Blue Bees 1

Strap in folks. This will be a long series.

Kate and I have the Green Germanic dresses, our Falling Leaves dresses, and the Always Winter Never Christmas Italian inspired dresses that have seen a few revisions. I wanted to tackle something more English inspired. This meant a more column like bodice, and a BUM ROLL. 

I had experimented in this direction in my first ever Renaissance dress. That I made out of polyester. Big mistake. I've since then completely overhauled the dress, but don't wear it much because: polyester. Also, the bum roll is a stuffed cotton shape, and heavy on the waist/hips.

The end of summer brought a revelation: why not try a pool noodle strapped on my backside to get that shape? An evening with scissors, pins, ribbon, and a tube of E6000 glue brought me to this:

Pinned in place while the glue dries.

The hoop skirt was originally a cheap quincenera hoop from Amazon. I am not a skinny 14 year old, so adjustments were made.

It did not look promising until I put a skirt over it. Then the traditional English Tudor shape started to appear! It might work! I just had to convince Kate this silhouette was the way to go. But, more on fabric choices and overall design in further posts...

And, while my enthusiasm and maternity leave/sleep deprived brain said I could get these dresses done by the upcoming fall Great Plains Renaissance Festival, Kate's more level head prevailed and we'll be debuting the dresses at the spring 2019 festival.