Picnic at Pemberley

So 3 months ago I went to picnic at pemberley, the annual regency "picnic" that the Abbey puts on.

I enjoy going, it's expensive for what you get, but I know so many people that go and it's a really relaxing event to go to.

This year was no different, although there were two things that really disappointed me.  

There were way too many people, so the whole area felt really cramped.  There were so many plastic (urgh) tables and chairs that we were stuck over in a corner where we couldn't really be seen or see that much.  The cost also irks me.  Every year I bring my own food because you only get 1 or 2 biscuits and a cup of tea.  So I kinda begrudge paying as much as I do for food.

But!  Aside from that, the company was excellent, and I had a couple of new pretty things.... A new spencer, and a new matching reticule.



The pattern isn't truly historically accurate, but I like it none the less.  It looks great with all of the dresses I currently have, so I call it winning!

So to give you a general idea, the picnic goes along the lines of arrival, then "Mr Darcy" welcomes you to Pemberley, Maypole,Dancing, Food, Games, napoleonic musket firing, sunset, go home.

Sadly, the only part of all that I really partake of is the food.. haha... Most of the time is spent wandering around, finding various groups of friends to say "Hi!" to.

  

  

A Victorian Picnic

So back at the start of September, we had a Victorian picnic at a historical location, Newstead House.  The House was having a "beer and boaters" day, so I thought it appropriate to make something new.

COMPLETELY FROM STASH!  Booyah!  I oped for an 1890s to allow me to wear my boater for the occasion.

 

I went with a butterick pattern that has long been in my stash, and while I've made one of the other blouses in this, I really wanted to try the froofy sleeve.  And I have to say that I adore it.  

  

The skirt is the Truly Victorian Umbrella skirt, which is made out of a shot tafetta.  Originally I had earmarked this fabric for a remake of my Scarlett O'Hara skirt, but I think if I do that again (and that's a HUGE if), it'll be out of a silk rather than a poly taffeta.

All in all, I love this outfit.  The blouse is lovely and cool, being as it's made out of a light cotton, and I received some really good feedback about the outfit.  So YAY!

The day itself was alot of fun.  We were well recieved at the house as well, and we even managed to go and have a beer/cider in the afternoon.

 

The Australian Costumers' Guild Ball

I have posted already that my chosen costume didn't get made.  Probably a good thing in retrospect.  Means that I will be able to spend the next 12 months perfecting it!

On the friday (last Friday of August), I flew down to Adelaide, coincidently on the same flight as my cousin, Aunt and Uncle.  I then met up with the fabulous W and D, and off we went!  We did the usual shopping trip of our favourite fabric stores, only this year I came out of it without buying ANYTHING.  Shocking I know!

After shopping, we met up with my cousin, aunt and uncle along with the National President for dinner.  THe hotel had a "do" on that night, so they put together a dining room for us all on our own, so we could make as much noise as we liked.

Saturday morning we set off for Hahndorf and Maggie Beer's for lunch..  We had a wonderful day, lots of great things to see, and as usual, a delicious lunch at Maggie Beer's..

  

  

  

Then it was on to the ball.  I decided that non-historical was the go, and since I wore Dr Who last year, it was going to be Disney, and one that I hadn't worn for a while..  Between the three of us, we covered Steampunk, Disney and Movies.  So a really good mix!  There was alot of fun, some beverages, lots of dancing, and alot of laughs.  We got to bed at around 2am!!  Good times!

  

  

Sunday we went to the beach, and lay under the jetty (enough so we wouldn't get burnt), and then eventually went on for lunch, before heading to the airport.



A great weekend all told.  It was wonderfull to catch up with all the people I only see at the ACG Ball, and it was great to hang with many of my favourite people.. <3

Storia Vivente - a 15th Century Italian weekend....

Stroria.... How awesome are you!

I mentioned in my last post that I had gone to Storia, and I did this year.  We set up our camp at the Abbey grounds, and it felt kinda weird to not be squeezing ourselves into a space too small for us.. haha

The joy of not having public around is.... The public isn't around, so we don't have to rope off parts of our encampment...

 

Or our archery range (which we can happily have one of)..

 

We can invite our photographer friends to have lunch with us..



We can play with 15th Century Weapons without worrying about the public...

 

And we can be a bit silly....

 

I also got to play with a very pretty, very expensive lens...



So pretty... I want one... There are so many more pics... 

Photographer pics are here...

And my photos are here!

Regency Regency, I wish you were Georgian!

Just last weekend, we had a Georgian/Regency picnic.

I have the prettiest fabrics ready for a late Georgian outfit, and I'm dying to make it. Only this yar it seems that I'm not really achieving any work/life balance.. :(.... So, in between late days at work and a couple of sick days thanks to the lurgy going around work, the fabrics were washed, and that's about as far as I got.

I do have a number of regency outfits to wear, but to be honest, I find them all kinda plain and boring. But, never-the-less, I trotted one of them out for a picnic instead of a new pretty georgian number.



We met at a park on the river, that if you sit in the right place, has a lovely view of the river, and of some georgian-esque shaped houses on the other side of the river. It is a truly lovely spot.



We set up our picnic, which looked very regal indeed and we put out the food. There was 8 of us, and SO.MUCH.FOOD.



