miss_philomena | Entries tagged with century:18th

So the past couple of weeks I've been feeling costuming burn-out, and for no apparent reason. But that's a bad thing when Costume Con is only a month away. So I figured if I can just knock out something quick and easy I can get myself back on track.

And hey, I think it's working! :3

I'd picked up this kind of waffle-textured-type silk gauze several years ago with the intention of making something like the white organza gowns you see in the 1870s. But after getting it home it then sat in a drawer forever after I realized it was a bit too drapey to use for the crisp style needed for the bustle style. Plus it didn't really want to hold a crease either, probably because it is a textured weave.

But Sunday I had the thought that it'd make a perfect early Regency style dress and got straight to it. XD Sunday I pieced together three panels for the skirt and did a muslin mockup for the bodice, which I also used as the lining. Yesterday I cut out the silk for the bodice and got that pieced together and mounted the skirt on as well. I'm doing a bib-front style, almost exactly like the 1798-1805 gown in Patterns of Fashion 1. I'm a bit eh about the bib for that dress though, with all the tucks going in the same direction, so my first thought was to do more of a chevron style. But when I was flipping through the Kyoto Costume Institute's Fashion for extra inspiration, this dress here caught my eye. I like the slight scoop to the neckline, as well as the gathering under the bust.

I haven't actually done the bib yet, but I realized last night when I was, I'll admit being lazy, fitting the gown over just a bra and tank top, that I really need some type of stays for this. I'm a busty girl, so I need something with support, but I don't particularly like the long typical regency style stays, so I'm going with a pair of short transitional stays, the kind with a gathered cup rather than inset gores. I drafted up a pattern for the back of the stays earlier, and I'll just start with a couple of rectangles for the front to figure out where the cups need to go. For a little bit of extra support I rescued the underwires from one of my bras that's bound for the trash to add to the stays. But actually making the stays is tomorrow's project.

And I noticed there is talk of wearing costume for the KCI tea on the 10th? Looks like I'll be all set. XD

The auction for the damask I was bidding on was pulled. D: But there were six days left and bidding was almost up to my limit anyway, so even if it had run the full time, I probably would've lost it anyway. Sooooo I went looking for something else and snatched this damask as a BIN. It's pink and gold, obviously, but as the V&A mantua was a blue and silver damask in what looks like a large, repeating pattern, I figure it will do just fine. There's 8 yards of the pink and gold, which is what I was figuring on needing.

It didn't process when I first started looking at the Met's mantua, but it has a center back measurement of 104 inches. Now, going by my own measurements at 5'6, from the back of my neck to the floor is about 54 inches. That means the train of the mantua is 50 inches, or over 4 feet long. Now that's a lot of brocade dragging on the floor. But for the sake of ~~pictures~~ being faithful to the original, I'm going to make mine that long as well. Because of the way the Met has it draped, I think I can sneak some type of lining/backing for the train. I'm toying with the idea of flatlining it with silk organza, because it won't add much bulk. Do you have any thoughts on that, flist?

I also (finally) stopped dragging my feet about the stays I'll need for under this. My original thought was that I'd either have to use steel boning or order reed. But then I realized there might be something left over from when my dad used to re-cane chairs. His stuff was all either round or square, so I grabbed the smallest he had, which is about 1/8" diameter. (It's been hanging in the garage for who knows how many years collecting dust and dirt, so I'm soaking it in the tub overnight to get it a bit cleaner.) I'm hoping two reeds per channel will be strong enough. I might also do every fourth or fifth channel with steel anyway, to add a little extra support.

And now, to bring back an old theme~ The Mom chronicles! I convinced her to make a journal (

gwenevereofisis) a couple weeks ago, and she's been lurking around in the comms I added her to, but apart from me she has no friends yet. D: But that's not why I'm bringing her up now. We're going to an SCA event on Saturday, and I've been helping her make a basic 6 gore kirtle. I draped a muslin on her, and then drafted the pattern off of that. We were a bit short on the teal-green wool for it, only about 4.5 yards, so I laid it out and did all the cutting and pinning, but she's done all the piecing on her own. Tomorrow we need to put in the sleeves and sew the lining in, and then it'll be picture time! And then mom will be on her own for doing all the hand sewing, i.e. the eyelets for the front lacing, the buttonholes for the sleeves, and the hem. I've got my own hand sewing to do to finish up my outfit for Saturday, after all.

