Evenstar Designs

I made this dress rather quickly so as to have it done in time for our trip to Colonial Williamsburg. I pleated the back, and added the skirts and sides: One sleeve down: Two sleeves down: trying on a dress with that many pins in it is rather scary... But I survived. After stitching it all down, I added lacing hoops, and tried it on: I was a little worried about how visible the lacing hoops were, but the trim fixed the problem.  Next I made the sleeve ruffles. They are rather simple - just strips of pinked fabric and scalloped lace gathered on a piece of bias tape: I made box pleated trim from fabric that matched the petticoat and stomacher to go around the front of the gown, and around the sleeves. I wore this dress to the ball at the Governor's Palace in Williamsburg.  It served me quite well and was a joy to wear.

We arrived home from Williamsburg, and went back to our busy schedule. This last Friday it dawned on me that "Oh my! The Homeschool Ball is in one week, and my dress isn't nearly done!!" I reluctantly went to the sewing room. I say reluctantly because I haven't liked this dress from the get-go. But I need to have something to wear to the ball! Since fairy godmothers aren't the kind of things you can pull out of your closet whenever you need them, I decided to sew the dress whether I liked it or not. I sewed on the overskirt, hemmed the ruffle, put in the invisible zipper, then tried it on... To my surprise, I LOVED it!!  My younger sister was saying "told you so!" because she was  telling me all along that it would be great. I used Butterick pattern 6195 for the bodice, I made up the sleeves (you can't really see them because of the ruffle - the ruffle is just a long strip of fabric I sewed into the bodice binding), and I used Si...

Just a quick post. I've been busy busy busy trying to finish up school #homeschoollife ;) So what have I been working on? I started making a 18th century riding habit. I love  the navy blue mens army uniforms you see in Williamsburg, so I decided to use that as my inspiration. I have the habit shirt and waistcoat almost done. The coat was quite enjoyable to make. I drafted the pattern myself which was FUN! The sleeves are posing a bit of a problem, but that's normal for me ;) I've also started another gown based on an interesting original I found on pinterest. The front literally closes with drawstrings, while the lining is pinned underneath. I have the back made up in the common gown style (I think I did it the right way this time thanks to some advice from the mantua makers in the Margaret Hunter shop). I wanted to add something to the sleeves... Aren't these little cuffs adorable?  Well that's all for now. I should have a proper post u...

So the Homeschool Ball was amazing as always! It went by so fast though! Getting ready: Curling all that hair... yeah, I took up the whole backseat of our minivan... My amazing sister made her dress :D 

We arrived home from Williamsburg, and went back to our busy schedule. This last Friday it dawned on me that "Oh my! The Homeschool Ball is in one week, and my dress isn't nearly done!!" I reluctantly went to the sewing room. I say reluctantly because I haven't liked this dress from the beginning. But I need to have something to wear to the ball! Since fairy godmothers aren't the kind of things you can pull out of your closet whenever you need them, I decided to sew the dress whether I liked it or not. I sewed on the overskirt, hemmed the ruffle, put in the invisible zipper, then tried it on... To my surprise, I LOVED it!!  My younger sister was saying "told you so!" because she was  telling me all along that it would be great. I don't want to share pictures until after the ball, but here is a sneak peak :) (just back views :) )

April 1st ~ This is quite a lengthy post, but it truly was my favorite day! It was slightly overcast today, but fortunately the sky held back, and it did not rain. We met the other family on the green of the Courthouse. The mom of the other family surprised Kristi and me by inviting us to go on a carriage ride with her girls. Thank you! While we were on the green, we decided to take pictures of us four girls by the cannon for Captain Innes - his “three pound cannons”.  We walked over to the lumber house ticket office to await our carriage ride. Our team drove up. It was a beautiful open red carriage with two brown horses - Eli and Jeremiah. An open carriage - that meant that we would be fully visible in our costumes. Many people were taking pictures and waving at us, so we just keep smiling and waving. The weather was perfect. It was windy, but it wasn’t hot or cold. As we rode up the palace green, Mr. Monroe was walking by. He greeted us and wished us safe trav...

March 31st ~ We began the day with a pleasant walk in the Governor's garden. I made my dad a blue suit for the occasion! But he needed to wear a sling because of recent shoulder surgery, so we used an unwanted neckercheif to make a sling.  Next we participated in the activity "Storming the Palace". We discovered that last night our gunpowder had been taking by the Governor! Dreadful! Us girls had fun talking with the guests before the program started. We were trying to get the visitors into the act, but they didn't respond the right way... :) We were later told that Captain Innes was watching what we were doing.  We talked with the interpreters a great deal after. The man who portrays Captain Innes was a different character today, and he was telling us what a crazy man Captain Innes is, and how he doesn't like him. ;) We had to try really hard not to laugh! We started something new today. We each brought t-shirts and had the interpret...