HSF#7&8: Accessory and By the Sea

I've been doing some historical sewing! :D

Between the Stripes and the By the Sea challenges, I knew I had to make something nautical!

I made the Middy blouse for challenge #8 and the belt for #7 though I didn't get around to taking pictures of it till now!

The hat is one I retrimmed to go with my Lady Mary's garden party dress. It's not a perfect match but I didn't really have anything else to wear.

 I took these photos by a river since there wasn't a near by beach handy and we had some flooding so the water level was quite high!

The Challenge: By the Sea
Fabric: Green poly cotton and striped poly cotton (because I couldn't find any cotton in the right shade of green!)
Pattern: Folkwear Middy Blouse + self drafted patch pockets
Year: 19-teens
Notions: Self-covered buttons
How historically accurate is it? Wish I could have found something with less polyester! Nautical ensembles were very popular during this period and I'm really happy with the silhouette I got.
Hours to complete: 4 or so
First worn: April 2013 just for a photoshoot
Total cost: ~$25

I had a lot of fun running around taking pictures!

I just adore the peplum-ish length of the back! It made the whole outfit so fun.

Can't wait till I get to wear this outfit again! My inspiration/research is located here.

HSF#6: Stripes

 It's another Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenge! I missed #4 embellish because my project did not get done (I'm saving it for a later challenge now) and #5 peasants and pioneers because I didn't really have anything I wanted to do for it.

The Challenge: Stripes
Fabric: It's a poly cotton blend so not terribly historically accurate, but I had such a hard time finding 1" stripes in an appropriate weight and lack of stretch.
Pattern: I used a 1915 pattern to determine the width of my skirt and then just pleated it to a waist band.
Year: 1915 or so
Notions: 6 snaps, 2 hook and eye
How historically accurate is it? Aside from the polyester content, I think pretty accurate.
Hours to complete: A few, but only because I hand sewed the hem.
First worn: Not yet, but this project is for Costume College. Plus I have to make a blouse first!
Total cost: $15 or so

For this challenge, I was inspired by 1915-1917 beach wear. Plus with the by the sea challenge right around the corner, the matching blouse will be perfect for that challenge. Here's some of my inspiration.

I love the full skirts and light colors! It makes me long for walks along the beach!

I love the yellow striped skirt! Although I did consider the blue dress on the right for a while!

I love this yellow and blue number with the rope belt. Ladies in the 19-teens tended not to wear more than one color plus white but not always!

The top row in the center dress is great! Blue with stripes!

Ultimately, I fell in love with this pink ensemble! Next up, a stripey belt and middy blouse with pockets!

HSF #3: Under it all

It's the end of another Historical Sew Fortnightly challenge. The theme of this challenge was under it all and I made up a 19teens corset from a pattern by Festive Attyre.

Corset! And birds! I'm wearing it over gym shorts and a tank top (plus my teens bra) because I haven't made up a chemise yet....

The Challenge: Under it all
Fabric: coutil
Pattern: 19teens corset drafted from an extant corset by Festive Attyre
Year: 1916 (ish)
Notions: steel bones, grommets (00), lacing, busk, hook and eye, lace, garters
How historically accurate is it? I used a pattern based on an extant corset, but I did use modern boning and elastic garters. I am quite happy with the historical accuracy and the shape it gives me.
Hours to complete: The mock ups took a while but the actual corset went together pretty quickly.
First worn: not yet
Total cost: ~$70

After doing research, talking with other costumers and playing around with my undergarments, I've decided to do chemise then bra and corset then combinations then petticoat (if needed).

My combinations came out really long compared to the garters on my corset plus it didn't make sense to me to have these huge voluminous legs and then squish them up under garters.

So it's combinations on the outside.

And now that I have my corset done, it's on to the real clothes! :D

Corset Progress

I've been using the last of my Christmas break to get in some real work on my corset! I'm planning on using this piece as my Historical Sew Fortnightly challenge #3 which isn't till February but I know I'll get busy once school starts!

I got all of the boning channels in! It was a long process especially since I made the channels from the leftover coutil.

