My Advise to the beginner sewest

 I often get asked about starting sewing or teaching someone sewing or helping someone and thus I present to you 5 pieces of advise for beginners.  Now my advise does not always add up with other peoples but fits more my sewing personality which is essentially fast and dirty.  In any case let me know if you agree or disagree with the below.

1. A Basic Machine could last you a lifetime

    For a very long time sewing machines actually only did one stitch, a straight stitch.  In the beginning it only did one length of that one stitch.  Nearly a decade ago now I was replacing my machine, (the original was a Janome that cost me $120AUD) and looking to upgrade to a computerized machine.  Truth be told there wasn't anything mechanically wrong with my Janome but the machine tray piece had a fight with a heater and the heater won, meaning that I only had the small bit that you wrap sleeves around.

    I looked at many many machines with all sorts of bells and whistles when I had an epiphany.  I use Straight stitch, maybe the occasional zig zag and the one step button hole.  AND THAT IS IT!!!  Sure I could spend the money and get a machine with eleventy billion stitch options, but I would still only use straight, zig zag and button hole - so why pay for stuff I won't use.

    I ended up with a Brother NS10 which was at the time the most basic of the computerised machines.  I still sew on this machine with the occasional service to keep it in good working order.  

    I have since inherited a fully working 1948 Singer and a more advanced computerised Janome.  I worked on the Janome to create the swan maiden but to be honest I pulled out my Brother to sew the 1940's dress you will be seeing soon.  This is likely due to me just being more familiar with the Brother now.  Yes it does take a bit to get familiar with your machine no matter what machine you get.

2. Sewing is not actually that hard.

    I know what a well hidden secret, however it is true.  Since the advent of sewing machines sewing requires far less skill to get started than you would think.  Most people seem to be holding back due to the intimidation of getting started.  Honest if I can do it anyone can.  Line up the seam push the the pedal and pray to the Rhapso (yeah apparently there was a minor goddess of sewing in Greek mythology.)

3. If you aren't interested you won't be interested

    So much of the beginner advise out there is "make a pillow" or something equally as exciting.  Yes that was sarcasm.  Who wants a pillow or cushion? That is not going to inspire you to continue or get better.  I say pick something you want to make.  If historical costume is the reason you want to start sewing then make an historical thing.  

4. Basic advise on some pattern choices (Historical and Wearable)

    To start use sized patterns, that is a pattern that comes in your size (use measurements as "standardised sizing" is anything but standard).

    For Victorian, Truly Victorian patterns are relatively simple as a base and the complexity comes from the additions you choose to use.  They also have basic Edwardian bases.  (No I am not sponsored by anyone).  Do not start on Ageless patterns, they are not shy in advising you that these are for advanced sewers (so wait till you are at least comfortable with a sized pattern before attempting this)

    You can get basic historical patterns from the big 4 now and I could recommend working with the Angela Clayton patterns from McCalls, I personally haven't yet but for most of them you can search out her vlog on you tube where she makes the item you are making and you can't get better advise than that.

    Regency are a very simple pattern by default and again there are big 4 patterns, or sense and sensibility, folklore, Laughing moon.  Personally I would steer clear of Reconstructing history their patterns are rather complicated.

    There are plenty of books out there that allow you to draft up a pattern on scale models.  Personally I wouldn't go with these as a first up but if you are artistic in a drawing sense or exceptionally mathematical you do you right.

    For wearable stuff the big 4 (which by the way are Simplicty and then the three all owned by the same parent company - McCalls, Butterick, Vogue) have wide catalogues including vintage styled patterns.  Pro Tip, if you wait for it sewing shops will have a sale every month or so where you can get 4 for the price of one.

    Point is most patterns will come with full instructions, start with step one and work through to the end.

5. No shame in cheap crap fabric

    It is a truth universally acknowledged that I am a cheap bitch.  Even now most of the fabric I use is on sale in some way shape or form.  Watching many of the you tubers you will fall in love with the natural silks, linens, cottons, velvets .... yeah that's for future you.  There is no shame in polyester, cheap poplins, sale fabric from the haberdashery section.  Even now, remember the India Wilkes dress, yeah if I stand to close to a fire it will melt.

    See there is a chance, going my way that you won't be 100% in love with what you get at the end, but I guarantee you will learn fast and on the job.  You will be proud of the final product but it won't be        "perfect", so keep the financial risk low as you are happy with.  

    On top of that some of those really costly fabrics are a shit to work with, satin for example slides like a greased pig, velvet crushes if handled incorrectly, brocade can frey like crazy.   Which leads me to a   bonus Tip:

BONUS - Hef's top 3 Banned Fabric List:

    In my years of sewing here is a list of fabric types I will avoid like the current plague....

    1.     Chiffon, in any incarnation though that shitty crystal stuff is the worst.  Look at it wrong and you             are left with nothing more than a pile of unwoven threads.  It grips to nothing, slides around,                    puckers up and almost left me insane.  Use at own risk.

