The Costumer's Closet

Titanic inspirations

2012-01-20T12:13:00.001-08:00

Probably most of you have seen Demode's great Dressing for Dinner on the Titanic article but just in case, it's here.

I don't have all that much of the green silk satin left, and worse still what I do have has been sewn into a partially completed skirt. But after looking at some of the pictures Kendra posted in her article I came to the conclusion that the black and green combo will work. I've got a lot of black silk satin (long, long ago Fabric.com had a sale on black and poison green silk satin and now I'll finally get to use it!) that can be the base of the dress and at the very least I can do bands of green under lace. Plus I do have dupioni that's the same color green that can also be used. So yay! I'm especially pleased because I never was all that satisfied with the Poison Polonaise for some reason, so this gives me a chance to revisit the black and poison green evening wear in a whole new era.

Here's my current pile of potential Titanic gown trims, fabrics etc.

Favorite Patterns

2012-01-18T18:58:00.001-08:00

Just for fun I thought I'd throw this out there: What are your top 5 favorite patterns and why?

While I frankenpattern and draft patterns of my own, I do have a few go-to patterns that I use over and over again. Mostly this is because that particular pattern fits me well or is easy to alter to a bunch of different styles.

1. The J.P. Ryan Jacket pattern. I've made this pattern so many times I've lost count. I've altered it to make late period jackets like a peirrot, I've made long sleeves, short sleeves, sleeves with cuffs and sleeves with flounces. I've made plain versions out of linen and fancy embroidered silk ones.

2. The Period Impressions Polonaise. This is my basic 18th C body block, I've used it as a base for nearly every gown I've made. I lengthened the bodice (which I have to do on every pattern) I use the JP Ryan sleeve (which is more period correct) and I always make the skirts fuller than the pattern.

3. The Folkwear Empire gown. I've made this about 4 times. Other empire gown patterns and have never really pleased me as much as this one. Maybe it's because the bodice actually has a c-d cup sizing so it fits me better.

4. The Truly Victorian 1872 vest basque bodice. Actually I haven't met a TV pattern I haven't liked. They have all fit me exceptionally well. But this pattern is particularly flattering. I used it as the base for my butterfly bustle gown, my white with black polka dot bustle, my Daniel Deronda archery dress, and my blue and white striped seaside gown.

5. Tailors Guide 18th C Riding Habit. This is actually just an enlarged version of a riding habit in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion but it fits a modern body well and has instructions! I've made this at least 3 times.

Please share your favorites!

Titanic corsets and inspirations

2012-01-17T09:58:00.000-08:00

My big hurdle to making something Titanic era has been the dreaded corset of course. There are a lot of great patterns out there on the web, but after thinking about it I made the executive decision to NOT make a corset but to instead use my old Edwardian corset that I made in the GBACG Dark Garden corset class years ago. Despite weight fluctuations it still fits (it was drafted by Autumn for me, so rather well I might add!) While it's shape is definitely more S curve and earlier than most of the Titanic era corsets, that's a more flattering shape for me anyway. AND it's an overbust so I don't have to deal with the whole what-the-heck-I-have-to-make-a-freakin-bra-too?! problem. And I think that shape will work with the inspiration dress.

Source: metmuseum.org via Loren on Pinterest

I did a search of the MET collections on Callot Soeurs, the designers of the above gown, discovered that they were four French sisters who started out in lace and lingerie. And that I love nearly everything they've designed, it's all so luxe and feminine! (I mean really, look at THIS!) Anyway I've pinned my favorites to my Edwardian/Titanic board on Pinterest if you're interested.

Titanic era

2012-01-17T09:53:00.000-08:00

Given the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic there are a lot of Edwardian/Titanic events going on this year. So like many of you I've been trawling the web for photos of gowns for inspiration. And I think I may have found it! This is a 1911 ca, Callot Soeurs Evening Dress from the MET's collection.

Of Another Fashion

2012-01-13T21:20:00.001-08:00

I was trawling the net looking for images of 1940s ladies in hats (don't ask, CADD) when I stumbled across Of Another Fashion- An alternative archive of the not-quite-hidden but too often ignored fashion histories of U.S. women of color. It's a wonderful blog of fashion photos of women of color from a multitude of eras. There are gorgeous flappers, "Rosie the Riveters", Gibson girls and 50s Bombshells - real women in real clothes, not fashion models or starlets in magazines. Enjoy!

Regency Open Robe

2012-01-13T14:44:00.001-08:00

I've always loved the more eastern influenced Regency looks, like the ones in the movies Immortal Beloved and Vanity Fair, so much more fun than yet another boring white "nightgown" dress, IMHO. So when I decided I wanted to make a new open robe to cover my, um, boring old white "nightgown" dress, I wanted to go exotic. This fabric was originally ordered for a Polonaise but once I got it seemed a little more Regency than Georgian and it also had a much softer hand than I'd anticipated, so Regency it is. The front under vest part is a remnant from my "Water" Victorian fancy dress costume that was in the stash, and the trims are all on-sale trims bought from Jo Anns ages ago. I'm already starting to think of this as my Regency Belly Dance Costume - LOL!

I was having some trouble with it for a while but after sleeping on it a few nights and re-doing the pleats in the front I think I've got it. I'm making this pretty differently from how I often make things. I made the lining/front vest part all first then started draping and stitching down the outside to the lining. I've only gotten one side draped so far, the other is cut out to the right shape but that's it. This is another all stash project.

And I'm using the Patterns of Fashion Regency Open Robe scaled pattern as my base for this:

Little Red Redingote

2012-01-08T13:01:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I finally finished the little Red Redingote, a costume idea I'd been kicking around for a long time. Part of the reason I think it took me so long to finish was that I was a bit stymied by not settling on a particular style of redingote and not knowing exactly where to start with patterning. I ended up deciding to do a more of a gown style redingote rather than one of the more "coat" styled ones with double collars or "coachman" type capes.

I took inspiration from these fashion plates, this gown in Patterns of Fashion and this jacket in the Cut of Women's Clothes.

And I finally had the eureka that I could just draft something similar to the Duchess "victory jacket" I'd made in the picture below right.

For that jacket I'd used my trusty Period Impressions Polonaise pattern as an 18th C body block. I did the same thing for the redingote, changing some of the seamlines and adding to the center front to create a double breasted front. I used the J.P. Ryan jacket pattern single piece sleeve as a base for my sleeve, just extending the sleeve to wrist length. Then I drafted a collar and cuffs, and at the last minute decided I wanted some pocket flaps to further emulate the men's styles, and use up the 6 extra buttons I had!

The fabric is a red silk faille from Fashion Fabric Club lined with ivory silk shantung I got when a local Jo Anns was going out of business. I bought the brass buttons at Fort Frederick's 18th Century Market Faire a few years ago (for a coat for my husband, sorry hon!) I think from Burnley and Trowbridge.

While it's a mishmash of styles that may not really be historically accurate, I really like the over all result, although I think I might bring the skirts forward just a few more inches on either side. I was lucky enough to have a big blue velvet hat trimmed with white and red I'd made for another costume that went perfectly with it. I'm also wearing a petticoat I made of embroidered cotton curtains from Target (!) and red leather 18th reproduction shoes from Burnley and Trowbridge.

CADD strikes again!

2012-01-03T12:55:00.001-08:00

So with my redingote about 2/3 of the way done what did I up and go and do last night but start another project! A Regency open robe to go over my pretty but boring plain white regency dress. I got a bucket load of really cool silk shantung a while back. The orginal plan had been a polonaise with matching petticoat but once it arrived it was so slippery and soft and the pattern seemed a bit later to me, so it's going to be an over gown. I'm using the Janet Arnold pattern (p. 45) which I used before for my "Immortal Beloved" orange sari-esque open gown. Of course I can't find the pattern I made so I had to draft a new one (insert big eyeball roll here) but that proved to not be so bad. The bodice and skirts are just draped on the lining so all I really needed to do was the lining, which is now done, and then start draping.

