Opening weekend of the Connecticut Renaissance Fair, also Labor Day weekend in the States, we found ourselves with a free afternoon and my desire for a particular bodice from a particular vendor opening at the faire. I threw together this cute Renaissance shopping outfit from pieces already sewn to peruse… Read More »Connecticut Renaissance Fair Shopping Outfit
On the last weekend in June we spontaneously headed off to the Robinhood Medieval Festival in east-central Connecticut. When the weather forecast called for a break in the heat and humidity and promised a cool, dry, cloudy, blustery day, we were all in! I love a cloudy fair day, even… Read More »Robinhood Medieval Festival 2024
Nothing beats a linen dress in the summer. Softer with age, breathable, natural, a fabric of the ages. Considering that so many fairs take place in the warmer months and I’m always complaining about being too warm to wear many layers of garb, it was time for a linen dress.… Read More »Linen Wrap Renaissance Dress
A renaissance faire two weekends in a row!? How fun. The weekend prior Jake and I attended the first ever Wyndonshire Renaissance Festival, followed by a friend excursion, this past weekend, at sister faire ‘Enchanted Orchard’. Held at the Red Apple Farm in Phillipston, MA, this is another first-annual event… Read More »Enchanted Orchard Renaissance Faire, Year One Review
This past weekend we attended the first ever Wyndonshire Renaissance Festival. Organized in collaboration with the Winchendon Recreation Department, the faire took place in a large public park. The venue was spectacular. Very large with a variety of wooded paths, open fields, paved walkways, water-views, and even an amphitheater. There… Read More »Wyndonshire Renaissance Festival, Year One Review
The hand-embroidered medieval silk cap is finished! Sometimes worn as a base-layer under a hat or veil, but also sported alone, I wanted a cap that was both fancy and good for the hair, so I used real silk in a champagne color. The shape is based on St Birgitta’s… Read More »Embroidered Medieval Cap
Glad to be back with more creations to post after a month of progress. I’ve been reading, thinking, resting, and filling the creative wells. Lots of yoga and dance, including some recent public performances. The first renaissance fair of the year for us is fast approaching at the end of… Read More »Gold Stuffed Circlet Hat
Years ago I was gifted some old saris to make into costume pieces and recycle the silk and satin. Here’s a men’s tunic that I finally finished after years on hold, stashed away since before we moved into the house. Patterned by me in my favorite shapes: rectangles. I used… Read More »Recycled Sari Tunic
My latest masterpiece is complete. Inspired by illustrations of 14th century noblewoman’s dress, adapted for modern ease-of-wear. Does anyone else ever feel rushed for time in a dress that takes 10 minutes and a second-set of hands to lace up or get out of? For those certain events were time… Read More »Cinnamon Rust Medieval Gown
Have you ever heard of a sontag? It’s a historical women’s shawl that was worn wrapped around the body and tied at the waist to keep the arms free for work. It was probably in widespread use before the American Civil War, but that’s about when it started showing up… Read More »Crochet Sontag Shawl
Who doesn’t love having two garments with the storage requirements of one? Also, the best costumes have a lot of layers. Therefore I have sewn a vest and belt set which is fully reversable! Pattern created by Frankenstein-ing a women’s tunic pattern, I actually had one side of this vest… Read More »Gold Vest and Obi Belt
I finally made myself a perfect medieval chemise. Perfection existing in the fabric, the pattern, and the notions. Past attempts at chemise fell short when I tried to use cotton muslin. The stiff weight didn’t drape how I had imagined in one case or another. This time I found a… Read More »Medieval Chemise
Year number four of pandemic, year number four of our disease-free, plague-themed backyard renaissance faire. Annually since 2020 we have hosted a small group of friends for a pot-luck party, costumes mandatory! This year was pretty chill, as if we’ve gotten better at setting up for the fun over time.… Read More »Family Plague Faire 2023
