A Unique and Frugal Idea

I've made some dresses I really like. I've also made some dresses that I don't care for all that much. There have also been dresses that surprised me, like this dotted sheer. I was 100% AGAINST white when I decided to make a sheer dress, but being a cheapskate means beggars can't be choosers, so the dress material was bought for $5 a yard, somewhat grudgingly because...it was white.

It turned out to be extremely light and comfortable, and ultra-fashionable feeling! So cool in the dead heat of the summer too; I've worn it to a few events with 90 degrees +. The result was a nice surprise, but there were also a few drawbacks.

1. White in the sun makes you look like a blob. In pictures, and in real life. See below.

2. Apparently bugs are drawn to white. Not that that really bothers me, but people are always coming up and brushing the bugs off my dress.

3. A few people have said I look like Mary Poppins with my red waist. Now, I LIKE the red and white, but I hate associations. Not that I blame them, because it does.

And this wasn't even directly in the sun!

So my idea is to retire this dress, and make a new sheer/light cotton 1860's dress in a less bug-attracting color. Despite having owned this dress for maybe 3 or 4 years, it's in surprisingly good shape. Any stains have been successfully scrubbed out. Rather than keep this dress in my closet, I would love to pick it apart and remake it into something new entirely. The skirt is massive...at least 50% larger than the average 1860's dress. While that's not ideal, it does give me more cutting yardage for a new dress. I also have a yard or two up in my stash. I also made a dress for my sister in this same material, and if I give it a few years she'll outgrow it. Not that I want to wait a few years.....or that it won't be shredded by then.

Because I'm a fashion plate junky, I did some research of fashion plates that were sheer cotton, and with dots. Dots were typically flat-embroidered on in silk thread, rather than a little clipped tuft, so my material isn't perfectly accurate, but oh well. Here are some options in no particular order; keep in mind that each fashion plate has a different way of displaying the spots.

1. An 1880 house (or evening) dress, if of muslin made over a basic silk dress (the one on the right). I'm always a sucker for natural form, although I question whether I have enough fabric.

May 1880 Petersons Magazine

2. A 1799 Morning dress, with a little vest over the top. The length of the train might be limited to the length of the skirt, although by the time the tucks are let out it could be pretty long. I've already done a specifically 1799 dress, so this isn't my favorite option, but I'm leaving it on here because I really like the vest.

November 1799 Ladies Monthly Museum

3. An 1840 dinner or evening dress of white spotted gauze over white satin; the sleeves are black velvet (kind of a weird detail, right?). I feel like they might look like black holes on your arms in person. I could probably eek this out.

 March 1840 Le Follet

4. An 1841 evening dress, with an underskirt made in puffs. This one's a little frilly for me.

February 1841 Ladies Cabinet

5. An 1849 evening dress, with the underskirt of plain tarlatane. Love the basic-ness of it, and I definitely have enough yardage for this one.

February 1849 Godeys Magazine

6. An 1852 evening gown, trimmed with ribbon. I love almost everything about this design. I would probably need to wait, and use the skirt from my sister's dress for the upper layer.

March 1852 Le Moniteur de la Mode

7. An 1870 evening dress, with black bows down one side. I don't love bows, but I like black and white a lot, so there might be a way to come up with a different trim that suits my taste a little more. I would totally do black roses, if I thought they would be accurate. What I like about this one is I definitely have enough fabric, and it would feel a little like making an old dress over in a new style (rather than going back in time). Because of the square cut-bodice, I might not need to make a new bodice but just cut the current one down. Off-the-shoulder necklines typically need adjust and a basic cut-down from a high-necked dress usually doesn't work.

January 1870 Petersons Magazine.

8. An 1867 evening dress for the seaside; skirt and bodice of blue silk, with the overdress in dotted white. This might be a less frugal way of re-working this fabric, since it would only need a little bit, but there would definitely be enough; it's the figure on the right.

August 1867 Godeys Magazine

While I don't really need another evening dress, I wouldn't mind one. I like the variety of eras to choose from; while I've already done Natural form and Regency, I wouldn't mine doing them again, but I also wouldn't mind doing a new era. 

Which one is your favorite?

2016 in Review, and 2017 Goals

I am so behind on blogging, I just want to weep and die. Because I really do love blogging, but getting caught up on 8  months of life has felt kind of overwhelming. So consider this a semi-catch up post, and I might go back and include more details on some of the better stuff.