Today is kinda busy but I'm hoping tonight/tomorrow I can finish the redingote and then move on the draping the Regency. Here's the fabric:

And a shot of the back of the redingote (it's not wrinkled on me, I'm hella long waisted but my dummy is not)

Inspiration

2012-01-03T09:20:00.001-08:00

My sewing inspiration nearly always comes from one thing - Fabric. Movies and extant garments and fashion plates all help clarify that, but the fabric, it speaks to me.

Nearly everything in my stash has at least a lose idea around it of what it will be and in some cases an extremely specific one. In fact, sometimes when I try to change my idea of what I want to do with a specific fabric I find it's almost as if there is an invisible force staying my hand - no! It's not meant to be that, stop! And I usually listen. Because if I don't I end up with something that isn't right and I don't like. A large part if it is what the fabric looks like of course, but hand is super important too. A fabric that I bought to make a pretty 18th C polonaise with turned into a regency open gown on arrival because the hand was so soft and flowing...I could just see the trained skirts billowing out behind me...that's what is HAD to be. Other times a loose idea falls away as I suddenly see what the fabric was MEANT to be - ah, that blue/black changable silk taffeta is going to be a Titanic evening gown! That goes perfectly with the black net sequined fabric and those black beaded motifs and....you get the idea.

After going through what I made this year and then looking at my stash I can feel the ideas whirling around. Despite being awakened by sick kids I went back to sleep with a smile on my face as visions of fabric and costumes to be danced through my head.

2011 Costume/Sewing list

2011-12-31T10:22:00.000-08:00

I actually like going through the list of what I actually made each year, although it very rarely seems to line up with what I PLAN to make. Only a few things crossed off from last year's wishlist: the yellow striped Regency, poison polonaise, brown marseilles cloth petti and embroidered jacket. Unfortunately, I have lost quite a bit of steam in the last few months. I've been busy, tired and depressed, nevertheless it's heartening to see how much I did this past year (especially given boy illness/injury) and that gives me a bit of a push to do more.

Finished costumes
18th C brown embroidered jacket
Yellow striped Regency gown
18th C gold and white striped jacket
Aqua floral 18th C polonaise and matching petti
Brown Marseilles cloth 18th C Petticoat
Poison Polonaise
Blue and white striped seaside bustle gown
Black and white polkadot bustle gown
Red and white striped "Sweeney by the sea" bustle gown
Harlequin bustle Fancy Dress costume
18th C tan silk breeches for H
18th C "cotton candy" gown
18th C pink organza petti
Little Red Riding hood for little A
Sonic Hedgehog costume for C
Angry Birds Bomb Bird costume for little H

Finished accessories:
18th C muff
Seaside bustle matching hat
Harlequin fancy dress mini-bicorn
Red Ridinghood for me

Finished stuffies:
12 Angry Bird Bomb Birds
2 Angry Bird Orange Birds
2 little kid bird plushies
1 Sonic the hedgehog plush

Didn't quite finish:
Eyelet bustle - need to just finish trimming and front fastening
Homes Bustle - need to alter neckline a bit then do fastening

Debbie Reynolds Auction part 2

2011-11-27T10:17:00.000-08:00

The second Debbie Reynolds auction of old Hollywood costumes is set for Saturday December 3, 2011 at 11:00 am PST in Beverly Hills. There are some more iconic costumes, like Marilyn Monroe's green Bus Stop costume, and some things fellow costumers might be interested to see, like Ryan O'Neill's 18th C costume from Barry Lyndon. In fact fans of old Hollywood style period films are in for a treat because this auction is full of 1940s-does-Victorian costumes.

You can download the beautiful full color catalog for FREE here.

Homes dress

2011-11-19T10:21:00.001-08:00

Worked a bunch on the Homes Dress today. The bodice is nearly done, still need to finish the facing and do the front fastening. And I've got one sleeve almost finished. But I've got to go to the fabric store before I can finish up the bodice since I really don't have the right buttons. I've got some great black Victorian buttons but I'd had to use the originals on a pseudo-Victorian movie costume, ya know? I used my perfect pleater to make the pleated trim on the collar and cuffs and that turned out very well. I was lazy and just made knife pleats instead of the box pleats used in the movie. Actually, I take it back, it's not all laziness, I tried both but found I liked the way the knife pleats looked better despite it not being accurate.

C'est la vie. I find I'm more concerned with things being the way I want them to be than accuracy these days. The roses I bought at Michaels look far better than my original arrangement on the hat so I'll be adding those to the band of black flowers I already had. Then once the dress is done it's onto the dolman.

I've got a some good leads on the dolman, I think a frankenpattern will work but, unlike the TV bodice which I'd made several times before and therefore didn't need it, I'll need to make a muslin before I can get cracking on it. And I still need to find the fabric.
Huh. I just checked out the video again to get a handle on what was going on with the doleman and it's actually much more fitted than I thought, really more of a long fitted coat with no back to let the bustle poke out. Kinda nice for me because I think that's a lot more flattering!

Progress on Irene Adler

2011-11-09T14:28:00.000-08:00

My Homes homage is coming along nicely so far. I've nearly completed the skirt, it just needs hemming and a fastening. It's not as complicated a back draping as I might like (or as the original) but I simply didn't have enough fabric to do much more than I've done, and that was a bit of a stretch!

I also got out the hat I had in mind and played around with trimmings for it. I got this back in the early 90s in the Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco and wore it all the time for a while there when the "granny" Victorian look was in. It originally came with hat band of large faded pink parchment roses attached to a ribbon, but I've taken those off for this project and replaced with a hat band of black roses and pinned on a few hot pink ones from my stash to see how that looked. Again, not exactly like the Homesian one, but I think it's heading in the right direction. I think I'll go to Michaels and get a few different colored roses to make it a little more like the movie one...

I've already started perusing Hunnisett's outwear book that has a bunch of scaled patterns of dolman's in it. I think I can draft/frankenpattern something together that looks like Adler's dolman without too much trouble. I'll need to make a trip to the garment district for the fabric for it though, I don't appear to have any tone on tone black brocade in the stash. ;)

Another homage: Sherlock Homes

2011-11-05T20:28:00.000-07:00

I've always liked this rather flamboyantly bright pink gown Irene Adler wears in Sherlock Homes and thought, given the new movie is about to come out, that maybe I'd try my hand at something similar. and go to see the movie in costume!

As with the Sweeney Todd By the Sea gown I'm not aiming for a screen accurate repro, but more of an homage using fabric from the stash. I have a scant bit of fuchsia silk faille I got a while ago (the same that Koshka used for this dress btw) that I think I have just enough of to make a version of her outfit using the late Victorian 5 gore skirt and the cuirasse bodice as my base patterns. And hilariously enough I have a similar hat already, I just need to add a few more pink flowers too it. And if I run out of time I'll wear a black cape, otherwise I'll make a black brocade wrap similar to the one in the picture.

Sweeney Todd Seaside Finished!

2011-11-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the Sweeney Seaside gown! I had originally thought I'd try to find trim similar to the movie dress's but after looking through my copious stash I ended up deciding to use some of the white rayon fringe I already had instead, so it's another (nearly) all stash project! Here is a pic of the gown on my dummy:

And here it was when I wore it:

Sonic the Hedgehog

2011-10-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

So I finished my younger son's Sonic costume and our October has been so busy he's worn it three times already and it's not even Halloween yet! I used a basic Simplicity fur suit pattern as the base pattern for the hood and shoe covers. The top is a sports top from Target I cut the sleeves off of and sewed flesh colored sleeves and the tummy patch onto. The bottoms are just a pair of elastic pants I made by patterning off of a pair of his sweatpants. The hood is made of fleece, the spikes are stuffed with polyfil and boned with plastic boning to help them stick up. The shoe covers are from two remnants of vinyl backed with a layer of iron on batting to make them puff up a bit and the gloves are purchased.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out - it's comfortable for him, he can see and everyone seems to love it.

