The Polonaise and Some New Accessories

On Friday I had the good fortune of finding out my local group was doing a timeline event this weekend. Super short notice, but as I have been out of town for everything since last October, I was thrilled to have an excuse to get dressed up. And the timeline events are especially fun because you can represent any era you wish to talk about. Those are WWII tents behind me!

I haven't sewn anything new in months, but I did have quite a few things that have never been worn out, so I thought this was the perfect excuse. I wore my new polonaise jacket/petticoat outfit, my Christmas-present-to-myself Sarah Juniper shoes, a black silk bonnet made from the Larkin & Smith pattern, and I also brought out my linen/chintz mitts to protect from the sun. It was hot!

I mostly finished this Polonaise last year. I still want to trim it. That'll happen someday! It's very lightweight cotton with a woven stripe. The bodice is cut so the lining and front section are fitted to the body, but the fashion fabric layer comes away from the body, in the polonaise style, where the back seams let out into pleats.  

I also accessorized with a voile apron, a breast knot, my trusty sun-battling umbrella and a kerchief and cap I bought on my last trip to Virginia.

I always think the pile left from undressing is so pretty! 

And the shoes!! I have wanted to order a pair of Sarah Juniper shoes for years. I always thought it would be so complex and tedious, since Ms. Juniper is in England, but actually it was very easy. I just traced my feet, filled out her paperwork and sent the paper and fabric to her.

In no time at all, they came in the mail and they are beautiful! These are dark green glazed wool. Super comfy! And they look great with my American Duchess buckles.

Pasadena's Jane Austen Evening

Admiring the general splendor ;)

What a fun weekend! I attended the Jane Austen Evening, Saturday night. We made a weekend of it and enjoyed my old neighborhood of Pasadena. I went down with my husband and my mom, who I've been taking dance classes with. We met up with our group from vegas for the ball and had a blast. 

We were going to attend the tea, too, but ended up making other plans. I had brought a second outfit for it, but I will have to find another opportunity to wear it for pictures. For the ball, I made a new dress. It was highly inspired by a dress at the Museo del Traje. I love the dippy neckline! 

Yikes. My hair is notoriously fly-away. Especially after running around the dance floor.

The ball was very fun. The dancing was great. We ended the evening with an especially fun Sir Roger. Special thanks to the girls that pulled us in to it. We were about to head out because of tired feet. Good thing we stayed! 

The ball was the perfect opportunity to polish up the jewels. I wore a necklace, earrings and a sparkly comb in my hair.

I also made up some shoes. Well, adorned some shoes. I embroidered little silver stars on a pair of white leather ballet slippers, and embellished with some silk pleating little bows. You can see some of the embroidery on the bottom of the dress, below. The embroidered panels are of sheerer fabric than the lawn used for the dress.

I accessorized with a purse, gloves, a fan and my handy shawl, in case it got chilly, but the weather was beautiful! I can't believe we have weather in the 80's in January! The pink bag was also made by me, but loaned to my mom for the evening. I brought it for the tea, but since we didn't go, I was glad it got to come out and play.

And a couple pictures from the construction phase...

All in all, the dress went together very quickly. The embroidery was done much faster than I would have thought. Like, in a couple evenings. The whole dress was finished in less than two weeks. I saved time by serging the long inside seams. Everything else had to be done by hand. The embroidery was so fast because I basically used an uneven running stitch, almost like a darning stitch, and zip zip zipped along. The body of the dress is cotton lawn. The embroidered panels, and pleating at the bust, are cotton voile. The pattern was draped by me, referencing the dress at the Museo del Traje and similar dresses of the era.

I made the back pieces wider than necessary, so I could gather them in with ties. It made for a nice effect when worn.

All in all, I really love this dress. Aside from the petticoat, which could have been a smidge longer, to compliment the sheer hem better, I really can't think of anything I would change about it. Whew, isn't it nice to make something you feel is really finished? And fits. And is comfortable. Such a good feeling! 

I hope everyone else had a lovely weekend. Cheers to a great week ahead!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Ball

After the last ball I went to, at Gadsby's, I was super bummed I didn't know any of the dances, or really how to dance at all. So, this last month, I was motivated to go to a few English Country Dance classes. So fun!

Last night was the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies ball. Mom and I donned our dancing shoes (and fake blood) and had a blast. We dressed turn of the 19th century, inspired by some great fashion plates. 

The pictures aren't amazing, but it was pretty dim.

