Oh. My. Goodness!  What a fantastic event this was!  Everything was just so perfect - the location, the food, the company...I'm seriously wowed, and still riding the post-event glow!  I got to meet in-person so many people that I've known from online for years, and that was the icing on the cake.

A very special thanks go to padawansguide and her husband Doug for allowing me to stay with them, and for providing transportation over the weekend.  I'm certain I would have been lost without you two!  Not to mention how great it was to get to know you both better.  I can't wait to come back for a visit!  Another special thanks go to quincy134 and her husband Mike, for letting our group change in their hotel suite in Alexandria.  I think my head would have fallen off if I'd worn that wig all the way from Maryland!

And now for some pictures and commentary, starting with a shameless selfie!

( Read more... )

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.


( Read more... )

• 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.

I've been busy sewing over this long weekend.  It's basically the only time I can really put the pedal to the medal and marathon sew, what with 4 consecutive days off.  I've been working on some new pieces for the guild's next event, Dressing for the Holidays.  I volunteered to get dressed and show all the hidden layers of a bustle-era outfit, so I figured this was an excellent opportunity to spruce up some of my undies!



Now I have some new frilly whites - combinations and a petticoat to fit over my bustle.  I had to wash them to get all the chalk marks off, so now they're dripping dry in the bathroom.  Maybe there will be fewer wrinkles to iron out this way.  *crosses fingers*

I'm also working on a new bustle dress that I'll call 'The Very Merry Christmas Dress.'  This will make perfect sense to you when you see it, but for now no pictures.  It's pretty on-the-nose, both colorwise and fabric pattern-wise (there are small pine trees woven into the fabric!)  I don't usually get into themed dresses like this, but honestly the guild does enough Victorian Christmas events that it'll get plenty of use, so I'm going for it!  Here's my to-do list:

• Hem underskirt


• Make and apply self-trim to underskirt (this can wait until last, or be added later)


• Construct overskirt (it's cut out and marked for pleating in progress)


• Mock up bodice, make changes to pattern as needed


• Cut out and construct bodice


• Make a paper small-scale model for a tall hat from this doll-sized diagram, make changes as necessary and scale up pattern (or come up with plan B) ETA: Plan B it is!


• Construct tall hat during slow evenings at work


• If I miraculously have time, make a shoulder cape and small muff trimmed with faux beaver fur.

I fully expect this list to remain unfinished by Saturday, but that's OK.  There will be at least one other Victorian Christmas event this year (two if I feel up to inviting myself to a friend of a friend's event on Sunday.)  And there's always next year's events too.  This is enough to keep me very busy this week.  I'm already going to lose a day because of a holiday dinner at work (but yay dinner!)  I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving (if you're in the US) or a good weekend!

Can I take a mulligan on this weekend?  No?  OK, well I'll just do a little venting here, then.

( Read about my wild weekend! )

The DFWCG's next meet up is in a little over two weeks, and naturally I'd like something new to wear.  We'll be going to the Sherlock Holmes ineractive exhibit at the Perot Museum, so anything bustle era, steampunk, tweed, etc. would work fine, though I've really got my heart set on a new bustle dress.

( Dress options. )

Total cost for this hack if you buy all-new materials: $50 or so.  Total cost for my hack, since everything came from the stash: $0


When I decided to outfit my hubby for the Regency Era, I was prepared for footwear to be the most challenging part.  Buying actual equestrian boots is terribly expensive (my eBay watch list, which I set up months in advance, yielded absolutely nothing under $200.)  Costume boots don't come in the right shape or dual colors.  Evening slippers probably weren't on the table to begin with, being as they don't seem at all 'manly.'  After much fruitless searching, I gave up on finding something ready-made in my budget.

Instead, I decided to modify some costume boots he already had.  We bought them 8 or 10 years ago for a swordsman outfit he wore to a convention.  They'd seen only occasional use since, and really no use at all since we moved to Texas 6 years ago.  So I wasn't too concerned with ruining them.  After all, they were in pretty poor shape after rough storage and weren't exactly high-quality to begin with.  Just for reference, these are the Ellie 121 Bernhard boots.  They're still sold on eBay and Amazon.

( Read more... )

Saturday some friends and I attended a Regency-themed event: Archery and Jane Austen, hosted by the Wylie Recreation Center.  It's unusual that a city puts on a costume-friendly event like this, so we had to take advantage of it!  Since the main activity was archery, I assumed it would be an outdoor event.  Coming on the heels of some harsh winter weather, I also assumed it would be chilly.  Well, I was wrong on both counts but my friend Chris got some snazzy cool weather gear out of it anyway!

