A new poofy cap

I'm hoping, at this point, that by rite of the sheer volume of my wardrobe I could get an internship at he Margaret Hunter shop in Williamsburg.  And what does every aspiring seamstress need?

A dormeuse cap!

Complete with terrible tee shirt, messy 30 second hair and feverishly red cheeks

The pained grin/grimace

I found a 1 yard x 54" remnant of silk organdy at Vogue and I snatched it up, then used my basic pattern, with a slightly larger caul and a wider back piece (about 2" wider, to get more puff.)  The ruffle is selvedge edge, and the quilling (bloop bloops is definitely the technical term) is half selvedge and half hemmed.  The whole thing is hand sewn, as usual.

Just the facts:

Era: probably later 1770s

Materials: Silk organdy, linen thread, cotton twill tape

Time: About three days = 6 or 7 hours

Pattern:  Kannik's Corner

Verdict:  I really love this cap, and I like seeing how my
work has improved.  The fabric is a lot stiffer and a lot less brilliant white than I thought it would be, but by hair is dark and the stiffness means it holds a fold well, which is nice for roll-hemming.  I also just like the idea of wearing a silk cap - it feels so luxurious.

Look how sheer the fabric is!

 My teeny rolled hem

 Constructed the period correct way - all one layer.

And speaking of luxury, my cheap bottom-of-the-barrel beige jubilee linen/cotton blend came in the mail, so at least I'll have one more underpetticoat/work skirt.  More stuff to work on while sick.

A marginal improvement?

So!  I have finally almost finished my new pair of handsewn stays.  I know, it's been a while, although I do have several excuses (involving work, an amazing Wauconda, and an unexplained illness) as to why the binding is wonky and the lining very much not applied.  But I'll save those for later.

On to the trainwreck!

 

My first two pairs of stays were noticeably much, much too large.  And I'm not one to measure twice before I cut once (or measure at all, really) so I did some considerable pattern alteration and made the natural assumption that it was going to stretch with wear.  (Which it hopefully will, because...)

 You could drive a semi through the back gap.  I blame this mostly on my hip-to-waist ratio.

 Despite the lack of lining, the odd binding and the omnipresent, inescapable bosom crush, I really do like this pair of stays.  It takes about half an hour to lace up in all but it looks very neat and it does give me a nice figure without making me look like a prepubescent lad like my old pair.

Teeny tiny stitches!

Just the facts:

Era: 1770s, presumably

Pattern: J P Ryan's strapless stays, heavily altered

Fabric:  Wool gaberdine outer layer, linen interlining, linen thread treated with beeswax, cotton twill binding (though I want to replace it with doe or kid leather at some point) wooden reeding and a few pieces of flat steel for the back and poly satin ribbon (the cotton tape broke....)

Time:  About three weeks, on and off

Cost:  None!  All from the stash.

Thoughts:   One of the seams is ripping at the bottom because I tried to pull it in over my hips.  That's really all I have to say.  If anybody notices that I am wearing it too high or too low please tell me - I'll wear it a bit and see if it molds to my body and if the gap is still that large I'm going to split it and put in two small panels to help even it out.  But!  Comfortable, and it fits much better.

What I was Watching: Stepford Wives, two seasons of The West Wing, Hannibal, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, listening to WTNV

Edit:  This is the same shirt I wore when I took pictures of my old pair!  I'm not even going to Dartmouth (it is a really comfy shirt though.)

A simple slat bonnet

Sorry about the radio silence!  I've been traveling on vacation, preparing the house for sale and working on my stays without the benefit of long school hours to bore me into working on them.  Also, reading and researching.

But I do want to keep myself unburnt at Wauconda this weekend, so I shipped up a slat bonnet from the SA pattern (it literally took less than two hours) with the blue-and-white-ticking-that-will-not-die and the cut up cover of a sketch pad.  It's my own little fortress of solitude, and it's awful comfortable.

