This video is a response to A Vintage Vanity's Heddy Lamarr tutorial. So go watch her's first to get all the gory details. Mine focuses mostly on getting those pesky bangs to look not like bangs. Enjoy!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
More Renaissance Planning
On Friday, I posted a pretty extensive list of things that I needed to fix on my Renaissance dress before September for the Ohio Renaissance Festival. Then I posted this picture after a much needed trip to Jo-Anns. So here's what happened between the first and second post.
My husband and I recently decided to go to a different Renaissance Festival in Kentucky. The only issues is that a) there's no way my red dress could be done in time and b) in July it's much too hot to wear it anyways. I thought that I could wear my very first "Renaissance" dress, but my husband vetoed that idea. He thought I could do better. So when I went shopping, I found an appropriate pattern on sale plus some yummy home dec fabric for $4.50 /yd. Bingo!
Alas, after some more research Friday evening (and realizing that a dress made from the fabric I bought would still be gobs too hot in July), I've decided to opt for something more like this:
From what I've found, this type of costume is more of an Italian style. The Ohio RenFest is set in Elizabethan England and the KY one appears to be Scottish, but really the average person is not going to know/care if I'm a couple of countries off.
I'm currently planning a front laced dress made of linen and a bodice interlined with twill.
My husband and I recently decided to go to a different Renaissance Festival in Kentucky. The only issues is that a) there's no way my red dress could be done in time and b) in July it's much too hot to wear it anyways. I thought that I could wear my very first "Renaissance" dress, but my husband vetoed that idea. He thought I could do better. So when I went shopping, I found an appropriate pattern on sale plus some yummy home dec fabric for $4.50 /yd. Bingo!
Alas, after some more research Friday evening (and realizing that a dress made from the fabric I bought would still be gobs too hot in July), I've decided to opt for something more like this:
From what I've found, this type of costume is more of an Italian style. The Ohio RenFest is set in Elizabethan England and the KY one appears to be Scottish, but really the average person is not going to know/care if I'm a couple of countries off.
I love all of the different trim patterns. Simple but lovely.
I'm currently planning a front laced dress made of linen and a bodice interlined with twill.
I'm also planning a white shift.
I may also make a partlet (that's the bit with the collar), detachable sleeves and corded petticoat if I get around to it.
I've been using this site for research/pattern drafting. So far I've been working on the bodice muslin. I won't be wearing a corset or boning this bodice but I'm hoping the twill and cut of the bodice will give me enough support to forgo wearing a modern bra. I wore my 3rd muslin (made of the same twill I'll be interlining it in) around a bit last night and it does have rather astounding gravity defying properties. We'll see how the final outfit turns out.
Today's goal is to bang out the shift and get some fabric on the cheap. My budget is $50 or less for this garment.
Friday, June 15, 2012
Because I am crazy
Because I am crazy...... I blame my husband (it WAS his idea) .....and Jo-Ann's 50% off clearance home dec fabric.....
Renaissance Dress: Assessing the Damage
My Renaissance dress needs SO MUCH WORK! Losing ~30 lbs after making a costume tends to cause problems. I've been trying to avoid going to Jo-Ann's since I've been trying to stash bust but I definitely need to make a trip for notions and things and I thought it would be a good time to take a closer look at my costume (since it hasn't seen the light of day since October) and see what I might need to buy. So this is really more for me than you, but I'm ok with that.
If you want to see older posts on this costume, go here.
So, from the inside out:
Chemise:
When I made this, it was too small in the arms and I never got to wear it. Now it fits! Assuming the neckline isn't too high (since I never actually tried it on with the dress), no work needs done on this piece.
Corset:
I need to start from scratch on this one.... It was always just a smidge big but now it's huge. I plan on reusing the busk and lacing but that's about it. Last time I made size 16 and this time I'm going with 12. Thankfully, the pattern was printed in such a way that I can cut out the 12 even though I already cut it as a 16 so no need to buy a new pattern.
hoops:
I did, for some reason that has now escaped me, pry up the casings a bit all the way down one side so those will need tacked back down.
Bum roll:
Bum roll (aka butt poofer to my husband) is ok as is.
Under skirt:
I slipped the under skirt on with no foundational garments and the waist is too big so it'll definitely need taken in with a new corset.
This does not have a drawstring so I'll have to take the grosgrain waistband off and gather the skirt a few inches tighter.
The dress:
I was most worried about the dress because I couldn't remember how I finished the seams! Thankfully, I finished each side separately with bias binding.
The thing I'm dreading really is the cartridge pleats which I hand sewed on. They'll have to come off so I can take in the bodice and then be sewn back on again. I'm really hoping that the waist is where most of the adjustments will have to be. I won't know though until I get my new corset done.
I may try and drop the neckline a bit. Since it'll have trim, I can just pop the top open, shorten the boning and then just top stitch through all layers. Not sure about it yet, but I did think this area looked a bit funky last year.
I also want to remove the sleeves and make them interchangable. These sleeves were a bear to get on though. There are two yards of fabric in each of the bottom parts of the sleeves! I do have some extra red and gold fabric to make a simpler long sleeve.
