Time Traveling in Costume

1914 Lavender Downton Abbey inspired gown

2012-01-27T09:49:00.000-08:00

January 27, 2012
I'm planning this outfit for my costume guild's Titanic exhibit and luncheon on May 5 this year.
I've just started this outfit and because its a new pattern for me, and one of those vintage 1914 ones, its going to be a struggle. Besides not having familiar pattern markings, it uses different terms for things, like foundation, waist, shirring, tunic, regulation or high waistline. You get the picture.
The pattern I'm using is McCall's 6053.

The front page & instructions are just a photo copy of the original pattern owned by the company I purchased this from. Sadly the lower right corner of the pattern was torn and the person who copied it didn't consider taping it back together before copying it. So it's almost illegible, and the pages have been copied so many times that the printing is offset, making it even harder to read the instructions. It has an entire back page of instructions but they don't seem to be in a chronological order, according to my brain, and seems to jump around from piece to piece.
You may think at this point I was ready to give up. I did set it aside for a few days but kept looking at fashion prints of dresses similar to it and falling in love with it again. So I kept reading the instructions, & asking around to see if anyone else had made it or was familiar with the old McCall's patterns. I got a bit of help with some translations of the terms but on my pattern piece for the collar/vestee, which is one long piece, it has so many circles (originally perforations) that I can't connect the dots. That's what this is like, connecting the dots. And those dots can mean anything from straight of grain, darts, pleats, whatever. The three +'s means cut it on the fold. It also says there is only one half of each pattern, so in my modern mind that means cut two. Wrong. Getting further into the pattern, apparently I have to cut 4 of some of them but alter the width to be used separately as either one of the two vest styles or the foundation. In other words, the outside bodice and the inside bodice, which is mainly just a shell with a collar and a skirt attached to it. Confused? Me too. And I haven't even gotten to the skirt yet.
My first confusion was with the dress itself. I couldn't tell if it was a dress with collar and sleeves w/ two skirts, or a bodice with a separate skirt. It doesn't give much information on the skirt/tunic. I'm assuming tunic means the skirt. If not, I'm in big trouble.
To make the pattern clearer to me, I photocopied the front & back pictures and colored in what I think are the two separate pieces. The one on the left shows the outside bodice and tunic. This middle is the foundation dress that has the bottom part of its skirt that will show on the outside. I still don't know how to make the foundation garment because I can't tell if the under bodice is just a repeat of the outside but very long, or somehow you attach the foundation skirt up into the collar/vestee.

In reading more on the outside dress, it sounds like the belt is sewn on to the bottom of the bodice, and the other half to the skirt/tunic. I'm doing the one that has a large sash-type belt so I may do it my own way and have them separate. The last part of the directions faded off the photocopy so I have no idea what that part was.
I had a specific fashion print and color I want to make but decided to try and use fabric from my stash before buying anymore just in case I screw this up. I had a very pretty lavendar linen blend but the pattern calls for 7 yds (40" wide) and I only had 4. The 7 yds doesn't even include the foundation fabric for the part of the skirt under the tunic that doesn't show (which can be a plain cotton) nor the contrasting fabric for the collar/vestee. But luckily when I laid out my lavender it was 62" wide, so I had enough fabric as long as I made the back bodice with a seam instead of on the fold.
I first made up a muslin to try the bodice out and see if I was doing it right. Its pretty loose but according to the picture its kind of loose anyhow. It has some shirring/gathering in the lower back. Yesterday I cut out my lavender, and just to rest my brain a bit, sewed up the side seams on the skirt/tunic. I've left the pleating part of that till later. Last night I sewed up the outside bodice with its front pleats and the side seams. So here it is just loosely hanging on my dress form.

It still looks very loose under the arms but until I put the shirring/gathering in the back, I'm not altering that. I'm so used to form fitting Victorian dresses that I keep wanting to do that to this dress. The skirt/tunic has groups of wide pleats around it so I need to figure out the markings for that.
Now I need to decide what kind of white fabric I want for the collar/vestee to be. The fashion prints I've seen look pretty plain. But I feel some lace calling to me.

A Winter Tea at the Biltmore Hotel

2012-01-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

January 15, 2012

This entry is not so much about me, or my gown, but of all the wonderful ladies and gentlemen dressed in their finery. Yesterday my friends and I drove up to Los Angeles to join a tea event with the Costumer’s Guild West at the gorgeous Biltmore Hotel in the middle of downtown LA. When we first walked out of the parking garage we were all stopped in our tracks by the size of all the buildings.

Inside the Biltmore we were again awed by the architecture inside this grand old lady. Our attention first went to the grand staircase in front of us, with stairs rising on each side. The bottom of the staircase proved to be an excellent location for many photographs of everyone attending the tea. And then turning around was a beautiful view of a large arched window letting in so much light.

Our tea tables were already set with beautiful Royal Albert Old Country Roses china, and shortly after a tray of delicious sandwiches, scones, and desserts were brought out. I enjoyed many cups of Bombay Chai tea to go with my meal.

Before and after we’d eaten, many of us posed around the grand staircase for photos. These were some of my favorites. I wore my red and black bustle gown again, and this will probably be its final wearing for awhile.

The green 1917 dress was my favorite and I’m already planning one myself. It was the first dress of that time period that I've liked and she did a wonderful job on it.

These are a few photos of my friends and other attendees.

After the tea was over, many of us walked across the street to the outdoor ice skating rink, and 6 of them donned ice skates and skated with their costumes on. I was very impressed. I tried taking photos but they moved so quickly, they were a blur mostly. But with all the Christmas lights still up, it still looked pretty.

Fashion Show at Riverside Dickens Fair 2012

2012-01-18T20:37:00.000-08:00

January 7 & 8, 2012

This was my 5^th year as a model in the Dickens fashion show, and it seems each year to get better. This year’s theme for the show was famous women, and we were supposed to wear a costume that would match the character and year if possible.

I proposed doing Amelia Bloomer and wear the 1851 green Bloomer gown I had made. I had a lot of really nice compliments on my gown, and afterwards people kept coming up to me to ask me more about it.

I was also asked by the coordinator if I would be able to do one of two famous female murderesses. One of them, Adelaide Bartlett, had an interesting history & was accused in 1886 of poisoning her husband with chlorine. They were never able to find evidence of how he was poisoned so she was acquitted. I chose to wear my 1885 Best Black bustle gown. I call it Best Black because it’s very fancy with trims, and is appropriate to a wealthy woman. It’s also black so I would appear to be in mourning. At the end of the description of my gown and the story of Adelaide, the speaker said after the trial, Adelaide received 17 marriage proposals. I flirted with the audience and had a lot of fun with it.

After the fashion show, I wandered around the fair with my friends, and was often stopped for photos. I chose to change back into my Bloomer gown just because it was more comfortable, and much cooler than my black dress.

I think I made an impression on quite a few people with my Bloomer gown and I hope to see others popping up at events soon. I still have another gown in the works, in a brown patterned cotton, but I have others with more priority at the moment.

Photos were provided by my friends, Jerry, and Marcee.

Meet my new baby- she's 104 years old!

2012-01-13T12:08:00.000-08:00

Last year at the Dickens Fair in Riverside, CA, a shiny object caught my eye: hand cranked sewing machines! I’ve often watched others at reenactments using them, and envying the use of such a wonderful machine. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough cash with me at the time, and had to walk away.
I’d forgotten about them until recently when my friend, Cindy, got one for Christmas, and I remembered the Dickens Fair was coming up soon. Armed with a cash gift from my Mom, when I arrived at the Fair this past weekend and before it opened to the public, I headed over to the Marketplace in hopes the vendor would be there again. And he was! I saw a lineup of about 15 machines, all gorgeously restored and in working condition. And the price was still the same from last year!

Photo from a friend.

The first machine I looked over was the obvious; a Singer, a familiar name. The others were names I’d never heard of. But still all just as pretty in their gold designs and glistening black skins. The vendor gave me a tour of all of them, mostly English or German made ones. One in particular stood out to me, a Jones. It was made in England in 1908, and had a warrant emblem that said, “Supplier to Queen Alexandra”. It was particularly beautiful with so much delicate gold decoration that it won my heart right away.

It uses these tiny narrow bobbins that don’t hold a lot of thread. There’s a storage area on the side of the machine under the wheel, and a bobbin threader in front of it.

It has the ability to have a cable attached under the hand wheel to become a treadle sewing machine if I ever decide to do that, or even find a cabinet I could do it with. But that’s not my goal.

My mother just reminded me of a miniature Singer sewing machine she gave me when I was younger that was a child’s hand crank machine. I found it, looked it up on the internet, and found out it was made in 1951 to celebrate Singer’s 100 year anniversary and they put a badge on it to commemorate it. If she hadn’t mentioned it, I might never have looked it up, and I actually forgot that I had it, although I knew I did. It’s just “up on a shelf somewhere”. It’s missing its bobbin so I’ve never been able to sew on it. It has a small brace that you can attach it to a table to stabilize it too.

It’s been fun having people now tell me their stories of using hand crank or treadle machines. My Mom said she used a hand crank to make all her school clothes, and that her aunt wouldn’t allow an electric one into the home because that was dangerous. My aunt said she also used a treadle to sew all her clothes. Then my next door neighbor told me about sewing all her children’s clothes on a treadle machine. It makes me think of all the exercise I’m missing with only using my foot or toes to press on a pedal now.
When I mentioned my mini one, she said one of her friends had one of them that he traveled with to do sewing repairs. What an idea!
Please tell me YOUR stories of using hand crank or treadle sewing machines. I’d love to know of others who own these, and especially what you do with them & what you've made on them. At some point I hope to use mine at a reenactment demonstration.
ETA: I contacted the owners of Sew Cranky who I bought my machine from, and they do carry extra supplies for hand crank, treadle operated, and maybe other antique machines. Check out their website here. http://sewcranky.com/
And this tells you all about my Jones sewing machine. http://www.sewalot.com/jones_sewing_machines.htm

2011 Costumes in Review

2011-12-28T21:34:00.000-08:00

It’s time to review what all I accomplished this last year in my costumes since it helps me see how much I actually accomplished, and still have yet to do. Yes, I do have more to do. My goal was to have at least one gown of each of my favorite eras so I would have something to wear for any costumed event coming up. I then had to have a Summer and a Winter outfit; then a day time and a late afternoon/early evening outfit. At least I don’t have to worry about ball gowns too. My feet don’t go that way.

It also helps me see what I’m still lacking, and what priority my whims need to follow. I REALLY want to make more 1830s gowns. REALLY do! But I have some other gowns that have priority over that. The 1930s dress I started needs to be finished, along with a couple others, for Costume College in August. And soon I’ll be making the Truly Victorian Edwardian corset. And it will need some frilly undies to go with it, maybe so I can show it off?

Here’s what I did accomplish this year:

In January I finished my 1850s Turquoise & Gold Plaid gown for the Riverside Dickens fashion show.

In February, I re-cut my 1770s polonaise into a curaco, and wore that to the DAR’s fashion show.

In March, while at the Costume Accessories Symposium in Williamsburg, I made this lovely 1770s silk muff.

In April, I fought with the Wingeo pattern for a 1912 suit to wear to our Boarding the Titanic Party.

In July, I made one of my favorite dresses, an 1890s aqua La Belle Epoque gown, to wear to the Tea at Costume College.

Also in July, I finished my 1851 reprodution of a Bloomer costume to wear to Costume College. I copied it from an extant gown in the San Diego History Museum. This dress, and its pattern, is the focal point of a workshop I’ll be presenting during the next year.

In November, I finished an 1850s mourning gown and bonnet, to be worn at a couple different mourning events.

My first chance to wear it however, was at the Dia de los Muertos celebration in Old Town San Diego.

Also in November, our Costumed Walkabout at the Del Mar Antique Show was a Steampunk Christmas, and I made the Ghost of Christmas Past, Present & Future for that. It was the first costume I made that wasn’t meant as a historical gown, but I used an 1812 pattern for it.

In December, I finished an 1872 gown I’d started in November of 2010. I was able to wear it three times in December, and have been told it’s my best to date.

I’ve also been making a Regency bodiced petticoat for a friend as a Xmas present and that should be done in the next couple days.

My sewing plans are being laid to rest for a week or so until I’m finished with the holidays. But that doesn’t mean my brain isn’t still working and planning. I have a few things cut out already, and just need to set my mind to them.

1870s froofy feathered hat

2011-12-21T21:32:00.000-08:00

I was asked many times about the feathered hat I was wearing with my 1872 Sassy Red bustle gown, so I decided to share its secrets. I did not make this hat. I bought it ten years ago at a Victorian festival in Los Angeles. It’s a modern made hat, not an antique.
So I sat here and took close-up photos of it, and discovered a few things about it. Here it is in all it’s prettiness.

The base of the hat is a piece of thick foam, similar to that used in upholstery. It’s cut in kind of a watermelon slice, and covered with a maroon fabric flocked in black. There’s an additional piece of that fabric sewn in a poof and attached on top of it. On top of that is a large velvet pleated piece that slightly hangs over the front. There’s black lace sewn around the sides, and longer pieces sewn to the ends to tie under my chin. The back has a short and long piece of a veil. It originally was really long and I cut off most of it. It’s the only part that doesn’t look right to me, and at some point I may remove it & replace it with something similar to the vintage ad showing this style of hat.

It has a cluster of black billowy ostrich feathers on top. I had always thought it was a group of feathers attached individually to the hat. Well, to my surprise while pulling it back to check underneath, it’s a length of a feather boa! So this may be easier to recreate than I ever thought.

The Sassy Red Bustle and A Christmas Carol

2011-12-20T11:03:00.000-08:00

Oh, Mr. Dickens!
This event had to be written about. On December 19, I attended a Dickens Tea in Riverside, CA, to see the one man show of A Christmas Carol. It’s performed by Gerald Charles Dickens, the g-g grandson of that notable writer. In 2004 I missed seeing him perform at the Riverside Dickens Fair, mostly because I didn’t know anything about it, or who was performing. I’ve kicked myself in the butt ever since. Shortly after that I found out I could buy a cd of his reading A Christmas Carol based on his performance.

It was delightful, and I’ve listened to it each year. But it wasn’t the same. When my friends told me they were attending a tea in Riverside with Gerald performing again, I bought my ticket right then.

I have to confess, I’m a fan girl of A Christmas Carol. I have the entire Department 56 Dickens Village of just the Christmas Carol. And a large oversized book of A Christmas Carol with moving characters and a music box inside. Each year my Christmas letters begin with a quote from the story on the opening line. And I have every movie ever made of the Christmas carol. My favorite is the Mr. Magoo version. The worst is the recent Jim Carey version.

Yesterday we all met in the front lobby of the Marriott Hotel, where the tea was held, for a group photo at the Christmas tree.

On arriving at the banquet room, I spotted Gerald Dickens right away, and cautiously approached him, asking if we were allowed to have our photo taken with him. He grinned that enormous grin and held out his arm. I told him of how I had been waiting all these years for him to return to us.

Then Queen Victoria and Prince Albert arrived, and the formalities began.

They were all escorted by their Guard to the main table. Gerald was seated at the right so he could pop back and forth to the stage.

Our table was right up front and had a great view of the stage. We weren’t allowed to take photos during the performance. Gerald had a big leather chair on the stage with a small table and floor lamp next to it. On the other side was a hall tree with his top hat and cane, and short stool. These were all his props. The play was done in 5 scenes, or staves, and in between each one, the courses of our tea were served. Gerald played all the characters of the play with different voices and mannerisms, and are quite hilarious. He is joyously energetic and bounces all over the stage with waving arms. He sometimes walked off the short stage into the audience and continued his act, stopping occasionally to comment and once did a pratfall, we think, after tripping over Mr Pickwick’s chair. Mr Pickwick was very apologetic and a whole happy conversation came out of that.

