First Post Costume College 2018 Sewing Project

Post CoCo 18 I felt kinda down about my sewing skills. My ballgown didn't turn out as I was wanted and I kept seeing these amazing creations that I couldn't duplicate. But then I remembered something Kate said at CoCo and she said we were each just at a different point in our development. So it was kind of funny that I started this apron when I got home from a piece of fabric I got at the Bargain Basement. It helped to pep me back up even though it's such a small project. I did sew it completely by hand.

The pattern from the apron came from the Workwoman's Guide  Plate 11 Figure 14

I used the bib measurements as they were because of the fabric I had left over from cutting the skirt and the waist band.  The ties of the apron ended up being as wide as the finished waistband which isn't how it's supposed to be but it works. The bib pins to the front of your dress so I'll be looking for HA pins in the near future. The leftover fabric will be used for a housewife or other small item. 

The Facts:The Challenge: Extant OriginalsWhat the item is: 1830’s / 1840’s Cooking Apron
Which extant original did you copy: Plate 11 Figure 14 of The Workwoman’s Guide by A Lady
Material: Checked Cotton
Pattern: Plate 11 Figure 14 of The Workwoman’s Guide by A Lady
Notions: Twill Tape Ties and Two Straight Pins
How historically accurate is it? I’d say 85%. I’m sure about my ties being the right size, or color and the Workwoman’s Guide assumes you know stuff we don’t now so the bib size may be out of proportion. Checked linen may also have been more appropriate than cotton but cotton is mentioned in other apron descriptions as being used.
Hours to complete: I think from thinking up the idea to completion is was about 4 hours. My hand sewing is slow.
First worn: Not yet. Have to finish an outfit to go with it.
Total cost: Free. The fabric was from the bargain basement at Costume College 18. The ties and thread were in the stash, so they cost something at some point but it is no longer remembered

1891 Mountain Dress: Skirt and Blouse

This outfit is one of my favorites that I made. The skirt isn't the one that is included in the pattern Ageless Patterns 1094. The skirt was way tooo long and even the facing being attached in the skirt length it was still to long. Instead of fighting with it I made Truly Victorian 299: 1901 Split Skirt out of a wonderful fabric from fabric.com: Season of Wool Solid Chocolate Fabric. It was a dream to sew though a bit on the itchy side so I don't recommend wearing it against the skin. The skirt was made in time for the Historical Sew Monthly Challenge for May: Specific to a Time of Day. The blouse is made out of  Windham Threads of Time Star Stripe Cream Fabric.

As I was making the blouse my brain malfunctioned and I forgot that Ageless patterns does not include allowances for facings or plackets. I improvised a hidden buttonhole placket and surprisingly the blouse fits quite well. My only wish is that the neck was a little bit bigger but with using almost every scrap of the 2.5 yards the pattern called for I don't have enough to redo the collar. The collar and cuffs are interlined with linen to help give the cotton body. One thing about the pattern that fought me was the sleeves. The gathers as they are marked cause the puff of the sleeve to be too far back on the arm hole. I had to gather more of the sleeve head to make it look correct. The blouse was completed in time for the Historical Sew Monthly Challenge for July: Sleeves.

The hat is McCall's Pattern 6975 view G. Finding a correct "Alpine" hat in general is hard but trying to find one to fit a small budget is harder so I went for making my own simpler hat. The hat was made from skirt scraps and I got the pattern for about $5.00 and it's lined with linen scraps. I bought the wire the pattern called for and then promptly forgot to add it but the wool and linen and interfacing seem to give the hat enough body and it was comfortable to wear. Now the boyfriend wants one as will but view H with the taller crown.

The boots are American Duchess as are the stockings. Unders include a modern cami (shock and horror) as I ran out of time to make a proper chemise and closed drawers from Folkwear's Edwardian Undies pattern. The placket on the pattern didn't make sense to me so I improvised. I buttoned my drawers over my corset (corset provided by historicaldesigns on Etsy ) and didn't have an issue using the facilities. I spoke with someone who was wearing split drawers with their wool bicycling bloomers and they said their drawers were baggy enough that no itching in places that shouldn't be itched by wool was occurring. 

