MLS Designs

It's today!!

Sat, 05 May 2012 10:30:35 GMT

I'm so excited! girliegirl32786 and her husband will be here this evening!!! I think I'm all ready for them - my costume is finished (except trim , I'll do that for next time) the sitting room is set for the party, the house is clean and tidy and we have food coming out of our ears! Now I just have to wait :)
Hopefully we'll get lots of super photos tomorrow at Kedleston, and at the card party afterwards. I'm just so excited, I get to play dress up with Aubry!

A capelet question

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:09:23 GMT

My stripy jacket is coming along nicely. By the time I get home from work tomorrow night (about 9pm I think) I should hopefully have sewn in the sleeves, covered the linen shoulder straps in the silk, and hemmed the 'skirt'. After all, there is one up side to the amount of time I have to spend in school doing nothing during a performance week - lot's of sewing time!
Knowing how much time 'll have to kill at school, I don't want to do any of the hand sewing at home, so this evening I started cutting out a capelet. I'm making it from a very pretty sage green silk taffeta I bought in Paris, lined with dark cream wool left over from my 1860s bathing suit. Unfortunately I only have enough wool for the body of the capelet, and I wanted to make a hood.
My question is, do you think I could have an unlined taffeta hood on a lined capelet? I'm planning to bind the edges in cream silk taffeta, like the little girl in 'The morning toilet' here: http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/jean-baptiste-simeon-chardin/the-morning-toilet But it's so hard to tell what's going on at the neck of her capelet!
If I DO make a hood, how would I finish it to match the rest of the capelet? with the same wide binding round the face? or if I don't make a hood, how would a small cape collar look? It would certainly work with the binding style at least.
Ugh! I don't know what to do now. Help!!

Stripedy goodness!

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:15:50 GMT

So, when I made the blue bonnet last month, I was looking at the rest of the fabric, wondering what it wanted to be, when I realised, it needs to be a pierrot jacket, with a fluffy white muslin petticoat and big hat. So, this is where I've got to:

The petticoat is an old one, I need to take it off the waist band, re-pleat it and shorten it quite a bit, I'm going for the lovely almost ankle length you see a lot with these jackets.

I will be wearing it next weekend when girliegirl32786 comes to stay. We're going to Kedleston for the day, and I imagine the weather will be just as bad as it is now! The perfect excuse to make something I've wanted for a long time, mitts!

They're made from the scraps of blue wool left over from the spencer I wore with the bonnet, the scraps were so small the mitts had to be pieced, but I forgot to get a photo. They're lined in white china silk, with white taffeta point linings. I stitched the short seams on the thumbs in the lining and wool, then turned in the seam allowances and put the lining inside the wool and did a running stitch around the openings. The main pieces were put together right sides facing, and I stitched around the thumb openings, clipped the seam allowance and turned them through. I pressed under the edges and did a running stitch at the wrist edge, and slip stitched the hand edge ( so the blue stitches didn't show on the white point). Then I attached the finished thumb to the finished thumb opening with herringbone stitch ( the same as the decorative lines on the back of the hand) I joined the mitts together with a herringbone stitch too, but pinned the seam to paper with a few mm gap to make a stretchy faggoted seam.

I don't why I keep saying 'them' I've only made one so far!!!! hopefully I can finish the other one tomorrow while I'm working at the shop.

American Museum, Bath

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:37:01 GMT

When we go to Bath for the Bath Minuet Company ball, we like to organise a day trip the next day, in kit, to a local National Trust place or something. This year we decided to go to the American Museum, which is housed in a beautiful Georgian mansion just outside Bath. The main reason for the visit though, being the quilt exhibition! There were dozens and dozens of gorgeous quilts, all in hanging glass cases that moved the like pages of a book :)
I was sensible and decided not to try to make anything new, we both have plenty of clothes in our Regency wardrobes! But I was feeling a bit burnt out 2 weeks before the ball, it seemed like the hand sewing of sack backs would never end, so I decided to treat myself to a bit of millinery therapy :) So, if you want to see pics of my new bonnet and the most fantastically amazing quilt I've ever seen,

Mummy with some of our group.

I thought I'd go all out with my blue and white colour scheme, and wear my lace stole. It's the longest one I've seen, and blew about in the wind so prettily :)

When we were half way round the museum we found the most beautiful stair well, it seemed to have been made especially for my outfit :D

My hat is made from the brim of an old straw hat (I reshaped the crown at Christmas time, and trimmed it with white 'swans down' for our Russian dance demo) with a buckram crown covered in ribbed silk.

The crown is based on the same pattern as my crazy green and yellow hat, but has a triangular tip :) I've always loved the hat Kate Beckinsale wore in 'Emma', http://janeausten.info/moviegowns/Emma3/EmmaKate/emmaredhattriangle.jpg and now I have my own version!

Now the quilt. This one was called a fan quilt, from the 1880s I think. It's made of scraps of silk ribbons, and some silk brocade fabrics. Each fan is different, and each fan is made up of different ribbons and fabrics.

I didn't get a full shot of it, this is about a third of the whole quilt.

