Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Evelyn is ridiculously excited!!!!!!

And even though she knows it's illegal to buy from the uh, Black Market that is sometimes called Marks and Spencer (to protect its identity, you understand) , she just HAD to get these!!!-


Even though they're nylon. And we here in Germany only have Perlon... Was auch immer. 

So yeah... as a side note I can't believe I actually saw them in a store outside of the internet! FOR 8 EURO! *Dies!* They come in stocking and tights form.  

...RUN FOR 'EM, GIRLS! :D



Monday, June 29, 2009

Hoorah For Vintage Shopping!


















'30s/'40s Shoes- 12 Euro








Pleated blouses in blue, red, and green. The blue reminds me of the DRK uniform. :D
 








                                                                                         



...Aaand this is me failing miserably to get away from the camera before it flashed.... fail....





                 
                                                              




 







I call this my "Frauen SS" pic. I dunno it just gives me that vibe lol.










IDENTITY CARD PICS! ^_^ 

Ahaha I actually didn't mean to take this... I was taking a picture and mum walked in, so I'm looking at her heh! I don't really like this picture of me, but I thought it looked like an ID pic, so I put it up anyway... 

Sunday, June 28, 2009

And So It Begins...




My 1930s/1940s sewing marathon!

Going to Tuscany on Friday, and I'm theming it WWII. I must say, I've quite fallen in love with the lower hem lines of the '30s... <3

 It's mostly going to be skirts (blue, green, and red) and peasant blouses (white w/ blue embroidery), the main summer fashion of the '40s, and a one-piece and two-piece bathing suit, blue with white polka-dots and red gingham, respectively.  Also two dresses if I can fit 'em in.

I get to be Evelyn Tiedt (WWII-ness) for the week. Yay! A little bit about her... Born in Bremen in 1921, her family was brought from the poverty of the Depression in 1933 with the change of government. She moved to Aachen in 1939 to become a Helferin im das Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (nurse in the German Red Cross) when the war broke out when she was 18.  

So it's 1939 and thank God we're allied with Italy because DAMN that's a great vacationing spot... ;) 

Will update with pretty picsies regularly. :D

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Hand-Knotted Carpets, Killybegs, Co. Donegal


Wow. I just got back from being able to work on the largest loom in the world. (62 meters, about 186 feet, if I remember correctly) It was amazing! It's fascinating how much work by so many people can go into one carpet. There's probably a few dozen gals at the loom, and the process is fascinating as well! While I found the knotting quite easy, I think it would take me quite some time to attain the speed that those girls got to! The factory was closed in 1987 and re-opened in 1999. If anyone's ever in Killybegs, forget the fishing, this is a definite must-see! 

Friday, June 26, 2009

Wonderful Handwoven Donegal Wool and Tweed!


If anyone needs any handwoven wool or tweed or even a rug made of it, etc., go to Eddie Doherty! Based in Ardara, Co. Donegal, he's been doing it for years. A really great way to get it like they would've had it- hand woven, every inch of it! If you want full garments, you can get those as well- his wife sews what he weaves. Anything from caps to vests to capes (at right) to even nightgowns! Went to see him myself, and was thoroughly impressed! Also very personable man- told me to drop by again and he'd give me free lessons on his loom (which, I might add, is from 1908). Bought a lovely rug!  He gave me a fiver back for luck. :]

You can reach him at www.handwoventweed.com 


Hallo!

Welcome to my blog! 

Come join me in having a grand old time living in the past! It's a bit like reenacting, only full time. 

Here you can find tips on pretty much anything to do with history- reenacting, crafts from the past, historical sites and places, whatever. Most of it will be inhabited by updates on various historical sewing projects, reenactment events (and accounts thereof), random diary-ish stuff, "Getting-the-Look" Tutorials, probably a bit of poetry and literature and other stuff about anything historical and, well, me. That sounds selfish, yes, but hey, it's my blog. :]



So! A little about me. (As it pertains to history... which is pretty much everything...)


I love history! (Yeah, nice one, Captain Obvious.) I do have limits- nothing after 1963. Could never quite get over the culture shock heh. :P I'm married to the Middle Ages but am currently having a passionate affair with the rest of history.

My favourite historical person EVER (and that is like, a bigger commitment than marriage) is Eva Braun. Fascinating woman, and dear lord what ever would I do without her home videos?! Not just the footage but the CLOTHES... *drool*.  Albert Speer once said that she would disappoint historians. Well then, he can go die in a hole. :D 

I sew (all by hand unless the age dictates otherwise- i.e. 1940s things are more accurate when done on a machine, what with 'Make Do and Mend'). I'm also a relatively new practitioner of other fabric arts- spinning, weaving, natural dyeing, a wee bit of Donegal carpet knotting, knitting (to the extent where I can make a fair scarf ahaha!), and I can do pretty much anything around a farm (spend most my summers on 'em!), livestock or crops. I horseback ride, and practice really old sports- think archery and wielding other medieval weapons like the longsword. :D 

I speak a LOT of languages, ummm... all four ages of English (Old, Middle, Early Modern "Elizabethan", and obviously modern. They're all very different. Trust me. Or try learning them and you'll see what I mean!), a good bit of Welsh, Irish Gaelic, used to know more Russian than I do now, but I've lost a good bit... Spanish in school, teaching myself German... uh... yup. 

I listen to historical music, as well as German and Irish folk. In fact, the song playing right now is Night Song- "Who are you me pretty fair maid, to who are you me honey? Who are you me pretty fair maid, to who are you me honey? She answered me most modestly 'I am my mother's darlin'- agus tooraya, fadadiddleda, rightbefall da diddle derey-o!"

I reenact the Middle Ages, American Civil War, and am just getting started on WWII. I hope someday to also join reenacting with American Revolutionary War, War for Irish Independence, WWI, French Revolution, Crimean War, and I'm sure there are others I can't think of presently... :P  However, I can be seen on a daily basis in 1940s-ness. (it's easier to pull off day-to-day than is wearing a hoop skirt around town... not that I haven't already done that...) Whatever impression, I try to make it as accurate as possible. It's really no fun unless you do it right!

I'm a horrid one for playing Devil's Advocate, especially when it comes to history. (WWII Axis, ACW Confederate Reb, holla! ). I think it's important to look at all sides of the story- it's an insult to those who lived it to forget any part of history, good or bad. It would be just as terrible for the world to forget the atrocities of the Holocaust as it would be to forget that Hitler visited soldiers in hospital on his birthday every year. I don't think people are necessarily 'good' or 'bad'- I think there are just people and their actions. (Example- Eamon DeValera. Fights for freedom for his country: WIN. Orders friend's ultimate death: FAIL.) 


So that's all I can think of to say at present... see thee anon!