Day 27: Future Projects

Just the other week I was lamenting that I hardly had anything [18th century] to sew... now I have the opposite problem!

There was a fabric sale with some incredible deals the other week, and I am now prepared to make a new jacket, a caraco with matching petticoat, and two full gowns (although I might make one of those gowns into a second caraco with matching petticoat).

Aren't they all so pretty?! I think my favorite is the one in the top center, but the bottom one will be absolutely perfect for a caraco. The total price for all four new outfits will be around $50, or less than $15 each!

I also have a couple of Regency projects on the docket, although those won't happen as quickly since I can only work on them in the evenings. Keep your eyes peeled for a new set of short stays, a wool spencer, and a gown modeled after the one in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion though!

This fabric is from Verna's, which I love to visit with my Mom when I go back to PA - there's so many great finds in there!

The description of the original fabric for this gown is very similar to the fabric I already have (above), so clearly this is a good choice for a new Regency gown!

Finally, I have a few cold weather projects that I can sew, just as soon as the weather cools off and autumn begins. I have some wool that I found at a thrift store (for $3! For three yards!) to sew a petticoat with, and my parents got me some lovely sky blue wool and cinnamon brown Virginia cloth from Burnley and Trowbridge last Christmas that I'll be turning into something fun come fall. Lastly, I bought a little bit of faux fur trim a few years ago and stitched it together, but I am yet to turn it into the muff it was meant to be - hopefully that project will be completed in time for the snow!

I love the look of fur, but I could never support killing animals just for their coats, so faux fur is one of the very few modern concessions I will make in my 18th century costuming. (To quote one of my favorite movies, Christmas in Connecticut, "No one needs a mink coat except for the mink!" I do, however, need a faux fur muff, and a faux fur trimmed mantle, and...)

In addition to all of my future sewing projects, I am also hoping to undertake some more blogging projects. I haven't made any official decisions, but I have some cool prompts in the works, and some more challenges to keep me blogging through the rest of the year - so stay tuned!

Day 25: Fave Friday - Favorite Resource

I have a lot of resources that I go to on a regular basis. I don't know if I can pick a favorite, but I'll list some of my favorites here - feel free to comment on what you like best, or if I missed something here that you think should be included!

Pinterest:
     This one is sometimes problematic, because there aren't always links or sources included with the pictures, but there are so many other historical costumers/fashion nerds who are great about citing their posts, and also organizing things based on era and type of clothing. Pinterest is a great jumping off point for a lot of projects, and it can be helpful when trying to find a primary source to back up a new idea. Plus, if there's no citation on the post, you can always just search for the image on Google!

Books:
     I've already talked about a few of my favorites on here, but I'll run through my main list again. Janet Arnold, Fitting and Proper, The Cut of Women's Clothes, and Costume Close-Up are my most used books, but my historical costuming bookshelf also includes Fashion in Costume 1200-2000, Corsets and Codpieces, Survey of Historic Costume, What Clothes Reveal, Pictorial Encyclopedia of Historic Costume, The Fashion Book, Fashion Museum Treasures (from the Fashion Museum in Bath), and Undressed (from the exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum).
     The first four I listed all include patterns and measurements from extant garments, and the rest are really good resources for inspiration, fact checking, and just enjoying learning more about clothes! If everything above still isn't enough for you, here are the few books that remain on my wishlist: How to Read a Dress, The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking (this one comes out in November, and I am so excited for it!), Corsets and Crinolines, and Costume in Detail.

Museums:
     Pretty much any museum that has clothing is a resource that I love. My most recent museum visits in this category include the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Museum of London, the Fashion Museum in Bath, and of course, Colonial Williamsburg! However, I also appreciate any other primary source I can find, so paintings and fashion plates on display catch my attention too!

