Penne & Buddies

Hi Everyone,

I skimmed through Sandra's SCA pages again and followed a few links,
but wanted to ask if anyone here has a favorite supplier or two. Our
daughter, Fawn, is celebrating her twelfth today, and her fondest
birthday wish was to find material and notions to make the Renaissance
costume pattern (Simplicity) we bought months ago.

We've been having a tough time finding materials and notions as newbie
Renaissance wannabees and seamstresses, especially since my research
time has been limited due to a computer crash. I've been posting on
borrowed time (thanks to my kids' generosity :o) for longer than I'd
like *understatement.* You never know how much you rely on a machine
until it's gone, eh? Anyway, we could use some help from all you
creative folks.

The family attended our first Renfest in GA last year and my older
daughter, Nike, found a beautiful outfit with a vest that is close to
our family tartan. The pattern Fawn picked out is similar in style,
and we have some extra tartan material to use for the vest. Now the
devil is in the details, and I'd really like to follow the next
project through to completion -- Nike's Civil War dress is still in
pieces after unsuccessfully trying to adapt a wedding dress to the
right configurations... novices 'r' us.

The local fabric shops don't carry the items that the pattern requires
(and don't know who does around here,) and we have no idea where to
begin to find what we need online. Any advice would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks! Penne & the Clan

[email protected]

In a message dated 4/15/2005 2:40:13 PM Mountain Daylight Time,
crrbuddy@... writes:


The local fabric shops don't carry the items that the pattern requires
(and don't know who does around here,) and we have no idea where to
begin to find what we need online.


I'd just use google and name whatever thing it is you're needing. (Like
what? JoAnne's has all their sewing/crafts stuff online. Other stores might
too, and they might have an 800 number you can call to talk to someone who can
translate what you think you want into what they know they have. <g>)

There's a catalog that sells Victorian stuff and a few other-period things
too that might help with the Civil War costume and maybe the other one too,
depending what it is you need.

Here are some things I found with a google search for catalog victorian
notions sundries

And if they don't know they will probably know who does.

_www.odditiesantiques.com/general-lace.htm_
(http://www.odditiesantiques.com/general-lace.htm)

_www.brightnotions.com_ (http://www.brightnotions.com)

Looking for catalog historical costume supply I saw several things, but this
looked promising:

_AlterYears.com For the Costumer_ (http://www.alteryears.com/)
Catalog of historic patterns, books, supplies and accessories from Medieval
to Twentieth century for reenactment and Faire costumes.
_www.alteryears.com/_ (http://www.alteryears.com/)

and this:
_Historical Costuming FAQ_
(http://www.faqs.org/faqs/crafts/historical-costuming/) ... Summary: Lists of sources for patterns and supplies for
historical costuming. ... _The American Historical Supply Catalogue: A
Nineteenth-Century ...
www.faqs.org/faqs/crafts/historical-costuming/


Sandra


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Penne & Buddies

--- In [email protected], SandraDodd@a... wrote:
>
> In a message dated 4/15/2005 2:40:13 PM Mountain Daylight Time,
> crrbuddy@y... writes:
>
>
> The local fabric shops don't carry the items that the pattern
requires
> (and don't know who does around here,) and we have no idea where
to
> begin to find what we need online.
>
>
> -=- I'd just use google and name whatever thing it is you're
needing. (Like
> what? JoAnne's has all their sewing/crafts stuff online. Other
stores might
> too, and they might have an 800 number you can call to talk to
someone who can
> translate what you think you want into what they know they have.
<g>) -=-

Been there, done that -- JoAnne's (online and off) and Google, too.
Thought you or someone here might have a favorite, reliable,
affordable vendor of your own. Found a link from Renaissance-
faire.com to Renaissancetreasures.com to Margospatterns.com and
applied for her Yahoo! group earlier today. I'm hoping to get a
personal recommendation or two from experienced, though not
necessarily professional, costumers and re-enactors.

Nike's gown is made from offwhite gauze, but it seemed thinner than
the fabric we've bought from the chain stores in the past. The
Simplicity pattern calls for a crinoline petticoat, but that
material's apparently nowhere to be found and Margo seems to favor
cotton, anyway (with boning, I suppose, like our Civil War
counterparts -- another failed venture on our part :oP)

RenTreasures has period trims as well, but I don't know anything
about pricing or whether they are the best or most authentic or
simply user-friendly suppliers to be found out there. It's been
very confusing and a wee bit frustrating so far as I haven't been
able to get any definitive answers from the folks I've queried
online or off. Right now I'm leaning toward returning to GA and
buying another outfit off the rack instead... the girls had their
eyes on one or two beauties last year.

Enjoyed your baby costuming article very much -- maybe I'll google
for the (dummies) guide to beginner costuming. I thought perhaps
someone in your group might have already published it by now :o) If
I ever figure it out, I'll write one of my own and if someone hasn't
already thought of it by then, I'll patent my idea to put ready-made
kits together with all the bare necessities for novice period
costumers like me. Thanks for the note, Penne

Robyn Coburn

<<<<<The local fabric shops don't carry the items that the pattern requires

(and don't know who does around here,) and we have no idea where to
begin to find what we need online. >>>>

http://www.asg.org/html/links.html#fabric

This is a link to the fabric resources page at the American Sewing Guild's
website.

If you google Costume Guild and start following the links sections there are
a lot of resources and groups for people doing both historical and fantasy
sewing.

Robyn L. Coburn



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