I also want to kind of pump up the volume with some more trim. These are some I have in my stash but we'll see how my budget and time are looking closer to the end of the summer.
French Hood:
I also have a lot of faux pearls that never ended up on my French hood.
Other bits:
My husband bought me this FABULOUS hat from The Blonde Swan last year and I promised to make it work with my outfit. It definitely reads more Elizabethan than Tudor and ideally, I'd like to do the smooth sleeve plus a new underskirt in a green color to tie in the hat.
I also never got around to the foresleeves last year and there were actually some days that were cold enough for me to welcome them! I have the main fabric and I did have some white fabric but I think I used it for something else.... Will have to scour the stash if I get this far.
I'm also on the wait list for an Elizabethan wired cap class at Costume College so that'd be nice to add to my Renaissance wardrobe.
Phew! That's a lot! The original ensemble took me the entire month of August and that's all I did. I wasn't working so I probably put 40-50 hours a week on this dress not to mention about $500 so I'm so not going to give up on this dress!
 |
| The patterns I used. |
If you want to see older posts on this costume, go here.
So, from the inside out:
Chemise:
When I made this, it was too small in the arms and I never got to wear it. Now it fits! Assuming the neckline isn't too high (since I never actually tried it on with the dress), no work needs done on this piece.
Corset:
I need to start from scratch on this one.... It was always just a smidge big but now it's huge. I plan on reusing the busk and lacing but that's about it. Last time I made size 16 and this time I'm going with 12. Thankfully, the pattern was printed in such a way that I can cut out the 12 even though I already cut it as a 16 so no need to buy a new pattern.
hoops:
My hoops have a drawstring waist so I don't need to adjust them at all.
I did, for some reason that has now escaped me, pry up the casings a bit all the way down one side so those will need tacked back down.
Bum roll:
Bum roll (aka butt poofer to my husband) is ok as is.
Under skirt:
I slipped the under skirt on with no foundational garments and the waist is too big so it'll definitely need taken in with a new corset.
This does not have a drawstring so I'll have to take the grosgrain waistband off and gather the skirt a few inches tighter.
The dress:
I was most worried about the dress because I couldn't remember how I finished the seams! Thankfully, I finished each side separately with bias binding.
The thing I'm dreading really is the cartridge pleats which I hand sewed on. They'll have to come off so I can take in the bodice and then be sewn back on again. I'm really hoping that the waist is where most of the adjustments will have to be. I won't know though until I get my new corset done.
I may try and drop the neckline a bit. Since it'll have trim, I can just pop the top open, shorten the boning and then just top stitch through all layers. Not sure about it yet, but I did think this area looked a bit funky last year.
I also want to remove the sleeves and make them interchangable. These sleeves were a bear to get on though. There are two yards of fabric in each of the bottom parts of the sleeves! I do have some extra red and gold fabric to make a simpler long sleeve.
I also want to kind of pump up the volume with some more trim. These are some I have in my stash but we'll see how my budget and time are looking closer to the end of the summer.
French Hood:
I also have a lot of faux pearls that never ended up on my French hood.
Other bits:
My husband bought me this FABULOUS hat from The Blonde Swan last year and I promised to make it work with my outfit. It definitely reads more Elizabethan than Tudor and ideally, I'd like to do the smooth sleeve plus a new underskirt in a green color to tie in the hat.
I also never got around to the foresleeves last year and there were actually some days that were cold enough for me to welcome them! I have the main fabric and I did have some white fabric but I think I used it for something else.... Will have to scour the stash if I get this far.
I'm also on the wait list for an Elizabethan wired cap class at Costume College so that'd be nice to add to my Renaissance wardrobe.
Phew! That's a lot! The original ensemble took me the entire month of August and that's all I did. I wasn't working so I probably put 40-50 hours a week on this dress not to mention about $500 so I'm so not going to give up on this dress!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Dressing Downton: Daisy's Purple Dress
Despite having pretty much one dress in season one, Daisy has a pretty cute purple dress in season two.
It has a really cute collar.
I'm sure it's made of a sturdy fabric to stand up to kitchen work.
When unrolled, we can see that her sleeves have cuffs that match her collar.
It has a nice wide skirt to allow for easy movement. This dress would be a fabulous every day house dress! The Crawley sisters may have dibs on glamor but the servants sure have more practical garments.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Fourties Hat and a Farm House
I just had to wear this 40s hat even though it's much more of a fall/winter piece.
I paired it with this great 40s dress. Despite having 3/4 length sleeves, the dress is quite cool since the fabric is pretty thin.
Outfit:
Dress- Fab Gabs
Belt- New York and Company
Crochet cami- New York and Company
Hat- Feathers Vintage Clothing
There's a really fun old farm house on my church's property that was just perfect for this photo shoot.
And I had some fun with photo editing too. This effect is 1960s style and so fun!
I love hats so much!
Youtube: Easy Retro Scarf Do
Today's tutorial is a a great simple summer look with a hair scarf. I love vintage hair scarfs! They are so fun and pretty plus I can usually find them at a thrift store for under a buck.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)