I’m back from the Jane Austen retreat. Every part of my body hurts, I’m exhausted, but I had such a good time. I wanted to share a little about the weekend while it was fresh on my mind.

My mom and dad kindly offered to take my four youngest kids the week before the retreat so I could spend those days finishing my sewing projects for the weekend. My teenage kids were home. I split my time between them and continuous sewing.

I finished a waistcoat for the Chaplain, who would be joining us for the first activity of the weekend, finished bending the brim of his straw top hat, and hemmed a new silk sash. I made an 18th banyan/wrapping gown, an orange silk reticule, a new linen shift, started a white Swiss dot gown (which I worked on all weekend and is still unfinished), and worked to get a pair of wrap stays ready to go.

The wrap stays were a project I’d started months ago. The stays had spent a long time in sewing time-out until I finally figured out how to make it work and was able to get them mostly put together before leaving. My goal was to do all the machine sewing on each project so that I could finish any hand sewing while I was at the retreat.

Looking back, considering the amount of sewing I set out to do, I did really well. But I didn’t manage my stress very well that week. I was constantly flipping out about the pace I was maintaining (not fast enough!) or the amount I was getting done (not enough!).

The one thing that made things better was I started the audiobook for Dune, which isn’t related to anything but goodness, the book clears up so many things the movie didn’t explain, and with a full cast, music, and background sounds, the audio production is fantastic and got me through the week.

On Friday, I packed almost every item of Early Regency clothing I’ve made or collected. After sewing all morning, I threw on a 1790’s outfit, and headed out the door at the last possible moment. The only modern clothing I packed was underwear (Regency ladies didn’t wear it), my Birkenstocks, and a few pairs of socks (which I never wore). I also brought my bathing suit.

I figured if I wanted to costume all weekend, it would be easier to do it if there wasn’t an easy out.

Our first evening began with a boat ride on Lake George. I made it to the carpool for the boat launch at the last possible second. The chaplain joined us at the dock, pulling it just before the boat was set to leave, looking fantastic in the costume I’d prepared for him.

I’d never seen so many people in costume in person in my life. Before the Chaplain got there, I had started meeting a couple of people, then spent my time on the boat mostly talking to him. Despite the stimulation of a man shouting into the mic about how much each waterfront house we passed was worth, mixed in with some historical facts about the lake, we were able to have good conversation, and it felt like a date.

Here’s my first post on this gown. This time, I wore a different chemisette, no sash, a coral necklace instead of pearls, and a red turban rather than the beret cap I wore last time. I also added a bit of length to the dress, which turned out to be too much, so I’ll be putting in another pin tuck at the hem before I wear it out again.

After the boat ride, the ladies headed back to our retreat venue, Wiawaka, and the Chaplain headed home. It rained while we were on the boat, and my packing method (throwing everything in the car willy nilly) left something to be desired. I struggled with my luggage to my lodgings (the most remote on the property). A woman helped me as I dropped gowns and accessories all the way down the rain-dampened trail. She got me up to my room in one piece, and we discovered we were both there for the Jane Austen retreat and she’d be rooming next door to me.

She was one of the first costumers I met, but not the last. The dinner, followed by a Regency social with games and activities, were more opportunities to meet and talk to the other women at the retreat. During the social portion of the evening, I was put in charge of helping other women learn how to wrap Regency style turbans. I’ve been wearing head wraps for several years now, so I’m pretty comfortable with them and had a lot of fun helping the ladies style their wraps.

That first night, I got to admire costumes up close, discover construction techniques and identify patterns and fabrics. I sewed on and off throughout the evening, finishing up my wraps stays so that I could wear them the following day. I went to bed close to ten, completely exhausted by all the activity.The following day was a full program, starting with breakfast at eight. I put on my outfit for the day, based on a painting of two West Indian seamstresses from the late 1790’s. I had a presentation on the Regency silhouette that afternoon and was really nervous about it. I was surrounded by people who were passionate about the subject of costuming, many of whom handily surpassed me in research and knowledge. Almost half the women at the retreat had some costuming experience.

When it came time for my talk, I was following a wonderful woman who radiated kindness. She did a presentation on Jane Austen era clothing in relation to letters from Austen’s estate and clothing mentioned in her books. My talk was specifically about the silhouette of the clothing, demonstrated with the costume pieces I’ve made. My anxiety quickly abated, with a warm audience reception and active engagement in my talk. The half hour, which I was sure I could never fill, flew by.

That afternoon, I swam in the lake, hung out on the porch of my lodge with some new costuming friends, then headed to dinner. On my way down for the meal, I asked a woman from another group to help me with my costume. We began talking and it turned out one of the women in the group with her was part of the same prayer group as the Chaplain!

We watched the 1995 Sense and Sensibility that night, and while all the actors were the wrong ages for their parts, the story is a good one, and costumes were nice, too. Of course, young Hugh Grant. Also, the hats.I haven’t spent this much time interacting with humans outside my family in years, so I fell asleep quickly that night. The last day, we had activities all morning, ended the day with high tea and plans for the following year, then most people headed for home.

I found moments throughout the day to connect with different women from the group whom I hadn’t had a chance to talk to, and more than one expressed how good it was to geek out about costuming together. It was such a warm and affirmative sisterhood.

I jumped in the lake for one last swim and and had an interesting conversation with another couple of women in the water, again a serendipitous connection that was made because we all (three healthcare workers) happened to be at the same place at the same time.

After I hopped out of the water, I had only two items of clean clothing left after a hot and humid weekend: my last linen shift, and my banyan, which it had been too hot to wear earlier in the weekend. I went into the bathrooms with no towel, telling myself if there was soap in the public shower, I’d wash up before getting changed. There was a bottle of handsoap in the shower, so I went for it, then shook off as best I could before pulling on the clean clothes while I was still dripping.

I got into my car feeling fresh and happy, and then couldn’t get my GPS to work due to our remote location. I was in such a good mood I figured I’d just wing it – I was pretty sure I could get back to the highway on my own. I made it back to Lake George, then got on 87N, which is how I usually get home when I’m away. I drove north for a full hour in the wrong direction before I gradually realized my mistake. The views had been getting progressively more beautiful, with sweeping mountain views, soaring pines, layers of blue hills in the distance, and the golden light of the setting sun.

It dawned on me that if I were headed back home, the views should be getting worse, not better, and the exit numbers should have been going down, not up. Jah was watching out for me, though – right after I fully realized what had happened, there was a place to pull off. I got off to fire up my GPS and assess the damage, and the pull-off fed right back onto the highway in both directions, so I didn’t have to drive another ten miles in the wrong direction to correct my mistake.

However, a one hour drive had now become three, and while I was comfortable in my shift and banyan, I was very hungry and getting tired. I drove the beautiful hour south, then the regular hour south, munching on the last of the snack bites I’d brought with me to the retreat.I made it home safely, and I’m pretty sure I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

I’d love to tell you more about the costumes I wore on the retreat, but I took almost no pictures while I was away. Hopefully, I’ll get some photos of how I re-accessorized my existing gowns and be able to share my new makes at some point, too.