2/8/08: My First How-To! Finally I have done something someone may find interesting! I only have one article so far but hopefully my new how-to section will grow. First up, modern tools and techniques for pinking, slashing & stamping fabric. I also added a very short update on the PDSvN diary since working on that again is what started this whole stamping adventure! 9/25/07: More updates I finally got pages up on the 1775 suit and the pink Venetian. More to come! 9/18/07: My fingers are almost as tired as my eyes! I've been slowly recreating and re-doing my website. So here it is. Finally. I'll be fixing and updating stuff over the next few weeks so please check back. 8/16/07: Long Time No Post My web host ate itself and I've been sewing like mad for Costume College so it's been a while since I've had any updates. 4/30/07: Progress on the Overdress The endless trimming on the PDSvN overdress is well underway (over 30 yards so far), and a few test pix on the dress dummy are updated on the dress page. I am very pleased with how it's coming along. I also finally got a shot of the new farthingale to add to the write-up on the Unmentionables page. 3/20/07: The Kirtle is as done as it's gonna be for now The PDSvN Kirtle is done except for some finishing no one will see. Check it out on the diary page. Now on to the overdress! 3/16/07: It just had to be done. The PDSvN Kirtle could not be allowed to continue in it's present patchwork state. The strapwork had to go and the new trim had to be. It's just the way I am. ;-) 3/11/07: Real progress on the PDSvN! I am so happy to be fired up again about this dress. It's about damn time! Anyway, I may actually get it done in time for Faire this year and I have real updates on just about every section of the Diary: Underwear, Kirtle, Overdress and Accessories. I also have updates on the Unmentionables page, including the info from the PDSvN underwear and pics of the finished effigy bodies. 2/19/07: I can't believe how long it's been! My bad. First, my apologies for letting this go so long. Life gets in the way of both sewing and updating, and left me without the computer, software, or job to do either. Ugh. But all things worked out, thankfully, and I have a few things to get up here. Please bear with me. So, we have lots of little updates here and there; most of the dress diaries have been redone so they're (hopefully) easier to read and better organized; there's new pages on the Victorian dress and one for Undies & Accessories throughout the ages. The Diaries page has been redone to get all this in, and more are on the way with the planned clothes for Costume College. Tee Hee! I'm still working on re-doing the Celestial Dreams doll pages (yes, I finally finished it), the Venetian pages, and the Saxon pages. It's a lot to get done. I've also actually been sewing (no, really!) so check for updates on the soon-to-be-completed PDSvN dress (no, REALLY!). Faire is fast approaching and I always work better with a deadline. 7/14/06: Lots of little things Well, first things first. I removed the right-click-disabling on all my pages other than photo pages with pro's photos on them. It was annoying beyond belief since I like to "open in new window" and couldn't. Next, I had a lovely sewing day with my mother on the Celestial Dreams doll and finally have a head and hands I can live with. *Kermit arms* Last, I got the extra lacing holes added to the PDSvN kirtle bodice in so no more pulling. That update is here. 6/24/06: AARRRRGGGGHHHHH I now have a migraine that is derailing my sewing day on the Celestial Dreams doll. :-( I may not get it done this year either, with the delays and lack of success on the head. I am way bummed. Also, in uploading the new doll pix I have managed to overwrite some other image file named "hands" and I don't know what page the other image was on. If you happen to see a page with weird little doll hands that don't look like they belong, that's why. I'll find it sooner or later... 6/19/06: Baby steps for baby feet I have a small update on the PDSvN dress here, and the Celestial Dreams doll project has been resurrected! 5/30/06: Even More Updates! Whenever shall it stop?!?!? Ok, I've revamped the whole site structure so now you don't have to read my silly, long-winded diaries to see the finished dresses. The Diaries page now goes to gallery pages on all finished projects, and then you can link to the diary page for that dress if you feel like torturing yourself. I've also gotten some lovely shots from professional photographers of this year's run. I've added links from dress gallery pages to include shots of the Venetian, the Saxon, the Augsburg, and the Big Pig. They have all been very kind in giving me permission to post, and I am very happy to have some nice photos of my clothes "in the wild." Speaking of the Big Pig has its own page now instead of being thrown into the Other Costumes gallery. There's also a small update on the PDSvN dress but if you read my LiveJournal there's nothing new there. 5/22/06: Updates galore! Well, a lot for me, anyway. I have a new page on turning my surcote into a Fitted English Gown, updates on fancying up the Augsburg gown, and some very limited progress on the Red English dress. I had a lovely faire run this year... with fewer gigs to do I had more time for visiting, flirting, and shopping. Pure heaven! I'm also working on a new page on Pink Dresses! LOL! I think Michaela started us all on the pink path and there is so much pictorial evidence for pink clothing throughout the ages, that I thought it would be fun to gather all the pinks in one place. After I get a couple more submissions it'll be up. As for Claire's Faire Waire, they didn't end up coming out after all, so what you see it what you get! If I get a chance I'll doll her up and take her to the park to get some better pictures. She's so cute in it! 4/7/06: Pictures up on Claire's Faire Waire I got her to try the whole thing on last night and take pictures, and I've also added some in the diary. I'll add more after her day at faire. 