A Lady Never Trots

I read this somewhere and I get it now. Boing boing boing bouncy jiggly mess! Poor horse. We must work on that.

A weekend update! After this I'll be back to posting about what we love most - clothes! But I thought one last update this week about my recent side saddle adventures. 

First off, I am LOVING this! 

I was so worried it would be awkward and difficult and I would not enjoy it, despite hoping I would so badly! But yay!!! It turns out it is a fantastically fun thing to do. I think, aside from the equestrianism of it, there is something just so ladylike and elegant, and I feel a bit of kinship with ladies of the past. Much like the first time one wears a pair of stays or a hoop and you know how it feels. It's like a little bit of time travel.

So, the update. 

Saturday, I warmed up on the ground and astride, and then mounted aside. I'm getting more used to using my stick and leg simultaneously. He's a gem at the walk and we attempted a bit of trotting, but it was a little ugly. The crowning glory of my second ride was cantering. We cantered! Yay! I was a bit nervous to ask for it, but it was so nice and easy. Definitely the most pleasant of all gaits aside. It's so much fun, I went back again this morning and did it all over again.

I actually chose the barn over trimming a petticoat. Haha I'm that inspired!

Well, we are off to a great start and I'm quite hot on the idea of sewing up a habit soon. Now I just have to decide on an era… Ooo choices… 

The inaugural side saddle ride!

Woo hoo! Today was fun! I took the saddle out and hopped on. Well, not just hopped on. I warmed up with groundwork and then astride to insure a pleasant horsey. I was totally nervous! But my darling pony was so good. He is just a gem of a horse.

He was a little tripped out at first. Like, hey lady, where's your other leg?! But he rose to the occasion like a champ.

So, the experience went like this:

A seriously exciting package just arrived.

Ok folks, there are a couple things that have captured me since I can remember. Like as farrrrrrr back as I can remember.

Costumes and horses.

Obviously I have stayed true to my itty bitty, young self and haven't changed a bit :)

Well, today is super exciting for me, because my very own side saddle has arrived! If there is a better marriage of history, horses and costume possibilities, I haven't found it.

Meet my saddle. 

She's a Martin and Martin, and she's an oldie. For her age, she's in pretty good shape. As far as side saddles go, they are surprisingly hard to find. In this day of finding everything in a click, this took some hunting. 

Aside from them being rather scarce in the first place, one is also limited by size, as the saddle has to fit both the horse and rider. I'm not sure of her age, but most side saddles available today date from late Victorian, to between the World Wars. Kept up and repaired, of course. 

There's always a dog or two hanging
 in the background of my photos :)

So, my challenge for 2014 will be to learn to ride aside. Tomorrow I will be taking it out to the barn for the first time. So excited!

I see a riding habit in my future...

Something pretty for your tuesday. A little stop at the Huntington.

A trip to Pasadena is not complete without a trip to the Huntington. It's a really lovely property. A house and galleries with lots of Georgian art, among other eras, and acres of beautiful gardens to explore. Plenty of pictures ahead...

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!

HSF #1: Make Do and Mend

Ooo this one was timed perfectly, because I've been meaning to take apart my regency undies and make them better.


The Challenge: Make Do and Mend

Fabric: Short stays and a shift

Pattern: The stays were Sense and Sensibility. The shift was made up and purchased form the Silly Sisters

Year: Early 19th century

Notions: Thread...

How historically accurate is it? Fixing and mending has been happening for ages!

Hours to complete: Maybe 2 or 3

First worn: Just for draping a dress

Total cost: Zip!


When I made up the short stays, the muslin fit, but being that they were front closing, the boning I put wasn't stiff enough (two layers of reed on each side) so the center front bowed out, making the bust too loose, at the top edge. I guess, for my bust size, I will need a proper busk.

Last week, I went to cut out another set of pattern pieces to alter and make them back closing, so I could put a busk, but then I decided it would be much quicker to just alter the cup area on these, so I could get to making a dress over them.

So, I removed the binding on the front, cut down the cups and reapplied the binding. Really quick and now they fit better.

Ooo now I see buckling under the bust. Must add more cording soon!

The short sleeved shift was actually a purchase. I picked it up at an event. It was made by the Silly Sisters and is linen, and is made up really nicely. Only problem, the neckline was a bit too round and small, so it peeked out of squarer necklines. So, easy fix, I marked the new neckline, opened up the seam and restitched. Very quick, as well.

The first project of 2014!

My first project of the new year is an embroidered reticule, very much based on this one from the Met. 

The bag is made from leftover bits of silk, lined with cotton. The embroidery is metallic floss and the ties are done up with pearl cotton, made into little ropes. The tassels are of the same pearl cotton.

It is made up of four identical pieces, lined and whipstitched to each other. The ties run through a channel at the top. 

The embroidery was actually really quick. I often get a little ehhh... before starting something with embroidery, because I think it will take forever. These two little motifs were very doable, though. Like, a few hours. Just satin stitches, back stitches and some french knots.

Makes me want to do more!