theladyrebecca | Entries tagged with 1890s

Thanks to Black Friday, I finally managed to buy two acid free boxes from The Container Store, and now all my lovely historical pieces get to rest in comfort! Two 41x19x6" boxes was just enough to hold everything. At this point, my collection consists of a jet-beaded capelet, at least 5 or 6 (I forgot to count) black bodices from between the 1890s through I think about 1905ish of various styles (some beaded, some lace, some silk, some cotton, etc), a mid-1890s silk walking suit, an unknown-dated velvet jacket (which I honestly can't tell is a riding habit or eton jacket, or something entirely different), two beaded lace guimpe blouses (one cream, one black), and my 1860s cotton stripey dress. And there's a a heavily-soutached capelet on it's way to me, too.

I might have an ebay addiction.

Here's a couple pictures of ones that were looking particularly pretty in the tissue paper:

The one on the left might be my favorite, because of how absolutely enormous the sleeves are. I like the intricate closure of the one on the right, though.

The ivory guimpe, which is practially a dickey, since the length is so short. All the little grey specks are basically tiny rhinestones, and I like the bust improver. The collar is also quite stiffly boned.

I also cut out the outer layer of my corset, which took way too long for some reason. I still have to cut out the inner layer, but then again, my busk is still not here anyway...

I had my limited class with Luca first thing on Saturday, The Boned Seams of Bodices. Such an informative class! I wish we had had more time, to fully finish our samples, but I think I got enough to be able to implement it all on my own. And I can't wait to order German plastic boning and actually start boning my bodices. I almost never do! And actually, the only other class I went to on Saturday was Luca's lecture on creating a Worth ballgown. I decided I wanted a break instead.

I wore my 1890s walking dress during the day. It's already very much feeling like a "this old thing" since I made it last Aug, and have already worn it a few times. I didn't even think to take a picture, but Vivien did! I hated my hair, though - I'm honestly not sure what happened there...

I also "this old thing"ed it for the gala, pulling out my black silk bustle gown I made earlier this year, though this time, I let down the train for a while, since CoCo'ers are the only people I trust around a train. :) And hey, it's nice knowing that a gown is going to fit, and not have any issues with hair etc, because I've done it before!

There was a great group of around 25 of us who walked over to Maggianos, and though the service was a little slower than normal this year, it is still a billion times better than eating the overpriced stuff they serve at the gala. We also had plenty of time to brainstorm what we wanted to do as a group project for next year! (Fair warning, I'm probably going to spam post about our Keira Knopely group a fair amount this year.) When we came back, we peeked in on the dancing and stuff, but mostly I just chatted, since as usual, I didn't like the music. Some year I'd really love to hear legit ball music, and have Regency dancing or waltzing or something for the majority of the dances. Pop music just doesn't make sense.

Anyway, my pics from dinner are all dark and blurry because my phone camera sucks, so instead of posting them here, feel free to follow this link to see them: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.954427004153&type=1&l=7e02c68062

There were so many gorgeous gowns this year! As I think I said before, though, I was really bad about taking pictures this year, so I only got a few of them. But I really feel like there's starting to be so many gorgeous costumes that I almost stop seeing half of them, because all the goregousness blends in together!

Anyway, we couldn't stay at the gala for too long, because we had to scoot out to the midnight release of the new Harry Potter play! It made for a very late night, but everyone at Barnes and Noble seemed to enjoy our costumes, and we did get our books!

I figured I'd share the pictures I took of the 1890s dress I was given. I'd love to figure out a more precise date - I'm thinking it seems more early-to-mid 90s? In any case, I love that it's a full suit! It is pieced like crazy, especially in the sleeves, and is a very dark chocolate brown silk. And there's only a few tears - mostly in the waistband and in the sleeves.

It almost fits my smaller form - the waist is only about 1" too small, but it's way to small in the shoulders.

I think most of the buttons are original, though there's a few that have been replaced. There's a small bow in the center back at the waist.

The buttons hide inside this bodice flap. There's also a small leather breast pocket inside the flap. Perhaps for a watch?