The color of my thread is RED!

2011-10-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

Didn't do too much today save finishing my 1.5 year old niece's Red Ridinghood costume, all save for the elastic on the waist of the skirt anyway, and I need to so that when she's here so I don't make it too tight.

And a few days ago I sewed a bit on my Sweeney dress. I've got the fashion fabric of the bodice together, I need to bone some of the seams and then attach the lining and the front vest pieces. I think I mentioned that I'm really trying to use up stash materials for this, so when it came to the trim on the front of the vest I wanted to see if I could use something from the stash too. I realized I had some scarlet dye and a bunch of yards of white cotton lace, so I dyed the lot of it and I'm so happy with how it turned out! (Anyone who went with me to the FIDM store, this is some of that lace soI can verify that it dyes very well!) The color isn't an exact match but is in the same field of red and looks fine with the stripes. I'm going to layer strips of the red lace over a white base for the vest, I've just laid it on the fabric in the pic below but you can get an idea of what it would look like sewn down.

Hopefully it will look a bit like this when I'm done. I've got so much more of the lace I may use some on the skirt flounce ans tail at the back too. I find though that this is drifting more and more away from the original to be more of an "in the style of." But I'm okay with that. I can imagine this working as both a circus-y sort of gown or another seaside one, given the right accessories and I love multi-occasion gowns!

The Busy Season

2011-10-09T09:25:00.000-07:00

Now that the costumers' high holy days are almost upon us things have gotten busy sewing wise! Before Halloween I need to: make a little red ridinghood for my niece, finish my son's Sonic the Hedgehog costume, make a vest for my husband and make a bustle gown for me - whew! Some of these, like the vest, finishing the bomb bird and the tiny red ridinghood, should be pretty easy.

But I've got a relatively big project on my plate with the gown. I'm doing a sort of repro of the Sweeney Todd "By the Sea" red and white bustle gown. (BTW a big shout out for The Costumers Guide to Movie Costumes, I couldn't have done this, or many other of my movie repros without it!) I want to use mostly stash for this so I'm not going to super accuracy, my fabric isn't sheer and the stripes are too narrow, but I'm hoping those who are Sweeney/Burton fans we see it as an homage. I'm using several Truly Victorian patterns as the base for this - the Grand Parlor Skirt and the 1872 vest basque, both of which I've made before. I'm changed the sleeves and the bodice of the basque fairly significantly but it was the closest thing to a Victorian block I could use. The Grand Parlor Skirt will be actually as is just with flounced trim added to it. I've got the base skirt done and I've nearly finished the sleeves. The bodice mock up is done and the fashion fabric is cut. But I'll need to make a run to the fabric district for a bit of trim. The fabric is a red and white striped shantung I think I got a exclusive silks. I got miles of it so I know I'll have enough for the bias flounces on the skirt and I'm hoping there's enough for something else later like maybe the little striped spencer from Bright Star or an alternate bodice for the dress. Anyway, here's what I've got so far:

Bomb Bird

2011-10-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

So little H's Bomb Bird costume is now totally finished, yay! It's a super warm and cozy costume, kinda like wearing a giant snuggie, and he loves the Bomb Bird most of all the Angry Birds, so he's very happy with it.

Sonic the Hedgehog

2011-10-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

My younger son is going to be Sonic the hedgehog this year. After looking at a bunch of rather lame Sonic costumes I decided to make his. We bought a turtleneck in bright blue and cut the sleeves off and attached Sonic's flesh colored belly and flesh colored sleeves and I made a pair of matching pants but the hard part was the hood. I used a basic hood pattern from an animal Halloween costume pattern then added the spikes.

I need to put the snaps on the chinstraps of C's Sonic the Hedgehog hood then it's done! These pics look kinda lame but it actually turned out pretty well. I'm going to put white make up around C's eyes and black make up for a nose and he'll be set.

Scores from the Fabric District/FIDM

2011-09-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

I forgot to add I got some pretty good scores while downtown today. I stopped by Home Fabrics before going over to FIDM just to check to $5/yd silk bolt ends and scored this lovely deep wine gold painted silk. There's only about 4 yards of it and it's a bit of an odd design but my first thought was maybe a Banyan for my husband. Even if not totally correct I think it would look pretty awesome. I also scored the EXACT fabric for Michelle Pfeiffer's Lamia costume from Stardust which I started the skirt for a while back. I was pretty psyched to see this as I've been looking for it for a while.

Then I headed over to FIDM. The FIDM scholarship store is always worth a look if you're in the area. All the fabric is $2 a yard and trim is a steal too with bolts of trim going from $2-$6 for the whole BOLT. There were a bunch of fine 95% cotton, 5% nylon laces there with very nice soft hands in a variety of widths. So I bought a bunch of them. And I think given the high cotton content they may dye pretty well. The wide one I am especially happy about, it was the most expensive at $6 for the entire 33 YARDS! I think you'll be seeing this on a lot of my dresses!

2011-09-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

I checked out the new exhibit at FIDM LA today. The collection ranged from the sublime, like this peacock muff (there's a matching hat too)

To the ridiculous "Everything grows bigger in California" 1950s novelty boxer shorts with a ruler on the fly! And a few things that skirted both - like the black uber vampy 1940s evening gown made by Adrian for a client to wear to her son's bar mitzvah! And this crazy yet cool 19teens black bat mourning hat (no real bats were harmed, th faces are fabricated):

The show runs from now until December 17th. Photography is not allowed but you can fork over $85 to get the huge full color illustrated catalogue which also includes many pieces not in the exhibit.

Golden Age of Hollywood

2011-09-01T09:09:00.001-07:00

For some reason I'd never gotten around to downloading the PDF for the auction that was held this summer of Debbie Reynold's amazing collection of iconic Hollywood costumes. If you're thinking of doing something from the "Golden Age" of motion pictures for coco next year and you haven't yet downloaded the catalogue you should. It's truly an amazing treasure trove of information on significant movie costumes - the Ascot Dress, the 7 Year Itch dress, Liz Taylor's Cleopatra...the list goes on and on. You can download all 312 pages of the catalog (in spectacular technicolor!!) here.

Rrrawk! Ariel!

2011-08-29T10:38:00.000-07:00

So here's "Mr. Bomb" as the boys call him, all laid out on the floor. I need to stitch his face down yet so I may monkey around with the layout of the features a bit more. The white oval will be a cut out where little H's head will be a la this style of costume.

I was pawing through the stash this morning because I had a faint memory that I still had some metallic green silk organza left over from the Victorian fancy dress water costume of days gone by. And yes, I do in fact still have some! I'm not entirely sure it's enough for Ariel's hem motifs but I think so. In any event I think the two fabrics look pretty great together (ignore the wrinkles!)

Cartoon costume madness! Or Sonic and Angry Birds and Ariel, oh my!

2011-08-28T23:19:00.000-07:00

I hadn't realized it until I started to put this post together but all my current costume projects are animated!

First there's the boys. I'm trying to get the jump on Halloween this year and get the boys costumes done EARLY for once. So I asked them what they wanted to be and started work NOW so I could be done soon --and they wouldn't have time to change their minds! C wants to be Sonic the Hedgehog and H wants to be the bomb bird from Angry Birds. I went shopping for Bomb bird fabric today at JoAnn's and sometime this week C and I will go back and buy fabric for Sonic.