Back on the stage, Gerald fell asleep after the first visit of the Ghost of Christmas Past, and was obnoxiously snoring when our next course came out. At the end of the play when Scrooge was finally ready to go out on the streets and try to wish people “Merry Christmas!” he stepped off the stage and shook hands with a few people and exchanged their greetings as he became more enthusiastic each time. He shook the gentleman’s hand next to me, then reached for my hand, raised it to his lips and kissed it, saying “Enchante, Madame. That’s the only French I know”. I think my face was as red as my gown.

Afterwards Mr. Dickens was available to autograph any of the books & characters purchased from Byer’s Choice, who are his sponsors now. I had brought my cd, and when I handed it to him, I said I bet you haven’t seen one of these in awhile. He smiled, and said no, he hadn’t. I could tell he was pleased, and he signed the inside cover of it for me. *photo from a friend*

Afterwards my friends and I walked over to the Mission Inn to see it lit up with all it’s Christmas lights and displays. All along the top arches of the Mission were moving characters in tune with music being played.

Many holiday booths were set up in the promenade square outside, and there were adorable reindeer for us to see.

It was such a beautiful sight, and a wondrous day for me. I felt like I was stopped a million times from people asking to take my photo, which I’m more than happy to. That’s the whole point of making beautiful dresses to be admired. We often had to say no we weren’t carolers. And my voice was still a little too hoarse to even try.

Debut of my 1872 Red & Black bustle gown

2011-12-13T11:16:00.000-08:00

This is the first time I’ve had so many photos taken of my costume to choose from. My friend Marcee met with me early before our guild’s Holiday in the Park, at the Victorian houses in Heritage Square, Old Town San Diego. There were very few people around so we had our pick of locations. This was my favorite shot so far. The black ostrich feathers on my hat made me feel very sassy!

Then we walked over to Old Town and visited some of the museum exhibits.

One of our favorite shops is The Johnson House. There’s always something there to buy and add to our costumes. Later my boot lace came untied, and a gallant young man kneeled and assisted me.

Dinner at the Cosmopolitan Hotel is always fun. There’s so much atmosphere and they let us play as much as we like. One of our members in red, Cece, did an impromptu Flamenco when the guitarist came in to play for us.

Cindy and I had our “twinsies” photo taken at the Christmas tree, and then Marcee joined us for our “the bustle shot”.

Then we wandered over to the saloon at the Cosmo for some fun and drinking.

Cindy and I had way too much Grand Marnier.

My thanks to photographers Marcee Chipman Daily, and Jerry Abuan of Agezinder Arts. I get to wear this again on Friday to attend the opening of the new Sherlock Holmes movie too.
I have to add this photo I took of a full size photo cut-out of a young lady’s pretty gown there.

1872 Red & Black checked bustle gown

2011-12-10T13:20:00.000-08:00

Started Sept 2010/ finished Dec 2011

I bought this tiny red and black checked silk dupioni at a store close-out sale a few years ago and began planning a bustle gown for it. I planned to use a solid black silk taffeta for the skirt and trims, & a black cotton velveteen for the collar.

I used Truly Victorian #405 Basque bodice, and will be making the apron and bustle from TV 208 with the ties in the back. I made a new black silk taffeta skirt, again using TV 201, and will be attaching a pleated ruffle once it’s hemmed.

I made my own buttons for the front closure and cuffs using modern inexpensive buttons covered with the checked fabric. The front buttons were 5/8”.

COVERING YOUR OWN BUTTONS-- I cut a circle of the fabric large enough to go over the button & meet in the back, then do a basting stitch with a strong doubled thread ¼” from the edge (this changes w/ the size of the button). I placed the button on the circle with the flat side being the top, gather it in over the button and pull it tight so it makes a little shank in the back. You can trim it if it’s too bulky. I do a couple stitches around it and through it to strengthen the sewing. Without cutting the thread I continue sewing it to the bodice. Obviously this is done when your bodice is ready to have buttons sewn on. I’ve used both flat buttons and ones with shanks. I no longer need to buy those awful expensive metal covered button kits that hardly ever worked. ** SUPER TIP** If you have enough of them, you can even use all those little extra mismatched buttons you have at the bottom of your sewing kit. No one will ever know you used those ugly lime green and orange buttons.

The pattern went together fairly easily. I sewed the front black vestee (the center insert) on last so it has an open seam where it attaches to the bodice for any size adjustments. I only flatlined the bodice, and didn’t line it. I finished the edges with purchased black bias tape. Since I do a lousy job of sewing bias tape around square edges, I chose to sew pieces along the bottoms of each pleat, then pieces along the sides which fold over and finishes off the corners. I sewed boning into the two front seams, side seams, and the two back seams.
I was having problems understanding the directions of how the back pleats were sewn so I ended up just looking at the picture on the pattern and saw how it folded and tacked down the tops of the pleats. Where they join at the top will be covered with some kind of trim or buttons.

Right now it looks kind of plain with the red/black check bodice over the black skirt I’ll be making for it, but it will have an apron and bustle of the same checked fabric to separate them.

Everyone knows sleeves are evil (aka Sleevils). These sleeves weren’t too hard to put in since there’s not a lot of excess fabric on the sleeve cap. But try as I might, I couldn’t understand how to construct and attach the cuffs. Two other people told me they’d had the same problem with theirs. I finally gave up and sewed the cuff fabric to its lining right sides together and turned right side out, then sewed them right sides together to the sleeve end with the little flap sticking out. Even that took a lot of brain cells to figure out. It took me four times to get them on right, and after finishing them, I noticed I still sewed one the wrong way so the flaps were on the side next to my body. So I had to rip it completely out and start over. I finished off the raw edges of the connecting sleeve seam with bias tape, & put two larger covered buttons on the outside edge of the cuffs. At this point I had to set it aside for other projects that had priority.

In November 2011 I finally got time to work on this outfit for a couple events coming up in December. I got the black taffeta skirt finished for this, and added a row of pleating around the bottom hem. The pleating is sewn directly onto the skirt, hanging about 2 inches below it. I sewed a braided soutache trim along the top part of the pleats to cover the stitching where I sewed it to the skirt.

Since I was now ready to start adding some trims, my first addition was to the hem of the apron. I had a length of vintage chenille trim just barely long enough to attach to it. It was actually 4 inches too short but my back sashes cover the missing sections. Ah, the back sashes, they deviled me. I had trouble figuring where to put them and had visualized the long ones hanging down on my sides. But when I sewed them there, it really looked off balance. So out came the seam ripper. Then following the placement directions, short behind the apron, long on top, the short ones were covered completely. So out came the seam ripper. I reversed their positions, but this time only pinned them on. And this time they weren't lined up. So with a little repositioning, the apron was happy.

I first had sewn buttons covered with the red/black checked silk on the back of the peplum but decided I wanted bows. So I sewed two long lengths of black silk taffeta and tied them into bows to attach just above the peplum of the jacket.

Bonnet or hat?

I’d thought of wearing a black wire frame bonnet I had but after looking at this ad for hats in 1873, I wasn’t happy with my choice. So I looked through my photos of hats I had and came across these two. The first one is a modern made one but look! It has fabric with a similar color to my dress and it has the height I need, and will sit on my head in the proper place. I may add a froofy black rosette to it like the ad pictures. My other option is my antique velvet one, but it needs some height added to it. I think my decision will come when I try them on and see which one wins.

The first event I will be wearing this is on Sunday, Dec 11. Our costume guild will be going to the Holiday in the Park at Old Town San Diego for our annual Xmas party dinner at the Cosmopolitan Hotel. Earlier there will be the Posadas parade, and afterwards a bonfire in the town square with Xmas carols being sung. All of us dress in our best Dickensian frocks.

The following week our guild will be attending the new movie of Sherlock Holmes, in costume of course. Then the week after that I’ll be going to the Dickens Afternoon Tea in Riverside, CA, where Gerald Dickens, the G-G-grandson of Charles Dickens will be performing his one man show of A Christmas Carol. I’m happy I’m going to get some good use out of this gown already, all in one month.

I got a Duchie award!

2011-11-23T19:31:00.000-08:00

I remember awhile back Lauren of Wearing History nominated me for one of these but I had no idea what it was, or if it was something I would be notified later that I had won. Whatever that was.

Today I was awarded a Duchie by Nabby at This Old Life and it came with some explanations. Her reason for awarding me was "I love all of her beautiful creations! Plus, according to her latest post, she is getting ready to make some dresses from my favorite era; I can't wait to see what she comes up with!"

I feel really honored and flattered that she would pass this on to me. And Nabby, I hope I live up to your expectations as I try out vintage costuming. I struggle through everything I make, and fudge alot. Fortunately most people never see that. Since your blog is on the 1930s, I'm sure I'll be visting you a lot more now.

And Lauren, if I was amiss with your nomination, I'm sorry. Thank you.

So, the rules of the game are:

“When you receive a Duchie Award, post on your blog (in any order)":

---Five things you love about historical costuming/wearing vintage clothing.
---Three (or more) blogs to pass the Duchie Award onto.
---A link back to the blog who awarded you the Duchie.
************************************************
1. I love how pretty my historical clothing looks. My entire career was spent wearing uniforms & no jewelry, and to be able to dress in things this beautiful makes me feel amazing.
2. I love the creative process of making my costumes. Doing the research on each era, finding pictures of gowns that give me ideas and inspire me to greater challenges is a big part of it. And digging around antique shows and shops for old accessories I can add to make my clothing more authentic is a lot of fun.
3. I love how getting into costuming has expanded my world to include so many new people and other wonderfully creative friends.
4. I also love how people react to me wearing historical clothing. I'm treated so differently and love the compliments I get.

5. And finally, I really enjoy being able to share what I learn, and passing it on to a new generation.
PS., I still love hearing the "Yo baby!" from the young man on seeing me wearing my bustle gown at the gas pump. :)

Thank you, Nabby. You made my day.
And now to find 3 of my favorite blogs to spread the joy.
I just found my first one. I've been enjoying reading Mary's posts at An Historical Lady because I love how she makes and wears her costumes, and lives the life of an historical lady. She lives in a 230 year old house and its decorated beautifully. Mary is a delightful and courteous lady that fits her style so successfully. I'm happy to pass on this award to her.

What's on the planning table? 1930s-40s

2011-11-22T11:26:00.000-08:00

Started Nov. 2011
With the theme track at Costume College 2012 of The Golden Age of Hollywood; 1930-1950, I have started to make my plans for a couple costumes for it. My preference is 30s & 40s but when the hem length was mid-calf. I have been skirting around these eras for a couple years, looking at patterns and hats, and vaguely at jewelry & shoes. I had little to no knowledge of them so I don’t really know what to look for. I’ve been to two vintage textile shows in Santa Monica and have been collecting some ideas of the look I wanted.
It all started with a hat.
My first purchase came from wanting one of these, a 1931 halo hat. I loved the look of the big halo in the back.

A few years ago at one of the vintage textile shows I found a 1940s one (on the left) that I fell in love with. And just recently found another (on the right) at a steal of a price at a local antique show. I think it needs a little dressy up.

At the same vintage show while looking at some vintage dresses, a suit caught my eye and I decided that was what I’d like to make. I hoped to find a fabric in burgundy or purple, and it would go with my new hat. So with that in mind I started looking for accessories. Fortunately at this show the dealers know their stuff and when I asked to be shown some ‘30s jewelry they knew exactly what to show me. I found some Bakelite buttons and belt buckle to go with my planned suit. At another show at Frock You in San Diego, I bought a pair of earrings to go with it, and a compact. From ebay I bought a cordite fabric purse w/ a clear Bakelite handle on it. I might even include one or more of my Stone Martin fox fur pieces. By then I’d also found my fabric, a plum colored lightweight wool/polyester blend.

Shoes are going to be tough for me. I did buy this modern shoe that was similar to a vintage style but since my feet don’t like hard leather very much, it’s going to be hard. I’m *dreaming* of buying this pair at ReMix in Los Angeles but my wallet has to be a bit fatter. They were extremely comfortable and soft.

With all these in hand, I started searching for THE pattern to make my suit from. Of course most of the real vintage ones were tiny tiny, so my search had to be from reproduction ones. My final choice was this Vintage Vogue pattern #1019. Hey look, she even has a halo hat. It’s dated as 1947. I also have Butterick #6759, a 1948 Retro design.

Living in Southern CA, there’s only a few possibilies to wear something as warm as this suit. So my next search was for dresses that could be worn in the daytime. I don’t dance or go to balls, and I wanted them to be casual dressy. My first bit of education was fabric colors & designs. Learning the designs on the fabrics was fun because there are many actual pieces of clothing still in existence. I was even able to see some in person and touch them in stores where they were sold. Way out of my price range, I might add. I loved this one I found in a store in Old Town Orange, CA. It’s 1930s, rayon/cotton, & IT FIT ME. But it’s $120. It looks very similar to a 1935 one in a Sears catalog I bought.

Then the pattern search was on. I came up with all these I was able to buy.

Next up was fabric search. I’ve already started sewing the black and white floral using the Simplicity 9360 pattern. And I bought a red belt for it, along with some red buttons for trim, and a cute red chenille flower pin, as long as it’s not too heavy for the flimsy fabric. The brown and green plaid will be using the vintage Art Deco #963 pattern. Depending on how that one turns out, I may also use the green with white flower rayon for another one. I’m taking a wait and see plan on making these. I have no idea how I’ll look in them and the fabrics are very inexpensive ($2-$3 yd) so I can experiment without breaking the bank. Did I mention all this fabric is flimsy? Quite a change for a costumer who’s gotten used to fabrics with more body and texture.

This last Simplicity #2387 pattern I’m saving to make my own version of the blue floral $120 dress I saw. The elusive fabric is out there somewhere.

And then there's the hair and makeup. That's a totally different animal to attack. I have very very short hair, so once again, I need wigs. And with a few of the youtube videos of doing vintage makeup, that will be fun to try.

The Ghost of Xmas Past, Present & Future—a Time Traveling Ghost

2011-11-20T09:47:00.000-08:00

Started Oct & Completed Nov, 2011

Our costume guild’s tri-yearly costumed walkabout at the Del Mar Antique Show in San Diego has covered many different costume themes; Victorian, Edwardian, 1920-1950s, Fantasy, Carnivale, & Pirate. Last January we did Steampunk (Victorian/ Science Fiction). It was hugely popular with the antique vendors, the show producer, and the public. So it wasn’t a surprise that it was requested again. And again, but this time for Christmas. Christmas? At first I wasn’t too thrilled with it because that makes it too costumey, too Halloweeny. But as other people started coming up with ideas, like Steampunk Santa, Steampunk Elf, I started thinking about it more. So how does a Victorian costumer who does a Steampunk Time Travel Agent become something Christmas? My first thought was my favorite Christmas book, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I visualized all the characters in the book, how they would dress, and even how they were dressed in all the different movie variations of the story, ALL of which I have. I kept thinking about the women’s gowns, and maybe adding holiday trim to it. But that wouldn’t make it Steampunk. Then I remembered the ghosts. The Ghost of Christmas Past, and so on. I could do that. And how to make it Steampunk? All three ghosts combined into one, a time traveling ghost! Which they actually do travel in the past & future in the story. I ended up giving myself the long title of The Ghost of Christmas Past, Present & Future, but ended up introducing myself as just the Past one.

I only had a month to make this as I would be gone for 3 weeks on vacation, so I chose a simple gown to make. I took the design for my gown from a drawing I’d seen of young Ebenezer Scrooge’s love, Belle, in her Regency style gown. This wouldn’t require a lot of work, and I had a muslin already cut to my size from my La Mode Bagatelle Regency wardrobe patterns. And I already had an ivory silk taffeta to make it from. I used the pattern for the gathered neckline of the bodiced petticoat.