It looks so pretty! :D

I did have one issue. I must have messed up the width of the boning channels a bit because I wasn't catching the fold of the fabric so I added another row of stitching 1/8" outside the boning channel. Let's call it "decorative". ;)

I also had another undergarment mishap. I finished my bra but the bottom waist band was too small! And it ended on my ribs so I knew no amount of diet or corseting was going to fix the issue. So I added a small gusset on each side on the under arm seam. It fits now and the fix is mostly hidden.

Bloggers with feline accomplices often note how their kitties always know when expensive fabric is around! I think my birds have the same sixth sense.

They could not resist a large piece of white, freshly washed and ironed piece of coutil! So I bribed them with some fabric scraps. Hopefully, this will keep them away from the finished corset!

Historical Sew Fortnightly: #1 Centennial

This year I'm participating in Historical Sew Fortnightly, a historical sewing challenge with a new theme every two weeks. The first challenge is to sew something Bi/Tri/Quadri/Quin/Sex/Septi/Octo/Nona/Centennial (i.e. something from a year __13). My project is from 1913.

The Challenge: Centennial

Fabric: cotton striped sheet (free)

Pattern: Past Patterns Pattern #4574: Ladies' Three-Piece Princess Combination Suit: Circa 1913 
I did change the top to have ribbon straps so it's evening gown friendly.


Year: 1913

Notions: 4 yds wide cotton lace ($12), 5 yds narrow cotton lace with ribbon ($15), buttons ($1), polyester ribbon (from stash)

How historically accurate is it? I'd say it's fairly historically accurate. I did use a reprint of a period pattern, but the directions were minimal so I had to guess at a lot of things. I've never seen striped Edwardian underthings and my fabric is heavier than I would have liked but I wanted to use what I had on hand. Overall, I'm happy with the historical accuracy of it. Now if I only knew what order to put on my Edwardian underthings, I'd be good to go. lol.

Hours to complete: Oh, I never really pay much attention to this part but probably 5-6 hours.

First worn: Not yet! I still have to finish my other underthings and then make an outer garment.

Total cost: $28

I had planned on making a 1910s brassier for the bonus challenge but I didn't get it done in time. It's almost finished except for a few more hooks and eyes but I'm out so I'll go ahead and share with you!

The Challenge: Something Simple

Fabric: cotton sheet (free)

Pattern: Historically Dressed free pattern with modifications

Year: 19-teens

Notions: 3yd narrow cotton lace ($10), 1.5 yds wide cotton lace ($4), hooks and eyes ($1.50)

How historically accurate is it? I used a pattern made from an extant garment. I modified for fit and also lowered the back neckline based on a different extant brassier. I'm not entirely sure how they are supposed to fit but I was pretty happy with the support I was getting from the toile.

Hours to complete: 2 hours

First worn: not yet

Total cost: ~$15

So far, I've learned that I love lacy, frilly underwear and that I hate sewing on hooks and eyes. Mine never look pretty! The next challenge is UFO which I'll probably skip because I really don't have any historical UFOs. Not been costuming long enough I guess! But challenge #3 is the undergarment challenge so I'll be working on my 19-teens corset until then!

19-teens Corset Muslin

I've been working on my 19-teens corset. I finally got my bones in so I could do a partially boned muslin.

I ended up only boning the center front where the busk would be but it was helpful in fitting! I used 1" seam allowances for easy of pinching and pinning. This is the final fit right side out. It ended up being big in the hips and bust. lol Go figure!

I chose a stripey cotton for the muslin because it was a bit thicker and stronger with no stretch.

My lacing strips sure came in handy! The lacing gap isn't perfectly parallel but I think with the real deal, we'll have more squishing power and it'll be ok. Plus, I don't really want to change the shape too much.

The only other change I'll need to make is take .5" or so off the top since it is poking up too high.

My coutil has arrived so I can get started soon! I'm so excited! :D

In which my husband helps make a corset

The goal for my Edwardian sewing is to get as much work done over Christmas break as possible done on the underpinnings. For the brassier, I'm using a free pattern by Historically dressed.

I started by making a muslin just straight from the pattern and it turned out quite big. Above is my pattern pieces after all of the changes. I did end up changing the back neckline so I have more options for evening gown styles. The original is quite high. I found a lovely extant bra from this period on pinterest that has a v neckline in the back so I felt justified in my modification.