The only remaining piece of this outfit is the jacket. I plan on making a mock-up to avoid the problems I had with the blouse. 

Costume College 2018 ReCap

So plans were made and life intervened. Internship for my Master's kicked my butt so I didn't get nearly what I wanted done.

The Barn Owl dress for the pool party was completed first from Butterick 6483 by Gertie. The theme was in the Realm of the Goblin King. The bard owls are supposed to echo David Bowie character in the Labyrinth, Jareth, when he is spying on Sarah in "our" world at the beginning of the movie. Points go to the woman working the information desk Thursday night for being the only one for getting the reference without me having to explain.

Friday shifted gears to be 1890's Mountaineering outfit (minus Jacket) for all day. The 1913 dress continues to fight me and is again on the time out pile. I got to meet Kat from http://madamemodiste.blogspot.com/ and I jumped over the mountain that is my shyness to ask her to take a picture with me. There was a group who did a Victorian Adventure meetup that she was a part of so we matched in bloomers/split skirt. The boots are from American Duchess and were super comfy, the stockings are from her too. I used her tutorial to move the buttons which was way easier than I thought it would be.

Saturday daytime and Sunday were vintage with my Wearing History overalls and Simplicity reprint blouse for Saturday and a modern chambray blouse for Sunday. I met Lauren from Wearing history and she even took my picture! It was a nervous fangirl moment but she is lovely to talk with and even did a podcast on social anxiety that I found very reassuring. Pardon my geeky smile. The shoes were a thrift store find, they're Italian and also really comfortable.

Now the Ball Gown was sewn in a frenzy and it isn't where I wanted it to be so there is reworking to be done but here it is with all the finery (in the hotel hallway *FAIL* when there were pretty backdrops at the Gala Dinner). I bought tiara at the Marketplace the night before from https://ateliermela.net/

No through out the pictures I keep seeing that I really need to up my hair and accessories game. I did make my hat for my 1890's outfit but that was it really. 

Oh where are the pictures of all the lovely things I made for the boyfriend you ask? Well there aren't any. None. Zilch. Zap. I had no time to get anything done for him and boy did I have plans. However he did purchase a full sew of clothes (minus his frock coat) from http://www.holzer-combehaberdashery.com/ No pictures though as he is really picture shy.

I had lots of fun though and met more people this year that last thanks to Lauren (Wearing History) and Lauren & Abby (American Duchess for their podcasts on Social Anxiety and Costuming Events.

1840's Unmentionables

All I can say is thank goodness for the Workwoman's Guide. Granted the book has its quarks and it isn't always the easiest to follow but it is an amazing resource considering it has survived from the 1830's. The diagrams and corresponding measurements take some getting used to but once you get a basic grasp of them and make a mock up things move pretty easily. My plan was to make my shift, drawers, under petticoat, over petticoat, pocket and bustle all out of this guide.
I bailed on the shift and used Past Patterns #002 instead because I was unsure of the sizing. I may choose to give this a try at another point.  My drawers are cut but not finished, I'll update this post when they are. The under petticoat was made following the instructions for a flannel petticoat in the Guide. It is two yards of fabric gathered, with a wider waistband and buttons with a single button in the back, it does not have pocket slits and the hem is quite wide.

I've replaced this button with a wooden one I just don't have a new picture yet

The pocket is made following Plate 10 Figure 10. My only change was to construct the slit closer to an 18th Century pocket. It is large, but the perfect place for everything you could need. The front fabric is a printed cotton and the back is leftover navy linen from my 16th Century petticoat.

 The bustle (Plate 11, Figure 30, 32) was easy to measure, cut and sew, it just took time because I did all of the cording channels by hand. The Guide says to just add a thick cord but since I didn't have any bulky cording I did 5 channels of kitchen twine to each flounce so 10 in total. Twill tape is put through the channel that creates the two flounces and then I gather the bustle on the twill tape and tacked it in place so the bustle wouldn't loose fullness when I wore it. Pardon the wrinkles. I am thinking that starching it will give it a better structure under my skirts.

My first upper petticoat is pleated to a waistband with pocket slits and it ties at the side. I made it from an old embroidered sheet so it isn't too HA but it is pretty. I first wore it under my 1840's wrapper fro Costume College 2017.

A Tale of Two Shifts

The first tale is that of Past Patterns #002 Two Early Nineteenth Century Chemises. I made the open neck version with short sleeves. I made it with Kaufman Muslin and a combination of machine and hand sewing. I wore this for Costume College 2017 under my 1840's wrapper. I have two concerns with this shift, one is that the sleeves are a tiny bit constraining which isn't a huge deal when you're wearing a gown with dropped shoulders that are going to confine you anyway and the second is my fabric choice. While muslin (calico across the pond) is an era appropriate choice for the poor as the Workwoman's Guide says;

I just think that my muslin is too thick; which appears to be a common complaint about modern textiles versus historical textile. It appears to be better suited to petticoats (I've made one) and dress linings than a shift, however this article should stand up to many washings and  wearings. 

The second shift comes from 1830's Corset and Underwear Sewing Pattern from BlackSnailPatterns on Etsy. This is a different style entirely with a wide open neck and gathered sleeves. I made this one from 100% linen and it is completely hand stitched. This is the base for my 1840's ball gown for the Gala at Costume College 2018. My only complaint is that it doesn't have gores, though this doesn't impede my movement its just bothers me. It took me forever to hand stitch but I think it was good practice.

Tappity Tap Pants

For the Historical Sew Monthly Challenge for March:  Buttons and Fastenings I made a pair of 1930's tap pants. I used Simplicity Pattern 8510 and a few things surprised me. A: the yoke isn't really a yoke, it's an additional piece that is top stitched down. B: I flat felled all the inside seams by hand because I used linen and I didn't want it to fray. C: with the yoked version putting the buttons holes in was difficult because there were six layers of fabric to go through at some spots. If you used a thinner silk or rayon I'm sure this wouldn't be a problem. I used a zig zag stitch to do the buttonholes instead of a buttonhole stitch because my buttonhole doesn't like me. Abby posted (http://stay-ingalive.blogspot.com/2018/04/1880s-fundy-undies-petticoat-and-corset.html) about using a zig zag stitch instead of a button foot as well. I'm not sure about posting me wearing them but my Valentine's Bear was happy to pose for me.  

Just the Facts:

What the item is: 1930’s tap pants

Material: linen

Pattern:Simplicity Pattern 8510 Misses' Vintage Brassiere and Panties view B with the yoke

Year: 1930’s

Notions: 4 metal buttons

How historically accurate is it? I’d say 95%. It’s a mix of machine and hand sewing with zig zag button holes. I’m not sure linen would have been used for tap pants but they are comfortable

Hours to complete: Four evenings of sewing

First worn: just to check the button positions

Total cost: linen remnant was 8, buttons 2 and thread was in my stash so 10.50 with some linen left over for a small project.

A Petticoat to Keep Me Warm

At Costume College 2017 I wore my 1840's wrapper on Sunday (blog post in the works) and I froze in class. I thought with all the layers I was wearing I would be fine in the air conditioned class rooms but I was wrong. At the Bargain Basement that morning I picked up a table cloth that looked like it would pass for a shawl and a shawl it became. So in preparation for Costume College 2018 I made a flannel petticoat to go under my 1840's things. And it qualifies for the 2018 Historical Sew Monthly Challenge #2: Unders.  A Better picture will be up soon.

Just the Facts

What the item is: Flannel Petticoat to keep me warm.

Material: 3 Yards Red Cotton Flannel

Pattern: Flannel Petticoat from the Workwoman’s Guide

Year: 1830’s & 40’s

Notions: thread, twill tape for ties and hem. 

How historically accurate is it? Should be wool flannel instead of cotton and the threads used are polyester/cotton mix. Plus I added twill tape over the hem since the cotton is a little flimsy but it’s all hand sewn so 85% maybe. 

Hours to complete: a week total but not all at once. 

First worn: only to test hem length, but it is comfortable and WARM.

Cost: I'm thinking around $25, but I didn't actually keep track