So how to make it ghostly? Obviously all my skin would need to be covered. I lengthened the sleeves, and a chemisette would go in the neckline of the bodice with a ruffle around my neck and long white gloves. Since I’m not able to move the bust line on my dress form, my gown doesn’t fit properly on it for this photo.

I’d seen one costumer dressed as another ghost where she used black face paint and covered her head and upper body with a layer of cheesecloth. It gave her a gauzy appearance and her face didn’t show. Since I knew I would have to be driving to the event and occasionally people would be seeing my face, I chose to use white face paint instead that would blend into the cheesecloth. I bought a package of cheese cloth at JoAnn’s Fabrics. It wasn’t the yellowish-waxy stuff I’d seen before, but white and very soft. I used two layers of it to go over my bonnet, (that was made by Mela Hoyt-Hayden), and down to my waist. It was tacked to the bonnet to hold it in place. On the top of the brim I tacked a cluster of holly. And I carried an electric candlestick with holly around it too.

Ok, white face paint is not very attractive, but fortunately I had a cheesecloth veil. I did however forget to read my own earlier notes about getting a white wig or wearing a white cap to cover the parts of my own hair that showed under the front of the bonnet.

Ok, you’re asking how did I make this Steampunk-ish? My idea was to have a recording of a loud library clock going tick tock, with an occasional *gong!* to show that *time was running out”. I planned to record it to my ipod, then attach that to my mini ihome player and carry it in my Regency reticule. I found a few recordings online but none had the deep woody sound you associate with old clocks. My friend Shawn Crosby made one up for me and even though it was only 5 minutes long, I was able to copy it about 15 times on my ipod to make it play continuously. Unfortunately because the noise in the building at the show was so loud, the ticking was almost lost. But it was hilarious when all of a sudden a loud gong would play 8 times with people around me.

The day before the show I was wondering what people would think when they saw me driving to it with the white face. Thoughts of “was she going to a zombie attack?” or “maybe she’s off to see Breaking Dawn” went through my head. I’ll never know. I did see a couple quick stares which probably didn’t give anyone time to register just what did they exactly see.

And at the show I worried would people recognize who or what I was? And to my gratification, most of them did. I was asked a few times were I a bride? Of course, why not? I’m all in white. This led me to think I might be able to use this outfit again as Miss Haversham, the bride who was deserted at the altar, in Dickens’ Great Expectations. So now I’m letting my mind come up with ideas for it for the Riverside Dickens Festival in January 2012. Her gown could be trimmed with lace and I know I have lots of that in my stash.

Here are a few other photos of people at this event because there were some good ones.

Blog to book Part 2

2011-11-11T14:21:00.000-08:00

A year after I started this blog I saw an ad for turning your blog into a book. Its similar to the photo album books that people are printing these days from weddings, babies, and other special occasions. I had one made for me when I retired, and we made one for my hubby when he retired too. In the days of people saving photos online instead of carrying them around, like me, its great to have something altogether like this to carry and show off.
My first book, the soft bound edition, that included the entire first year of my blog was surprisingly well made, only costing about $27. It was done by SharedBooks. The only odd part was the pictures were not always lined up with the text. But it still was exciting and gratifying to see MY gowns and everything I wrote about them in a BOOK!
So here I am now with two more years worth of photos and jabbering about them in my blog. And once again the anxiety of "what would happen if the website crashed and lost everything?" kicked in again. Of course I have all my posts saved on Word documents too but its not the same as "being out there".
Recently I got an email from Sharedbooks.com about a sale they were having at 20% off. Perfect timing! I was able to get some final photos from a recent event added and sent it off. I chose to use the same cover design as my first one too. With twice as many pages and photos, it still only came to $45. And it arrived in less than a week, paying the less expensive shipping of 1-2 weeks. This time I was given the option of either printing photos & texts the most compact way & using less paper, like it was the first time, or doing a better layout that would take more paper, thereby costing a little more. It really didn't cost that much more, and I think it looks much better.
This is the link for turning your blog into a book. http://blogger.sharedbook.com/pilot/enterBook.do?bookId=Blog2Print_Blogger . Its fairly simple and you can personalize a lot of it. Their customer service phone line is extremely helpful with any questions and assistance too. Because of the last day of the sale I was really having trouble getting mine started due to the heavy traffic online. I called their Customer Service Representative who downloaded mine for me & saved it, and this enabled me to go in and do the custom designs on it I wanted. They get my customer service award of the year!

These are some page examples from my book. I think the layout is much better now.

If you want to make your own photo book, not using a blog, just go to their main website. http://www.sharedbook.com/

1850s Mourning gown for Dia de los Muertos

2011-11-03T11:50:00.000-07:00

Before I’d left on vacation about a month ago, I had finished my mourning gown and bonnet, but sadly not my corded petticoat. So I had to resort to my backup of a tulle petticoat. But it shall get done! One of these days.
I draped an antique black floral veil over my bonnet & tacked it to stay on. I had also found a pair of black lace mitts at an Icings store that were similar to some in an 1860s photograph so I felt confident to wear them.

My first chance to wear it was for the annual Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead/All Soul’s Day) in Old Town San Diego, CA, on Nov 2. I and our costume guild led the Candlelight Procession from the historic Whaley House to the Campo de Santo Cemetery down the street. I showed up early and had my face painted as a Catrina (an elegant skeleton lady). I wanted to try it myself but decided to let someone else do it the first time. Next year! After it was done, I sat out on the wall in front of the Whaley House waiting for the other arrivals, and I became the focal point of many people having their photos taken with me. Fun!

This year more than 4000 people attended the Candlelight Procession and it was amazing to see them walking down the street, carrying candles, and arriving at the cemetery.

This was a photo taken later by Jerry Abuan.

Next year I plan on painting my own face but will need to practice in the meantime.

1850s Mourning Bonnet

2011-10-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

Started 9-25/ Finished 10-7-11

I made this bonnet to go with my 1845-50 second year mourning gown of black and grey for the upcoming Dia de los Muertos celebration in Old Town San Diego. In trying to decide what year my gown and bonnet were going to be, I found them very similar during those years, so I couldn’t nail it down to an exact year. I found this photo of an 1850 straw bonnet frame, and it was similar to the modern reproduction that I had bought at the Johnson House in Old Town San Diego. So the bonnet decided the year it wanted to be.

I wanted the bonnet itself to be covered in grey but not with the same cotton I’d made the chemisette for the gown out of. I found a remnant of a moleskin, that has a slightly fuzzy look to it, and a bit of a stretch which made it easier to cover the bonnet.

A few years ago I'd taken a Millinery I class at our local college, and learned how to cover and trim hats. But when it came to cutting the fabric to fit the bonnet, I never got to that part. So I began piecing it to fit the different shapes of the bonnet. Later I realized my mistake was not making the front going back to the crown a separate piece. I used one piece to cover it all but the back. Because of the slight stretch, it still worked. And I figured I would be covering the seams with ribbon. You can see the lighter grey thread I used to sew the seams together here.

I covered the edges with a wide black grosgrain ribbon and hand sewed the outside to the frame. Because of the limited time I had left to finish this, the inside edge was turned under & hot glued to the straw. At some time I intend to line the inside and this cheat will be covered up.

My trimming was a slightly sheer black wired ribbon that I pulled the wire out of. For the front brim of the bonnet, I pleated the ribbon and tacked it on the top. I put another length of flat ribbon around the crown, and a separate piece under the crown. The part that crisscrossed was covered with a doubled folded piece of ribbon that after it was tacked on, I puffed up the edges.

Under the bonnet I’ll be wearing a black lace day cap I purchased and you can see it peeking out the front of the brim. It has little rosettes of lace down by my ears which I hope will show when it’s on. My plans to recreate a more elaborate cap will have to wait until I have time to visit the Garment District for a better choice of fabrics than I have at home. I have ties but will still have a black bead hat pin to hold it on. I still have a pelerine to make for this but again, that will have to wait since I’m leaving on vacation. Three days after I return I’ll be wearing it on All Hallows Day, November 1. But we know costumes are never really finished.

Welcome to my Sewing Room

2011-09-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

I was really inspired today after seeing someone else posting photos of their wardrobe holding their costumes. I always love seeing how other folks store and display their costumes and projects. And I get some ideas from them sometimes.
This is the right half of my closet in my sewing room. It has two shelves above for extra storage. My gowns are really packed in there, and right now I can't even slide a piece of paper between them.

I started hanging the overflow on a storage rack outside my closet, and it still has room for some more. It also holds my big floofy petticoats, bustles, and an elliptical hoop.

So here we have my entire wardrobe. I counted 21 gowns. I have a plastic tub that holds my underpinnings.

On the left side of my closet (yes, it's a big one!) is all shelves for my fabrics. I have them folded around cardboard bolts from JoAnn's Fabrics that they just throw away and are happy to give me.

On top of my computer desk opposite is my hat collection. Each box has a small photo of the hats inside which makes it SOOO much easier to find a particular hat. I tried having them listed but it took so long to read the lists. A quick glance finds me the hat I'm looking for. They reach the ceiling so I have no more room to go up.

On the opposite side of the room are my shelves that hold my costume books. I've been told by a friend that she is bequeathing me her entire library of costume books, so I'm afraid some reorganizing is going to be needed soon.

This is how I store my patterns, in large see-through tubs under my sewing table. The smaller one holds all my ribbons, & I have another that holds my laces. Each tub is labeled with the pattern companies stored inside them. I have four altogether.

I showed you mine. Let's see your's now!

1845-1850 mourning gown

2011-09-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

Started Dec 25, 2010 Finished Sept 17, 2011
While cutting out my fabric for my 1845 teal plaid gown last year, I decided to also cut out my black silk taffeta for my mourning interpretation gown. My assembly line method was back in business.
I’ve been collecting photos for trim ideas for a mourning gown, and originally I really liked the velvet diamonds trimming this 1850 gown. It looked like a lot of fun handwork.

But sometimes my ideas for my gowns evolve as I see more photos and find trims. What determined how I would eventually trim this gown was a purchase of antique etched black glass buttons.

I thought they would look good following the same front design as the 1845 gown of Queen Victoria. And then I found a photo of another 1840s blue and silver floral gown with the sleeves I liked, and now that has influenced me to want to make a pelerine to go with it. Unfortunately that will cover the pretty trims I plan to put on the front, so it may not stay on me long. But I’m betting I can make that kind of fancy too.

I also found this wonderful 1840s daguerreotype of a young lady with the ruched trim down the front of her bodice too.

I wanted to use the buttons as a focus of my trims on the front of the gown, simply decorative, and I made a pleated self fabric trim to go around the entire front of the bodice and the sleeve cuffs. It would border the row of buttons I would sew down the front of the bodice.

Since I liked the current pattern I was using for a V-neck bodice, Simplicity 3855, I cut the black one out at the same time and sewed the bodice together. I also used the same sleeve pattern I’d made for my turquoise plaid but lengthened it a bit, and sewed the pleated trim just at the edge of the cuffs.

I flatlined my bodice with a navy blue cotton I had and made a bias facing to sew all around it.

That was as far as I got and then worked on it in fits and starts for the next year. I didn’t take any more photos during that time so this is how it started to look with its trim and two of the buttons. I had ten buttons and decided to use them all down the front. I considered doing something to the skirt and I really wanted to sew three rows of velvet bands around the bottom of the skirt as I’d seen in a fashion print. But because this was a mourning gown, I decided to pull the reins in on my trimming frenzy and kept it plain.

For my accessories I made my chemisette and undersleeves from a grey cotton. I used TV 104 for the chemisette and Period Impressions 401 for the undersleeves. I sewed a black soutache trim along the border of the collar and cuffs.

I pinned my watch to my bodice with an antique pin I bought recently, and a jet mourning brooch I bought on ebay from a seller in Norway. The really cool thing is it came from Trondheim, Norway, where my grandmother came from. The back of the brooch has a little window that you can open and put a lock of hair in it. I have some black lace mitts to wear, along with this bracelet I got for a steal at one of our antique shows.

For my bonnet- I haven’t decided if I’m going to do one like this dated 1847 one in the photo (definitely want to do the flowers on the inside, or the one shown in this fashion print of the mourning gown. The black one seems to be more of a cottage bonnet shape.

I don’t have the bonnet frame right now and since I’ll be gone for a good part of next month, with only a week after before this needs to be done, I’m seriously considering making this cap out of a grey fabric with black ribbon. The colors will all depend on what kind of fabric or ribbon I can find in the meantime. I don’t want it entirely black since I’m doing second year mourning of black and grey.

I will be wearing this to the Dia de los Muertos candlelight procession on Nov 1 in Old Town San Diego. I’ve been planning & working on it since last year, and at least it’s at the point that it’s wearable now. I have a three tiered ruffled petticoat made from cotton organdy to wear under it, and am currently working on a corded petticoat to go under that. I’m hoping I don’t have to fall back on my past shortcut of wearing a tulle petticoat, or even the great theatre trick of a quilted fabric petticoat. But it is in progress now. The bonnet/cap will have a higher priority though.

Making a lacey day cap

2011-09-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

Back in 2009, I wrote up instructions on how to make a small day cap after seeing one worn at the San Francisco Dickens Faire.

I admired it and the young lady took it off to show me she had used a shoulder pad as the base, then sewed lace in layers on it. I ran into Carolyn Runnels, who also had one a little different, and she took hers off to show me.

Carolyn's started as a piece of lace as the base, then she sewed ribbon and more lace around it.

When I came home, I started making my own, first using a shoulder pad, then later just cutting an oval of Thermalan fleece used for quilting. Using a shoulder pad tends to keep it smaller since you only have that surface to sew your laces too. I had a huge stash of different laces and had fun using them all.

I started with a 4x6” white shoulder pad from JoAnn’s. I cut and sewed a piece of flat lace to fit the area just on top of the pad. If your shoulder pad has a yellowish tint to it, make sure this covers it. You might even use a piece of solid white fabric, like a moire taffeta. Then I sewed a longer lace around the back outside edge. I sewed it all by machine and used a wide zigzag stitch to sew it on. My lace was straight, so I made tiny tucks under each pin for it to curve.

I used a curved lace around the top edge of that lace to cover the edges.

Then I just started building different laces around the front edge.

I decided on this one to sew a piece of flat lace to cover the top. You could, at the beginning, just attach that to the top before beginning the layering. I was doing this a little backwards with my first one. But it still worked out nicely in the end.

Finally I sewed a flat ribbon across the top to each side, and a bow in the back. I think later I also put bows on either side that hung down the side of my head.

This was Version #2 where I covered an oval piece of Thermalan fleece with a white moire taffeta like a little pillow. Then I began doing the same layering of lace technique.

These were mostly meant to be worn indoors, to keep your head covered at all times, or to wear under your bonnet. And they looked very pretty peeking out. I've seen this style mostly in the late 1840s up to the 1860s, and a smaller one in 1882.

This is an antique one I aspire to copy next. It goes to show you don't have to do it all white or all black. This one looks like it used a base of a solid color fabric, then layered with ruched ribbons and lace added to that. Such a pretty and frothy little thing.

These are a collection of different ones I found in my Petersen's book.

1882.

1850s Bloomer gown

2011-08-07T21:45:00.000-07:00

Started Feb 2011/ Finished July 2011

This will be a short version about my Bloomer gown for now since I'll be presenting two mini workshops on it in the coming months for my two costume guilds. I've also been asked to do a class for next year's Costume College.