I've got the Watteau polonaise all pieced, apart from the stomacher and sleeves, and pinned up on my dress form. (No pictures because I haven't gotten around to digging my camera out and charging it. >_>) I'm not entirely crazy with how the back of it lays over my bustle, but I think part of it is because it's only over a petticoat right now, which a) is nowhere near as full as the matching skirt will be, and b) only has a couple inches of train in the back, so it's not flaring out there to support the polonaise. I'm also toying with the idea of making Laughing Moon's train supporting bustle, which will flare out the back of the skirt and polonaise nicely. But I think that, which is not specifically needed at this point in time, will have to wait.

I've also started planning my next project as well. I've wanted to make an 18th century mantua for a while now, when the style became a bit more defined and regulated. My first plan was to style it after the 1710s mantua in the V&A, but now I'm thinking I want to go a touch earlier, before it became standard to loop the train up. And I can't deny that I've always been drawn to the Met's 1708 mantua. I've been looking at all the pictures of it for a while today, trying to figure out how exactly they arranged the poofs in the back, and I think, rather than folding the skirt back over itself and securing it at the center back waist, they either tucked the sides under, or just much lower, and then puffed a bit of the back up over it to make that big puff. You can kind of see that it was done slightly differently in the two different sets of pictures, as the train is longer in one set.

As for fabric for the mantua, I have my eye on a couple damasks on ebay, and if those fall through, I'll just look for something in New York next time I'm up there. I'd really prefer a damask or brocade, but worse comes to worse I'll use something solid. (I'm holding out for a specific damask, though, if it doesn't go too high. >_>)

I bought some red and tan linen off of Ebay last month, intending to do a more casual, everyday polonaise with it. But when it arrived, it turned out that the red stripes are printed onto the solid tan fabric. So, is this completely not period, and therefore not appropriate for a polonaise? If I end up not using it for it's original purpose, it might end up in something steampunk-y, where it won't matter.

I was just feeling a bit under the weather for a few days, and despite only taking two classes this semester, they're already running me ragged.

Anyway, the first and most important thing: Poe pictures! Anyone who wants to is welcome to snag stuff. I can also supply high-res full size (3008x2000 pixels) for anyone that wants them.

I was also very productive yesterday and basically finished my capote. I sewed the straw brim over a month ago, and I finally dug out the silk for the crown. The lace is only pinned on, but I'm still deciding if that's how I want to do it. The first two are obviously pre-assembly, and the second two are how it currently looks.

The green is a bit brighter than the striped silk I'm using for the polonaise, but I'm choosing to ignore that fact. I also had originally planned to use silver trim for the outfit, but I pulled out a burnished gold and green trim that looks amazing with the stripe, so it's not quite a Slytherin polonaise now. Strange as it sounds, the gold is a little more subtle than the silver, and I like the little bit of warmth it pulls in.

I tore the panels for the skirt and overskirt the other day, and as soon as I unearth my pinking shears I'll start cutting the ruffles and working on them as well. With the stripe on the cross-grain planning it out takes a bit more fabric, so I ended up picking up the rest of the what the store had, bringing me up to 14.5 yards total, half of which is going to the ruffles. Because the ruffle on the skirt is so deep, I can only cut three out of the width, so the underskirt will need 3 yards just for the ruffles. I can cut five ruffles for the overskirt out of the width, so that'll take less fabric, luckily. And the neckline only needs a 1" ruffle, so that will just get pieced out of what's left over after I cut the bodice. I'll probably start the actual sewing next week.

I had my mom try on one of my older corsets, that doesn't have as much of a waist reduction as the rest, and she liked it, so she gets to use it for her Poe dress. We've also decided to go with more of a late 1830s look for her. I'm going to use one of Simplicity's Fashion Historian patterns with some slight changes.

I'm going to use the darted underbodice for the outside, rather than the shirred front. I'm also going to shir the top and bottom few inches of the sleeve to further the 1830s look.

I'm also going to use another Fashion Historian pattern for the base of her mantle. Since it'll be made out of wool, I'm not going to put the flounces on, but we haven't decided on an alternate trim or lining yet.

As for myself, I think I want to use Period Impressions' 1860s paletote pattern for my own coat, with a few modifications as well. The sleeves are huge, I plan to cut them shorter. Depending on how I can squeeze it on to my fabric, I might also cut the bottom even, rather than longer in the back.

Also, I sewed up the braid for the capote brim. Once I finish removing the paper backing I used as a guide, I'll wire the edge and then take pictures. I don't know what I'll use for the crown yet, but that can wait a bit.

