Random Ramblings

Christmas

2009-12-25T19:38:08Z

Hello, everyone,

Very merry Christmas, and a happy holiday season to those from other traditions.

It's a home Christmas this year, with presents and turkey and perhaps a movie for dessert.

Best wishes for all.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-12T23:11:57Z

Not much of a post-er, am I? It's been a while. Ah, well.

Thanksgiving was fun. Went to a friend's home for dinner, and I am (and have been for several years) in charge of the hors d'oeuvres. I have fun every year picking which before-dinner munchies to present. Dinner for 12.

Here's what I brought:
parmesan and marjoram-parsley herb straws
stilton and walnut in celery boats
carmelized onion and tapenade canapes
Moroccan mini-lamb pies
smoked salmon and herbed sour cream on crackers
latkes with applesauce and sour cream

And after we'd demolished all of that,

Dinner consisted of:
carrot-ginger soup
roast turkey and spiral-cut glazed ham
roast new potatoes
homemade cranberry-orange relish
green bean casserole
marinated mushrooms
julienned glazed carrots and parsnips
bread stuffing/dressing
turkey giblet gravy
cornbread muffins

plus champagne, wine, port, etc. (We went a little overboard with after-dinner drinks. It's the "etc." that got excessive - but still excellent!)

And there was apple pie with ice cream, and chocolate cake for dessert.

We have a tradition of watching Galaxy Quest over the weekend. It's such a wonderful pastiche. A friend who worked on Star Trek applauds it, too.

I love Thanksgiving. I probably put on three pounds.

Happy Birthday!

2009-08-28T01:39:49Z

Happy Birthday, Marymont!

Happy Birthday!

2009-08-26T15:13:59Z

Hope I'll get to wish it in person on Sunday.

Kathy Lear

Ladies' Riding split skirt

2009-08-18T01:03:49Z

Hello, all you costume fans!

Last Friday I had the opportunity, thanks to a lovely woman I met in a couturier sewing class, I was allowed to see, examine, photograph and measure a split riding skirt dating (possibly) from the 1920s or 30s, and worn many times by one of the Santa Barbara's best-known Fiesta parade riders, Hattie Feazelle. I'll describe the skirt, and if I get permission I'll post some photos. It's beautiful, practical, authentic (actual horse smears and saddle stains), and tough (fabric-wise).

The only reason I have to imagine that this skirt dates so far back is the buttons. They appear to be bakelite. Of course even if they are bakelite, they could have been added to a later skirt. I've asked my friend (who is also a Fiesta parade rider) to ask Mrs. Feazelle various questions about the skirt, and, with permission, will let you know my findings.

This is a split riding skirt made to button across to give the appearance of a skirt rather than a divided garment, once one is off the horse. The difference between this skirt and two commercial patterns I've seen (one is Folkwear #231 - Big Sky Riding Skirt), is that the buttoned area is not a separate panel, but part of the pants leg itself.

There are only five pattern pieces, including the waistband: waistband, outer front, inner front, outer back and inner back. I have to check my measurements, but I think the outer front and back may be the same, making the pattern only four pieces. The crotch seam is long and narrow, to allow more room for sitting on a saddle, and the outer (side) seam is curved to fit the hip. The front and back seams of the pant pieces are on the straight grain of the fabric (both inner and outer pieces), leaving a slight bias for the outside, which helps further to make the curve fit over the hip. The left front leg seam has buttonholes and the right front leg seam has the buttons. The pieces are cut wide enough that they can pull across and cover the center front and the center back, without a separate panel. This is a very slim, elegant-looking skirt, but still has plenty of room to maneuver.

The waistband is narrow: only 1" wide.

The skirt is made of a medium hued, bright tan (tobacco-color, it was called a few years ago) cotton twill / gabardine. The fabric itself is very tough and long-wearing. I've used it on a few garments, and I'm sure this garment was worn a lot, with some hard riding, not just parades, to acquire the wear it has.

My friend tells me that she is the same height as Mrs. Feazelle's daughter, and when she held the skirt up to her waist, it reached her instep. She says Mrs. Feazelle is shorter, so it may have reached the ground (or almost) on her. Mounted, it probably reached her ankles. One of the questions I've asked is if there are extant photos of her wearing the skirt, mounted.