Is it a bonnet? A great veil? Or a Hat? I needed a covering for my head at the renaissance fair to keep the sun off of me without creating too much warmth. My look is not completely historically accurate, but what I make is historically plausible. When researching medieval… Read More »Green Medieval Hat
Oh my, have I ever written a negative faire review before? I don’t think so, but here we go, Lords and Ladies. The Massachusetts Renaissance Faire was not what we were looking for this year. I don’t know if it was the heat causing last minute cancellations or if the… Read More »The Massachusetts Renaissance Faire 2022
At the beginning of June Jake, myself, and several friends had a beautiful day at the Robinhood’s Medieval Faire in Harwinton, CT. We made a whole day of it, stopping for breakfast before the faire while the dogs were at their doggie resort. Starting the day well nourished, we had… Read More »Robin Hood’s Medieval Faire 2022
On the second weekend of November, Jake and I hosted the second annual Family Plague Faire in our side-yard. Inspired last year by pandemic lockdowns and the closures of all our annual renaissance faires, the event’s inaugural year was a covid-compliant tiny event with only eight guests in attendance and… Read More »Second Annual Family Plague Faire
Another lower-half accessory crafted for the troupe’s use in our performance at a Celtic Belly-dance Fusion show earlier this month. Part kilt, part high-slit bella skirt, this apron brings Egypt to Ireland in a way that feels very punk-rock apocalypse to me. The design is a simple two-13-inch-wide-pleated-panels secured together… Read More »Celtic Fusion Apron, Punk Rock Apocalypse.
This was an especially fun year at the Vermont Winter Renaissance Fair, perhaps because we spent more money than usual…. First, they lure you in with free samples of everything: mead, jam, syrup, vodka, rum… Once you’ve been sufficiently liquored for free, which is basically the best part of this… Read More »Vermont Winter Renaissance Fair 2020
The troupe has a Celtic-themed belly dance show coming up in March for which we are preparing quite the little dance number. To tie our look together on stage, we ordered 30 yards of the same miscellaneous cotton plaid, from which we will each be making a garment–or rather I… Read More »Celtic Plaid Belly Dance Pants
The new spear has been assembled and hung in the expanding armory
Functional pouches are a life-saver in costuming. Purses, cell phones, car keys, and wallets do not time-travel well, and can only make the journey when well hidden inside a decorative bag or pouch. For the upcoming Winter Renaissance Faire in Vermont I am planning to wear black leather armor, but… Read More »Re-purposing Army Surplus Bag
My focus for the month, between Holiday preparations, has been the decoration of the dining room, which until recently has remained quite bare. I am in the process of painting a large diptych for one wall, and on another we have finally hung the armory. Our love of Renaissance and… Read More »Hanging the Armory
I’ve sewn a new dress for this most magical time of year. Nine-or-so yards of buttery polyester had appeared in my fabric stash. I don’t remember where I got so much of this sage green delight, but many a historical fantasy garment call for such great lengths of fabric. Lengths… Read More »Green Elven Gown
Our second trip of the season to the Connecticut Renaissance Fair. Absolutely perfect weather–a crisp 60 degrees for a high, with most of the day stalling in the mid 50’s was ideal for layering; our preferred method of using our plentiful garb. I am most fond of cold-weather fair going… Read More »Connecticut Renaissance Faire 2019 Round Two
I had dreams of sewing Jake a very traditional Viking tunic. Something long, loose fitting, and functional. When I found several yards of sombrella fabric with a visible weave and stiff hand on clearance, I thought it had the perfect rough look if you ignore it’s forever fade-resistance. Jacob had… Read More »Orange Sensational Viking Long Tunic
On Labor Day 2019, the whole family (that means the dog too), attended the Connecticut Renaissance Fair in Lebanon, CT. This is one of the only fairs in the region that allows pets any day of the fair, however opening weekend was pet-themed. Tovi put on her only costume to… Read More »Connecticut Renaissance Faire 2019: Tovi’s First Ren Fair!