The hem has ruched trim on the outside, and a velvet band around both inside and outside of the hem. The skirt is fully lined with cotton, and cartridge pleated into the back of the waistband.

Hmm, just off the top of my head, I certainly haven't done much since CoCo. Maybe going through everything, I'll realize I was actually productive this year?

These were my goals:
~~1. 1831 Archery dress~~ Done!
~~2. 1829 Orange ballgown~~ Done!
~~3. Corded petticoat to go with both of the above dresses~~ Done!
~~4. 1830s bathing suit~~ Done!
5. Professor Trelawney artistic reform gown for the CosCol Ice Cream Social This got switched to the green and cream bustle gown
6. Daniel Deronda riding habit (already have the fabric) Still have the fabric. Maybe I'll actually make it this year?
~~7. Little Red costume from Into the Woods~~ Done!
8. Striped silk bustle gown. (Or maybe a sack-back. I found silk at Hancocks today for $8/yd, and I'm determined to not let it sit in the stash.) Yeah... That silk is sitting in the stash...
9. Handsewn 1860s gown. At this point, I'm still determined to do this fully handsewn, so who knows when/if I'll ever finish it. If I let myself do it by machine, I'm sure I would have finished it months ago... Still on the list. I just haven't had the time/patience for that much hand-sewing.

( And this was what I accomplished. )

So overall, I guess that wasn't too bad. I definitely need to start sewing again soon if I'm going to be at all on track for CoCo though!

On Saturday, my bf and I headed across the water to Port Gamble (the privately owned Victorian mill town) for their first ever Steamport Gamble event. It was due to be a tiny event, with four panels/presentations, a handful of vendors, and a fashion show. There were also originally supposed to be crocquet and lawn bowling outside, but they were cancelled due to rain in the forecast. And really, weather is the big story here.

We arrived there about 11am, looked at the vendor hall (so not impressed), and then saw that the huge Victorian house that has always been closed up in the past was open! It turns out that was where they were doing a couple of the presentations, though they were still setting up when we got there. That means that no one was paying attention to prevent us from going upstairs and exploring the house. I know the house has held a variety of functions over the years, but it hasn't been able to be used for anything in quite some time because it's not up to fire codes. Most of the house has not been updated, though there were two 50sish-era bathrooms added, and many different layers of wallpapers in all the rooms. It was so cool to see, though, because while I love gleamingly restored homes, there's just something about ones that have been kept repaired but not updated. We took a whole bunch of pictures, and then headed down for the firearms panel downstairs.

( Lot's of pictures under the cut )
And that was the end of the exciting part of our day!

I finished the 1890s outfit! And I even decorated a hat. It was a vintage hat I got from a costume sale, and because it had already had some stuff hot-glued on it, I didn't feel guilty about gluing everything else. Well, except for the seagull feathers, but I didn't put much glue on those in case I need to take them off for transport. Most of what I was doing yesterday was hooks in eyes. In total, there are 28 sets of hooks and eyes in this outfit. I actually used skirt hooks for the whole thing, because I bought a gross of them in the fabric district, and naturally, I had no bars for any other size hooks on hand (and I didn't have a bajillion of any one size anyway). I also made my bows, put binding over the crinoline in the armseye scene, and hemmed my sleeves. I'm quite pleased with how it all turned out. :)

It's a good thing they didn't have selfies in the 1890s. It's hard to fit in the frame when you can't even fit through a door frame! (No lie, my sleeves had to brush through on both sides)

Please ignore my no makeup/bedhead/no petticoat look.

I gave Antoinette a temporary head! Of course, it fell off when I took the skirt off. I suppose it's fitting that her head came off.

Bows! There's these two, and a plaid one on the hat.

I may also make a reticule by Saturday, but for now, it's back to Rapunzel. Of course, I realized this morning that I forgot to dye enough fabric for the forepart. So now I have to dye more. Luckily, her forepart is technically a slightly different shade, so it doesn't have to be a complete match.

Sorry, no new pictures. I didn't get nearly as far as I hoped (surprise surprise) so right now the bodice has a million pins in it and is sitting on my sewing chair. And unfortunately, the one bad thing about 1890s sleeves is that it makes the bodice far too big to be able to sew on the bus. This is especially unfortunate because almost everything I have left is hand sewing.