    2.     Tapestry, Used this for the Elizabethan dress which looks fantastic but unravels worse than                    chiffon with the added problem of being the thickest fabric choice I have ever had.  Literally                    broke 4 Leather needles while hand turning to try and sew the skirt on.

     3.     Really flowy light weight crepes.  This stuff is sooooo slippery.  Impossible to cut unless you                 trace the pattern piece and cut one at a time.

So there it is my advise for a beginner, just to what you want and have fun with it.  I will be back soon to tell you all about my 1940's return to sewing and maybe even a plan out for some future works.  Let me know what you think of my tips in the comments below.

Swan Maiden and the Foundations Revealed Competition

 The deed is done there is no going back now, the swan maiden is entered and now it is but to wait for feedback with all things crossed.  Honestly I don't know how I will go there is so many talented people out there, far more talented than I but as the saying goes got to be in it to win it.  Beyond that competitions like this can only serve to strengthen my skills and better my sewing so it all fulfils the plans I have for 2021.

Before I continue I do just want to address why I didn't do update posts, I had wanted to but the thought about it in terms of best use of time and felt I was better off hand-sewning feathers than typing in order to get it finished on time.  I also conjectured that one good post at the end of a project is probably more worth while than posting weekly for the sake of it.

So without further ado the summation of the Swan Maiden

Part one: A Silk taffeta regency inspired style dress with lace and pearl detailing

This part of the costume was cannibalised from the remains of an unfinished wedding dress I inherited from the estate of a deceased seamstress.  Not only did I unpick the large skirt for yardage I also removed all the pearl details, pearl buttons and the elastic button loop.  As they say waste not want not.

The process of construction was fairly simple and the dress pattern is based on Sense and Sensibilities Regency gown pattern.  Alterations were done on this though as I wanted the neckline to be V shaped, inspired by Jane in BBC's version of Pride and Prejudice.  I have no idea of the historical accuracy of this in terms of regency but given the swan maiden is not historical it felt like the best time to take advantage of how well this looks on the décolletage.

I also had to (for both personal journey and competition reasons) work to create the right fit, which did present some challenges.  Primarily having a large and high bust with a small back the bust measurement generally creates a far to big bodice size for me where the side seams push forward and the back just swims.  So I did several new things here.  Firstly I traced out the size based on a smaller back than front, trued up all lines on the pattern with rulers and French curves then made the thing I avoid most..... a mock up.  I in fact made 2 mock up's of the bodice before I was happy enough with the fit.  Changes included, in addition to the neckline and getting that curve right, adding about an inch to the back side seam tapering down to nothing, and adjusting the back curved seam.  Proud of myself I moved onto the silk. (trust me the assurance of fit comes up later).

So how does one cut into silk taffeta that they would never have the budget to buy otherwise?  Simple just don't think about it.  I used the two back panels to create the skirt back as they had the most length.  I even kept the train and the scalloped hem for about a week.  the plan was to join them to what had been the front piece of the skirt and use a side piece for the bodice and bodice lining.  However this was not to be, the front piece came up a few inches short.  I was then left with the decision of whether to give up on the idea of the already partially finished hem detail or use the two side fronts and have a seam in the center of the front of the dress.  I deliberated for a week on this as I worked on the bodice (being cut from the otherwise too short front piece).

In the end logic won out, I shortened the train cutting off the hem and used one side front piece of the original to cut out my dress front.  Being regency inspired the skirt work did not require much more.  I French seamed all bar the Centre back seam (it was on selvage) and pleated in the back top using both my eye and hope and prayers.  In hindsight I probably should have done larger pleats for less of a poofy end effect, they do however sit well when ironed flat.

Now back to that bodice I was working on earlier.  I used several techniques that I have generally not used before (watching you tube gives me so many ideas).  These included under stitching, which is likely to be my new favourite thing ever.  Drawing out the seam lines on all pieces, tacking the seams prior to the machining and ironing as I went.  I still had to whip stitch the lining in place though not trusting myself to ditch stitch neatly enough.

For sleeves I toyed around with the patterned poofs but in the end decided to use that scallop work as at least a nod to the efforts of the original seamstress.  Whilst the scallops were there I did have to finish them (they had only been tacked in place, I assume based on other wedding dress bodice that the scallops were to be finished with lace and beadwork) and there is small piecing under the arm due to the whole sleeve pattern not fitting on the width I had to work with but the outcome I think looks fantastic.  This was also technically the place I first used the hem stitch or cross stitch.  That's right I actually hand finished hems this time.

The original wedding dress had used pearl beads as buttons down the back with an elastic loop closure so both of these I salvaged for my dress.  I did later find out when I went to sew on the beads that the loops counted 11 where the beads counted only 8, so I had to do a quick match at spotlight.  I briefly considered changing them out for swarovski pearls but decided against it based on the expense of the cloak notions.

