What to Wear... That is the Question?

Greetings!!!

My homeschool group has announced we are having a Living History Masquerade!!!  I am extremely excited, but there is a slight problem.  I am not quite sure what to wear.

The dress category is anywhere from the 1900s all the way to the beginning of time.  My sister is pretty much decided on either something from Anne of Green Gables's time, like a dress I just made her for her sweet 16, or something like this dress from Anne of A Thousand Days.








































I have a few ideas of what I would like to wear, and what time period the dress would be from, but I really cannot decide!  That, my viewers, is where you come in!

:)

I would like to ask you, from what era should I pick a dress?

1. French or Italian Renaissance

2. Civil War

3.  The1700's

4. Medieval Times

I have more images/options on my Pinterest board.   

Follow Jacqueline D.'s board Costumes and Dress on Pinterest.


Please comment below and tell me from which era you think my dress should be!  Or just tell me if you have a favorite dress!  Now, my board does have some costumes that are not quite historically accurate.  Even though I would love to one day make those, the masquerade requires that the dress be from some period in history: so please keep that in mind!!!  Also, just because the styles are numbered in that order does not necessarily mean that is the order in which I like them.  That's actually the way my computer would cooperate.

Thanks a bunch for your help in advance!!!!  I only have about a month to get this done, so the pressure is on!

Get Ready, Get Set,...

GO CRAZY BECAUSE IT'S COMING!!!!!!!!!!!

An Unexpected Journey,

The Desolation of Smaug,

AND for the first time ever,

The Battle of Five Armies,

will be in theaters this October playing all three EXTENDED EDITIONS!!!!

IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!

^uh, YES!!!^

Anyway, *regains composure*

As you can see I am slightly excited.  Ok, super excited.

This is the link where you can find theaters in your area.  That, or see if you have to fly out and join me and dress up, for-

As you all may have guessed by now, I am planning to wear my Tauriel apparel to the theater again.  That, and perhaps my Legolas t-shirt. (an addition to my closet I had been meaning to post about, but never got around to)

(It is completely awesome in real life, but if you consider ever getting a juniors Hobbit shirt from the online shop, I would suggest ordering a size or two larger.  I'm probably normally a small or medium in juniors, and the medium of this is a close fit and almost too small.)

I had also once considered putting a tutorial on how to sew a Tauriel costume, but never got around to that either.  Perhaps I shall before the showing.

And, in light of the movies coming out, for Modest Monday I have decided to do...

I know it isn't exactly Monday anymore, but I wasn't able to post it then so I figured I might as well do it now, so without further ado,...

#1.  A Hobbit

I wore my long jean skirt, a sleeveless brown blouse(?), and a green sweater.  The last two I got at second hand stores.  Who knew, right?  I also wore a round gold locket that I have.

 Obviously I hadn't done my hair entirely, and bare feet would have been best, but I was in a bit of a hurry that day.

#2. Legolas

#3. Galadriel

#4. Frodo

#5. Sam

AND,

Until next time,

Namárië and God bless!

My Middle Earth Adventure: Arwen Swimsuit, Part 3

WHENEVER you make ANY sort of sewing project, ALWAYS THINK THINGS COMPLETELY THROUGH FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!  I have learned this lesson the hard way.

I decided that, when ordering the new navy blue fabric, I would also buy a yard of grey fabric.  All in all it was not the wisest decision for my wallet, but if I am going to take the time to make this, I am going to make it perfect and right.  My mom always says before buying something, "Don't buy it if you're not going to like it."  We all know, if you don't like something, you won't end up wearing it!

Thus I have started returning the old grey fabric, which, after consideration, was just too blue-grey for me.  I am glad to finally have the fabric part of the plan all worked out, and I have started working on the next step; the pattern.

Ah, the pattern!

What I used to make my pattern:

• Wrapping paper
• A sharpie
• My sister's swimsuit (to base the pattern off of)
• My giant pillow pet dog (trust me, he helped!!! :))

I based it (for the most part) off of my sis's swim dress, with a few slight adjustments.