In March, I completed a Regency ball gown for the Victorian ball for my sister Camille.. The fabric was bought in Sept. of 2015, but the Regency ball was canceled. So it was either make a new Regency ball gown to wear, or wear a Civil War ball gown that was really tight the year before. So the Clio dress was born. Camille actually named the dress, "Clio", but in my mind it has been named the Dress that Never Dies. She's worn it several times already with no thought of ever giving it up. No matter what time frame the event is, this is the dress she wants to wear.

This was the first Regency dress where I put some real thought into the physics (ahem, that really means construction) of the flow. What I mean by that is that, I created each layer of the dress (outer sheer, inner solid layer, and a muslin lining layer) to work together instead of get in each other's way. So on the skirt, the muslin layer is really small, the next layer is sort of medium, and then the outer layer was way larger than both so when she twirled they would not conflict. The bodice was made in a similar way, because I wanted the gathers to lay nicely. The more layers you gather at once, the more it puffs out. Camille specificly said, "I don't want to be puffy." So the inner solid layer and the muslin lining was darted together, and then the outer bodice was hand-gathered over it. This dress was for fun, it wasn't a research project or intended to be accurate in any way.  The reason I never got around to posting about it was because I don't have any pictures of her not moving. But that is the best part; this dress looks the best in motion! So here are a few pictures, just so you have idea (on the left in the below picture)

It just sort of floats behind her when she dances!

Every time I see this picture of Camille (with her back to us in this picture) I start freaking out. LOOK AT THAT DRAPE! Am I allowed to fangirl over a dress I made myself?

Between the months of May and June, I finished a pair of long corded Regency stays.  They turned out great, I'm really happy with them. The style is looser than I prefer (they are supposed to be smoothing, not neccesarily crazy shaping), so they are not my absolute favorite to wear. I like my corsets really tight. It just feels good to me. 

For the tucks and pleats challenge in February, I intended to finish my 1863 green plaid. Instead....it got done in July for Costume College! I hit a wall on the fitting, and just could not bring myself to fix it in a timely manner. In the end, I super love the dress, and it looks amazing! The fitting errors are invisible, which is code for the dress is really really tight. So not neccesarily an error, just a matter of comfort. It was based on a CDV, and it is very, very accurate. The only thing I can think of that is not accurate is I did not bother to research the buttons I used.

During August and September, I made a dotted sheer 1860's dress for Camille. This was her first higher-fashion dress, and she needed a hoop skirt to go under it. So the hoop was made too; that took like an afternoon. This was also the project that got sadly derailed from what I preferred, but only because of conflicting desires. I wanted to re-make this fashion plate, but Camille wanted a jewel-neck and long sleeves. Oh, and no ruffles. And the bretelles are a no-go, they look too babyish. This was also Camille's first dress where I agreed to make a significant drop in the skirt length. She felt super grown up in her longer skirt, hoop and awesome bonnet. The green trim on the skirt and the belt was taffeta from the garment district. These are probably the worst pictures ever....but her hooped silhouette is still super cute.

In October, I started a research project on Neoclassicism, to go along with the Regency gown I wanted to make. I picked an original I liked, and with all the undergarments complete I set out to cross off a bucket list project: hand-sew an entire dress. Normally, a Regency dress takes me somewhere between 20-25 hours. Using entirely different techniques, mockups from scratch, and the handsewing, the projected time frame was 30-35 hours. It took me like 20 hours. Easy peasy! I have plans to get pictures taken professionally, once I am not broke.

 The only reason I include this picture is because of my hair....super awesome tutorial to come. Based on the Kaufman head from the Louvre.

I took a couple commissions this year; that was new, and also fun. I made a pair of Regency stays for a friend, and instead of making it corded I used a stiffer fabric and a little bit more boning. Within the pattern, there is the theatrical version, and the historically accurate corded version. This was a pretty easy 20 hour project; the corded pair I made myself took waaaayyyy longer (like 35 hours, 75% of that on the cording). Next time I will go straight for the theatrical version, although there were a couple differences in the fitting on the theatrical one that were a little weird.

The other commission work I did was I made a riding habit shirt for a side-saddle riding friend, and also a gypsy headpiece for a costume class.

Some goals for next year:

An 1805 day dress

C. 1800-1810 gown from August Auctions

An 1860's green plaid ball bodice

c. 1860 Ball gown from the Museum of Fine Arts

An 1860's Sheer dress with an evening and day bodice

C. 1860 original gown saved from Ebay

A full set of Civil war undergarments 

An 1863 bonnet or hat (my poor head has been bare)

Impart some sewing knowledge to someone else

Make a dress from an entirely new decade. 