If I still have energy by the time I get home tonight (I'm seeing a show after work), then I'll work some more on it. I estimate that I can finish it in 2.5-3 hours, if I do everything right the first time (famous last words?). I need to sew the collar to the neckline (it's currently pinned in place), and I need to hand-sew the neck/fill piece in place on one side, and do all the h&es on the other side. Plus I need to hem the sleeves, and I'm going to put some bias or something over the armseye seam, because even when I was just wearing it for fitting stuff last night, that crinoline was painful.

Oh, and I need to make the bows - I've decided to depart a bit from the original fashion plate, because those front bows were just too much. So I'm doing a large white bow on the back of the belt, and I'm doing a smaller white bow on the back of the collar. I kept playing around with whether I should do a plaid collar or a white collar last night, and the plaid finally won out. It's just so much more fun than a plain white collar.

The other thing that took up some of my time last night was trying to figure out which direction I should run the fabric for the CF piece. I had thought I wanted to do it fitted, with the stripes running vertically, but it just looked so plain. So instead, I have done vertical stripes with a gathered front. I think it adds much more visual interest. (I know, why do I need more visual interest? I am wearing a giant plaid dress and will be like 5 ft wide across the shoulders. But still.)

In any case, I stayed up way too late sewing last night, but I really wish I was sewing now, instead of trapped at work for another 8.5 hours... :(

The sleeves are attached! I didn't think it would be that hard, but after attaching one sleeve, I realized it was sitting way too far off the shoulder. So I reattached it .5" up. Still too far. I took it up another .5", which I think will work fine, so I set the other sleeve up that inch, too. I don't know how I wound up making the shoulders so wide, but it does seem like there's a funy balance in 1890s sleeves. I probably should have allowed enough room for shoulder pads, in hindsight, but it's too late for that. But at least this way it doesn't look like the sleeves are falling off my shoulders!

After practicing audition stuff and running to Joanns, that's all I managed to get done yesterday, besides washing the lace for the trim. Luckily, it's about 15 degrees cooler today than it was yesterday, so putting on my corset and undergarments to fit the bodice and pattern the front piece/collar shouldn't be so torturous. Hopefully I will be able to finish that today. I've been studying various neck closures on 1890s bodices, too. I think I'm going to go with the back neck bow on this one. It's such a classic look, and I think it will pick up nicely with the belt bows.

Here's a picture of what it looks like now. I know, it's not very different from what it looked like before. Hopefully tomorrow's post will show more progress!

For lack of amazing picture content, though, I present to you this silly little video I did yesterday. I'm a member of a fb group that sends out challenges of recording random musical theatre songs (chosen by the group creator), and posting the videos. I was challenged to record "Consider Yourself" from Oliver, and this is what I came up with in about 3 mins preparation: https://goo.gl/photos/UxFjRZsCandEBPpf7

Whoops, I sent that last post out without the pictures I took yesterday!

So anyway, here is the 1890s bodice, with the sleeves pinned to the dressform, but stuffed with the yellow tulle I mentioned.

Is it bad that I actually kind of wish they were bigger? She has some epic proportions in that fashion plate, and let's not even start with her weird disconnected arm. And you thought Barbie had an impossible shape...

The white fabric filling in the neckline is actually my Regency chemisette, which has been living on Antoinette the whole time I've been working on this. It's actually fairly similar to what this bodice's neckline will look like - the 1890s fabric is not as sheer, and the lace at the neck will not be as floofy, so you'll see more of the collar band. And it's the off-white tea-dyed fabric, instead of the bright white. Plus the bodice actually closes all the way on me, from under the bust to the waist. Still, it's been helping to give me a good visual.

Here's the fashion plate again, in case you were curious. How does she get those sleeves to stand out so far? Besides the fact that she's a drawing, of course.

I didn't finish my sleeves. :( Mostly because apparently 6" wide crinoline is not enough to hold up 30" poufs. In fact, 12" wide crinoline is not enough to hold up those poufs either. So what I've finally decided on is a combination of the 12" wide crinoline in the shoulder seam, and then stuffing about 1 sq yd of net into the sleeve. Unfortunately, though, the only net I own is yellow or red, and when light comes from behind the sleeve, you can see a yellow glow even through the two layers of cotton. So back to Joanns I go!

