Excuse to wear kilt Thursday night...

[Cynthia]

So most of you know I sew 18th and 19th century clothing. I'm a member of a general costuming group in the area (it covers any era or fandom), and I'm also a member of a private 18th century group. It is not a re-enacting group -- they don't strive for historical accuracy. It's merely an excuse to have the chance to wear 18th century and some Regency outfits that we love to make. We all have different goals, but the basic point is to try to get some outfits made and eventually strive for whatever accuracy you would like.

Anyway, unfortunately, our group hasn't really been able to do as much as we'd hoped. We're all very busy, and the main person who formed the group is getting her photography career going, so of course she needs to focus the most on that. She had time this past week to host a gathering, so a couple of us made plans to attend, and two new members happily joined!

The other problem? I have not made my husband's outfit yet. I of course want to do a fun, rich 1740's kilted outfit for him, but we have not purchased the tartan fabric (he's not even sure yet what he's wanting). I'll be making breeches for him first instead. He is always included, because he enjoys the group and they adore having him show up costume or not.

At the last minute, he told me he would like to wear the kilt. That's his way of telling me he wants to wear something special and fun since he doesn't have a costume (he actually would not wear costumes if it weren't for me, but once you start hanging out with groups who have fun doing something, you get to the point where you want to join in as well).

So once he helped me get into my costume, he put his kilt on and away we went!

I'm actually heartbroken -- we were running out of daylight, so I didn't remember to get a photo of us together. Wah! A friend of mine thought to take a photo of him for me at least!


DSC08515 by festive attyre, on Flickr

We walked down to a small pond in the neighborhood, took some photos, and then walked back to the house for snacks, drinks, a light dinner, and played whist. It was a great time!

Here's a quick photo of me (our hostess took photos, and from what I saw of the first few they turned out great. I don't feel comfortable sharing her photos here without permission though, and I don't know if she took any of Christopher):


IMG_1466 by CFGriffith, on Flickr

You can see my photos here.

I just thought it was so cute that Christopher, who originally was not going to wear his kilt, decided at the last minute that he did want to wear it since we were all going to be dressed up so nicely, and he wanted to join in.

I just wish I'd thought to get my photo taken with him! *cries*

Also, I don't know if anyone actually noticed him with all of us walking around in our finery. In fact, I know of at least one man who called out when he saw us, "Hey there, princesses!" Heehee! I just love the chance to wear the things I work so hard to make

[Jock Scot]

Well done, you two. You both look great!

[O'Searcaigh]

Well done, you two. You both look great!

***

[Cynthia]

Thank you!

[KiltedDixon]

Pretty impressive. You obviously have creativity and patience. I have neither. Ya'll look great.

[Mael Coluim]

Great pix of you, two! You are indeed a talented lass!

[Kiltboy]

Wow, that dress looks great. I can't imagine how many hours of sewing went into its creation, and the foundations. Great work.

[Father Bill]

Two super "looks" and of course next time, perhaps that photo you so wanted. Well done!

[Cynthia]

I'm sure there will be other opportunities for photos, and hopefully I will have my husband's outfit finished in time! I do hope I can get the length of tartan he'll be most happy with and make him a kilted version in the near future.

As far as patience, I guess I must have some although it sometimes doesn't feel that way with daydreaming about all the outfits I want to make! It is rather funny how long it can take when you start a new era from scratch that requires a very different look. There are a lot of layers. I go back and forth with how much I cheat and use the sewing machine, and how much I sew by hand. I try not to use the sewing machine very much (on seams that aren't too visible), and other times I've had to use it to hurry things up much to my disappointment. My pocket hoops were all sewn by hand, and I wish I could do that more, but I have to consider time. Plus, in recent years I am unable to sew for the long amounts of time in a row that I used to be able to sew. I'm going to have to find a way to get some of that back soon though!

Thanks so much for the compliments! Someday when I am caught up on the sewing to do list, I hope to make a nice hand sewn kilt for Christopher. He has been acquiring nice accessories (one is on the way soon -- I'm sure we'll write a review and share it), and I want to make sure he has the quality he deserves!

Special thanks to Christopher as well... he's such a patient guy. Not only does he help me with fittings (he's learned to pin and baste if needed), he helps me get into the costumes. Not to mention, he is picky! If something doesn't look right, he insists to fix it (like the white ribbon lacing across my stomacher). Wotta sweetie

[Jack Daw]

Very nice on both of ya, Cynthia!