Last weekend, for the first time, we checked out the Massachusetts Renaissance Fair at the Cummington Fair Grounds. With a name like The Massachusetts Fair, I expected a little more. The permanent fairgrounds (for county fairs and showing animals) were large, and under-utilized, making the Ren fair seem very small. There… Read More »Massachusetts Renaissance Fair 2019
Now that I’ve purchased the base for an armored ensemble in a breastplate and back-piece from Medieval Collectibles, it’s time to add my own shoulder armor to take the look to another level. This children’s body armor is perfect for me because it’s made for the very small and is… Read More »Leather Spaulders and Pauldron
When it comes to fair garb, sometimes there are pieces that I either don’t want to make myself, or which are much cheaper to outsource from a manufacturer who moves more volume in a particular item. A good example of such a category would be armor and weaponry–both steel and… Read More »Medieval Collectibles
Lusting after a breezy and casual fantasy look, I borrowed inspiration from the Germanic farmers of northern Europe during the middle ages to create this muslin peasant top with rustic trim. Muslin is considered a practice fabric. It’s cheap, lightweight cotton that’s easy to work with and abundant. Unbleached muslins… Read More »Middle Ages Farmer’s Tunic with Trim
Labor Day weekend Jake and I attended military appreciation day at the King Richard’s Faire in Carver, MA. Every year the second day of the fair is free for active and retired military, so we try to go on that day to save on Jake’s admission. King Richard’s is one… Read More »New Viking Garb for Military Day at King Richard’s Faire 2018
I am sewing a lot. I love it. Here is another piece that I whipped up in an afternoon using a sari that was gifted to me by a friend. The sari had such beautiful boarders that I didn’t want to cut off or disturb, and the only pattern I… Read More »Dark Orange Essos Dress
Jake needed another pair of viking pants in a different color. Lucky for him, our bed sheets decided to rip in the washing machine, and I wasn’t going to let all of that good cotton go to waste. So here he is in his new pair of giant pants featuring… Read More »Gray Viking Pants with Side Panel
This weekend was very Game of Thrones around my house. Jake and I are preparing for King Richard’s Faire this upcoming weekend and so our individual chores were much more medieval than usual. In addition to drinking sweet mead-like drinks, altering costumes by hand and being gifted some vintage furs… Read More »Viking Drinking Horn Holsters
More costume accessories to showcase! My ultra-functional canteen bags! Ever been to an event and not drink enough water? That’s every event, right? I try to drink a lot of water every day, but it’s really hard when you’re busy having fun walking around at a convention or fair. So… Read More »Viking Costume Pleather Canteen Bags
Here’s a closer look at the simple Viking-inspired hat that I made as part of Jake’s winter Viking kit, worn at last weekend’s Vermont Winter Renaissance Fair. The shape is super simple, and historically based but also still popular today. I used a Luxe fleece instead of wool because of… Read More »Closer Look at the Fleece Viking hat
No, I haven’t even seen the History Channel series. I prefer to get all of my information from books, lecture series, and historical reenactment. I cannot get enough information on Viking clothing, lifestyle, social structure, combat strategy, trade habits and armament. It’s all I’ve been sewing lately in preparation for… Read More »So I’m Really Into Vikings Right Now.
Finished at least until I decide to do some huge hand embroidered design on the back. This Viking age coat is made from “Luxe” fleece from Joann’s an embellished with a woven trim, polyester bands on the sleeves, and lots of hand-stitched embroidery. I patterned the coat myself and it… Read More »Men’s Viking Kaftan Is Finished!
A post two days in a row? Whoa! Today I have for your some vague progress photos of the Viking kaftan that I’m working on for Jake. What’s a kaftan? It’s a long coat. Above is a sketch of the design as it sits now, after many revisions. We originally… Read More »Men’s Viking Kaftan WIP
I have progress shots of the Viking age hood that I’m making! This hood follows the same popular pattern of the one excavated from Skold harbor (Skjoldehamn), on the Norwegian island of Andoya in 1936. The self is a waxed canvas, and the lining is a “luxury” fleece from Joann’s. This fleece… Read More »Skjoldehamn Viking Hood Work in Progress