Linda Nahra has been involved in theater and costuming for many years. She has been the Director for such plays “Rumors” and “All Because of Agatha”. She worked as one of the West Delaware Speech Coaches for five years, coaching several of her groups and individual events to All State. During the last fifteen years she has been the Costume Director for such plays as “Cinderella” and “Children of Eden” where she designed and created the costumes for the productions. She has also helped at Lamb Theater making costumes for different production two of which include “Flat Stanley” and “The Little Mermaid”. Linda had the honor of making a gown for Queen Catherine and Lady Marion as well as the noble attire for Sir Sebastian and Lord John of Have Court, Will Travel. Linda, being a long time Super Hero/ Sci-Fi fan and history buff, looks forward to seeing all the wonderful characters which will be entered in the Costume Contest for “Times of Future Past”.

Carol started sewing at about age 8 when she made her first costume. She began taking sewing lessons at age 12. Carol attend her first Renaissance faires as a patron about 22 years or so ago, making herself and a friend costumes for the faire. Carol always wanted to be the Queen of Salisbury Faire in Des Moines, but instead, developed the character of the Forking Queen who is beloved by children and adults alike.

Carol says it’s a real toss up as to whether she likes making costumes or performing more, though she wishes she had more time to make costumes. She finds the history behind the costumes interesting and challenging to stay within what was actually period for that time period. Carol enjoys going back and looking at some of her first costumes and comparing them to her work now. She says there is a big difference in the progression of her skills. In Carol’s opinion, to be good, a costumer has to keep challenging themself and never underestimate what they can do.

Jennifer learned to hand sew at aged 7, from her granny who did alterations and tailoring at a local men’s store in her hometown. She spent many wonderful years as a child fashioning Barbie clothes out of fabric scraps, pinning up bed sheets and curtains as costumes for made up plays and stories, or playing in the grove as a princess, a witch, or more commonly, a super-hero (Wonder Woman was her favorite, along with Princess Leia!).In 2005, when she and her son needed garb in order to help man the crossbow booth at a local Renaissance faire, she broke out the sewing machine and began sewing costumes. In 2006, she joined Have Court, Will Travel and began sewing court garments for herself and her son, spending hours pouring over portraits from the 1500s in order to gain an idea of the styles that defined different eras, and reading many books and web sites devoted to historical and couture sewing techniques to help expand her sewing skills. She has given historical fashion talks as part of Have Court, Will Travel, and has enjoyed exchanging knowledge and ideas with fellow costumer enthusiasts in person and online for the past 10 years.

Jennifer serves as the official advisor for the CosplayXConflagration club at Iowa State University, and has worked on various productions at ACTORS (Ames Community Theater) in Ames since 2010, both on stage and backstage, including acting, as stage manager, assistant directer, and in costuming. She is most content when she has a project on the sewing table, another on the dressmaker’s dummy, memorizing lines for another stage production, and going through loads of research materials for yet another era in fashion.