Miss Philomena

Wherein I sew half the things, and throw money at the rest!

I decided I wanted a proper cage hoop for this trip, after having used a bridal hoop for many years. It was a very nice hoop, six bones, and made of cotton rather than nylon as most are these days, but it still wasn't quite the right shape. So enter TV142, two super cheap ebay bridal hoops, and some 1/2" steel boning. It's wonderfully large, but I feel like it's still in proportion for me, since there's a lot of me.


To go over said hoop I made a few petticoats. One was plain white cotton, one was cotton eyelet, and one was an obnoxiously striped silk! The lighter stripe tends to photograph yellow, but it's more of a chartreuse color in person. It's of course made to be seen, with the gown skirt looped up over it. It was a super lazy project, just five yards of silk, done on the cross so there was only one seam in the back. I leveled from the top, pleated it to a waist tape, and there you go! I will at some point turn the selvedge up into a narrow hem.






Because of time crunch, and somewhat because of laziness, I purchased my other underthings. So my chemise came from an etsy seller, as did my paletot. Instead of pantaloons I wore long pettipants for the weekend. And my corset was from RedThreaded, and totally worth the cost. Corsetmaking is not my favorite activity.

First, the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum's WWII weekend!

The usual suspects went, and like usual I will lazily link to their posts (Amanda, Alice, and will add Robin and Jess if they write something eventually). I actually arrived at the agreed upon time, everyone else rolled up an hour later. This is a huge and popular event, so parking was quite a distance away, and a school bur ride to get to the entrance!


I was feeling quite spiffy if I do say so myself. And immensely glad I decided on my way out the door to bring my sweater just in case, because it turned out to be chilly! I don't think it got over 68F. Not usual for early June around here, jsyk. For my hair I did Victory Rolls in the front, perhaps a little smaller than they could've been, but I didn't have a lot of space to work in with my hat. The back I just rolled up.


I'm honestly a bit meh about this dress. It was much cuter in my head than in actually sewing. I had more fun with accessories instead. I picked up my hat on eBay, and the sweater is a modern one, but I spruced it up with some antique button pins and an adorable vintage (probably 50s) chain with red, white, and blue rhinestones.

The event was definitely fun, and I'd love someday to actually drive out my 1936 coupe, but when it's an hour and a half each way, and I'd need to have the car on site for setup Thursday, and not be able to get it home until Sunday, that'd require being there the whole weekend. So maybe some year further down, but 99.9% not for next year. It's been sitting for a while and needs some work anyway. But how much fun would it be, to be able to drive around with people in costume in the rumble seat in the back?

There was a flea market there, and I bought a very cute pair of mid-length yellow cotton gloves. No idea what I'll wear them with, but they were too cute to pass on, and actually fit! And completely randomly, I also bought a Victorian black crepe mourning veil. It probably won't go to Gettyburg this year, because I don't have a mourning outfit planned, nor do I have fabric for it, so it'll have to wait.

My full flickr album is here.

On a different note, this week has been a headwear week!


While I absolutely adore my gigantic and insane silk gauze cap, it's a bit impractical for regular wear. So Monday evening I cut and started a new cap using the Kannik's Korner 1740-1820 cap pattern, and finished it Tuesday afternoon. The pattern has been in my stash for ages, along with a yard of silk organza I purchased around the same time, to make said cap. I kept it fairly simple, with a single pleated split ruffle. My construction method is not the standard hem every piece separately and then whip it all together. Instead I used the method I was taught by Janae Whitacre of Williamsburg's Margaret Hunter Millinery Shop. This method is: turn down a small seam allowance, here a hair under 1/4", on the band piece. Lay it over the pleated ruffle, then baste the pieces together, done here in black. Then cover the raw edges with a 1/4" silk ribbon, stitching through all layers on both edges of the ribbon. Repeat for the caul. This creates a single layer cap with no raw edges, and it actually gets finished in a timely manner. I constructed my giant ruffle beast cap the same way.


My other bit of headwear this week is a spoon bonnet! It's mostly finished, and was intended to wear tomorrow for a Victorian Picnic here in Philly, but we've switched from hoops to natural form so it'll have to wait for it's first outing. I'm going to put the crown lining in after lunch, as well as the ties and curtain. But I'm going to hold off on trimming it for now, and wait until I actually need it. mandie_rw made the buckram frame for me, and mulled it as well, so all I had to do was cover and decorate it. I used a shot blue and pink semi-slubby dupioni for the outside, and the same pink taffeta from my gown for the big-ass hat tea earlier this year. The ties are the pink silk as well, and I'll probably put white feathers and flowers of some color on the outside eventually.

Only six months after the event!

New Castle was very enjoyable, and called for everything new. There was a (very close quarters) ball Friday night, and Saturday was spent strolling around town and visiting some of the houses, and generally looking decorative. I'm going to be lazy and link to other's posts for a rundown of the event itself, again, six months ago. Amanda, Robin, and Alice.