There is an Angry Birds costume tutorial here which I used to get my supplies together and as the basis for the design. I measured a bit, just little H's head to knee length and arms outspread, but mostly just winged this (pun intended) cutting out pieces of colored paper and playing around with them for the face and using a string and a piece of tailor's chalk to draw a circle. The outer fabric is no-pill fleece, the inner is stretch cotton broadcloth and the face is felt. I think this will go together pretty easily and I should be able to finish up Bomb in the next day or so.

Sonic will be a bit more difficult. After looking at a lot of Sonic costumes online and thinking about the comfort requirements of a 7 year old I thought a hood with eye holes would be the way to go, sort of like this. I can put white make up around his eyes and black on his nose but a full mask is just too much. I'm going to buy (and if needed dye) a tank top and pj/long johns in Sonic blue for his body then buy fleece to match for the hood. I'll buy or make cartoony gloves and make over-sized shoe covers and my little lightning fast hedgehog should be done!

It won't be my Halloween costume (not sure what I'll wear when they boys are trick or treating, maybe Jessie again or Luna or Rita from Harry Potter?) but I've been working a bit on Historic Ariel. I got the TV 1905 circular skirt pattern and I think it's going to be perfect for it, with the added bonus of being pretty freaking easy. I made a mock up of the skirt decoration pattern which I think I will applique on in something like an organza. I also got a wig which I think will be just about perfect.

I'll post a few pics tomorrow.

Dreams of a Belle Epoch Ariel

2011-08-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

After checking the fabric out again I think I kind of have to do this:

The fabric I have is really nearly perfect and since I have it in the STASH it counts as de-stashing! Woo-hoo! I've got the corset and other undergarments already and a lot of pattern bits and pieces I can Franken-pattern into something resembling the artwork. I'm thinking the Truly Victorian 1905 Circular skirt, and 1890s sleeves view 2 and a bodice I've drafted with added points.

I'll have to wear a wig if I really want to channel Ariel but I think it's a small price to pay.

And while it's a Disney Princess it's also a viable pseudo-historical ensemble I can wear to 1890-1900s events.

So many costumes, so little time!

2011-08-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

I've got a costume do to/wish list a mile long and I just keep adding to it!

Things in the partially finished state that I hope to finish soon:

Pink Venetian - about 1/2 way finished, I tried the bodice mock up on again recently and the fit looks good, just need to make the bodice, attach the skirt, finish sleeves and trim it all.

Moulin Rouge: Satine's Grey Suit - Hat is done, skirt is about 1/2 way done, need to mock up jacket and make undercorset

Eyelet Bustle Gown - almost finished, a little trim is needed on the bodice and I need to make the bodice front fastening

Black and white polkadot 20s frock - need to bind edges and make sleeves.

New Projects:

Historical Ariel Disney Princess - I have an S-bend Corset already and 10 yards of pistachio silk taffeta in the stash...

"Chess" Fancy Dress costume - I had such fun with the Harlequin costume I've decided I need more Fancy Dress in my life!

Costume College 2011 - part 2

2011-08-02T14:12:00.000-07:00

There were many fantastic costumes I really can't show them all without totally overwhelming your bandwidth, so I tried to limit myself to some of my personal favorites and still I couldn't post them all! Maybe I'll throw a few more in part 3...

Katherine and Aubry's gorgeous spotty gowns

Aimee's beautiful Tissot inspired bustle gowns with Eiffel Towers embroidered on it!

Alyxx's amazing hot pink King suit

Bunny's Duchess inspired Redingote and killer hat

Jenny's Sea Siren

Kendra's Maja costume

Kim's pink vinyl polonaise

Judy's pink cream puff late 18th C

Jenny-Rose's Queen of the night gown

You can see all of my pictures of costume college here on flickr.

Costume College 2011 - part 1

2011-08-02T11:45:00.000-07:00

Well, another fabulous costume college has come and gone. You know, I think everyone just gets better and better each year! If you haven't been you really should come sometime, it's like summer camp for costumer ladies.

But on to more important things - like what we all wore! Since I live so close now I can bring as many costume changes as I like from as many time period as I like and not have to worry about fitting it all into a suitcase. So I planned on 2 costumes a day.

On Friday morning I wore my "Evil Queen" fantasy medieval gown (with the zipper up the back, nothing historically accurate to see here) That's me on the left with Jenny-Rose in her evil queen on the right.

Friday night was the Ice Cream Social which seemed like the perfect place for a floofy bustle gown so I reprised my dotty bustle. From Left to right that's me, Alyxx, Aimee, Jenny-Rose and Judy

Saturday was the debut of the Empire era Lady Croom (from the play Arcadia) outfit. I bought the overdress from a costume sale the Arena Stage in D.C. had many years ago and wore it with a hat and white muslin gown I'd made.

Saturday night was the Gala, the main social event of the weekend. Jen Thompson and I both had decided to do Victorian Fancy Dress and were so excited to wear our outfits together - she was "Telegraph" and I was "Harlequin"

For the tea on Sunday I wore the only gown I made just for coco 2011, my candy colored 1780s gown and cotton candy petticoat.

And Sunday evening I changed into a 1920s dress and hat I bought from J. Peterman which I wore with my killer Peter Fox spectator shoes. That's Aubry on the left in her 1920s "jampagne" frock and me on the right.

There were so many wonderful costumes that I took close to 500 photos! I'll post some of the highlights of the weekend in part 2

How to: Fluffy vintage-looking ostrich feathers

2011-07-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

I love big fluffy feathers on my hats. Years ago, when I first starting making hats, I couldn't figure out why my ostrich feathers looked so sad compared to the vintage ones I found at flea markets. It couldn't be that they just made better feathers back then, could it? Eventually, after talking to milliners, reading millinery books and carefully examining vintage feathers I figured out what I needed to do to get the feathers I wanted, and the good news is it's not that hard to go from skimpy to full!

one feather

4 feathers with curled barbs

I think the three most important things to getting great looking feathers are:

buying the best quality feathers you can afford
curling the fronds or barbs of the feather (aka the fluffy part!)
and MOST important: LAYERING the feathers. Depending on the feather type and the effect you want you should have anywhere from 2-5 feathers layered on top of each other to create the appearance of one with the fluff of 5!

First I'll talk about purchasing feathers. While you can buy ostrich feathers at Michael's and other craft stores they are generally the poorest quality. It's kind of like buying wine at 7-1: not the best place for the highest quality. That said you CAN make even craft store feathers look much better just by curling and layering.

My preferred ostrich feather dealer is ostrich.com. They sell many other kinds of feathers but their specialty is ostrich. If you get on their mailing list you can get emails as to when they have sales and that, my friend, is the time to buy! Nearly all my hats' plumes are ones I got at an ostrich.com sale. If you click the link above to ostrich.com you'll see a listing of all the ostrich feathers they currently have in stock and you'll probably notice a vast price difference between these: from 4 cents for $41- EACH! Quality, length and color can greatly vary the price. Male bird wing feathers are highly prized for their fluffiness, length and beauty and are priced accordingly. Femina or female wings (which, like most birds, are not as flamboyant as their male counterparts) are cheaper. Most of the large plumes I use are femina wings, usually second quality that I got on sale! For smaller plumes you can use drabs, which are even cheaper.

Red curled, blue uncurled

Once you've gotten your feathers curling the barbs makes them look even more fluffy. You need dull scissors for this, kid's craft scissors are great. Curl the barbs in much the same way you curl wrapping ribbon - by firmly running the scissor edge along the barb. Don't pull the barbs or they'll come out. Just as with wrapping ribbon sometimes the curl doesn't take, keep trying. You can curl multiple barbs at once but be careful about trying to curl too many or you may rip some out. Expect that you will lose a few and you'll lose the barb curl if you dye your feathers or use a curling iron on them, so wait til after dying and curling before curling the barbs. Here's a shot of two feathers of the same quality, the red one has it's fronds curled, the blue does not.