Hopefully the stays will be done within a week or so, but I'm not betting on it...  I've got such bad summer sewing dysphoria.

There's more to being a female reenactor than cooking...

Thanks to the ever-giant Tim for the photos (and also... the entire kit...)

... and that's all I have to say.

Well, not entirely.  I finished a shortgown for this event as well as completely redoing my chemise sleeves.

Photo credit to Rory J. S.

Photo credit to Tammy B

Now, to finish a whole new pair of hand-sewn stays.  At least I can have some pleasant daydreams about shooting frenchman with a malfunctioning musket (which, I might add, is absolutely terrifying if the first time you use it is on the field of battle.)

An evening of risque stockings

Or, de-staching slowly and responsibly.

I found some leftover silk from my blue regency ballgown while reorganizing and decided to make myself a new corset, since my current one is getting a lot of use so I can't really consider it my 'fancy' one anymore.

 I realized too late that my chemise (which should be replaced soon) was inside out.  The more you know...

 I'm definitely not the sort who usually puts a lot of time and effort into undergarments (as far as I'm concerned, nobody's going to see them, so why bother?) but I had a lot of time and white thread on my hands because of summer break, as well as a few older corsets that I cannibalized for boning, so I went with it.

Just the Details:

Period: 1855-1860

Pattern:  Loosely based on Kay Gnagey's Simplicity pattern, but I altered it considerably.

Materials:  Silk taffeta, cotton coutil, cotton twill tape, spiral boning

Time:  About four days (the quilting took forever.)

Final Verdict:  I love this corset!  I'm so happy I put the time into making it pretty!  The only change to my old one that I made was to make it two layers and to lengthen the pattern by about 3/4".  It worked out really well, and it's a lot more comfortable than my other one, even though it's a bit tight around the bust.  However, it wasn't until I was almost done that I realized... I forgot to take the tuck out on the front!  I will probably go back and put a bone there or something to keep it from wrinkling at the waist (see below.)  I am also, as I learned, an abysmal top-stitcher, so you can't look too closely at the seams because they're not all in straight lines.

 I tried to do one of the 'risque victorian boudoir daguerreotype' poses, but the car in the background ruins the affect.

 I also want to go back and do a lot more flossing like on the originals.  c;

I've also been finishing up my camp impression for my Revwar event this weekend.  Let's hope that I remember to bring the camera this time!

I guess that's all done and over with

I did finish my graduation underbodice in time, thankfully (all by hand, because I was too lazy to get my sewing machine out from the detritus of the basement) and was able to wear it to graduation.  Luckily the dress still fit, as small as ever - unfortunately, I tore it off my body as soon as physically possible (it must have been over 90 degrees, and it was a two hour ceremony) so I don't have many good shots of it.

Courtesy of our local newspaper - a picture of a picture.  (Hi, Mrs. J!!!!!!!)

I already did the explanation of this dress earlier in the year, and the underbodice is about as plain as it gets.  The whole ensemble was surprisingly cool despite the aforementioned temperature.

Now I'm working on cleaning up my sewing spaces, as my parents are moving house as soon as I leave for W&M, as well as a few small projects - a Revwar shortgown and, with some lovely teal silk I found, a new fancy 1860s corset.

And for Adi, the questions regarding the Liebster blog award:

1. What period was your first love or your introduction to historical costuming?  Wanna share a picture of your first costume?  Ahhh, my first love was definitely the 1830s.  I loved antebellum political history so much that I wanted to be there in as many ways as I could, so I started off with dreams of gigot sleeves and poke bonnets.  The best dreams of mice and men, you know.  I didn’t sew my first costumes; my mom is a lovely sewer and at the time was not working full time, so she did a lot of my early clothes – I started to take over bit by bit until I was sewing them all.

All poly brocade, all the time.

2. What period do you find most difficult?  Why?  I think that the 1770s closures are immensely frustrating. I usually end up deciding to just pin it closed, which makes the perfectionist in me wince (but it is period!)