(Click on the pictures for a larger image)

For the skirt I traced a dotted line around the edge, making it slightly wider at the hips, then I traced it with a solid line, which is what I cut on.  I left a little under an inch for seam allowance, seeing that the fabric probably won't need to much detail when sewing together.

I had forgotten that I was lengthening the skirt a bit (I'm a good deal taller than my sis) and therefore, working with paper I had previously cut from for a different pattern, I didn't leave enough room when marking the bottom of the pattern to complete the cut out.  Fortunately, I also forgot that when making a symmetrical cut, you only need 1 full half of the pattern, which is what I now have.

For the bodice I did the same thing I did with the skirt, creating a dotted line, and then a solid line for seam allowance.  When I first traced the pattern (upper left) I made the bottom up against the edge of the paper, then realized I needed to leave room for the v-shaped waistline.  I retraced a new pattern, leaving plenty of room on the bottom for the v-shape since I'm not entirely sure how low I want the dip to be.  For the sleeves I'll use the pattern I already had from my Tauriel costume, but I won't cut the material to the full length since I'm adding the silver bracers.

I made a new tailored pattern that is more rounded and slightly longer.

The patterns I still have yet to make are for the neckline (or I might just guess at that when the dress is made) and the shorts.  Plus my deadline is the 20th, less than 2 weeks away!  Pray that I get it all done in time!

My Middle Earth Adventure: Arwen Swimsuit, Part 2

I have some good news, and some bad news.

The bad news is that when I opened my package containing the fabric I did NOT like the blue.  It was way too purple.  Plus what's more, when I unfolded the yellow liner, I found it to be quite stained, a corner was cut off, there was tape in it, and it had been cut down the middle and sown back together.  That was quite a disappointment.

The good news is that I found a different fabric on amazon that is a way better color.  I also really liked the grey.

So, I will be returning the blue and yellow, keeping the grey, and purchasing a navy blue.

What I am kicking myself for is not thinking of looking up the same type of fabric anywhere else before I ordered the wrong color of blue instead of just praying it wasn't as bright as the picture showed.

Anyway, while I wait for the fabric, I'll probably start making a pattern.  I found a really great tutorial for that here.  I did the same thing when I made my Tauriel costume.

Namárië!

My Middle Earth Adventure: Arwen Swimsuit

Hello all!

I have decided to be slightly adventurous and make my own swimsuit this year.  As I always try to keep modesty in mind by the pool, and I have this "little" thing with Middle Earth, it can be quite hard to find the PERFECT swimsuit.  Therefore, one does not simply compromise when a Tolkien fandom is involved. :)

I will be making a swim dress that is knee length with long shorts underneath.  My sister ordered one from a company online, Meant to be Modest, and I liked hers very much.  I would have ordered one from the same place, but as I wanted it to be more detailed with many adjustments, I knew it would be cheaper to make my own.  Plus it gives me a chance to expand my sewing skill. :) I have decided to make the swim dress based on Arwen's character.  I haven't seen the last two LotR movies, (oh, shock and disbelief!!!) but I am basing the swim dress more on her book character anyway.  Since she represents the evening, as Galadriel does the morning, (page 953 of The Return of the King) I will be using a dark blue and a grey fabric.

The blue I got Here, the grey I got Here, and the liner I got Here.

I am a little nervous about the blue, though, because, although I had wanted to get navy blue, they were out of it and the regular blue, so, I decided to go with what they call "Blueberry."
The package arrived yesterday, but I didn't realize I actually had to go open the door when the mailman rang the bell or else he would take the package with him and I would have to wait until the next morning to pick it up at the post office.  I now safely have the contents of my shipment but have not had the time to open the box yet.

For a liner, I had wanted to use white, but they were out of that too!!  I decided to go with a yellow instead, and pray for the best.  The one my sister has has a beige lining, and as it never really shows, I believe the yellow will be fine.  Once again, I am quite nervous!  Ok, VERY nervous!!

