Here are the items for the Ren faire swap that I recently finished. First is this - at first I was going to turn it into a brooch but I ran out of pin backs so it became a necklace instead. I'm in love with this face mold and wanted to make a piece of jewelry with it so when I found my stash of the glass seed beads that were used on my beach fairy dress I went to town. I really like the way it came out - fairly simple but it still has that altered look that I adore so much.


This is why I ran out of pin backs. :) Pretty simple and rough, these are some faire favors that my partner can keep or pass out to friends.

I found this amazing fabric at Joann's and made one of my favorite faire garments - harem pants! Not just for belly dancers, I like to wear these under all of my gowns as bloomers of sorts. They're great when running from shop to shop in a thunderstorm - you can hike up your skirts as high as you need to and still be a bit modest. :) I hope she likes them. My partner does a lot of fighting and swordplay so I think they'll come in handy.


Next are some arm warmers. My partner has a condition that leaves her hands cold constantly so I whipped these up. The pattern is Trellis Mitts and they were made using Lion Brand Wool-Ease. The red was tough to photograph though. :(



Also in the package is a set of Butterick patterns that consist of hanging belt pouches, cool waist cinches and belts and some bracers. Also there's a silver spiral pendant that she can use for one of her many outfits and characters and 2 different styles of eyelets for lacings. You can never have too many eyelets!

I hope I can make it to the post office tomorrow to mail it finally!! It's got to make it all the way to the Netherlands! :-D

**Edited to add package info!!

Tudor Gown 101

It is getting to be that time of year again!!


The weather is warming, plants are becoming green again and animals are getting twitterpainted! Me? Well, I'm getting ready to break out the sewing machine - faire season is upon us! Everyone loves having new clothes and we faire goers are no exception.

This year I'm undertaking quite a feat... for me anyway. I've begun drafting a pattern for a Tudor gown and get I need to get cracking. I have the smock, petticoat and about 90% of the kirtle all drafted out and mock ups of the smock and petticoat completed. However, July will be here before I know it. I still need to work on the kirtle skirt back and the most tricky of all, the gown itself. The hard part is gathering my materials and taking the time to do all of the hand sewing. I just cannot decide how I want my gown to look though, fabric choice is going to be a biggie. I really need to get some linen for my smock first. I may just cheat for now and use a lightweight cotton, but we'll see if I can find some decent prices online. I looove linen and I'd really like to be as period as possible for a change. :) This should be a pretty interesting journey over all. Hopefully I can start up again soon now that all of my winter swaps are finished!