Get A Wiggle On

Okay, so my lovely first cotehardie is in an nondescript pale brown and it kinda not very striking at all. It also is damn hard to match with things SOO I dyed it . :) A lovely wine color. Let it steep in HOT HOT HOT water with one cup of salt (Due to the cotton nature of the cloth) and it was done. Then a quick dry on the lovely Gilman, my chevy cavalier: And BOOM! Classier, nicer and it hides those horribly purple marker spots better. Woot! I win! Lovely wine colored gown. Absolute sucess! Sweet! Lastly, heres a quick peek at the cream-buff dull satin which will make the surcoat for this gown. Wish me luck!

Okay, so when working at Hancock my first desire was to get some cotton to create something similar to this: Kimono dressing gown c. 1885 Gift of Anonymous Donor 80.40.1 Beginning in the late 19th century, Asian decorative arts, and those of Japan in particular, had a tremendous impact on Western culture. Many Americans and Europeans traveled to Japan, often returning with textiles and garments that were soon converted to familiar Western garments. This blue dressing gown began as a Japanese furisode , or "swinging sleeves" kimono, a type worn only by young unmarried women. It is a particularly creative example of how Japanese dress could be transformed into fashionable Western dress. Through the addition of princess seams, lace undersleeves and inserts of pale-blue taffeta at front and back, the furisode kimono became a stylish Western dressing gown, complete with bustle. Regardless of these Western elements, the dressing gown is strongly evocative of Japan, part...

No pics yet, will probably slip them in during an edit. Today I dragged my lazy self over to the cupboard, and pulled out the sewing machine. Then I lost interest and went to play with a 'Stress-free' mud mask and a shower. Then I sighed and grumped and threaded the sewing machine in my nice black thread. And lost interest because I was putting my hair in curlers to try some other hairstyle. I'm in the middle between Long and Short and Holy Hera its annoying. Then, while curlers were curling and hair was drying and my beloved Tobias was all asleep with his butt in the air, like he is wont to do, I collected the cloak off of Blue and finished it. Truly in the end it really wasn't a big deal. It needed like, four straight lines of stitching and the curved neckline to the hood and BOOM. The cloak is 'together'. But MAN that was quite a procrastination for something so simple. Ugh. To finish the last 1/8th I will need to make some strategically placed stit...

Long ago, but not so very long ago, I worked at Hancock fabrics to help out while they were closed down. Hoo boy. That was fun. J Not only did I get some awesome fabric set aside, I also got to be around people like me, who glory in the feel of cool satin, the luscious weight of wool and the bumpy silk of embroidered brocade. The only problem with working at a closing store is you see where the fabric goes. Before Hancock I was blissfully innocent. I imagine that woman buying that organza was making something fabulous. No. She wasn’t. See as a worker, part of my job was small talk. Small talk in a fabric shop included the innocent question ‘So you have a project for this?’ Oh the horrors, my friends. The absolute horror. I sold twelve yards of dull shell pink satin to a woman who was buying it for her daughter. When prompted the little tyke smiled up at me with missing teeth and said ‘Im gonna make a tablecloth!’ SHOCKGASP CLUTCHINGHEART Swallow it down. I told myself,...

Okay, so I’m kind impulsive. I was going through my bustle phase a little bit before Halloween and haunting my local Goodwill. There, on the rack next to an Elvis costume and a (HIGHLY inappropriate) child’s Jasmine costume was a wedding dress. Size ten, what caught my eye was the shimmer of the obviously synthetic fabric and the massive about of ruffles. Hmm, thought I, these ruffles be sweet. Mayhap the dress be cheaps enough that I could justify it by ruffle alone? (Sometimes I think like a pirate. It goes with the sailing-through-goowill-looking-for-lost-treasure thing) So I pull it out and position it nicely and wow. The underdress is completely hemmed in gorgeous five inch long lace and above that is an overdress with scalloped up bottom to show it off. With a train. The bodice and sleeves were up in these adorable yet class pin creases. For fifteen dollars. Normally I’m smarter than this, or at least a bit more frugal. But nope. Into the cart it went. I justified i...

