Corset and Regency sewing...

I finally have the Baroque Corset completely boned and sewn together, and I have the decorative ribbon sewn down the front seams. This is really to hide where the pieces were attached. I found JUST ENOUGH vintage blue silk velvet ribbon for this. I have all the binging cut and sewn together but just haven't been able to bring myself to sew it on the darn thing. Maybe tomorrow...

The last few days I have been working on pieces for a Regency Tea that I am attending on September 20th, with my daughter. So far I have made her a bonnet and a ruticle. I really like the later, and the hat is ok. I wish I had made it fuller in the back as I just don't think it is as poufy as it should be. I will fix it later if I have time, but it will work for now and overall it is very attractive.

For myself I have cut the dress and jacket. The dress is something of an experiment in the lacing department as I have it lacing/closing in the front. We will see how it turns out. I did not cut the sleeves large enough and I was not liking how they fit so I decided to make it more of a jumper style. I think this will look nice. The only fabric I have for a blouse though that I really like is probably not very period, and it IS synthetic, but I really like the look so I am using it anyway. I will make another more appropriate blouse for it later when I can find the right material.

Regency Day dress progress

Here is a quick pic of the dress. I really do like it, just not the way it is put together. There is a wrinkle in the side-back pieces and I pinned and ironed the heck out of the "casing" before it was sewn, but it isn't too bad so I am not redoing it. I am trying to loose some weight so I saved some fabric and will just remake it how I know I should have made it in a smaller size later. It also was supposed to have a sash but the thing is way too short! I knew it was when I cut it out but somehow I seemed to hope it would work. I do kind of mine the buckle detail so I might make it longer to give me different looks. Both the buttons and the buckle are antique mother of pearl.

Early start to the New Year...

I actually made an early start on my New Years resolutions (which I usually never keep) and started working on some of the costume pieces I will be needing for the next year. Some things are working out well others not. Here is run down so far...

1: My first attempt was with the Elizabethan corset and chemise. They have been cut out for over a year, waiting for me to do something with them. I got all the pieces out and got them pinned to their linings then started on the MANY boning channels. After sewing for a while I noticed that there was a stain/discoloration on the front center piece. Not sure how this could have happened since it has been put away but I will have to soak the piece and see if I can get it out before continuing. I have no more of the fabric so I am hoping it will wash out. Not sure if JoAnn's sells it anymore or not.

2: Next I moved on to the Elizabethan chemise. I have had this fabric for YEARS-it is lovely printed Voille. I saved it for the perfect thing and now, again, I see there are some spots on it. One being a blue marker? I am pretty sure my daughter is somehow involved in that one, so I will have to see if I can wash this out too.

3: After looking at a lot of different patterns for stays and reading reviews I decided to make a pair out of the Simplicity 3635 pattern. I had two others I toyed with using, one from Reconstructing History and the other was the Butterick pattern with the 4 corsets. I really do like the Butterick but want to try a new way of boning a corset (well new for me) using weed-trimmer line instead of metal or reed, and I thought the Simplicity looked like it would work better for that purpose. I found a nice vintage heavy cotton sateen fabric that was used for curtains and has a manufacture date of 1978 stamped on the side in my fabric stash and used that for the outer and lining layer, using a stiff broadcloth I had on hand for the interfacing. I have all of it cut out and all the boning channels sewn, just waiting to pick up the boning material and binding next week.

4: Since I have to wait to finish the corset I decided to cut out a dress. I have a stash of beautiful linen cotton blend that was $15 a yard that I bought for $4 TOTAL from a garage sale many years back. I had intended on making a Baroque era riding jacket and skirt out of it but having been looking at so many Regency fashion plates lately I thought it would make a lovely day dress too. Luckily, as I was unfolding it I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had way more material than I thought! So if nothing else I can get the Regency day dress and the Baroque jacket out of it, if not the skirt. I really love the fabric, it has a high linen content and seems to look gray one minute and a purple color the next. I used a pattern I have never used as I wanted a quick sew, and it turned out to be more trouble that it was worth. I spent several extra hours fiddling with it to get it to work, so now I need to make button holes and put on the buttons, once I find some. Here is a picture of the fabric taken with my phone, didn't come out very well unfortunately. Will post more details about each of these projects soon :)