|
Hello so now that you have taken the time to check out what others are wearing in the SCA, checked out portraits, you have made a cut down the ages and now you are ready to go to the next step: Your Budget! I know, but being firstly in the SCA you have so much to get so I always like to discuss how you are going to pay for this without owing the National Debt on Credit Cards.
Budget
There are 3 basic areas when you want to create or gain something they are;
- Money
- Time
- Effort
Without 1 of these 3 you will need to double up on the others, let us say you do not have enough money (and who does?), so you will need to put more Effort and Time into gaining this thing. However sometimes you will not have the time or you can not create said item so you will need to save Money in order for this to work. I tell people to use the 10 - 20% plan. Let us also say each week we make $100.00, to make it easier on my poor computting brain. So each week you can put $10 to $20 dollars away, so that you can then purchase the things you need to for this hobby of ours. One of these choices is whether to do things by your own hand or whether you want to purchase, and at the end of this article I will have many places in which you can purchase furniture, clothing and the like.
Other Places To Gain the Things You Need
Sign up for all fabric stores in your areas for online and in store coupons. Even though many of the fabric companies do not carry a lot of things we use for the fashion fabric, you will still need mock up fabrics, and linings and buttons and sewing things. A 50% off coupon goes a long way to easing the crunch.
- Ask your family: You have birthdays, and holidays, ask them for giftcards from these lovely fabric stores, many online will also do giftcards.
- Shop Thrift Stores; You can find all sorts of things at these places, people are giving away choice irons, drapes, plates. It does mean you have to go several times a month, but with the effort you can also save a lot of money.
- Auctions: You can get some bargins as long as you pay attention to what the description is, I have gotten 10 yards of silk Fabric for as low as $50.00 usd.
- Yard Sales; Again this is hit and miss, yet it can help you with getting your first sewing machine or scrap fabric to test a theory with.
- Etsy Hunt as you wll find all sorts of things within this land of home creators.
Self Create or To Purchase, is this really a question?
Yes, many people doubt their ability to sew, and might not have time in their schedules to create things by hand. I do not do a lot of hand sewing due to the CTS (Carpal Tonal Syndrome) I have in my wrists. Other limitations could apply to others. So if you are one of these? Then here are some sites that might help you:
Sewing Information
For those who would like to venture into making their own costumes, there is more in today's market when it comes to patterns and how to guides than ever. Truly the cost effective method is making things yourself. With $100 sewing machine you can take an additional $100 and have outfits, unlike purchasing in which you are paying for another person to create your piece. So for the $60.00 cost of purchasing a skirt, you can get the fabrics for an entire outfit.
How Tos and Informationals
Early Period
Viking
Roman
1100's to 1200's
1300's to 1400's
Cotehardies
1500's to 1600's
Italian City States
On-Line Fabric Stores
Trim Companies
Pair of Bodies (Corset) Suppliers
Websites or Blogs
|
