Of Corsets Snug

Day 278: Sound & Fury Morris will be performing at the Fairhaven Steampunk Festival in Bellingham this Saturday. It was as good an excuse as any to make a new outfit. Even though I dislike sewing, I enjoy costuming. In this case, I used a commercial pattern (Simplicity 3677), but made a few tweaks to the method of construction which better accommodated the bulk of fabric involved in joining a lined skirt to a heavily lined and interfaced bodice. Nor was the pattern available in my size, so a number of other adjustments were needed to tailor it. Having said that, I now have greater sympathy for those corseted ladies of the Victorian era. Snugged into the bodice, my posture is improved at the sacrifice of my ability to breathe. Dance? I'm glad I don't have to bend over very far to strike my stick on the ground in "Horsham."

Now a question arises: who is this Victorian adventuress? My various personas have their own individual names, generally something to do with "Crow" coupled with a variation of the stage name I used when performing publicly as a Celtic harpist, Margot de Morgan. From this, Capt. Morgan Corbye was drawn ("corbye," "corby," "corbie" and "corbel" are alternate spellings of an Olde English word meaning "crow"). Her identical twin sister is Kat (Katherine)..."Kat" because I have cats. Fictitious actress Katherine Crowe has starred on a theater playbill (ironically, this is the real name of another Morris dancer!), and Kitty Black Crow is a villain on a western "Wanted" poster. The adventuress' steampunk character has not had a chance to develop, although I suspect she is a botanist of some renown. Should I force a name upon her, or as they say, "let the puppy name itself once you've brought it home?" Maybe more time in the corset will settle the issue.