I haven't spent very much time researching early 1800's dress construction, so for the pattern, I took my basic 18th century bodice pattern and hacked it up a bit. I constructed the dress using 18th century techniques, as seemed logical to me, making allowances for a bib front, more period appropriate back seams and the sheer fabric.

I was on a major time constraint with this outfit, so I took a lot of shortcuts, machine stitching as much as I could, like the long seams and even the gathers. I also made a pair of short stays and a petticoat with straps. 

I forgot to take a picture of the short stays (from the Sense and Sensibility pattern), but those I hand sewed. I figured it would be wise to do them properly so I could use them again. Here are a couple in progress shots, from when I was cording them.

Oh! And one from when I had been fitting the dress. And the shift, I picked that up at the Road to Regency Symposium. It was purchased from the Silly Sisters. In hindsight, I probably wore the wrong shift for the dress, because it cuts off halfway down my arm. Oops.

Accessorizing was fun with this outfit. I noticed this side-slung necklace thing going on in a few period fashion plates, like this one. It's so weird. I love it. I added buff-colored, kid skin gloves, a teensy reticule and gladiator-esque flats (beige ghillies).

Special thanks to Jen at Festive Attyre for her great post about easy shawls. I stitched two shawls together to get that decadent length. Speaking of length, the train was not even an issue with the dancing. I pinned the train up during the dancing and it worked out great.

The knit reticule is my submission for the Trystan's Costume Closet October Accessories Challenge. Post on that to come! It's kind of inspired by this extant reticule.

For mom, I took my old Chemise a la Reine and changed the sleeves. I never added a drawstring to the waist, because I was lazy, but that worked out perfect for this. We raised the waistline with silk ribbon, wrapped in imitation of this fashion plate, and this one. I love it! And it kind of has a spider web aesthetic, too. Very appropriate.

The dancing is such fun. I think we will continue to keep up with the classes. Jane Austen Ball in the future perhaps...

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!

HSF #18: Re-make, Re-use & Re-fashion

A while ago, I purchased some American Duchess Pemberley's from the imperfect section, since I missed the initial order. My size was sold out, so I bought one size up. Turns out they were huge, but I knew if I kept them, they would come in handy one day...

The Challenge: #18 Re-make, re-use and re-fashion

Fabric: Blue silk taffeta and white linen for lining.

Pattern: Drafted by me, from the tops of the original shoes.

Year: 1780's

Notions: One pair American Duchess Pemberley's, leather for heels, shoe cement, silk thread, linen thread, cream silk ribbon.

How historically accurate is it? Hmm... the general design is good for the era. The fabrics are good and I tried to construct the uppers to the best of my 18th century knowledge. The shoe I took apart for them was modern and so the sole to upper construction was glued, instead of stitched. Maybe 70% for looks ( I glued on the sole) and 50/50 for construction, since the uppers were done as close as I could, to the best of my knowledge.

Hours to complete: About 7 or 8

First Worn: Not yet. Except around the house to admire them :)

Total Cost: The original shoes, which I bought a while back, so I don't know if it counts. I consider this a stash project, since I had everything at hand. The only thing I really bought was the shoe cement, which was about $10, I think.

---

It was a little bit scary ripping apart a pair of perfectly good, unworn shoes, but I had kind of a here-goes-nothing moment and started prying back the sole and then there was no turning back. To me, these shoes were most valuable for the heel. If anyone has tried to find heels like this to purchase, they like don't exist.

New and pretty...

...but too big.

I cut apart one of the tops at the seams and traced a pattern from them, making sure to make the pattern smaller, since the originals were too large. I also had to cut back the sole.

I got all carried away sewing so I forgot to take pictures, but basically I stitched the silk and lining together, following the logic of how 18th century clothing is constructed. I don't know a ton about 18th century shoe construction, so I tried my best to figure out what would work.

I bound the side seams and tops with cream silk. I pinked two strips of silk, gathered them up, and attached them to the fronts, then pinned the uppers to the soles, to attach. I used heavy linen thread across the bottoms the secure the uppers to the rest of the shoe. The only real roadblock was the heels. I don't know how they are attached to the shoe, but they don't unscrew, but they did spin. I pulled, but they didn't pop off. I didn't want to break something and have the heels be unusable, so I had to work the fabric and stitching around the post inside the heel. A little fiddly, but it worked out. 

