10/01/2016
Last thought before I go to bed for the night. This is not meant to be humble bragging, bragging or showing off, I just sat and took inventory of my "hobby".
I just counted up the tagged people that I made costumes for (not borrowed), plus the people that aren't on FB Friends or already reviewed (Schofield, Van Etten, Kocsi, Erinn Blasco, Bekah Rundall, and Felegi), or who may no longer be with us. I'm pretty sure I've forgotten a few.
Since starting sewing costumes in 2005 (2006 - maybe?), I have made:
70 full costumes - only about 5 of them are one piece dresses. Most are multi-layer Elizabethan gowns that are HEAVILY embellished, often with thousands of hand sewed beads, pearls and crystals. About 10 floppy hats, lost count on the number of snoods, several bags, one complete set of hand-wired jewelry, numerous basket covers, and machine embroidered literally thousands of yards of trim.
I have 3 sewing machines, downsized from 5. 6 huge tubs filled with fabric, hundreds of bolts of trim. Thousands and thousands of beads, rhinestones, pearls, cabochons, and jewelry findings. Hundreds of feathers.
I own more costume hats than I care to mention, have about 20 pre-fabricated buckram frames to customize future hats, enough costume jewelry to perfectly accessorize around 20 women of various classes of Renaissance society, too many fans, about 9 different purses, 4 sets of costume gloves, 6 different drinking vessels of various quality, about 7 parasols, 2 fox muffs, 3 minks, 3 pairs of reproduction shoes, 3 baskets and 3 different fur collars. I believe I own 5 sets of hoops, 4 different corsets, and about 5 different smocks or chemises.
I probably have over 500 different sewing patterns in my stash, including some very difficult to find out of print beasties, hundreds of yards of bias tape, 3 completely full racks of thread, and enough notions to restock a small sewing shop. 2 irons, a steamer, and a very sturdy ironing board. There's probably 15 different kinds of adhesives in my storage solutions - even though I'm always running out. Needles, numerous pairs of scissors and dressmaker shears, pins, rotary cutters, bias tape makers, cutting boards and the like.
All of this fits into one standard size bedroom, small walk-in closet, and what used to be the linen closet!
Most of these were made during my years as a computer teacher because my music positions were just too busy to sew for others. Last year was a true challenge trying to get everything done, but as I sit back and survey these accomplishments, I am truly proud of myself. I'm pretty fast at what I do, although I can lollygag and procrastinate. I've created a dress for a student reward in under two weeks, and made myself an Elizabethan gown from start to near finish in about 4 days.
I've learned how to work with feathers, can fit pretty much any size person perfectly with very few fittings. I'm a bargain shopper and have been able to work with nearly any budget, from around $35 - sky's the limit. Most are Medieval, Renaissance, and Elizabethan, but I've been branching out into some Tudor styles, fantasy, and gearing up for Italian Renaissance. I don't think I can really call it just a hobby anymore, probably an obsession or passion. And I probably need to get an extra insurance rider for this stuff.
And. I. Need. Some. Paying. Clients. Yeah!!!