And really, the sleeves are quite close to being done. Once I stuff them with the net, I have to set the three layers of the sleeve, and hem it at the wrist. I might add a lace ruffle at the wrist, too, but I haven't decided on that yet. I'm thinking, though, of actually sewing the crinoline layer to the sleeve lining about .5" down from the shoulder. I don't want to be poked my all the crinoline! Though I guess I could just bind the armseye. We'll see...

I plan to start on the belt tonight, too. I'm kind of thinking that if I follow the fashion plate, and set the bows way out at the sides of my waist, it's just going to make it look like I have no waist at all. So I think they'll be much closer in , and will hopefully wind up much more flattering! Or at least, as flattering as an off-white belt with weird half-bows on it could ever be. I also realized yesterday that I will need to make a hat for this. And probably a reticule.

No, seriously. These are the biggest sleeves I've ever made. They are 30" tall, and 36" across. All of that fabric will be from my elbow to my shoulder. Right now, all I've done is cut them out, but they are going to be ginormous. Just in case you don't believe me, here's a picture of the piece, with my 18" ruler for scale:

The upper sleeve will consist of the outer layer, which is a tea-dyed embroidered stripe cotton, organdy interlining, a gathered strip of crinoline that has been doubled over in order to be 6" wide, and a fitted muslin lining. Somehow I'm going to have to gather the 55" sleeve head into my 18.5" armseye. I hope this works!

I took a look at my 1890s extant bodice to see how those crazy sleeves are constructed. It is a later bodice, I think, since while it does have large sleeves, they're nothing like this. It has a smaller lining and a larger outer sleeve (the outer having weird squared corners that are tacked down to the body of the sleeve), but the crinoline in the sleeve is not between the two layers. It's below the liner layer, which seems like it would be very itchy and uncomfortable!

Anyway, I had to run all sort of errands yesterday, so all I had time for was cutting out. I'm hoping tonight to at least make the whole upper sleeves, and I think I may be able to finish the entire sleeve. Then it's just filling in the neckline/collar and making the belt!

I realized, too, that I will have at least one event coming up that I can actually wear this to! Port Gamble, the cute little Victorian factory town across the water, is having a Steampunk faire in a couple weeks. I think this will be perfect to wear for that. I also may go to Steamposium, which is a Steampunk con in Seattle in late Sept. Not sure on that one yet, though, since it's quite expensive and they haven't released any scheduling details yet.

On the moth front, I vacuumed the top of the bookshelf this morning. Lots more moth poop underneath where the carriage boots were. I moved all the other boots up there to clean the whole thing, and I found a live moth hiding between the ivory Funtasmas and my vintage Mickey marionette (who I had already checked for moths on Sunday). Naturally, the Funtasmas became a weapon of death, but it was disconcerting to see a live one. I hope they're not hiding out anywhere else. Do they eat books? I still have to vacuum the floor by the bookshelf, but that will have to happen tonight. The boots are still in the freezer.

I got a fair amount done on Rapunzel this weekend. I mocked up the pattern, which was a nearly perfect fit. The only thing I had to change was the angle of the straps, so I only had to recut one of the pieces, and everything else from the mockup will be my interlining. I serged all the interlinings to the outer pieces, and sewed them all together. I'm pretty sure my Rapunzel pattern has more pieces than any other bodice I've made. There are 17 pieces, and two layers in each piece. But it always has turned out really nice before, so I hope this is no exception.

I've decided to go with flat steels for the boning. I just don't feel like spiral steels are going to have enough hold, and I've never worked with them before, so I guess it makes me nervous. I don't think it will wind up too terribly stiff. There will be a piece of boning on each seam, (stopping under the bust in the front), and the front lacing will have boning on either side that goes from bottom to top. I would like to figure out the measurements today, but at the same time, I'm wondering right now if I have it going too far over the hips. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to make that call until I start the skirt and see them both together. So the boning may have to wait. Luckily, there's a local lady who sells pre-cut boning, so I can order from her and just pick it up, which means no waiting for shipping!

