Well....

Okay, I have good news and bad news:

Bad news first.

I have decided not to do the Regency dresses right now, but maybe later on in the future. Right now I want to focus on dresses I can wear in the 1775-1789 time slot, which means polonaises and in the case of my newest project, a Robe de l'anglaise.

Good news:

I have several pictures from movies and documented portraites of that time period showing this style of dress. I have another drawing of the one I want to make, but I will post that later with pictures of the fabric. Which brings me to another point. I have already bought the fabric to make this gown, so I would like to get it done first before the Regency dresses. This dress is very fancy and is more of a "special occasion" dress or as I would use it, a dance dress. My version is very militarical in style and is very clean cut. It actually has much of the style of the bodice of a riding habbit.

So here are the pictures, with captions. :)

This is an actual portrait done at the time. This dress encompases the entire design I want, however with a little less lace and more green.

This is from a movie called the Duchess which stars Keira Knightley. While I did not actually see this movie, there are some great costumes in it and photos of them are redily avaible. This is a jacket, where mine would be floor length, and the point comes lower than what I would like, but it shows very clearly the "triangular" design of the bodice, which is what I'm going for.
This is also the Duchess, in another dress in the same style. (She's on the right) I love the crossed neck scarf and the cameo.
Here is the above dress up close. The point is not as long as the jacket version and the colors here are beautiful. This is at an exhibit, and I don't like the way they did the scarf here.

So! There you have it. Later on today I'll scan the drawing of the dress and load the pics of the fabric for you guys. Enjoy!

New Project

Okay, so I have been doing some Englsih Country Dancing every other Tuesday night and I have decided to make a few Empire dresses (or Regency as they are also known) to dance in and to just plain ol' dress up in. :) To those of you who are still confuzzled, I am making a few dresses that look like they walked out of a Jane Austen movie. They may look similar to Jane's dresses in Pride and Prejudice. I sketched out my designs and I wanted to post them all to so here we go.

Here is the first one. The main dress (underneath) is a simple day dress with a drawstring neckline. It will be out of a cream of light colored fabric with a faint/small print. It will have cupped sleeves. The outer part (jacket) buttons beneath the bustline with two fabric covered buttons out of the same fabric. The jacket will be either a pale green or a ligth blue/grey. I haven't decided yet, however I will take suggestions. The back of the jacket has three sets of double pleats, (Sam, Allison: The kind on the side of my long gown), giving it a very full back.

Because this is a day dress, it can be worn with or without the jacket. It instantly becomes a dress you would wear to a dinner party with the jacket. If you don't wear the jacket, you could put a bit of ribbon around the bust line for a sash to make a whole other dress.

Dress #2

For this dress, the jacket is worn again, but we have a different day dress worn underneath. This dress is very rouched and the front crosses over, clasping with a fabric covered button. The fabric is a very light weight gauzy kind and will probably be white. The sleeves are just above the elbows. This dress can also be worn without the jacket and with a ribbon/sash. This one is designed to be a ball gown or dressier one when worn without the jacket.

So there you have it! My teo new projects for the end summer/early fall. I hope to buy the fabric soon, so please make any suggestions asap. I wanted these dresses tio be very versatile. With the jacket, I get four dresses instead of two! Let me know what you guys think!

July 4th Celebration

Well, my family decided to celebrate the 4th of July in a little different than the normal American family. Especially in the fact that we do re-enactments. So, last Saturday, we went down to Mansker's Station for the day and "par-tehd". :)

This is the official Mansker's Station jam band. Minus Daddy (dead center) who picked up the guitar, sa down and started playing with them. Ms. Laura is on the extreme right. There were guitars, dulcimers, madolins, and a violin.

The Lovely Daddy. Pardon the Sprite cans. The site fed the volunteers lunch. :)
Here is Janessa (in the blue jacket, dead center) dancing a dance called the Whipporwill. This is one of our favorite dances and it has a lot of twirls. Sam is in the background in the blur dress.

