Leksand medieval fair

 This weekend it was time for the first medieval event, and the second largest for me outside of Medieval week. In fact me and Emma realized we actually have to pack more stuff for this event than Visby, simply because we have to bring all kitchen utensils and foodstuff ourselves.

The event started on Friday, but we went up to Leksand after work on Thursday to set up camp.

The tent went up and for the first time I also used my firestand. It was really nice that it was so high up that you didn't have to bend down to just stir in the pot.

After three years with the tent we have come close to a really nice living situation. The bed is 120x170, which is perfect for us short girls to share, and have some room at the end of the bed for storage.  One day I should probably share the story of the bed, but let's just say that it is of a common reenactor design and it's a good thing that Emma's fiancé is a woodworker that saved it after we had tried to make it ourselves. The tent is really a once person tent, but it works for two, and two persons warm the area pretty well just with body heat. I have never slept so well in a camp like I did this weekend.

We share our camp site with our friends in the 16th century guild, so this is our whole campl, with signs to tell who we are and what we are doing. 

A big part of being in a camp for me is of course cooking and me and Emma have our routine where she handles the fire and then I can cook.

It was really warm, but that meant that we didn't freeze in the night. -On Saturday it wa 25 degrees C, so it was nice going down to the river to cool down.

The water wasn't warm enough for a bath though, since it still contains a lot of meltwater from the mountains.

Saturday was the main cooking day, so I made fried cheese sticks for lunch/afternoon snacks.

Then we put up a whole piece of meat and had it roasting for hours.

Together with a cabbage sallad and spicy raspberry sauce it was a real feast, even if the heat had taken it's toll on us and we were quite tired and went to bed early.

I was worthy a tiny cocktail after all the cooking though.

For costume I wore my remade pink gown, it's too big though even after my alterations. And interesting thing is that I had taken it in to make it smaller, but it had also gotten too long, so there was definitely excess fabric, I will see if I have time to fix that before Visby, or if I let it stay like this and make the alterations a winter project. In the heat it was quite nice to have a dress that wasn't tight at all.

Moulin Rouge dress along

 Some times it's so fun to just dress up. A month or so ago I saw an ad on Facebook about Moulin Rouge dress along, basically watch the film and do it dressed up. I just had to go, and remember how obsessed I was with this film as a student. Back in 2005 I sewed my first corset because I wanted to recreate Nini Legs-in-the-air's iconic red windmill gown.

It was made in cheap fabrics and I ill-fitting, I simply wasn't a very skilled seamstress back then. I think I have the petticoat still somewhere in a stash, but the rest of the gown went fairly early into the trash. Looking at it now I think the ruffle and the top trim looks good, but not the rest.

Anyway, for the dress along I went up to the attic to see what I could dig out. In my costume history I also have my cancan trooper outfit.

I knew that parts of it were ruined, the outer skirt has been thrown away and the corset had bones poking out from it. I was surprised that so many elements were there for it though. Still in order for the whole outfit to be wearable I would need to do some repair and remakes, and I didn't have the time for that, I also wanted to take inspiration from the film and go as a general cancan dancer. In the end I used the petticoat from the cancan trooper and a black corset from a ballgown from way back as well. 

At this point I should say that I was almost crying with happiness that I could fit in these pieces again, which is of course thanks to the gastric bypass I did in the autumn. My weight loss hasn't been the most dramatic, but I am back in a size where I can wear my costumes again, and I can feel beautiful.

Anyway since the petticoat and corset was black I went with a black and white theme by adding a white shirt from my husband, black bowtie and a top hat from my mother. To get some colour pops I used my 18th century red shoes and added a red fake flower to the top hat.

It was bright and sunny when me and my husband went to the event, and we made quite a striking silhouette.

Red shoes to break off the black and white theme

I had made a bunch of fingercurls in my hair and swooped it up into a ponytail in the back

The whole outfit

My husband was very handsome and stylish in his white tie with a borrowed top had and a gorgeous embroiedred vest that he had in his wardrobe.

The event itself was really fun. It was held at Bio Capitol - bistro and bar, which combines a 1926 cinema with a restaurant and bar. So the bar opened an hour before the film started.

The event was hosted by Miss Diamond burlesqe, and there were burlesqe performers mingling with the crowds.

The cocktail of the night was absinthe-based, but of course a modern absinthe and not the crazy stuff of 1900s Paris. It was green, nice and good.

During the film there were live performances by Miss Diamond and her crew during some of the songs.

Most of the other guests wore attire more suitable for burlesque and the roaring 20s parties, but there were two green fairies from the film there.

All in all it was a great night and I am definitely going to be on the lookout for more events at Bio Capitol in the future. And I am definitely contemplating if I shouldn't make another try of Nini's windmill dress, but now of course I am a better seamstress but I also see all the details and how complicated it really is.