Working from Laughing Moon #130, I made her the redingote without the cape.  Chris's only request was that she wanted something colorful to break up the all white dress she'd be wearing underneath.  Knowing she loves purple, I perused the selection at JoAnn's and came away with a velvety velour/suedecloth sort of fabric.  While it's not historically accurate, it is super soft and a great color.  Parts of the bodice call for a lining and I just used some light lavendar satin that was already in the stash.

The pattern goes together well enough, though I did find it particularly time consuming.  I did have issues with a few of the marks not lining up, but everything was close enough that I wasn't confused by it.  I made some adjustments based on Chris's body type, so I essentially cut the collar, sleeves and sleeve heads in the smallest size, and the bust and skirts in the size that corresponded with her bust measurement.  This caused a little bit of wonkiness with the sleeves since I didn't adjust the sleeve pattern to correspond with the larger-sized side bodice piece, but in the end it still fit her all right and worked out for the archery.  I did shorten the standing collar by about an inch since the pattern instructions specifically mention that it's very tall.



( More outfit and archery fun! )

After spending way too much time scouring eBay and Etsy for the perfect Regency tiara, I've decided to take the plunge and make my own.  I picked out my brass banding and ordered two feet this morning.  That's way more than one tiara will need, but I want to make sure I've got extra in case of a catastrophic failure on the first try.  Here it is:

 It's 7/8" wide/tall, just to give you some perspective.  My plan is to mount large point-back rhinestones into brass settings and attach them to this banding.  I haven't worked out the exact logistics of that yet, nor have I ordered the rhinestones and settings (though I have chosen a very reasonably priced supplier!)

I chatted a bit with quincy134 about how to shape this banding on both the X and Y axis, since so many portraits and surviving pieces shape not only around the head's circumference, but also around the hairline (forehead to temples.)  That means it would need to have movement similar to spiral steel (great visual, Gloria!)  Since all this banding is really only meant to bend in one direction, that will be very tricky and require strategic cutting and rewiring.  The banding I chose is probably a poor choice for that, but I really, really like it.  Once I get it in my hands I can make a better decision about how to proceed.

I've worked with the stuff before and it is sturdy. I've got teensy rivets with a punch and setter to match, plus all the polishes and dremel tool buffing stuff I'll need to keep it looking shiny.  I'm not sure if I'll attach a comb or just a couple 'legs' on the ends that I can pin down to my hair.  A lot depends on how much I can get it to shape.  It looks great in my head...hopefully the end product will look great too!

Historical Sew Monthly
Challenge #1: Foundations

The Challenge: Bustle-era corset

Fabric: Silk exterior, coutil flatlining, cotton lining

Pattern: Laughing Moon #100

Year: 1837-1899, according to the pattern envelope.  It's intended for mid to late 1880's.

Notions: Busk, spiral and flat steel boning, two-piece grommets, round polyester lacing, thread

How historically accurate is it? I'd give it an overall 80%.  I used some modern materials, but the pattern and fabrics are plausible for the Victorian era.

Hours to complete: About 20, which includes a fully boned mockup and fitting.

First worn: January 10th (four days ago) for a costumed visit to an Impressionist art exhibit.

Total cost: Around $75.  Most of this came from the stash, so that's my best guess.

I'm hard at work on a bustle outfit for my friend Chris for this weekend's guild outing.  I started completely from scratch since this is a new era for her, so what I have done is a few of the undergarments.  These were very hurriedly taken pics (and therefore not the best lighting) but you'll get the idea.  :)

Shift from Laughing Moon 100, made from buttery soft cotton voile I got from jaelie:


Bustle Petticoat with Wire Frame (TV101) from cotton muslin:

(We're pretending this one is done even though the hem needs another pressing and I still have to sew on the waist closure.)

I've also got an overskirt complete, but I want to keep the outfit a surprise for Saturday.

Today I'm wrestling with sleevils.  Chris is very petite, so I'm now on my third redraft of the sleeve pattern for the bodice.  Hopefully third time's a charm!  I also found out that the fabric I want to use for the bodice and underskirt was terribly off-grain, so I'm giving it a good wash and dry in the hopes that with the sizing removed it'll be useable.  I seriously wonder what's going on at the fabric mills when they're finishing off the fabric and getting ready to fold it onto bolts.  This is the worst off-grain mess I've seen in a long time.  Cross your fingers for me, because I don't have a backup plan!