MY SECOND EVENT OF 2026 IN MARCH

In 2025 I did a historical clothing Powerpoint presentation for the San Diego branch of the Mayflower Colony, whose membership is comprised of descendants of that famous ship who arrived in the 1620s. About a week later I was contacted by two other “colonies”, one in Escondido, and another in Santa Ana, asking if I could do a similar one for them later that year. I told them I’d be happy to.

Originally the Santa Ana Colony was going to have me come in November but as we got closer, they had to reschedule for the following February in 2026. That was fine with me because it was getting a bit busy for me, and I was glad for a delay.

This was the insert they had for their February meeting. I find it funny at their choice of my photo they used. I gave them six to choose from.

I suggested that maybe I could get the ladies of my fashion shows to come with me to do a regular show, but when we got closer and I started inviting them, it turned out driving 2 hrs to get there at 9:30 in the morning wasn’t feasible. I decided to just stay overnight at a hotel nearby so I didn’t have to make that drive myself.

I started working on updating my Powerpoint show I do for them and wanted to include historical details for their 1620s clothes, which I didn’t know much about, nor had many photos or paintings I could use for information. My searches automatically took me to England and the upper classes clothing, which the Pilgrims did not wear. I finally found some lower class and farmers clothing that looked like ones I saw and took it from there. I even found some pattern lines they could use to create their own, plus fabric sources.

The location was at the Elks Lodge in Santa Ana, and it was a beautiful building. The room we were in was very large and I was impressed with its décor. Besides the large screen up over the stage, there were also five video screens around the room for better viewing.

 

I’m always a bit anxious about how I’ll be set up with my laptop to their projector and worry that I may not have the right connector for it to work. But they had someone there that was very familiar with doing this, and she just plugged into my laptop and handed me a remote so I could advance my slides. The only drawback to that was I couldn’t see my laptop screen so I wasn’t able to point out certain things but fortunately I had written “photo on the right” etc, in my narrative.

After showing my slides on their Pilgrim clothing, I jumped 100 years into the future and showed them how similar the Colonial clothing of the 1700s were to the 1620s clothing. It turned out just like the San Diego Colony, they too were very interested in that time period for dressing in, so I got a lot of questions about those. I’m assuming it’s because there are more opportunities for events wearing those to than the earlier Pilgrim era. Again, this wasn’t specifically a costume group but are more into their history. But there were some interested in costuming.

I’ve been bringing my dress form with me for these groups and dress it in my 1780s red/white/blue caraco and skirt. I think it stands out really well in the room and looks very patriotic. I also decided to wear my 1873 blue & white striped seaside dress since it was easy to get dressed in and gave them a mini-fashion show of myself. I brought a couple underpinnings and showed those off too.

 

One thing that fascinated me was at the beginning of their meetings they do a roll call of the descendants. They call out each name of the original Pilgrims, and the attendees raise their hands if they are traced back to them. Some would be related by 2 or 3 family lines to a single name. I’m still trying to work my brain around that. I was provided with a nice lunch afterwards put on by the Elks Lodge. 

 

 

 

 

MY FIRST EVENT OF THE YEAR 2026

 My year began not so much sewing something new but wearing what I had already. And they weren’t necessarily costume events but rather presentations I was in or did myself.

My group of ladies in the Historical Dressers had our first fashion show of the year at a new location: the New Frontier Senior Community. I was excited about doing yet another senior community and one of our models, Jeanette, lives there. She pretty much was a major part in making this a perfect event and having our fashion show as the entertainment for an afternoon tea for the residents there. She found beautiful garden backdrops to hang that showed us off on the stage to our best advantage. She also modeled in the show. 

Since this was a new location for us, some of the ladies were able to wear one of their favorite dresses again and some of us wore new dresses. This was my first time wearing my 1877 Autumn Plaid bustle because I “thought” the weather would be cool or cold in January, since my dress was pretty warm. Hah! Mother Nature had other plans, and it was 86d that day. Fortunately they had good air conditioning in the community room we were in.

Our theme for this show was the standard historical timeline, “One Hundred Years of the Fashionable Woman: 1750-1920”. Although I need to change that next time because we had two gentlemen who participated with us, although one was helping seat everyone at the tables, and the other escorted each of us off the stage. But they got to walk the runaway and be described too.

Because the community room was pretty long, and the stage not very wide, I decided to have us step down from the stage and walk the length of the room to the back, giving those seated in back a chance to get a good look at us. Because of this I had to make sure the narratives were longer, so the models weren’t walking in dead silence. This calls for really pulling details of their outfits from the pictures I have of them and adding historical details I either know or pull from the internet. Each location has its own requirements for the narratives, depending on how long the entire show can be, how many models I have, and again, the size of the stage area. Fortunately this community room was perfect for a long runway-type show, and we had the time. Also it was a bit younger crowd so our longer descriptions didn’t put them to sleep.