The grey will be used for the neckline and bracers, and the blue for everything else.  No, I'm not really making bracers for a swimsuit, (I do believe that would be slightly difficult when swimming) but I will only make the blue part of the sleeve half-length and finish the rest with grey.  I might add a little blue to the end of the sleeve to give it more of the bracer illusion.

I'll probably post pictures of the fabric once I get them out of the box, and hopefully they'll look as good as I'm praying they are. : /

Namárië!

Easter Week/ 20 Things That Make Me Happy

Greetings, and Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!

This past week has flown, but boy was I blessed!  It felt like an endless weekend! (haha, you'll never guess what I buy at Bath and Body Works. ;))

On Easter Sunday we went to Mass then came home and hosted brunch.  I wore a new dress that we had gotten at Stein Mart.

My favorite part about the dress is when I spin...

Ta da!!! :D

On Wednesday we had our schola over for practice and a crazy game of Scattergories!  If you ever have the letter P, and I think list 7, I would highly suggest doing Pirate Pinball for number 6, and Ping Pong Paddle for 11. (a double and a triple! SCORE!!)

This week I drew a picture of Tauriel (shock and disbelief!) for an art contest held by my school.

 This was the picture I based it off of...

...This is how it turned out.  It's not 100% perfect, nor as good as I would have liked it to be, but it's close enough. :)

On Friday, we went to this new ice cream place called Handel's Ice Cream.  It was SOOO GOOD!!! I got mint chocolate chip (inspired by Ben Seawald!)

Then Friday night I spent the night at a friends house.  Saturday morning I went to the gym for practice, then got back together with the same friend and went to confession.

After that we had a coffee/smoothie date, hung out some more, then headed over to my cousins' for a game of Jumbo Sequence.  All in all it was a very exhausting and fun day. :)

                                               

Of course I had to add our beautiful Iris that bloomed some time this week.

Also, I was inspired by Beth and everything I've done this week to add...

*drumroll*

20 Things That Make Me Happy!

1. Going to Mass
2. Doing my hair like and Elve (hehe!)
3. Hanging out with friends
4. Sewing
5. Writing stories
6. Running in an open field (most of the time I imagine in a whole different world) :)
7. Reading
8. Finding modest and cute outfits
9. Laughing so hard I can't even breathe
10. Listening to Christian Radio
11. Knowing I am loved no matter what
12. Playing with the littles!
13. Discovering something new in the world of Tolkien
14. Baking Miss Kay's (Duck Commander) cookies, or baking in general
15. Eating ice cream
16. Seeing God's creation bloom into spring
17. Writing letters with friends far apart
18. Thinking of the future
19. Being with my family
20. Singing

And that concludes my post on this beautiful spring day and Divine Mercy Sunday.

Until next time,

Namárië, Mellon!

Today's an Important Day!!

Today is awesome!!!  Not only is it backwards day for Official Homescool Spirit Week, but it's also Official Hobbit Day and the first day of Fall!!!  Today for 'supper' I decided to make beef stroganough with cooked mushrooms (recognize those? ;)).  I'm going crazy!!!

And of course, I must post this pic for today. :)

And this! :D

This is what I wore when I made dinner!

 I made it last Saturday at our Homeschool Sewing Clinic.  When I chose the fabric, I wanted something that conveyed comfort. ("...: it was a hobbit hole, and that means comfort." ~The Hobbit, Chapter one, sentence two! :)).  As I searched through the fabrics, nothing conveyed hobbit to me.  I found everything from, "The eagles are coming", to elvish green, but I figured that of all the people in middle earth, a hobbit would be the one most likely to wear an apron.  I was just about to give up hope when I spotted this fabric (the one I used for the body.)  It was perfect, and Walmart had just a yard left, or in other words, the exact amount I needed!!  I was ecstatic!!

(That's me making dinner (oops, supper!).  Please excuse the hair, as I did not have time to brush it this morning or even fix it before my sis snapped the pic. :))