Day 6: Book Recommendation

            I have a lot of costuming books, and especially historical costuming books. So, choosing a favorite is pretty difficult. However, Fitting and Properstands out to me, being one of my first costuming books, as well as the first book I drafted a pattern from.

            My parents got it for me as a reward for finishing an extra online class ahead of schedule, as well as buying me my first pair of 18^th century shoes. I’ve sewn a gown, mitts, shortgown, and a calash so far from the patterns in the book, and it couldn’t have been easier to follow!

            In a similar vein to The Cut of Women’s Clothes, the book places traced patterns on a grid, so they’re easy to reproduce exactly as they exist in real life, but they can also be sized up or down to fit each individual. The book also provides the thread count for the materials, instructions for the construction, photos of the original garments, and a written history of both the generic idea of the type of garment as well as the extant piece itself.

            I highly recommend this book, especially for those costumers who are just entering the historical costuming world, or anyone who is learning how to draft patterns. And, even if you don’t make anything from it, it’s still a wonderful book to flip through and learn from!

Some Other Pretty Stuff to Look At

So, I've been doing historical costuming for multiple years now, although I have only recently started documenting the process. I thought that maybe I would post some of my other creations, so that you can just see some other things that I've made, and ask any questions/discuss similar things. So, here are a few of my other projects!

This is a pair of gloves that I recreated from a pair of 1770's Quaker mitts from the book Fitting and Proper. I am hoping to embroider them someday soon, but for now they are just plain white. They come up to my elbow, and have an opening for the thumb and the fingers. This is my sixth try, as the first couple mock-ups didn't work out that well. However, I am really happy with them, and I wear them often!

This is the best picture I have of my cape, although hopefully I will have another excuse to put it on and take more pictures soon! This was in Williamsburg, posing with my favorite Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson. The cape is dark gray felt with a silk lining, hood, and collar, as well as a silver clasp (I'll post pictures of it later, it's really beautiful). The purple dress under my cape is not historically accurate, but was my first step into historical costuming, and as it is easier to wash than my other things, it was what I chose to wear for a rainy day. My bonnet was made by someone else, but is historically accurate.

Finally, my dress! This dress is Civil War era, and is my pride and joy. It took four months to make, but was totally worth it. It's blue silk, purple velvet, and over a hundred yards of trim with 72 hand-sewn rosettes.

Just the skirt...

...a close-up on one of the panels (six hand-sew rosettes and a covered button, with three different trims)...

...the back...

...with TJ...

...with another TJ...

...and with accessories!

The nice thing about this dress is the versatility of it. Technically, it is 1860's. However, depending on what type of hoops and underskirts I wear with it, I don't look that out of place in other time periods. I used Simplicity pattern 2881 for this dress, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a nice Civil War era dress to make. Happy sewing!