New Project: Part Two, Kirtle, postponed

I had a wonderful day yesterday.  I was out the door early to meet up with local moms followed by a terrific lunch with a dear friend.

I also recognized that I do not want to rush my latest project.  As such, yesterday I made the decision to postpone my new gown until after Twelfth Night.

I still have a lot to do.  The kirtle bodice and skirt were all cut out and partially assembled, for both the fashion fabric and the lining.  I still need to sew the skirt lining to the skirt; sew the bodice lining to the bodice; and then butt those pieces together and sew.  Hemming, finishing still left, of course.

And the over gown hasn't even been patterned yet.

After all the holiday bustle is over and the dust settles, I'll pull out the sewing machine again and get back to work.  Stay tuned!

an introduction

As much as I loathe the idea of having a dozen or so different blogs, I decided to finally create one to focus on my older, historical pursuits so that my other blog, The Moderne Hausfrau, can focus on the day-to-day and deco-period.  I felt that it was getting a touch "muddied" with the rare, though occasional, SCA-related post.

While the title of this blog currently is "A Tudor Lady," I should note that this--like my SCA persona--is a work in progress.  Currently, I am very interested in creating and playing a dynamic Tudor-era persona.  But it is true that when I started playing, I had a more medieval idea in my head.  I even entertained the notion of an early period persona, too.  In short--this blog my ebb and flow as my persona ebbs and flows.

In my first Tudor ensemble

The other day, just prior to our large, local war, I decided to update my page on the Caidan-wiki.*  (Note to non-SCA folk, I'll provide "footnotes" when applicable, but if I miss one--do comment with your question.)  Currently, my page is little more than a template.  Plus, it even has the older spelling of my name.**

In trying to decide what to write about my persona, I decided that perhaps a blog like this would be ideal to allow me to "brainstorm" about certain ideas and to showcase my journey in learning more about what the life of a Tudor-era lady would be.  I already have good ideas and information about questions like: what would she wear? what would she eat?  But I do, ultimately, want to figure out more.

Additionally, I am awful with dates regarding my own, mundane, life.  Even just listing dates, offices, and awards on the wiki page was daunting as I cannot easily recall exactly when any of those things happened.  

This blog will not only chronicle my exploration and research, but also my adventures in costuming, cooking, other arts & sciences, and even event recaps.  I do not claim to be an expert in any of the subjects that I'll be posting about, please DO keep that in mind.  I suspect that, eventually, this blog will contain solid evidence of mistakes in my work.  That said, I hope that if an expert ever does decide to give this little blog a read, that they will offer constructive criticism, and will help to point out my errors while celebrating my successes.

*: Caid is the name of our local SCA Kingdom.  The kingdom was its own wiki, complete with information on many individuals who play in kingdom.
**: In the SCA, one may create a name for their personae.  Certain rules do apply.  The original name that I submitted was judged to have too old of a spelling for the time frame that I want to play, so the spelling was updated.