Historical Sew Fortnightly #9 Flora and Fauna: Feathered Collars

The Historical Sew Fortnightly at thedreamstress.com

So my husband and I will be wearing Victorian-esque Fancy dress Black Bird costumes for Myth Masque (think Crow or Raven) and I'd wanted to make some rather striking feathered accessories to go with our costumes.  I loved some of the big feathed collars I ran across online but they seemed very pricey and like something I should be able to do myself.  So I did.  I first tried sewing the feathers but after breaking 3 needles in about 6 minutes I decided to go for the hot glue! 

I separated the feathers and layered them with the black turkey feathers underneath and the irridescent black coque feathers on top.  I sewed feather boning supports for my collar, which is standing, at the center back and about an inch on either side, glued the feathers down to the ribbon then folded it over to cover the ends of the feathers and glued that down.  I glued the marabou on the back of the collar to help cover the supports on the back and to give them extra strength.  The ends of the collar will be tied under my arms at the small of my back. 


For my husband's collar I did the same thing (but not supports) then sewed snaps onto the collar and the underside of the collar of his coat.

Husband's collar front

Husband's collar back

The Challenge: #9 Flora and Fauna
Fabric: No fabric
Pattern: No pattern
Year: Victorian-ish
Notions: strung coque feathers, dyed black turkey feathers, black ribbon, black marabou feathers, thread, feather (aka plastic!) boning and hot glue!
How historically accurate is it?  Not very!
Hours to complete: Maybe 4 for both collars?
First worn: To be worn at the Myth Masque Ball on May 25th.
Total cost: About $50 for two collars.

Comments

  1. These look amazing! Can't wait to see the pictures of the ball and the full costumes!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks! It's less than two weeks away now, eep!

    ReplyDelete

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