Here is my latest muslin. I'm half way tempted to finish it and turn it into a cute retro crop top (to be worn with a regular bra underneath of course!) since the cherry plaid print is so cute! It's funny out underwear from one period is more like outerwear from another.

For the corset, I'm using a free mid 19-teens corset from Festive Attyre. (It was her pinterest board of the bras too.) The pattern is hand drawn on a grid that needs to be enlarged to 1" by 1". My husband saved the day by doing fancy graphic design magic on it to get it enlarged and to print tiled like a pdf pattern. (In his words "enlarged in photoshop, saved as a pdf, printed as a poster in adobe acrobat".) So if you don't have a talented graphic designer husband/friend/coworker/etc, you won't be able to enlarge and print the pattern on a computer. Jen of Festive Attyre said that she used a copy machine to enlarge it so you might have better luck going that route.

She also has laid out a handy dandy chart on how to grade the pattern up or down to whatever size you'd like.

I also made a set of lacing strips as suggested by Jo of Bridges on the Body in her 1911 corset sew along. Can I just say that I HATE setting grommets. For my last corset, I upgraded from whatever grommets they sell at Jo-Ann Fabrics to grommets and a grommet press (the cheap kind) from a corset website (I've forgotten which one) and it sucks. I have to hammer the dumb press until the grommet starts to bend like it needs to, then carefully remove the whole piece from the press without the back part of the grommet getting stuck on the press and the whole thing falling apart and then hammer the grommet again. Oy.

Thankfully, after the first strip (and wasting about as many grommets as I actually set in) my wonderful husband stepped in to help. It went much smoother and we only had one wonky falling apart grommet to do over on the second strip! Woot! Guess he has the magic grommet touch....or I just have the upper body strength of a small ten year old.....

Anyways, I whipped up a muslin in some red striped quilting cotton. I picked this fabric because it was an appropriate length (about 1 yd) and it was a bit thicker and so would be a bit more durable for fittings. I did not attempt any strip matching so those lovely looking chevrons are just by accident.

I used 1" seam allowance as suggested by the Bridges on the Body sew along. Now I just have to baste the lacing strips on there and wait for my bones to come in so I can use a few to fit my muslin.

Dressing Downton Take 2

You may have guessed from all of the late Edwardian inspiration that's been popping up lately (and from this post), but there is going to be some Edwardian sewing going on here! My previous Dressing Downton efforts were mostly modern or modernized a bit with the costume documentation part dying a sad death after my laptop died and I lost all of the photos I had collected. :(

In 2013, there will be (more) historically accurate costuming going on and still some costume inspiration from the show as I decide what lovelies I want to make. And, as with any good historical costume, I'll be starting from the inside and working my way out!

Phase 1: Undergarments

The thing about the Edwardians is that they wore gobs of layers and many of these layers were covered in ruffles and lace. These would include:

• chemise and drawers (open or closed)
• or combinations which were a chemise and drawers sewn together at the waist
• corset
• corset cover with bust improving ruffles if needed
• early brassier 
• stockings

I was going to draft up a set from The Edwardian Modiste even though it was from the 1900s rather than the 1910s since all of the patterns I found (like the above one from Truly Victorian) were from pre-1910 anyways but I finally found a combination pattern from 1913 so all I'll have to draft up is the corset cover. I've also found a great pattern from an early bra that I've been muslining.

Phase 2: Corset

Source

I seriously considered joining in on the 1911 corset sew-along hosted by Bridges on the Body last January, but I decided to buy my Astoria's instead. I'll be using a free pattern by Festive Attyre based on an extant mid-1910s corset from her collection (her finished corset from this pattern above). And I'll be using bits from each site to help me make my corset because you can never have too much help when making something you've never made before! I'm planning on going the whole nine yards and using coutil and steel boning for this corset.

Phase 3: Clothes

I'm currently planning 3 outfits to make before costume college: day separates, day dress and an evening dress for the gala. I have loads of ideas for this part but I'm sure that they'll change before I get this far! At the moment I'm in love with Mary's gold evening gown above!