Speaking of shipping, my Vogue fabrics order should be arriving today, which means I'm going to put Rapunzel aside for a day or two, and hopefully finish off the 1890s outfit. It shouldn't need much, and I find that giant gathered sleeves are always easier than fitted ones. I think I may do a fitted liner inside the pouf to keep the pouf in place, but it doesn't have to be pretty!

In other news, I went to the Ren Faire on Saturday. It was way better than when I went a couple years ago, probably due mostly to the perfect weather this time. We only stayed for a few hours, but my bf found pants that I think he can use for Flynn, and he got to try on the boots that he's ordering online. I didn't feel in the mood for hoops and velvet, so I wore my maiden outfit, which is basically my Ren corset, a peasant blouse, a couple of 18th c petticoats, and lots of flowers. It was comfy at least!

And a follow-up to my last post. It sounds like my boots somehow got moths. :( They're in the freezer right now, so hopefully all the moths will die. I checked all my other antiques, including the Victorian clothing and the vintage furs, and there's no sign of the moths in any of them. It definitely makes me nervous, though - how did they get in? I've had these boots for two years, and this could only have happened (at least I'm pretty sure) in the last several months.

I went to Joanns yesterday evening and picked up the cotton for the sleeves/neckline of the 1890s outfit. I was still having a hard time deciding between the two striped fabrics even once I got there, because one looked better on the sleeves and the other looked better on the neckline. And then it occurred to me - the neckline would look so much better if the stripes were running vertically instead of horizontally! Hopefully this outfit won't be too hard on the eyes. It's a lot of plaid, plus embroidered vertical striped sleeves, and embroidered horizontal striped neckline. I think it will work out okay...

I also picked up some terrycloth, because my hair towels have been smelling off, no matter how hot of water I wash them in. So if my Vogue fabrics order doesn't get here soon, I'll have some towels to make, not that that will take long.

When I got home, I made cookies for our work picnic today, and then started on drafting up Rapunzel. I think I got all the math figured out and notated on my existing pattern pieces. I'm going to attempt to size it up directly on the mockup fabric, but if that proves too complicated, I'll just draft it all into new patterns. I want to get cracking on it! I also need to decide what I'm going to use for boning - when I've done it for the commissions, I've used cable ties, but those girls don't have much that needs containing. However, if I do 1/2" flat steels, I won't be able to use bias tape for my boning channels, which means more work. I've made cable tie-boned stuff for me before, and I've found that while it works great for conical corsets, it doesn't work on Victorian, and I feel like this is kind of a mixture of the two. We'll see. I would need to pick up more cable ties anyway.

And shoot! It just dawned on me that I don't think I have any more satin piping. I really don't want to make any. I wonder if I can find it online?

Last night I finished the binding on the plaid portion of the 1890s bodice, which means that's about as done as I can get it before the organdy arrives, and I pick up whichever cotton from Joanns. Luckily, though, Joanns came out with a coupon this morning, which means after work today I'll swing by and pick some up. On the other hand, though, I have yet to get an email that my Vogue Fabrics order from two days ago has even shipped! *Sigh* All of my other recent fabric purchases have shipped, but none of it is expected till arrive until sometime next week.

But that's okay, because last night, I also started on Rapunzel. I dyed the bodice fabric, so that is ready to go, and I hope to start on the patterning this evening. Luckily I've made this bodice before, but of course, both times was for a much smaller person. Hopefully I'll be able to just enlarge the pattern I made for them without too much difficulty.

I got my bodice pieces all sewn together last night. I had to do some fit tweaking - somehow it wound up being quite too big around, so I took out 1" in each side seam, curved in the lower back just a bit, and angled in the side back by the armseye so it wouldn't gap. I think it works quite well now!

Alas, the plaid was not a perfect match from piece to piece, but it's very very close, so hopefully no one will notice. And some of them are a perfect match, just not all of them.