On this last one, I'm thinking either natural form (finally!), or 1750's settler to honor my g-g-g-g-g-g-g grandmother Howe, who was kidnapped by Abenaki Indians along with her 5 children.

1881 dress from the MET

Picture depicting Jemima being sold by her (as the story goes) drunk Indian captor to a Frenchman.

Inspiration for #7: Accesories

It was a little overwhelming, trying to decide exactly what I would do, because I am in need of basically every kind of accesory out there. My new, higher fashion white sheer has absolutely nothing to go with it. I have no shoes, gloves, bonnet, belt, purse, hankerchief, earrings, brooch, etc. etc. I could go on, but will spare you. Because of wearing only white, everyone thinks I'm getting married.

So, I kind of just picked one and ran with it. Bonnet. There. That's good. A friend of mine drafted a pattern for a drawn bonnet, which is just a style of bonnet that has canes sewn in to draw up the fabric to shape. Using actual cane isn't high on my priority list, so I'll be using plastic boning. Don't gag on me, I know, but it still works and no one will know...except you.

I have a partially completed drawn bonnet, but decided to recycle the bones from it because I didn't care for the color (cream).

Hours and hours I spent, looking over colors and trying to decide what color scheme to go for. It was agonizing, and anyone who knows me will know how terribly indecisive I am. I finally settled on turquoise and red, although afterwards I wondered if I should have been better about picking colors directly across the color wheel.

The turquoise is for the bonnet, and the red is for another upcoming project...

I haven't decided yet (again) on how exactly I'll decorate it, but I have no idea how much fabric I'll have left over. All I know is that it will only lace up the back, and not the front and back, because there are only so many eyelets I will willingly agree to handsew.

Now, the excruciating wait until the fabric arrives from Thailand....

Historical Sew Monthly #6: Out of Your Comfort Zone Inspiration

Out of Your Comfort Zone: create a garment from a time period you haven't done before, or that uses a new skill or technique that you've never tried before.

Yikes! So many options, yet making up my mind will be the challenge in itself.

First off, I only have undergarments for mid-19th century. If I do try a different era, it's gonna be undergarments, or make an entire wardrobe. Because I'm allergic to making myself another corset of any kind at the moment, and because my budget won't allow it, I'm going to just skip the idea of a very different era for now.

The first thing I thought of when I read 'different technique' was cording. Corded petticoats, corded bonnet, corded corset, etc. etc. 

1820-1830 corset

Another technique I have never tried is quilting. In a garment, anyway; does making a quilt actually count?

Quilted petticoats are so beautiful; the only problem is, quilting was done by hand. I don't know if I actually need one, at the moment, but maybe.

My sister needs a hoop skirt; most of the ones sold are not short enough, as she isn't wearing full length skirts. I've always wanted to try making a cage crinoline, and I have the instructions already. Working with mostly metal for a sewing project is definitely a first! And who wouldn't want a purple hoop skirt?

Out of all the options, I'm thinking a corded corset is what is needed the most. 

Upcoming Plans for Historical Sew Monthly, and Other Various Things.

I have several ideas as to what I might be sewing this year. The historical sew monthly is proving challenging; I have no idea what in the world I will be doing for several of them. Here is the list, and some of my ideas:

• January – Foundations: make something that is the foundation of a period outfit.

Let's see, for January I already finished my corset. Yay! Will make a post as soon as I get pictures....

• February – Colour Challenge Blue: Make an item that features blue, in any shade from azure to zaffre.

I'm thinking a bonnet of some kind. I have a pattern for a beautiful drawn silk bonnet that uses silk dupioni. The slubs disappear in the many folds of the fabric. Or one of those ugly slat bonnets. Ugh. 

Swiss belts are super cute. I really love the idea of this one in blue, but I don't think I should spend the money on something I have no use for at the moment:

• March – Stashbusting: Make something using only fabric, patterns, trims & notions that you already have in stash.

Again, either a bonnet, or something easy like a chemise. I also have a length of dotted swiss which I might use for a white bodice. A burn test is in order....

Oh yeah, I also have all the supplies to make a corset cover/detached lining for a sheer something or another.

• April – War & Peace: the extremes of conflict and long periods of peacetime both influence what people wear.  Make something that shows the effects of war, or of extended peace.