The Internet:
     This might be a bit of an easy answer, but in today's world this is the fastest way to find things. When I was pretty sure a cotton print I found was accurate to the 18th century, but I wasn't certain, I ran a quick Google search (pink spotted neckerchief 18th century), and was soon presented with a painting showing a woman wearing a neckerchief almost identical to the fabric I was holding. Even if the internet isn't where my research stops, it's a great jumping off point!

Blogs:
     I'll end this post with a quick story: When I was just starting to research and sew historical clothing, I didn't have the library or easy access to all of the costuming resources that I have today. So, I was mostly looking things up on the internet and trying to figure out how garments went together and what the major trends were. One of the most helpful things I came across were different blogs. The Dreamstress really helped me in the beginning, and I gained so much confidence by following her pannier-along! Before the Automobile was also one I flipped through on a regular basis, and Stay-ing Alive was another favorite. There are so many more that I've read, and this month I've discovered so many more! The facebook page for CoBloWriMo has a whole list of them, and now that I've come farther in my own sewing I'm really enjoying being part of such a welcoming and enthusiastic community. And, if you want something with more photos (unlike this post, sorry about that!), just scroll through costuming tags on Instagram!

Fabric:
     I'm just going to list these quickly:
-Burnley and Trowbridge
-Fabrics Store.com
-Silk Baron
-Dharma Trading Company

Happy sewing, and happy researching!

Day 13: Pro Tip

I'd like to start off by saying that I've been sewing for 14 years, and my first thought when I saw this prompt was "But I don't have any pro tips!" So, while I have one very specific piece of wisdom to share, I'm also going to say this: Don't undervalue your work! If you've sewn something, that's awesome! If you messed up while sewing, you learned something, and that's awesome too! And if you did all three of those things, then you have more skills than you did before you started that project! After sewing my calash, I brainstormed a list of at least five things I would change if (when) I sew another one, and so my next calash will be even better! The one I just finished is good, but the next one will be great.

Okay, I'll get to my main piece of advice now:

            Invest in the nice fabrics. I spent so many years not being confident in my abilities, and telling myself, “If I save money on fabric now, I can buy the nice stuff in a few years when I’m better.” That’s bad advice. What actually happened was I ended up with a bunch of well-constructed and researched garments that I can’t wear because they’re made of polyester and fake silk. Sure, if you’re making a mock-up you can use the poly-taffeta from the $2 sale at JoAnn’s, but for your final project it’s worth it to spring for the nice silk. Fifteen dollars a yard may seem like a lot, but it’ll end up in a project that can be worn for the rest of your time reenacting, altered to fix small mistakes as you learn better, and, if worse comes to worst, you can refashion it into something else entirely, just like they did in the 18^th (or 17^th, or 19^th, etc.) century!

It's beautiful! It's researched! It's well-fitted! It's... polyester??

            For me, I realized that I had to go big or go home on my 21^st birthday. I had spent months working on a zone-front gown that I put so much research and time into, but I made it out of modern materials. The gown was beautiful, and I was so proud of it, but I wore it on my birthday and I will probably never wear it again. Even though I loved wearing it on my birthday, that day was also tinged with a bit of embarrassment at having a gown that was noticeably out of place among the rest of the linen and silk in Colonial Williamsburg. So, I started investing in nicer fabrics, and now I can wear my creations forever.

            And yeah, don't break the bank if you're uncertain about something. Cotton muslin is cheap, it's even cheaper when you have a coupon, and it's great for making multiple mock-ups. But linen doesn't have to be expensive - I get most of mine from Dharma Trading Company or Fabrics-Store.com (wait for their sales, that's even better!). Silk can be found at Silk Baron, and I wait for sales in Colonial Williamsburg to buy their printed cottons. Finally, my favorite place to shop for all natural fabrics (and anything else I could want!) is Burnley and Trowbridge. I trust their products, they go to lots of events so you can buy in person if you don't want to wait for shipping/like to touch things before you buy them, and they are some of the nicest people with the cutest dachshunds you'll ever meet! 

            Have faith in your abilities! It’s better to learn with linen and silk than it is to learn on polyester anyway!