I am so incredibly excited to announce that Scarlett’s Corset is now part of Faire Treasures!! For those of you who came by Scarlett’s Corset at Scarborough Renaissance Festival this past season, thank you so much for your support and making us feel so welcomed as the new owners of the shoppe.
Scarlett’s Corset has been bringing high quality silk steel-boned corsetry to the Renaissance costuming and geekery communities for the past seventeen years. Of course, we will continue bringing these beautiful corsets to you! Over the course of the year, I’ll be working closely with the original owner to learn how SC has run, and I will be working toward merging the businesses together.
In the fall, we will be at Texas Renaissance Festival shoppe #44, Scarlett’s Corset. For the 2021 season, expect to only see Scarlett’s Corset items at TRF rather than our Rogue Capes, linen skirts, and hourglass corsets. Keep an eye here on our blog for updates, as well as on our posts to Facebook and Instagram!
Scarborough Renaissance Festival 2511 FM 66 Waxahachie, TX 75167 Weekends April 10 through Monday, May 31 (Memorial Day) Scarlett’s Corset, shoppe 109 www.srfestival.com
Ama-Con Amarillo Civic Center 401 S Buchanan St AMARILLO, TX July 31–August 1 www.libraryamacon.org
Sherwood Celtic Music Gathering 1883 Old Hwy 20 McDade, TX September 11 Iris Adornments & Apothecary, shoppe 120 www.sherwoodforestfaire.com
Texas Renaissance Festival 21778 Farm to Market 1774 Todd Mission, TX 77363 Weekends October 9 through November 28, including Friday, November 26 Scarlett’s Corset, shoppe 44 https://www.texrenfest.com
Steampunk November Amber Inn 492 Cordes Dr. Venus, TX November TBD www.SteampunkNovember.com
It’s been some time since I’ve made an update, so as I try to get back to some kind of normal again, I thought I’d make a “normie” post. (Still in some of my handmade jewelry though!)
This year has already been hard. I lost a family member to Covid at the end of January, and then, just after the funeral, had to deal with the Texas snowpocalypse that knocked out our power for several days. Thankfully we had little to no damage, but we were lucky. I’m extremely thankful for those who were graciously patient while I could not fulfill orders in my normal fashion since I couldn’t print out shipping labels or go to the post office!
I’m now back in my sewing room, cutting out fabric, prepping new projects, and processing orders like normal. My Etsy shop is still ready to ship items only, while I’m accepting all of my current styles as made to order pieces through my website.
Now, with the pandemic ongoing and other obligations coming up soon, I will not be open at Sherwood Forest Faire this coming season. Iris Adornments & Apothecary will be back at Sherwood for the Sherwood Celtic Festival in September!
I’ll be posting more updates soon, so be sure to keep an eye out for those!
Let’s face it, 2020 was a garbage year. Few people will argue that. Every event I would typically sell at in person was shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As a health compromised individual, I’m extremely grateful to every event’s organizers for taking the continuing health crisis seriously. While of course this made it extremely difficult on my little business, I want to thank everyone who purchased online during the past year. It was the most successful online sales year I’ve ever experienced!! So THANK YOU!
Now here it is, 2021. It’s a year of potential change for me, with a significant expansion to what I do on the horizon. It isn’t quite a done deal, there are still more approvals to go through, so I’m keeping my lips sealed at the moment. Here in a few months, I should have quite an announcement, and it is KILLING me to not share. And I need to skip to the next paragraph before I change my mind and spill the beans everywhere.
One of the changes that this year is bringing is an update to how my website versus my Etsy shop will run. My husband and I have been working behind the scenes to do upgrades here on FaireTreasures.com but with those upgrades come side effects. Effective immediately, FT.com will only accept orders from North American addresses. If you are outside of North America (I’m looking at you Australia) and you want to purchase, send me a message through the contact form, and I can email you an invoice for your order. Select items will not be available outside of North America, and I will inform you if one of the items you request is one of them. Or, you can place your order for my handmade items through my Etsy shop. Faire Treasures on Etsy will remain open for international orders, aside from locations who have passed restrictive postal regulations.
An announcement I can make at the moment…
My current stock of Alchemy Gothic jewelry has been added to the website! For those who don’t recall, I became an authorized dealer of Alchemy jewelry in 2018. That was an extremely difficult year, as I lost my sister very suddenly in an accident, so online updates weren’t high on my priority list. Today, I’ve added every Alchemy item I currently have available to FT.com! Several of these pieces are last chance items, so don’t dwell on them for too long.
Aside from this, I know I’ve been promising for years to have a properly updated stock of corsetry available here at FT.com. Each and every time I think I’m closer to accomplishing that goal, it falls further and further away from me. (There’s an unfortunate amount of logistics involved in it that my brain likes to ignore.) Currently, I’m in the process of making custom dress forms to photograph the current inventory on. And of course, one of the materials I need to complete those forms is now missing in transit with no estimated delivery date. My current best estimate is late February for corsets to be available here again. I know, I know, I’m going to end up with my foot in my mouth again for saying that if/when it doesn’t happen.
Another item soon to come here at FaireTreasures.com are blouses by Dare to Wear! Made in California, DtW blouses are a great modern option for adding a bit of historical flare into your everyday wardrobe. With beautiful jewel toned fabrics and black lace accents, they’re a great option to wear with skirts and corsetry, or switch it up with jeans and a leather jacket! These blouses are created with an empire waist making them flatting on a wide variety of body types. Watch for an announcement on their availability!