I also sewed two buttonholes where the bodice closes at the waist. Of course, right after I put them on it dawned on me that I may be better served with h&e there. I will have hooks and eyes closing the false blouse front, like my seaside bustle, and if I put buttons at the waist, then there will be bumps underneath my bow/belt/thing. Of course, that said, I haven't cut the buttonholes yet, and I don't think they will show outside the belt anyway, so I might just put skirt hooks or something underneath so that it stays pretty flat across the waist.

I machine sewed one edge of binding on for the neckline and the hem last night, and this morning on the bus, I finished the neckline binding and started on the hem. I'm hoping to possibly finish on the way home.

Of course, that said, since I now have to wait for my organza and horsehair to arrive from Vogue Fabrics, I guess there's no way that I can finish this project by this weekend. :( So instead, I'll probably wait till this weekend to pick up the blouse fabric from Joanns, since if I went tonight it would mean no coupons, and that's just silly. And tonight, I'll dye fabric for the Rapunzel bodice, and maybe mock that up. May as well do something!

I don't think I posted what all of my sewing plans are, now that CoCo drove a bunch of ideas into my head. So I'm going to put them here, because I swear I keep forgetting some of them!

1890s Plaid Walking Ensemble - organdy and horsehair are on their way to me to help with sleeves; blouse fabric still to be purchased. Skirt done, bodice started.

Rapunzel and Flynn Rider (Oct 28th deadline) - I think I have Rapunzel fabrics. I should probably check.

Navy blue swiss dot Regency (early Jan deadline) - The fabric is on its way to me. Hopefully this one will be simple. This is my inspiration plate. The chemisette just needs lace added to the shoulders (I picked some up on Sunday).

Black silk taffeta bustle ballgown (possibly early Dec deadline, or else March) - I might make a day bodice too, if there's enough fabric. I'm feeling particularly inspired by the turquoise dress in this plate:

Child's Victorian Gown (CoCo Meetup for next year. Care to join us?)I will be making this dress. I already have the white silk, and the salmon is on its way to me.

Daniel Deronda Riding Habit - I never got to this one last year, but I still have the fabric!

1860s Fully Handsewn dress - From the class I took CoCo 2014. Maybe I'll actually finish it this year?

Commission-wise, I don't know that the second Belle will ever happen, since I've given up on reminding the customer to send me their contract. I do have another customer who would like me to pattern/make some clothing based off of favorite pieces in her wardrobe. That will probably be coming in Sept.

Hopefully that's it, because that's all I can remember right now!

I cut out all my bodice pieces for the 1890s bodice last night. I had enough fabric that I was actually able to pay attention to the plaid, so hopefully everything will match up when I go to actually sew them together! I started the flatlining on a few pieces, but then I had to go to bed. My goal is to finish flatlining and sew them together tonight. And then maybe tomorrow I'll take it with me to Joanns and figure out the sleeve fabric.

By the way, has anyone ever made sleeve supports for the 1890s? I know they're quite common for the 30s, but I've only come across a couple extant ones for the 90s, and both were wired instead of stuffed. I'd love to be able to use the 30s ones I just made, but I worry that they're a bit too soft, a bit too small, and that they don't go quite high enough on the bicep for 1890s sleeves... Any advice?

Can we please talk about the fact that there have been over 90 LJ posts on my friends feed since mid-Friday! I think LJ is back!

I'm also crazy excited for all these travel plans that are floating around. I'm glad you guys are spreading them out in two different years, because I'm definitely going to need to save up money, but they sound amazing!

I had a busy Sunday. I picked up my CoCo things from my roommate, dropped off the Viking at the repair store (hopefully they'll be able to fix the reverse button issues I've been having), and got a bit side-tracked by a going-out-of-business fabric store in the same parking lot. Don't worry, I was pretty good (though I'm sure it was helped by the fact that almost all their fabric was gone already). I only got several yards of a few different trims, a bunch of buttons for the black silk taffeta bustle gown for later this year, and some beading odds and ends (mostly clasps, because the faux-clasps I made for the 1830s gala gown bracelets were just silly).