But to me the most important step to great vintage-looking feathers is layering. I've bought a lot of vintage ostrich plumes over the years and NONE of them is only one feather. In fact none of the ones I own are even just two feathers. Most are 3 or more feathers sewn together to look like one plume, often with additional plumes sewn to the last 1/3 of the feather to give it more weight and fluff.

Here's a rather beat up old plume that nevertheless looks far fuller and fluffier than the red and blue feathers above. Because it's beat up I had no problem prying it apart a bit at the shaft so you could see what I mean. It's not one plume at all but three good quality plumes sewn together!

Before sewing the plumes into one, you want to make sure your feathers are the same length and that you layer them to show off the best feathers. I always put the fluffiest, fullest plume on top and the skimpier ones underneath. Color is a consideration too since feathers are rarely uniform in how they are dyed or naturally colored. Once you've decided the order of the feathers you need to attach them together. You can see the stitching on the underside of this vintage feather. Incidentally I counted SIX feathers at the very tip of this plume although there are only two shafts visible at the end.

I don't know if my sewing method is exactly what they used, it's hard to see all the details of the stitches amid all the fluff of the period plumes! But this is the method that I use - it's easy and it works.

You will need:

needle and thread in the color of your feather

I usually start from the end of the shaft and work my way to the tip of the feather. You don't need to sew through all the feathers shafts that you've stacked together, really what you're doing is wrapping the thread around the shaft. Tie the two ends of the thread together then wrap the thread around the other feathers shafts gently pulling the barbs away from the shaft so that the thread goes in between them and holding the end of the thread. Then thread the needle back between the two strands of thread and pull it tight.

I used white thread below so you could see it against the black feathers. This is a group of four drabs with curled barbs sewn into one plume.

Bring the needle up 1-1.5 inches from the first stitch and wrap it around the shafts again, continue on up the feather wrapping around the shaft every 1-1.5 inches until about 2-3 inches from the end, then thread the needle back through it's own thread and tie a knot. If any of the barbs get stuck under the thread use the needle to gently pull them free.

When you're done the feather should look like this:

front

back

I hope this helps you get the full and fluffy feathers you've dreamed of!

Nearly finished

2011-07-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

I finished the candy gown's petticoat today and sewed on the trimmings to the Gainsborough hat I'm wearing with it. I also monkeyed around with the alternate petticoat of the same fabric as the gown and I've come to the conclusion that the organza one actually looks better. It's almost too much stripes and pink with the matchy matchy petticoat. For now I'm keeping it but it may be destined to be a jacket later on. I also pawed through the stash looking to see what else was in there that might look good with the cotton candy petti and found a few options for future gowns. I just need to hem it, attach the neckline lace and do the front fastening and them I'm done - that was astonishingly fast!

Moving right along

2011-07-14T17:49:00.000-07:00

I got a lot done on the candy dress today, not that you'd really notice a difference since I was basically just sewing down all the pinned stuff I did yesterday. But it was a fair amount for the morning: both sleeves sewn in and hemmed and lace ruffles attached, waistband sewn to organza skirt, skirt sewn to bodice of gown... I'd like to do some more tonight - sew the ruffle to the neckline and maybe make the ruffle for the organza petticoat and attach that At least. Then I really should get back to my regularly scheduled program of fixing up things for coco.

I had a little design eureka while looking at a bunch of the Marie Antoinette movie gowns on costumersguide though. At lot of the sheer ruffles have edgings of narrow ribbon on them to give them more definition. The floral gown she wears in front of the lovely floral wallpaper is a good example of what I mean. And what do you know but I have some pale pink ribbon in the stash! So I think the edge of the petticoat ruffle will get the ribbon. So this will be yet another all stash project.

Candy gown design decisions

2011-07-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

So after mulling it over a bit I decided to go for the slightly later 18th century period look with the candy gown and not use the pink organza for trim. I am however, going to use it for an alternate petticoat. I just love the spun sugar look the organza has and I plan on adding a ruffle at the bottom to cotton candy it up even more. Most of this this is just pinned together but I've made considerable progress!

More Candy

2011-07-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

I worked on some trimming for my trusty black velvet Gainsborough go with the candy gown. They're actually pinked and fray checked strips from the stripes of the silk, the trim is only just set on the hat at the moment but I'm liking it! A plain black Gainsborough is a great accessory to have because you can retrim it to match anything!

I've actually gotten a lot done on the gown itself today too. The petticoat pleats are sewn down and I've sewn the sleeves (although not attached them) and sewned down the pleats for half the gown skirts. Now I'm at a bit of a stopping point as I decide which direction I want to go in with this. I've got a bunch of the pink organza which I was thinking of using as trim along the neckline a la a lot of the gowns in MA. And I've got some nice lace I could put around the neck edge. I'm not really feeling the desire to do pleated trim like I normally do but on the other hand it looks so cool. Gotta ponder it a bit...maybe something like Polignac here?

"Candy" 18th C gown

2011-07-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

So, um, last night I got about 1/2 way finished with a new 18th C gown.
Between fabulous picture after fabulous picture of recent 18th C events and the fact that I may be an extra in another 18th C production I couldn't restrain myself! I got out my old trusty period impressions polonaise pattern, which fits me nearly out of the envelope, and looked through my stash for some stripey candy pink goodness that I knew was in there. I had less than than I thought but managed to squeeze, bodice, sleeves and skirt out of it, only to be a bit blue thinking my skirt would be a hair on the short side. Dug through the stash again wondering if I had another pink that might work for a petticoat...and found a whole second length of the original stripe! I've got enough to make a matching petticoat now or a jacket or something.

So I may actually wear something 18th C to coco after all...or maybe I'll stick to the original plan. We'll see, but either way I'll have some new 18th C goodness!

Fancy dress and breeches - Finished!

2011-07-07T10:04:00.000-07:00

So I finally finished the fancy dress costume. I ended up not wearing my underskirt with it at it's premiere event, it was just so hot and the overskirt was poofy enough without it. I really should take some better pics of it on me or my mannequin but this will have to do for now...hopefully I can get some better pics when I wear it at the Gala at Costume College. I really enjoyed wearing it, I think my favorite part is the bicorn though! I might have to make one or two more of them for other costumes.

I also finished my husband's breeches, worn here with a frock coat I purchased on etsy and a waistcoat I made. I have enough fabric to make another frock to match the breeches, maybe sometime this winter. I also have cut out another waistcoat to go with this frock and the new breeches, it's all about mix and match to save on closet space!

Bodice work and trim decisions

2011-06-16T23:34:00.001-07:00

Wow, somehow I got a lot done again! By George I think I may finish it in time after all!

After futzing with the bodice for a while I finally decided the pattern I was thinking of using just wasn't what I wanted. Instead I went back to a pattern I've used before, for the Daniel Deronda archery dress in fact. The under "ball" bodice for that was a slightly altered version of the bodice to Simplicity 4479 (their non-liscensed version of Christine's Masquerade dress from the Phantom movie) by Andrea Schewe. So I did a muslin of the bodice and tweaked it and made up a version in the diamond fabric. I liked it for the DD dress and I like it for this, it's very flattering and gave me the bodice shape I was wanting for this outfit.

Then I monkeyed around with trim options, pinning things on the bodice and fiddling with some dagged bustled over skirt ideas. At first I thought I didn't want any over skirt but after playing around I think just a back drape with dagged edges would look cool. As far as trim goes I think I've finally got it figured out. I'm going to trim the dagged overskirt the same as the underskirt and I think I'll put black velvet ribbon on top of the bodice seams to emphasize them. I'll also use a bit more of the crazy expensive beaded lace I used on my Marie Antoinette "black masquerade" costume - a front motif and beaded net sleeves. (And I was psyched to see I can probably eek out trimming for one more future dress from the few scraps I'll have left after this.)