The seams between the strips of ribbon are all decorated with a different embroidery stitch. the fans are all outlined with a different stitch too!

Whoever made this quilt had a wonderful imagination and a VAST amount of patience :)

I took several more photos, but they're all rather fuzy, while my macro button was very useful, not being allowed to use flash (understandably!) made it rather difficult.

Since reviewing the quilt photos I'm itching to do some embroidery or piece some patchwork blocks!

Titanic dinner party

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:12:30 GMT

Our dinner party on Saturday was such fun! Everyone made a real effort, we all looked super, and the food was awesome! There were 9 of us, so we each made one course, and they were all scrummy!

I didn't get many very good photos, and totally forgot to leave time when I was getting dressed to snap some shots of getting into my dress, with it's crazy complicated fastening! I was planning to take some when I got undressed instead, but my corset suddenly became terribly uncomfortable as we were clearing up. I have what's known as a pigeon chest - the ends of my ribs between my breasts stick forward, instead of being nicely in line with my breastbone. This means that if a corset busk hits at just the wrong point at the top, ie. is too low or too high, and comes low enough for my belly to push it forward at the bottom when I sit down, the top of the busk digs in and becomes unbearable. It was so bad when we were clearing up I had to strip off, and still could hardly move without it hurting. I'm hoping I might be able to re-cut the 2 centre front pannels to make the top edge higher, and use a long busk.

Anyway, I do have lots photos to show you, and

Mummy looked so nice in her black and white dress, and she was very comfy! Maybe I should have been lazy and not made any undies for me either ;)

I so pleased with her sleeves / drapery. Every time she moved they swung out so prettily with the tassels on the ends :)

We had a go at some of the dances of the time, lots of One Stepping, the Grizzly Bear variation was definitely a favourite ;)

And I think we might be Tangoing in this one!

Yesterday I dressed Meg up t show you the most complicated fastenings I've ever done :)
I cheated, and made a high corset instead of a separate bra. I think it's probably a good thing I did, because I think an under bust might have been even worse with my chest.

The under dress (unfortunately made of dead dino, but it was in the stash and the perfect colour!)has a fitted lining, and the sleeves, made from the poly chiffon sari, have elastic in the neck edge to stop them slipping, which worked perfectly!

The green silk chiffon bodice drapery and overskirt are sewn to strips of cotton tape. The waist band is first taken round to the left side front to be hooked closed.

Then the top of the bodice drapery is poppered over the raw edge of the sleeve, around under the arm to the left side front.

The drapery is hooked closed and the last popper is fastened.

The overlap is trimmed with a cotton lace thingumy-bob from my Granny.

The pleated peach china silk belt is taken round to the back, under the lace trim, and poppered shut under the 'bow' of the brown silk satin sash.

Finally, the sash is poppered on top of the belt overlap.

All dressed!

The skirt is a wrap front, tulip shape, a bit hard to see in the photos because of the over skirt.

I decided I wanted a train, so just cut it extra long. This didn't quite work, because there wasn't enough fullness in the hem for it to lie nicely. As I was unpicking the centre back seam, with the idea of adding in a godet to let it lie flat, I realised it looked quite pretty with a forked tail, so left it :)
The fork also made it very easy for me to lift up my train for dancing. I stitched a ribbon to the waist band at the side seam, with a hook on the other end, that is just short of the length of the overskirt. The hook attaches to a thread bar at the fork in the skirt to loop it up to the perfect length without showing too much ankle!

I've spent the last couple of days pottering about with a bit of modern sewing - I've made a pink apron and have half made a dress. Once the dress is finished I will be starting on my outfit for our Georgian trip to Keddleston while Aubry girliegirl32786 is here. I'm so beyond excited that one of my costuming friends is going to be here with me! So excited in fact, that I am completely failing at finalising a design! I know I want a jacket, but keep wiffling back and forth between ideas! I can't even decide on a fabric!!!!

So much to do!

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 23:43:42 GMT

So little time! I'm frantically plodding away on my Titanic dress for our party this Saturday, it's going nicely now, after a long struggle with the undies. I have no idea why, but the corset took forever to finish, and instead of staring from scratch and making a new chemise and petticoat I decided to re-make the combinations and bodiced petticoat I made for Edwardian last year. I'm sure stating from scratch would have been easier, not to mention quicker! but I never wear the petticoat, preferring a waist petticoat for Edwardian, and the combinations ended up about 4" too short in the waist, so desperately needed re-doing!
Anyway, all this crazy sewing means that I'm behind on photo posting again :( I have lots to share, but here are the ones from the Bath Minuet Ball, Mummy in my re-fitted old sunflower sack back, and me in my new spotted silk,

For the last year or so I've been meaning to get around to starting painting again, I used to love painting water colour miniatures when I was at school and University. So a few weeks ago I did a couple, of Clare and Mummy in their britches :) I don't think they're too bad, I couldn't find my smallest brush though, and I think I'm going to get some even smaller ones for next time. I need to get better photos as well!

