Faire Day!

Yesterday we made our annual pilgramage to Scarborough Faire and had an absolutely wonderful time. It wasn't too hot (always a danger in Texas), the crowds were quite manageable and the shopping was, as always, fantastic. Funny, I can go a full year without stepping foot in a mall (and I think I have ... I really don't remember the last time we went) but trade out generic trendy clothes with ren faire garb and bath and body works for small scale lotion and oil makers and I'm totally there. Got some of the best jelly ever made - Raspberry Chipolte from Mrs. McArthur's (sold by the lady herself) - reloaded on some scented body oil which also happens to be the ONLY thing that consistently works to tame my hair (seriously), and picked up a gorgeous hand-thrown pottery cereal bowl. All while enjoying the sun and demos and fellow patrons and shows and food and time with DH. Great days!



The guy and I - my dress is a modification of a self-drafted princess seamed dress made up in a light faux suede with a boned bodice and side lacing over a very, very basic chemise. I think I need something new by next ren faire (Wisconsin's is late summer/early fall so we're double dipping this year!) as the chemise doesn't fit right and tends to ride up, requiring constant tugging to make sure my not-so period undies aren't part of the visible costume. And, on the opposite side, this is the ren faire, the one time in the year I rather want to show some cleavage. So might as well. :) The shoes are from Payless and are some of my favorites for looks but they're hot and hurt like the dickens after a few hours of walking so one more reason to retire the garb to the costume closet. Like most things in there, I'm sure I"ll find odd opportunities to pull them out again. DH is wearing a shirt I made years ago and which he also wore for our wedding. Pants are just basic dress pants - he has a pair he's making but didn't get done in time. So he's slowly building his own collection of garb.



This is the most adorable, gorgeous sculpture I've ever seen - a little brass dragon just hatching. I love dragons in general and this little guy was so alive, so personable. And, unfortunately, so very, very out of my price range. One day!



DH didn't finish his pants but he did finish making these felt boots from Butterick 5233. After a LOT of modifications, they worked. Unfortunately he didn't use enough glue on the soles and they didn't give the ankle support he wanted (granted, he seems to think ski boots are the base standard for that, so take that as you will) so he switched back to his old black hiking boots mid day. Still, I think he did a great job on these boots! They're his first finished sewing project and he survived! He did note that my perfectionistic and planning-ahead personality seems to be far better suited to sewing than his more loose, go-with-the-flow style. Since most of life seems to reward his personality it was rather gratifying to find one area that rewards my style. :) Still, he did a fantastic job (in my biased opinion) and he's still talking about finishing his pants so he apparently wasn't scarred by all the seam ripping and little problems that inevitably popped up.