Intentional Community: Foundations Revealed

There are some intentional communities created on the internet that I find awesome even when they are about things I do not do. Today’s example is FOUNDATIONS REVEALED. An Intentional Community that revolves around the sewing and building of corsets of every imaginable type. I particularly love that their community is encouraging and kind to newcomers. Persons who are starting out to learn the skills needed to create their own interior garments according to their own creative vision. This is demonstrated by their FOUNDATIONS REVEALED 2018 COMPETITION.  I very much like that so many first time creators entered. I must … Continue reading

Modest does not equal Frumpy

Our culture mocks modesty. It is said that modesty is frumpy but this is NOT true! Modesty is feminine and beautiful without being salacious or cheap.  Just because you don’t see modest feminine and beautiful clothing in the ladies magazines and fashion magazines does not mean that it does not exist. How do I know this? Because there are clothing stores online such as Holy Clothing where you can find beautiful, feminine, modest clothing. They make their clothing in Maxi, Midi and Mini. The Maxi is ankle to floor length depending on your height, the midi is tea length and … Continue reading

Links Page for Beyond Appearances Home School Co-op Presentation

Lovely Garb Links for recreating historical clothing: FABRIC TO INSPIRE: SARTOR:  Reference page to see fabrics recreated from archeological finds. Currently, they have a Viking fabric in polyester and rayon that could be trim. But this is more for reference as these fabrics (especially the silks) are very costly. LINEN:  The ILO19 is a nice weight and good for our climate. The price is reasonable for linen and they run daily sales. WOOL: absolutely period, for every region of the world, for every part of the period you are studying. Every person at every economic level would have had garments … Continue reading

Everyday Beauty II

People in our culture are starving for beauty.  I remember when Trudy Krise, a wonderful woman, would bring her deserts to class for the snack.  Those days we had standing room only! People stood around the table exclaiming over the beauty of her deserts. They were indeed a work of art, and what is more, they tasted BETTER than they looked! People are so starved for beauty that knowing her art would be at the next class was all it took to get standing room only. Why the popularity of the Extraordinary form of the Mass? We often call it … Continue reading

FUN!! A realistic doll!

I purchased two dolls from the Lammily company.  Why? Well, they have created a doll with the AVERAGE measurements of a 19 year old girl. Thus, the doll is athletic looking. She is healthy and normal looking. She looks real. AND she appears both pretty AND intelligent!  I am a delighted parent! Why two? Well, one for my child, one for me to use as a model for making clothing. I like doing garb for SCA activities, but don’t really want to make much for myself. I also like to explore various periods of clothing without the need to wear … Continue reading

SCA: Common Sense Authenticity

Where do you fall on the spectrum between the creative in “creative anachronism” and historical accuracy when playing in the SCA?  I fall into the camp of doing the best you can with what you have. Personally, I love authenticity, and applaud those dedicated souls who spend their money and put in hours using historically accurate materials and methods to make historically accurate “stuff”.  I’m nowhere near that standard but it is an ideal toward which I gradually move. Still all the historical accuracy in the world MUST be balanced by common sense! HEALTH and SAFETY Glasses are safety, we … Continue reading

Arts and Sciences: SCA

I fairly commonly go on about the fun I have in the Society for Creative Anachronism.  My favorite part, that dovetails with my love of history and my interest in learning enough to live and breath and write in my chosen time period, is the Arts and Sciences competitions.  I find such things very exciting and am eagerly working toward the day when I am able to compete. This years Kingdom Arts and Sciences competition, for our Kingdom, took place last weekend.  I could not go but a good soul (THANK YOU) filmed the exhibits and the announcement of who … Continue reading

Of Autoharps and Sewing

I woke this morning to a screaming two year old who was just plain GRUMPY and determined that I not be left alone to think and blog.  Coming on the heels of an evening spent with this same child being unwilling to leave me alone to read before bed, I find myself with a head-ache and nothing much of depth to say. Sometimes life just does that to me.  Nobodies fault exactly since two year old children can be difficult simply on principle. Autoharp:  I do like thinking about my autoharps.  I call my smaller instrument FRED.  Fred is a … Continue reading

Imagination Play and Children

I love the incredible imaginations of Children.  It is amazing to listen to little children and to watch them play. They are truthful in their responses to what they see and hear around them.  They take to prayer with ease because they haven’t the adult’s skepticism.  They are beautiful! A good parent will encourage their children to use their imaginations.  We buy them toys that encourage the use of the imagination.  Pots and pans to pretend to cook, tools to pretend to build things, legos to build whole worlds of imagined spaces, dolls to pretend to be parents,  workbooks and … Continue reading

Sewing, Weaving and SCA Fun! (renamed)

I’ve been exploring a number of interesting crafts as part of being a member of the Society for Creative Anachronisms or SCA for short. SCA is a lot of fun and can be a neat way to learn about history for home school.  You try to create a persona who could have lived in a particular era.  What did they wear? What fabric did they use? What colors? What foods? ANYTHING having to do with living in that period is part of the fun. I’m making a Byzantine outfit to wear to events. The Byzantine Empire was the remnant of … Continue reading