We began the show with our first model, “Nelly”, a dress form in the center of the stage that we demonstrated all the underpinnings and different skirt supports worn in all the eras. We even demonstrated how a lady would use the “facilities” using an antique chamber pot with it. I was seated to the side with a small table where I could read the narratives for everyone until it was my turn to walk the runway.

We were lucky this time to have someone who was taking photos of us on stage, and then while we were walking the floor.

 

 

 

Afterwards we were all invited to join the afternoon tea at our own tables.

As I mentioned, this was the first time I got to wear my new dress and seeing it on me. Note to self: make that front apron shorter and more appropriate for my height. But I loved how all the colors worked out. Since it looks like our “winter” is over and done with in SoCal, I guess this one will be going back into the closet until next year.

Next up is my presentation in February for the Mayflower Colony in Santa Ana, CA.

 

 

 

 

 

THE 2025 COMPILATION OF WHAT I MADE OR DIDN’T.

 

This is the time of year when you take stock of what happened during the year, and with costumers, it’s looking back on what you did or didn’t accomplish in our sewing.

This year I feel like I accomplished very little so it’s always good to actually look back and see if that’s true. So I just skimmed over all my posts from last year and listed what I had made. Holy heck, Batman! They were all blue! And here’s the sad thing, in my modern wardrobe I seem to have mostly bought blue tops. I must be in a rut. So I’m making a concerted effort to look for other colors now. Surprisingly, most of the ones that caught my eye are blue, but I found some green and burgundy.

For my first couple events of the year, I just wore something I’d already made, my 1837 Purple Floral dress for a holiday tea and a historical presentation I did for the San Diego Mayflower Colony.  

 

Following that, I finished an 1860s dress I had started in 2020 for a fashion show at the Riverside Dickens Festival. I had a choice of three that I had made on my assembly line but chose this one to finish since I thought it would stand out nicely in a show. I added some antique accessories to it since it was rather plain by itself.

This got me started on something new, an 1873 Blue & White striped seaside dress I wore to the Port Townsend Victorian Festival fashion show in April. I feel like I cheated by using a pattern I’ve made many times, but it was the easiest to make quickly.

With another fashion show coming up in May, I again pulled one of my incomplete dresses out of the closet, a 1911 blue embroidered skirt and blouse. The show was held at the Harvey Girls Museum in Perris, CA. We’ll be doing another show for them in 2026, this time wearing Colonial to Regency at their request.

Normally Costume College has me making lots of new costumes for it, but this year I got lazy. I wore my 1870s blue & white seaside dress again but then bought a black chiffon caftan to recreate a 1920’s Erte-themed outfit. I was really happy with it even though I didn’t make it. Ok, this was one outfit that wasn’t blue, but I didn’t sew it.

Another dress, long in planning, was something for either a Regency tea or picnic, whichever came first. I had a block printed voile in a blueberry pattern that I’d been saving to make for it. I ended up having to rush and trim a bonnet when we finally organized an afternoon tea in November at a friend’s house. I have a few ideas for a turban to make for it next time.

Nearing the end of the year, I really went off the rails in costume making and made myself a Halloween outfit. Not historical at all. But a caftan in orange with black spiderwebs to wear while handing out candy. I tried making a big spider hat but he wouldn’t stay on my head, so I added a spider to a witch’s hat, which also wouldn’t stay on my head, and draped a giant spider around my neck.

And then I spent the entire month of November and December making something that I wouldn’t be wearing: Xmas ornaments. I hadn’t done embroidery for years but after seeing a pattern for redwork ornaments by Jolly & Bright last year, I just had to make them. All fourteen of them. I added them daily to our holiday mantle as I finished each one. Even after I was done, I wanted to make more and offered to make individual ones for my friends. Then I started creating my own patterns to make others. I did buy another pattern for all snowflakes but am trying to decide if I should make them in blue or stick to the redwork.

 

 

After all the holiday rush and Christmas was over, I felt antsy again, and wanted to sew. I had finally got some petersham ribbon so I could finish the binding on my Victorian corset I’d started in November. In the last week I finished it. It’s made of a pretty pink brocade and I put lace along the top edge so I can immediately see which is end is the top. I made my last one in 2016 and its got worn spots and blood on it, so it was time.

 

All I have to do now is have it laced on me. Which will happen this coming Friday when I go to my next sewing workshop. I also plan to cut out the teal silk taffeta for the 1870s dress I’m recreating for the Port Townsend Victorian Festival in April. They requested some of us to make dresses from photos they had of former residents of the city. I’ll be using Truly Victorian #423 as the base for my dress.  Oh, look! It’s not blue!