This should be a fun project. More later, I hope.

Yesterday I saw "Julie & Julia," and enjoyed it very much. It's a foodie's movie, and I thought Glenn Close did a fantastic job as Julia Child.

On Saturday, August 8, I went to the Santa Barbara Fiesta parade and took a lot of photos, mostly of horses. Didn't see a single sidesaddle, although I'm told there were a couple. I went because of a fellow I met at Costume College, who appeared in a beautiful Hussar uniform, complete with sabretache and pelisse - beautiful - and furthermore, bearing signs of actual usage on a horse! He told me he would be riding in the Fiesta parade, so I had to go. I saw his outfit, too, and took a few photos. Maybe I'll put them up here later.

Cheerio!

apt sentiment

2009-08-12T15:35:37Z

I ran across this on marymont's friends' posts. I agree, so I'm posting the phrase: "DBAD." I'm figuring out how to make links. Soon: Follow the link to see what it means.

fragbert

Costume College 2009

2009-08-12T15:08:33Z

Post-College - whew!

Things to do: start on costumes (I'm resolved to actually get some things done this year!)

Minutes from College (I'm the Recording Secretary - thank you everyone who voted for me)

Finish editing and adjusting photos from the Red Carpet - several hundred - and post them. Some will go on the web site and some will go on a public area. If you see yourself and don't want to, let me know the number of the image and I'll remove it.

Hunt for work (bleh, but necessary)

More later.

Hippo Birdie Two Gnus

2009-05-09T00:24:28Z

Colleen,

A la Sandra Boynton, Happy Birthday!

Kathy Lear

Rest assured: The fire is on two fronts in Santa Barbara, not (yet) near us.

What Flavor Cupcake Are You?

2009-05-06T19:51:51Z

You Are a Chocolate Cupcake

You are deep, richly interesting, and at times overpowering. You have a strong personality.
You are drawn to people who adore you. You love it when your specialness is recognized.

You are like a cupcake because it's hard for people to get enough of you.
You have a mysterious charm that makes you incredibly addicting. People are drawn to your drama.

What Flavor Cupcake Are You?

Costuming and Blogging

2009-04-30T16:59:08Z

I've been writing down information about all the costumes I've made (the ones I remember), because I'm becoming infected by the idea of (finally) trying to do it right! I've made a lot of costumes over the years, and mostly they've been for Renn Faires (look good but don't worry too much about authenticity), the SCA (ditto, in spades) and other party venues where looks were of primary importance.

I discovered a web site known as Extreme Costuming, run by a woman by the name of Laura Mellin. Check it out - it's phenomenal. I'm beginning to think she is, too. Here's her URL: http://www.extremecostuming.com/home.html

The more I read her page, the further afield I look for more information about the things she's listed, and others. As she mentioned, the resources for costuming information have exploded since the web has taken off (since the early 1990's). I wish I'd had all this information when I was in the SCA (beginning around year VII) and the Faire. Things would have been different! Maybe not hand-sewn, due to time constraints, but different.

I haven't decided whether to post all the information I've written. Too boring, not to mention, in some cases, embarrassing. And I used to think I was good!

Aside from the reassessment of my costuming skills, I'm off to Sacramento this weekend to attend the memorial service of a much-loved friend and mentor. Bob Wright (aka Baron Burghley to those who worked the Renaissance Faire in the 70's and 80's) died a little more than a week ago. He was 80 years young, and we'll miss him terribly. I'm glad and grateful that I knew him for as long as I did. He and Margie parented us all, much to their credit and patience.

More later, if I don't get disgusted.

Computers, Costumes, Friends

2009-03-11T06:41:45Z

Once again, a long gap between posts.

I've been learning about CSS in web page design, since the program I teach for updated to Dreamweaver CS4 over Christmas vacation (without telling us), and this new version of the program doesn't allow all-inline formatting of elements on the page. This means that to use it, you're forced to learn some (at least) CSS. All this entails for me is the re-writing of nearly all my class handouts, and restructuring my class content almost completely. Fegh! It will be better when I'm done. Ah, well, I'd intended to really dig into CSS anyway. This is a perfect excuse.