I started making this gown after "inheriting" an incomplete pattern from a friend. It had been copied off an 1851 extant gown in the San Diego History Museum. I contacted both the museum, and the pattern company, Past Patterns, about it. The museum gave me an appointment to come in and take photos of the gown which had been in storage. The museum requested I not publish those photos on the internet but can use them in slide shows for my classes. I emailed back and forth with Saundra Altman of Past Patterns, & telling her I wanted to recreate the gown. She got excited about finishing the pattern to put on the market. I spent months emailing back and forth with museums and historical societies in New York about the dress reform movement, and about Amelia Bloomer and the other ladies involved in the women's movement. Bloomers were not originally designed by Amelia, but by Elizabeth Smith Miller, who Amelia credits them with. But Amelia earned the name from the newspapers, and it stuck.

I made mine in an avocado green silk taffeta, lined with cotton. I enjoyed learning how to do piping and a different technique for gathered ruching on it.

The skirt was about 4 inches below my knee, and the Bloomers are made of silk taffeta until about midway up my thighs, a period technique to save on the silk. The Bloomers are pleated around my ankles with a cuff that has more of the gathered ruching on it.

In the meantime Saundra Altman was slowly getting the pattern completed, hopefully in time for me to bring them to Costume College. She didn't make the cutoff date but did send me one so I could show it around, and let people sign up to buy one as soon as they're available before they go on the market. We're hoping for it in the next month or so. And I really hope to have them in time for my workshops. I'm even mentioned in the acknowledgements for helping her get this pattern done.

I really enjoyed wearing these. They were really comfortable and got a lot of attention. Three of my friends also made their own version and we met up at a specified time in the hotel lobby for a group photo.

I had nine ladies sign up to purchase the pattern when it's available, and one literally squealed when she saw it and is really anxious to get the pattern to make her own.

Now that I have this one under my belt, I have all kinds of ideas for a new one but made out of cotton for a day dress version, as this one was kind of dressy.

Photos from Costume College

2011-08-07T21:02:00.000-07:00

Link to my photos ----- Costume College 2011 photo album
I took over 319 photos but had to delete quite a few taken during the Red Carpet walk prior to the Gala. People wouldn't stand still long enough for many of us to take photos. Such a shame. But I still got quite a lot.

Now that the madness is over for another year, all the new ideas are swirling around in my head for new projects. My next costume doesn't need to be done until Nov 1 for the Dia de los Muertos event. So in the meantime I can finally make my much needed corded petticoats for the 1830s & 50s gowns, plus the flounced and plain petticoats that go with them. I bought a ton of cotton organdy in the Garment District for these, at the recommendation of Jennifer Rosbrugh of HistorialSewing.com. Due to the number of petticoats needed, you don't want extra weight of regular cotton. Makes sense to me. And in the meantime it will be a nice change to work on a lot of white fabric instead of all the black.

Did you go to Costume College this year? I did!

2011-08-03T10:05:00.000-07:00

If I met you, or you saw me, let me know here!

This is just a quick overview of my four costumes I wore. It will be awhile until I get all my photos resized to put in my album.

The first day I wore my 1872 Purple Polonaise, here with my friend, Cindy. I got a lot of compliments on it, and it remains one of my favorites.

Later that evening at the Ice Cream Social, I wore my 1850s Turquoise Plaid, and here again with my friend, Cindy. Me thinks I need something on top of my head, but not a bonnet.

The next day I wore my new Bloomer gown all day and into the evening for the Gala. Here with friends, Cat & Cindy. I had a couple ladies literally melting into a puddle of jelly when they saw my gown, and are excited to make them too. The pattern is almost ready to market but I was able to take pre-orders so they will get them before they go on the market.

Sunday was my La Belle Epoque Tea and I was completely happy with how it and my gown turned out.

Of course my favorite shot was from the back.

This is Shawn, my thoroughly obnoxious and snooty French Maitre d'.

I took lots of photos of the tea setup, and the greenery I brought into the room really made a difference.

I know I'll come across better shots as people post their photos. Mine don't always turn out well when I hand my camera to someone. But we did have a couple professional photographers there, so I have my hopes.

As I said, if I met you there, and you have photos, feel free to leave a link here so we all can see.

Costume College starts this week!!

2011-07-26T10:36:00.000-07:00

I just finished all the last minute details on my two new costumes I'll be wearing to the costume convention in Los Angeles.

I leave Thursday morning to drive up there, and return Monday night after an all day shopping frenzy in the Garment District. I'm going to be a personal guide to a group of newbies to the GD. Always fun to see the "deer caught in the headlights" look on their faces.

I also finished the flower arrangements and foliage decor I'm using for the Sunday Fantasy Tea there. I have a good feeling how the room is going to look. With the La Belle Epoque posters on the walls, plant stands w/ Boston ferns, music of ragtime playing, and a French Maitre d', I think it will make an elegant presentation.

And I finished cutting up 119 photos of members in their finest costumes from the last year to be displayed at the Caught on Camera display in the costume exhibit there. A lot of them were ones I took but I got a lot more sent in to me this year than last year, which was it's first time. I think it's going to be bigger every year, so I'm going to be jones'ing for a larger display area next time.

The packing marathon begins!

1890s La Belle Epoque gown

2011-07-03T16:25:00.000-07:00

Started June 2011

For the upcoming Sunday Fantasy Tea at Costume College, at the end of July, I had a time span to choose from for my gown of 1890-1914. One of my favorite movies, The Golden Bowl, had an exquisite gown I wanted to use as my inspiration. I loved the front trim and belt on it.

I had to decide did I want to go for straight sleeves or poofy sleeves, either of which would put it in it’s own time period.

After looking at these two photos, one from 1889, & the Worth gown from 1894, I chose a poofy sleeve, and I also liked bows on them.

My changeable aqua silk taffeta came from the LA Garment District, and on another trip I found this net lace yardage at Fabrics & Fabrics in the same area. The net fabric had two different types of lace trim on it that I knew would be perfect for doing a two tiered sleeve effect. I gathered the fabric under the first row of lace to create the lower flounce. It is heavy so at some point I’m going to try & use part of the netting and make it into stiff poof with some stiffener under the upper part of the sleeve.

I was also able to separate the laces by cutting them to use in different parts of the gown for trim.

I used Truly Victorian’s 490 1892 ballgown bodice, but reversed it’s opening to the front. The sleeves were made from TV’s 495 sleeve patterns, View #5. I had planned to use TV’s 297 matching skirt but didn’t have enough fabric so I used Laughing Moon’s 1890 5-gore skirt pattern, which really looked nice with it’s train. For the Medici belt I used Timeless Stitches’ TSA-525 pattern, and lined it with buckram

I already had a muslin made from this bodice pattern so with a few alterations, I was able to get it sewn in a day, and the skirt also went together very quickly. Since the finished gown would have the bodice tucked in to the skirt waist, with a belt over the top, I wasn’t sure if I should alter the bottom shape but decided it could always be worn later w/o the belt and the bodice outside the skirt.

I pinned the sleeves on to get an idea of the look I wanted.

For the lace around the neck, I cut one row of the lace trim off the netting. I had to cut away the netting from it and I let the points dangle from it. Since it was a straight line, it was hard to get it to curve with my neckline. It was too bulky to do any tucking and would have altered the line of it. I cut it into two lengths and had it start at my front opening, and go around to the back, on both sides. I barely had enough to come together in the back and had to let it split there. At the center front there will be some kind of decoration there, possibly a self fabric bow and the rhinestone bow I have. I put the Medici belt I made on it, and put three large rhinestone buttons down the middle and a lace appliqué on either side to accentuate it. In the back where it will close, I added a rhinestone buckle for some back interest.

I started thinking about how I wanted the trim on the skirt to connect up with the bodice, and didn’t have enough net fabric to do anything on it, so I pulled out a lace trim from my stash that had a similar point showing on the neckline. After a couple trips to a fabric store looking for lace appliqués to put around the front of the skirt, I was only able to find one I liked, and centered it in the front.

This gown is still in progress and needs it’s final center front trim, and closures put in, and the bows put on the sleeves. But my favorite view of it right now is from the back. If I could walk around backwards and keep my train gracefully trailing behind me, I would die happy.

Make your own Costume ID business card

2011-06-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

Sometime back I remember talking to someone about the idea of carrying business cards with my actual photo, in costume, either on the front or the back, so that when I handed it to someone they would see my face and remember me. I thought it was a great idea because I have quite a collection of business cards that I've been handed in exchange for mine. Then later I can't remember who they were. And I'm sure that works both ways.
Making a business card is pretty easy if you have a program in your computer, like Microsoft Office. That comes with your Microsoft Windows program. Its fairly simple to use, and you can either use their templates and designs, or start with a blank page. You can import your own photos or use something in their file, or find them on the internet. It allows you to change text fonts, colors, and sizes. Then just print it out on cardstock and cut. Its easy.
I used a cropped version of one of my favorite photos by photographer Jerry Abuan, and included information on it that I wanted people to have. It's also posssible to start another page and have information or another photo to be printed on the backside of the same page you printed.
And at the bottom I included the url for my costume blog, because of course I want everyone to find it.

        Valarie LaBore

      *my email address*

   San Diego Costume Guild
   Costumer's Guild West

TimeTravelinginCostume
      .blogspot.com

Gaslight Gathering Victorian fashion show

2011-05-26T09:06:00.000-07:00

We got some wonderful video taken of the Victorian fashion show at the Gaslight Gathering Steampunk & Victoriana convention a few weeks ago. You can get a good look at each and every gown the models wore that were copied or inspired by fashion prints or photos.
I’m the first model in Video #1 wearing my 1850s turquoise & gold plaid gown, and the last model in Video #2. Each video is 15 minutes long. Enjoy!
Video #1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlNOIzBSHHU
Video #2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-qdJAQfjmw

These are my critics, Chloe and Rudy, who are very helpful with my sewing. It’s very hard work.

A DIY Pattern Organizer

2011-05-24T10:31:00.001-07:00

May 24, 2011
Do you need a portable pattern reference guide? Step this way!
I came up with this idea of having a portable pattern reference book about 5 years ago after numerous trips to the Garment District in LA, and coming across the perfect fabric for a costume but not having the fabric amounts with me. How many times has that happened to you? I don’t always go looking for fabric for a specific pattern, which I would have the amounts with me, or sometimes the muse just hits me. So I’ve either under-bought or over-bought the amount I needed.
I started writing down all my pattern numbers with a slight description next to it, & hoping to remember what it looked like. But when you have over 250 patterns, your memory doesn’t always serve. And it got messy after awhile.
I tried the 3x5 card method but that’s not great for carrying that many around. It’s still a good idea for putting your fabric swatches on unless you’re like me and also have an Obsessive Amount of Fabric. I ended up putting swatches of them just in a Ziploc bag.
I found a 6 ½ x 3 ½ inch vinyl bound book with an elastic strap around it, and decided to put pictures of all my patterns in it, along with fabric & trim amounts needed for it. The first time I showed it to a group of Costume College newbies who were going to the Garment District and didn’t know how much fabric they would need, I almost didn’t get it back.
I’ve shared my idea with a few people, with favorable comments, and today while working on mine, I decided to share it with more people. Because that’s what costumers do.
Start by finding your book to make it with. I bought mine at Staples office supply, and yesterday saw some in a variety of colors on sale for $3. I think they’re normally $5. Then start collecting photos of all your patterns. The easiest way is to find them on the internet, either on the pattern company’s website, or if out of print, on eBay, or just type in a search. Copy and save the photo to your computer. Make sure you save the pattern company name and number with it; example, TV 410.
You will need to print them out to a size that will fit in your book. I like them about 3” or less so I can see the details. But you can do them half that size to put two to a page if you like. The speediest way to print them is to put them on a Word document where you can put multiples on the page. Once that’s done, cut them and tape them to the page in the book. Trim the photo as much as possible to eliminate bulk in the book. You can include the name & # on the print out but I just write it in the book next to the photo.

I put them in a numerical order in my book. I’ve tried different ways, like the era but I seem to try and hunt them by number more often. Although I do have one section that is a compilation of all my 1930s & 40s ones. Leave a couple pages blank between each pattern company to add other purchases later. The books come with a lot of pages so it will take quite a few to fill it up. It’s small enough to carry in your purse, or back pocket, and will save you from disastrous purchases in the future.
And while we’re on Obsessive-Compulsive Costuming, have I told you about my Costume Projects & Fabrics book? This one is 7x9”, a mini three ring binder, also purchases at Staples. I cut pages of card stock in half and punch holes in it for my pages. Much cheaper than buying them.

I print out pictures of my inspiration gown & the pattern if I have one yet. Then I tape the fabric swatch next to it. Sometimes there’s more than one fabric for multiple gowns. I write on the piece of fabric how many yards there are too.

It’s just a way I try to keep control of what I plan to make with a fabric I purchased, or at least remember WHY I bought it. This is a similar idea to using 3x5 cards. Since they’re taped on the pages, it’s easy to move them if I change my mind what I’m using it for.
I also have a second book that I move these pages to once the gown is completed, along with a photo of me wearing it. There are some days that I either don’t have a costume to work on, am stumped by how to do something, or just don’t feel like sewing. This becomes a very satisfactory replacement, and I see instant results.

Sewing piping & ruching-1850s style

2011-05-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

May 13, 2011
AKA Piping for Dummies:
I started a new costume a few weeks ago, an 1850s gown, and it will be my first attempt at doing piping. I tried doing it a few years ago, and never figured out how to get in between the fabric and the facing where it was just a narrow cord showing. Later I did a fake piping as trim along the edge of a sleeve jockey, my collar, and cuffs by sewing my silk taffeta trim right sides together to the edge of the fabric with a narrow hem. Then I turned it over to the inside and sewed a tiny hem to the back. I was basically just covering the edge of the fabric but from the front it looked like a nice narrow piping. You’ll probably remember this from an earlier post when I made my 1860s olive green gown.

For my 1850s gown, which I’m recreating from an original, I wanted to do it correctly as the pattern indicated. I already knew how to make bias strips from my fabric, and cut several lengths of it using a ruler that was 1-1/4 inch wide. After asking my friends on LiveJournal for suggestions to use for the cording, the overwhelming popular one was Lily Sugar n Cream 4 ply cotton yarn. I happened to have a few rolls of it from using it on a corded petticoat.Michael's carries this.

I folded the bias strip in half and placed the length of yarn down the middle, and secured it at one end with a straight pin. To keep the edges even, I pinned it down the length of the fabric. I used a zipper foot and sewed it as close to the edge of the yarn as I could. I even let the foot go slightly onto the top of the yarn to get it closer. For instructions on how to do this, I pulled out my copy of Cloak & Corsets “Modern Sewing Techniques for Historical Clothing Construction”, and found the chapter on piping. It had enough information to guide me through the next steps. http://www.cloakandcorset.com/products.php

I pinned it to the right side of my bodice with the half inch portion of the bias strip even with the edge of my bodice & basted it to hold in place. In this case, my seam allowances are a half inch, and I was sewing it around my arm hole & shoulder seams. On the armhole I started and ended it under my arm at the side seam. I overlapped the ends and pinned the loose ends up into the seam allowance so they crisscrossed. Later I trimmed those ends off even with the seam.

When I sewed the seams together I sewed the piping again using my zipper foot, and kept it close to the yarn. I thought this was going to be hard getting it exact but with my silk taffeta I can actually see the bump made by the yarn. You can also feel it. And you do want to get it close so the piping isn’t flopping around outside the seam.

Then I sewed the sleeve on as usual, making sure the edges were all even so my half inch seam would work. Here you can see the armhole piping. You can’t see the shoulder one since the seam is towards the back but it’s there. And once I got the hang of this, I didn’t stop. I decided to do it along the bottom edge of the bodice too. There are some other seams on the bodice that will be getting piping also.

