Epic UFO Clean.

The back room at our house functions as both an office for my husband and the storage facility for all our crap; nik-naks and collectibles, books, old trophies, my now diminished costume collection and of cause all the sewing stuff and stash mountain.

We have been trying to consolidate the mass of hoarding that the room contains and will periodically bring out a box or two and clean through it slowly culling what we have.  Among these now lives the UFO box.

To be honest I don't even know why half finished projects are called UFO's or why some of my costumes (looking at you Elizabethan) are technically still UFO (Looking at you hems) but sufficed to say there is a lot of unfinished work.  Even to the point that sometimes in these clean outs I just decide that I don't want to ever finish that project and put it in the bin.  So I think as I work though being more precise of my work and finalising things to a higher standard that I need to also clear out this bucket.

Probably the next job I have is the Hem of the underskirt on my Elizabethan as mentioned above and hopefully refitting the shoulders (they fitted when first done but as the stuffed shoulder rolls were added the weight became to much).  I also think it may be worthwhile getting a carriage pleat going on the back of the dress but then there is the issue of me not knowing how to carriage pleat lol.  The fun bit about all this is that I have worn the dress about 5 times in its existence even with these issues.

I have a fully cut out black velveteen Victorian frock coat for my husband.  Again a decade old project that dates back to the great Victorian nightmare.  I have a dress with some embroidery done on the belt and yoke but sleeves still to be added and more embroidery to finish.  This dress predates even the Victorian stuff and I no longer play the character in the game that it relates to but should get it done regardless.

A 50's dress that was begun about 6 years ago minimum for a friend of mine sits requiring sleeves, hem and yoke.  A dress finished but with a broken zip, shorts without a waistband, you name it I have it half done and waiting for my interest.

I could put together a list but sometimes its just fun finding them occasionally and realising they may come in handy.

Take for example the petticoat TV170.  I cut the pieces and had them all overlocked in the Victorian nightmare and never got any further.  Originally one of my friends was going to wear it but with all the other stuff I was making it sat unfinished.  I pulled it out about 5 years later and added the lace trim to the bottom ruffle.  Then again it sat for years until this month I looked at the Victorian I had made for high tea and thought a petticoat would really help this.  Last night it reached its final hurrah.

Who knows whats up next once I finish this Victorian but I am sure it will be fun :)

Beatles dress - update

A good day is the day you fit back into a dress you made and loved. 

It was about a year ago now, when I played Candy in a production of one flew over the cuckoos nest.  So my psychedelic Beatles dress was prime.  And as I ended up in my underwear so was diet and exercise.

Don't believe it would look this good now but finally a picture of me in the dress as it was intended for you all to enjoy

Victorian Christmas in July

A year ago (as it turns out to the day) I suggested to some friends that we go to the Carrington Hotel in Katoomba in July dressed in Victorian for high tea.  

I chose the The Carrington, which originally opened in 1883  because it retains that old world charm.  Every year they decorate a tree and put all the trimmings out in July and year round they do a well-priced and tasty high tea.  You can visit the dining room or ballroom for the high tea (depending where they are serving) the reception area, two lounges, library, billiards and office, all decorated in period charm.

I set the wheels in motion with a tentative early july date in September for the Historical Picnic Society, and whilst the numbers on the day were low (just the three of us) a good time was had by all. Personally I think we made several patrons day as they oohed and ahhed at us walking through to take photos at various hotel locations.  One group who all drove vintage triumphs even asked for our photos.

So this being about sewing you can see how the idea linked into my plans for a full Victorian outfit last year.  Let’s just say I was a bit behind on this one.  Not that I haven’t been sewing just that instead of working on this plan I have made multiple kids outfits (post to come) a costume for stage and a new dress.  On top of all this it is really really hard to sew with a two year old who loves to help.  Last night I was pinned in the leg three times as he “helped” me with some hand sewing.

Anyway in true Hef fashion despite a year lead time I created my entire outfit in under a week.  Planning and tracing took about 3 days and then I made the entire thing in one night (bustle not included).  There are further plans to complete this work to a much much higher standard as per the original plan but this is the shell in which I start.