3. How have you balanced school work and costuming and a social life?  Well, my teachers have been very kind about letting me sew in class, which helps with the schoolwork (that’s an easy 4-5 hours of work a day.)  I’m also a pretty sedate person by nature so it isn’t like I’m missing out on wild rave parties to sew – I usually only devote maybe 20 minutes a week to sewing outside of class.

4. Looking back at all the costumes you've made, which are you the most proud of?  I’m really proud of my 1840s ballgown.  That was my first all-hand sewn dress.  I just took it apart a few days ago, but wow, my stitches were so neat.

5. Where do you see yourself five years in the future, in regards to costuming?  Hopefully at Colonial Williamsburg in some capacity.  A girl can dream, right?

6. How does your family feel about your hobby?  They pay for it, and that’s really about it.  My mother loves it and shows pictures of my dresses to all of her friends, and my father is a lovely cameraman who thinks that all my dresses are pretty although his grasp on the construction is rather vague.

7. What is one piece of advice you can give to someone new to the hobby that you wish you'd gotten when you were just starting out?  (Or, alternatively, what is one piece of advice you got as a newbie that you'd like to pass on?)  I would have liked to know beforehand to start out with simple dresses made of cotton or linen or wool until I had the skill to work with the good stuff.  I think that if I had saved my good fabrics for now I would have had a lot of better-quality dresses.  Also, iron every seam ever.

8. What is your dream fabric to work with?   I really, really love tropical weight wool.  Something about the feel of functionality mixed with luxury. Mmm.

9. If you are comfortable with doing so, give us one random fact about yourself that you've never mentioned on your blog!  I always drink my coffee in a glass instead of a mug.   I also love economics and talking and reading and learning about economics, especially of early America (turn't up for Nicholas Biddle!)

Thanks for giving me an opportunity to talk about myself! c:

Edit:  This also happened.

 (Happy late Memorial Day!)

My oft-repurposed silk

Despite this fabric's tendency to get horribly, uncleanably stained, I really do love it.  And that's why I took apart my 1840s dress to use the skirt for something that I would actually, you know, wear once in a while.

I like that this picture makes me look a lil' bit like Laura Linney as Abigail Adams.

Once again, as I can't seem to grasp the schematics of hooks and eyes on a 1770s dress, this one closes with pins.  Which probably explains the occasional and grotesque wrinkles.

But it's smooth in this one!

Just the facts:

Pattern: JP Ryan's English/round gown, approximately 1776

Fabric: Silk-faced satin for the dress, linen lining, and a silk brocade for the petticoat.

Time:  An awful long.  I forgot how terrible it is to hand-sew fabric that's this stiff (look at the seeve ruffles stickin' up like icicles.)  Probably 2-3 weeks for both the dress and the petticoat, but I also had loads and loads of APs and finals and recitals to do.

Cost: About $25 for the silk brocade, but the rest is all stash.

Ultimate Prognosis: I really like this dress!  I'm never going to wear it outside, though.  It gets way too dirty way to easily. Just getting it onto my body in a decently clean condition was a trial.  Next time, I am definitely going to summon the courage to do hooks and eyes, and also try to fit the back better.

And I also have a choice photo from the english project that C and I did for our senior final, not only because I made the dress but because I think all of the pictures we took are comedy gold.

(HE'S WEARING NEON BLUE BASKETBALL SHORTS.)

My next project will be an underbodice for my sheer, because graduation is literally next week and I still haven't done that yet.  Until then, friends!
(Also, poll: does that brocade 'look' correct?  I might buy more of it but, you know, not if the pattern is off.)

And some more general exciting news!  The lovely Adi from Basically Creative Me has awarded me with the Liebster Blog Award.  I am so honored to be recognized by such a talented seamstress!  I promise that I'll have the requisite questions, responses and nominations up within the week.