4/2/06: One more Link I added a weather link to the SoCal Faire site, since it is upon us and the weather is being uncooperative. I've also almost finished "Claire's Faire Waire" but the camera battery died. :-( I've got the page up and hopefully will have pics by the end of the week... 3/20/06: Links! Links! Links My Guild is gearing up for our faire run and lots of emails are flying around for resources - fabrics, accessories, etc. I haven't seen a link come through so far that I didn't know about so I've beefed up my links page to include online resources for ren-faire appropriate fabrics, buttons, corset boning, etc. I'll be adding more on vendors for things like shoes, hats, feast ware, and furniture soon. Hopefully this will be useful to my guild members, and maybe some of my online costuming pals will find something new! If you have any negative experiences with these vendors, please let me know. I don't want to steer anyone in the wrong direction! Likewise, if I missed one of your favorite vendors, let me know and I'll add them! 2/23/06: A New Frock! The Augsburg is done! Or at least it's wearable, including a wulsthabe. That is the silliest hat I have ever worn. Well, no, it's the silliest "real" hat I've ever worn. 1/30/06: Can it be true? YES! I actually have an update on the Anna Meyer dress! And I'd really love some opinions about it if you wanna share. :-) I also have some pics up of the progress on my Augsburg gown. It's not done yet but it's coming along. I'll have a pink dress soon! 1/20/06: No sewing but web progress I added some more pics to the research gallery on the Augsburg dress, and added a section on design decisions to make things a little clearer. 1/9/06: Happy New Year! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, or whatever you celebrate, and were safe, healthy and happy! I have been reading several folks' thoughts on Live Journal and with all the memes floating around I have become too familiar with my character flaws once again. LOL! As relates to costuming, my projects have become more and more ambitious and take more and more time to complete. Alas, I am still an instant gratification kind of girl and I think my lack of progress in 2005 had much to do with not giving myself something simpler to finish so I could have a new frock without months of labor. Under this plan, I give you the new diary of an early-mid 16c German dress. I have threatened my guildmaster with a salmon pink dress for years and now she's gonna git it! :-) LOL! 9/20/05: Can I get any more distracted? Well, I know myself well enough to know that I don't get anything done without a deadline. Halloween is fast approaching and, besides needing to make a Cinderella dress for my daughter, I need to make a Victorian dress for me. We are invited to a Victorian Tea for the dead, for want of a better description, and I have nothing to wear! LOL! So, now there's a new project, and a new page, and I might actually get it done in a reasonable amount of time. Maybe. And a very small update on the Anna Meyer page. 8/30/05: Reporting from off the face of the earth... again... photos, Photos, PHOTOS! I finally got some developed and can add a little life to my incessant ramblings. Pics have been added to the PDSvN dress, the Red English dress, the Theater page, and a few early costumes in the Other Stuff gallery. I survived the Tosca production *whew* and may get drafted to do next year's Shakespeare festival in Redlands. That's a lotta sewin' but it will be fun. There's also a "real" update on the Theater page of the Tosca saga, and a "real" update on the Anna Meyer page. 7/28/05: Reporting from off the face of the earth... again... Now my excuse is just a lack of time. I'm gearing up for the summer opera, Tosca, and have started some reporting on making the Empire gowns for that here. No chance to work on Anna Meyer or the PDSvN dresses but they are not dead yet. :-) I have been trying to map out the blackwork designs on the Anna Meyer but haven't gotten far enough along to warrant an update on that page. The opera goes up on August 12th and them I'm in a wedding on the 21st. Hopefully I can get seriously back into these other 2 projects then. I am looking forward to a little hard-earned social activity. I'll be crashing the gathering of the Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild at this Friday night's opening of the Costume College. It will be lovely to put some faces to the web-personalities I've come to know and love. Haven't decided what to wear, or even if it will past or present type clothing... *sigh* 6/23/05: No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth... but my computer did! Now I'm up and running again and hope to get some real updates going. I have a small one on the Anna Meyer page, and more to come... 4/25/05: a few site changes I've added a couple of pages that are in their infancy. I have been bitten by the bug and am researching the Holbein Anna Meyer dress. I hope to start making that soon. I have also added a page where I'll be posting pictures of my opera production work. So far, there's only a few from Summer 2004, Pagliacci, but it's a start. A couple of small updates on the PDSvN page and the English Red page. 3/18/05 The clouds are parting! I've had such a hard time getting motivated to work on this stuff... then I found out the contest I work towards every year is cancelled because our faire has to move. Crap. Well, I did get some small things done. I got my client for the new surcote measured in her corset, but that doesn't really warrant a real update on that page. I have gotten a little progress on the English Red and the PDSvN. Now that I'm back in the mood, I should have a little more to show for it.  