In order to dress up the front I purchased form Millinery Online (where I got my feathers) the off white lace which I then hand beaded with some salvaged pearls to dress it up.  Feeling bold I followed up with some pearl detailing in the scallops of the sleeves again with salvaged beads.  

In the end I was very impressed with the finished dress, it works as a stunning stand alone piece and also within the context of this overall costume.  The silk was a literal dream to work with, weightless, rustling, exquisite.  The fit however, remember I said we would come back to that.  Well apparently in the time it took to make this (only a few weeks) I saw a significant (think 2" across the front bustline) drop in my boobs.  Highly likely this had to do with the whole being post natal and hormones but those hormones didn't make it any less infuriating (actually probably made it worse).  There was little I could do about the dress and to be fair to myself the looser fit is not an issue so much on the dress as it was on the stays.

Part 2: Sizing down Half Stays because your timeline does not allow for a whole new set.

It actually only took one night of hand sewing while binge watching costube so I can't complain to much, however undergarments' like this one are kind off boring so I will keep this brief.

To change the size of the bust line I unpicked all my meticulous hand sewn binding, unpicked the top stitched gores and cut them down by 1/4" each side.  4 gores across the top meant a total of 2" was taken out.

I then replaced them and whip stitched them back into place folded up the binding and re-stitched that down as well.  Interestingly hand stitching the gores in was way easier, neater and less time consuming than machine top stitching them in the first time.  

This is possibly a construction method thing whereby the first time I flatlined the lining with heavy linin, and sewed the entire stay as a lining and then a fashion fabric then sewed them together around the outside and top stitched to enforce the seams, when hand stitching I treated the stays as done and just layered the three fabrics on the gores, placed them in, folded back the raw edges and whip stitched them on both sides.  If I have to make short stays or any sort of bust gored stays again I will likely use this method rather than that of my earlier attempts.

Part 3: Crinkle Organza Cloak with individually hand sewn feather trim and hand beaded lace edging

So the crowing glory of this costume, for where would a swan maiden be without her magic cloak (married to an abusive asshole who would rather control you than risk losing you to actual freedom that's where).  I purchased for the price on sale of $5/3m (that's 5 bucks total not per meter) crinkle organza from Pitt Trading.  I wanted a sheer fabric but I also wanted to have some texture.  I had considered glass organza or crystal organza, but then had flashbacks to earlier projects.  So I started surfing my favourite Aussie online fabric places and was fated to find this bargain.

The pattern for the cloak is simple and thus kind of draped on myself.  I started with a vague shoulder shape, angled down to ensure enough length to cover the dress train at the back and reach the ground at the front.  The shoulder shape did have to be reworked when tried on and I did this by simply pinching in what was sticking out weirdly.  And by weirdly I mean Gridiron padding weirdly.  

I was going to French seam the cloak also but the nature of the organza as a sheer meant that any time I doubled the fabric it was very apparent, so having essentially 4 layers of the organza in the seam would have been unseemly (pun totally intended).  I checked the organza for fraying and found it held up to a lot, given that the nature of this item was to be delicate, I decided not to apply a seam treatment but rather keep the seam allowance as small as possible (1/8") to minimize seam visibility from the outside.

The inside seams were folded over and then folded again and sewn down with invisible thread.  For those who have never heard of this it is like really fine really breakable fishing line that you cant see and knots like a calf after leg day.  You have likely seen it on some hems in mass produced fashion, the hems that drop regularly and within the first two to three washes.  Yeah.... can't say I will ever use that again by choice.  It did however allow for me to have no visible seam line on this finished edge.

I then started sewing on feathers, lots of them, like over 500 feathers, one at a time, for hours and hours.  For those wondering I found the easiest method (and there are a few tried on this) is to sew through the shank from the front on like a cushion or lounge arm back up through the shank then around the shank a few times then knot off.  I did start with using my thread two ends through the eye of the needle and bring back through the loop to knot off and start. WRONG.  no you need to have a knotted end because otherwise your thread slips out of your needle eye every single stitch.  I did try working from the back. WRONG.  Your feather will move and end up at an odd angle requiring you to undo that feather and start again.  So the best way I found was; 

1. Stab thread through shank, close to where it turns white,

2.  Sew through fabric where you want it placed and pull tight.

3. Stab back up through shank about 5mm higher in the clear section

4. loop around shank a few times

5. knot off.

Second issue I came across was not having enough feathers to do what I wanted.  It took more feathers than anticipated to get the density required.  I quickly ordered more feathers express, though also had an issue with cost.  All up I think there is about $100 in just feathers on this cloak so you can see why I was unable to fund Swarovski pearls now.  I also had to re-assess just how much of the cloak i could cover.  The original plan was to go up to about the knees, then start to fade out/decrease density to about the hip.  As you can see in the photos that would have taken probably another $300 easily.  So plans were changed to bring up to above the knees in center front, then taper it down in an uneven pattern towards the back which would be 3-4 rows of feathers high (depending on stock).