I have continued to add and improve on this which will require another post once done

The outfit

TV101 – Wire Bustle

This took about a day from start to finish including all the ruffles being done by hand.  Yes I know I bought a ruffle foot but damned be to the gods if I can work out how to use it.  This included tracing, cutting and all finishes. I think there is a couple of changes I would like to make to it but all in all it works and is a solid piece.

The wires are a size Medium.  I am not.  I was once and who knows maybe I will be again one day but it is not this day.  However because of the wire size and the plan to wear a corset I made the medium anyway.  For this reason the case isn’t quite as wide as my hips, or at least I assume it isn’t as wide as it should be which gives a smaller silhouette than it should.  Given that I am not THAT worried about historical accuracy I don’t think this is a big problem.

Things that I am missing include the bottom ruffle (not enough fabric left, due to indiscriminate cutting) what I may do is just do a less ruffled bottom ruffle to finish it.  I am also thinking I may add some lace to the bottom of each ruffle just to add some interest.

Unfortunately, my bustle had a wardrobe malfunction internally on the day.  The ties that control the bottom wire decided they would rather not exist than deal with the strain of my butt and the stitching on one side came undone.  Consequently the bustle doesn’t sit quite right in the photos but we make do.  The issue has been repaired and seems to be holding much more strongly now.  I assume this strain to be based on that size issue previously discussed.

The fabric is a quilting cotton that I picked up in spotlight a year ago specifically for the skin up Victorian project so technically it was stash fabric.  I picked it because it is of neutral shading but has this pretty white print on it that is barely noticeable.  I thought it was both pretty and likely to hide under any colour skirt I should choose.

TV410 – 1873 Polonaise

I tossed and turned over this or the wash overskirt with the fabric choices.  I would have preferred the more Austere 1887 outfit but concern over yardage lead me back to the polonaise.  Sadly once all was said and done I probably could have done the wash but oh well that will just need to be a project for another day.  I had two different fabric choices, one was a light blue stripe with white underskirt and the second (which I went with) was the brocade and green satin.  

The biggest benefit of the polonaise is that having made it twice before (once as per the previous post and then again as a stage costume) I knew that I could throw it together quite quickly, and as previously mentioned anything worth doing is worth doing last minute.

The Brocade I got for a steal about 3 months ago. 50% off the already marked down price at spotlight brought it down to $5/m.  The Green Duchess has been in the stash for years, since 2012 to be exact.  I remember it was like $2/m at Cabramatta and I wasn’t going to get any for me then a friend I was with bought me 4m as a present for helping her make a costume.  For cheap fabric its actually pretty nice to touch and has a lot of body.  I was concerned that they didn’t go together but after a quick facebook survey I ended up reassured.  In the end I went with this over the light blue and white because I felt that the stripes could work well as a regency where this was less versatile, and who can turn up a red/green combo for Christmas in July.

As noted the polonaise was made in a single night and the underskirt the following morning before we left.  As such I can’t say that on this wearing the finishes were, well finished.  All my internals were open and lining unsealed, there was no boning in the polonaise, the ties in the bustle bit were tacked in bias binding.  I added the snap front closure in the morning.  Luckily you can’t really see any of the rush in the wear but let’s say the slightly too small corset was knee in back tight just to allow the snaps to stay snapped.

After being totally jealous of the finishes on Marion’s Beautiful taffeta extravaganza I have decided not to let sleeping dogs lie and begun the process of finishing the internals and closing off seams, upgrading and more thoughtfully placing the bustle ties and considering closure options.  Do I go buttons or hooks and eyes…. So hard to decide.  Anyway I will repost with the updated, finished and fully tizzed up version once complete.

Simplicity 5457 – Skirt

The underskirt is very simple, three front gores and two back pieces gathered onto a waist band.  I do think maybe this skirt has a little too much fullness for the outfit and I MAY decide to take out some of the a line in the front gores at least, however these shots only have the bustle underneath and perhaps with a finished petticoat the skirt will hold itself better.  

Made in a matter of hours from trace to wear, there is a few things I want to change on this.  Firstly the waistband is too big.  I mean it is the right size for me without a corset but can’t be tightened to the corseted waist measurement.  I am thinking of removing the ties and adding a button/buttons to allow for both sizes to be utilised.