Yay shoes! I put them on and did a little happy shoe dance before bed :)

Today I went and found shoe cement and reattached the soles. I also removed the plastic heel caps and replaced them with a thick leather I cut to size. I wish there had been a way to sew the soles on, instead of gluing them. The glue doesn't seem as sturdy as stitching would be, but I really couldn't see a way to stitch through the existing, modern shoe. 

All in all, I'm super pleased. I have always loved this look and I am thrilled to have a pair in my closet now. I would definitely make another pair some day. Maybe I can whittle out some wooden heels and make a really legit pair. Until then, this was actually a very easy thing to do.

A Little Trip to The V&A

For those of us who stayed home this holiday weekend and did not travel, I thought I would suggest a little trip across the sea to one of our (yes, I'm sure anyone who reads this blog loves this place - how could you not!?) favorite places: The Victoria and Albert Museum.

The V&A is one of my very favorite museums for costume research. I haven't yet been to Kyoto, but I'm sure the Kyoto Costume Institute will tie for first if I ever get to go! But back to the V&A. 

Top five reasons why I love it:

1. It always has some kind of great costume exhibit going on.

2. It's in London

3. It has a huge shop

4. The shop has amazing costume books

5. You can take pictures!

Ok. Let's go!

At Day at Spring Mountain Ranch

At Spring Mountain Ranch
Photo by Lisa Coffey

This morning I put on my 1860's layers and headed out to Spring Mountain Ranch, which is here in Vegas, and right next to Red Rock Canyon. Today is Nevada Day (Nevada was admitted to the Union October 31st, 1864 - "Battle Born") and this weekend is the Civil War reenactment put on by the Southern Nevada Living History Association.

A view from Spring Mountain Ranch

Today was kind of a prelude to the weekend, which was awesome for me because I have never been to a reenactment before. Kind of an introduction for me. Today, lots of school kids and homeschoolers came out and there were presentations with cavalry horses, cannons, artillery and we civilians. It was such a blast. I especially love all the little girls who have endless questions about our outfits. I totally relate!

Stables across the pasture - ahem -  I mean, battlefield.
There was a cow mooing away!

I chose to wear my yellow cotton 1860's dress. Under it I had all the bits: stockings, knit garters, boots (Robert Land), original pantalettes and chemise, corset, three petticoats, a 108" hoop (Originals by Kay) and organdy undersleeves (remade from these originals). I also wore a pocket, which I reached through a convenient slit in my skirt (perfect for iphone!). One thing I was missing was a corset cover, which I just didn't get around to making yet. Next on my list!

To accessorize, I wore an antique brooch, belt buckle pin and watch chain. I found a nice little pocket watch for it on Amazon. The baste in collar is a beautiful white work piece I found for only $5 at an antique store! What luck!! The belt is brown silk over buckram lined with cotton. There are great directions for making a belt in Elizabeth Stewart Clark's Dressmaker's Guide. I also switched out my modern wedding rings for a plain "gold" one I found on Amazon. It looked great for being so cheap! I had taupe leather gloves, too, but they're in my pocket for the picture. 

Accessories! Undersleeves, hankie, belt, buckle pin, brooch, ring,
watch and chain, straw hat and hat pin.

All the jewelry is antique except for the watch. I think it
 is more common to wear the buckle vertically, though I
have seen a few CDV's with it worn horizontally.

Antique store steal! A whitework collar, basted in.

Robert Land side-lacing boots.

The batiste handkerchief I made has a wavy hem, much like the ones mentioned in Juanita Leisch's book, Who Wore What?: Women's Wear, 1861 - 1865. Apparently a fancy shaped hem gave ladies the opportunity to show off their fabulous narrow hemming skills.

I chose to wear a sun hat (it's bright here!), which I bought from Abraham's Lady. I took off the black cloth ribbon that came with it and replaced it with a brown silk satin one from MJ Trimming.

Shady face! The hat works just as
good as sun glasses!

And a sneaky modern cheater tip...

I always wear Shellac for my manicure. It's a gel that goes on like a nail polish, but it cures under a light. It lasts for like two weeks, which is great, but it's very time consuming to remove, just to dress up.  So I discovered this great polish: Essie's "Matte About You." It's a matte nail polish, so I put a coat over the gel and the shine is gone. At a casual glance, it looks like you have natural, costume friendly nails. Then just a quick wipe of non-acetone takes it off and I'm back to the 21st century!

Essie's "Matte About You" nail polish