This isn't even ALL of the food. There was more. That we couldn't fit on the table. We had planned to have the picnic, and at the same time learn out to do death-head buttons and some tambour embroidery. Well we ate food, talked, laughed, and generally had a fabulous day. This event continued the recent "OMG I'm having so much fun at events" thing that has been happening.

 

We did talk about Costume College in the USA, since many of us would really like to go and we think we might aim for 2017 (all of us saying "depending on how well I can save up for it"). Our national president, who was visiting for the weekend, went last year, and is heading back again this year.

Having said that, we'd all like to go to the Jane Austen Festival in Bath as well. So realistically, I think I need to win the lottery. Of course, this would mean I need to buy a ticket.

I also made a snap decision to go down to visit W in October for a regency weekend. She had sent me the facebook invite, thinking that I wouldn't be able to come, but to let me know she wanted me there.. <3... Then I looked at it. The event was pretty cheap, I could fly down there pretty cheap, we didn't need a car, and the accommodation is cheap too. So I booked. And I roped D into going as well.

Of course, this means I want to go and make ALL.THE.REGENCY.

I'll need:
2x day dresses
1x ball gown
1x spencer
1x pelisse

And a variety of accessories. At the very least I plan for a day dress and my pelisse (and matching accessories) to be done prior to Picnic at Pemberley, which is in September.

Not to mention between now and then, I need to make a dress for a wedding coming up in 2 weekends, a victorian masquerade costume for 2 different balls in August, potentially finish a Victorian UFO for the next Victorian Picnic.... And possibly find some time to do some exercise and clean up my house.. haha

The shortest, but most fun, train trip of them all....

The next morning, after the pair of Cinderella's had lost their slippers and the pumpkin was merely a vegetable again, they went off to catch a train.  For 15 minutes each way... 

Seriously.  It was 15 minutes each way.  We met at the house of one of the ladies, who lives the closest to Marburg, which was still 45 minutes away.  We had lunch and got dressed together, which was lots of fun, then carpooled over to the train station...

We made the train with 10 minutes to spare, but 3 of our party, who were meant to meet us at the train station, didn't make it.  They did join us at the midway point, so we did get to spend some time with them and have some photos.

The next time we go on this train ride, we plan to go in the morning, and luncheon at the midway point for as long as possible, so that we can take in more of the sights at the train station.  It was so much fun, I was sad it was over at the end of the day.

I had made a bustle dress that I have wanted to make for forever!  It's a 1880s reproduction print that I bought a really long time ago, and I bought every bit they had, which was in 3 pieces.  I trimmed it in a green velveteen, and I believe there will be a green velveteen hat and reticule coming in the near future to match.

It fit PERFECTLY, and I'm really happy with it..

 

I don't have alot of photos that I took on the day, but what I do have are here....


We did however have our own photographer for the day, and the photos are.....  here!

The Steampunk Ball, and a new thing for an old thing!

My Bestie (Nyssa) and I had decided after the last Steampunk Ball that she should come again with me.  This time she came as my date...

I was originally going to wear the same dress for the Steampunk Ball, the Gothic Ball and the ACG Ball.  However, after I got back from New Zealand, and madly rushed through prep for HIstory Alive (not getting everything I wanted to done for that as a start), I decided that I really want to do a GOOD job, despite the fact that my fabrics are not everything that I want them to be as well.

So I delved into the stash, and I found that I still had around 3 meters of the antique gold that is in this bustle....



It really changes the look of the bustle as well...



I channeled Princess Alexandra for the hair...



Even though my hair is nowhere near curly enough... and apparently I wasn't wearing enough bling, but I did have a very pretty date..



And I got to spend some time with some of my favourite peeps.. :)

 

And here's the slideshow.

Another Dinner Dance.....

My good friend Michael had the most amazing collection of historical items, and his favourite era seems to be the Napoleonic!

To commemorate the 200th anniversary, he and his friend put on a display of Napoleonic finds, which is absolutely fascinating.  And the opening event included a regency dinner dance, of course!  So I went along.  Like a good wallflower, I didn't dance, but sat talking to 2 Michaels about what kind of weapon I should get now that I'm licenced.

I pulled the good old cream dress out (no ironing needed!) and my silk satin overbodice teamed with my new brooch.  Despite running horribly late, I still felt like I was looking pretty.. :D

I had loads of fun again.  Not sure I want the amount of fun I'm having at events to end.  Like, RIDICULOUS amounts of fun.  This was about the only "serious" phoot that we were in...



Pretty soon our serious demeanour faded into...



But all in all, it was a really good night out, and well needed after some stressful work times!

Remember Midway - A WWII Dinner-dance

Following on from History Alive, we had tickets for Remember Midway, a dinner-dance event in a local hanger. There were helicopters, jeeps, and even a couple of planes.

Since it had be raining for a couple of days, and we were sitting in a hanger with one end open, I figured I would need something warm, and quick to make.  So I pulled out a pattern I have made before, and put together a navy blue crepe dress that is incredibly comfy, but also very warm.

 

It turned out well, and although I've taken it in a full size, the bust is still a little.... generous!

As per usual though, we had a grand time...  Filled with dancing and shanenigans!

  

 

Donna won the 'best dressed' prize for the evening, as she should in her fabulous original 1940s suit.



And we've decided that should this opportunity come up again, we're going again, but we plan to have more appropriate dinner-dance outfits!