Alrighty, so I’m a big dreamer. This means that when I get enough raw material and unsifted dreamstuff, I tend to go hogwild on my poor family. Or, anyone else who I can measure, sew for, talk to (or at) and basically see in a twenty-mile radius. A little bit ago I had my lovely nieces hanging out with me and decided to make each of them a medieval dress for Halloween. (Because Medieval is like, a snap!) Unfortunately, the girls are in that unstead middleground between youngish lass and tempermental preteen, so there was literally NO costume pattern nice enough for them. Sigh. So using my powers of guessitude, I estimated the size and used a pattern as a basis. First niece’s gown: A nice, stable heavy brown with this marbled inset and undersleeves. I hate it. SO MUCH. The veil is an add on for fun. She looks pretty, and liked the gown but honestly, the inner (and as of yet undiscovered) historically accurate irritant in me despised it. The stitching was terribly ...

Okay, since NONE of the goals happened, lol, I decided to post some (mildly) older things: Bustle ruffle-overylay: And my son's Halloween costume. He was a little Regency Lord, while my sister rocked the Jane Austen Regency gown. It was cool. And now we walk through memory lane, the things I have created in the last two years. First: My sisters steampunk outfit. Well. Not really, see I only made it in her size because its easier to fit someone standing in front of you, rather then someone in your own skin. Its based on a pattern and done in like, eight yards of snakeskin like fabric.  Nextly, the mini-dress in neon Giraffe print for same sister, modeled on the lovely Bob, who passed away quite recently. We will miss you, Bob. And now, I went through a vintage phase a while back, loving all those twirly knee length skirts and halters. Here are two of them, my plaid gown and BATMAN wrap dress. (Both simplicity patterns) And for something comple...

Depending on of course my mindset tomorrow. 1. Buy stuff to make tester pies 2. Cut and sew ariannas PBS 3. Finish cloak. 4. Begin thinking about gold cotehardie That's not too much I think. Wish me luck!

Alrighty, so this cloak was pretty much done by ear. I viewed a couple patterns and then went all willnilly with the sissors. In retrospect (and heck, even WHILE I was doing it) I knew I probly shouldn't have... But what they hey! So the shoulders are going to be strangely fitted, and I added gussets at each side and in the back for some twirlage. Also, freak-accident-but-cool-and-keeping-it, the sides are longer than the front, and its about knee length anyway. Oh wells, I can recall seeing some medieval play with the lengths and handkerchief hems... I think.... The fabric is a Mystery Fabric Mumsy-dearest found at a consignment shop in a big ole bucket'o fabric. Fun, eh? Its either Linen or Linen look black, and the inside is a bit of dull satin gold. Again, not too terribly period but hey. I like it. It will go nicely, I think with my gold cotehardie when I make it. Maybe? Anyway, heres what I got so far. And this is the hood, when up. MUST IRON BEFORE SEWING!!! ...

So, this is it, the (basically) finished product. Tight sleeves, with a flared from the hips to the ground, and unhemmed bottom. I paired it with two different belts to try and see what it'll look like.  I like the round one best, aslo if this were a SCA thing I can't wear white belts because of the Paladins. Oh yeah, Scared of the paladins. Anyway, SUPER thin so I'll probably wear a long sleeved shirt underneath and my white skirt too, for warmth and to protect me modesty. :) Cuz I'm shy and dont like the thought of my knickers parading around the towns for all and sundry to see. And then, my mom decided to put it on. Sigh... (But hey, she looks good!)

So, Bustle is a bust. For some reason I cannot seem to get myself excited about making the rest of the underwear! I mean, the idea of making the corset is kind of... scary, you know? I dont wanna waste time and effort and money and be upset. I know I have to deal with it, but I decided to first take a little break from the 18th century. I have a couple dress ideas for the 18th century though, and I'll document them here. Because I forget things. A lot. ..... Mmmyep. So! First one will be a not-exactly-period piece. Oh well. It'll be pretty though! Its what I m calling my Lucy dress. The fabric is a thin stripe, red on red, silky and a bit on the thinner side with a shimmer. Its going to be Truly Victorian's grand parlour skirt and an off-the-shoulder top. I also have this luscious red red lace. My love, is like red, red lace. All naughty and suggestive... or something. Anyway. Thats one. My Mina dress is going to be my heart dress. I am going to go all ou...