One of the reasons coverage is low is because the feathers are natural so by nature not uniform.  In a pack of 50 you could get on average half really good full shaped feathers and half kind of long skinny feathers.  There is no saying if you will get a pack with only 10 good ones or only 10 shit ones.  But as I say to my son you get what you get and you don't get upset.  It did however make it harder to guess what number I would need.

I don't think this change necessarily had an adverse effect on the costume though as you can see in the photo (top) there is a certain wing link quality to the pattern when held out.  Also while I can say I am unlikely to work with feathers in this quantity again I do like the finished look of them all bunched together.

This brings me to the next issue, after I was half way through the feathers (both fronts and half of two rows of the back done) I tried on the cloak and you know how they say light as a feather - well 250 of them on crystal organza does actually create some drag.  Add to that the natural convex of the feathers and the cloak was just not sitting right.  The feather boarder which hung beautifully on the hanger, was curling under.  I shortened from the shoulder to counteract this, however I did make sure to sew all feather trim and then shorten so that I didn't have to do this twice.

Finally it came time to add the hood (drafted as a basic hood shape based on a hoodie) which is where I realised as much as I hate it I should have gone with a more draped chiffon over organza, which has a lot of body.  The hood was not going to sit flat on my head.  I having just wrangled a whole hemmed edge plus felled seams in the stupid invisible thread was not about to be defeated though.  I went to my trim stash and pulled out several options to try and weight the boarder of the face hole (sorry I don't know the technical terms for these things and face hole works for me).  I decided on a lace embellished with more pearls to tie into the pearl detailing on the dress.

Once finished I added the hood to the cloak with more of the devils thread and created a thread loop and pearl closure.  It was done and ready for photos.

The costume has been entered in the foundations revealed competition today so hopefully I can get at least some constructive feedback from the costume community at large on where I can improve in this 2021 the year of improving.  And stash busting.

I think the biggest lesson I take away is to work on the chemise dress next as anything fitted is going to cause problems as I continue to drop pregnancy weight.  I am however also trying to stagger the costumes out.  I would like to complete 12 solid projects this year (that's at least one of these posts a month) but they will be split between a costume, then something to add to my wardrobe, then something fixed/ufo completed and then start back at costume.

Stay tuned for my 1940's dress made from another $5 bundle (cause I may be stash busting but who can resist a bargain).

Regency Ballgown - History and Planning

 Regency is a period most people are familiar with, if for no other reason than the insane popularity of Pride and Prejudice - or more specifically the Colin Firth one that made every history loving girl fall head over heals for Mr Darcy.  I mean why wouldn't you.

The fashion of the time was a nod back to the roman and Grecian styles.  The waistline moved right up to under the bust that also moved right up.  Skirts were narrow by comparison to earlier styles and the look altogether more sleek and less floofy.  The image of Regency is so engrained in our minds that we often don't realise the entire period lasted less than a decade (1811-1820 or the time in which the Prince of Wales ruled as Regent for an ill King George III).

Besides the cut of dresses the era is also known for its excess, whilst the Bennett's had their modest farm we must remember and picture the Netherfield Ball, or the sheer amount of food being brought into Netherfield on Bingley's return.  There was once an awesome show called Supersizers Go where they would live as in a specific era and the Regency episode is hilarious.  I recommend watching it. 

Regency is not a period I am unfamiliar with, I have made something like 10 dresses of this period all using the sense and sensibility series of patterns.  They tend to sew together very quickly and simply on modern sewing machines.  Though more so than any other era a regency stay of some description is required to get the silhouette correct - least you look more like a 70's hippy.  

So what has made this project jump the queue as it were, well Foundations revealed are running a competition.  The theme is Once Upon a Time and the idea being that you create a character.  I am happily using this as inspiration to get creative.  

So I selected my character, which in the end was harder than you would think - not only because there is so many characters to create but also because I still need to stick to the two rules - busting the stash and working on skills.  Regency was already on the cards and seemed to be the easiest to adapt to the theme set out.  By now you are probably thinking another Lizzie Bennet then but you would be wrong.  That would be far to easy (Plus I would do Mary she is way more interesting).  I decided I wanted to adapt the regency style to a character of folklore - The swan Maiden.  

The tale of the Swan Maiden exists across a number of cultures, however I was able to find published (at least online) tale and song for this which means (I hope) it will fit the boundaries set out by Foundations Revealed.  The basic premise of all stories is that a hunter sees swans land, shed their feathered clocks and transform into beautiful women who proceed to bathe then put back on the feathered cloak to transform back into swans and fly away.  Hunter steals cloak and blackmails swan maiden to marry him.  Eventually Swan Maiden finds clock and flies away.  Academically there is much discussion over the themes and tones in these folklores but really I just love the image of the transforming swan.

