A quick new (old) bonnet

Sorry for the complete silence over here!  I've been working on a lot of small projects for both work and play and haven't had any time or energy to post them.

Here's my silly SADD project - I uncovered, recovered and decorated what once was a pink dupioni drawn bonnet and turned it into something a little more befitting its high fashion shape.  I used a bit of silk remnant, some pieces of antique lace I thought I'd never find a use for, and the silk ribbons I made to put on my not-entirely-1860-appropriate straw bonnet form.  The result is a delightfully silly piece of high-fashion headwear that I can't want to wear to Douglas Day v. 3!

Please excuse my nasty cold/allergy face

And of course I forgot to take out the basting stitches.... psssht

If you have any questions about the bonnet, please ask away!

In the interim, I'm working on constructing a big 1870s gown with all the trimmings and ruffles for a friend, and after that, who knows what I'll be doing?

Probably a lot of muslin caps, if we're being honest.

(I did get a summer job at Vogue, though.  30% employee discount.)

Hope all my readers are having a lovely (warm) summer!

The performance gown (of inappropriate shift-flashing)

One of the lovely women who attends our school's English Country Dance club was organizing a JASNA meeting focused on the musical aspects of Jane Austen's works, and she graciously allowed me to play a few period harp pieces for it along with the rest of the presenters and performers.

The problem being that my only good early 19th century dress, my yellow and green print, was in a storage unit in the northern suburbs of Chicago.  It was time for a new dress!  So I cannibalized a yellow wool petticoat to make a dress that really needs some structural changes before I wear it again.  But the music, dancing and lovely company at the event made up for my sartorial mistakes!

I used this gown as inspiration for the construction - I liked the gathered detailing on the bib, and I wish that I had had more time to do similar sleeve and hem decoration.  The pattern is loosely adapted from Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion - it went together very smoothly and is pretty adjustable.

I had a couple weeks to get it done, but I procrastinated and ended up making it in a few days. It is tropical weight wool lined partially with linen, sewn with silk and linen thread.  I need to re-make the skirt and possibly the sleeves, but the dress was comfortable and sturdy and I liked the color.

Photo credit to Emma C - I take full responsibility for my phone camera being terrible

 

Here's a better picture of my hair pre-preformance, when the curls were still fresh.

I do not know what personal projects I'll be doing in the near future.  But Douglas Day is definitely going to happen this summer - I'm hugely excited about that - as well as various and sundry other Civil War events that I'd like to get out to.

I hope you all have a lovely spring!

Purple Spott'd Dress

I have finally had a chance to post a finished project that isn't a cap!  Unfortunately, I won't have pictures of me wearing it for a while (excepting ones of me working.)  But as I do not know when I will actually be able to get photos, here are a few of the finished product spread out over my lovely floor.

Fabric:  Burnley and Trowbridge cotton muslin, lined with linen and sewed with linen thread.  The tucker is silk organdy.

Period: Early 1770s

Time:  About a week, discounting the time that it took me to get the sleeves and shoulder pieces put on correctly (finally fixing a fitting issue that I have wrestled with for months)

Final verdict:  I have worn this gown several times and have grown very fond of it.  The fabric is light and malleable, and the purple print is beautifully crisp.  I want to make a nice new white kerchief and apron set with a crisp breast bow and a little chip hat for it - it looks so simple and clean!  

I had a few fitting issues, ranging from my failed attempts at altering for size, misbehaving back pieces, sleeve settings and the like.  Luckily, the fabric has stretched a bit to forgive my mistakes.  I did raise the neckline, as most of the dresses I've made from this pattern have been a little low for my tastes.  Next dress I make I'll make the bodice longer in the downward direction, as well.  I might make self fabric cuffs or ruffles with my 1/2 yard of extra fabric, but we'll see about that!

I'm making up something useful out of that terrible wool jacket and petticoat set I made a while back, but until such time as I am able to wear it I will probably be focusing on making smaller projects and expanding my repertoire of skills.  I hope you all are staying warm and having a good winter!

A 1950s dress

The wool that I initially had gotten for the riding habit ended up being a lycra blend, so I didn't want to use it for 18th century.  Now I probably have enough wool blend for the rest of my life.

One of my favorite vintage dresses is a plaid 1950s dress that I got in mint condition with the tags still on it, and I feel irresponsible for wearing it instead of preserving it for posterity.  So - I made a similar dress so I could wear it without guilt.

