Shields and Capes, I Stitch

So, what does Coach Mousie do in her off-season when she is not covering hockey (other than going a tad stir crazy missing her Jets and her Bisons)?

Well, from April until the end of July, I was finishing up my short film called TRIBUTE. I promise that I shall write about that later, but for now, I thought I would write about my present creative outlet, that is, SEWING!!!

I have been madly cutting fabric all night long, creating cosplay items to sell. These wares shall be available at the annual Swords & Sabres Medieval, Viking, and Pirate Festival this coming Saturday, August 18.

Several people have asked me at past cosplay cons that I've been to as a vendor, "Why don't you make garments for humans?" as normally, I make cosplay for pets. However, seeing this is a festival which is aimed at families, and shall be held outdoors, venturing forth into this relatively unknown area for myself shall be a challenge I am quite willing to try.

To that end, I was up before dawn on Monday morning, putting some of my other things into storage, and swapping them out for a bunch of my fabrics, which I knew would make into nice, lightweight hooded capes, as well as some denim (which was called a "tiger stripe" denim but looks more like wood grain) to create some soft play shields for the children (and I suspect, some adults) to use while duelling.

It is now Tuesday morning, 3:44 AM Manitoba time, and I am proud to say, I just finished cutting out the pieces for seven childrens' hooded capes and six adults' hooded capes. I have already cut out five others, so I know I will be busy sewing like a crazy thing come daylight.

Earlier in the evening, I also cut out nine shield covers, with plans to cut out a few more sometime later in the day, after I have some sleep.

Some people may ask me, after knowing that I have been busy working on a short film all summer for university, why in the heck would I not take a break?

Well, that's simple. Sometimes a change is as good as a break, and anyone who knows me well understands I have always been very creative. I love sewing.

Also, getting the opportunity to do this for a festival such as this is a way for me to experience parts of my heritage —as my maternal grandfather, Berent, was the first generation Canadian born in his immigrant family from Norway, and my maternal grandmother, Louise, was from St. Ives, Huntingtonshire, England, and was always proud of English traditions such as the Royal family and tales of knights.

And the nicest thing about this festival is that it is FREE, and open to ALL AGES. There shall be some sword demonstrations for the adults, and also, activities for the children. There shall be other vendors there besides me, but this is what I shall be bringing to the festival: my table, with its bright pink plaid tablecloth on it, with several hooded robes and play shields available to purchase.

Chances are pretty high, I may be creating a cosplay for this event, but the only way to know for sure is to come out and see who is there! The festival takes place at Coronation Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The event runs from 11 AM to 6 PM.