At this point I don’t have any other plans for anything to make. Usually when an event is coming up, that helps me make up my mind. I’m going to keep on looking at photos of dresses and see which one grabs me next. I have an entire stash of fabric that needs to be taken care of.

                    HAPPY NEW YEAR AND HERE’S TO BETTER TIMES!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MY MIND HAS GONE BACK TO THE 1850s

 This is what happens when you come back from a major costume event, like Costume College: your brain goes wild, and you want to make all the things!

The last couple years there have been many changes in my costuming plans. Life-altering changes strained what I was able to do, and limited events I could go to. All of this apparently depressed me, which I’m just now recognizing. I still enjoyed the planning of costumes and writing about them but when it came down to actually getting out the patterns and fabrics, nothing happened. Mostly I put it off to there was just nowhere to wear them or I couldn’t physically go to, so why bother?

If you’ve been following my blog for the last few months, you’ll see I got partly out of my slump by actually sewing two Regency dresses and coordinating Spencers, all because my friends and I talked about going to a tearoom in Regency dress. They’re not quite done yet (sleeves and hems as usual) but since we haven’t set a date yet, the pressure is not on to push me forward. And then I was delayed with planning for Costume College.

So what changed?

IT’S TIME FOR A NEW BLOOMER DRESS!

A few days after coming home from Costume College and while doing some searching on Pinterest, I came across a link for an interview with a lady who had written a paper on 1850s Bloomer dresses, and she mentioned me in her research! Then I followed the link it had to her article she wrote, and she actually named me in her footnotes!

INTERVIEW: https://history.vcu.edu/.../a-tale-of-two-bloomer...

ARTICLE: https://www.tandfonline.com/.../03612112.2021.1934267

My story about the bloomer dress, and making it, happened 13 years ago. I’ve always wanted to make a new Bloomer dress so I could wear one again. My original green silk taffeta one is kind of warm to wear in SoCal weather and my second brown cotton version didn’t turn out exactly what I wanted in the style, and the bloomers I’d made to go with it were also a bit too short. But after I shared the discovery of that interview, a couple of my friends said they’d love to make one too. The challenge was on! And that started a new planning mode for me. I collected photos together to refresh my memory of them and decide on my fabric and pattern.  

           

I still liked my V-neck version using Simplicity 3855 (1850s) bodice but this time I didn’t want the pagoda sleeves I used on my brown version.

                         

I already have two cotton reproduction 1850s fabrics a friend had given me a few years ago that I plan to use. I’m leaning towards the blue fabric, since I’ve already made one in green. And it’s a color I’ve never used.

      

PINK STRIPED 1850s DICKENS DRESS

And then another conversation came up: what to make for the Riverside Dickens Festival fashion show next February? And of course the Port Townsend Victorian Festival is a few months later. 

I started thinking about a dress I had begun planning during the 2020 Pandemic and had bought fabric for. I still wanted to make it. Yesterday while looking for something totally different, I found a bag that had the bodice for it already cut out. The Universe is speaking to me again!

                     

I used Simplicity 9761 for the bodice but don’t plan on using those sleeves. And unfortunately not the skirt portion either because it takes a total of 17 yards to make that dress and I only have 9 yards of my fabric.  

         

I may try a full skirt like the lady in this photo did where she used a wide horizontal border of her fabric around the bottom. That was the dress that first inspired me to make it.

                                                 

MAD FOR PLAIDS!

While looking at the earlier Simplicity pattern and the McCalls one, I remembered that I had also wanted to make another one of them in plaid again since I sold my first one I’d made. My two inspiration photos show the peplum over the skirt I want but I also love the V-neck. I have so many silk taffeta plaids now in my stash to choose from. So it may get a kick in the butt too.

                                                                                                                                                     

Some of this may sound repetitive of what I’ve written about in the past. I talk a lot but don’t always produce. (Yes, there’s a closet behind me that still has a few unfinished dresses in there). But I’m hoping with some goals coming up, and the idea of a group costume, it might help me out of my slump.

It’s also time to make a new Victorian corset. After wearing mine at Costume College, it again reminded me that bones were poking out of the back into my lower back, and the fabric is tearing around the knobs on the front busk. At least it still fits so I can use the same size for it this time. That will be at the top of my list.

Lest I forget, one other costume got me excited to try making one for Halloween, of all things: a Spider Lady. Inspired by my friend’s own costume, I’m planning my own but totally Halloween-oriented. The bright orange fabric with spider webs on it will be made from a caftan pattern, with a giant fuzzy spider on my head. The pattern is supposedly easy and quick, so that’s a big benefit.