What I will need in terms of costume pieces

1. Feathered clock, of cause this would be the most important part though it is as yet only ideas in my head

2. White Regency Dress

3. Regency Petticoat

4. Regency Half Stays, which I already have done (thank the lords for small favours)

In order of priority though I will make the petticoat, followed by the dress and then the cloak.  I know this seems counter intuitive given the importance of the cloak but I can get the dress and petticoat done whilst mentally figuring out how I will do the cloak and what its design will be, and I can plan out the draping/pattern changes I would like to do to the dress while I work on the Petticoat.  Also as the petticoat is made up of mostly the same pieces as the dress its almost a wearable mock up to get my sizing right.

Skill wise I will need to draft some elements on the top of the dress which is quite new to me.  I have some ideas such as wanting slashed sleeves.  I also need a more mythical sort of look to the dress so design is obviously the biggest part of this project in general.  Again I will be concentrating on finishes (you will see this as an ongoing theme) with things like hand sewing and seam treatments and all those fun things.

Now to the important bit, the stash.  The bulk of this (the dress part) will be using not only stash fabric but entirely recycled fabric.  Early last year some friends and I were invited to inherit the sewing stash of a late dressmaker.  Within that stash was an unfinished wedding dress of white silk.  No one else wanted it because they would never finish the dress but I saw potential.  Specifically large panels of silk that could be repurposed to a new item - it was always earmarked for a regency dress.  obviously first step will be to get it out unpick the old dress and see what I have to cut from (I will try and get this done next week)

I may need to get some silk organza for some of the elements like the insides of the sleeves because I don't see the point of mixing polyester with silk, though the cape will likely be made from an polyester fabric that I also got from the same dressmaker because it seems like it would be financially problematic to buy a silk for the cloak and then in all likelihood glue feathers to it.  Though net may be a better option.  Again these are things I need to think about.  See why I am starting with a petticoat.

The Tram Outfit

 This outfit was actually made last year.  The Historical Picnic Society of Sydney was made aware that there was a celebration happening at the tram museum to celebrate 110 years (I think) of Sydney Trams.  This placed the opening to 1899 so we decided a suitable presentation should be attempted and on this day in 2019 we all assembled suitably attired.

Originally I had bought a 1898 Ageless Patterns option in the strawberry Linen suit, however as deadline loomed I knew I would not have the time to do it the justice I wanted to that outfit.  For those who have not worked with ageless patterns before they are a reproduction of patterns at the time.  They give you the basic pattern pieces in whatever size the original is in and the rest is up to you.  I knew I would need to do a lot of resizing and refitting to get the result I wanted let alone the trim plans I had.

So with limited time left I turned to my trusty Truly Victorian stash of patterns and moved a few years post the trams opening to make the 1903 Plain Blousewaist (TVE41) and the 1903 Trumpet Skirt (TVE21).  For those who have not used Truly Victorian they give you for the most part the basic structure and you are able to decorate to your hearts content to create a variety of options.  Depending on fabric choice, trim choices and accessories you can obtain a large variety of looks.  I was aiming for Edwardian Middle Class woman on a day out.

For fabric I turned to E&M Greenfields, a Sydney store that supplies wholesale and also direct to public both online an instore with a large range of basic fabrics in a rainbow of colours.  Having been in there the range online is a drop in the ocean of what you can get in store especially in the trim department.  Being wholesale primarily if you don't order in large enough quantities there is a cutting fee and prices are not advertised but given by quote.  Having said that whilst the system is one step longer it really isn't complicated and their response time is amazing.  So is the cost. I asked for a quote on a yellow Linen (skirt) and white preshrunk Voile (top and lining).  

I don't remember the exact price I paid but the Voile was so cheap I thought why the hell not and bought the 15m that was the limit before another fee kicked in - I mean who doesn't need 15m of voile, I can use it for lots of things, anything, I live for voile.  

The outfit turned out ok I guess.  The skirt I love though I think I should placket the back opening and to be fair Linen whilst time period appropriate is a wrinkling nightmare, the yellow colour however I love.  The shape is very flattering I think.

The top however, I am not sure on.  I think I need to remake in something with a bit more body than the voile to be honest.  It isn't bad just boring.  Also I could be being tainted by years of watching Pollyanna but I feel it is very "pidgeony".  I did lower the neck using only the undercollar.  Having made the Train outfit previously with the full heighted collar I knew I did not have a graceful swan like Edwardian neck and ended up looking like a floating head.  This height turned out perfect for me and is finished with a tiny little ruffle of eyelet lace.  The same lace is backed on itself to form a double sided run down the blouse Centre.  Problem is none of these details really show up in the photos.

I topped it all off with a bought boater, found in the post Melbourne Cup sales (the only time to buy hats).

So what do you think, should I try the bouse again? If so what fabric should I use?

Chemise a'la Reine - History and Planning

 The Chemise a'la Reine, which translates to "underwear of the queen" is a very simple but beautiful dress that had a small role in changing history.