(Please excuse the messy sewing room)

And here it is with a couple of petticoats on the left, and with the dress fabric draped over it on the left. The bonnet frame is for my mom. I've wired and put the flannel on it, but I still need to bind the edges and cover it, obviously.

And on a different note, I've decided to jump in on the polonaise bandwagon. I fell in love with this polonaise in the Kyoto Costume Institute the very first time I saw it. To keep up with the theme I'm doing with my green 1869 villainess gown, I'm going to use a green and black stiped dupioni I have, and trim it with silver. Along with self trim I want to use some silver, so it'll be my Slytherin polonaise.

I think I'm going to take a break from the Poe dress tonight and start working on the black straw capote to go with my polonaise. I won't start working on the polonaise itself until I finish everything for the Poe event.

Okay, this is an attempt to plan out what I want to do over the next three and a half months for Costume Con. Now, taking into account classes and a part-time job with my usual speed, I'm going to try for two outfits a month. Once I make a new pair of drawers and finish my fully boned stays, I won't need to factor in undies time. Anyway, here's a tentative schedule.

January:
1840s dresses x2 for Poe
18th century fully boned stays
1780s Chemise à la Reine if I can, otherwise it'll get bumped back where it fits.

February:
1872 Watteau Bustle Gown
1869 Villainess Gown, on the left

March:
1660s Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont, Princess of Monaco for charlesii.
Secret Project for the Masq

April:
1791 Purple Sari Pierrot Jacket and Skirt
1920s Print Silk Dress, adaptation
1957 dress

Of course, if I finish stuff faster than I plan (which I probably will), things will get bumped up. Unfortunately, my budget won't allow for the duchesse satin for the 1660s gown until March, but if I can, the April dresses will get bumped up sooner because I already have the fabric for all of them, leaving more time for the March dresses.

ETA: wow that's a lot of tags. XD

ETA2: I've put up an ij mirror account, but I'm not worried about needing it. It's there just in case. Feel free to friend it.

Back in September, I had the urge to make a court gown, but that urge didn't last long. Today however, I found a 1798 plate that I really like. For a court gown, it's really simple, but it's yellow and pretty. Though again I'm back at the problem of not being able to find a buttercup yellow taffeta.

I'm not including this in my list of stuff for 2009, because I have absolutely no idea when I'll be working on it.

Alright, I didn't do a lot in 2008, but I also didn't start anything until September. I did knock out two complete outfits in under a week each, though, so that has to count for something.

September, 2008: The Red Stripy Bustle
While I'd had the undies sewn for a while, the dress itself I did in three days. I wanted something bright for Saloncon, and this definitely qualifies.

December, 2008: Revolution in a Week
Basically, the only parts of this I didn't make in a one week rush were my shoes, stockings, and hat blank. Upon extended wearing I've decided the front of my half-boned stays need to be recut, because currently they're a bit too short and wide across the bust. But that's for later.

And for 2009, I have quite the list.

1560s Teal Venetian
Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont, Princess of Monaco(1660s), for charlesii. I plan to get this done for Costume Con in May.
1775 Pink Brocade Caraco
1780s Chemise à la Reine
1791 Purple Sari Pierrot Jacket and Skirt
1844 Grey and Lavender Plaid, for the Poe Bicentennial events this month.
1872 Watteau Bustle Gown
1874 Light Blue Evening Gown (left)
1875 Winter Striped Walking Suit
1920s Print Silk Dress, adaptation

I have ideas for a few more things, and I need at least one Vampires, Villains and Vixens outfit, but this is most definitely enough for the first half of 2009.

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 )

So I got lazy about posting for the last couple of days. But!! Apart from a hem (which I'm going to do right now), I am finished with my outfit for tomorrow. Yay!

I will post a full recap and pictures either tomorrow night or Sunday, but I need to be up and moving in about six hours, so I'm signing off for the night.

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.

I did a fair amount of work on the stays today. I decided to go with my orange linen for the fashion fabric, with red stitching and binding. I've stay stitched where I'll slash for the tabs, but I don't plan to cut them apart until I do the binding.

I couldn't find my metal sheers anywhere, so the last few boning channels have to wait. I need to insert the diagonal bones in the front before I close them in with the horizontal channels at the top.

As you can see, I put in metal grommets for lacing. I tried to do an eyelet completely by hand, but with the heavy cotton I'm using for interlining, I couldn't get an awl through. I'm sewing over them though. to look pretty and hide the fact that they aren't all the same color.

Tomorrow I plan to do the boning and finish the channels, and at least stay stitch the edge of the stays. I also plan to get the skirts done, but they shouldn't take long anyway. Wednesday day I'll start the jacket muslin, and I'll take the stays with me when we visit family in the evening to do the binding and the eyelets.