As the pandemic continues, my husband and I are hunkering down in our home here in North Texas. I hope you all had a wonderful safe New Years, and hopefully we’ll get to see y’all at events again soon.
Sherwood Forest Faire – Cancelled due to Covid-19 1883 Old Hwy 20 McDade, TX Weekends February 29 through April 19 & Friday, March 20 Iris Adornments & Apothecary, shoppe 120 www.sherwoodforestfaire.com
Ama-Con – Cancelled due to Covid-19 Amarillo Civic Center 401 S Buchanan St AMARILLO, TX August 1–2 www.libraryamacon.org
Sherwood Celtic Music Gathering – Cancelled due to Covid-19 1883 Old Hwy 20 McDade, TX September Iris Adornments & Apothecary, shoppe 120 www.sherwoodforestfaire.com
Steampunk November – Cancelled due to Covid-19 Amber Inn 492 Cordes Dr VENUS, TX November 13-15 www.SteampunkNovember.com
Sherwood Forest Faire
1883 Old Hwy 20
McDade, TX
Weekends March 2 through April 21 & Friday, March 22
Iris Adornments & Apothecary, shoppe 120
www.sherwoodforestfaire.com
ArlingCon 2019
E.H. Hereford University Center
300 University of Texas At Arlington
ARLINGTON, TX
June 15
www.arlingtonlibrary.org/arlingcon
Ama-Con
Amarillo Civic Center
401 S Buchanan St
AMARILLO, TX
August 3–4
www.libraryamacon.org
Sherwood Celtic Music Gathering
1883 Old Hwy 20
McDade, TX
September 7
Iris Adornments & Apothecary, shoppe 120
www.sherwoodforestfaire.com
Steampunk November
Amber Inn
492 Cordes Dr
VENUS, TX
November 8–10
www.SteampunkNovember.com
This past weekend, we opened up our newly added shoppe doors for this year’s Sherwood Forest Faire season! It was a rainy opening weekend with a chill in the air, perfect for garbing up and having a great time. We have seven more weekends ahead of us, come out and enjoy the festival!
I’ve only recently been introduced to these sisters’ music, and I love their version of the Pirates of the Caribbean music! Check them out, and subscribe to their YouTube channel to get updates when they add new videos.
Back when I was going to school at Amarillo College (2004-2006 range), my Mom and I learned about a little Celtic festival in Amarillo. It didn’t have a lot at the festival, but we found a clan represented there that included last names of our extended family. I bought my first tartan accessory there, a sash in Thompson red. With my family’s general fascination with our heritage, I wanted to have an outfit that reflected some it, and well, I’ve never really liked the look of the other clan tartans we can identify with. So while I found patterns that were inspiration for my Celtic garb, every time I tried to find the Thompson tartan I wanted it was far more than I could afford.
Every now and again I’d search for sources and always come up with the answer that it wasn’t going to happen. But just a couple of weeks ago I searched again, and found an ebay listing for a handmade woman’s kilt in that tartan that was a little small for me, but I had never seen a ready-made women’s kilt in the Thompson tartan. The seller didn’t specify the clan tartan and didn’t know much about it, so I got an amazing deal. I always shy away from altering ready made pieces because I feel like I’ll be wasting a perfectly good thing if I screw it up. I was nervous about taking apart something I considered to be quite precious and putting it back together the way I wanted it. I got it, cleaned it carefully, and last night I reworked it into what I’d wanted for the last decade.
Before altering, the kilt was sized a little small for me and definitely would not be comfortable under a corset like I plan to wear it. After giving it a careful cleaning (soaking in the bathtub with no agitation, rinsing it with the shower-head, and allowing it to drip dry overnight), I started by taking off the buckles, removed its straps, and took the front panels out of the waistband. I didn’t need to pull the whole thing out from the waistband, since I just needed the fronts to be pleated down. The pleats are just about an inch wide, and opened up the front enough to let my linen skirt show underneath. After the buckles were removed, I needed to add on a closure. Thankfully I had one pair of hook and eye pieces left from some of the first Renaissance skirts I’d made. The waistband extends and overlaps the front and now stays on by the hook-and-eye clasp.
I’m excited to wear my new kilt/overskirt to this year’s Sherwood Forest Celtic Gathering outside of Austin, Texas! The gathering will be happening this coming Saturday, September 10.
I’m sad to say my time in Austin is over for now, and I’ve moved up to Grand Prairie, Texas. Of course one of my priorities is getting my sewing space set up, and it’s coming along nicely! It will still be another few days before I can really work in there to get a friend’s order for her trips to the Texas Renaissance Festival done. With Hallowe’en only a week away, I’m also doing what I can to decorate the house! My specifically Hallowe’en decor is on the minimal side since I’ve been in apartments for the last nine years, though I have a good amount of dark items that will be used as general decorating for the house for everyday.
Once I’m set up again, I’ll be reopening my Etsy Shop for ready to ship items, and afterward will be getting all the made to order items back up once my sewing room is fully functional. (For whatever crazy reason, I didn’t label the box that my thread ended up in. Whoops!) I will do my best to update this little ignored blog of mine again, which shall include a project I’ll be tackling next week! I’ll be building a computer desk for one of my work spaces that includes antique Singer brand treadle sewing machine legs. Just one of those little things that I’ve imagined doing for the last few years, though not until now did I have the space to do it.
As I get back to sorting through boxes (and making a huge mess), I’ll leave y’all with a picture of how my boyfriend proposed to me in August!