At the 1783 Marie Antoinette dared to be shown wearing the lightweight, "peasant" style garment in a painting by Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun. Whether it was because the queen was seen to be in underwear, or because the queen was appropriating or costuming outside her class is unsure but it caused a big stir within all classes of France. The disapproval was so complete that the artist repainted the queen using the same base in a more aristocratic garment and the painting was quickly swapped out.  

The damage however had been done.  While this garment is certainly not a deciding factor in the french revolution it was ammunition for those apposing the rule of Louis XVI against the already unpopular Austrian born queen.

Marie Antoinette is an historical figure whose existence is shrouded by her legend, her extravagant lifestyle, the infamous "let them eat cake", a far cry from the humble last words of "pardon me sir, I didn't mean to" (having accidentally stepped on someones foot on the way to the guillotine).  We as modern people are left to wonder what is true and what is propaganda.  What is fact without question however is that she was a very real human being, who's life and death was dictated by the whim of politics.  She died as a sacrifice to the revolution in 1799 less than a month shy of her 39th Birthday.

Despite the shock when it first emerged, and quite ironically the chemise a'la Reine was taken up by Josephine, wife of Napoleon first emperor of France and inspired the regency fashion that was to follow.

But I doubt you are here for a history lesson, its about the sewing right.  Well, this dress looks to be the first project I will kick off in 2021.  I have some very clear reasons for this.  Firstly having had a baby in October I am not in what one would call my perfect shape and the ease of sizing in this garment makes it perfect for both weight gain and weight loss.  Secondly the lightweight cotton fabric is great for Australian summers, and finally because I can wear this with or without underpinnings.  The true historical silhouette will have the stays but I would rather ease back into sewing with something a bit more simplistic than stays, that and I haven't yet found a pattern I would like to make stays for the 18th century.  I am open to suggestions on that.

Speaking of patterns, i will technically be drafting this one but it will be based on this pattern found online (so sorry but I can only find it on pintrest so if someone knows who should be credited I will be very grateful). 

As you can see, it is a very simple pattern to work with, the entire dress is just masses of lightweight cotton pulled together around 2 drawstrings in the mid section and a further neck drawstring front and back with a separate shoulder piece added. The sleeves similarly are also shaped by either full gathers at shoulder or the drawstrings at elbow and lower edge.  This is to be in line with the image of Marie Antoinette.  If you are interested in making your own different sleeve treatments not only exist but are period appropriate like this extant example.

We can not see in the Queens Portrait whether her dress had the bottom ruffles but as I will include the neck ruffle I think I will go with a more plain hem.

So what we are up to now is how this fits into the goals set in previous post.

1. Challenging.

Whilst the dress is deceptively simple in theory in practice it requires meters and meters of hand sewn tiny rolled hems to be useful.  In order to achieve this the fabric must be cut 100% on the straight grain.  There is no near enough is good enough that usually tempers my efforts.  I will need to draw threads and cut precisely for this to not turn into a hemming nightmare.

Therefore the skills I am working on are being more precise in set up and hand sewing.

2. Stash items

For reasons that will be made clear in a future post this week, I am the owner of between  10 and 15m of white cotton voile that will be perfect for this project.

Need to source is only twill tape and silk ribbon.  Plus the hat stuff if I want to get the right Marie look, though I may do headwear slightly less formal than the portrait above

2020 - Realisations/2021 - Goals

 As the hell year that was 2020 comes to a close I find myself very inspired to get a whole bunch of sewing done in the new year.  How much I get through is questionable as I will be on a year of maternity leave so finding a balance between parenting, housework and sewing may be hard.  

I also have 2 goals to work on sewing wise this year, they are

1. Increase skills by working on more elaborate and complete pieces

2. Work through stashed fabric and notions

The first goal is logical, we only get better if we challenge ourselves.  The second has a sad but kind of inspiring story attached.

At the beginning of 2020, my mother passed away.  She was young at 66 and it was an unexpected loss.  I won't go into large details but sufficed to say as she was also a sewist and as I am the only relative who is also a sewist, I inherited a large amount of sewing stuff.  It is also probably relevant to point out that we were also both kinda low key hoarders with a special interest in sewing stuff, so stash mountain has turned into stash Everest.

I did let a lot of the stash go, donating to The Sewing Basket or to family friends who were making large numbers of masks given the situation with Covid.  In truth there was no way I could ever consider being able to get through it all.  But there were many many fabrics I kept, so many of them purchased with plans to make things for her grandchildren - a task I will try and complete in this year coming and others fabric she had had for a long time.  Fabric she found and liked and would use one day but never got the chance.  Perhaps the right project never did come up or perhaps it did but what if she lost weight (she was always trying to lose weight) or what if she found something more perfect to use it on.

I think we all have a stash like this, we end up buying fabric specifically for projects rather than using what we have and a lot of what we have could have been used but its like deciding between having your cake and eating your cake.  What I realised in all of this was cake is no good if you don't eat it.  Eating it is its purpose, having it is a waste.  So 2021 needs to be the year I realise the perfect project is the one I have now not the one that may or may not exist in the future.  That silver and grey brocade I have been holding onto for nearly a decade, the vintage fabrics I found at fairs all of it is useless unless I use it.  I don't want to hold onto it and then miss my chance.   