Fancy dress skirt & neck ruffle

2011-06-16T23:32:00.000-07:00

I'm really getting a lot done on my fancy dress costume! Here are the skirt and a cute little neck ruffle I made.

Bicorn finished!

2011-06-15T16:43:00.000-07:00

So I got out a bunch of my trims and finished the bicorn this afternoon. Ostrich feathers from ostriches online, two metallic "Christmas" trims, red velvet ribbon, black marabou and a mask charm - all from my stash! Now I just need to decide if it's a "fore and aft:"

Or an "athwart:" My husband likes the fore and aft better but I think it might depend on my hairstyle - I think down would look good with athwart and up with fore and aft. What do you think?

Bisected

2011-06-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

So I finished the bicorn construction last night. I still need to trim it up (and line it) but I'm pretty happy with it. I also have to figure out if I'm wearing it athwart (side to side) or "fore-and-aft." I'll take some pics when the trimming is finished and let you help me decide.

Since it is such an odd hat I took a picture of the side view before the final side brim was added so you can get an inside view of how this whole thing goes together.

It's a hat that needs quite a bit more steaming and shaping of the buckram than I'm used to get the swooping shape it needs.

Me so bicorny!

2011-06-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, corny is more like it. In any case I thought you'd be interested to see my bicorn progress since it seems not too many people I know have made one of these from scratch. I used the pattern in From the Neck Up enlarged to 200% for a mini size, it's the picture to the left. By the way, if you're thinking about making hats this book is the hat making bible and is very worth getting.

I didn't take construction pics I'm afraid, but my basic steps in making a buckram fabric covered hat are:

cut 2 sets of pattern pieces in buckram and fuse together to form one set of pieces.
zigzag millinery wire to one edge of each join - so tip, crown bottom (where it joins the brim) and brim.
mull - white glue a pieces of flannel onto all buckram pieces that will be covered with fashion fabric.
cover with fashion fabric then sew pieces together.
sew bias strips to brim edge to cover millinery wire.
make and sew in lining, attach combs or loops to pin on head if needed - always leave the lining for last, as my friends know many of my hats are unlined because I ran out of time!

Bonus: I discovered you can actually mull the pieces at the same time if you layer flannel, buckram, fusible, buckram, pressing cloth then flip it over and add another piece of flannel in place of your pressing cloth. Be sure to ALWAYS use a pressing cloth when fusing buckram, it's so porous you'll ruin your iron if you don't.

After that I cut out some silk shantung and glued it to the mulled pieces with a thin layer of white glue I let dry a bit to the just tacky stage. I cut the crown part on the bias and stitched the cb then pulled it over the stitched crown.

Now I'm in the process of sewing bias strips to the edges of the outer brim. This hat is a bit complicated and I thought the best construction method for it would be to finish each piece then sew them together, you can see all the pieces ready to be put together to the right, the crown and top are pinned together, the strange eye shaped piece will be attached next then the outer brim which is the traditional "bicorn" shape. You can get an idea of how it will look when I'm finished in the pics below.

Daily dose: 20s

2011-06-09T11:08:00.000-07:00

My husband and I have a joke that as you get older you need to "cultivate your eccentricities." Mostly we make silly comments about what that could be, but there is a real life part of it too.

Something I've been wanting to do for a long time is incorporate more costuming into my daily life. Mostly what this means is 20th century vintage or vintage-inspired outfits. So I've decided that I'd blog a bit about that too with the idea of a "daily dose" of costume. Mostly these are not things I've made but pieces I've thrifted, bought online, or found at regular stores like Target.

Recently I got a pretty and oh so comfy 20s-inspired dress from this etsy seller and today it's making it's debut. I paired it with some chevroned tights and a black cardigan from Target and some black wingtip oxfords from Naturalizer. I put my back hair in a ponytail and curled the front layers under to simulate a bob.

Fancy a bicorn?

2011-06-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

I love perchy little hats. Not the super tiny doll-sized ones, but some of the more modest perchy little hats are just so cute. And I'm blessed with good hat wearing-fu, if I do say so myself, so I'm a big hat collector. Anyway, I've been sewing and brainstorming on the fancy dress costume and have decided I need a perchy little bicorn. I've seen many tiny top hats and quite a few mini-tricorns (I've made two myself in fact) but I've never seen a mini bicorn. Most of the harlequin fancy dress images I've seen have bicorns. And while this one from a reprint of the 1892 Masquerade and Carnival: Their Customs and Costumes isn't a harlequin, her bicorn is kinda mini and about what I was going for. Hilariously enough she's supposed to be Lord Nelson!

Last night I looked though my books for a bicorn pattern, I was sure Patterns for Costume Accessories had one, but I eventually found it in From the Neck Up. Like some origami animals, it took me a while to grok it, but I finally did and made a paper mock up of the book's pattern at 200% enlargement which seemed about right for a mini. I'm afraid the paper doesn't look like much but I'll take some pics of construction once I start.

I'm wondering a bit as to how to construct it (anyone ever made one from scratch with buckram vs. blocking one in felt?) I've made a lot of hats. But exactly how I construct them changes with materials, pattern and my whims but this is complicated enough, essentially it's a hat with a brim on top of a brim, that I think I need a plan.

In any case, the goal is a little black velvet bicorn perched at a rakish angle atop a bunch of fake hair with some pretty curls hanging down my neck.

All over the map

2011-06-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

I did a whole lot today but was kind of all over the map as far as projects go. I had a little detour in my fancy dress and breeches projects and whipped up a 20s dress. It's not finished yet, I'm waiting on my big sewing machine to come back from the shop since it's the one that does the killer narrow hems but it's nearly finished with just sleeves and hemming needed. It looks rather sad hanging in the bathroom but 20s dresses, like Mad Men era styles, just don't have a lot of hanger appeal I'm afraid. It has a lovely floaty quality when worn that you'll just have to trust me on for now.

I also worked on the underskirt for my fancy dress costume. It's pretty boring at the moment so I didn't bother to snap a pic. It's just big black mess of silk organza over a layer of silk shantung, but it's only the underskirt so it's not meant to be all that exciting. A bit more interesting though were the experiments I did with the diamond patterned fabric. I want to have the diamonds dags all around the bottom of the overskirt and since the fabric is sort of flimsy I put a facing of shantung along the back, sewed the diamonds then cut, turned and pressed it. I think it looks pretty good but maybe needs a little trim to make it pop. I thought you'd also like to see the mask I plan on wearing with it.

I only worked a tiny bit on the breeches today. I'm getting in that cocky phase where I can see the end is in sight and I've got a whole other costume to finish so I've started on that because there's no way I can't NOT finish the breeches now. At least I hope so! Anyway, I promised pics of them too so here they are. They are a lovely golden caramel color - a golden brown shot with white. Trust me when I say they look a lot better on my husband than they do on the floor!

Into the breech(es)

2011-06-05T18:46:00.000-07:00

So my husband waistcoat is finally finished and I'm happy to say fits well. Now it's on to his breeches. I was looking for a brown, green or tan to go with a the coat he'll be wearing which I purchased on etsy. The waistcoat is a little earlier than the coat but I wanted maximum bling for this event and that meant using the embroidered fabric. Later I'll make another waistcoat to go with this frock.