On another front, the summer opera I costume every year in Redlands is Tosca this year. I have dreamed of doing a Tosca and I can't wait! I already threw together a first-act dress of sorts for publicity photos. It's set in Paris, June, 1800's. Think Napoleon & Josephine... and the second act dress is traditionally based (as much as budget will allow) on Josephine's coronation gown. Yummy! If I end up getting to make this gown from scratch, I'll put up a page for it. On another, another front, I just got the info for this year's doll exhibit my mom is running. This year it's Fantasy in Fabric, which my incomplete Celestial Dreams doll would still fit in with. There's no update on the actual doll page because I won't get to working on that until after Faire is over, but it's something else on my plate. I'm looking forward to finishing it... and making a new head. I'm not happy with her head. harumph. 2/25/05 I added a few more links that might interest you... and some small updates on the English Red page. 2/8/05 I almost forgot to post that I have won the Silver Rose Award for 2004 on Bella's Realm of Venus website! Thank you Bella! For more on the contest and the other winners, go here. 2/7/05 Some progress on the PDSvN kirtle, here. And a bit of work on the new English dress-downs here. I've found some pics to put into earlier posts so you might want to back up a little on this one. Hopefully I'll actually generate a sketch of where I'm going with this dress because I haven't been very clear about it so far. LOL! 1/21/05 Small update on the PDSvN dress, here. 1/10/05 Well, I haven't done much sewing yet everything has changed on the PDSvN dress. A long overdue update lies here. Now that I am several months' removed from making the little Snow White dress, I am not feeling up to writing the blow-by-blow, and you're probably not that interested anyway. LOL! If anyone out there really wants to know, email me and I'll do it, otherwise I hope you'll be content with the adorable pictures. 11/7/04 Still not enough time for real sewing but I've rearranged the pages a bit since the menu bar was getting crowded. 10/11/04 Sorry I've been too busy to sew and too busy to post much. I added some more recent shots of the Venetian dress on that gallery page. Other than that, I'm making a Snow White dress for my little angel for Halloween. :-) 9/10/04 A couple of quick notes. I've added short updates to the PDSvN dress and the English Surcote. 9/2/04 Sorry I haven't had time to update in a while, but since I last did I costumed an entire production of Pagliacci for the Redlands Bowl summer music festival. I do this show every year for a friend of mine but I have no pictures of any of the shows I've done there. My bad. He promises I can raid his albums so I'll have a section on opera costumes when I get to his studio. I've also gotten some done on the Celestial Dreams doll, but with the show eating up my time, I did not get it done in time for the show deadline. I will keep it going, though on a back burner, and update here as it comes along. I am hoping with the coming fall and the expected slow down I'll have time to dig into the PDSvN dress. I have been tossing and turning at night unable to sleep thinking about how best to allocate that 50 yards of silver trim. I must be careful or it will not be enough. Sad but true... I also have a new diary here. It is also in the planning stages but will eventually be a surcote for a friend. Last but not least, I am the featured artist of the month at Bella's wonderful sire, The Realm of Venus. You can gander some new pics of the Venetian dress here, and I'll post more in my own Venetian gallery in a few days. 7/27/04 again... I figured out how to set the table width so no one should have to scroll right anymore. It's the little things that make me happy... 7/27/04 Thanks to everyone who sent me such helpful suggestions for the site! I have revamped all the galleries on these pages to make them easier to read - the scrolling thumbnail bar seemed to be a bit of a pain - Venetian Portraits, Venetian Gallery, Saxon Gown, Celestial Dreams, and Other Costumes. Let me know how it works! I also found a different look that should be easier on the eyes. I wanted one with a dark background but I can't find one I like. I do have a request for all y'all - if you know how to set the page width at 800 pixels so you don't have to scroll right on lower resolution screens, please tell me how! I find that terribly annoying but I don't know how to fix it. HELP! 7/20/04 I added a couple more pics to the final Venetian wrap up here, and an underskirt pic to the Saxon gown here. And I added to the doll diary here. 7/19/04: Finally on the web! Well, after a bumpy beginning, my pages are finally up! I'm so excited. I am so very new at this that I am hoping for suggestions from the world out there. I'm sure I could use some tips for speeding up page load time. Oh well... I'm just happy to have my pages up! | 
