May's challenge originally gave me pause, since making some form of evening wear was the obvious path to take, but I didn't want to spend money on silk right after completing a challenge with silk. It didn't take long to figure out an alternate plan though! Instead of focusing on a time of day, I instead thought about the times of year, and here in the tidewater part of Virginia, summer immediately springs to mind. For those of you who haven't visited south-eastern Virginia in the summer (or spring or fall or sometimes winter), it is very warm and extremely humid. I'm almost always cold, so I like the heat, but the humidity can be pretty rough some days.
This problem isn't new at all. In the 18th century the weather was much the same, and people in colonial Virginia were looking for ways to cope. We have a great letter written by a traveler in the 1730's, telling friends back in England what to expect from a Virginia summer: "In summertime even the gentry go many in white Holland [linen] waistcoats and drawers and a thin cap on their heads and thread stockings. The ladies stright-laced in thin silk or linen. In winter [they dress] mostly as in England and affect London dress and ways." For a Virginia society that was often considered to be 'more English than anyone in England', 18th century Virginians were willing to deviate from their standard dress to be comfortable in the heat, and they did so in a way that stood out to those who visited them.
White linen is by far the easiest way to stay cool in the summer; it's breathable, doesn't trap the heat, and can cover your skin to prevent sunburn. So, I made a new linen gown to wear this summer! It's an unlined round gown, which means that there is only one layer and no extra petticoats required, for maximum coolness in the summer. I've worn it to work a few times already, and I can attest that it is indeed very comfortable on days when it's over 90 degrees out. Happy beginning of the summer season everyone!
I had big plans for this post, but unfortunately a couple of things derailed it. Primarily, getting sick and not having anyone to help take photos were the biggest factors, but the rainstorm today and the fact that my outfit is mostly silk certainly didn't help either!
If you remember a few days ago, when I posted about my UFO, I said that I was hoping to get it done in the near future - the near future is now! The original gown, from Snowshill Manor, was made of white silk, but for an outfit perfect for both travel and autumn I thought that brown silk would work better (and be far more practical).
In addition to the fact that the entire outfit is made of brown silk - petticoat, stomacher, and jacket - there are many things you can add on to this outfit to make it a true ensemble, and this gown is specifically 'accessorizable' since both travel and changing weather require lots of accessories! In the photo, I've paired it with a brown felt hat that I might add trim to in the future. However, I could also also wear my calash with it, a market bonnet, a different brown calash (I have some scrap silk I'm contemplating using for that), or a hood. Additionally, I can wear a cape or a mantle with this gown, and mitts or a muff for especially cold weather. It can also be worn with or without hoops.
Essentially, I'm hoping that this outfit will be my most versatile one yet, and that there will be lots of ensemble possibilities here! As soon as the skies clear and I start to feel better I'll hunt down some friends and edit this post with some new pictures of all the different ways you can make an ensemble out of one 18th century outfit. Until then, happy sewing!
As anyone who has ever tried to watch a costume drama with me knows, I am very picky about historical eras portrayed in the media. However, I do have a few movies that I absolutely adore the costume design in - feel free to comment and let me know what you think I should watch next! I love costume eye-candy!
Anna Karenina is a beautifully done movie, and although the costumes are a bit out of my era (1877) I could still watch it all day long. The plot is pretty depressing, but the clothing and filming is gorgeous! It's no wonder that the movie (and costume designer Jacqueline Durran) received five nominations for costuming awards, and won four.
The movie is super sad, but the cinematography alone makes up for it. If you liked the scenery and film techniques in Grand Budapest Hotel, you'll love them in this movie
The Duchess is another one of my favorite costumed movies. This one is in my era, and has already inspired a giant hat that I made in a millinery class in college (well, the movie as well as the painting of the original Duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana). This movie (and costume designer Michael O'Connor) won five awards for the costuming, and there are so many outfits that I would like to sew!
I really like how the neckerchief/fichu works with the gown here. This is one of the few times I felt like a neckerchief completed an outfit, instead of simply adding on to an outfit.
This outfit was my all-time favorite. It's only a matter of time before I sew something like this...
However, as much as I love those two movies, my all-time favorite costume drama is Marie Antoinette. The clothes are so pretty, and the color scheme is to die for! Of course there are a few costumes that aren't quite accurate (as is the case in every costume drama ever), but I really love how well the movie conveys the extravagance of life at Versailles as well as the lead up to the French Revolution. Marie Antoinette was by no means an innocent character, but it is interesting to see the background she came from and some of the things that drove her choices. Plus, the use of modern music does a great job giving contemporary audiences a sense of the era in a different way than is normal. Milena Canonero did a great job with the costumes, and definitely deserved the three awards she got for Best Costume Design!
I might make a gown very similar to this one soon!
My favorite outfit in the entire movie is the light blue gown with the red belt. I would love to make it some day, because there isn't a single thing about the dress that I don't like! However, I could also say that about almost any gown Marie Antoinette wears in the movie, so...
I love that I get to sew at my job, but every now and then I need a little bit of inspiration. So, when I was almost out of fabric and projects at the end of July, I started flipping through some of my costuming books and decided to make something a little different than my normal fitted gowns - a chemise a la reine!