With that all in mind I have started making lists of ideas on what projects I could conquer in 2021 - Assuredly I will not get through all of this but the priority is that each project must meet both goals.  I will list them here in short form so that I can refer back to it when I finish one and move onto another.  Some of these I will expand on in planing posts so that I also have an easy reference place for all my research.  (List is being done in chronological groups)

Please feel free to comment on what projects you think would be most fun or that you would like to see or hear about.

Medieval

• Viking Apron Dress
• Tudor Catherine Parr 
• Italian Renaissance Gown

1700's

• Robe a'la Francaise
• Robe d'Anglaise
• Slytherin Riding Habit
• Chemise a'la Raine

1800's

• Regency Silk Ballgown
• Scarlett's Orange Mill Dress
• Linen Walking Ensemble

1900's

• WW1 Era dress
• 1920's daywear
• WW2 Military Suit

Non Costume Sewing

• Vintage inspired work pieces
• Mums Children's wear
• Baby Bix Baby clothing

Fixes and Finishes on old projects

• Elizabethan Cartridge pleating
• Cursed Green Dress
• Blanket Dress
• Plaid Dress
• Toph's Victorian Coat

India Wilkes dress final

So I just realised I forget to post this one up .... after all that build up lol

Before I start I have been looking at my stats and seeing that there appears to be people all over the world you read this.  Weird feeling.  Out of interest please leave a comment about who you are and where you are from it would be nice to know who's connecting to this.

Anyway without further ado, and I believe there should be a post for each part so I won't go into to much detail in this one just an overview.  If I have missed any pieces I will go back and fill them in later.

The dress was a raging success though I am still on the hunt for a snood.  Below are some pics because I know when I am looking at blogs that's the main thing I am interested in anyway :)  Enjoy and remember leave a comment I would love to know what you think of my work.

Edwardian Madness - Ageless #1344

Ageless Patterns had a sale in April to celebrate their  birthday and I couldn't resist.

Firstly I was already looking at there patterns for an outfit for an 1899 outing in December and secondly I am a sucker for sales!!.  I end up with 3; #1315 from 1892, #1389 from 1898, and #1344 from 1912.

My original plan was to make the 1389 for a tram anniversary in  December and the others were just to make postage viable and take advantage of the sale.  However when a steam train ride to Kiama appeared on my Facebook feed and a friend in the Historical Picnic Society decided to organise the troops the 1912 jumped the queue.

Planning Process
This pattern says (and Ageless even checked there original for me) it is a 40" bust and a 27.5" waist.  I made up a trial knowing that I would not ever corset down to a 27.5 at the moment expecting to resize.  In the end it actually fit my 40"/30" amazingly well with zero alterations.  I can't explain this but don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Ageless patterns do take more planning than many others due to the lack of instructions.  Ageless do not pretend to be anything more than a reproducer of the original pattern with original instructions.  Thus it is important to remember going into this that no one will hold your hand, "finish in the usual way" was a very valid instruction for the Victorian and Edwardian times when sewing was much more widespread and people just knew how to do those things.  Given that i rarely actually follow instructions this isn't a huge hindrance to me but I understand it may be to others.

These instructions seemed even more vague than usual, possibly as the original is in french and Ageless have translated as best they can.  Both English and French are included so if you do speak both perhaps it would be easier for you.  The biggest issue I had was was the closure none of those instructions made any sense nor did the pattern pieces that came intuitively give you a closure point.  Instructions say that bodice closes at center back, and that the first few buttons on the front are functional but with no center back seam on the skirt there was no place for the waist band to open.  I decided after consulting many online groups to add a center back seam and go from there.  This has worked though I can't say I am a fan of the hook and eye closure and will be de-historifying it with a button covered zip in the near future.

Another point to be aware of is that the entire over bodice is one huge pattern piece with some deceptively simple shaping techniques for the sleeves and the side seam. 

In short ease the dart in the sleeve part, sew small darts into the underarm/underbust/side seam area.  Line up sleeve ends and side seam bottom pull straight and sew one continuous seam. 

Took some fiddling but this was worked out in trial stages.  Not doing this will cause the arm to twist oddly.

Fabric Choice:
Knowing that this dress would be for winter - specifically for this train trip I wanted a warmer fabric than the suggested taffeta.  After much deliberation I decided that despite my wool allergy a wool or wool like would be best and due to the bodice piece issue a non plaid.  Any pattern was going to need to be small and able to conform to biases.  I thought and fiddled and searched until I happened upon a beautiful marle Oxblood mostly acrylic (yay for less allergins) from Pitt Trading.  I accented with tulle from stash, lace and velveteen from spotlight.  Lining is left over white cotton and white linen/cotton.

