Odd that I was able to post more during cancer than after treatment ended … although, since then, I’ve started a new job, my cat died, and I’m now dealing with some post-treatment health problems that will keep me from sewing & costuming for a while. So yeah, never ending. Basically, my right arm (where
Are we really almost there? Yep, the last few challenges are in sight. I started this after Costume College last year & intend to wrap it up with CoCo this year, because the theme will be accessories. I’m also teaching three accessories classes at Costume College: History of Purses (from about the 10th c. to
Here’s a little bling from the accessory files for February’s challenge… Jen of Suburban Pagan made a sparkly Regency necklace in the rivière or collet style. Gorgeous! SaharaZaraMorocco of Shoes First, Then Corset shows us two renaissance girdles, both beautiful! I have an 18th-century style portrait-miniature necklace for sale. It’s a historical style, but I
You all know about Kendra’s book on 18th-century hair/wig-styling, right? You’ve signed-up for the pre-sale, right? Because it only lasts till the end of January, & if she doesn’t hit the goal, then we won’t get all the fabulous authentic historic images we need, & she’ll have to cut out something crucially important that you
Ok, so I failed on December’s challenges — blame cancer & trying to get my life back together after chemo. Blah blah blah, sick of excuses & sick of being sick! But that’s mostly behind me now, so onward & upward. We’ll take a month off from accessorizing & start the new year with all
The Accessory Challenge isn’t dead — sorry for not posting about it for the past, oh, month, but this last round of chemo was kinda brutal & I didn’t feel like sitting upright & staring at the computer for any length of time (tho’ yeah, I did have a day or two where I could
Looking through all of your blogs, I found a plenthora of pretty hats finished in September! And at least one of you started a purse! Yay! I’ll admit, I’m still working on hats myself (mostly modern stuff because I’m totally bald now, due to chemo, tho’ I also made a new 16th-century coif & re-trimmed
You might think of the purse as a pretty modern invention. Not so! People have needed to carry their crap around for millennia, both women & men. Here are some nifty purses to inspire your next project.
While the goal of these challenges is to make accessories for costumes — historical, science-fiction, fantasy, whatever — this first challenge of “hats” hits close to home for me. See, I’m starting chemotherapy at the end of August to treat breast cancer. As most people know, a major side effect of chemo is hair loss.
Hats are everywhere! Until the 1960s, most every adult wore a hat in public, especially outdoors (tho’ it’s urban legend that JFK is to blame for the demise of hat wearing). They were practical & fashionable. Tons of hats exist in museums, & you can see how they were worn in context through artwork &
Need help making a hat? The Interwebs are your friend! Don’t be shy, get a helping hand. I can’t vouch for the historical accuracy or efficacy of all of these sources, but they looked interesting to me & can at least get you going. Arranged chronologically by historical era: Reconstructing the French Hood: An In-Depth
Since the first Accessory Challenge theme is Hats, I thought I share some that I’ve made. And then I realized that, since switching my website to Word Press almost 2 years ago, I still haven’t moved about half my photos & dress diaries here. Ooops. So a lot of the hats I made & gave