In my hometown there is a huge eight week long Renaissance Festival every fall. My friends and I usually dressed up each year to attend, and though it changed from time to time we generally leaned toward the pirate genre. This was mostly due to one of our friends having an amazing pirate costume he had accumulated over the years. His girlfriend, one of my best friends for years, desperately wanted an outfit to wear whenever he dressed up. So, about a year or so ago, I decided to surprise her with a costume for her birthday.
After scouring the fabric stores and the internet for inspiration I finally came upon this fabric.
It was perfect! I had been toying with the idea of making a patchwork corset, and this design eliminated the need for all that quilting. Plus it’s got just the right amount of shiny. ~ I know you don’t know me very well, but I avoid shiny fabrics at all costs. They show every wrinkle and are so rarely flattering… I just prefer matte. ~
To top it all off it was on clearance for $3/yd!
So after a bit of tinkering I came up with the below design. I was completely happy with it, and thought it would be perfect. Alas, it was not to be. After a few ‘covert’ discussions with my friend, she indicated that she’d much rather a wench style costume with full draped skirts than captain attire. So it was back to the drawing board.
The final costume turned out quite similar to this one, which you’ll see in the next post, and she loved it. I just think I’ll always be a bit more partial to this one myself…