These are not very good quality, sorry!

Just the Basics:

Year: 1950s, I presume

Pattern:  My bodice block

Notions:  Wool blend from fashionfabrics.com, zipper from the costume shop

Time: About a week even.

Verdict?: I should have lined it because it's a little bit itchy, but I can always wear a camisole under it.  One of the arms is not placed well in the armscythe, so it pitches the back forward; the zipper is also, true to my form, not very well set in.  But it is very cute and does its job well!  I hope to one day put some more trim on it, I think it looks a little plain.  Maybe some thin black velvet to head the tucks and eyelets on the neck and sleeves, like the original.

I've recently gotten my hands on some of B&T's new printed fabric (they're absolutely lovely folks! wow!) as well as some silk organza, which is going to be a few new caps and ruffles.  So that ought to give you all a pretty good idea of what's coming down the pike!  I hope you all have a lovely new years.

A long overdue riding habit

This, unfortunately, is the one case where waiting too long to finish something only diminishes my pleasure in it being done.  But it is perfectly alright now, and I can move on to the projects I put on the back burner!

What is it:  A riding habit from approximately the late 1760s.

Materials:  Wool from Burnley and Trowbridge.  In retrospect a plain weave was a poor choice; I think a twill/gaberdine would have been stiffer.  But there was a whole fiasco involving fashionfabrics.com, and I just wanted a dealer I could trust.  The lining is linen except for the silk taffeta skirts, the thread cotton, the brass buttons also from B&T.

How long it took to make:  A very long time, working in increments.  I could have been done in a week or two, but I dragged it out until the end of the semester.  I also wore the petticoat for the halloween tours, and it was quite warm indeed.

Construction:  Roughly based on the Janet Arnold pattern, as well as a large cross-section of later 18th century riding habits.  I debated making the front one-piece, but ultimately decided to keep it as a separate bodice and skirt; I took the round collar off last minute because it kept flipping up.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to take any construction pictures, but oh well.

Verdict?: I wish I had made this out of a twill so that the bodice wouldnt've been quite so disastrously wrinkled.  And the collar needs a little bit of work, and the hem could be taken up a few inches.  But overall it's surprisingly comfortable and cozy and I love the color and the buttons.

Secondary verdict:  It's sturdy enough to climb in!

With the boo....

I'm not quite sure what my next project will be, but I'm almost done with a 40's dress I made from my rejected wool and I have plenty of colonial/regency projects planned for local events and for when I get home for break.

I hope all my followers have a happy holiday!

A simple riding habit shirt! With terrible photo quality.

Unfortunately, none of the detail shots turned out, and I still, through misunderstandings, do not have my own camera.  So here are two very grainy shots of my new riding habit shirt, made with the advice of The Diary of a Mantua Maker and Reconstructing History.

 The pattern is made up in the same manner as a man's shirt.  The fabric is super lightweight linen from fabricmart.com (I ordered some '100%' wool there... it was not so.  That was a fiasco.)

The body piece was 27" wide and 32" long, the sleeve gussets 5x5" and the shoulder gussets 3x3" and the sleeves 25x13.  The cuffs and neck close with thread dorset buttons, and the entire shirt is hand stitched with linen thread.  The back is gathered into a waistband that wraps around to the front.

I'm very happy with how this turned out!  I only wish I'd made the neck a bit wider and the sleeves a touch fuller.  And I wish I'd brushed my hair for the pictures.

At some point I will add removable linen ruffles to the cuffs.  Also, I had way too much fun starching that collar.  I can't wait to try this on with a cravat under a jacket!

And my silly cap storage method:

Having fun on campus.

Hopefully I'll get my own camera soon.  Until then, that pleated cap is still for sale, and I have a few fun projects coming up! (as a riding shirt necessitates a riding habit.)

Buy this cap?

Ha!  I am sewing.  A little bit. I wanted another silk cap because I had a lot of the fabric left, and since all of my other caps were ruffled I thought it might be nice to put the time and energy into a pleated one.

But now that it's made... eh.  I don't like it as much as the first one.  But you can buy it if you want!  $35 for a hand-sewn, period correct silk cap with a very wide ruffle.

 (Yes, the photo quality is bad....)

Some of my inspiration.

Anyway, I have a real, substantive project coming up.  Hopefully.   Hopefully by then I can use my own camera and not Professor W's.