Secondly it is very plain, I have plans to add a pleated ruffle around the bottom just to dress it up more to the Victorian over-dressed standards.  I have enough fabric left for it.  I also may pink the internal seams.  Full sealing isn’t necessary as it won’t be a high wash item.

Missing items

TV105 – all in one underwear.  This is about 80% done now so its on the to do pile

TV170 – Petticoat, that has been hanging around about a decade now unfinished.  Movement has happened and it will be finished in the next few weeks for the finalised.  Fun Fact  I lost the waistband so now will need to buy just a smidge of yellow poplin to be able to finalise.

New Projects

well this really is just a post for me so I won’t be particularly verbose.

I have renewed my love of costume. It’s taken a lot longer to get my costume done than I had originally thought but I hear kids will do that to you.

Anyway I haven’t skin up completed but I have almost finished underwear. A completed bustle. And a polonaise and basic skirt. It’s been worn but work continues   I will do a more full post on Victorian for you all in the next week or so.

This post is really to get some more plans written down.

1. Victorian
2. Fix Elizabethan
3. Regency that fits inc half stays.
4. Tudor
5. Robe de anglaise
6. Robe de Francois
7. Pre civil war cage
8. Medieval



I will edit this list with further ideas and plans as I go.

A Look back at my Victorian Past Part 5 – Stacey's Ensemble

This was a nightmare of a costume to make.  Bit of background - these costumes were made for a game at a role-playing convention, yes it has crossed my mind since that it was a lot of work for 3 hours of use but that aside.  In addition to all the Victorian costumes I was also making all these pirate costumes (that were worn for the 4 days).

I did get a lot of help from the lovely ladies but I was at the time the primary sewist.  Stacey was the second and so she made her pirate outfit and was also going to make her Victorian.  Pirate went off without a hitch but Victorian was presented to me the afternoon before con, the self drafted underskirt complete and the Wash over skirt mostly complete but the bodice was simply pieces.

Now remember when I said that TV had the best sizing system ever - well Stacey did not listen to me and had decided she would need the largest pattern size and thus traced and cut that out.  So Yeah, perhaps a post on perception v's reality may be in order some time.  Anyhow we were up until about 4 or 5am getting this completed a task made all the more fun by Stacey's bizarre ability to stab herself with any pin post about 3am to which the sewing hours after that became known as stab o'clock.

I won't break this one down as I did the last ones because as I have already mentioned I didn't sew a lot of it.  From what I can tell the Wash Over skirt sews together well looks great and is easy to deal with in terms of cleaning and storing.  The whole skirt flattens out for ironing and cleaning.  what I will focus on is the bodice.

We changed up the sleeves (to make it easier at stab o'clock) and changed the neckline quite substantially.  I was especially proud of having lined up the chevron despite the resizing stress.  I assume it would have sewn together much better if the proper instructions were followed from the start.  Lucky I had some practice with the whole resize thing on my own bodice so it wasn't completely foreign though I would still only rate myself novice at best.

Anyway there is now only one Victorian to go but alas I will need to get a better picture as the one I have is only from behind.

The Elvis Dress

I have been wracking my brain to find the pattern that I used to make this dress.  Anything, even a brand but it is alluding me and with all my patterns currently boxed up and out of the way it isn't something I can easily search out.  I even tried the database I am building of patterns I own only to discover that I have wrongly catagorised a pattern as this when it obviously isn't.

However without further ado I will tell you what I do know.  This dress is made from a vintage 1950's pattern.  I think it was a mail order pattern to be honest, so not branded or numbered anyway but once I have dug it out of storage I will add the details and a photo to this post.  The features of the dress are box pleated skirt (There is one on the center front with is easy to spot and two on the back that get lost in the gathers - this isn't a mistake the pattern made me do it.)  the bust is fitted by these awesome open ended darts that I love and the neckline as per the pattern is boat.

This dress fits like a glove, no resize, no issues just on and go.  Personally I think it must be something in the design because I wore it right up to about 6-7 months pregnant and it still looked ok.  The fall of the skirt is flattering and the fit of the boat neck surprising as this is something that normally needs to be individualized.   Not just me though as I made a version of this for a friend and it fit her to and she is way broader and thinner than me.