I still have photos from the 18th Century ball my dance group put on in February, our trip in Regency kit to the American museum in Bath the day after the ball, and a couple from a dress up dance party on Sunday, when I wore my new bustle ball gown to get some better photos! but before that, more Titanic sewing! I can't tell you how inspiring my FList has been in the last couple of days :D

Finally playing in the Teens!

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 22:44:58 GMT

My sack back only needs trimming and a stomacher now, so I've started working on Titanic sewing! I'm going to finish all the endless hemming and adding lace to strips of trim during breaks at work and while watching TV, and I don't have the energy to face making my undies, so I'm putting off the evil hour by making Mummy's dress. Also, this way I get to have a practice run! I can make all the first time mistakes on mummy's dress ;)
So far, I've pulled out all the fabrics - black net with white embroidery - flowers all over and a deep border; black striped sheer; black crepe and black velvet. I might put some more white in there some where, if I find something I like, maybe some kind of pearl trim?
We did the first fitting of the bodice tonight. It's based on her 1860s bodice block, and I think I'm going to have to bone the seams and darts, she's not wearing it with a corset, and because of her tummy it doesn't lie right. Hopefully it'll work though, and at least she'll be comfy during dinner without the full compliment of underwear!
Oh, I think I forgot to say what the Teens sewing is for! Our dance group have decided to hold a 'Welcome Home Maggie Brown' dinner party during the Easter holidays, I couldn't bear to be left out of the Titanic sewing party this year! I'm going to be taking mine to CosCol too, so hopefully it works out the way I imagine it in my head :)

Sack back plodding

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:46:46 GMT

Just popping in to say, I'm a bad and useless LJ-er and have no progress photos to share :( I have made progress though! My petticoat is done, I just need to finish the front waist band; and the dress is structurally done, just needs trim, which I am plugging away at while at work!
I'm doing quite a bit of work this week at Gemma's new village shop that she opened at the weekend. It's a lovely quaint little place, with local vegetables, home made food from the pub kitchen, home baked cakes (from me!) basic groceries, and sweeties for the children. Quite a few ladies are already popping in to buy home made soup for their lunch :) I did a full day yesterday, and am doing mornings today and tomorrow, (as well as school the rest of the day and evening of Thursday) luckily, I can sew while not serving, so I got loads done yesterday, and should today as well!
I just can't wait to finish my Bath ball dress so I can get on to Titanic sewing! Seeing all the gorgeous creations popping up on my Flist is torture!

Elizabethan success!

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 11:36:22 GMT

Our first Elizabethan demo was on Saturday, and it was fantastic! We all looked great, the dances went off without a hitch and the museum was filled with punters! We had so many children joining in, and loving every minute of it :)
I've got some great videos of us dancing that I need to edit and get up on youtube, and I took so many photos!

The rest can be found
I never thought I'd get everything finished, and I still need to add another row of braid to the skirt, down the centre front and round the hem, to echo the double rows on the bodice.

I think the part I'm the most pleased with is my sleeves! I was hoping to be able to pink them, and bought some wood chisels to try, but it didn't work, so I changed my plan, and did slashes instead. Luckily I was able to stack the 2 sleeves and cut them in one go, so it didn't take quite as long! Cutting the slashes on the bias really helped with the fraying, and I love the way the alternate rows of slashes spread open more to reveal the gold lining. Each sleeve also has 9 metres of hand sewn soutache braid, a labour of love indeed :)

At some point I want to try and paint a miniature, and I think this shot might do:

Mummy loved being a swaggering Elizabethan Gentleman rather too much I think!

I'm very pleased with her hat, I managed to whip it up in about an hour on Friday afternoon, while I was having a break from hemming my skirt! Currently the brim and crown are only pinned together, and the trim is part of a jewelled belt! But it worked :)

Some more of the 2 of us together:

The shoes I made didn't quite work out, they look good, but I made them from leather that's much too thin. I took them to a cobbler and although he said he'd be able to sole them, he changed his mind, so I wore some jazz shoes for the demo. I had to take them though, to pose for a photo or two!

Finally, a couple of out-takes! I'm sure you know by now that one of the things our group does best is eat! Just incase, a little reminder ;)

Lastly, a shot of us getting Mummy back on her feet after posing kissing my hand!

Her cannions are too tight for her to be able to bend her knees, and each time she sat down there was a pop and another eyelet ripped or another point popped off at the back, in the end her hose were only attached to her doublet at the centre front! I think I'm going to cut off the cannions so she just has the trunk-hose, and put historically incorrect belt loops on the waist band, then hopefully she'll be sorted (part of the problem is she can't go to the toilet the way a man does, and has to undress almost completely! a problem we always have, but at least this time I think we have a solution)

Now that the demo is over, I can finally get on to sewing my dress for the Bath Minuet Co Ball at the end of March! I need to get a wriggle on with it though, because I also need to make Titanic evening dresses for both of us for the middle of April ( and I need a full compliment of undies for it too! EEK!!!)

My new hoops, they are pink!

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:16:39 GMT

But not quite as pink as I'd hoped.

