A Snowy Picture

I randomly got an email from google+ the other day, and I never use google+ or really understand it but they told me I had a photo backed up and looked to see somehow falling snow was added to my picture!  I don't really know how it happened, but it's cool! So here's a bonus falling snow picture of my 1869 dress! 

1908 Transitional Corset

I finally completed my first corset and it's nowhere near perfect, the inside is a little bit of a mess and I I don't really have any desire to make another one anytime soon but I think I remember saying that about the first pair of stays I made too! I have to say though... for me at least, 18th century stays are SO much easier than making a corset!

1908 Transitional Corset

 It's a single layer of white cotton fabric that has a design in it but you would have to be up close to see it. I bound it with blue for a pop of color.

Since I've never made a corset before I actually used the front closing from an old 1860 one of mine I don't use anymore.

I may have also used the back lacing part of that corset because I don't have an eyelet puncher (or whatever those things are called!) which doesn't help improve the looks of it... but.. I couldn't justify buying one because I just don't ever have the need to punch metal eyelets.

So overall... I'm not exactly pleased with this, I'm almost a little embarrassed by it but I keep reminding myself it was the first corset I've ever made so it's okay if its slightly wrinkly and a little wonky in places. It does look better on though, and I think if I can get around to making some sort of chemise or whatever would typically go under it, it will look even better! 

Pattern is from this website. It's the second to last pattern on the list.

1869 Tissot Dress

So I wanted to enter this dress into the American Duchess Christmas photo contest, but I somehow lost the pictures from when I wore it 2 or 3 years ago. With only a few days to enter and unable to find a good scenery for it, I missed the deadline. But with a winter storm down here in Texas I finally got some photos of the dress and in a snowy scenery!

So first... the comparison to the Tissot picture..

I made this one a few years ago and probably would have done it a little differently now because it doesn't quite get the 1869 shape. I also don't have the right skirt supports either. I do still love this dress, I think because I just love the red fabric I used! It's so soft and nice feeling. 

I preferred the skirts bustled up and unbuttoned in the front but I did get a picture with it buttoned and un-bustled. 

There is a small black fur muff to match the fur on the jacket. I considered making a large one because I still have this fur but... when looking at some fashion plates from 1869 they looked to be using smaller muffs. I'm thinking I'll use it to make an oversized 18th century muff. 

I also made a little hat to match from the same fabric. 

A  pug picture to complete the outfit

Sunday Update

No matter how much I keep trying to make anything and everything blue for my 18th century wardrobe I keep ending up with red tones. This weekend I found some red linen for $4 a yard so I got 5 yards of it. Actually I would have gotten more but that was all that was left so hopefully that will work! I'd like to make a round gown similar to this

I also ordered the American Duchess Antoinette shoes... I almost didn't and I literally ordered them with 2 hours to spare but I couldn't stop thinking about them! Of course I got the blue... and I'm a little worried about that. I still want to make a dress out of my magenta redish taffeta so blue shoes aren't going to go great with that but maybe if I dyed them dark blue... 

And because this post feels empty without a picture, three tie blankets I made this weekend! 

1908 Corset Mockup

I decided to make something for the 2014 Foundations Revealed competition. 

I don't really have any ideas for the geometry theme but the 1908 Transitional Corset I thought would be a great thing to make. I've never actually made a corset, the closest was making my 18th century stays.  Early 1900's is also an era I haven't looked at before. 

I got the pattern and found a lot of helpful information from this article. I think you have to have a subscription to see it though. 

It did not have seam allowance and I decided not to add any because the measurements the original came out to be were a bit bigger than me and I'm not great with math so I figured I'd just go with this. 

As far as I can tell, I think the mock up size worked well and except for taking out one of the gusset pieces, it works. So next I'll cut out the actual fabric, when I decide on it! 