And THEN I got to try a different method of making ruching to trim the front of the bodice. My method as shown in my earlier 1770s gowns, was to turn the edges of the strip of fabric to the center and press, then gather it down the center, so it was ruffley on the edges. This gown does it different. The edges are turned under 1/4 inch on the sides, and gathered down BOTH sides so it pleats it down the middle. This photo shows the sewn edges on the strip on the top with a gathering stitch. The bottom one has it gathered up and pinned to the bodice. I hand sewed it using a basting stitch with only a small stitch showing on top down the stitch lines on the sides.

The first strip I sewed on the bodice has the gathers not level enough so I’m going to take out some of the hand stitches and even it out a little more. But I learned something new and now have a new trim technique to add to my skills.

Gaslight Gathering Steampunk & Victorian Fashion Shows

2011-05-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I attended the first, and hopefully annual, Gaslight Gathering Steampunk & Victoriana convention in San Diego, CA.

This is Kaja Foglio, who with her husband Phil, write the comic Girl Genius which was the inspiration for much of Steampunk fashion.

With my friends, Mary Jennings, and Shelley Peters of the Kansas Merchantile aka The Widow Peters.

Other than wearing Steampunk, my friend Cindy asked me to be in the fashion show she was running on Mother's Day, which would be Victorian fashions that we used historical paintings, photos or fashion prints as our inspiration.
I already had one gown made that I'd sort of copied from a fashion print, and started another that I was using a photo of Queen Victoria to copy but realized that it was the same pattern as the other gown. So I decided to wear another gown that also had been inspired by a painting.
My first gown, an 1850s turquoise plaid was inspired by this print of the green plaid gown. I previously documented the making of that one.

We had a photographer that grabbed us as we left the room for a quick photo, and unfortunately by that time my lips were quivering from so much smiling, and I was rushing to change into my next gown. I've decided I need to wear this WITHOUT the bonnet because it's big bow is covering all the pretty trims on the front, and my brooch.

My second gown, which was just documented in my previous post, was an 1885 blue floral gown inspired by this painting.

I carried a basket with roses in a similar color and one in my hand. I didn't get a photo I liked that time, so this one with my friends Lauren and Cindy (the show's narrator) shows it off partially.

I'm doing another fashion show this next weekend, and will be wearing my 1770s red floral caraco again since they don't have anything from that time period, and my friend Cindy will be wearing her purple pleated gown. At least neither of us have to rush to finish anything because I want to focus on my new 1850s gown right now.

Previous Gowns Part 3: 1885 Blue Floral

2011-04-26T09:38:00.001-07:00

I’ve started to catch up on documenting some of my older gowns, and this was the latest. I started this gown in 2007 & finished it in August 2008 for a Victorian tea.
I finally found the photo of a painting I’d printed off the internet that inspired my 1885 blue floral gown. With the help of a friend, I was able to get a scan of the photo to put back on my computer. *If anyone can identify the painting or painter, I’d really appreciate it. I printed this off my computer quite a few years ago and had a habit of not saving any identifying information with them.*

**Edited to add- the painting has been found! This was “Pruning Roses” by Robert James Gordon.

Besides loving the blue color, I liked the dark blue insert on the bodice and was happy when Truly Victorian came out with the French Vest pattern with the insert.

When I saw this fabric at Rosie’s Calico Cupboard, a quilt shop in San Diego, I knew right away it was perfect for this gown.

The painting doesn’t really show what the underskirt looks like but I decided I wanted to continue the solid color for it. I also didn’t have enough of the blue floral to make the skirt. The bodice was fairly easy to construct and the insert portion was even easier than it looks. I thought it was some complicated bit of hooks & eyes system to attach it, but instead it was just sides sewn to the front portion of the bodice to continue it to the center. Piece of cake! I used buttons & buttonholes as my closure on this, and used modern flat blue buttons. In hindsight, it also made it easier to alter the size because as I began losing weight, just moving the buttons over made that easy too. I had one oops while making it though. When I was opening the buttonhole up using my seam ripper, I pushed too hard, and I ripped right through the buttonhole and went an inch and half into the fabric. I did a very tight zigzag stitch over it in navy blue thread to close it, and I’ve been told it’s hardly noticeable. But I notice it.
As you will see in the photos of the completed gown, I was still in my early years of knowledge of how these were made and worn. The skirt in this era should be flat in front, with the excess in the back to go along with the bustle. And a little fuller petticoat wouldn’t hurt it either. But overall I still like it, and this pattern is very flattering.

I don’t have any decent photos of the hat since I’ve repurposed it into other colors for other gowns. At times I’ve worn an antique black wire frame bonnet with it but at some point I’d like to make one that looks more like the original painting.

1912 Suit for the Titanic Boarding Party luncheon

2011-04-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

Started Feb 7, 2011/ Finished April 17, 2011
For the Titanic Boarding Party luncheon, portraying Dr Alice Leader, survivor of the sinking.

One of our costume guild members began planning an event for the anniversary of the RMS Titanic sinking on April 12, 1912. It was to be a Titanic Boarding Party luncheon at the Harbor House Restaurant in Seaport Village, San Diego, on April 1 7. We were each to pick a real person from the Titanic’s passenger list to portray, either a survivor or not, and try to come up with their story.
I chose Dr Alice Leader, who was more interesting than just being a 1st class passenger.
Alice and her husband John worked together as physicians at a practice in New York City. Alice boarded the Titanic at Southampton by herself as a first class passenger. She was 49 years old. She shared cabin D-17 with her friend, Mrs. Margaret Swift. Both she & Margaret were rescued in lifeboat 8.
After her rescue from the Titanic, Alice returned to work. She retired in the 1920s and was a frequent visitor to the Orlando, Florida area. Alice Leader died of heart failure in Florida on April 20, 1944; she was buried in Attica, N.Y.

I began looking for something suitable for a first class passenger who was also a doctor. I liked the idea of a suit that could be worn while boarding the ship. Then I came across a photo of a hunting party where a lady was wearing a suit with a set of furs and it matched a fashion photo I had. I liked having lots of buttons and trims.

From here I gathered my accessories, starting with a hat I’d bought in 2004 from Mela Hoyt-Hayden at the Costume College Marketplace while I was there. I added my furs, an antique Edwardian parasol that was long enough to be a walking stick, and a smallish doctor’s medical bag I recently purchased in Williamsburg, and was the perfect size for a lady doctor.

I could only come up with two commercial patterns that were close to what I wanted to use, one by Rocking Horse Farms, or Wingeo 410 & 411. I already had the Wingeo pattern so I decided to use that. At some point, I still want to try the Rocking Horse one.

I’m using a lightweight suiting wool blend that I’ve had for about 5 years. It’s a light chocolate brown, and I bought some dark chocolate velveteen for the collar and trims. Unfortunately during that time some little winged beasties nibbled on some of it, so I had to recut one piece that was unsalvageable, but on the front with the lapel, I decided the lapel folding over would cover it. Besides I didn’t have enough fabric to recut that piece. To prevent stretching, I did a staystitch around all the pieces, & flatlined the front & back pieces with interfacing because of it being so lightweight.

I had a really hard time getting started on this Wingeo pattern. There is only one sheet of directions, and they’re minimal. It has a two collar option, one being a contrasting collar, but it’s not really clear how to do that, especially if you’ve never done a lapel collar before. I ended up begging for help and Jennifer Rosbrugh of Historical Sewing stepped in to try and decipher the directions. http://www.historicalsewing.com/ This was all done over the internet so it was confusing for both of us. Since the directions only showed a drawing of the jacket w/o a lapel, that confused me further. After a week of going back and forth, Jennifer was able to write up some new instructions for me and it was enough for a light bulb to go on and have an ah hah moment. Part of the problem was sewing the separate collar and it’s placement on the jacket so it lined up properly with the folded out lapel portion. The directions said to sew on the collar from the dots A to B. Except there were four dots and none were labeled. So when I finally sewed it, using the dots closest to the center opening, it didn’t lay down far enough to line up with the lapel.

This first photo shows the incorrectly lined up lapel collar. The second shows after I opened it up to the dot where it was supposed to match up to the dart on the jacket, it lined up properly.

I would not recommend this pattern for a beginner.
I sewed the sleeves on and then the belt, which I sewed by machine on a side seam on both sides, then hand tacked it to the front, leaving the back portion un-tacked. I read somewhere that it should stay loose since the back would tend to gather. I imagine if I had fitted the back portion a little more, I wouldn’t have had the looseness there. I wasn’t very happy with how the sleeves were fitting me at the shoulders, and then surprisingly in an Edwardian drafting class, it was discovered I had a very short shoulder line from my neck to the tip of my shoulder. So that explained why it was hanging down so low on my arms. So I had some help drawing a new line for my armseye and I cut off about 2 inches in, and reset my sleeves, which looked much better.
The belt made also of velveteen was attached to the jacket but I didn’t attach it on the back because it had some fullness that would have bunched up if I stitched it.

Once that and the sleeves were done, the rest went a lot quicker. The skirt also didn’t have much directions, and the only stumble made there was in the kick pleats which really didn’t have much to fold under the pleat but it looks ok. I forgot to take pictures of that while I was in “frantic-mode” of sewing for my event in three days.
My plans to cover buttons with the velveteen didn’t work because the fabric was too bulky. So I went in search of acceptable looking buttons. I found some at Yardage Town with a clover pattern cut out in the middle. They actually had enough of them for once. I used 6 large ones on the front of the double breasted jacket, four on each sleeve, and two on each side of the two kick pleats of the skirt. At some point I’d like to add a velveteen trim to the bottoms of the sleeves, but at this point, I’m just happy that it’s wearable.

The last part of this was my high necked blouse. I tried an Edwardian blouse I had on but the cotton sleeves fought with the cotton lining of the jacket sleeves and it was impossible to get it on. I almost didn’t get out of it. Plan B was a fake blouse, aka a dickie. I couldn’t find my pattern for making the blouse so I used another one for a high necked cape, Butterick 4952.
I just cut out the front and back pieces, with the collar. I shortened the bottoms of both bodies, and cut off part of the sides to even it out from the armholes, and just hemmed each side without having a side seam. The front seams and the collar overlapped enough to snap closures. I used a piece of antique lace from my stash and sewed one part around the collar, and then two pieces down the front on either side of the closure. I left a small area near the top for my Edwardian brooch to close it.

These photos were taken by Jerry Abuan. I didn’t realize until I saw the photos that when I put my hat on after getting out of my car and sticking my hat pin in, that I forgot to set it at an angle. This position isn’t the best angle for me or to show off the hat to its best. I also noticed the jacket wants to scrunch up too high above the waist after I’ve been sitting down. It causes the lower part of the jacket to pull at the last button. I don’t know if it’s too tight or what causes it yet. I need to get in the habit of pulling it down each time I get up.

We had our Captain Edward John Smith, and many lovely ladies.
More of my photos can be found here. http://www.pbase.com/cinnamonhrts/titanic_boarding_party

1860s brown bonnet

2011-04-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday while attending the Prado Civil War reenactment in Chino, CA, I was asked about the bonnet I was wearing and how I made it. After I told one person how I’d done part of it, I got home and found out I’d never finished writing it up on my blog. So, Mary, this is for you.
January 22, 2010
For my 1860s olive green gown I made to wear at the Riverside Dickens Fair, I wanted to use a straw bonnet with it, trimming it up inside the top of the brim, and some kind of fancy trim around the crown. This was my inspiration I used.

I wanted to have the high point at the top like a spoon bonnet instead of being rounded, so I placed a medium gauge millinery wire along the edge before I bound the edges. After it was sewn I bent it to the shape I wanted. *Test the strength of your wire to see if it will hold the shape*. First I sewed the millinery wire around the inside edge, using a wide zigzag stitch over it with my sewing machine. As long as you sew slowly, you shouldn’t have any problems. Then I pleated an antique white silk taffeta to go inside the bonnet, and pinned it in place to get the fit right. Line it up with the outside edges of the bonnet, with the excess down in the middle. You can trim off the excess. Make a round disk of the same lining fabric and turning the edges under, sew it on top of the raw edges at the bottom.

I machine-sewed a strip of the same fabric on the outside of the edge, then turned it over to the inside, and slipstitched it on by hand. I forgot to take a photo of the bonnet after I sewed and turned the edge over to finish the front. I slipstitched it to the inside lining.

I dug through my collection of millinery flowers that I find at antique shows and put a couple bits together for the upper brim. I basted these on. For the outside trim, I made a brown ribbon using a 4” wide strip of silk taffeta folded in half and sewn, closing off the ends at an angle, and leaving a bit open in the middle to turn it inside out. The finished width was 2”. Make it long enough to go around the top and then hang down on each side so you can tie it in a bow under your chin. I hand-tacked it through the straw frame, and decided I didn’t care that the stitches showed through on the inside & they wouldn’t show anyhow. *This could be done prior to lining it if you think of it in time.*

For the bavelot and bow on the back of the bonnet, I sewed more strips of the brown silk taffeta, similar to how I did the ribbon, but made the bavelot portion wider, about 8” which was folded in half. I hand-stitched these to the back of the bonnet along the lower edge. I made a pleated ribbon to go on top of the ribbon already sewn on by using a 4” strip & turning the edges under and towards the center so it had finished outside edges. The finished width was 2”. I machine-sewed down the center to hold them together. Then I tacked them down in the center through the bonnet frame.

For my side trims, I used some more of my millinery trims and sewed a sprig on each side and put small bows at the base of each one, this time using regular brown ribbon. At each point at the bottom of the bonnet, I sewed a narrow ribbon to tie under my chin, in addition to the regular bow to hold it in place better. Besides helping the bonnet holds its shape better, it also keeps the stress of your regular ribbon so it doesn’t untie as easily.

Here was the photo taken of me when I first wore it in Riverside 2010.

My album from Williamsburg

2011-04-01T18:06:00.000-07:00

I didn't really want to put anything in my costume blog except writing about my costumes, but this time I'll make an exception. Because there's no way I could get all my photos in here.
I've uploaded all the photos from my week in W'burg to my online album: going to the Costume Accessories Symposium; visiting the Costume Accessories: Head to Toe exhibit at the Dewitt-Wallace museum; the muff making workshop; attending a private 18th c candlelight dinner at the King's Arms Tavern, and a private 18th c. musical presentation at the Raleigh Tavern. The last two I attended in costume, wearing my teal caraco but unfortunately having to wear an almost black wig since I left mine at home. My hair and wigs are more of a reddish light auburn. Oh well. The only decent photos I have of me so far were taken by Angela Burnley, so I thank you very much, Angela. This is what I was supposed to look like:

http://www.pbase.com/cinnamonhrts/williamsburg_2011

In the section with the photos from the Head to Toe exhibit at the Dewitt-Wallace, I left my sometimes blurry photos of the item's description to save me the typing.
Even though I went on private tours of costume collections at some museums, we were asked not to post photos of those online. However, I do plan on cropping bits and pieces of parts of them that I specifically liked and want to talk about, and incorporate those in my own costumes. But that's for later.
At the end of the second night of the two day conference that I attended, Janea Whitacre presented her program, All things Millinerial, with a wonderful "fashion show" that was the hit of the whole program. SO MUCH EYE CANDY! Most of the time the ladies were moving so it was hard to get photos from the stage that weren't too blurry but I think most came out. And we got to take closeups of them later. And boy, did I! To to the point of stalking one of them, a black Regency gown, that I think needs to be added to my wardrobe!
Please be so kind as to leave a comment there if you like. I'd love to know what you think, or that you enjoyed them. OR you can do it here.

1907 Afternoon Tea Gown from The Edwardian Modiste

2011-03-28T20:50:00.000-07:00

March 28, 2011
A couple days ago I went to a small workshop to learn how to grade up patterns from the Frances Grimble book, The Edwardian Modiste (1905-09). http://www.lavoltapress.com/

I have two more of her books, The Voice of Fashion (styles from 1900-1906), and one of her newest, Directoire Revival Fashions (1888-89). Once I get the hang of this, I may invest in one or two of her other ones.

These books use an ingenious method of rulers cut to your size (the American System of Cutting rulers), which they recreated with vintage patterns. By following numbers marked on the pattern in the book, you use the rulers and mark the numbers on paper. Once those are done, it’s like a “connect the dots” game and you draw the cutting lines of your pattern. Even though this is supposedly cut to your size, it’s still highly recommended you make a muslin/toile to check the fitting. Also recommended is to pin the darts on while you’re wearing the muslin. Each book uses its own set of rulers, which are printed in the back of the book.
The gowns, suits, and underpinnings are like none available in the normal pattern companies, and I’m excited to make my first one. I chose a fairly simple pattern for my first attempt at this, a 1907 Afternoon Gown. It’s a kimono-type sleeve bodice and doesn’t require a lot of fitting. And the fabric I chose to use is a black with white polka dot polyester, which the instructor said was perfect for this. It will look cute with a white voile underblouse.

However, as we learned, all of these have a fitted underbodice which the outer bodice, the jumper, attaches to it which gives it its shape. So the first thing we did in class was to make our pattern for this. Once done, we cut out fabric for our muslin, and the instructor fitted those to us. It gave us a chance to learn and practice how to grade up the pattern.
While I was being fitted in my muslin, my instructor told me the upper portion of my bodice wasn’t fitting properly. I am very narrow in front from shoulder to shoulder, and short from my shoulder line to my bust line. It wasn’t a bad measurement or a mistake. I just had an unusual shape. So she drew lines on the muslin and told me to recut my pattern by tracing that onto it. I’m supposed to always use that upper portion of the pattern on any of patterns I grade up in the future. This was an “ah hah!” moment for me because this explained why I always have problems with the top portion of my bodices being too big, and sleeve caps hanging down too far, even further than those period correct ones. Instinctively I’ve been chopping off a couple inches of my shoulders whenever I put in sleeves. So I can use this information now for any patterns that I use.
Today I started grading the jumper for this gown but am already eyeballing this pretty bodice on a 1905 Dressy Reception Gown once I’m confident with the process.

18th C. muff making workshop

2011-03-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

March 16, 2011
Last week I attended the Costume Accessories Symposium(CAS) in Williamsburg, VA. At the end of the two day lecture series, I had signed up to take a muff making workshop put on by Janea Whitacre, the Mistress of Millinery & Mantua Maker at the Margaret Hunter Millinery Shop in Colonial Williamsburg.
Our class of 15 got to see a variety of sample muffs made by the ladies of the Shop, including some lovely mitts and a workbag.

Isn't that pink one for a little girl just precious?
Janea explained that we had an option of making a single muff, OR making a separate stuffed linen bag that could have an interchangeable outer cover. I think we all chose the second option.

We were given many choices of colors of either silk satin or silk taffeta fabrics to make our muffs with. I chose a dark sage green silk satin, and after looking over the various trims, I used a simple variable green & cream trim that I would make a swirly pattern with on my fabric. Then I picked a pink ribbon flower trim to cut the flowers off and sew onto the trims. Janea came over and looked at it, and suggested I do a double row of the trim, turning it into a lattice, and put the flowers inside the squares. I thought at first I shouldn’t use so much of their trim but she was very generous with what I was using.

Everything was handsewn. Once we hemmed one side of the cover, we folded the sides in to form channels for the ribbon closures on the sides. We left it open so we could sew the trims on first. We then made the inner linen pocket by sewing a long tube, then turning it inside out but only half way so there was a pocket to stuff & a hole through the middle for your hands. We used real lambs wool to stuff it with.

On my side of the room, we all started sewing our outside covers. On the other side of the room, my friend started sewing her inside lining.
I started sewing my trims on the outside sleeve and sewed one row zigzagging one direction. Once that was sewn, I started another row going the other direction.
This shows how it will look once closed down the middle and put over the lining muff. This also shows the true color.

By the end of class, a few people were close to being done. It’s a fairly easy project that can be carried around to work on. And since the cover is interchangeable, I can already imagine other covers I want to make.

After I flew back home to San Diego, I was really enthusiastic about finishing my muff. But of course things kept interrupting me, and it took a week to finally finish it. I never got far along enough during the class to get the finishing instructions so I had to wing it the best I could. After sewing 28 ribbon flowers on the squares, I sewed 24 tiny crystal pearls, that I purchased here locally in a bead shop, in the other squares.

I turned the raw edges on the long sides of the muff and stitched those together to close the muff. I was finally able to put my ribbons through the side channels to draw it closed. After sewing the opening closed on my inner linen muff, I was able to stuff it into the finished outside silk cover. The inner muff didn’t have enough stuffing so it’s not as full as I’d like it but at some point I may get some batting to fill it out. I had chosen this narrow ribbon in class for my drawstring, as opposed to the wider ones, but now that I have it in, I think I’ll get some of the wider ribbon and replace it.

And here we have the final muff. Since I can easily replace the outside green silk cover with other covers, I’m going to be thinking of a less fancy one to make next.

My thanks to Janea and the ladies of the Margaret Hunter Millinery Shop for making this such a fun class.

Costume Accessories Symposium in Williamsburg

2011-03-12T18:25:00.000-08:00

I'm currently attending this wonderful symposium at Colonial Williamsburg, VA for the week, and have already met a lot of great ladies, including a couple I've only "talked" to online.
The first night I was here about 30 of us (fellow costumers) met for dinner at the King's Arms Tavern in the historic area dressed in our best 18th century costume. We were upstairs in a candle-lit room with all the ladies and gentlemen enjoying fabulous meals.
I wore my teal caraco, which I was so happy to be able to wear again. I had a wig mishap by leaving mine at home but fortunately found a modern wig shop while in Norfolk, and bought a curly neck length wig that I was able to do a decent replacement for the evening.
Afterwards we walked across the street to gather in the Raleigh Tavern to listen to a private 3 piece chamber ensemble, again in a candle-lit room. I loved the pianoforte music.
We were invited after that for dessert and wine at the Red Brick Inn, a beautiful and orginal bed & breakfast owned by one of our costumers. I can't recommend that place enough if you need a place to stay and feel part of everything. It's the oldest B&B in CW.
Today began the first part of our week, a tour of museum costume collections and historical homes in Richmond. We were given special access to the storage rooms and got up close to many original pieces of clothing and accessories. And we were allowed to take photos. :)
Tomorrow is a day of rest, with a meet and greet in the evening, and then the symposium starts on Monday to Tuesday. On Wednesday I'll be going on a Behind the Scenes tour of the Head to Toe exhibit at the Dewitt-Wallace Museum, and then take an 18th century muff making workshop in the afternoon.
Sorry I have no photos to share yet. I'm not able to download them from my camera while I'm here.

Four of my gowns, all in one.

2011-02-08T10:23:00.000-08:00

This last weekend, I and a couple of our costume guild members took part in a small fashion show by the Women’s History Museum in San Diego. The show was for the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) in nearby La Jolla. Even though the museum often shows a progression in time of the costumes being worn, I thought we should focus on the 1700s during the Revolution.
I volunteered my friend, Cindy to join me in modeling 4 of my gowns. Three were from the 1770s, the fourth was 1795. We had to make some adjustments to my gowns to fit her. The 1795 open robe was much easier to adjust but the 1770s polonaise Anglaise wasn’t. So it wasn’t as good a fit as I’d like. But we still looked nice and we felt like Pretty Princesses.
The audience of ladies from the club weren’t too familiar with the clothing but we did get a couple intelligent questions about what we were wearing and some wanted to know how long it took to make them. One question about what was paste jewelry has prompted me to want to find out more about it since my knowledge was limited to it being the “rhinestone” of the era.
I wore my 1770s Red Floral Caraco first. This is the one I had shortened the skirt portion and added self fabric pleated trim around the neckline and sleeves. I didn't get my new linen sleeve flounces done in time but no one noticed them missing.

We were in a medium sized room so the ladies got a close look at everything.

Cindy came out wearing my 1770s polonaise, The Pumpkin. It looked so pretty on her, and now she wants to make one.

Next was my 1770s Teal Caraco. When I first walked out, I suddenly realized I’d left the embroidered silk apron in the dressing room. And the clasp on my necklace had broken, so I had thrown on my freshwater pearl necklace. Where was my maid?!

Cindy came out wearing my 1795 periwinkle blue open robe over a white gown with gold trimmings around the hem. That gown looks gorgeous on everyone! When she was done, I returned with the apron on, and did another impromptu showing of it. The apron is the icing on my gown.

This was my favorite photo EVER.

It was hard having to change out of our pretty clothes and back into jeans, but it was a fun day.

Thank you to Jerry Abuan http://jerryabuan.zenfolio.com/ for such beautiful photos of the day.

So what's on the planning table?

2011-01-30T09:18:00.000-08:00

My mind keeps wandering to what I want to start working on, but necessities have a priority. I need to finish the re-do of my 1770s red floral caraco. It will be another Frankencostume, starting out from one pattern, and being redone partly with another. I need it done by next Friday, to wear to a fashion show for the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) in San Diego, being put on by the Women's History Museum. I'll be wearing that as day wear, and my teal caraco, minus some of the Venetian Masquerade bling, for evening wear. I'll be dressing up my friend Cindy in my periwinkle blue 1795 open robe as another model. Somehow I have to have enough time while Cindy is modeling her outfit, to switch from my day gown to evening, and change my hair, which will just be a wig and feathers.
I started yesterday redoing the sleeves on the red floral, and making lengths of the same fabric to put a small pleated trim around the bodice and sleeves. After that, I just need to put the closures in (hook and eye tape/ I don't trust myself with pinning myself in), and it will be done. I've started another post for that, and will publish it here when the remodel is done.
It doesn't sound like much to do but I'm the world's slowest procrastinating sewer. *Case in point- am I sewing right now?*
Next on the table will be an Edwardian suit, for an April event with our costume guild, using Wingeo's #410 Traveling Suit
I have a muslin made up from that pattern already, and the fabric, a light brown suit weight wool blend and brown velvet for the collar. I bought a beautiful hat from Mela Hoyt-Hayden way back in 2003 that's been waiting for this outfit to be made for it.
While making my 1850s teal plaid gown, I also cut out and sewed a duplicate black silk taffeta bodice for my mourning interpretation, and can also be worn with white accessories. The skirt is mostly done too. I'm still gathering up ideas for trims for it. I might use it for the Bennington Memorial, San Diego, in July, and then later at Old Town.
After that, if nothing else comes up, I need to start working on my La Belle Epoque gown for the Fantasy Tea theme at Costume College in August.
This is my fabric and lace I'll be using for my 1890-1900s gown.
I'm using the movie, The Golden Bowl, as my inspiration, especially this dress.
I've found a few other ideas for the sleeves and neckline.
The planning is in my opinion, the fun part!

Riverside Dickens Festival 2011

2011-01-24T21:17:00.000-08:00

My gown was received very well at the Festival, and it looked nice in the fashion show too. The scene I was in was an afternoon whist party where we were seated playing cards. Funny thing was, none of us knew how to play, so we faked it.
*Photo courtesy of Jerry Abuan http://jerryabuan.zenfolio.com *

I even warned them of one lady cheating. :)

This photo was taken with my camera of me with a couple of our Guild members.

This one was also taken by Jerry of me and my friend, Cindy.

All I think I'm going to be changing on this outfit is to make some pretty sheer undersleeves, and I can call it done!
*Edited to add*- I just got this nice compliment from a friend: "Turquoise Plaid of Awesomeness +2 paired with Bonnet of Ethereal Awesomeness +2 equals Outfit of Dickens Nirvana +5! ;-)"

Completion of my 1850s Turquoise Plaid gown

2011-01-18T21:47:00.000-08:00

This blue plaid gown was my inspiration.

I started this gown around December 14, and I’ve even amazed myself that I finished it in just a little over a month, and with a week to spare before I’ll be wearing it for the Riverside Dickens fashion show. Granted, I am retired, but everyone knows you really ARE busier after you retire, and it’s true. I also have a hard time keeping my nose to the grindstone when so many other things are calling to me.
I had a few problems when I used sleeves from one pattern company that had the shorter bell shape that I wanted for my other pattern. This is a closeup of the sleeve from the Butterick 6694 that I used.

I rounded the edges off so I didn’t have the points but the more I look at this pattern, the more I like the points on both the sleeves and the bodice. Oh well, next time.
The sleeves on this pattern fit higher than the ones on my Simplicity 3855 pattern so there was a lot of poofiness on the top of the sleeve cap. The Simplicity had a dropped sleeve cap that went 5” down my arm, where this one only went down 2”. In the end, I cut off the extra 3” on the shoulder of the bodice and it went in easier. It still has a little uneveniness but it was acceptable. I’m not a perfectionist, and if it works, I’m happy. Or just lazy.
And look! The plaids match! After reading an article by Diane Yoshitomi on Your Wardrobe Unlock’d http://yourwardrobeunlockd.com/ about matching plaids, I paid more attention to doing that. *Disclaimer- the skirt fabric's third panel doesn't match because I didn't have enough fabric to correct that.*

With only a month to make the gown, I didn’t have time to make new set of pretty undersleeves for this. I wanted to have a layer of lace on top of the cotton undersleeve, so I sewed a wide lace trim to the bottom of the sleeve cuff. I do have a plain pair of cotton undersleeves I can wear for now but eventually I want to make a softer prettier pair.
Once the bodice was pretty much constructed, I made up the little chemisette that comes with the Simplicity pattern. It was simple and quick, only taking me 4 hours to make. The waist is a bit too long for me, since I didn’t even think of checking the fit but since it does under the bodice, that will never be seen. A simple correction will just require turning the bottoms up farther for a new ribbon channel. I used a fine cotton for the chemisette, vintage mother of pearl buttons, and a cotton crocheted lace on the neckline.

And we must have trim! Lots of it! I made a 1” wide ruffle from the plaid fabric, machine gathered it, and sewed it around the neckline and down the front by hand. Then I went around the cuffs. Ok, stop me now.

I made one big bow to pin at the bottom of the V front. Then a friend suggested a second smaller bow just below it. I also made a set of the smaller bows and put those on the sleeves just above the ruffle.
My skirt was just 3 panels of my 60” wide fabric, and cartridge pleated to a narrow self fabric waistband. For this show, I’m wearing a tulle crinoline petticoat for the fullness, with a flounced cotton petticoat over it. Later I want to make a corded petticoat to wear instead. I had one but it didn’t have the fullness this skirt needs.
My accessories will be an antique brass Victorian pendant with a small cameo on it, and my navy blue bonnet made by Mela Hoyt-Hayden from her Young Victoria collection. I’ll be wearing a white lace day cap under it. Tomorrow I have an appointment with a hair stylist who is going to style a long straight wig into a proper hairstyle of the era for me. She’s as excited as I am.

Last night, and with only 4 days to spare, I finished the gown. Of course I’m already wanting to tweak a few things, but that will have to wait until after this weekend. And now I can start on the black mourning version of this pattern.