The material I used I love, it is a clever trick of the eye where it looks from a distance kind of like a patterned striping but when you get up close - bam that's Elvis right there in one inch repeat and two awesome colours.  It is a quilting cotton that came out many years ago there was a series with elvis prints and one with Beatles prints.  I still have some Beatles heads to make something with but this is what the precious Elvis fabric was destined for..  There were several considerations (which appears to be why I have it wrongly labeled in my database) but few 50's patterns can carry a strip like this.  I needed one with a full gathered waist because I did not have the fabric to try and match striping on gores.

I like the way the zip fits in too, it is by pattern set a few inches below the neckline, very handy for people like me who screw up zip inputs all the freaking time!

I made this dress in 2011 and I still love wearing it now, I still get compliments on it and it still makes me feel just a little funky.  I remade this pattern with some changes that Christmas but I will do a different post on that one once I get some images done.

A Look at my Victorian Past Part 4 - Pam's Ensemble

Due to Pam working shifts I had all rights to choose fabric for this outfit.  As such it is all my fault or all my glory.  I think it turned out well to be honest.  There are things I would do differently which I will outline below.

Bodice – TV462

This is called the Tail bodice specifically for the pleated falls over the bustle and can be made in long or as you see here short length.  It is designed as a late bustle period bodice/jacket and could likely have used a bit more pomp than I afforded it in the material choices I made. 

The blue is a self striped polyester satin with a very soft fall.  The colour was nice and worked well for Pam but the weight was all wrong for the pattern.  This didn’t make much difference to the bodice pieces as they are all flat-lined with denim but it did make quite the difference to the tail pieces which didn’t really hold the pleating as well as a stiffer fabric would have.  I don’t think the effect was detrimental to the overall look but it certainly didn’t showcase the double box pleating that is done to create the falls of the tail.

The detailing was simple, I just created a bordering using the brown fabric of the skirt.  Lessons learnt since tell me that had I cut the strips on the bias it would have sat much better.  The straight cut edging I think does effect the sit of the top and as I said it also could have used some more je ne sais quoi.  Maybe ribbon detailing or beading or something to bring it more into the over lavish time period of Victorian.  To me the styling seems like the more austere Edwardian period, but with bustle.

Skirt – Simplicity 5457

There isn’t much more I can say about the skirt than I haven’t already said here.  The same pattern was used for this and a very similar material differing only in colour.  Again like the bodice I feel that the skirt is lacking in decorative finery.

All in all the outfit turned out well but it does serve as a reminder of what could have been so much more even if it was good as is.

What suggestions would you have given to dress this up a bit more?

The Beatles Dress

This dress was made for me to wear on one of the most important days of my life - the day I met the single hottest man on earth, and got my picture taken with him.

Anyway this blog is about the sewing/fashion type stuff not to gush over Karl Urban.  Unfortunately I am too big to fit this dress at the moment - though it is close so hopefully this year will see it back on my back (and can you believe I thought I was "fat" when I made it)

Anyway jokes aside this dress is made using a simplicity reprint 1960's shift.  Some (ok all) of the seam detailing is lost in the super psychedelic pattern I chose to use.  The material was part of a quilting series for the Beatles and is called Yellow Submarine.  It was my first time working with Quilting cotton and I loved how it it sewed.  Quilting, however is a heavier cotton than some so works better on dresses with structure.

I chose the short version of the dress, because I have always loved mini's.  Age and wisdom has told me that sometimes the heart has a love the legs can't carry off, were I to make this again I would use the longer version.  The mini is super dooper mini, even at the time I ended up wearing it more like a tunic over jeans.  Don't judge me it was the style of the time.

I lined the dress in some navy polyester lining.  The lining was sewn like a bubble into the hem to avoid any visible hem seems on the front of the dress.  Basically, I cut the dress a few cm longer than the lining and sewed the two together.  Then I ironed it so that the extra dress hem folded up into the lining.  Not something I would recommend to others as ironing is a nightmare but the concept of a hem stitch was years away at this point.  The other change that I made was to move the zip down, mostly because it meant I would not have to finish the zip top.

