The Ramblings of a Seamstress, Gardener, Chicken Keeper, and Housewife

I've been mulling over fabric options for my robe a la francaise for a few days, and since I'm having trouble making a decision I'm seeking your opinions.  I've got a decent amount of silk in my stash, but only a few with enough yardage to make into a francaise.  Here they are:

Gorgeous but almost certainly not historically plausible purple/black changeable silk.  My pics don't really do the color justice...it's pretty amazing in person.  Bonus points since I already have a plain petticoat made from this fabric, and so I'd just need to trim it and make the francaise itself from my yardage.  My jewelry would really pop on this since it's such a rich, deep color.


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• Stays: I think what I have will work, but they're aging and will need to be replaced soonish.


• Panniers: I have one pair that's probably larger than I'd like for this event.  Plus they're not collabsible, which makes packing a hassle.  I've got a smaller set cut out, so I'll sew them up and cross my fingers they work for me.


• Stockings: White silk clocked, or red silk clocked from American Duchess.  Red with the deep purple silk, white with the other options.


• Garters: I need to get working on these.  atherleisure gave me a wonderful pattern.  It'll be a good project for slow evenings at work.


• Shoes: I've got two pairs of American Duchess shoes, one black and one white.  I could dye the white pair if I feel adventurous.


• Shift: Yep, I have a cotton one that'll work.  Although I keep saying I'll remake my linen one and not doing it.


• Jewelry: I'm scouring eBay and etsy for good rhinestone/paste-look stuff.  I'll also look at making some strung pearls myself.  So, still sorting out my options on this one.


• Chatelaine/equipage: I'm going for it!  I've been collecting bits and bobs to make this work for over a year, and I recently found evidence via portraits that they were, in fact, worn with francaise dresses!  Check out my Pinterest board if you're interested.


• Wig/Hair: It's on this list, but I'm not sure exactly what I want yet.  I'll be consulting Kendra's book this week!


• Outerwear: This wasn't even on my radar until m_of_disguise mentioned how cold it was last year.  I've got a couple short cloaks, but something a little fancier would be nice.

So, the Georgian Picnic is tomorrow.  Naturally, I'm doing some last-minute sewing today.  I've run into a potential stumbling block and I'd like your opinion.  My plan is to finish up a matelasse petticoat (the quick and easy way to fake a quilted look without all the quilting.)  That's definitely happening, no matter what else I decide.  My intention was to make a striped jacket to go with it, but now I'm second guessing whether the colors even go together, or if it all looks too drab.

In the middle is the petticoat fabric.  On the left is the striped fabric I was planning to use for the jacket.  On the right is fabric leftover from my en forreau gown, which I could polonaise with the new petticoat.  What do you think?  The lack of bright colors is really throwing me for a loop because it's not what I usually make.  Is it silly to even worry about it since I'm also making a short cloak which will cover a lot of the jacket anyway?  Ugh, decisions.


ETA: The jacket will just have to wait.  Less last-minute sewing/stressing means more fun at the event.  This-old-thing dress it is!

Yesterday was the guild's 5th annual Georgian Picnic.  I had such a fun time!  The weather was darn near perfect - sunny, dry, and warm.  Well, maybe just a touch too warm, but everyone seemed to take that in stride.  We had a good turnout from our regulars, and some new folks from the Jane Austen society joined us too!  There was a lot of good food, drinks, and conversation.  It was a really great way to spend the afternoon!

I wore my chemise a la reine.  I was pretty short on time so making a new dress was out, and this is only the second time wearing the CalR.  It ended up being a good choice since the day was so warm!  The last time I wore it, my stays kept peeking out around the neckline so I trimmed them down hoping to prevent that this time.  Well...it was better.  Now they only show through at the sides of the back.  *eyeroll*  I think it's about time to retire these stays anyway, and next time I'll be more mindful of the straps and neckline (not to mention the color!)

( Click here for new accessories and picnic photos! )

Colonial Williamsburg.

I've been seeing fellow costumers post about it lately, and those who haven't been yet seem to have it on their costume bucket-list.  I've gotta admit, I've wanted to for a while now myself.  Part of what holds me back is that I don't really want to be the only costumed person there who doesn't work for CW.  Maybe some of my costumer friends feel the same way...

So why don't we plan a group trip?

It'd need to be far enough out that I could do some saving up (and I'm sure others are in the same boat.)  Maybe the last half of 2013 or sometime in 2014?  That would also be more than enough time to put together a small wardrobe of outfits and accessories. 

So who's interested?  You don't have to set anything in stone, I'm really just trying to figure out if this is something I should seriously start organizing and planning.

I've been quiet on here and facebook for the past couple weeks.  The reason for that is because I was either rush sewing some things to take on vacation, or actually on vacation!  Sadly I don't have any pics ready to share here yet, but I thought I'd just ramble on a bit about it all to decompress.


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So, total hours spent continuously sewing: 26.  I did stop for short breaks to eat, let the dogs out, stretch, etc.  That is definitely my new personal record, though.  My sewing room is in utter chaos, and I haven't set foot in there yet to start the cleanup effort.  I think I'll do that tomorrow since it's supposed to be such mild weather.  I'm still sleepy from the long drive, and all my animals are still clustered all around me like they weren't sure I was coming back home.  I think I was missed!