Then I hustled off to meet my bf at Joanns, in the hopes of finding Flynn Rider doublet fabric for him (to no avail). Yes, that's right - new costume plan! My bf and I are going to Disney World over Halloween, and we needed appropriate Disney couples costumes to wear at the park. I let him choose (after vetoing the all-leather Hook from OuaT), and he chose Flynn! Hopefully the doublet won't be too crazy, though my bf can be a stickler for accuracy sometimes (I created a monster, what can I say). Unfortunately, it's looking like we'll have to go online for the fabric. We're trying to find something that breathes, since it is still FL, so I think we've decided on either canvas or corduroy. Rapunzel should be relatively easy - I'll have to find my embroidery files, but after all, I've already made this costume twice, so it shouldn't be too bad.

That said, because I've got these big Halloween plans coming up, I'm really hoping to finish the 1890s walking dress this week. Last night (after going ice skating with my bf and his family), I patterned out the bodice, and tried the mockup. It was so close that I'm pretty confident with the few tweaks I've made, I can cut out the fashion fabric tonight (famous last words? I hope not!). I still can't decide on the "blouse" fabric, though - while at Joanns, I picked up swatches of two shirting cottons, one with a woven sateen stripe and the other with embroidered stripes, and a quilting cotton with tiny reddish polka-dots. I have a feeling I'm going to have to make up the whole rest of the bodice, and bring it with me to Joanns to help decide which looks best when it's a giant voluminous sleeve instead of a 1" swatch...

I finished the chemisette on the bus home on Friday, like I thought I would. Here's a pic:

I also started work on my 1890s skirt on Friday night, by cutting out the pattern pieces and the actual skirt pieces, using the Butterick walking skirt pattern on the plaid heavy cotton I found at the Bargain Basement. Today, I finished up the skirt completely, including the hem.

I also figured out my design for the whole 1890s ensemble. It is largely based on these two fashion plates.

I've already cut and sewn the plaid lower sleeves, and figured out the math for the changes I need to make to the bodice pattern (from Jean Hunnisett). I'm picking up all my stuff from my wonderful CoCo roommate tomorrow, including my pattern drafting paper, so I might be able to actually size it up tomorrow. I'm also going to Joanns to pick up fabric for my BF's Halloween costume, so I'm hoping maybe I'll find a suitable sleeve/neckline fabric there - I'm going for a crisp off-white cotton, and it would be amazing if it had a super-subtle vertical stripe.

I'm finally delivering on the pictures of the antique pieces I got earlier this year. All of the pictures I took can be found here, with more information, but here's a few of my favorites.

The first one is my 1860s dress. It's all handsewn, made of cotton with a cotton twill lining. The bodice is piped on the armseyes, neck, and waist. I also love all the ruching and ruffles. And it is pieced! I love this - it's the oldest thing I own and it feels really special to have such a neat piece of history.

Look, it's a wearable size! Anyone in Seattle with a 25-26" waist want to come try it on, so I can take pictures of it on an actual form? You have to be tall, though, since it's actually pretty darn long.

I thought this was so interesting - it's like they accidentally cut the front too small, so they just whipped it to the lining. (The buttons aren't original. Pretty sure they're plastic.)

And next, my late Victorian bodice. I think it dates to 1898-1900. The collar and sleeve puffs are cotton, with the rest silk faille, and a cotton twill lining. Bones are whipstitched to most seams. And it has one button left!

Watch pocket!

And lastly, my capelet. My best guess is 1890s, but I'm honestly not sure. Any other opinions? Velvet, lined with silk, and beaded with maybe something like jet, I think.

Profile

Rebecca Maiten

Lady Rebecca Fashions

Navigation

September 2017

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30

Syndicate

Page Summary

Style Credit

Style: Night Sea for Tranquility III by branchandroot

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Sep. 26th, 2017 02:41 pm

Diary of a Costumer

Entries tagged with 1890s

(no subject)

CoCo Recap #2: Saturday

Because I can't sleep

2015 Recap

Steamport Gamble and the 1890s Walking Dress

1890s pictures!

(no subject)

(no subject)

Picture Proof

(no subject)

My sleeves are going to be huge!

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

1890s sleeve supports?

So excited!

I'm already sewing!

Antique Clothing Pictures

Profile

Navigation

September 2017

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags