Today is not a good day. I'm so angry at myself because I lost an ebay auction for the prettiest fan frame ever and I lost it with 4$. It feels so damn...evil. Why and why didn't I put in more money in the bid before I got to bed?
I really liked the frame because it was made of ebony with really pretty carvings and gilding, nice curvy shapes and everything. And it was big enough to pass for an 18th fan. And the frame was totally intact, no broken sticks. The only thing broken on the fan was the fabric.
I really hope another good frame will show up, because I really, really would like to make myself my own fan. I found a good 1770 fan that I can borrow some design elements from and settled on a color scheme and on the motifs. It's only the frame that's missing.
I've found another frame today on ebay but I don't know If there are any way to fix the two broken sticks on it:
Fan frame on ebay (it's the biggest one in the lot).
I feel so silly, I'm so upset over this that I feel like crying and that's ridiculous. To cry over a god damn fan :(
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Finished chemise & renovated stays
I've finally finished my chemise. It's completely hand sewn with linen thread and all seams are flat felled. It felt like this one took for ever with all those long seams and all the lace. It turned out a bit on the short side, I blame it on the fact that I cut the pieces one evening when I was very tired. But I'm over all pleased with my result anyway. I think it's awfully cute and I love wearing it, the linen is so soft to the skin. I really hope that the fabric store will have this wonderful linen in stock again next summer because I totally need one more of this comfy garment!
Here it is:
I was originally planning to buy a white silk ribbon for the neck but noow i think I will go for a pink one instead because it looks so cute :)
And here are the "after" pictures of my stays. We start off with the front:
The very shiny synthetic organza ribbons will leave and some white silk ribbons will take their place when they arrive. I think my cleavege looks much better now, but my next pair of stays needs some adjustment of the shape of the neckline. I think it's a bit to wide beacuse the shoulder straps land a bit to far out on the shoulder. I think a bit more narrow neckline will help me a bit with bust lift too.
And here are the side wiew:
Not much to say here, the side seam hit my sides perfectly. And the armhole feels good, no chafeing since I moved the end position of the horisontal bones.
And finally the back, and the horror:
I admit it, I'm vain when it comes to lacings, I want them to lay exactly parallell and be bone straight. But since I've gained som much...body wisdom...my stays can't to that on me any more. Here you can also see that my shoulder straps base need to move in a couple of centimeters, so the armhole will fit me better. I also think that the waist line is a bit low right now. If it moves up I think the stays will fit more comfortably in the waist area.
But these pair has an acceptable fit so they'll have to do until I feel like making me a new pair.
My next project on the loong to do list is to make myself a pair of engagentes and fix my shoes. I need two quick fix projects before I start to wrestle with fitting my pet en l'air.
/L
Here it is:
I was originally planning to buy a white silk ribbon for the neck but noow i think I will go for a pink one instead because it looks so cute :)
And here are the "after" pictures of my stays. We start off with the front:
The very shiny synthetic organza ribbons will leave and some white silk ribbons will take their place when they arrive. I think my cleavege looks much better now, but my next pair of stays needs some adjustment of the shape of the neckline. I think it's a bit to wide beacuse the shoulder straps land a bit to far out on the shoulder. I think a bit more narrow neckline will help me a bit with bust lift too.
And here are the side wiew:
Not much to say here, the side seam hit my sides perfectly. And the armhole feels good, no chafeing since I moved the end position of the horisontal bones.
And finally the back, and the horror:
I admit it, I'm vain when it comes to lacings, I want them to lay exactly parallell and be bone straight. But since I've gained som much...body wisdom...my stays can't to that on me any more. Here you can also see that my shoulder straps base need to move in a couple of centimeters, so the armhole will fit me better. I also think that the waist line is a bit low right now. If it moves up I think the stays will fit more comfortably in the waist area.
But these pair has an acceptable fit so they'll have to do until I feel like making me a new pair.
My next project on the loong to do list is to make myself a pair of engagentes and fix my shoes. I need two quick fix projects before I start to wrestle with fitting my pet en l'air.
/L
Sunday, October 18, 2009
It's MINE!
It was a hard bidding fight, but I finally won the fabulous fabric for 450 SEK!
So now I got 9. 75 m (= 10.6 yards) of pink striped silk goodness!
The only caveat is the with of it, it's only 90 cm but I can make an "polonaised" anglaise with shorter over skirt. I've seen it done in both extant garments and in fashion plates from the time :P
Weee I really need to finish my blue outfit so I can start this one!
/L
So now I got 9. 75 m (= 10.6 yards) of pink striped silk goodness!
The only caveat is the with of it, it's only 90 cm but I can make an "polonaised" anglaise with shorter over skirt. I've seen it done in both extant garments and in fashion plates from the time :P
Weee I really need to finish my blue outfit so I can start this one!
/L
Thursday, October 15, 2009
My shopping finger is itching....
Fantastic fabric
I'm so tempted...it has "striped anglaise with pulled up skirt" written all over it.
But it looks like it might be a dupion fabric which is not so good.
What to do, what to do ?
Update:
I'm going to ask the seller about the width and weight and see what he/she says. But almost 10 m of fabric for 250 SEK...its a great price.
I'm having crazy ideas of matching it with a black/white striped fabric and make that cutaway dress from the Marie Antoinette documentary I've been blabbing about before.
Like so:
And here is a (quick) sketch of the gown in question:
The idea is to use the black/white in the petticoat and main part of the bodice and the pink/purple in the top layer. At the back it will have two buttons for looping up the skirt. I have not decided if I should go with 3/4 sleeves or long sleeves yet.
Another Update:
Spoke with the seller and the fabric is only 90 cm wide and it's striped horizontally and not vertical. That means that if I want to have the stripe vertical I must cut it on the width grain and not the length grain. That's OK with me, it's the lining of the garment that takes the strain but 90 cm is not long enough to get a over skirt that reaches too the floor and with a train as I had planned for my anglaise :/
But I have deciced to buy the fabric anyway :D
I will either make a real polonaise jacket like the one in Cut of womens clothing ormaybe make the 1770's "polonaise" in Kvinnligt mode or maybe a striped short jacket (also from Kvinnligt mode) with a peplum and matching petticoat with ruffle.
/L
I'm so tempted...it has "striped anglaise with pulled up skirt" written all over it.
But it looks like it might be a dupion fabric which is not so good.
What to do, what to do ?
Update:
I'm going to ask the seller about the width and weight and see what he/she says. But almost 10 m of fabric for 250 SEK...its a great price.
I'm having crazy ideas of matching it with a black/white striped fabric and make that cutaway dress from the Marie Antoinette documentary I've been blabbing about before.
Like so:
And here is a (quick) sketch of the gown in question:
The idea is to use the black/white in the petticoat and main part of the bodice and the pink/purple in the top layer. At the back it will have two buttons for looping up the skirt. I have not decided if I should go with 3/4 sleeves or long sleeves yet.Another Update:
Spoke with the seller and the fabric is only 90 cm wide and it's striped horizontally and not vertical. That means that if I want to have the stripe vertical I must cut it on the width grain and not the length grain. That's OK with me, it's the lining of the garment that takes the strain but 90 cm is not long enough to get a over skirt that reaches too the floor and with a train as I had planned for my anglaise :/
But I have deciced to buy the fabric anyway :D
I will either make a real polonaise jacket like the one in Cut of womens clothing ormaybe make the 1770's "polonaise" in Kvinnligt mode or maybe a striped short jacket (also from Kvinnligt mode) with a peplum and matching petticoat with ruffle.
/L
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Distractions
My stays are done and the day before yesterday I started flat felling the long gore seams on my chemise. But yesterday nothing got done because of this lovely fellow:
His name is Akilles and he's a 1,5 year old Rottweiler. He is going to live with us for a little over a week as a try out period and if everything goes well, he'll be a new family member.
Right now it feels like we've been invaded by a 50 kg tornado with a huge heart that loves everyone. He even cries when the cats don't want to play with him...
Tonight I have to work with my chemise. It must be in a wearable state on Sunday because I'm going to participate in a 18th century salon arranged by Gustaf Skål. The very awesome Isis Wardrobe has promised to lend me an outfit. I will bring my stays, pocket hoops and the chemise.
This weekend there is also a 18th century lecture weekend that I'm going to participate in. I will take classes is 18th century beatuy, a madames wardrobe and 18th century cooking.
Now my tea break is over, I better get back to work.
/L
His name is Akilles and he's a 1,5 year old Rottweiler. He is going to live with us for a little over a week as a try out period and if everything goes well, he'll be a new family member.
Right now it feels like we've been invaded by a 50 kg tornado with a huge heart that loves everyone. He even cries when the cats don't want to play with him...
Tonight I have to work with my chemise. It must be in a wearable state on Sunday because I'm going to participate in a 18th century salon arranged by Gustaf Skål. The very awesome Isis Wardrobe has promised to lend me an outfit. I will bring my stays, pocket hoops and the chemise.
This weekend there is also a 18th century lecture weekend that I'm going to participate in. I will take classes is 18th century beatuy, a madames wardrobe and 18th century cooking.
Now my tea break is over, I better get back to work.
/L
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