Lucky me, I found a perfect caramel color silk taffeta at Home Fabrics in the remnant bin for only $5 per yard and there's enough for me to make another frockcoat for him! So I've been working on his breeches. I made a pair for him years and years ago from the Eagle's View pattern which was pretty easy so I thought I'd use it again. But he weighed a lot more back then so I needed to make the next size down. Conveniently enough I also have a pair of linen breeches I brought for him from Jas. Townsend which fit nearly perfectly. So I re-cut the pattern using the Townsend breeches as my guide and I'm happy to say he just tried them on and they seem to fit well! I'm about 2/3 of the way done, I still need to do the buttons and button holes, knee bands and back eyelets and gusset. I'll take some pics when they're done.

Then I need to start MY costume! (Or decide to just wear something from my closet!)

Dotty Bustle - Finished! (sort of)

2011-05-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

Finished enough to wear to the Black and White tea anyway! Embarrassingly enough there were still some pins stuck in it - I haven't been this last minute for a costume in a while! But it was done enough to wear and hopefully some of the safety pins and just-tacked-on stuff will be resolved by the time I wear it again at Costume College. I'm thinking the ice cream social might be a fun place to wear such a floofy dress...I also never did get my hat to work how I wanted it to, so I added some white ribbons and feathers to a black little perchy hat I got at H & M this past winter.

Everyone looked wonderful at the tea! There were many gorgeous 1900s-19teens things and even a few other black and white bustle gowns! You can see all the lovely ladies here.

18th C waistcoat and Fancy Dress

2011-05-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

I'd gotten a tiny scrap of embroidered silk ages ago that I'd wanted to make into a waistcoat for my husband but it was just a wee bit too short. Then I had the brilliant idea of piecing it which would also make the pattern curve with the front - I'm very happy with how the piecing turned out!

I also got caught the fancy dress bug. You see, I've had a certain design and the fabric to go with it in my plans forever, and given my recent bustle-mania I thought it might be a better idea to whip out another bustle gown rather than start a whole new style I'd never done before like the sac.

I'm going to make something similar to this: Out of this: (which is more black/red & gold/black changable than it looks here.)

From the bookself: Napoleon and the Empire of Fashion and Recollections of Leonard

2011-05-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

I had a bit of a red letter day as far as books go on Saturday - getting two wonderful new books from Amazon on the same day.

I'd heard from a few friends that Napoleon and the Empire of Fashion was a good book based on an amazing exhibition, but that doesn't quite do it justice, it was more like mind-blowing. If you're into Empire fashions I'd say it's a must have book. It's chock full of incredible, huge color photos of tons of gowns you've never seen before, most of them the height of fashion. I haven't even begun to read the next yet but that's only because I've been distracted by my other book - Recollections Of Leonard: Hairdresser To Queen Marie-Antoinette. I'd recently started reading "The Private life of Marie Antoinette" by Madame Campan when I came across the fact that MA's hairdresser Leonard had also written memoirs of the queen. Leonard is such an outrageous character I decided I had to read what he'd written. And although I've only just started his book it's been well worth it so far. Leonard's recollections are astonishingly modern in style, totally self-inflated and very funny. They could easily be a modern Hollywood self-made-man rags-to-riches story.

Mad Men Event

2011-05-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

So my son's school had a Mad Men night out fundraiser. And may I just take a moment to say school fundraisers need to be like this more often - SO much better than yet another "Yankee Candle" sale! They rented out a restaurant, had both a silent and a live auction as well as dinner and drinks, and candy cigarettes. And everyone was dressed to the nines!

I did not make anything but wanted to give a plug to Audrey K for the dress I did wear. I've bought other dresses from her boutique and love them all - they are comfy, kinda retro and very flattering. And this was no exception.

I was originally going to wear my hair up in a pseudo beehive like the photo above - but my husband really liked the curls straight from the hot rollers so I indulged him even though my hair ended up a little more 1940s than early 60s. We had fun hamming it up and drinking cocktails and played it safe and took a cab home.

Plans shmans

2011-05-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, all those high hopes for catching up on this blog during spring break didn't come to pass. Family plans sort of took over. And in addition, continuing my trend for the year, my CADD is in rare high form, which makes it more than a bit hard to focus on plans. But I'm still getting things done and that's what counts!

So when some pretty white-with-black-dots swiss dot caught my eye at Joanns the other day, and was only $3 per yard with my coupon, I jumped on it and bought 10 yards! I have a black and white tea coming up in a few weeks and thought another light and fluffy Buccaneers style bustle gown would be fun to wear to it. And thus the black and white polka dot bustle was born! While I've broken my fabric diet all the trim and linings are coming from the stash. I have a huge spool of gathered black lace I got at cheeptrims.com a while back that I think looks wonderful on top of the gathered white eyelet I got when the Pasadena Joann's closed.

I have a muslin for the bodice cut out but not yet sewn up. My plan (ha ha) is to do a modified version of the vest basque Truly Victorian pattern in the polkadot with a white vest and collar and polkadot sleeves from the TV Polonaise pattern with floofy ruffles underneath.

Best of all I've got this wonderful black with white polka-dotted vintage ribbon I got years ago at the DC Big Flea. I think it will be so fun to have a few bows of this ribbon trimming the gown!

Presto change-o: wig restyling

2011-05-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

I need a tall "Marie Antoinette" style of wig for a shoot in a few days but wanted to use a wig from my stash instead of buying something new. I had a curly "showgirl" type wig I'd pinned up the curls on that I used for my Rita Skeeter costume that I thought would be just perfect.

So how does one turn this.............................................................................................into this?

It's not as hard as you might think! First I un-pinned all the curls. Then I pinned two large hotdog shaped rats to the crown of the wig, set back 2-3 inches from the hairline, going from ear to ear. I ratted some of the hair around the rats and pinned the ratted hair over the rats to cover them. Then I combed the front hair up over the rats to cover them further and curled the back hair by combing it over my fingers and rolling into a curl. I pinned these curls up, leaving only a few hanging down in the back, then I sprayed the whole thing with hairspray again and again. And finally I finished it off with multiple coats of white spray on hair color (like you get for Halloween.) I think with a few flowers and plumes it will look just right.

Seaside accessories

2011-04-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post a few pictures of the accessories I wore with the seaside gown since there was some interest in them. I don't recall where I got the bluebell earrings but the cameo has a bit of a story behind it. I don't remember seeing my grandmother or great grandmother ever wear it but my aunt said she wore it on a velvet ribbon quite a bit in the 70s when the Gunne Sax version of Victoriana was popular. My mother found it amongst my grandmother's things when she died and gave it to me. She told me that it had belonged to my great-grandmother Laura (who I am sort of named for) who was born in 1895, and it may well have belonged to her mother. Sorry the picture is so blurry, all I had time with was a cruddy iphone pic!

These are the two hairpieces I wore. The big braids on the bun I added from the jaw-clip switch I'd bought and the curly part is the remaining big of from the jaw-clip switch that I curled. You can just barely see the comb at the top. I used the comb and bobby pins to attach the long curly piece to the bottom of the bun of my own hair, the put the fake bun over the whole thing.

Seaside Finished!

2011-04-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

So today the "Seaside" bustle gown had it's debut! It was a warm day but the breeze off the ocean kept me from getting too hot and the light striped cotton was just the thing for a Victorian stroll along the bluffs above the Pacific.

I wore some tiny bluebell earrings I'd gotten years ago, just because they matched the blue in the dress, and a cameo pendant that had once been my great-grandmother's on a blue velvet ribbon round my neck. The parasol is an antique I got at the DC "Big Flea" years ago. It's in very good shape actually and quite sturdy, just a bit stained in a few places.

Since the day before had been scorching and today was also supposed to be hot too I formed a cunning plan to keep cool: after my shower I put my wet hair up in a bun. My hair dries incredibly slowly so I knew it would help keep my head cool all afternoon - and it did. Then I put a bun of fake hair over my bun and a long switch of curled hair underneath.