Upon further thought I've decided I do want to try and reproduce the exact jacket in La Belle Chocolatiere. The front of the jacket is mostly obscured, but there's enough visible to hint at the details. There's a narrow collar in a somewhat odd possibly inverted scallop shape, and I think the jacket might be open in the front, with a blue stomacher to match the petticoat. I'm not sure what exactly the little bit of lighter orangey-yellow visible between the jacket and the shawl is. It seems like the wrong color for lace, but I don't think it's her stays peeking out either.

In terms of actual productivity today, I did up a muslin for half-boned stays, and then redrafted the pattern with a few changes. Tomorrow I'll cut them out and hopefully get at least the piecing and boning channels sewn. I know I have enough steel boning to do them up, I'll just have to dig it out. I'd like to get them fully done tomorrow, but hand done eyelets are definitely not high on my list of favorite activities. I have both yellow and orange creamsicle linen that I might use for these, or I might go in a completely different direction and use dark purple linen instead. I'll decide that tomorrow though.

The Idea	The Fabric	The Base Pattern

La Belle Chocolatiere by Jean-Etienne Liotard	burnt orange wool & blue/grey linen	1760-70 Jacket from Patterns of Fashion 1 by Janet Arnold

I've volunteered to help out at the Battle of Trenton reenactment next Saturday. And because I'm insane, I plan to make myself a full outfit rather than borrow one. I've decided on a jacket and skirt rather than a dress, for several reasons. For one, I don't have enough of any one color wool to make a full dress from. For another, a jacket will be easier to fit (and look better) if I don't get my stays done in time. And finally, and this is mainly a vanity thing, I don't want to be in a dress like most other women will be. I want to be a period correct non-conformist.

I should be able to knock off the petticoats in one sitting, really. I'm planning on three. An aquamarine flannel will be the innermost one, followed by wool of yet undetermined color, then topped with the blue linen. I'll have to run the linen through the wash a few times tomorrow; it's still pretty stiff.

I'll also scale up the jacket pattern and start working on that tomorrow as well. I'm not sure if I'll include the cuffs yet, that'll depend on if I have enough of the wool. I've only got about a yard and a quarter, but I'm not worried. Piecing is such a period practice, after all.

I think I have a round ear cap somewhere, but I might just make a new one, along with a stuffer shawl and mitts. I have one of the wide-brimmed felt hats from Williamsburg, but I'm not sure how to trim it, or if it's even appropriate for winter. That's at the end of the list though.

And over all of this, because it'll probably still be in the mid to upper 20s next weekend, I have a massive and heavy cape, made of dark blue wool and lined with light grey linen. I'll have to stop being lazy and finally sew a clasp on to it.

So, six days and counting.

PS- I didn't go into this intending to copy the color scheme of the painting. I spread all of my wool and linen out, picked the two I liked best together, and ran with it. THEN I went and looked up the painting for the style, and realized I'd picked the same colors. XD

padawansguide, I was watching Marie Antoinette again the other day when there was nothing else on TV, and I spotted a familiar dress. I don't know if you caught it yourself, so I figured I'd point it out.

It wasn't easy to cap, since it was only on for a few seconds, and not always in focus, but here are a few more caps.

I ordered a swatch book from Decorative Silks, so once it arrives I'll be deciding what color I'll use for my

charlesii dress, since silk moire is out of the question. Looking at the site, I'm between the Pistachio/Antique Gold and Saddle Grey/Gold. The Antique Gold/Champagne might be a possibility too; we'll see when the swatches arrive.

I've also started working on the pattern for this. I've decided to make separate stays and bodice, but I plan to baste the two together along the neckline, and possibly at the front point for wearing. But there are a couple other 1660s gowns I'd like to make as well, so having stays that can move from gown to gown will be much easier.

And bouncing into another century... Because they just look like so much fun, I've got almost everything I need to whip up a Chemise a la Reine. Can I just say that finding a buttercup yellow silk taffeta is surprisingly hard? In the mean time I've got cotton the color I want that will work for now. I stopped in at Greenburg and Hammer yesterday and picked up another pound of 1/4" steel boning for the pale yellow silk stays I plan to make after this pair in the McCord Museum, which I plan to wear with the chemise dress. I've also got half the boning channels sewn in the green cotton sateen stays I'm working on, and will get around to the rest at some point soon.