This is a challenge in which I have a couple ideas, but not very good ones. I may end up skipping this one; there are several other things I need to have finished before the May reenactment.

• May – Practicality:  Fancy party frocks are all very well, but everyone, even princesses, sometimes needs a practical garment that you can DO things in.  Create the jeans-and-T-Shirt-get-the-house-clean-and-garden-sorted outfit of your chosen period.

I love the idea of making either a corded corset, or a corded petticoat! I don't have a particular use for them, but saving them for later costuming sounds good to me.

• June – Out of Your Comfort Zone: Create a garment from a time period you haven’t done before, or that uses a new skill or technique that you’ve never tried before. 

I really would love to make something either Regency, 1840's, or Edwardian. Or maybe I could use this challenge for the corded things, if I haven't done that by then. 

The idea of using a new technique isn't exactly novel for me, it's just recognizing it isn't something I've done before will be interesting. If I have instructions it never occurs to me that I haven't done it that way before. 

• July – Accessorize: The final touch of the right accessory creates the perfect period look.  Bring an outfit together by creating an accessory to go with your historical wardrobe.

Oh, options abound! Bonnets, belts, collars, cuffs, you name it! At the moment I have no clue exactly what it will be.

• August – Heirlooms & Heritage: Re-create a garment one of your ancestors wore or would have worn, or use an heirloom sewing supply to create a new heirloom to pass down to the next generations.

Ummmm????  Stumped. 

• September – Colour Challenge Brown: it’s not the most exciting colour by modern standards, but brown has been one of the most common, and popular, colours throughout history. Make something brown.

Nothing comes to mind at the moment, but I like brown well enough to come up with something.

• October – Sewing Secrets: Hide something in your sewing, whether it is an almost invisible mend, a secret pocket, a false fastening or front, or a concealed message (such as a political or moral allegiance).

All of the dresses I have are in need of pockets. That would be really handy for various cell phones and whatnot. I also do invisible hemming all the time. 

• November – Silver Screen: Be inspired by period fashions as shown onscreen (film or TV), and recreate your favourite historical costume as a historically accurate period piece.

Ooohhh, boy! This might be my favorite challenge to dream about. The Downton Abbey costumes never cease to stun. Deciding which one would be the hard part!

Another idea I had was to do something Gone With the Wind-inspired (heaven forbid an exact replica!)

• December – Re-Do:  It’s the last challenge of the year, so let’s keep things simple by re-doing any of the previous 11 challenges.

I'll use this one to finish any challenge I never decided to take on, as nothing else will be due by then.

And one last random plan:

I have been dreaming of a nice dress for forever. I really need one this year; just something cooler than my heavy cotton dress. I think I have decided to go with a barred sheer, but I would like it done by May and it doesn't fit in with any of the challenges. Here are several reference photos of ones I like:

(The one on the right, with long sleeves)

Interesting 1850's Evening Dress

At first glance, I was totally awestruck by this dress. It was so absolutely beautiful! All that delicate detailing; and it is not embroidery. Here is the link to the museum it is in. Zoom in and look at how iridescent it is; the design is blue-green.
So now it begs the question: what in the world is that? Scroll down for the answer.













































Beetle wings. Yep. Someone had the guts to do that. I think I would, if it turned out as lovely as that!

1825 Evening Dress

I saw this dress yesterday and I think I just died. Why are all the dresses I absolutely adore from before the 1860's?
Anyway, I haven't seen a dress from this era that I actually liked. So remember, Regency era was all high-waisted dresses (think Jane Austen films), which was 1800-1820. This particular dress was of the style were waistlines were dropping (by waistline, I mean where the skirt begins); somewhere just in between below the bust and the actual natural waistline, more towards the waistline. Here is the link to the original Metropolitan Museum article, so you can zoom in a little.

So it looks like the skirt is box pleated; I can't figure out why they hemmed the skirt like that, it looks kind of sloppy.
I don't normally like tight sleeves with puffs at the top, but I love this particular one. When you zoom in on the side view, you can see how there is a small band of some kind of pleating just above it. It looks like there is quite a bit of piping around the armhole, and on those side seams on the bodice front.

 The back looks like it closes with hooks and eyes, with a velvet ribbon covering the area where the stitching was made.

I would totally love to make this dress some day! I wouldn't take all that much fabric, because during this era, I think two petticoats was the style to provide only a little fullness.