Costumes are coming along somewhat, slowed by the fact that since I've gained weight over the five years since surgery and chemo, I can't fit into any of my old outfits. This means new corsets, new mockups, and new or much-altered costumes. I think the only stuff I can still fit into is my Regency outfits. Fegh again! Then again, it means new clothes! (I need new regular clothes, too.)

On the plus side, I have two new "friends" at LJ. Thanks, Colleen, for encouraging me. Hooray for friends.

Ciao bella!

Update - end of September 2008

2008-09-28T23:56:59Z

Hey, ho,

It's already Autumn - yay! I haven't posted to this in months; I'm still trying to figure LJ out, but desultorily. I don't spend a lot of time here.

I'm quite impressed with the scope of interests, but not surprised. The WWW community is huge, after all.

I wish it were easier to find people I've already located but since lost - I've changed computers so I have none of the old info on this one - sheesh!

I've discovered Firefly, and wish I'd found it in 2001 - I could have had all the excitement of an ongoing love. Too bad it canceled. It had a lot going for it. But at least it's available on DVD.

Looking for work - not hard - too much to do.

Later, all.

Home for a while

2008-08-07T23:40:03Z

I'm home from Costume College, as of Tuesday, and a great weekend it was, too. Many fine costumes and even more terrific people to meet and talk with.

Photos taken at the Red Carpet (the photo area across from the Gala) are on the web, on picasa, thanks to our guest photographer. Go to http://picasaweb.google.com/MediaByMeryl and click on one of the galleries. You'll love them. It's a sampling of the terrific costumes we all got to see up close and personal.

Just before I left for College, however, I got laid off! So I'm currently unemployed, unpacking in a leisurely way, looking for a new job and planning to get some things done (costuming, quilting, cleaning up the apartment, etc.) that I never seem to have time for in an ordinary way.

School (Continuing Ed) will begin in September, so I'll have something to do then, even if I don't have a day job by then. I should have, though.

I checked out "Marie Antoinette," the movie with Kirsten Dunst as Marie. The costumes are marvelous, the background music is rock, the incidental music is period, which makes for potential confusion, at least in sound. The language is modern English (they don't even try to speak French -- why bother when you'd have to translate anyway), and it looks as if they shot it on location. And then the DVD froze in the middle. Ah, well. I'll borrow it or buy it. It's worth it to a costumer for the clothes along, never mind the script.

Well, all of you who came to Costume College -- it was good to see you. I hope we'll meet again before next year at some other event. I'm looking forward to the tea in October (ribbon-work and tea) and the ice-skating that's planned for December. Fun!

Cheers. Wish me job luck!

Kathy / Jessica

jessicallyr @ 2008-02-22T21:56:00

2008-02-23T05:56:58Z

Here I am at last, creating a blog...I wasn't sure I'd do this: I'm not much of a journal-keeper.

I'll talk about a lot of things, when I do enter anything, so there's no predictability on this blog.

Current reading: This Was Tomorrow by Elswyth Thane (aka Eleanor Beebee), historical romance set at the beginning of World War II. In the so-called "Women of Williamsburg" series.

That was last month. Since then I've gone through Harry Potter, some Dorothy L. Sayers, and am currently re-reading Georgette Heyer's "Regency Buck". This is interspersed with Photoshop User magazine, various cookbooks, online searching for information on steampunk fashion, shopping for clothes and multimedia projectors...the usual stuff.

Since Comp USA is going out of business, I've taken advantage of the sales, to a small extent: I bought an ipod Touch. Now I can plug into music whenever I like, even at work. Currently on the "touch" is Enya, Fellowship of the Ring, the Beatles, Andrea Bocelli, "Music in the Great Hall", Hildegard von Bingen and Music from the Age of Discovery, among others.

One of my current ambitions: sew a blouse I have already cut out, finish a Regency corset, design and build a new Victorian corset, put the finishing touches on at least three costumes and find fabric for a current design floating around amongst my ambitions (ivory, copper, gold and silver embroidery). Wish me luck.