Here I am (in the red jacket) and so is Sam. By the way, that jacket is brand new and I love it! It's a long gown that I made from a linen tablecloth. It has two pleats in the back and tripled pleats at the side. Very fashionable. ;)

Me and Sam again.

Me in the background with my partner. Now you can see me from the front.
This is one little pic I like to call:

Clash of the Centuries

We have an Abraham Lincoln impersinator new here and they had him come and speak. He was very good and we all love him. He is very funny and sweet. At the dances, he tried to get partners for the standing girls left. One time he has come out and borrowed 18th century clothes and fought in an Indian Skirmish we had. It was a lot of fun and he claimed to be representing Abe's grandfather. ;)

Hope you all had a safe and wonderful 4th of July.

God Bless.

Brace Face

BEFORE @ 9:10 am

AFTER @ 10:15 YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Part V cont.

Okay, so on our way back from Ohio, we stopped in Lexington, KY to go to the Lexington Horse Park.

They had these monstrous chairs made from old cross country jumps and we had to get a picture......or more.

Daddy and Mumsie

Janessa and Me acting grumpy...well just me acting.

Us two posed all nicely.

Definately a Christmas letter pic.

Oh, come on. They are too real! Have a little imagination!!

Janessa riding a barrell.

One of the horses shown to us. I can't remember is name because they all looked alike. I just like these two best.
This was a "Horses of the World" show.
Some of the riders practicing their show jumping.

Even more to come

Part V: OHIO

When I hear the word "Ohio" I think of that patriotic song they make you learn the states to in elementary school where they go..." Ohhh-Hyyyy-Yo!".

Anywho, sorry for keeping you guys waiting for so long. Been really busy. But today I have a triple installment because a lot has happened since June 15th. (That was appearently the last day I posted in case you were wondering, which you weren't. So I should shut up now.)

For you lovely education (of nothing inparticular) I will provide you with some marvelous pictures of my time in Ohio. Meet my wonderlous (yes, I ended that with "-lous") family.

Here are two of my adorable cousins (the one on the left is taken, sorry). Andrew (left) is the second oldest and Stephen (right) is the baby. He graduated from highschool this year. (That's why we went to Ohio)
Here they are with their parents: (l to r) Andrew, Aunt Marilyn, Stephen, Uncle Martin. Uncle Martin is my mother's older brother.
Here they are again: (l to r) Uncle Martin, Stephen, Mumsie, and Aunt Charlotte, Mumsie's sister.
And here we are. SHOCKER!!!!! Janae got her hair cut!!! Yes, if you haven't already seen me, I got my hair cut in Ohio. It's a cute little bob and it feels great. Now back to the pic. Me, Stephen, and Janessa.

And this pic, I just couldn't resist!!!!! This is Lizz, Andrew and Stephen's sister (she's in between them in age) She is a hairdresser and is the one who cut my hair there. This is at a Relay for Life event we went to and that Lizz participated in. Our grandmother died from cancer. Her shirt says "Running With Scissors" since she ran with a bunch of hair dressers. We had just eaten a frozen custard/slushi thing and our tongues were, obviously, blue. Lizz is awesome!!!!

More to come.

Part IV: The Creation Science Museum

Okay, this place was absolutly amazing!!! If you have never been, you have to go! We went the week after the camping trip on our way to Ohio. Here are some pics.


This is Daddy and Janessa at the Garden of Eden part. (Adam and Eve are in the background.)
Here is the exhibit of the Ark. This was pretty cool! The men are supposed to be building the ark but their voice over hears them complaining about the work and saying that it's never gonna rain. :)

Here are some of the most important figures in the Old Testament: Abraham, Moses, and King David.
Dear Reader,
We are terribly sorry to say that soona fter this picture was taken, my dear sister, Janessa, was unfortunately, consumed by the terrible beast shown in the above picture. We feel this lose deeply as we ourselves only barely escaped with our lives. Funeral Services will be held some time in the near future and donations can be made in place of flowers, at the Foundation for Better Safety Against Pre-historic Animals or the F.B.S.A.P.A.