The race to Williamsburg

For years, Adam and I have been talking about going to Colonial Williamsburg at Christmas. It would always start in October. After a spring and summer of SCA stuff, we'd somehow drift back toward the 18th century, scouring Pinterest for gowns (me) and longhunter inspiration (him). And those pictures would lead us to pictures of Williamsburg, and we'd sigh over how beautiful it looks at Christmas with all the candles and holly, and all the parties and festivities and we've never been and wouldn't it be nice and...

Then we'd move on to something else. And plan for "next year."

Some day.

But this year when the creep toward cupcake-colored dresses started and I landed on my first picture of Williamsburg, instead of sighing, I turned to him and said, "This year?".

And three hours later, we had a hotel booked and all the tickets for the special events we want to do and we're going. This year.

In about five weeks. Which would be a fine timeline for most people, but we love reenacting. We can't just GO to Williamsburg, we need to be DRESSED for Williamsburg.

I put the last few stitches in my cap this morning, and looked around at the pile of clothes sewn and waiting to be packed. It's been a really fun five weeks of sewing and I can't wait to take some pictures of everything together in Williamsburg.

In the last five weeks, I've made:

One man's shirt

One lady's shift

Two organza caps

A trimmed straw hat

A trimmed wool bergere

A pair of wool breeches

Two wool waistcoats

Two quilted petticoats

Finished a cloak and a muff

A pair of wool mitts

Three women's jackets with matching stomachers

Finished a pair of stays

Lace trim on a silk fichu

And a project for my Aethelmearc Artisan's Exchange, but that's a different post.

A lot of sewing! Unfortunately, I didn't get to make the Illumination outfits I wanted, but hopefully next year.