New Obsessions

As if I needed another craft to vie for my already-limited free time, my friends convinced me that buying a sewing machine would be good way to save money in my quest to clothe myself and my family for Renaissance Faires. I was easy to persuade, seeing as how the prices for said Faire costumes are completely outrageous!

Anyway, I now have 5 skirts, 3 bodices (complete w/boning), 1 chemise, 2 kids shirts, and a pirate vest under my belt...and they ain't half bad, if I do say so myself. And, I can make them out of the natural fibers which really make the outfits look great, cuz they sure didn't have polyester back then ;-). So, here are just 2 of the outfits I've come up with:


I've got my piratey costume, complete with the felt hat I hand-formed and decorated myself, and 2 authentic linen skirts. I must admit that I bought the chemise, but I did make the bodice.
My peasant costume was pretty cool too, because I got to make bracers and I learned how to drop spin just so I could roam about the Faire doing a period activity. This bodice came out a little too small, but it's a bodice, so it still works!

Yes, the Ren Faire inspired me to learn spindling, which I had resisted until now. But I took a class at my local yarn shop, found that it's super-easy since I already know how to spin on a wheel, and I'm officially hooked! So now I've bought waaay too many 4 oz braids of handpainted wool and have a bonafide spindle addiction:



I've got a custom-made Spanish Peacock Purpleheart, Golding Celtic Knot, a little Poppy one off etsy, and a nice Kundert (my first). Lovely!
Anyway, this is why you'll forgive me for not knitting lately. :-)