Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Gowns Available

I have gowns listed on ebay for sale. 
http://myworld.ebay.com/butterflyfunkychic

I also have some gowns listed on Etsy.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/faerydustcollector


There are also links on my blog to get to my Esty and Ebay stores right from my blog. Ph did finish the turquoise silk gown, looks smashing. Now working on my gold and black gown with coral accents, will get pics done when I have time to do a fashion shoot. Till then you will just have to wait in eager anticipation.

Enjoy the Auctions,

Maureen

Saturday, May 19, 2012

New Tab Links, Comments and Questions

Hi all,

I wanted to let you all know new links have been added to my page, so you could connect to me though other communities and sites online. I have these other profiles listed under my maiden, married, and various creative screen names so it wouldn't be easy to track me down just by searching one name on the other sites. The tabs at the top of my blog will link you right to my pages on the various other sites.

In case anyone has questions and such you can now get a hold of me on whichever site you want and there are links to my two shops on Ebay and Etsy. Also please feel free to comment and contact me through blogger also. I am available to help with any questions and will do my best with expedient and thorough answers.

Just a little update on the Turquoise Silk Elizabethan, the trim is almost sewed down! I am now contemplating small slashes on the top of the sleeves and adding pearls and matching gold with turquoise glass beads. Oh the decorating of the gowns make take the most time but its the most fun. I will of course model the gown when its completed and post the photos. I am going to work on this more today and get some mowing done outside, did dished and plan on vacuuming. Got to love all the stuff you catch up on days off.

I have packed away the last of the wedding presents and now have opened some space in my sewing room and living room that was consumed by wedding crafts. The box we used for cards is the perfect keepsake box for the wedding related items. I was able to put the wrapped unity candle and tapers, wine flutes, garter, boutonniere bouquet, a few favors, guest book, and all the wedding cards in the one fairly good sized paper-machete suitcase. We had asked for money for your honeymoon in lieu of gifts. My matron of honor April had bought this decorate suitcase at Michael's Arts and Crafts. It worked nice for the cards and was just great in getting all the keepsakes for later, the only thing that doesn't fit is our wedding albums ;-) Which I wouldn't expect them to fit they are pretty substantial.

 I do have to find some space to put all these lovelies. Having to find some space for other Tudor Fiction and Tudor Research book, I think its official we are out of space! Will look into a yard sales possibly or more eBay sales which would make the most sense.  Until I start my new job later this summer, there is just no way we can look into moving. It will be a year to get everything straitened out then we can effectively look into a new place. I am looking forward to it someday, the next place we move to will be our home we want to be in for years. Though we got to get the good paying jobs first, in this economy seems to be one tall order. Renting is just getting old.

Well I had better get back to sewing so I can make some real progress before I need to get the other chores done.

Wishing for Room,

Maureen

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

New Followers to Tudorosities Blog!

I just wanted to thank the two new followers of my blog. Thanks for finding my little corner of the web.  Welcome one and all !

Look forward to more postings on my costuming adventures and various Renaissance/Tudor topics to come. For those stopping by for the first time, Welcome. If you are an old hat Thank You for your dedication. For anyone in between, I am glad you are here thanks for stopping by please visit again soon.

If you are not sure what it is to follow a blog. Here is just a little idea, you recieve updates right to your inbox if I post anything new. You would be the first to know about pictures, changes, and updates to my blog and content. Its very handy instead of having to look me up everytime you can go directly from your email to my blog, most of the blogger emails have links to the new content.

So please consider following my blog today, if those 8 of you already do thank you so much.

Greatful,

Maureen

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Quit Hitting Yourself...Quit Hitting Yourself!!!

I pinned on all the lovely trim on the Turquiose gown yesterday, oh my it looks rich. Posting pics when its all sewed down, which will be a while. I am finally running low on some of my gold trim, but that is expected that I have trimmed 5 gowns now. Still have to rework the black doublet gowm, the coral fabric is going to look smart against the black and gold. Oh so excited to get it done, but patience will make it work out, no rushing!  Also have to figure out a plan for the billoughy sleeved black gown, though I have time to ponder.

