Monthly Archives:

March 2013

Regency Reticule – HSF #4 (Embellish)
Accessories, Historical Sew Fortnightly, Regency

Regency Reticule – HSF #4 (Embellish)

I’m racing to the finish with this challenge, slipping in this blog post at the 11th hour! I’ll try to do better with my next one. For the Embellish challenge, I decided to finish an embroidery Regency reticule (drawstring purse) that I started at Costume College 2011. (Soon you’ll start noticing a theme with my HSF projects – I’m trying to use as many UnFinished Objects as possible!)

I love this project – I had wanted to learn embroidery for a long time but never found a book I liked on it, so when Beginning Embroidery was offered as a class at CoCo, I jumped at it. The purse is cute and easy to make, I love the off-white and green, and I’m a sucker for initials.

I embroidered both side of the purse so that I could have more practice with the stitches, and I think that was good – it wasn’t until halfway through the second side that I could pick up the project and start right in with the handstitching, my hands remembering what to do on their own.

The Challenge: #4 Embellish – Decorations make the historical garment glorious. Whether you use embroidery, trim, pleating, lace, buttons, bows, applique, quilting, jewels, fringe, or any other form of embellishment, this challenge is all about decorative detail.

Fabric: Silk Dupioni

Pattern: Embroidered Regency Reticule: A Kit for Beginners by Catherine Scholar

Year: 1810-1815

Notions: Embroidery floss, Tassels, Cording

How Historically Accurate is it: Good enough for me! As far as I know, slubby silk dupioni was considered inferior quality at this time, but I think it existed. I think the trim has rayon and/or poly, and the bag itself is 100% machine sewn – EVEN the one visible seam. (*gasp*)

Hours to Complete: Many good hours spent in front of the tv, 2 or 3 to make the bag.

First Worn: Maybe I’ll use it at Costume College this year? No other Regency events on my horizon.

Total Cost: The class and kit was $20 or less (can’t remember) — a STEAL!

The Great LA Air Raid – 2013
Air Raid of 1942, Ft. MacArthur, Outings, Vintage Lifestyle

The Great LA Air Raid – 2013

Forgive me as I’m still catching up on events from last month! February was a short month, but a busy one. A couple weeks ago we attended my favorite event of the whole year – the Great Los Angeles Air Raid of 1942 at Ft. MacArthur. As you can see from the line up of sunglasses below, this year was especially gorgeous – I didn’t even wear my 1938 coat because it was so warm, darn it.
I wore an oldie but a goodie – I made my dress a few years ago for the Air Raid, and I think I’ve worn it at least 3 times to the event but never got any really good photos. It’s wool crepe with long sleeves, so it keeps me warm on the beach in February, but is too warm to wear to anything else.
I had a bit of a panic attack over my hair, which is too short and cut wrong for 40’s (First World Problems, I know). I got a beret, slapped some feathers and a brooch on it, and did some curl fluff around the ears – turned out rather okay! whew.
Rachel, Ashley, Lauren, me, Cait, Rusty
Overlooking the Bluff

With Cait

Michael and Cait – I had more fun editing this photo than any others. Aren’t they smashing?
the always adorable Rachel
This star was only about 2 feet off the ground, so getting the photo was pretty funny. 🙂 The boys nearby thought I was crazy when I announced I “needed a picture with my head in the star”.
Another Los Angeles landmark, the Griffith Observatory.

Me and Netta

Katharina – www.Facebook.com/GoForKatMakeup
Jealous…that’s all I got… 😉
Chris was running around, getting ready for a dance performance, 
but I grabbed him for a couple photos throughout the event
5pm Flyover
Morgan in his grandfather’s uniform

with Sharlene and Heather, a couple of my amazing dance girlfriends
Before and After
View from the Dance Floor
Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout 2013
Balboa, Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout, Swing Dance

Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout 2013

After years of not traveling further than San Francisco, all of a sudden last year Chris and I decided to leave our bubble and start traveling to dance events – I left one job with over 2 weeks of vacation time saved up and realized that not using it was the dumbest thing ever (yes, they paid me out, but it wasn’t worth it). We’ve been invited to teach at several out-of-state events in this last year, and we love teaching, meeting new people and seeing a few sights, so we’re trying to take advantage of as many opportunities as we can. And now that we’re meeting people who live all over the world, we need to keep traveling so that we can see (and dance!) with them.

Last weekend we went to snowy Denver for Rocky Mountain Balboa Blowout. Now, Chris and I were both born and raised in Southern California, and we are NOT built for snow. I went to college in Iowa, but that was 10 years ago now (yikes!) and it was a small town and small campus so I didn’t have to deal with a car. So of course the first time we venture out to Denver, the town is hit with the biggest snowstorm of the season!

We were prepared for cold weather, but I forgot how darn WET snow is. I SO did not bring the right shoes – I only had one pair of flats with me. 7-Eleven bags to the rescue!

But that said, we still had a great time! RMBB is a fab event – we always had it on our list of events to go to, sooner or later. The music is great, the venues are pretty, and good/NICE dancers always turn out. We taught two classes (advanced Balboa and LA Lindy Hop) and I was in 2 contests – just the right amount of obligations for a fun weekend away. (Teaching and competing *are* fun, but sometimes you don’t want to keep an eye on the clock.)

Here is video footage from the two contests I was in – enjoy!

Open Strictly Balboa – 
Chris & Beth, 1st Place
(For my family members who only want to watch our spotlight, that starts at 9:52 😉

Invitational Jack & Jill –
randomly paired with Andreas Olsen, from Sweden, whom I met only the previous night!
(Andreas and my spotlight starts at 5:08)

Big thanks to David Bradford for the video footage and for the great dance we had! 🙂