). We stained it a lovely dark mahogany colour which has come up as a deep reddish tone. I also made a tablecloth for it as I was loath for it to be ruined by anything - plates, hot teapots, cutlery.

Thankfully, I re-wore a lot of my costumes for the event. The only new garment that I had for myself was a pelisse. And I am supremely happy that I managed to get it completed on time. It was very cold and windy out on site for the weekend, and many of my regency costumes are made for warm Australian weather, so not really up to the chill. My pelisse is made of a deep purple faux cashmere and lined in blue flannel. It stops the wind and is very warm and cosy. It also has a hood (I managed to find a fashion plate that had a hood). The other thing that I whipped up was a muff. It is made of fake fur, lined with flannel and the bottom half is stitched up to act as a bit of a pocket. I really kept me warm for the weekend. The the hem of my white muslin dress in not so white any more - deep in mud. I am planning to dye it a different colour to hide the dirt that didn't bleach out.

Cigarette Girl

For a change, I only have the one event on last weekend, I attend the Birthday Party of a Lolita friend. The theme for the evening was "Naughty by Nice". Now, I am not the sort of person who you would really put in any sort of costume that was Naughty but Nice, and I certainly would not feel comfortable in some skimpy outfit. For a start, I just don't have the legs for it. So, I really struggled with what sort of costume would be appropriate for me to wear along. I tossed around a couple of ideas, but ended up coming back to a Vintage ensemble. In particular, a cigarette girl from the 1940s. Granted I didn't have the cigarettes as I am against the horrid things, but I did have the candy.

It was essentially a very quick ensemble to pull together. I already had the corset from my Sister of the Dark costume earlier this year. The only components of my costume that were missing was the skirt, hairpiece and candy tray. The skirt I put together from a vintage pattern using black cotton sateen. The hairpiece is a small base with velvet leaves and flours stitched on, and the candy tray was the box from one of my dolls that I arrived from Japan not long ago. I simply glued it up, painted it black and attacked it with the hot glue gun for decoration. It has a lovely ribbon strap and fabric covered foam to hold the lolipops in place, along with two plastic trays for loose candy and an open section for the rest.

Add in the victory rolls, curled hair, seamed stockings, platform shoes, gloves and makeup and there you have it. My version of a cigarette girl.

What's next?

With all the events that I have been attending lately, its a wonder that I have any time to whip up my new projects. But, even though I have been booked out the last few weeks, there is still more to come. Upcoming I have at least a lolita meet, a birthday party, regency re-enactment, medieval events, victorian. The list just doesn't end.

What I am working on most urgently now is getting ready for History Alive. It's a big re-enactment event here in Brisbane over the Queens Birthday long weekend. We head out on Friday to set up and schlep home Sunday night. I'm glad that the public holiday is Monday - I get my day of rest in before I have to head back to work. But, as with every year, I look at having more exciting pieces to add to our re-enactment scene. Last year, my biggest project was making the shade shelter. My wonderful father did the poles and ropes for me.

This year, I have my Dad making me a historical table. It's actually my Christmas present from him, and has taken some time for us to come up with a complete design and actually start making it. Now it is coming down to crunch time and he is almost finished. I won't spoil it and you will have to wait until it is complete for photos, but I am so proud of him and what he has been able to accomplish.

In the meantime, I am trying to get the bits and pieces ready for me to take, so the list of my intentions:
1. Table cloth (to protect the fabulous new table that is being made)
2. Tapestry ground covering (picked up some really cheap tapestry fabric ($5/metre) at spotlight)
3. Small table cloth (to hide the hideous old camping table that we use for tea)
4. Matress Slip cover (to act as a sheet and keep my mattresses together and hidden as my bedding)
5. Regency Apron (to protect my gown - errr, have not started this yet)

Possible Items:
6. Muff
7. Pelisse
8. Regency Top Hat

And finally, a quilt. I realise now that the quilt is not going to get done in time for History Alive, so instead, I would like to have it ready for the next regency event that I go to which will be in August. At this stage, I have a few pieces of fabric that I intend to use, but have not been able to source it all. But I am intending to draw up my embroidery designs for the quilt and take them along with me to sew while we are being ladies at our events. This way, I will be both be doing lady-like things and being productive.

Hmmm, lots to do, little time to do it.