Becoming Gypsies

One of my family's favorite events is the Renaissance Festival.  We've been to many of them over the years and make a point to attend the one in our state at least once per year.  I realize that "ren faires" are very romanticized reenactments of history and involve a hodge-podge of time periods from medieval to true Renaissance times.  But there's something so fun about stepping out of the real world for a day to see acrobats, actors, and swordfighting while browsing the numerous vendors.

My husband and I talked for years about dressing in costume before we actually did so.  At first we bought our clothing as I hadn't started sewing.  But when I took up needle and thread a few years ago I made outfits for myself and our children.  My husband's clothing was still in good shape and looked good so he continued wearing it.  Last year I looked at our family and realized that he was the only one not wearing clothing I had made.

Well, I couldn't have that!

This year I decided to make sure that everyone was wearing my creations.  We also have realized that we prefer comfort over incredible looks when spending a day walking around a faire.  After some thought we decided that gypsies would be fun as well as comfortable.

Being a costumer is more than just doing the actual sewing.  I consider styles, patterns, fabric, print, colors, and just about everything else.  Since I was creating all of this from scratch I looked into the stereotypical gypsy designs, especially the kind you see at ren faires.  Here are the looks I came up with.

I have to say that this was the single most comfortable outfit I've ever worn to a ren faire!  And if I do say so myself, it all turned out very nicely.

After so many costume commissions, it was nice to just have fun and make something for myself.