Ruffles and Petticoats introduction

2011-01-17T08:10:00.001-08:00

Two months ago a friend of mine and I decided we wanted to start making affordable Victorian and Edwardian underpinnings and sell them. I wanted to do just petticoats, and she was going to do chemises and drawers. Someday we may add other accessories but since we're pretty busy making our own costumes, this is just a sideline for both of us.
I decided I didn't want to make plain white petticoats but have them in fancier colors and patterns. I'm just making cotton ones right now, and each one has a ruffle with a pretty trim at the bottom. I'm making them out of pastels: light blue, sage green, pink, and lavender, and have fabrics with polka dots, tiny florals, and stripes ready to be made. Many will be one of a kind depending on fabrics I find. These are all machine sewn.
My Victorian petticoat is flatter in the front, and pleated in the back to accommodate a bustle, but not the very large ones. My late Victorian and Edwardians are pleated all around for a flatter silhouette.
These are sold as finished items, not custom ordered. My petticoats are $35.00 plus shipping. Once we get a good stock of them made up, we plan to have a location where we'll just post photos of them to sell. In the meantime, here are some that are ready for sale now.
This is a closeup of the trim on one of them. The trims may vary according to the availability.

All of these have a waist measuring 36-38" but can be made smaller since the excess ruffles would remain in the back; or about 3" larger but having a gap at the placket, which obviously would be covered by a skirt.

Sage green:

Light blue:

Pink Floral: SOLD

Lavender:

I am selling them now. In fact I sold my first one at our last San Diego Costume Guild meeting and she's very happy with it. They come from a smoke-free house, although my cats do help in the sewing.

If you're interested in one, email me at cinnamonhrts AT yahoo dot com. I do have Paypal.

Dia de los Muertos in Old Town San Diego

2011-01-03T10:13:00.000-08:00

This event was last Nov 1, and I was just reminded about it. It also gives me something else to write about.
The Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican celebration, the Day of the Dead. It's the day after our Halloween, and honors those who have passed on, and they build memorials to them. These aren't religious altars as some people think, but memorials, and they had them all over Old Town during the celebration.
I had talked to a couple people running the Candlelight Procession that starts at the Whaley House, and goes to the El Campo Santo Cemetery up the street. They ended up asking if any of us would come in mourning costume and lead the procession. It was the first year they were doing this, and were really excited to get off to a good start. I wore my 1870s purple floral polonaise and an antique black lace mourning veil that I'd bought at the Johnson House in Old Town.
We had a very large group from our costume guild show up over in the marketplace.

We began the procession in front of the Whaley House, and our group stood on the porch waiting to lead the crowd of about 200 people carrying candles in the Procession. Many of us brought battery operated candles to carry.

While I was standing there waiting, I was next to a column, and near the edge of the steps. I felt someone push my shoulder like they wanted to get past me. But I turned and no one was there. I thought then maybe I had bumped into the wood column but I was about 8" away from it. So apparently one of the ghosts of the Whaley House was anxious to get by me. It didn't bother me, as I've loved the House since I was in elementary school, and first went on tours there.
Later we arrived at the cemetery, and gathered around some of the graves for photos.

The whole event kind of fell apart then because there wasn't anything planned other than going to the cemetery. But next year they've asked us to portray actual people, and hopefully the program will be a little more rounded out. This is one of the events I'm working on my 1850s black mourning gown for.
These are some of the altars around Old Town.

1850s turquoise plaid dress- My “Young Victoria” gown

2010-12-14T20:23:00.000-08:00

I’m in the planning stages of a new project, and I always get really excited at this part of it. I am really hoping I’ll get this made in time to wear it in the Riverside (CA) Dickens Fair fashion show. It’s a month away and if the fitting goes well, there’s a chance I might be able to finish it. I plan on using a purchased bonnet I have so that won’t slow me down.
I was very impressed by the gowns in the recent movie of Young Victoria, about the young Queen of England. This led me to start searching for actual photos or drawings of gowns from the years around late 1840s to 1850s. I really liked the bell shape of the skirts at this time, and saw a couple with a deep V in the neckline, with a pretty chemisette under it. I was really excited when I came across this photo of Queen Victoria in 1845 holding the young Prince Edward. And she was wearing the deep V neck that I so liked. I can’t tell what color her gown is but it looks like a solid with no pattern design.

I knew I wanted mine made with a plaid after I saw this fashion print.It’s trim along the V-neck is scalloped and matches the scalloped tiers on the skirt.

And the clincher was this blue plaid. I love these sleeves with the lace ruffles and smaller sleeve sticking out on it. It’s similar to the green plaid but has a fringe as it’s trim along the V and the sleeves.

These are other versions of a similar dress, and also gives me ideas for hairstyles, which I’m going to try with a wig of long straight hair.

I saw this Simplicity 3855 pattern made up, and other than the very large pagoda sleeves, it was exactly what I wanted. And I found the silk taffeta plaid I thought would look good with it.

My skirt won’t be the same shape as this pattern, but a narrower bell shape which gets its shape from a corded petticoat under it. I may not have that done in time for the fashion show and I’m hoping my ruffled petticoat will support it enough until I get one made.

Another wearing of my 1860s olive green gown

2010-12-12T11:09:00.000-08:00

Last night was our costume guild's annual Xmas dinner where we go to a restaurant in Old Town San Diego during their Holiday in the Park event. The Old Town Park is a living history museum with the town preserved back to it's original buildings. It burned down in 1873, and is a rough Californio settlement. During the Holiday event, everything is decorated for the holidays as it was back then, with tours and singing. Some of the little shops are our favorites, like the Johnson House which has costume accessories. We've bought hat forms, jewelry, shawls, vests, and other things they've gotten in that work with our costumes. It's not all historically correct but still a fun place and so pretty. Then there's Capt'n Fitches who carry all the Dover fashion print softbound books. The stores give guild members a 10-20% discount on everything, so we do all our shopping on this night.
Then we had our dinner at the recently renovated Cosmopolitan Hotel in their inside courtyard.
I wore my olive green 1860s gown, and added my antique fur muff (which includes the fox's head, who is named Oscar).

We stood out in front of various buildings, and were swamped by the public taking photos of us. So we had a chance to enjoy everything and the public enjoyed us.

Here I'm sitting in front of the Johnson House.

This was our whole group at the restaurant.
The rest of my photos can be found in my Flickr album. http://www.flickr.com/photos/26036741@N00/sets/72157625583244074/

Blinging up my caraco for Venetian Masquerade

2010-11-21T09:26:00.000-08:00

Twice a year our costume guild does a Costumed Walkabout at the Del Mar Antique Show in San Diego. We’ve been doing this a number of years where we would dress in a different costume theme to entertain the shoppers. And of course, we shop there ourselves. We’re supported by all the vendors and get to win raffle prizes of gifts and gift cards to spend at the show that they and the producers donate to us.
Our theme for November 20 was Venetian Masquerade, and I planned to use my 1780s teal caraco and petticoat that I’d worn once at Costume College, but with lots of glitz and glitter added to it.

My caraco so far had pleated trim all around the edges & the sleeve cuffs, and looked very plain even the first time I made it. But I didn’t have time to take them any further before I left for the costume convention. So the only other decoration on it was a big cream silk bow on the front. I pretty much had a blank slate.
Because this was a fantasy costume, I had to keep myself from thinking “this isn’t historical” when I came up with an idea that clashed with period correct. I can’t believe how hard it was to get out of that mode. Even though I was wearing a 1780s gown, I didn’t have to stick to what was worn then. Unfortunately I came down with the flu and followed up with a cold the two weeks before our Walkabout, and my brain and energy went downhill. But I had a few ideas already and went with those.
My first idea was to hand sew crystal beads down the center of the pleating. But I didn’t like a straight line of them, so I sewed groups of 4, separated by an inch. In looking at the photo, they looked like a dotted line.

The next idea was to add pearls to it. I bought some strands of fake freshwater pearls and separated them, then sewed one between each group of crystals. They broke up the line and gave it more texture.

I had enough of the crystals and pearls that I was able to continue them down to the bottom of the pleats to the hem but if I decide to continue around the back & maybe around the sleeve cuffs, I’ll have to buy more. I also made a new set of lace flounces for the sleeves. At first I thought they were too long but after looking at pictures of some, I knew they weren’t. But my fears proved correct when I got BBQ sauce on them later.
I was digging through my costume jewelry collection for a brooch to use on a headpiece and saw a teal glass brooch that needed to be on the caraco so I put it on the back between the two pleats. The pin broke off while trying to pin it on, so I had to baste it on.

I had a freshwater pearl necklace that I wore with this last time but I wanted something that would hang in the open area of my chest. So I found a silver and glass rhinestone necklace at Icings.

The only other addition I made to my costume was a headdress to wear on my wig. I’ve tried added feathers to my hair in the past with hilarious results (like a helicopter ostrich feather pointing in opposite directions every few seconds) so I bought a glittery silver plastic headband to attach them to. I only had two days left to complete this and had to resort to buying two ostrich feathers from Michael’s for $6.99 each, which really hurt, but ended up not using them because they wouldn’t lean over like I wanted them to. So I used two white feathery Xmas decorations I had and taped them to one side of the headband. While at Michael’s, I also bought a tall Xmas pick of large white pearls that could curl over my head, and attached that to the headband. On the opposite end I attached a piece of jewelry with a drooping pearl. I say attached, but that took some doing. First I used a white floral tape to wrap the feathers, pick, and jewelry on, but the tape was dry and wouldn’t stick. So I used Scotch tape around those but that wouldn’t stick. In the end, I tied thread around each wrapping, and it looks like everything held together because it all still looks intact after wearing it all day. Since my necklace was silver, I couldn’t wear the gold and pearl earrings I’d planned on, so I wore hanging double pearl earrings, and both my pearl bracelets.

This is a photo taken with my camera at the event, and our group photo. Our photographer took a lot of pictures of me so I hope for more detailed ones later tonight.

In January, we will once again be doing our Steampunk theme, which was so popular with everyone last January.

The wearing of my Carmelite nun costume

2010-11-05T16:04:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the debut of my nun costume at the Felicita Park Renaissance Fair in Escondido, CA. I still had to make a wimple to wear under the cap and veil but that didn't come with the pattern so I had to make one up myself. Since the only part that's visible is around my face and under my chin, I didn't need to do anything elaborate. I used a large rectangle of white cotton fabric, folded about 1 inch along one edge that goes under my chin, attached some white grosgrain ties at each end and tied that on top of my head. I pulled it tight enough to fit snuggly under my chin. Then I put on the cap, which the veil is attached to on the top, and used bobbie pins to attach the wimple to the cap by my temples. The bottom was tucked inside my robe. It worked really well but has a tendency to loosen up after time and gets a little baggy under my chin. But overall, it looks good.
When I arrived at the Faire, a couple attendants who were parking us asked was I wearing a costume, or was I really a nun? I pointed out that nuns don't wear makeup or lipstick. Later a lady working in a booth told me she was an ex-nun. I asked her how I did, and she said "spot on". So I guess I did a good job on it.
I had a friend of mine take some photos of me in our encampment where our guild displays costumes we've made to the public. Even though this was taken on Halloween Eve, the skeletons are our year-round models for our Guild's costumes.

Carmelite nun for Ren Faire

2010-09-20T10:53:00.000-07:00

Started August 2009/ finished October 2010
I’m not doing a lot of fancy sewing right now but did catch up on a few projects. I’ve been sewing three silk taffeta skirts for 1870/1880s outfits, and will be putting a pleated ruffle around one of them. These are plain to use as a base for a variety of costumes. And I keep remembering I need to make a couple more chemises of various eras, and a couple petticoats, also a variety of eras. I’m trying to take advantage of a slow part of the year for costume events.
In the next two months our Costume Guild will be setting up our Guild tent, The Guild of Taylors, at the Escondido Renaissance Fair. I don’t really care much for the Elizabethan clothing yet (famous last words) but I do like to join in. Last year we were talking about doing our own ecclesiastical court to follow the Queen’s Court. So this would be cardinals, bishops, maybe a Pope or two, and nuns. I didn’t want to be in a black and white penguin suit, so I did some digging around online, and found this Carmelite nun. With a maroon tabard, I can blend in with the cardinals, etc. I picked up Simplicity’s various costume pattern #3608.

Last Fall I tried making it in a dark brown cotton fabric but hated the way it draped. It felt cheap too, and not at all rust-icky for a Renaissance Fair. So last week after another trip to the Garment District I found some inexpensive brown linen-blend (if you can call $6 yd inexpensive but it is). I already had some leftover, very thin, maroon wool-blend for the tabard.
So far I’ve got the robe, cap, and veil done. You can see a sample of the maroon wool I’ll be using for the tabard. The part under the chin will probably just be some drapped white cotton. I don’t have a belt on it yet, & I photographed this over another costume on my dressform so it’s fitting a little wonky. Next up will be cutting out the tabard.

I have a set of skeleton keys on a key ring to hang from my belt, and a large cross to go around my neck. And I have two big pockets on either seam to hide all the non-period things.

1895 Pink Mary Moore traveling suit

2010-08-31T21:55:00.000-07:00

Started Aug 13, finished Aug 26, 2010.
I had admired an 1895 painting of Mary Moore, and her pink suit. It’s a very elaborately decorated bolero jacket and skirt. I had plans on trying to either recreate it or use it as an inspiration for a similar gown.

When my costume guild and vintage dance group decided to go to a Toulouse Lautrec exhibit in the Museum of Art in Balboa Park, San Diego, I knew this would be perfect for it, as the date spanned 1880s to 1901. Others would be actually copying gowns from his paintings.
The fabric in the painting is probably a silk since it looks pretty soft, and it has a clover soutache design on the jacket front and down the sleeve arms. It also looks like it has something sparkly on them.
I ended up making more of a day dress out of this idea. I bought a dusty pink lightweight upholstery fabric on sale that had a good weight for making it. I used Butterick 5232 for the bolero style jacket, and Truly Victorian’s 291 for the walking skirt. I already had a lace insertion white blouse to use with it.

I chose the Butterick bolero pattern over TV’s similar one for ease of making, since I only had two weeks to finish it. And I don’t really like the big leg of mutton sleeves. The skirt was a fairly simple one to construct.
After sewing the bodice together, I sewed the collar to the outside. I did a bag lining out of ecru cotton and sewed it to the bodice. The sleeves were sewn in next. The first set I lined but they kept making the sleeves twist with my blouse on, and I remade them without lining.
I set the sleeves in with pleats but one sleeve kept twisting around again, and after the 5th time I finally got them to sit right. They still need something inside the sleeve cap, like a stiff tulle, to poof them up.

The jacket fit very nicely, but it kept flying open so I added some fabric bars across the front with some brass buttons. At some point, I plan to hand sew a similar soutache design around the jacket and sleeves like the painting, and possibly on the front of the skirt.
For my hat, I started with a plain straw boater, and used this picture as my inspiration.

I knew I wanted to add a pop of color, and since the combination of pink and green had been influencing me recently, it seemed the perfect color to add to it.
I used some green silk taffeta and wrapped it around the crown. I sewed three long tubes of the fabric and then slid a narrow strip of buckram inside each one. I folded them in half, and sewed them & a bow to the back of the hat. The buckram kept them all up at attention. I had three pink silk flowers I’d purchased a few years ago, and pinned those to the front.
Voila!

I was able to get lots of nice photos of me in this outfit this time. This was a group photo from the Toulouse Lautrec exhibit, & one of me in front of a well known poster by Lautrec.

We went to various posters & sketches, and copied the poses of Lautrec’s models.If you look at the painting in the background, you will see that we posed in front of them to recreate them. The attendees to the exhibit really enjoyed seeing that.

My favorite photo, taken by Jerry Abuan (http://jerryabuan.zenfolio.com/) was next to a sketch of opera singer, Louise Balthy. I was surprised that she had the same hat design as I did. You can just barely see the ribbon loops on the top but it was quite clear standing 10 inches away from it.

And another favorite photo by Jerry Abuan.

Edwardian Black and White Reception Gown

2010-08-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

Started March 15 & completed July 28, 2010
I fell in love with a gorgeous Edwardian gown worn by Emma Thompson at her wedding reception in the Merchant-Ivory Production of Howard’s End about ten years ago. It wasn’t until last year that I felt confident enough that I could try and make it. I gave myself a year to plan it, find a pattern I could use, and the fabrics and laces.