It's poly organza ribbon, so doesn't photograph well at the best of times, I tried photos with and without flash, and the pink is very washed out in both. Also, the hoops are wider in person, I think it's something to do with the angle?

While I'm at it, here are the fabrics and trims for my new sack. I won't be starting it till after my Elizabethan is done, but I just had to get everything out and have a play!
With flash:

Without flash:

I don't have a final trim plan yet, but I do know it will involve strips edged with the lace, laid on in puffs, like the ones on mummy's, but larger and stuffed. I'm not quite sure how I'll use the gold braid yet, and I may scrap it entirely, but we'll see :)

Also, I've realised I've not given any hints about my Elizabethan yet!

The dark brown at the top is my loose gown, the red is silk taffeta for sleeves, (I have stupid plans to do with the brown Russia braid and a chisel, we'll see if they pan out!) and I have a sari (poly I think, but looks like silk) in the exact shade of red that will be a forepart/underskirt. The goldish colour is actually a camel/caramel coloured wool melton that will be a doublet and over-skirt, trimmed with the wide gold braid (I'm not using the narrow gold/brown braid any more). I also need to make a shirt, ruffs, and a farthingale; and then shoes for both of us. Oh, and a hat for Mummy.

By the end of February.

I agree, I am insane.

The end is in sight!

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:56:03 GMT

I keep meaning to post about my progress, but I also keep forgetting to take the necessary photos at fittings, so have nothing to show you! I've decided not to let that stop me any more, so you get a photo-less post this time :)
The yellow sack I've been altering for mummy is now done! All I have left to do for her for the Bath ball at the end of March is stitch the trim onto her stomacher (it's pinned ATM) and make some sleeve flounces, both of which I will do when we go to Scotland for a week's holiday in Feb.
More importantly, her Elizabethan is finally almost done! The trunk hose just need points; the sleeves need hemming and buttons for attaching to the doublet; and the doublet shoulder wings are ready to stitch up, trim and attach, then the armholes need finishing, button loops for the sleeves and buttons at the centre front and it's done. I'm going to do the shoulder wings and finish the armholes tomorrow, then the rest (all hand sewing) I will leave till we go away.
All this means I've been much quicker than I expected, so I'll hopefully have time for my Elizabethan stuff too! However, tomorrow, after I've done Mummy's bits, I need to replace the back of my crossbared silk petticoat (that I stole for my pink plaid bustle dress last Summer) because I think I'm going to wear it to our dance group's Georgian ball on Feb 11th.
I also think I might make my new hoops now. I need to make another set anyway, because we can't both wear the same ones in Bath, and Mummy has to wear the blue ones under the yellow because bigger ones won't fit. I rather like the idea of bigger hoops, and the way the crossbared is made, I think they'll fit fine. Then I'll have lovely big hoops for the new sack that I'm making for me for Bath :) These ones will be ruffly too, and made of pale pink organza ribbon that I just happen to have a roll of in the stash :)

A finished object!

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:33:47 GMT

I had a dodgy start to the week, caused by grumpiness brought on by making new costumes for Mummy and not me, mixed with the monthlies, not a pleasant combination! I'm over it now though, mostly because I've rummaged through the stash and think I have a plan to make myself a new Elizabethan after all!

Anyway, the finished object in question is It's completely trimmed and everything! The petticoat needs the trim stitching down, and I need to make a bigger stomacher, but the gown itself is done! I have a photo from fitting the sleeves last night to show you:

The skirt trim is made from the old trim on the robings, and part of the top line of trim from the petticoat. The trim before was ruched, now it's puffed, and it uses sooo much less fabric!

The shoulders don't quite fit right, but that's nothing compared with the work and cost of starting from scratch! And I'm really proud of my recycling efforts!

As for Mummy's Elizabethan, her trunkhose are done, except for points (I'm not working eyelets in the waistband, instead I think I'm going to stitch the points to the waistband, lazy and dreadful of me I know, but, eh, I'm a naughty girl!) this photo is from the first doublet fitting. It went pretty well, until we realised her hose needed pulling up, they'd slipped down and she couldn't walk properly anymore! With the waist band too low, her tummy made a fantastic peascod shape, but once it was in the right place, it was a much less pronounced shape. It still looks good though:

She can just be an old fashioned gentleman :D I did another fitting of the calico (muslin) interlining to double check the fit (I'm trimming it before I make it up, and wanted to make sure where my edges are) and because the calico is so much firmer than an old bed sheet, I was able to pin her hose to the doublet, and it worked brilliantly! They stayed in place while she walked, danced, sat down and stood up!

I must make myself an Elizabethan shirt, (I wore mummy's before) but I'm planning to machine it, which hopefully shouldn't take too long, and then, once mummy's kit is done, I'm going to see if I can't make a new dress for me :)

First sewing of the new year!