I'd bought one of those cheap long straight switches of hair attached to a jaw clip just for the hair. It was synthetic but a nice quality and just my color. I cut off part of the switch, braided it, and added it to the bun to make it even bigger. The other part I left intact on the wig lace. But I didn't want straight hair, I wanted curls. So I rolled the hair up on sponge rollers, put it in the sink and poured boiling water over it followed by cold water. I took the curlers out and voila - a nice little bunch of curls on a comb! It made my hair today totally fuss-free!

Unfinished Objects

2011-04-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

I'm nearly done with the eyelet but the siren's call of other projects has been hard to resist...as per usual my eye is caught by all the pretty shiny things my friends are sewing and like a lemming - I want to sew THAT now too!

(Or, if I'm really being honest, I WANT that now too and would happily have the sewing mice do all the work...)

Anyway, next on the docket after the eyelet is a little haitus from actually working on costumes and an effort to catch this blog up on the costume gallery. I'll be away during spring break and think this would be a perfect time to fill in some of those blanks.

When I get back I'll work on a long-unfinished costume - a pink Venetian I think I started about a year ago. I've got a camica that's nearly done, a skirt that's cartridge pleated, and a 1/2 finished bodice and sleeves, I think I really must finish in in time for Faire season this year!

And after that I'd really love to work on a long planned project - my version of the Marquise de Merteuil's red sac from Dangerous Liaisons. I'm not sure yet it this will be a straight repro or more in-the-style of. I've actually never made a sac and if truth be told am a little intimidated by the idea. But the painted dupioni I got in Houston last year is nearly perfect for it and I've wanted this gown for an awfully long time. I've got more to say on this costume so think I'll do another post on later on with some more in screen shots and analysis.

Downton Abbey

2011-04-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit late on the Downton Abbey fad but I finally finished the series tonight. I love many of the costumes, particularly those Lady Mary and the mother wear - so lovely! I was thinking, if I have enough of the navy/cream striped cotton/silk fabric after the Casino gown is done (and I DO have a lot of fabric) I might just be able to so do something similar to the stripey frock Lady Mary wears to the garden party here. And I've got the perfect hat to go with it!

Eyelet Bustle progress

2011-04-07T18:09:00.000-07:00

So I managed to make a bit of progress on the eyelet bustle gown today, boring lining progress, but progress all the same! Although I'd been planning on making it a very light gown I did need to both interline and line it, in part so that my black Victorian corset didn't show through!

I decided that I'm going to use the wine colored velvet ribbon I have in my stash to trim it. I don't have any other projects I'd planned to use it with, I think it looks pretty with the ivory colored eyelet, and I'm all about decreasing the stash! So I'll trim the neckline and sleeve openings with the narrow ribbon and use the wide one on the skirt.

I've got a rather clever plan - since the eyelet underskirt will also be used with the blue and white "Casino" gown in the fashion plate on the left, I didn't want to add the wine velvet trim to the under skirt in case it showed. But I have just enough eyelet to make a front apron drape for the eyelet version. So for the eyelet version I'm going to attach the front apron front to the underskirt at the waistband and sides and cover the join with draped bows of the wide velvet ribbon - and given the underskirt has a built-in bustle I think it will work!

I'm going to make shortish sleeves, just below the elbow, to keep it cool, and have a v-neck filled in with a standing ruffle of eyelet trim. It's only pinned together at the moment but I like it so far...

Spanish seaside bustle gowns

2011-04-06T17:44:00.000-07:00

It sounds like a number of my friends working on "summer" bustle gowns at the moment so in the interest of spurring creativity and adding fuel to the fire I thought I'd post a few Spanish fashion plates you may not have seen. I've actually got all 4 books in the series of Spanish bustle era fashion plate reprints. There are a lot of wonderful gowns in these books but two of my top favorites are seaside costumes. This one is from 'La Moda Elegante - La Sombrilla" The text is all in Spanish (what little there is of it) but "La Sombrilla" means "the umbrella" - so I'm thinking maybe it's the 19th C equivalent of resort wear?

One of the other volumes is "La Moda Elegante - La Elegancia" or "the elegance" and is generally fancier gowns but it too has a wonderful seaside costume, the one below.

The other two volumes, in case you're wondering, are of wedding gowns and fancy dress costumes. All of them are pretty slender, with almost no text but are large format (the size of Janet Arnold's books) with beautiful clear illustrations.

Seaside Bustle Gown

2011-04-06T14:25:00.000-07:00

This was a stash-only project using cotton I got years ago from the Calico Corners outlet store in Lancaster, PA, and velvet ribbons from M&J Trimming in New York and pleated eyelet trim from the JoAnns in Pasadena that just closed.

I wanted something fairly quick and easy without a lot of fussing with fitting a slew of muslins so I used Truly Victorian's 201 underskirt, 305 bustled apron overskirt and 400 1971 day bodice.

While the ruffles were time consuming it all went together pretty smoothly an and I like how it turned out!

The hat was a wide brimmed number with sparkly flowers hot glued to it that I got from a thrift store. I removed the trim, cut and re-shaped the crown and had actually remade it to be an 18th C style. But I'd never finished it so when this project came along and needed a white straw I thought I'd re-purpose it once again. I cut down the brim and reshaped it and added all the trim.

Sleeve ruffles

2011-04-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

A while back I bought some very nice laces from a UK based seller on ebay named Authenticlace . I was rooting around my stash the other day and rediscovered them and, since it was a nice day and I wanted a small project to hand sew outside, I decided to make some sleeve ruffles to use with my 18th C gowns.

I used a trick from Jean Hunnisett and cut the un-scalloped edge of the lace out in the shape of a bell curve so that when I pleated it up I'd have a nice graduated flounce. Then I bound the raw edge with bias tape. I'll just whip stitch the flounces onto my gowns when I want to use them.

I made the narrow ones for less fancy gowns and and a wide pair for use with a sac gown I've got planned. It turns out they also make great lace caps for cats. Poor long suffering kitty!

Millinery Musings

2011-04-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

I’ve been doing a lot of one of my favorite forms of costuming lately: hat making. I know hats can be intimidating but I love them because they are nearly all “frosting.” And by "frosting" I mean that the construction part is much less fraught with all the fiddly fitting issues I have with say, bodices and sleeves. And once the construction is done the decoration can begin!

The majority of what I’ve learned about hats and hat-making has come from reading From the Neck Up and taking classes by Mela Hoyt-Heydon, Lynn McMasters and Mary LaVenture over the years. I highly recommend all of the above!

Most of the hats I’ve made are straw I’ve blocked, bought or covered or buckram I’ve covered with fabric, although I have blocked a few felt ones as well (not my favorite.) Anyway, I thought I’d pass along a few tips I’ve learned along the way.

I double, triple or quadruple my ostrich feathers. Modern ostrich feathers look so sad compared to the thick fluffy vintage ones. That’s because the vintages ones are not just one plume but many that have been sewn together. A dull pair of child’s safety scissors can be used to curl the barbs of the feather for even more fluff (just as you curl ribbon for presents) and a curling iron is great for curling the shaft.
I wire the brim of nearly all my hats. Like ladies in past times I often re-trim my hats. Just changing the angle and shape of the brim can give a hat a completely different look, and that's easy to do when the brim is wired.
I never, ever use hot glue to attach my trimmings (well, anymore that is!) Again, because I like to re-trim my hats I stay away from hot glue because once it’s glued on it’s not coming off without a fight that often ruins the hat in the process.
I always use double buckram. It makes my hats stronger and lets me get away with large brims without having to make wire spokes. It’s easy to make with a fusible, like stitch witchery, and two pieces of buckram. Just BE SURE to use a pressing cloth to
protect both your iron and your ironing board from the excess glue.