Does anyone know if there are any costume/period events going on in the NJ/PA area anytime soon? I want to dress up for something, but there doesn't seem to be anything.

In other words, current and soon to be started projects, in no particular order. *Warning, this post is image heavy.*

While I don't claim to be a great knitter (I can't do *rather, haven't tried* more complicated stuff), one of my absolute favorite things are the beaded knit purses you occasionally see. I have a couple, bought at an antique fashion etc auction that I can't remember the dates for, done with gorgeous steel beads. Steel beads are no longer manufactured, or if they are, I haven't been able to find them, so I have to compromise and use glass beads. Fire Mountain Gems actually carries steel colored glass beads, which look damn near prefect, but I haven't gotten around to ordering more from them yet. Anyway, enough babble. ( This is one of three purses I'm working on at the moment. )

And on to the sewing.

I had some fun on Ebay the other day and ended up picking up three saris. One of them will probably wind up being made into an 1880s bustle dress. I have a book with a plate I like, I just can't find it at the moment. If (and this is a very big if) I can make it work, the other might wind up a late Regency style. It really just depends on if it's long enough on the crossgrain to use for the skirt.
( It will be one of these two, and I think I'm leaning more toward the green one for the Victorian dress. )

( The third sari I bought, which is an absolutely gorgeous blue brocade, will be put aside for some future use. )

On my 1872 Watteau outfit: I've done a bit more of the pattern, but I still haven't gotten around to the back and side back pieces. Perhaps Sunday or Monday, since I have the house to myself for a week, and the cats certainly won't care if I move the kitchen table. ( Anyway, I snapped a pic of the fabric I'm planning on using. )

Next up: 1874 evening gown (on the left): Nothing really to say, as I don't have the lace yet for the skirt, and haven't done more than cut out the bodice. Here's the beautiful light blue/white shot silk I'm using for it, though. I think I'm going to look for a satin ribbon to match it for the swags and bows. Don't know what I'm going to do about the fringe yet. I might just go with lace.

And into the the 18th century: I've loved the 1775-85 Caraco in Patterns of Fashion since the first time I saw it. ( And I've had this silk/cotton brocade sitting around waiting to be used for years, so it really seems like a match made in heaven. )

And I think that's enough babble from me today. And on a completely random note, I need more icons.

ETA: I've also got a Regency getup mostly done for one of my BJDs, so once I get around to sewing the closures and whatnot on, I'll put up pictures of that as well.

Redrafting the pattern for my 1872 Watteau polonaise has been put on hold due to a lack of space. If I were inclined to move my very large and heavy kitchen table, I'd have enough room there to draft up the long parts, but that requires moving a large and heavy table. I think I'll just wait until Wednesday evening, when my neighborhood civic society has the monthly meeting in the local church basement. Plenty of space there. I'm also 75% decided on fabric for that. Since only the polonaise is cut out of the print, and all of the ruffles and skirt are made from the solid, I should be fine with 7 yards. It'll just depend on how wide the side back and center back pieces end up.

Because I can't work on just one project at once, I've got the bodice for an 1874 evening gown cut out, and need to work on that some. Not much else to say at this point, other than I need to scan in the plate I'm using as inspiration for that.

Only two projects at once? Are you kidding? I can't leave well enough alone, and have started on an 18th century project as well. I've pulled out fabric and traced off the pattern, and at some point soon I'll start on a set of stays. This set caught my eye, mainly because of the decorative lacing up the front, and what appears to be wavy cording. I can't consider the lacing functional, anyway, because it doesn't lace all the way down, and it doesn't look like it meant to be opened there either. "Fitting and Proper" also features a set of stays that has that bit of lacing at the front, and the angled boning. The McCord Museum's stays simply seem a more elaborate version of those. Anyway, I plan to use some hunter green cotton satteen I dug out as the face fabric, and will have to keep an eye out for a nice ivory cotton or linen tape for the binding before class next week. If I take an earlier train I should have more than enough time to run over to M&J first.

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miss_philomena

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Miss Philomena

resolved to take fate by the throat and shake a living out of her

Entries tagged with century:18th

CADD. It happens.

CURSE YOU, EBAY

next on the cutting table

Printed Stripes?

I didn't fall of the face of the Earth, I swear

The Mom Chronicles, Part II

Pictures!

Costume Con Plans

I think I changed my mind

Looking Both Ways

And the Results!

The End of the Line

The Halfway Point

Day Three recap

Five days and counting

Masochism, thy name is Adrienne.

Before I forget...

Talkity Talk

Fabric and Plotting

Costuming ADD Strikes Again!