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 23:57:25 GMT

I've actually been busy sewing, and not only have I made progress, I've even managed to get picture proof - and I'm posting them!!!!
Our first event this year is a Georgian ball our dance group is holding the weekend of Valentine's day. Mummy has said, that, while she loves wearing boys clothes, (and most of the time prefers them because they're so much more comfy) she does miss being a girl at balls, because she doesn't get to dance with the other boys ;) So I decided to re-fit my old sunflower sack for her. She helped me unpick all the trimming the other day, and the day before yesterday we did a fitting:

I unpicked the back pleats and undid the centre back seam in the lining, adding in a 3" piece at the top, above the eyelets, to let out the back shoulders. I've since re-pleated the back (only lightly pressing out my old pleats, I rather like the idea of the re-model being visible!) it's just waiting for me to sew them down.

She's wearing my hoops and under-petticoat, so I need to make new ones for her, but it's nice to know the petticoat or gown skirts won't need altering. The sleeves are much too tight for her though, and I had to make the arm holes larger. So I cut a sleeve mockup the same size as the old sleeves, with lots of extra seam allowance, and fitted them to her, noting the new seam line. I will unpick the old sleeves and piece in the missing width.

I've not quite decided how I want to trim it yet. I know I need to utilise the old trimming (but not the sunflower braid, that's gone back into the stash) but don't want to do the same style, so I'll have to do some playing to see what I can come up with. What I do know though, is she will be wearing black lace with it! I was thinking of putting black lace on the dress, instead of white, but I haven't found any examples of that, so the sleeve ruffles will be white, and she will have black lace in her hair, and a black lace fichu round her shoulders and woven through her stomacher (like the examples in the Kyoto book)

I'm probably going to wear my cross bared sack because I don't think I'll have time to finish my new sack in time, on top of all the other sewing I have to get done, namely, Elizabethan kit for a demo at the end of February.

I'm probably going to just wear what I made last year for Tolethorp, with a new shirt (I was wearing mummy's) although I do plan to actually get around to making some sleeves for my kirtle! Mummy, however, has nothing. Or rather, she had nothing until this evening ;)

We bought black wool melton and pink and silver silk brocade at the re-enactor's market in the autumn, for a black doublet with brocade sleeves, and some kind of breeches. They mellowed in the stash and I've since decided on paned wool trunkhose lined with plain pink silk taffeta from the stash (which just happens to be the most perfect match!) with wool cannions, and I'm planning to trim the doublet with silver braid and pink thread covered buttons. I think she's going to look pretty splendid!

As of this afternoon I had this:

Now all they need is a waist band, cuffs, and a finished front fly. Who knows, I might even get onto mocking up the doublet tomorrow :)

Last few pictures....

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:28:30 GMT

I promise!!!!!!

This year's demo had a 19thC Russian theme, I didn't really fancy going all out with Russian traditional dress, so went for a 'Winter Palace' theme instead :)

Now, step under the cut

If you thought fuzzy dimly lit photos of a ball gown were bad, they're surely not as bad as supermarket shots complete with trolley ;)

The bodice is cotton velvet, trimmed with silver buttons. The swans-down is only temporary, pinned around the hem and tacked around the collar.

The skirt is blue and yellow plaid silk, the ground is like a normal taffeta, but the gold bars are much thinker threads, giving the effect of a very strange, uniform, dupion.

I was in such a rush, the skirt has no fastenings, only a safety pin on the waistband. Looking at this shot, it's clear I actually need to put some fastenings on the placket - you can see my petticoat!

I'm very pleased with Mummy's outfit. The tunic is made from wool melton, so no hems were needed! and the trousers are actually my original 1860s bathing dress bloomers tucked into tall boots!

An action shot, with a couple of the other Cossacks in the back ground. I had so many layers on under my bodice - 2 thermal vests and a woolly cardigan as well as my corset, that I look rather well padded. It does fit much better under normal circumstances, I promise!

I think I'm all caught up with the back log now, at long last. Just in time to start thinking about 2012's costumes...

Some more late photos!

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 19:00:27 GMT

This time, of my new bustle ball gown. These photos are so bad I wasn't going to bother posting them, and meant to get dressed again to take new photos, but that hasn't happened, and it's New Year's Eve, if I don't post these now I'll probably never get around to it!

So, at long last,

I used the underskirt from a dress I made at University for my Final Major piece. Clare wore the dress when we first started dressing up, but it was too long and heavy for her, so I altered the skirt, taking off one of the frills and shortening it. Now though, the polonaise is a bit too small for her, so she doesn't wear it any more, so I took off the remaining frill and re-did the waistband to fit me.

The skirt is too short for me as is though, so I added a pleated frill of biscuit taffeta (polly, unfortunately, but I only had a week to get it done and had to use the stash as far as possible) trimmed with a beaded fringe, all the way around the hem, lengthening it by 3-5 inches.

The front is a piece of antique lace trimmed with straw work leaves and dangling bobbles. It was the perfect length and width to use at the front of a skirt, so I gently tacked it in place, tucking the excess away at the top, instead of cutting up such a lovely piece of lace.

You can almost see the beaded fringe at the top of the pleats here! The sides of the skirt have swags of yellow cotton velvet, also trimmed with the beaded fringe, and they're held back by a band of the biscuit coloured taffeta, also trimmed with the fringe.

