Blog Award!

I am so touched. I started blogging on various platforms (namely LiveJournal) way back before blogging was even A Thing (tm), though it was more like keeping a personal journal than anything at the time. The internet makes me feel so old some days! Anyway, after many years and many blogs, I've been nominated for my firstest-ever blog award!

The Rules:

First, thank the blogger who has nominated you: Thank you Nessa! (Nessa was the first follower of this blog that I didn't personally know :) I'm sorry it took so long. I'm so touched! Thank you again!)

Second, nominate ten other blogs you adore and notify them of the nomination: This took the most amount of time, because of the quantity and also that the blogs should have less than 200 followers. I read lots of blogs! Lots of well-read blogs! I dug a bit for the first instance of this award and the number of followers varied - anywhere from 200 to 3000. Since historical costuming is relatively small, I'll stick to 200 followers or less :)

• Costumes by Ophelia Ophelia has THE most perfect Edwardian hair ever.
  
• Beauty from Ashes I know you want some more Edwardian perfection. Especially check out Gina's Titanic Ruth DeWitt Bukater Boarding Dress with approximately a mile of soutache braid!
  
• Tarnished Thimble My dear cousin Tina is making her first steps into historical costuming and I am so proud. I only wish we lived closer together!
  
• The Bohemian Belle Stunning Regency dresses!
  
• Mouse Borg Designs I LOOOOVE the GIANT HAT OF DOOOOOOOOOOOM they made last year. I also have a soft spot for Canadian bloggers, being from sort-of-northern-Canada myself :) (Did I tell you that winter lasted a legit 6 months? CUZ IT DID.)
  
• Frolicking Frocks Natalie's Gibson Girl ensemble is just perfect, and her 1840s dress is also what inspired me to finally venture into that decade myself :)
  
• A Dedicated Follower of Fashion Amanda's curtain-along/dress-in-a-day is what made me love the Waverly Felicite curtains in black. So pretty. And she hand-sews everything.
  
• WyldeHills Costuming I just loved reading about/seeing her Faire costumes, especially this year's Pink challenge!
  
• So Steady As She Sews Admittedly I was mostly amused that we both made -panniers for the Pink challenge this year. But look at that goregous hanbok!
  
• Teacups Among the Fabric She reminds me of my mom, definitely the source of my current love of costuming :3
  
  

Third, come up with ten questions for your ten nominees to answer:

1. Tell me about your first costume in all it's awesome and potentially awful detail :D Share a picture if you have one/want to! 2. How would you describe your sewing "style"? (For example, I'm a night-owl deadline-pusher.) 3. How about your sewing companions of the furry variety? If you don't have pets, a non-essential object you just can't be without. (I'm trying to kick my slurpee habit...) Share a picture! 4. Do you have a sewing "ritual"? What is it? (I like to watch movies! And by watch, I mean "listen to") 5. How about a sewing "outfit"? (I have a "Serious Dress" that gets busted out when it's time to crunch that deadline!) 6. How does your family/friends take your sewing? 7. I'm sure you get a ton of compliments when you're out and about in costume - share your favourite :) 8. How far have you travelled for a costumed event? OR - how far would you be willing to travel for a costumed event? 9. If you had any advice for a newbie, what would it be? 10. How has historical costuming changed your life?

And fourth, answer the questions you received from the one who nominated you:

1. What is your favorite historical period? The bustle years of 1870-1889 :3

2. How long have you been sewing, and how did you get into it? I've been sewing for about 20 years this year, and I think I initially got into it because I wanted costumes to wear to conventions. I didn't enjoy it for almost 10 years though, until I found a Japanese fashion style that was running at $300+ for one dress (still is) and I thought it was too expensive (still do!) and I could sew so why not just make it myself? I started branching into historical costumes almost immediately after.

3. Which historical person would you like to meet and why? This is really tough to answer. I think perhaps some of the early Egyptologists, or maybe the early paleontologists. How awesome would it be to be at hand during the discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb? SO AWESOME.

4. Do you have a favorite kind of fabric you enjoy working with? I really like natural fibers: linen, cotton and wool. I have a particular preference for fabric that doesn't "shred" on me.

5. What will be your next project? Besides my HSF projects and some cosplay, I really want to make a bunch more Regency gowns or an all-cotton print Victorian dress.

6. Which place, in space and/or time, would you love to travel to? Oh gosh, I want to go back in time and watch and study dinosaurs doing dinosaur things. I saw a program once that said that a Tyrannosaurus Rex had the average intelligence of a house cat, and I look at my cat and picture a T-rex doing cat-things, and it's the most hilarious images. Seriously, right up to being tied to the front of the house on a harness and leash, rolling around, chasing the bunnies... Can you just see it?

7. Where do you wear your sewing creations? Are you a regular at historical events or do you sew it just for yourself? There's not a lot of events happening locally that aren't part of the small living history site, or part of the steampunk group, so I mostly invent my own reasons to wear something out and do that :) It definitely helps having friends who don't mind you dressing up, or better yet, dress up with you!

8. Do you have a favorite clothing item, historical or modern? I kind of love my bustle. I love that my butt can announce itself around a corner.

9. What is your favorite book? Gosh, do I have to pick just one? I'm not as voracious a reader as many people I know, or as much as I used to be, but I still have too many books to pick just one! Can we just be friends on Goodreads instead?

10. What are your other hobbies? I write novels, bake, watch Japanese and/or Korean dramas, and belly dance :)

Photo by P. Holmes I made this dress but it would cost $150+ if I bought it!

Thanks for reading! <3