2nd Place in the Family Costume Contest at Dickens!!!

Yes, my family won 2nd place. My dad videoed the whole thing, so hopefully I will get it up on YouTube soon enough and on my website as well. My mom, husband, and three cousins (same as last year) participated and we got a very warm reception! Finally we're "somebodies" at Dickens! People remembered us from last year, and even some remembered 2 years ago and congratulated us on our anniversary!

Very happy with 2nd place, but I'm making a list of how I can make it even better for next year. I'm going to be quite busy this summer, making at least 2/3 girls new dresses, if not for all 3. (I might be able to get away with just new pantalets, chemises, and new white sleeves if they don't grow much wider.)

Also, I found that my costumes fit BETTER this year than last year! My corset fits nicely, and I don't have that "shelf" that I had at my wedding! I even tried on my first Dickens costume and it still FITS! So now I have a choice between 3 dresses!

Here's a list of stuff I need to do before next Dickens:

1. change trim on original Dickens dress (it unraveled in the dry cleaning process, and I never changed it because it didn't fit - but luckily I kept it anyway!)

2. make a wool cloak/mantle or buy a fur one (if I can find one). I'm looking at this pattern: http://butterick.mccall.com/b5266-products-7605.php?page_id=385

3. make some type of cold weather garment for the 3 kids, either a little fake fur wrapper or something else that is warm.

4. also need to buy formal gloves for the kids - will try to hit the Easter sales so I won't have to buy them online.

5. also bonnets for the kids? Need a pattern.

6. make or buy a vest for Dad - his was a little too short and tight.

7. make a new blouse (or rather, two) for Mom because the old one is stupidly designed and hooks in the back. Pain in the butt! Also, the interfacing turned peachy colored, so no great loss there.

8. make a new hoop or fix mom's old one. Her hoop is crappy and was a temporary fix for me until it got passed down to her. It's just a bridal hoop. I'd like to either make a new, lower casing for the drawstring and even use elastic if need be. It never sits right on her, and the last thing I want is to constantly fix her skirt. It did better this year than last, but it still bothers me.

9. make Mom some new pantalets, chemises, and (gasp!) even a corset. I've asked her in the past if she wanted these. She always refused to wear any of them until this weekend when she started to whine that she didn't have any. By God, you just can't win.

10. I have half a mind to make period pants and shirts for Christian, but since it's only 2 days, and his costume is already nice enough, I can't really give myself a real reason to do this. If I had the extra time and money, sure, but I'm not gonna put myself out on it.

11. Same as above, except he wants a steampunk outfit. We've got plenty of vintage junk from the attic in which to make cool accessories, but I don't know money and time-wise. If he does it, I might too. We decided if we were to do it, we'd still go historical on Saturday and do steampunk on Sunday as our "fun and wild day."

12. Eventually I'd love to use the Butterick pattern for parasol covers for Mom, but I'm not sure if I'd have the time or money. Would be nice though and unique.

13. Christian says I "need" a new gown, but I don't think so. Especially since I found out that the old green one really does still fit. He wants something different, like 1830's-1840's, or late 1860's-1880's. Not so sure if I'm going to do this, as the closet is limited. If I'm going to make anything at all, it's going to be a ball gown, or something made of period cotton for the heat.

14. need to paint Christian's cane. It's chipping.

Got a full year of costuming ahead of me, and that's not even including clients!!!

Costume Problems

I sewed those buttons onto those kid's dresses 5 times each AND used tapestry thread and they still lost a few. I was thinking on bringing some extras but I second-guessed myself and said it should be fine. :-P

Not sure how else to better sew buttons on. Richard never complained that anything fell off his coat or vest, but maybe I should ask and see if it was just a fluke, because of the kid's activity or picking, or because I need to sew them on more than 5 times.

I also had the problem of having to wear long underwear under my gown. Wearing the extra shirt was fine, although I could not wear my chemise with it because it didn't work. Plus, I couldn't wear the pantalets because of the warm pants and tights I had to wear. I also wore some thick white knee socks ($2 at Wal-Mart!!!) and I was still cold. The skirt also tried slipping down a lot because I made it a bit too big as I wasn't sure what number of layers I could have to fit under it. I'm going to have to make it a bit smaller.

The dang white ribbon from my bustle kept poking out for some reason - something that was not an issue last year with either gown. I think I'm going to cut it and if it looks like it's going to do it again, I'm going to have to put the whole petticoat over it and the hoops in the back will have to deal with the higher hemline.

Wish I could find a pattern for a REAL blouse, not a faux dickey. I hate dickies and false sleeves. All they do is create problems.

So maybe my goals for next year will be:

1. Create warm cloaks and muffs that can be worn at TRF or Dickens for the whole family (except for Mom who already has a wool paletot.) Christian will probably need separate ones due to the change in men's cloak styles but I think girls' and women's are pretty much interchangeable.

2. Maybe look for a real fur muff (antique, not new) online like the one the nice lady at the costume competition let me try on. It was so damn warm I could swear she was keeping some of those heating packets in there!

3. Make a thick underpetticoat for myself. The same lady said layers of tulle would be a great insulator between the hoop and my legs. I personally hate tulle because it's scratchy, but if I'm careful and sew in a thick enough liner, then it should work.

4. Get something together for Jenny and Mike (the little girls' parents)

I think that's about it, except for the goal Christian set for me due to the fact that it seems like every year it's a bustle that wins: Spend all year on the BEST BUSTLE EVER. I really hate bustles, and they don't go with Dickens as he died by 1870. If anything, I'd go 1840's. I also can't spend all year on a single garment as I have client work to do and warm clothes to make. But I'll think about it.

My Wedding on YouTube

I tried editing my wedding but the saved result ended up in a file unknown to YouTube. Here it is unedited:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHFnc_47rfo&feature=channel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrQwO5bI1gc&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL2P-gE6Edg&feature=channel