( This is long so I'm gonna put all the pictures and talk behind a cut!  )And there you have it!

For which I actually had an Anglaise! Or Italian/quarter back gown. I'm not sure if it's considered an Anglaise if it doesn't have the en fourreau pleats? I have seen some 1780s plates referring to this style as an Italian gown, and I've seen other costumers call it a quarter back gown. Anyway.

I pretty much did a straight copy of a gown I found on Pinterest. Board with pictures here! I just loved the chevron back and the cuff on it. The only thing I didn't do was the pleated trim, because I just didn't have the fabric for it. I only had five yards total, and I wanted the skirt as full as possible. The center back bodice panels are pieced to keep the bodice and sleeves made out of only one yard of fabric so that the rest could go to the skirt.

The fabric is a satin striped silk, the same one mandie_rw used in her jacket, though in a different colorway. I bought it on eBay years ago and it's lingered in the stash for quite some time. I'd actually initially planned to make this gown, albeit as a round gown, for the Battle of Trenton Ball back in December, but schoolwork and things with Mom prevented that. But I got it whipped up last week, along with two new petticoats, and wearable for the luncheon Sunday!

I failed to take pictures myself, so these are shamelessly stolen from Amanda.



It was drizzling lightly so I wore the gown retroussée dans les poches, or pulled through the pocket slits. All I did was stick my hands through the pockets, gather up a bunch of the skirt in my hands, and pull it up and through. Not evenly, either, as I can see the center back seam leaning right in the pictures, haha. With it I have a sheer striped cotton petticoat on, as well as a plain white muslin petticoat, both of which I whipped up Friday, and my quilted petticoat on the bottom. I accessorized with my carnation pinball, tiny green silk twill reticule, round cap with a red silk ribbon, and a bonnet I made years and years ago that was meant to go with a back and green striped polonaise gown I still haven't made. (Someday...) The brim is paper straw made using Lynn McMasters' Early 19 Century Seaside Bonnet, and the crown is just a circle of green dupioni that was gathered, bound, and whipped onto the brim. (The mitts are cheater mitts- I couldn't find my brown linen ones so I grabbed these. They're actually a greyish purple knit, a Christmas present from my almost-aunt, and completely modern, but the perfect shape, so I grabbed them to keep my arms warm while outside.)

One thing I feel I should point out: the giant V stripe on the back, that goes from shoulder to waist to shoulder? That was 100% accidental. I only made sure the center back seam stripes lined up properly, and didn't even bother to compare the stripes on the side back pieces to the center back. I didn't even notice it until I looked at the pictures after Amanda posted them!

( non-costume related life whining )

Okay, a quick recap of the year, since there was actual sewing! I'll admit right here and now that most of the pictures are nabbed from others, and if I remember who took it I've credited. But anyway!


( my year of sewing )

And that is 2012 for me!

Finally posted my Dress U pics! It's a combination of my own and ones stolen from others.

I don't have pictures of Friday night and Saturday day for myself, but I did get the rest, so here's the quick list of what I wore:

( Saturday Night Titanic Dinner )

( Sunday Day: Let Them Eat Crepes & Mad Tea Party )

( Sunday Evening: Tiaras and Jampagne )

And that's Dress U for me!

I'm really happy with how my Titanic dinner gown is coming along. It looks awesome already, so I've got high hopes for getting pretty close to done tomorrow. \o/

When I first started planning this outfit I'd thought about doing a bandeau for my hair, but then I remembered something I've been in love with for ages. In the Priscilla Bead Work Book, scanned and posted by the Antique Pattern Library there's a Juliet cap made with pearls of various sizes. I didn't have pearls, but I had a ton of seed beads in a lovely bronze color, and with the addition of some faceted beads of varying sizes, I made a Juliet cap for myself.



( a couple more pictures )

Just a couple of quick pictures from yesterday morning before heading over to the Old Barracks. I'll do more, nicer pictures at some point in the semi-near future, once I fix a couple of things that didn't work well as is.

Anyway, pictures!

( And one more )

No pictures today, because I'm lazy.

I finished the rest of the boning channels in the stays, and have about half the bones in. My metal sheers are old and getting dull, so I had to stop cutting the steal boning. I'll finish tomorrow.

I have all three skirts pieced, and the waist pleats are pinned and waiting to be sewn. I decided to use dark green wool for the middle skirt, and I plan to use the leftover wool for my mitts. I dyed some silk twill a light olive green, which I'll line the mitts with. I also want to make a calash with the silk twill, but it might be too light.

I also drafted a pattern for a round ear cap, and I'll probably make that tomorrow, along with a new chemise. I pulled out my old one, tried it on, and couldn't breath. Of course, I've had it since I was 13, and back then I was much smaller in the chest area.

I'm feeling good about this. Thursday will be entirely devoted to the jacket, and Friday will be for odds and ends.