A few pics of girls Regency underthings.

Here are a few quick pics of the girls Regency underthings. I am basically happy with how they turned out but will make a few adjustments when I make them again. For now I am going to take out drawstring on drawers and put in elastic. No one can see it and it will just make things easier for her to manage. At some point I may replace the lace on the corset. Because it is so wide I had to snip it to get it to lay flat across the back curve but for now it will do. Elaina loved them! It was hard to get her still so I could take pics that weren't blurry.

Girls Regency underthings.

The dress I was making Elaina is NOT going to fit. I decided against taking it apart and figure I will sell it and just make her a different one, but either way she needs the appropriate underthings. I took a pattern I already had and some lovely cotton I scored at Goodwill for $2 and made her chemise. I adjusted the pattern to make it more appropriate and then used some lace to embellish it/use as casing. The lace is definitely not period but I didn't want to waste expensive trim on a child chemise. Maybe when she gets bigger. I also made drawers for modesty sake. Though she doesn't need one since she is only 8 she really wanted a corset. Since it really only covers the bust area, and I figured it would help the chemise to lay flat under certain garments, I said OK. Here is a photo of it waiting for all the handwork. It has same lace as chemise and boning at center front and one piece on seam of center back. I used scraps of the weed-trimmer string.

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.

Work continues on Baroque corset...

Picked up the weed trimmer line to bone the corset. Not yet sure how I am going to finish the tips of the "bone" yet, so right now just cutting them to length and inserting them to see what I think. So far am liking it but think I should have gotten one size smaller of the line. Only reason I didn't was it was a much smaller package.

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 :)

Costume of the Week!

Over the years I have really enjoyed reading everyone's blogs and seeing all of the wonderful things they have made. It is a source of inspiration for me, especially when I have NO desire to go anywhere near my sewing machine. I would say one of my favorite blogs is A FESTIVE ATTYRE. I love her work and ideas and the information she so willingly shares with us all. One of things I loved about the site and really miss is the FEATURED ATTYRE page. A quick glimpse of costume eye-candy all in one place. So in honor of that site, I am going to start Costume of the Week! You can submit any of your historical creations from ancient times up to the 1950s. The first costume will be posted on January 17th. This will hopefully give me time to get the word out and some wonderful submissions to choose from. Though I expect this to have a slow start I hope it will pick up and I will be able to post all of your beautiful examples :)

Halloween is over...

Halloween is over thank goodness. This was definitely a rough year! Elaina's costume went through two different changes; from Astrid to her My Generation Doll to the present incarnation--an original interpretation of a MONSTER HIGH character. We went through McDonald's for a Happy Meal and they had the Monster High bucket/stickers for the girl toy. Elaina loves them but I really don't get the dolls or anything for her because they look like $2.00 hookers. She said she would love to have an outfit for Halloween to match her bucket so I decided that would be the easiest thing to do. I went through the fabric stash and found some odds and ends that worked perfect. It came out really cute. Not perfect but cute. I will post some pics up soon. My son ended up needing a costume last minute and on the night before we came up with a 4 hours Final Fantasy special inspired by the character Cloud. Will post pics of that as well. Now... onto Christmas sewing **shiver**