HoBart in Tennessee

HoBart Writes:

“Your simple purse video helped me to round out the overall look (and function) for my niece’s costume.
I simply made the outer circle with bands of same fabric used on dress and once assembled it looks so much more complex than it really is.”

This dress is absolutely gorgeous. I wish I was skilled enough to make something even close to this. HoBart says they used Simplicity pattern 3782 with a few minor alterations.

Awesome costume and I hope it stops raining long enough for you to show it off at TNRenFest.

Anthony from California

Anthony just sent these great costume pictures. He made the whole outfit himself and based it on the video game Assassin’s Creed. He’s wearing it here at the Irwindale Renaissance Faire in California. Awesome job! I know some guys that would love to have this costume.

He’s also working on a ladies blouse with a little help from our Lesson 1 video. He made it really short so that it’s more like a belly dancer top. Very cool!

Our Day at Four Winds Renaissance Faire

Winter Break

I’m a little bummed out today because I just learned that there isn’t going to be a Christmas event at Middlefiare this year. That means it’s going to be more that three months before I go to another renaissance festival. =(

I am however, very excited about the Four Winds Faire coming up in March. I’ve never been to this one before, but it looks like a lot of fun. Plus I have a nice long break to work on new costume ideas.

http://www.fourwindsfaire.com/

Lesson 4: Purse / Hat

Our Day at Middlefaire

Middlefaire was a lot of fun. It's a small festival, but it has a lot of charm. There is a tavern with great music and FREE BEER. I guess they don't have a liquar licence. There's also plenty of little shops and a whole days worth of intertaining shows.

My sister and I are posing here with a couple of nice gentleman we met at the fair. We are both wearing chemises that we made ourselves with waist cinches like we made in lesson three. I also added a gathered shirt from lesson two to give my outfit a little more color.

I didn't catch this guys name, but he is part of the fire show that they put on when the sun goes down. This is a sneak preview they gave us earlier in the day.

This weekend was apparently pirate weekend so there was lots of great pirate costumes on parade.



Since Middlefaire is a relatively small festival you really get a better chance to meet and talk to people. Kind of like how everyone in a small town knows each other. This is Wanda and she and her husband sell wooden swords and shields at different festivals. She also gave us some good costume tips.

Even though it rained most of the day, we still had fun taking refuge in the different shops. Here we are listing to some pirate poetry from a gentleman who goes by Blackbead. He has a book coming out called "Raising the Black Flag"

Lesson 3: Waist Cincher

Materials needed:

1. One to Two Types of Thick Fabric (Since you don't need much fabric for this project I usually save money by looking through the scrap bins at hobby stores)
2. Trim that goes Nicely with the Fabric

3. Large Brass or Silver Eyelets (These can be hard to find sometimes so you may have to ask someone at a hobby store)

4. Eyelet Kit (A lot of times the eyelets will come with a kit, if not make sure you get the right size kit to go with your eyelets)
5. Plastic Boning with Extra Fabric Attached (Also hard to find by yourself and you might have to get someone to cut it for you)
6. Strong cord or leather strip
7. Rubber Mallet or Plan Hammer(Rubber Mallet really does work best; found one in Wal-mart plumbing section for $6)
8. Seam Ripper