HSF Challenge #23: Gratitude

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While finishing up this dress, I was super excited to realize this could count as an HSF challenge! I couldn't have gotten through the making of this dress without the great tutorials and pictures that others have put out there. This was my first 18th century gown so I had tons of questions and no pattern so I relied on what others put out there! 

Research:

Here I learned more about chintz fabric

William Booth Draper sells a blue chintz fabric here that has the same white background with floral blue print similar to my fabric.  They also cite, The Pennsylvania Gazette which said "Run away... a native of Ireland... has on, and took with her, one chints gown, stamped with blue."  The same site also sells patterns and says that printed cotton is an option for a robe a l'anglaise seen here. This helped reenforce that my fabric wasn't completely inaccurate.

Before I could start on the actual dress I had to make a basic bodice lining pattern and the pictures of her draped lining on Jenny La Fleur's Robe a l'Anglaise dress diary helped a ton! Not too mention her other 18th century projects I looked through just to get a better idea of how to make my dress.

After completing my lining I really followed much of the tutorial here from The Fashionable Past

As mentioned in a previous post, when I got completely stuck on my sleeves, this website and dress tutorial here gave me a sleeve pattern that got me back on track!

I'm sure there are even more links that I am missing because as this shows the first place I turn to when I'm stuck are the tutorials and even just pictures others have put up. Anytime I make a historical item I spend a ton of time researching by looking at examples others have made. I love this challenge because I really am so grateful for all the research and pictures others put up! It's why I always try to document mine because you never know what little picture, or way of wording something, will help someone else with their project!

The Challenge: Gratitude

Fabric: Blue and white cotton chintz, blue linen, cotton lining

Pattern: Robe a l'Anglaise self drafted

Year: late 18th century

Notions: cotton tape

Accuracy: It's pretty accurate, I've hand sewn the entire outfit including both petticoats and I think I got the shape down pretty well. It's only issue may be the fabric. While there was blue chintz on white, the pattern on my fabric is probably not the most accurate in terms of the design size. The blue linen petticoat is accurate.

Hours to complete: many

First worn: For pictures!

Cost:  I bought this fabric in the early summer so I don't remember that anymore and am calling it stash fabric. The linen I got from an old table cloth! So no money spent for this one!

This is my favorite 18th century outfit so far. I really love how it turned out with the blue linen petticoat. It's very simple and I'd like to go back and trim it one of these days. Besides some problems with the sleeves it went together pretty well and was a great step in learning to make 18th century gowns.

The matching petticoat!

For all previous posts of the making of this dress click here. 

18th Century Cap

I did get pictures and a post of the Patience Tabitha dress, but I realized it was a perfect dress to use for the HSF challenge: Generosity and Gratitude  so I'm going to wait on that post for another weekish so it's closer to when the challenge is due!

I am somewhat taking a step back from the 18th century this week, to work on a halloween costume inspired by this dress (Though ending up very very different because I was working with the only star fabric I've got in my stash, but the idea of a starry night is the same!), my never-ending quilt of doom, and hopefully a football game day dress for a game this upcoming Saturday! ( I don't have high hopes for this last dress...) 

And finally the 18th century cap!

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Inspirations: White with Yellow ribbon cap here plus many more I forgot to document. I mean to get a better actual silk blue ribbon or maybe yellow for this I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Pattern: Made by me from information on these websites, here, Fashionable Frolick, and Art Beauty and Well-Ordered Chaos

Fabric: Very thin white cotton (I'm pretty sure it's cotton) from my stash

Year: 18th century

Accuracy: All hand sewn. Each edge was hemmed with a tiny hem and then whip stitched to the other piece.

It was pretty hard getting the proportions just right particularly when you are putting pleats around your face. I don't love how my pleats look, I rushed to finish the hat for pictures with the P.T. dress so I think they could look better than they do.

It was kind of awkward taking closeup shots of my face with the hat on so to show the direct view of it I cropped a picture from the full outfit. I tried to make it look cool and rounded and old timey, it just looks like I cropped it into a circle... oh well