On a modern note, I love sun dresses! Its been humidly warm and I have been uncomfortable, silk sundresses are the best keeping cool and comfy. Plus they look good too ;-), the husband says.  Oh wedding announcement is in the newspaper today, May 13th.

http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/578161/Benfer-Plotts.html?nav=5018

Though on a life note, our roleplaying gaming store is back in the area! Our good friend reopened his store now that life and his personal econmy have worked themselves out. Yay! We have visited twice and just amazed with the selection of vintage gaming books, supplies and all over cheer we feel with hanging with our good friend.

I bought some big dice for my card games as life counters and for roleplaying. Picked up two cards for Magic the Gathering. I still have 4 decks from my college days back in 2005. I am reworking them since they are older just to get some older rares in them for spice. Been playing against myself and kicking my own butt, lol. They are all pre 10th edition but hey that is fine, the whole name of the game for me is theme decks. So the newest cards I could really careless about. I might get some newer decks down the road, but I am just happy playing my revamped older decks. Afterall don't want to blow alot of cash getting back into it. Only spent $7 at the store, so nothing earth shattering. I found cards online to work up my decks without going broke, nice when no one wants the older stuff. Never been a tournament junky, just not my thing.

So that is how I have been beating myself, lol. Though I am sure more trips to White Knight Game Room are in our future. Well that is all the crafty and gaming things for now, updates as things get done. Looking forward to somemore gaming fun.

Busy as a Bee,

Maureen

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

All Things Great and Small

Well been busy with little things here and there since getting married. One of those is changing my last name, I got it done with the Social Security Admistration by the Friday of getting married. Not too shabby, but I took advantage of sometime off over the past two weeks to get things done with the Department of Transportation, my job, and working in on getting it switched with all of my bills and such.

I haven't worked on much sewing, though it did make some progress before Lewisburg Arts. I did finish up the gold trim on the dark blue gown and was able to wear it for the Lewisburg Arts Festival. It looked lovely! I want to post pictures but haven't been able to track down the person who had taken some good ones of me. Guess we will see, my camera needs a new rechargable battery so it was useless toting it along. The battery won't hold a charge anylonger, though as old as it is, I have a feeling that will be a tall task to find a new one. Guess that is what ebay is for, without the flip design of the screen on my camera even with it being older, is the only way I can take pics of myself in the mirror.

It was the best $10 purchase ever, next to my wedding gown. It came with everything; charging cord, leather bag, extra battery that is now dead too and three memory sticks. I will need to get a new one before we go on vacation to Virginia want to take it along for photos of course. I know an all new camera will cost more than I am willing to spend and my camera on my phone is not that good. Hmm well guess I'd better get cracking.

Lewisburg Arts is a fun Demo as always, I did work with the kids in the childrens tent making heraldic shields. I then did a walk about drawing people to the encampment while showing off my pretty garb. There was some beautiful handmade arts and crafts by local artisans, but really didn't have money for things, beautiful things none the less. I did get food but that was about it. Let alone I don't have much more space at home for anything extra. The wall space is full and I will have to do a spring cleaning to get things back into a organized manner. Glad I bought the door hooks, they have paid for themselves holding extra clothes and garb. Its saving my silk lovelies from wrinkling up like a crushed flowers.

In the spirit of getting things done, I have finished my wedding scrapbook, It was a predesigned book that was bland in color and design but had potential. It turned out super nice and was able to add lots of creative details to the plain pages. Speaking of scrapbooking, I found a really neat storybook fantasy themed scrapbook and decided to make one for my gowns and SCA interests. So far so good, I am about 1/3 of the way done. I am creating a poem so I can tell my personas story through my work. Its very challenging but if I can pull it off, it will be one awesome book. It will take a few years to get everything done printed and added to the book, though it gives me some major goals to look forward to filling the pages.

In getting pictues printed out for the wedding and scrapbooks, I have discovered the awesomeness of walmart photo online. Its great to pick them up right up from work and just paying with my debit card, makes life easy. No extra effort in going there to download photos, crop, adjust exposure, and then print. All done from the ease of your desk, really cool. I have to say modern technology is super nifty, makes life easier but does come with its own set of challenges.