Things that I like about this dress, the finishes are all well done.  The fabric is amazing and stands out and the dress when it did fit, fit really well.  I was initially; concerned that with my bust it wouldn't sit well but I was pleasantly surprised.  There is just enough shape in the dress to define waist and hips.

I do recommend this pattern
I also recommend the Beatles - still the best band of all history.

Lindy Charm School

So this post is a plug for someone who’s services I have previously partaken in and recommend very highly.

The Lindy Charm School for Girls

http://www.thelindycharmschoolforgirls.com

Often taking place at various vintage fairs around this country,  Lindy's specialises in teaching you the tips and tricks to really completing that vintage look.  Hair styles, make up techniques and accessories were all covered when I did it.  It has admittedly been years but I would be happy to return and take a workshop again.  There is something in this for everyone, even my mother who is a hairdresser trained in many vintage techniques learnt new tricks.

Miss Chrissy, the charm school headmistress is friendly and insightful.  She lives the vintage look every day and knows what works and what doesn’t.  She is a vision of elegance from a bygone era.

One small thing about this – when I went I had short hair (a 60’s twiggy style) and I have short hair again.  As such I didn’t get as much out of the hair portion as I couldn’t really take it home and do it myself – though humorously my mother did place a barrel roll in my hair on the long fringe side which looked as silly as you imagine.  If you do have short hair I would suggest just asking for tips and tricks to achieve finger rolls as it’s a classically vintage look that doesn’t require long tresses.  You do  not however, need long hair to enjoy the day or to learn loads of information about accessories and make up styles.

Their website also sells some great vintage items so even if you can’t make it to the workshops it can be worth checking out their shop.

A Look back at my Victorian Past Part 3 – Debbie’s Dress

This costume uses the same polonaise pattern as I intend to use for the most epic project.  I do however want to point out how absolutely annoying it is that Debbie was so fantastic at fabric picking and trims that this one really was the standout in many ways and most of those ways had nothing to do with me.  Everything about this just matched.  Nothing was overdone, nothing looked cheap (even though like all of these it in many ways was, fabric would have cost $4-6/m at most).

Polinaise – TV

The original plan was to poofie up the back as per the pattern but I found once it was hanging on Mavis it just looked so good without it so the early bustle pattern ended up creating a late bustle look.  The hardest bit on this was matching the pattern down the back panels, an effort that was definitely worth it as it would not have been nearly as amazing had we not taken the extra time.

I want to take a moment here to talk about the Truly Victorian size system and just how awesome it is.  Without it I never would have been able to complete the costumes in time.  All bodice patterns have a system for working out what pieces you need to use.  You measure about 10 different dimensions, do some tricky math (take measurement a from measurement b) or in my case force your husband to do said tricky math (not actually tricky if you don’t suck at math like me), and it will tell you what you need.  For example when you take the across back away from the bust measurement and look up the remaining in the table it tells you your size for the front bodice is F but the measurements for the back piece equate to D.  In this way you build your pattern pieces to fit your form.  And 3 out of 4 fit perfectly first time.  In fact on all of them I ended up using the trial as a lining. (the other two are myself and Ange who both had ageless pattern bodices and the one that didn’t work didn’t use the system correctly – more on that later).  Anyway my advise if you have a TV pattern is to use their sizing system, yes it is more time consuming then just selecting all pieces the same “size” based on bust measurement but it is less time consuming than refitting pieces because your not perfectly in proportion.  The fit is beautiful and worth the effort and icky “mathsing”.

Underskirt – Simplicity 5457

 So the underskirt and “bustle” were taken from a butterick pattern, I just didn’t have the time to create proper cage bustles.  The bustle effect on this is made by a shaped pillow that gets tied to the waist.  It’s a good cheat if your just after a quick fix to get the right silhouette.  The pillow pattern is included with the skirt and a bodice that we didn’t use (two bodices and an overskirt pattern to be exact).

There isn’t much to be said about the pattern, it was very simple gored skirt with added fullness in the back.  Debbie chose a steel grey duchess satin and trimmed with black lace and ribbon.

All in all this was a very simple pattern, that yielded quite outstanding results.