The back is a long width of mystery fabric, (I think it's cotton warp threads with metallic gold weft) pleated into the very centre of the back, and looped up by the band that connects the velvet swags. You can almost see it here, and I'm right in the back ground of the next shot!

The bodice is made from the yellow cotton velvet with a plastron of scraps of the ribbed silk that I kept after making the original dress 7 years ago! I knew there was a reason I'd kept them for so long (plus, it was £39 a metre, there was no way I was throwing away the scraps left from cutting those long skirt gores!) It's trimmed with a rouche of the mystery fabric around the neck, with a pleated strip of the biscuit coloured satin below, trimmed with the same beaded fringe. The back peplum part of the bodice is also trimmed with the fringe, but of course, I don't have a shot of that, not even a fuzzy cropped version!

Oh dear, those photos are so awful :( And the ones of the blue plaid bustle outfit from the demo are almost as bad, I'm posting them next, hopefully before the end of the year, I've a few hours left anyway :)

Some rediculously late photos!

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:50:19 GMT

It seems like all I ever do is apologise for never posting! This time it's because we went to Paris for a week just before Christmas, coming home the day before Christmas Eve just in time for me to get really really sick! I've either got a cold or flu, and it's only been in the last day or so that I've actually felt relatively human again!
Any way, in an effort to put off starting on the new year's very VERY long to-do-list I bring you photos I should have posted months ago, this time from the ball Mummy and I went to in Hampshire. In sorting out photos to post I've realised why I'm such a slacker when it comes to posting event photos - it's because I never seem to manage to get decent enough photos to share! I think that will be my New Year's Resolution, to try to take decent photos and actually POST THEM!!

So,

Mummy and I both had new ball gowns for this ball, both made from saris :) I don't think I'll ever make a Regency ball gown from anything else, there are so many gorgeous saris out there, and they work so SO well!

Mummy's frock has silver and brown sequins all over it, and she sparkled unbelievably in the ballroom! Yet it was so cheap! because there was a fault in the embroidery of the blouse piece (which I wasn't going to use anyway) they reduced it from £30 to £20!

The blouse piece on mine however was perfect, I was able to use the embroidery fro the back of the blouse to make the front of my bodice, and the sleeves worked perfectly for the long straight sleeves, and of course, I had to use such a beautiful pelu for a train!
Also, in the back ground you might notice something that gives you a hint what my favourite Christmas present is ;) Needless to say I'm totally useless at it, but I'm getting better, and I'm beginning to learn to read music at long last.

The ball is held in an old school, and we all stay over night, so the next day Mummy and I got to try out our new morning half robes :)

You might recognise mummy's fabric - it's the left over parts of the duvet set I used for one of my UTR frocks!

Mine is the left overs from one of Clare's bustle dresses, trimmed with scraps of prussian blue silk from my first Regency frock.

The day after a ball the organisers arrange a trip to a National Trust place, and this year it was very near to where our cousins live, and since they like to dress up too (having been to one of our balls, joined us for a day in Wales for the Victorian festival, and joined us when we went to Portsmouth a couple of Christmases ago) I leant them some clothes and they came too!

Mummy was very pleased with her new pelise. I made it a bit like the riding habit in PofF, a seperate skirt and jacket, but the skirt is mounted on a full bodice, made of wool lined with silk like the rest of the pelise, but with a wool wadding interlining. The jacket part isn't interlined, so if it's cold she wears the pelise, if it's warm she wears the jacket as a spencer. I wish I had better photos, you probably can't see, but it has lovely gold buttons and a waistband and high turn down collar. She was especially please that it went so well with my muff and tippet ;)

My new pelise is dark purple wool lined with black silk taffeta, except the sleeves which are lined in black and white gingham-check silk taffeta because I ran out of black ;) The collar is a black mink collar from a vintage fur coat, I used the rest of the coat to make my muff, lined with red, green gold and black plaid silk taffeta left over from mummy's 1860s ball gown.

My hat, in the military style, is purple cotton velvet with black silk taffeta brim and trimmings, black cords and tassels and black cocque feathers.

I still have photos of my new bustle dress from the Cotillion ball, and our outfits from the Russian Dance Demo, but once I've posted them, I think I'm up to date! There's only one costume I've made this year that I don't have any photos of, Mummy's 18thC kit, I made her a shift and stays and a bedgown, she wore them with some of my petticoats the day after our dance group's Regency ball (no photos, because we both wore the dresses from Hampshire) when we had a house full of guests so had an afternoon card party, and she looked lovely, but I don't have any photos :(

An exhasuting few weeks!

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:06:12 GMT

Well, the last few weeks have been completely insane! Getting ready for a play is always a busy time at work, but this time we have 2 sets of yr10 instead of one, so 2 plays! And this year group is a truly dreadful group, so some of them were impossible to work with. But, it's all over now, the last performance was last night, so I struck the set today, and now everything is put away I can breathe again!
To make things even harder, right in the middle of the work stress we had our winter dance demo. The performances were on Saturday, Monday and yesterday, and the demo was on Sunday! I didn't have time to do everything I wanted to for my outfit, but Mummy's turned out exactly as I hoped it would, and I managed to fit enough thermal vests and a wooly cardigan under my bodice, so I wasn't too cold without my planned coat!
My next costuming deadline isn't till Febraury, so I'm planning to enjoy having a rest and making Christmas presents for a while!