Buttons came from a shop in newtown that sells huge amounts of buttons in all shapes sizes and colours.  They are a black plastic with a little shine to them.

The Making:
This pattern (by fluke of fitting me) came together perfectly once I had worked out the few small issues - being the closure, the sleeves twisting and that I misinterpreted a pattern marking and cut off some of the left side skirt (yeah don't do that  - you will have to add it back later).

The fabrics were of little issue EXCEPT the tulle. It has gone straight onto the banned list and I will avoid it now like a creeper in a club.  I have to thank Angela Clayton for the inspiration to overdo the dicky adding both lace and pleated tulle.  Undeniably it looks fantastic, but it was a nightmare to control and still is.

Horrible pleating tulle

But soooo pretty

So without further ado here is the pictures of the finished dress beautifully backdropped by vintage trains.

As a side note the hat was also made - I will eventually do a post on that too - another credit to Angela Clayton.

Forward Planning - Or how do I make room in my stash for better fabric.

Well it is the night before the big unveiling of the India Wilkes dress, It sits still incomplete (I have to do the sleeve epaulets) which I will work on tonight once my little man goes to sleep and tomorrow I will get some photos to be able to do a big review of the project and probably some individual pieces going into more detail on the bodice and the skirt.

In any case the time has come to start thinking about what to do next and I think it is time to focus on some smaller scale, more usable on a daily basis pieces that use up stash fabric.  We lovingly refer to my stash as stash mountain and you can see the beginnings of it in previous posts (years ago) and the fun thing is that most of that fabric is still around..... and it's found friends along the way.

On top of the stash is unfinished projects, many that will be abandoned to time and waste due to size changing, needs passing or it just being a project that didn't work.  However in the interest of motivation I am below posting some of the ideas that I have.

Starting with an unfinished project;

the 40's floral

Most of this dress is done, I started it about 3 years ago because it was just after my son was born.  It is actually the third time I have worked with this full pattern not including when I turned the bottom half into a skirt.  Obviously I love this pattern, the fall and drape is beautiful and flattering.

I halted because as you can clearly see on the picture the front is not symmetrical and I somehow managed to cut the front right piece the wrong way.  Stupid right - yes very, especially the 4th time you have done it.

The material I had gotten on sale for $10/m and its a faux silk satin that falls like water.  I loved the vibrancy of the colours.  Eventually and randomly as I had given up hope I did find more of the fabric and bought another meter but by that stage I had moved onto another project that had a more pressing deadline and then I just never picked it up again.  I deserves another look though

Black and White Gertie Pattern

I bought this black and white gaberdine in a big spotlight sale specifically to make this super sexy 60's ish number from Butterick's Patterns by Gertie Range.  I have never even traced the pattern.  Again this was just after having my son and I wanted to lose some weight, which I did but then with a baby didn't have time and since then I have put a whole bunch on again that I am in the process of trying to lose.  Life is a never ending desire to drop weight unfortunately.

I will probably look at this again for winter time next year, simply because it is a heavier fabric and more suited to the autumn winter seasons.  It will be great for work though

Red Rayon Pattern Copy

I have had this red rayon for a long time - it was bought when Spotlight had a buy the rest of the bolt for stupid discount and I was big in love with both the 40's fashions and the no iron properties of rayon. 

Red has always been a good colour for me and there was only a few meters on the bolt making it viable to buy and so it has sat ever since. 

This is another project that has sat around since my maternity leave.  I selected this pattern because could you ask for anything more perfect for a red rayon than copying the dress on the pattern drawing.  I even remember buying black rayon for the neck though it would take a miracle to find that in my stash now.

The pattern is traced and that tracing "should" fit me now so I should probably prioritise this one even though the sleeves make more of an autumn winter number too the rayon means it shouldn't' be too hot.

1940's Blue Birds

This fabric has also been in my stash for a very long time.  It is a crepe that has zero body.  I bought it and another fabric which i made the first pattern mentioned on here out of.  The end result is a weightless beautiful drape, the work to get there though was a headache.  This slips and slides and does not like to behave.

I selected this pattern for it at time of buying and I have never changed my mind, but I would be lying to say that the creating those front gathers and curved seam in this weightless fabric is not intimidating.  Likely this is the reason I have never gotten around to this one.

It would make a very elegant summer dress though so maybe its time I grew some and cut into it.  I could always starch it first and see if that helps.  I will need to get lining though.


Random Shirts

So under this category I have a whole bunch of possible projects.  Maybe I need a day or a weekend to pump out all of them. 

The orange spot is a rayon originally purposed for a skirt but I think maybe a shirt would work better in my wardrobe - I have tones of skirts and dresses but few tops.  I just can't decide which pattern to use.  One of these or none of them.

I will be using the peplum with this Japanese lawn.  It was bought with that pattern in mind.

Outside of the above I have plans for two 1930's dresses, a 1940's military style costume, more 50's dresses and some wardrobe pieces.

But for now I better get to those India Wilkes sleeves

Happy sewing.