I'm not dead...

...life just kinda of got in the way of costuming and hence costume blogging.

But now I'm back on the horse, since a couple of months. I've made myself a bumpad and a decency petticoat but I haven't photographed them yet.

Something I have photographed is my stay making process. Me and Isis finally managed to get togheter a couple of weeks ago and I got my mock up stays fitted. I then adjusted the pattern (I had to make it a lot smaller, some one has lost some body wisdom since the pattern was made). I also made the neckline and the arm hole lower.

Then I cut out the whole shebang in two layers of heavy duty linen twill (= an old bed sheet scored very cheap on a swedish auction site) and outer layer in silver silk dupion. I have decided to make the back pieces half boned, the side front fully boned and the front will be boned with a sun ray pattern (but since my stays are in silver maybe I should write moon rays instead.) The idea for the boning on the front comes from these extant stays found in Norway:

Images from Norsk Folkemuseum's colletion.http://digitaltmuseum.no/things/thing/NF/NF.1914-0210

I have just started with sewing the boning channels. I'm doing it with my trustworthy Husqvarna Zig Zag from the 1950's and I'm using button hole silk twist for top thread and ordinary sewing silk for the bottom thread.
It looks really nice but oh, boy this baby eats thread! This is what I managed to sew with two 10 m rolls worth of thread:

I did do some errors and I'm using the threads I rescued from those to sew the eyelets, last night I managed to get 3 of them done:

The first eyelet was damn near perfect but the last two is not as round as I would like them to be. Oh, well I'm the only one that are going to see them anyway...

One thing learned so far in the process:
It is a great idea to have seam allowances bigger then 1 cm. This will work but bigger seam allowance would have made things a hell lot easier...

/L

New pair of stays in the making...

Since I'm not completely happy about the fit of my old pair of stays, I've started on a new pair.

My first plan was to make them fully hand sewn and use taffeta for the outer layer and stiff linen twill for inner layer with a soft linen fabric for lining. But then I decided that I don't want to make a hand sewn pair until I find a pattern that I know works for me.

So the new plan is to make a fully boned pair that have the boning channels machined but all the assembly, lacing holes and bounding of the edges made by hand.

Here are the outer fabric, the bounding tape and the string I'll use for lacing:

The fabric is a lovely silk dupion from my stash. It's got a subtle sheen that's almost metallic which I think comes from the fact that the warp in it is black and the weft is a very light grey. The bounding ribbon is a synthetic duchess satin tape, I totally fell in love with the color that matches the string I plan to use perfectly. The later is a gift from Isiswardrobe, I think it's made of viscose.

The two inner layers that holds the boning will be made of  a stiff linen twill I got in my stash. It's an old bed sheet that I scored on Tradera (the swedish ebay) and it's big enough for several garments.

I'll use some leftovers from my chemise for the lining and the hole thing will be boned with synthetic whalebone except for the center front, center back and the horisontal bones, there I'll use flat steel.

Here are my mock up sans the boning:

I got the pattern from Isiswardrobe, we have similar body type but she is bustier than me and have higher waist that me so I had to do a few alterations to the pattern. It was still better than my old pattern because that has a totally too low waist.. The stays will lace up fully in the back and partly in the front. I choose to make them this way so I can get in and out of them myself. If I remember it correctly this pattern is from around the 1780's but I don't remember Isis' source right now.


I hope to get some fitting help after my fashion show is over in the middle of september. I'm itichng to have my stays done, I have some many garments to go over it I want ot make...

/L

Captured in the Linnegardens

Isis over at isiswardrobe snapped some pictures of me at the Linné garden event:


Admiring the hollyhocks


"What a naughty hollyhock bud"


"Close up of the hollyhock bud" (taken by me)


"Wow,that's a huge shrubbery of flowers"


"Admiring a pretty flower"


"The whole she bang in front view"


Me and Johannaelisabet in front of one of the tree's at the entrance of the garden
(and me doing the "framing my uterus" gesture. I have no idea why I always do that pose with my hands :P)

You can see some of the linen cap I wrote about yesterday. I'm wearing the only 18th century outfit that I own, my pet en l'air that still are a work in progress ;)

For this event I managed to get all three sleeve cuffs on. Now I need to finish my new stays, then I can make the stomacher to close with hooks and yes (with buttons for show) and properly attach the pet en l'air to the sides of the stomacher instead of pinning it on. I've also decided to add the pleated self trim on the robings and the stomacher. I feel that this garment need all the flair it can get because I'm all in it for the bling ;)

/L

The second finished item of the year...

...is a little hand sewn pinner cap made of linen (left overs from my chemise) and the same cotton lace I used on my chemise. Here it is adorning a big stone in our garden:

I wore it yesterday to an event in the Linné gardens in Uppsala. I didn't manage to be captured on my own camera but Isis took several photos of me so hopefully I can show you action shots soon.

It felt good to work with my 18th century wardrobe again. I hope to be finished with my new stays this side of new year, because I can't make any new garments until it's done.

/L

A serious case of the "bleh"

Sorry for my disappearance. This early spring has been a little heavy for me. First I had economy problems. Then I got ill a couple of times (nothing dangerous only colds and a upset tummy). When ever I started making something from my costume list, something immediately went wrong.

To show one example, I happily started decorating my wide brimmed hat with silk. It looked terrific. When I was about to sew the first pleated panel down on the brim, my millinery needles were nowhere to be found...I still haven't found them...

But last night I had a very whimsical dream, I was in a 18th century kitchen (a big one, must have been a castle or something) making cookies. They were some kind of shortbread cookies spiced with orangepeel, cinnamon and coriander. The Swedish 18th century poet/singer/satirist Bellman was with me in the kitchen making big mischief and amusing me at the same time. When I woke up I was feeling were giddy and inspired to start over with my 18th century wardrobe. So I hope I'll get back to you soon with the first project, a new pair of stays.


Carl Michael Bellman
Source: Svenska Familj-Journalen/Wikipedia Commons

/L

Pink damask jacket - Part 1-- Just a little teaser

It will take a while before I can truly start on this jacket, I need to make a new pair of stays first, but I will show you a quick sketch of it:

The jacket is from PoF 1, but I have changed the front from a stomacher closing to a closed front with hooks and eyes, like a caraco. I think that with that alteration this jacket will be dated somewhere between 1770-1780, which means that I can wear it with both hoops and bumroll.

The trims will be made of a gathered strip of striped cotton voile with a gathered ribbon stitched on top on both sides. I have not decided yet what color the ribbon will be, maybe a dusty green? Or a matching pink?

The lining will be a pink cotton satin from my stash, it's actually ripped out curtain linings ;)

Now back to the things I was supposed to do :P
/L

The first finished item of the year...

*drumroll*
...is my pocket:

It's a bit wrinkly from being carried around in my purse while I worked on it. Most of the work was done while I was traveling by bus and trains. I live in the country side so it's a 40 min trip if I want to go to Uppsala or a 2,5 hour trip if I want to go to Stockholm.

I'm quite satisfied with it since it's my first serious try ever at embroidery :)
It's made of two layers of linen and are embroidered with silk button hole twist and bound with silksatin ribbon. The embriodery stitches used are bouillon knots for the leaves and stem stitch for the rest.

Now I better get back to the male corset and the uniform jacket I'm working on for some customers. I'll be back with a finished frou frou hat soon :)

/L