Photos from Bath

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 22:10:03 GMT

I've not got as much done on my demo outfit as I'd like, I'm stupidly busy at work at the moment, and I've been so exhausted all week. Then yesterday we were helping Gemma at a village event she organises, and today we went to a re-enacting market and then dancing, so I'm even more tired and have had hardly any time to sew!
Anyway, in lieu of progress pictures, I bring you Bath pictures instead, not me nekid having a wash, but

Our costumes for the grand parade, I don't have any really good ones from the parade, it was so busy and rather wet!

We're standing in front of one of the windows in the Pump Room, just the most perfect back drop!

I wore my white figured muslin gown I made for my Birthday party, with a new pink silk spencer and bonnet.

I've wanted a pink silk spencer since I was 12 when I saw Pride and Prejudice for the first time and fell in love with the Regency period :)

Mummy had a new frock, black and ivory sprigged cotton, with her old cream spencer.

She really needs a new cap I think, I'm getting tired of seeing the same lace peeping out from her hats :)

I love the Pump Room, if you get tired walking around, (or too wet, after all, it always rains in Bath!!) all you have to do is go in through the group entrance to the Roman Baths, turn right as if you're heading for the toilets, and go straight through to the back, where you find benches in a lovely lobby looking out over the baths, by the door into the pump rooms, just perfect to rest feet weary from carrying too many shopping bags (filled with our supper!)

Mummy's new frock is a drop front so she can dress herself much more easily, and it has a higher neck than her other frocks, to keep her a little warmer.

And my frock without the spencer :)

That evening we went out to a cocktail bar with the friends we were staying with.

They were very delicious!

Perhaps a little too delicious :)

The next day it was raining in Bath, so we went to Lacock Abbey instead of our planned picnic in front of the Royal Crescent!

We were very glad we did, it's a beautiful old building, filled with prettiness :)
I wore one of Mummy's hats, but I don't think it suited me, it's too small. I added my false ringlets to try to balance it out a bit, the way Mummy's cap and ringlets do, but I still think it didn't work so well.

Mummy borrowed one of my bonnets, which was a much more successful exercise!

I just have to include this picture, I fell in love with a cabinet full of doll's china - not just tea sets, but the most enchanting dinner service, compete with gravy boats on stands!

Look, we didn't need the umbrella!!

Our friend Virginia doesn't have much in the way of Regency kit, she's a costumer, so has no time to make anything for herself because of all her commissions! luckily she's a similar size to Mummy, so she was able to wear some of her things during the weekend.

The next day, Mummy and I finally had the chance to join one of the Lord Mayor's free walking tours of Bath, we had a wonderful tour guide and it was a fascinating experience, highly recommended! Unfortunately, I only have one photo from that day, and it's not exactly the best :D

I have made the skirt for my demo outfit, and I did manage to cut out a toile for my bodice last night in between getting home from Gemma's and going to bed, so once I've fit that tomorrow morning, hopefully I should get quite a bit done - I get the day off, hooray!

starting the next project

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 18:21:54 GMT

After taking the last 2 weeks off, staying out of my sewing room completely! I'm about to start on my next project, a dress for our winter dance demos.
This year we're doing 19thC Russian dances, so I'm making Mummy a Cossack outfit! With a warm woolen tunic, trimmed with braid and an asymetric fastening. I'm going to use the bloomers from my first, 1860s, bathing dress, for her trousers. They're incredibly voluminous, ankle length red wool, and when tucked into my new knee high boots very much look the part! The best bit is she can wear as many pairs of long-johns underneath as she likes ;)
Today I'm going to start on my outfit. I've got rather bored of the 1860s, and am having a bit of a love affair with bustle :) So bustle it is! I'm trying to limit myself to stash fabric this year, or at least, use as much as possible, to save for CosCol, so I hunted through to see what I've got. I found some blue and gold plaid, left over from the Regency things I made for the ball we went to in Scotland last year, and some powder blue cotton velvet I bought last year to make an Elizabethan jacket. Trimmed with some white 'swansdown' I think it should look very wintery, and will hopefully be nice and warm! I only have a vague plan for the bodice, so will be starting with the skirt.
I will be posting more photos soon, I promise ;)

Victorian festival photos

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 20:42:07 GMT

Finally, 2 months later, I have photos from Llandod to share! I can't believe it's been this long! But then again, the fact that it's been a month since my last LJ post just shows how crazy busy I've been.
Anyway, without further ado,

we left home on the Thursday, getting to Clare's new flat in Aberystwyth in time for supper, ready to dress in our bathing dresses to join our dancing friends for a picnic on the beach next day, the only advantage to Clare living in another country :)

Racing to the freezing depths! (it wasn't too bad actually, the wool definitely helps!)

