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Saturday, January 30, 2010

Hoopskirt Making

A hoopskirt is essential for civil war reenactment costumes and some Renaissance costumes. It can also be used to give fullness to a wedding dress. While premade hoopskirts are available, it is much more cost efficient to make your own.

You will need:
2 flat strips of metal, no more than 2 inches wide. Should long enough to make hoops 120" and 100"
Long pieces of scrap fabric
Strong yarn or string
Needle and thread

This is a 2-tiered set of hoops, and is fairly easy to make. To begin, you will need some long, flat strips of metal. For my skirt I found some discarded strips that had previously been used to bind stacks of lumber. I have also seen such strips in hardware stores such as Lowe’s.

Bend one strip into a circle, measuring it to be 120 inches around. Duct tape the two ends of the strip together. Wind duct tape around the entire strip to prevent it from rusting and staining the gown. (If your strips are made of no-rust metal, you can skip this step). Make a second hoop 100 inches around. Duct tape the ends together, and wind the entire strip with duct tape.

Cut 5 strips of fabric about 4 feet long and 2 inches wide. Tightly sew the the ends of these five strips to the 120″ hoop, evenly spacing them around the hoop.

Cut another strip about three feet long, and tie around your waist, making a sort of belt. Tie the free ends of the five strips to this belt, evenly spacing them. Adjust the height of the five strips until the hoop is several inches above the ground. Untie the belt from your waist, making sure the five strips stay tied to it.

Cut off any excess from the five strips. If you have a mannequin, put the hoops on it. If not, have a friend volunteer to wear the hoops for a moment. Take the 100″ hoop and hold it about a foot and a half above the bottom hoop. Run a piece of yarn through each of the fabric strips and tie them tightly to the 100″ hoop.
If your gown has a thick skirt, the hoop forms won’t show through the dress. If they do, add a petticoat beneath the hoops. This is what the finished product looks like (I sewed my skirt to my hoops for convenience, so I don’t have a picture of just the hoops).

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Anti Cold and Flu Tea

The health benefits of pine needle and rose hip tea are amazing. It's a great midwinter tea to keep colds and flu at bay.

Ingredients:
A half cup of finely chopped pine needles
25 rose hips (if you are using the bigger rose hips from cultivated roses, drop the number to 15 hips)
A tablespoon of honey or cinnamon
1 cup of water
Tea strainer

When gathering your pine needles, be sure you know what you’re gathering as some evergreens are poisonous. I find that needles from the white pine are the tastiest, and these trees are easily identifiable by their long, soft needles. Pine needles are full of vitamin C, Vitamin A and antioxidants. Tea made with their needles is great at relieving chest congestion.

Rose hips are the reddish-orange berries left on the bushes after the flowers have died. They are a tasty fruit eaten on their own, in apple sauces, or even breads. Rose hips are loaded with vitamin C, in fact they contain more of this vitamin than citrus fruits. They also have many anti-inflammatory properties and are therefore good for joint pain and arthritis. Different varieties of roses have different tasting berries, it’s all a matter of personal preference. Wild rose hips that have not been subject to fertilizers and sprays are the most healthy.

Mash the rose hips enough to break them open and drop them into a bowl. Place the chopped pine needles on top. Bring the water to a boil and pour it into the bowl with the needles and the rose hips. Cover the bowl and let it seep about 15 minutes. Strain the mixture through a tea strainer or a piece of cloth. (For a faster brew, just drop the pine needles and the rope hips into the water and then bring it to a boil. It will save seeping time. Once it boils, strain the mixture as before.) Mix in the tablespoon of honey (or cinnamon if you prefer) and enjoy the best natural cold remedy there is.
Do not drink this tea if you are pregnant.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Flock of Starlings

Ok, it's been a while. After the holidays I tend to go into hibernation mode and do all the cleaning and items on my to-do list that get neglected during the busier summer months, so I basically fall off the face of the planet for a few weeks. I still managed to take a few pictures during my posting absence, however, including this shot of a flock of starlings.