I planned on using a black and an ivory silk taffeta, with multiple lace overlays. The pattern turned out to be the hardest. There is no pattern for this dress. I knew I would have to cobble one together, and fortunately I had just finished making a skirt from Butterick 4092 (skirt is high waisted). For the bodice, the closet thing I could find was Laughing Moon’s Titanic era dress.

I sent this question to Your Wardrobe Unlock’d, an online magazine:
"I'm attempting to "copy" an Edwardian black and white gown worn by Emma Thompson in Howard's End, which I've attached photos of. The skirt was no problem since there was already a Butterick pattern out that was similar. It's the bodice that's confusing me. Since I don't know how to grade or scale up patterns from a book, I'm at the mercy of pattern companies. And any coverage of this period of dress is sadly lacking.
The bodice appears to be in three layers, and the closest pattern I've found to mimic this is Laughing Moon's 1909-1913 Day & Evening Dress. I need help dissecting this bodice, and how to achieve this layered look. I wondered if I could possibly make it with a single layered bodice with the lacy under-blouse separate. The under-blouse might be easy but the over-blouse is confusing." *As of 8-24-10, I never received an answer*

I decided to make the bodice all one piece, and just attach sleeve bits to each other. To have the appearance of a higher-waisted skirted, I’m making a pleated cumberbund from the black silk taffeta to close in the back, possibly with more of the same buttons going down the skirt as decorations.
Video clips of the movie can be seen here: http://www.criterion.com/films/1515
Since I'd made the skirt pattern before, it went together quickly. I sewed some antique black glass buttons down the front panel of the skirt.

I made the bodice using the base pattern from Laughing Moon, then layered lace yardage over the front just to the center panel seams, & and sleeves. A black cuff of silk taffeta was added to the underside of the sleeves.

Then I started adding other lace trims to the bodice and sleeves. Each were hand sewn to the bodice. I attached strips of blk silk taffeta along the seams but brought it to a point in the front and back. Then layed the outside lace over it. Finding lace for the bodice trim has been the hardest part. The "white" taffeta is more ivory & all I could find was white or cream lace, no ivory, but I finally found a couple that matched the ivory pretty well. I ran one row of 3” wide lace down the front and the back. Another type of lace was sewn along the front insert of the bodice, and over the black sleeve cuffs. A third sleeve cuff, made from a silk chenille dotted fabric was sewn to the underside of the black cuff.

I made a cumberbund to go around the upper part of the waist with more black silk taffeta. I cut a 12” wide strip long enough to go around me, and did 1” pleats on one half of it, then folded it in half (inside out). I sewed it closed with an opening to turn it right side out & the pleats show to the front. This will go around my waist on the white bodice, and close in the back. I plan on using more of the black glass buttons on the back & front of it for decoration.

A millinery friend, Lynne Taylor, described the hat as black velveteen with ivory silk tafetta over the crown and swirled up into the poufs, narrow black feather on one side.

I used a black felt hat and covered the crown with a large circle of white silk taffeta. I sewed 3” wide tubes of the same fabric, opened them up and folded them into large poofs on my hat. The fabric had enough body that they stay up, and if they get crushed, they can be poofed right up again. I totally forgot I didn’t have a black feather on it when I saw photos of myself wearing it, and looked at the original again.

I wore this outfit at the Gala at Costume College on August 7, 2010. *Photos are courtesy of some of my friends*

1780s Teal Caraco- Finished!

2010-08-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

Started May 2010/ Finished August 25, 2010
Due to “time management, I wasn’t able to finish both caracos as planned. Since I was further along on the teal jacket, I decided that was the one that would get finished first and worn at Costume College.
I sewed the lining in by machine except along bottom edge, which I sewed by hand. I made a pleated self fabric trim to go all along the edges and cuffs. I used a 3” wide strip of fabric & lightly ironed it in half along the length for a center to fold the sides into to have a finished edge on both sides. The pleats were made with a 1” wide metal ruler, pinned, then sewn down the middle. I decided to baste the pleats to my jacket in case I wanted to do something different later.

At the last minute I decided to make a pretty apron to go over the petticoat. Last year I’d bought some machine embroidered sheer silk at Home Fabrics in the Garment District, after finding it while shopping with Angela Burnley (of Burnley & Trowbridge) & Janea Whitacre (of Colonial Williamsburg). They both confirmed it was exactly the right material for fancy aprons. I just used the width of the fabric with a prefinished edge, added a waistband of 1” twill to the pleated waist, and sewed a tiny rolled hem on the bottom. Et Voila! I loved it! It added a nice icing to the cake.
On August 6, I wore it to the Ice Cream Social at Costume College, where we had an 18th Century theme. My only accessories were a double row of fresh water pearls, teardrop pearl earrings, and a small feathered peacock & peacock feathers in my hair.

Turning your blog into a book

2010-07-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I noticed a link on my blogspot dashboard offering a way to turn my blog into a book, either soft- or hard-bound. It's not through a publisher, but a printer. I saved the link, thinking at some time I'd like to be able to have all my costume documentation printed out in hardcopy just in case blogspot ever crashed or lost all my data. It would also give me an opportunity to show others my work if they weren't able to see it online.
The printing website: http://blogspot.sharedbook.com/blog2print/googleblogger/index.html gives you an opportunity to play with a prototype of the book up to a point. This gives you an idea what it would look like. Then if you log in, you can go further and play with it more. You can even get to your final book, and see how many pages your blog actually has, and what it will cost you, w/o any committment. It also saves your work so if you decide you don't want to go further at this time, it will be there waiting. No sales pitches.
If you decide to try the sample, please note---for the number of posts you want included, instead of the time span choice, click INCLUDE ALL if you want your entire journal to be included. I tried the time span, and just kept getting only three posts included in my sample.I don't know yet how to do specific dates but they have a very good helpline email & phone number.
My blog, up to a couple days ago, came to 55 pages. The first 20 pages cost $14.95, which is the minimum order, and additional pages are 35 cents each. My total cost was $27.55. I chose the soft-bound copy which is a laminated cover.
I sent in my order and received it in less than a week. I was really impressed by it. It's a well made, nice study cover, and the colors are true to my photos.
The only downside I saw was the text and photos are put into a space saving format so sometimes the longer text shoved my photos down so you may be reading about a photo but it's on the next page. I think it kind of just followed how I had it in the blog. But the layout is very nicely done. It looks professional other than that. I remember seeing something while I was doing this online where I could have done some further editing but I'll save that for next time. It wasn't bad, and I'm not up for a book award.
And there will be a next time, as soon as I get enough posts to make another one.
This is my book:

Two more costume events

2010-07-13T09:40:00.000-07:00

On July 5, the San Diego Vintage Dancers held a Ragtime Tea Dance on board the Berkeley Ferry in the San Diego Harbor. Even though I don't dance, I love Ragtime music, so I went to enjoy that with my friends.
I wore my 1918 blue and white outfit and wanted to wear a red ribbon on the neck in honor of Independance Day but couldn't find any in my stash.

I even got dragged out on the floor to dance a couple times.

*Photos were courtesy of Jerry Abuan*
My 1918 Armistice blouse got a couple admiring compliments, including two who thought it was vintage. Way to go me!
****************************************************************************

On July 9 I had a chance to wear my Purple Polonaise again, one of my favorites, at the Grand Opening of the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Old Town San Diego. They asked a couple costumers to come in period costume as eye-candy for the event. The period ran from early 1800s to 1872 when the original Old Town burned down. It was supposed to be evening dress, and since my 1870s was the ONLY evening dress I have at this point, well, there you go.
*Note to self- make MORE evening gowns.*
My friend, her husband, and I went together, and I think we had our photos taken more than anyone else there. And I'm reminded that I LOVE purple.

18th Century caracos (jacket)

2010-06-14T10:58:00.000-07:00

Started May 2010
I hadn’t planned on making something new for 18th century just yet, but when an event at our upcoming Costume College came up, well, I just had to. After all, I couldn't wear the same thing as last season.
The event is actually the opening ceremonies for Costume College, and this year will be an Ice Cream Social with a request for people to wear their 18th C outfits that we might have made after last year’s 18th Century theme for the entire convention. A lot of classes were focused on that era.
I knew I wanted to make a caraco but I also wanted the skirt portion of it to be shorter. The longer length made my 5-5 height looked chopped off and stumpy. I used JP Ryan’s pattern, & I shortened the pattern by about 12”. I also plan to add the ruffle to the petticoat.

I had a hard time deciding what color of fabric to use, and saw a dark teal colored silk taffeta that would work. I also had a sage green and ivory embroidered silk that a friend had given me for making a pet en lair. But I opted to use it for a caraco also. Yes, once again, I am making two at a time. I’m hoping maybe they could use the same petticoat, and after asking for suggestions, ending up choosing an antique white. I’m not sure yet if that color will work with the green and ivory one, since the ivory is a little whiter.
So far I have the fabric bodices sewn together, and am currently sewing the linings together. I’m hoping to hand sew them into the bodices while I’m on a trip.

My plans for trimmings on the teal are a pleated ruffle all around the caraco’s edges, and on the sleeve ends. Maybe a bow in the center of the stomacher.
For the green and ivory one, I’m not sure. I’d like to use sections of the embroidery to emphasize it somehow.

Victorian Steampunk costume

2010-05-04T10:50:00.000-07:00

Started first outfit, July 2008; final outfit May 2010.
For those of you who don’t know what Steampunk is, it’s a cross between Victorian and Science Fiction. It would be like a Victorian in the 1880s traveling into the future, and coming back with all the modern things they found. If it was machinery and had to be constructed with the materials on hand at the time, most would involve steam, since Victorians were just coming into using steam engines. Hence, the name Steampunk. There is a book called Steampunk by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer (Editors), and Girl Genius by Phil & Kaja Foglio (http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20030915).
Since I come from a historical costumer background, I wanted to use my current costumes and “steam” it up. Mixing in modern clothing and accessories were fun, and there’s no rules of what you can and can’t do. As I thought along the lines of time travel, I decided to come up with a “Time Travel Agent” character that could help you travel “Any where, any time!”, which is my logo. My accessories mostly involve clocks, compasses, maps & sundials for planning those complicated travels. I think I had the most fun painting and decorating my raygun. You gotta have one of those! You never know what might happen in your travels.
These are photos of the evolution of my costume.I’ve already put together and worn a couple different versions of my Steampunk costumes, and each time I wanted to do something else to it. I felt like I was starting to look too modern, and was losing my Victorian roots, so I decided to start from scratch.

I even did a Steampunk Pirate.

My newest outfit was thought up and “thrown” together more quickly than I normally make my costumes. I used two previously-made Truly Victorian patterns for the skirt (TV221) and the bodice (TV 420/460). I made the bodice without sleeves to become a vest.

The skirt is pleated in the back, and is made to have a bustle. The bodice has a peplum in the back that would go over a bustle, but this can be worn without one. Most likely I won’t be using a bustle depending on where I happen to go. But when I do, it would be my lobster tail bustle, which is pretty narrow and doesn’t knock things over.
I wear a purchased reproduction Victorian blouse from Recollections with a high neck and puffy sleeves.
For my accessories, I plan to wear a brown Victorian hat with feathers that I bought, and trimmed it with a hanging pocket watch. My other hat option is my safari helmet with goggles on the crown, depending on the theme we’re going with. I also have a brown haversack I purchased to use for carrying extra things, like my Sonic Screwdriver or cell phone. My vest is trimmed with watches, sundials, compasses, pilot’s wings & my Girl Genius Agatha Heterodyne pin.
I recently added a Steampunk Mickey pin from Disneyland, since they’ve joined in with the commercialism of Steampunk. There’s 5 different designs, each with a limited edition of 2500. The one I chose is of Minnie Mouse, and it has a big moving gear behind her & goggles on a top hat.

I also wear a black leather belt around my waist, outside of the vest, and it holds my brown leather cartridge case, which can carry my wallet. I occasionally wear fingerless knitted mitts, and I wear my black leather boots with flat heels. I hope at some time to make some black brocade spats for them, but since the skirt is long, you wouldn’t ever see them, so it’s not a priority.
I got to wear this at Bats Day in the Park at Disneyland, on May 3.

A video of my 1860s gown on youtube

2010-04-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

I guess I should include this, since it does show my gown on me, and moving. I was interviewed at the Riverside, CA Dickens Fair by a young wannabe video journalist. He actually got some good interviews with costumers there but apparently had some major loss of his recordings, so not too many survived. By chance, mine survived, and I'm the first one on the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxoOaIdfMjw#t=00m24

*To get an active link, click on the above title to open this post for the link to show up* Click on this link

Photos of my Regency pelisse and gown

2010-03-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

We had our Celebration of the Engagement of the Dashwood sisters today and had some wonderful locations for photographs, especially on board the Star of India, and the HMS Surprise, which was used in the filming of "Master & Commander". I think the color of my red pelisse really made me stand out in a crowd, and I got a lot of compliments on my turban. In fact, I've been asked to teach a class on it for our costume guild.

Red Regency pelisse and gown

2010-03-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

Started Jan 2010,finished Mar 2010.
With the pressure of an upcoming Regency event in March and nothing to wear, I drew on some previously fitted patterns from LaMode Bagatelle for my gown.

I already had a partially sewn bodiced petticoat from this pattern and finished that, adding a double rows of ruffles to the hem. By tightening the ribbons in the back at the neckline and bustline, I was able to get a nice tight lift to my bust. The drawback is no corseting the midriff so you have to suck that in yourself. I have a proper set of Regency stays but I’m going to be on my own putting this on, so I needed something that I might be able to get in and out of myself, even if only part way.

For the gown I had a sheer white cotton striped voile purchased in the Garment District. For the pelisse, I found a red striped polyester at JoAnn’s that looked like linen and was lightweight.

When I started on the gown I decided to reuse the pattern for the bodiced petticoat, and added 2 inches to the bodice neckline to raise it above the petticoat's neckline. I also used ribbons in a drawstring along the neckline and bustline to close it in the back. I wanted quarter length sleeves on it, so I used a sleeve from one of the other pattern views. I’ve considered adding some crocheted lace along the neckline but later decided to leave it plain. I used a blind hem stitch on my sewing machine for both the hem and the sleeve hems. I’m only able to minimally adjust the bustline on my dressform so it doesn’t exactly look right in the photos.

For the pelisse, I again used a pattern I’d had success with in the past, Butterick 4890. I used the same sleeve from the white gown for the pelisse.

It went together very quickly. I only lined with top with a white cotton, which later I realized red might have been better but it worked. The white shows a little where it closes in the front but it’s not bad. I sewed the bodice and lining right sides together, and left it open at the bottom and armholes to turn it right side out. This pattern doesn’t actually close in the front under the bustline like I wanted so I added an extension. But if I do it again, I’ll make the extension wider. This is just shown over my chemise on my dressform.

The back looks really pretty but it has modern darts in it, not the curved ones true Regency patterns have. But for this short time I have, this one will suffice and it looks really nice.
I marked the hem about 10 inches shorter than my gown, according to some photos I saw, and again used a blind hem stitch on the hem but hand tacked along the front edges of the robe. I used two sets of hooks and bars on the overlap to close it. This is pulled tightly to “lock and load” the bust.
Since I’m planning on dressing as a well-to-do lady, I decided I didn’t want the pelisse to be too plain so I covered two large buttons and sewed them on each side of the front overlap.

Here you can also see the turban with it, as shown in my previous post. Since it’s predicted to be only 65degrees that day, and along the waterfront in San Diego, I pulled out my large, dark fake fur muff to go with it. It’s got lots of room inside to hide my camera too.
Stay tuned for photos of this after Sunday.