Such a wet bottom!

Unfortunately, about half way through our picnic the glowering clouds began to be rather more than just threatening! But, Brits to the end, we powered through until we'd finished our pudding, when we raced for the cars to get warm and dry again!

Next day, we promenaded the streets, enjoying some sunshine for once!

Back home for a quick nap before changing again for the ball.

Mummy's newly trimmed ball gown bodice worked out very well, I'm so pleased :)

Clare's hair is only just past her shoulders, and very fine, this is all fake! I'm so pleased with how well it worked, I made the short curly hair piece for me, but it's a little too pale, and not the right texture, both of which make it just perfect for Clare!

Next day was the Suffragette march, I don't any photos of us marching, but do have some pics of the new skirt.

It's made from a wool silk mix, and has such a fantastic drape. there are 2 seams, centre front and back, and the waist fits smoothly all round, with a box pleat centre back.

The final event of the weekend was a murder mystery we organised ourselves and I got to have my first go at '20s costume, and I loved it!

I loved it so much, I don't have any decent dress pictures!

I now have the big pink book of awesome, so hopefully many, many more 1920s dresses will be in my future :)

I'm going to post the photos from Bath, Hampshire and the Cotillion in separate posts, sorry for the ridiculous number you had to trawl through this time :D

Panic stations!!

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:09:53 GMT

In other news, I'm so sorry for the total radio silence over here, after madly sewing to get everything finished for the Jane Austen festival in Bath, (which was totally awesome!) I'm now madly sewing to get everything finished for the Regency ball in Hampshire on the 22nd, and the trip the next day to HInton Ampner!
Even than I won't get to stop yet, because a week later is our own Victorian ball, a German or Cotillion, for which not only am I making myself a bustle ball gown, but I'm also the leader of the German, so I have to prepare all the dances, and organise or make all the favours and forfeits!

GAH!!!! Why do I do this??!!??

Oh yes, I know, because I love it really ;)

So, by the end of the month, you might actually get the promised photos from the Victorian festival .... and from Bath ....... and from Hampshire ............... oh yes, and from the Cotillion!

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:00:20 GMT

Just popping in to say Happy Birthday!!! to jennylafleur :) I hope you have a wonderful day my dear!

Poorly girl :(

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 17:01:10 GMT

I've been sick ever since we got back from the Victorian festival. This in itself would explain my total lack of posts with pretty pictures, but when you add in Clare's Birthday party and it's preparations, I hope you might forgive me!
The party was great though, and Clare is totally worth it! I feel mostly myself now, (except for the sniffle I'm probably going to be stuck with for the next month or so!) so it's time to get organised for the JA festival. We go to Kent on Saturday, then straight on to Bath the next Saturday (missing the promenade unfortunately) so I have a week of hand sewing to get everything done :)
Mummy has a new day dress that just needs all the hand work doing, I have a new chemisette and spencer ditto, and I'm planning a new cap and maybe chemisette for Mummy as well. Apart from trimming one bonnet, that's probably going to be it for this trip, we're only there for a few days, and do both have quite extensive wardrobes as it is!!
In October some time, we have 2 balls that need sewing for! Our group is having a Cottilion or German ball, (basically Victorian party games to music with forfeits and favours and lots of silliness!) for which I want a new bustle ball gown. Then there is the Hampshire Regency ball, for which Mummy at least will have a new ball gown, and we both need breakfasting attire and new pelises for the next day's group breakfast and trip to a National Trust place.
In November our group is having a Regency ball, for which I shall have a new dress! Then Victorian Russian dress for both of us for the winter demos, and the next deadline isn't till February I think, the Bath Minuet Co Ball, for which I will have a new Francaise, and I may see if I can make one of my old ones fit Mummy, with new trimmings of course :)
Oh dear, writing it all down has made me very very tired!!! I haven't even started sewing any of it yet ....

Busy busy!

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 21:02:52 GMT

The party was absolutely lovely! Although I slept in the car both going and coming home, I still managed to sew the trimming on Mummy's ball gown this morning, while sat round the remains of a huge fire pit on which our breakfast had been cooked ;)
Since coming home, I've had a nap, tidied up the kitchen a little bit, made a little birthday present for Clare and pressed up the hem on my new Edwardian skirt ( which has succumbed to a complete change of plans!) So I leave you with a sneaky peak ;)

A teeny detour!

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 22:12:01 GMT

While discussing what I need to pack for the 3 days we'll be spending at the Victorian festival I remembered I'd made Mummy a new ballgown last winter! I'd trimmed the bodice with a black fur collar to fit the theme of the ball - the Russian Winter Palace, but I'd always planned to re-trim it with black lace.
Antique lace, frayed ruched taffeta, and velvet ribbon for a bertha, with rayon moire bows, but you only get a sneak peak for now ;)

So, now I'm all set for lots and lots of hand sewing in the car over the weekend, I get tomorrow to work on my skirt for the Suffragette march, which may not end up being what I'd planned after all, having had a good rummage through my stash...