I got my prints back at the end of the week of getting married, its amazing how fast now with digital photography how easier it is to get things around. I am super impressed with how they all turned out, just lovely. Was able to get my mom to pick up some preprinted photos and she was able to enlarge some of her 4x6 and 5x7's to 8x10's. I know she is as pleased as I with how they turned out, she is sending them to friends and family.

So I know I have to pick up the sewing needle again to make progress on decorating the silk gowns. Oh speaking of silk gowns, I was able to purchase the Turquoise gown that I was interested in sometime back. The person who purchased it found she was needing a colonial gown and wasn't going to use the Turquoise gown, so she sold it to me for the price of my last bid. Not bad really, very happy to get it tried on the sleeves so I know they fit. So other than some decorative puffs and trim there should be no altering to fit. Oh I am going to be good and lay off the sweets to make sure I fit all these lovelies, its worth it. Just have to get back to the gym routine.

Well more things than I thought, but that is pretty much it for now. On the job market I am hoping for some new change of pace and praying for something better in the job department, here is to hoping its sooner than later.

Wishing, Hoping, and Waiting,

Maureen

Replica 1560's Venetian Italian Fashion Doll

Replica 1560's Venetian Italian Fashion Doll

Replica 1560 French Fashion Doll

Replica 1560 French Fashion Doll

Tudor Q and A

What is a Tudorosity?

A mashed combination of the words Tudor and Curiosity to create the word Tudorosity. Tudorosities is the plural form and the deffinition is as follows.

Tudorosity- an desire to learn or know anything about the Tudor dynasty associated with years 1405 through 1603.

Most people ask my why I make the Tudor garb ?

I find the clothing of this era not only beautiful but also challenging to sew. There is much more care and purpose put into making garments and wearing garments in the Tudor Era. I love the look of Tudor so much I wanted to explore the way clothes were made back then and the subtle changes in fashion and styles of time.

How did you get started in this interesting hobby?

I started with art first, I love to draw, paint, and sculpt all the traditional fine arts. So being able to draw helps me visualize the looks I want to create in my garb. History has always been a huge interest of mine and I've had a knack for sewing since I was 7 years old. It all started with doll clothes and I learned cross stitch embroidery from my grandmother when I was little. I am self taught sewer, crochet, knitting, embroidery and tatting. My methods are learned from books mainly and there is still so much more to learn.

What is my favorite outfit and why?

It would be like picking a favorite out of one of my future children, its impossible. I love all my gown creations and really like the distinct differences in all the styles clothing I make for the Tudor Era.

Do you make the whole outfit including hat, shoes, and undergarments?

I do have a goal of making a complete Tudor from the skin out. As of right now I make 90% of my gowns and accessories. The shoes and stockings, are bought online and the petticoats are a close reproduction but not made by me. .

How long does it take to make a gown?

It all depends on the type of gown. The making relies on the time period and class of the design. Generally if I work on it 8 hours a day on a sewing machine it will take 3 days to get the basics and another 5 days to do finish hand-sewing details and beading. So a week to a week and a half if working on it steady for that amount of time. I work a full-time job so it does take longer than a week to complete. I put over 40-100 hours per outfit depending on its complexity, its like its own full time job of sorts.

Do you make renaissance clothing for sale or custom orders?

No, due to new employment and changes in my lifestyle. Unfortunately, I have no time to support sewing for others. Though I recommend sewing lessons for those adventurous few. There are many fine folks who make and sell historical clothing. I suggest guidance with sew from many fine historical enthusiastic costumers out on the internet.

How long have you been making these elaborate costumes?

I have been in the Society of Creative Anachronism coming up on my 18th year. Active since 2004 working at demonstrations and volunteering when I could between working and other life's distractions. I really concentrated on Tudor sewing in 2007 and worked with patterns to learn proper fabrics, techniques, fit, and silhouette. I really enjoy the eras transition from a medieval form fitting layered cotterdie to the boned Tudor kirtle and then to structured Elizabethan clothing.

Replica 1490 Milan Italian Fashion Doll

Replica 1490 Milan Italian Fashion Doll
Based on art by Giovanni Ambrogio

O’Kealy Heraldry

O’Kealy Heraldry