Not so wordless Wednesday

I'm slowly slogging through the backlog of pictures I have to post and I realized I never posted the child's version of the Mother/daughter apron set I made for our auction basket this last fall. Although Nate was not the most willing participant, you can get the general idea :).

I'm a very guilty feeling blogger, and I really miss my preschool schedule with the kids. It was so peaceful somehow. This year's crazy schedule that I'm currently maintaining of working at home, supplemental schooling and driving kids everywhere is not conducive to a lot of blogging, although as we get back into reenacting season I'm hoping to get some updates (oh and sewing) in, even if infrequently.

All the busyness is motivating me to think about unconventional lifestyles though, and what might be the best pace and choices for our family. If I can ever collect my thoughts on the issue, I might post on it, but the basic jist is that I'm starting to realize that some really creative things can come from unusual choices, and I think that is what I'm wanting for our family for the future.

I'm about to head into my binge sewing season, so I'll be updating the projects list, and then reenacting season will begin! Oh, and if anyone wants to hit the Sew Expo with me, I'd be delighted!

Sew Expo finds

I love the Sew Expo! Not only is it one of the largest Sewing shows in the country, but it also brings the coolest vendors with the best fabric, hard to find notions, and great classes. I actually spent the entire weekend there last weekend, Saturday looking for mid-19th century things and taking an Heirloom sewing class, and returning Sunday with Lauren, The Lady of Portland House, and new friends Angel & Connie to soak in the Regency era.

Here are a few of the great finds!

This jabot comes from the booth of one of my favorite vendors, Stitches in Time, an antique dealer who always has a lovely booth at the show. Sadly, it is destined to be cut up and used for 1850s cuffs, but it is so hard to find antique lace, and it will make fantastic cuffs to compliment the black lace collar I found at her booth last year :).

I also found these great covered buttons at her booth, which the seller suspects were from the 1920s. I decided they are meant to adorn my new wool dress :).

Speaking of buttons, there were several vendors with calico buttons, which are generally expensive, difficult to find and used on all types of 1850s cotton wash dresses and wrappers. My own wash dresses are looking decidedly peaked, so I scooped up some for when I happen to take on the project of replacing them.

Some lovely buckles - the brown for an 1850s belt buckle and the rhinestone for Regency use in the hair (some aspects of Regency sound so fun!).

Our friend, Luc, from Cotton laces was sick, but he had a friend working his amazing booth filled with goodies from the Netherlands and Europe.

There were, of course, great silks (although a lot of them were gone by the weekend, given that the show opened on Thursday) and I can home with some lovely peacock silk for an 1850s belt.

And since Lauren is rubbing off on me, some lemon yellow batiste and light blue silk also made its way into my bag for a 1795 round gown with a silk sash.

And last but not least, a great Regency print for a day dress. It was so lovely to have Lauren to help me pick it out, since I have not yet trained my eye to late 18th century fabric prints.

I'm slowly working my way into Regency costumes as well as mid-19th century. I do like both ends of the era in terms of styling, so I'm going to be starting with the mid-Regency date of 1810 for a ballgown (in another post) and then working towards the earlier side of the 1790s. I'm also working hard to finish up my wool work dress this week. Have a lovely weekend!