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I tell myself: you do not need a new outfit each year. And yet, I'll attend 5 - 6 days of Renaissance festivals each year, so whatever I make will be worn. And technically these outfits aren't all new this year; I started the pants at least 5 years ago. It just took that much longer to find matching materials and patterns for the rest of the outfit. Click through the slides to see how it was put together. Here are the patterns used. Click on the pictures to go to the Simplicity website to see the front of the pattern envelopes. I didn't have a pattern for the underskirt; it was two pieces of fabric, gathered at the waist, each with a curved hem and attached ruffle. The corsets were custom made from the pattern on the Elizabethan Corset Generator.
In past years when attending the KC Ren Fest we've either stayed with friends or found a great deal at a hotel nearby. This year the great deal was actually in Topeka, about an hour away. We stayed at the Senate Luxury Suites in a two bedroom unit. Of course we were sewing late into the night getting buttons on everything. And here is the infamous matching trio at the KC Ren Fest! Hubs is sporting turkey leg stains on his shirt already. 
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It's no secret I'm not a fan of winter. I mean, I don't shut down or anything (at least not completely...), but I'm definitely not as interested in pursuing my creative projects. The projects I do work on tend to be short-term with a quicker pay-off So, when I saw this flannel on sale at my local fabric store, it spoke to me. Part of a fandom I like? Check. One of my favorite colors? Check. A non-childish print? Check. I happened to have a men’s/boy’s pajama pattern from the late '90's/early 2000's (Simplicity 9900). It's no longer in stores, but you can buy it "on demand" from Simplicity. I had a length of elastic leftover from the scholar costume, so it was the work of one evening, and I was relaxing into that Danish hygge feelin' - or gemütlichkeit feelin', if I want to be more true to my Germanic roots.   Ahhhh, brocade. I really like the stuff as a way to get patterns into the fabric of my Renaissance outfits without a print. Our patron "M" had asked for something red, with roses. We were under a huuuuuge time crunch. I first ordered some burgundy polyester, but it was the cheap stuff. In a rush I found a listing for this fabric on Etsy and it turned out PERFECT. A little texture, some weight to it, and a nice balance of a deep color that wasn't too red or purple. The remaining two pieces to the scholar's outfit were a tabard/vest of some sort, and the necessary scholar's robes. The tabard was easy: it is a tent of an outfit with arm holes and neck holes. I opted to use the yoke pattern from a shirt for the front and a doublet pattern for the back, and do a simple v-neck cutout, and then have the sides lace up. That way there would be some interest to the garment if the robes were removed, but it would remain a simple cut to show off the brocade. To conserve fabric only the front was made of the fancy fabric, though the whole thing was lined. And lastly the robes! At this point I really didn't even use a pattern. It was going to be a drop shoulder robe anyway; I just used the shoulder measurements for width, and guessed on the length. Only the sleeves were fully lined with the brocade. The black fabric is a heavier weight linen. I added the big flap at the shoulders to give the robe a bit more of a tailored shape, which also let me add some fabric at the sides for better "swishability" when walking. The collar is just a strip of fabric. Finished robe! If it looks a little like Harry Potter school uniforms, it should. A version of the scholar's uniform is still used in British private schools and in the US as graduation robes.   Unlike some other commissions, for this one Kate and I had a reference photo to work from. Our friend "M" found it on Pinterest and after some internet sleuthing I found a source.  We didn't get any fantastic pictures of our friend that weekend in costume. The weather was miserable. These were the best I could find in my archives:  |
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