I've sewn the one featured in Norah Waugh's The Cut of Women's Clothes, with just a few slight modifications. Essentially, a chemise a la reine is made of three tubes with gathering and shoulder straps, so it's not a complicated pattern, but there is a LOT of sewing involved! The gown has a circumference of 134 inches, and so sewing gathering channels along it and hemming it was quite the endeavor.
No sleeves yet, but progress on the gathering channels!
However, once I put some ribbon through the casings, the gown really started looking like what I was hoping for! I shortened the shoulder straps a little bit (although I might have cut them a bit long in the first place) and put the sleeves on, and voila!
The finished gown, it's so floofy!
Now I just need an excuse to wear this, other than around the house... That's why I'm showing off this project today, with the prompt Made for Yourself - even though this gown is accurate to the era we interpret at work, it doesn't really fit with what I do every day, so I probably won't be wearing it as part of my job. Still, the light cotton muslin is so comfy for summer wear, so I'm content to just wear it at home for now!
I don't have a wig or the ideal head wear for this at my apartment right now, so my market bonnet is a temporary stand-in
Sometimes, the projects that you plan for the longest get sewn in the last possible minute, and the shortest amount of time. That was certainly the case for my graduation dress, at the very least! I'd been planning what I wanted - something 1950's style, mostly green with gold accents - for most of my senior year, and I purchased the fabric and pattern (Simplicity 1459) around Christmas time. I searched diligently for gold accents, like a belt or shoes, but struggled to find anything that I liked. I also put off sewing the dress in order to work on other commissions and to focus on my studies.
Finally, with just a few days left until graduation, I cut out the pattern and got to work. The dress came together very quickly, and the pattern couldn't have been easier to follow, but unfortunately I was very tired the night I worked on it. I needed less than three hours to sew the dress, but because I was so tired by the end I made one small mistake. I didn't discover the mishap until I put the dress on the morning of graduation however, and tried to put my ID in the pocket I had added - I'd sewn the pocket in the wrong seam! Instead of the pocket being on my right hand side, I had put it in the middle front of the skirt! Thankfully, the skirt was full enough that it wasn't noticeable, and I was wearing my graduation gown for most of the morning anyway.
However, this serves as a good reminder - don't sew your clothing the night before an event, and if you absolutely must, please make sure that you're not loopy from lack of sleep!
For those of you who are unaware, in the sewing community the term 'UFO' usually refers to "UnFinished Object(s)". Although today also would have been a good day for a space theme, seeing as we had a solar eclipse!
I'm usually not one to have many UFOs lying about, because I'm usually sewing something with a deadline in mind, and I like to sew in my free time. However, I currently have two UFOs in my sewing [bed]room. The first is a set of regency short stays that I can't sew while I'm immersed in the 18th century, and the second is a gown I'm replicating.
The front of the gown - sorry it's a little wrinkled!
The back of the bodice - I just have to hem a few edges!
While I'm not certain how soon I'll finish the short stays, I'm planning on finishing the gown pretty soon. I just have to finish a few edges and sew a stomacher and petticoat, and I'm ready to go!
The front detail (which also needs to be hemmed)
The sleeves, which are finished, and which I absolutely love!
The gown itself comes from Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion, and is taken from the quilted white gown from Snowshill Manor. However, since I wanted something that would show a little less dirt, I decided to make the gown in a brown silk that I found on sale. It will still be warm in the autumn and winter, but I won't have to worry as much about leaving the house in it! However, I am considering eventually sewing another one out of pre-quilted white cotton, so that it will be quilted and white, but a little bit easier to clean.
My drafted pattern pieces, as well as the gown I'm copying
I started this project last summer, drafting the pattern from the book, and I cut out the fabric in the fall. Hopefully I'll have it finished with a post on the completed gown soon!
A throwback to the window seat in my last dorm with the flowers I loved, and the day when I actually put needle to fabric and started sewing this gown!
There are very few things that I won't sew, but I always said that the 20th century was far too modern for my taste... and then I sewed a bunch of 1950's dresses. Then I said that I would never use synthetic fibers again, and I also said that anything pre-1955 couldn't possibly be flattering to me and... I sewed a dress for the Christmas Eve service that completely ignored both those declarations!
It started out when I decided I wanted one of the red dresses from the movie "White Christmas", but then realized that those might be a little over-the-top for a Christmas Eve service. So, I reevaluated my options, and decided to sew something inspired by them instead. I used Vogue pattern 2401, which is from a 1952 dress, and pulled some fabric in the most Christmas-y of colors!
Tigger helps me cut out the fabric, "What? You want me to move? But I'm holding down the pattern pieces!"
I only had two days to work, since I got started on December 23rd, but luckily the dress came together quickly!
The bodice looks like a crop top from a Barbie doll I had!
Dusty Rose kept me company while I hemmed and finished the edges. My cats are the best part of sewing at home!
The finished product on the dressform - having a dressform definitely made this project a lot easier!
I tried it on, did my hair, and then headed to church!
You can't wear a vintage dress without a vintage coat!
I'm really pleased with how it came out, and with how easy it was to sew! So, even though I swore off the 20th century entirely, I expect that I'll soon be adding a few more garments to the already sizable pile of "modern" clothing that I own.
