Countdown to vacation.

Ok, the big countdown is on. We're going to go see the kids (and grandson and granddogs too) at the end of March and I can't wait. It's amazing to think that not every 3 month old baby is so lucky as this one to grow up in the land of Aloha rather than in the land of Ice and Snow...Aidan got to go on an outing on Sunday to the beach and to a very favorite place to get Hawaiian Save Ice. Of course, 3 months is too young to get to eat it, but he still wanted to get right into the middle of things by putting his fingers right into it! He'll be old enough soon to enjoy all of the sights, sounds, and flavors of Hawaii, and I'm betting he's a fan of Garlic Shrimp, Wiki Wiki Chicken, and Malasadas too, as well as Korean food which is everywhere on the island (which is great for me because I love it!)

So what do you think?

Well, this is the newest dress I just finished putting the bodice and skirt together this past week. I made the trim to turn at the middle of the bodice, however, now that it's finished and the picture is taken, I see that the visual center of the dress seems to be coming from the pattern within the fabric. Now the trim looks off center. I'm just about resigned to take the trim off since I think the dress would look just find without it anyway, but thought I'd ask those reenactors out there what you think? I'd probably add a black or cranberry coloured ribbon belt to dress it up some more and you already see the collar and cameo that I'm planning on wearing with it. I'm getting the razor blade out and ready to pull off the ribbon on the bodice.

Ok you'all, I finally found some in my cabinet

Well, it's yet another day that I didn't feel up to getting groceries. I am getting better day by day, but still not strong enough yet. Thanks to being made aware of, downloading, and watching the video for Wierd Al Yancovich's "Canadian Idiot", I was reminded of how much I absolutely love Kraft Dinner which is featured in the video (for those of you in Canada) or Kraft Mac and Cheese for those of us in the States. Of course, I searched the entire house and couldn't find any which is highly unusual since I've been eating it since I was a kid. I called my son and told him to email me some and he wouldn't (I'm thinking he's written out of the will), asked my friend Karen in Calgary to send some and she didn't have any, and even rough and tough Wrangler said he wasn't going to send me any because customs would have stolen it. I have been so sick I haven't been feeling up to going and getting any myself, and it's been all me alone in the house all week, nobody to prevail upon for sympathy. Then yesterday it snowed all day, so I wasn't going out for sure! Well Gee thanks!!! But you know, it's ok, because while I was looking in the far recesses of the cabinet I keep my teas in, I found a box!! So there! And I'm going to go make it and eat it right out of the pot with a fork. And not share it with anyone, so don't even ask.

Hmmmmm, see the resemblance?

I'm just guessing, but I'm thinking I've figured out who I look like. Most of my life growing up, I didn't look like anyone around, so this is kinda cool.
This one really stuck out when compared with the one of me at the ball.

I think that this one of Aidan looks a lot like his smiling mommy when she was about his age.
Pretty amazing if you ask me!

Lincoln Ball in Gettysburg

Last night was the Lincoln Ball which is sponsored by the Civil War Dance Associates and Citizens of Gettysburg. The ball was held at the American Legion hall in Gettysburg and was very well attended, though the room was large enough to be comfortable dancing for the number of people that were there. It was lots of fun and was led by our very favorite dance leaders, Bryant and Karin, and many of the people that we enjoy seeing from many activities were there.
This dress was stunning out of tapestry patterned silk, and the lady sitting next to her in the gold silk had a stiking dress as well. Mark walked around taking pictures of some of the dresses that he particularly thought I'd maybe want to copy or that were unusual. There were many, many dresses that were beautiful that we didn't get pictures of, as we were dancing most of the time. The dances when seen from the sidelines are beautiful as the men and women turn in lines and the flowing skirts make for a very graceful picture.
This day dress out of black silk was absolutely beautiful, I wish there had been a picture of the front with the big red bow on it. With this era's dances, you get to dance with everyone, switching couples and partners in many of the dances at least for awhile. It's nice to see everyone this way, it was a good way for the civil war era folks to meet and flirt and exchange pleasantries.
These are some of the regulars at the balls that we enjoy dancing with. The cotton ball dress seen here in beige is absolutely beautiful with rows of tucking as trim on the dress. It's understated, but it's also one of my favorite dresses that I saw.
This talented lady told me that she had hand beaded all of the floral motifs on her grey and black dress to add a flash of light when she turns and dances. The dress has a beautiful flounce on the back that ended in tassels and was very unusual.This yellow silk dress was very bright and had an interesting burtha on the bodice that really set off the dress as well as the trim on the skirt. Quite a number of ladies that I enjoy socializing with at the Genteel Arts Academy classes were there and it was good to see them since I haven't been taking any classes lately. I would say that I have my work cut out for me to make a new, this time silk, ball gown. I might have to go shopping for some plaid or patterned silks as they truly do make up into some beautiful ball gowns.

What I've been working on

I wanted to make a new ball gown for the upcoming Lincoln ball this coming Saturday night. I found some silks that I liked at the local fabric store, but they were in excess of $30.00 per yard (this kind of dress takes about 5-6 yards) which puts them way out of my price range. This is the first time I'm completely modifying a bodice pattern too, so I wouldn't want to use expensive fabric anyway just in case the fit isn't right or I mess it up completely. And that kind of money for one dress to wear a couple of times a year is probably more than I would want to spend even if I could afford it. I had some Taffeta in my stash that I dedided to use, I have no idea what the fiber content is, but I do know it isn't silk. This is my experiment, my learning project, and my laboratory. I am nearly finished with the gown, now I just have to try it on, sew the bodice to the skirt, and put in the fastners...and I absolutely hate it. It photographed so very shiny, (expept for the middle front where I didn't fasten up my cage crinoline so it's leaving a kind of indentation) it's fairly shiny in real life but not to the extreme that shows up in the picture. But it is still a different look than the silks that are going to be worn to the ball by others. If it fits, I will probably wear it Saturday night and then start work immediately on another one in another kind of fabric, maybe some less expensive silk if I can find it. This tafeta stuff was incredibly hard to work with as it was really slippery and came unraveled just by looking at it. I decided not to put a tucker on the dress even though I'd made one, I just don't want to waste any more time or resources on it if I'm going to get rid of it pretty quickly. I really love the ribbon and lace trim, but I can recreate that on another dress in the future. We were in Gettysburg last weekend and I asked one of the ladies clothing shop owners what the ball gowns that were for sale were made from and she told me "taffeta". Hmmmm, I'm not sure, but I don't think this is quite the same fabric. In any case, lesson learned, I don't like working with it.