Hello and Welcome!

-
Hi! My name is Kayla and I love to sew and create things. I started out with cosplay, modifying clothing items I'd find in thrift shops to fit what I needed. But I often don't stick to just those materials; I've used other odd items, like foil, before as well.  In May 2017 I started to get serious about sewing when I learned about the Jane Austen Festival in KY. That was when I made my first costume and underthings from scratch. Since then been on a mission to sew period specific pieces. While I want to obtain historically correct costumes, it is difficult for me because I am also a full time student. So I try to get as close as possible.

With this blog I am hoping to catalog my journey, share my success, my failures (hence my blog title, ha!) and just keep a record of my projects and what worked for me. Thanks for coming along on the ride!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brown Elizabethan Kirtle

-
Image
I started this kirtle back in August 2017 after being successful in making my first historical-ish costume for the Jane Austen Festival. I was hoping that I would get done before my classes started at the end of August so I could wear it to the Renaissance Festival in September but that didn't happen. Now 6 months later it is finally complete! Kirtle sketch The pattern that I used for this kirtle was the Reconstructing History Elizabethan Common womens Outfit. I am still very much a beginner sewer so I thought I could handle this pattern. To be honest, I couldn't. The instructions were too vague for my taste; I actually had to reference other books (Tudor Tailor) and the internet to figure out what to do a few times. A pictorial guide would have been wonderful in addition to the instructions. First I tried making the bodice. This was the hardest portion for me. I was confused about their 'kirtle' pattern because there seemed to be no way for the...
Read more

2017 Jane Austen Festival

-
Image
The Jane Austen Festival in Kentucky was wonderful! I live in Columbus OH so it was a three hour drive down to Locust Grove. I went on a Saturday (The festival runs Friday through Sunday). I didn't attend the other days or the ball on Saturday night because I had only sewn one dress. I could have worn regular clothes for the other days (not the ball) but it's not in my nature to do that, lol. Locust Grove, KY The house at Locust Grove is beautiful! It was originally founded in 1790 on 55 acres of land by William Croghan and his wife Lucy Corghan. Lucy Corghan was actually the sister of the famous William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition. In 1806 the expedition was heading back towards the east coast and the Croghans held a homecoming to celebrate the event. Locust Grove is the only residence west of the Appalachians that once housed Lewis and Clark.  Another view of Locust Grove Inside the house were beautiful rooms and quite a few handmade dress...
Read more

Katniss Everdeen Wedding Dress

-
Image
Katniss Everdeen Wedding Dress Photo by Rick Heno Photography Sketch of the costume In 2015 I saw the previews for Catching Fire and fell in love with the wedding dress Katniss wears and I knew I had to recreate it for Halloween. But, to be honest, I didn't know how to go about doing it. I knew that I didn't want to make the entire dress myself, so I headed to the thrift store and found a strapless wedding dress that fit me for about $20. Next, I went about figuring out how to do the metal working on the dress. I studied the one photo I had (which was only shown in the movie previews) and tried to figure out what it looked like most to me. Working with limited photos was a drawback but I think having the limited resources forced me to be more creative. My form of creativity was using pipe cleaners and tin foil! So I started with a duct tape dress form I saw on pinterest. I knew that would be easy to work off of and I could pin to it if I needed to. This...
Read more