My Dickens Dress

     So, I participate in the Great Dickens Christmas Fair in the San Francisco Cow Palace. It's a bloody good time. This past season was my second and I had a new character, so I had to make a new costume. I was originally going for late 1830's, but it just ended up being a frickin mish-mash of eras and styles. The costume directors want us to keep our costumes to the bell-era (roughly 1842-1864). My deviating dress style kind of bothers me, but I'm proud of the learning experience and still had a great time.
     I found a decent bright red cotton sateen at Joann's and set to work. I had limited time and I hate working under pressure, but that's how it went. I got all this inspiration for the sleeves from late Regency fashion for the puff sleeves, but I wish I'd just stuck with the slopping shoulders of the mid-Victorian era. I used Laughing Moon's Early 1860's Day Dress for the bodice pattern, but altered it a lot, obviously. For the skirt-the basics. Just two panels of fabric cartridge pleated onto a waistband. I really do like cartridge pleats. I padded them a bit with just a layer of cotton folded under them. Dunno if I like the effect still. It does give me some nice hips, seeing as I lack in that department in actual anatomy.
     Through the run of Fair, I switched between wearing a weird modern crinoline-poufy-thing, a small hoop, and a corded petticoat under the skirt. The crinoline was crap, kept getting weighed down. I think my material is a little heavy, though. The hoop was nice, but I don't like how much room it takes up backstage and for sitting and such. I only got the corded petticoat done like halfway through the run, so it didn't get as much use, but I like the effect best. I didn't starch it, so it did cause my skirts to droop a little bit, but I plan to supplement that next year by making a bum pad and starching and maybe a ruffled petticoat in a stiff fabric on top of the corded. I really like the shape of skirts in the 1840's, so that's what I'll go for.
                            Enough talk, here are the photos. I decided to use this dress for my Concentration, because, what the hey, might as well. One less dress to make.

I fixed the hem shortness later.

Me want my skirt poufier...

Period-correct faux-button closure. Hooks and eyes!

What lies underneath...

                      That's all for this little dressy for now, folks. All in all, good learning experience!

Quick and Dirty Regency Dress

     I had a Regency ball I went to a while back and I, not owning a single article of Regency clothing, set out to make a quick, simple dress. I also needed another dress for my Concentration, so it all worked out. I don't particularly like Regency, but felt it was worth the learning experience.
     My mom got me these blue, synthetic taffeta-like curtains a while ago. God, I love her. So thoughtful. She thought I could make something fun out of them. I don't usually go for synthetics, but these worked perfectly! Thanks, Mom, you're the best!
     I vaguely used the pattern for the 1806-09 from Janet Arnold's book. It's a pretty good size for me (5'1'' here), but the shoulders/decolletage of the original wearer of the gown must have been very wide-set indeed. The only part of the pattern I really used was the back pieces for that classic Regency style and the gathering detail of the front.
     I used a little Romantic-era blouse I made ages ago. One of my first sort of learning pieces. The overalls style is something I've seen in a few fashion plates and period pieces, so I figured it was relatively historical. I think it's cute as hell, anyway. It's all hand-sewn, which is historical as %$*@, so that's a plus.

                                                                Ta-da! Yay! Finita!

Well, I'm Back...

     Yeah, I've been lame and have hardly touched my blog for a couple months now. Life gets crazy, especially with senior year of high school. Here I am now, filling you in on what I've been up to these past couple of months....

     The finished 1830's Periwinkle:

(Yeah, the back is messed up at the top eyelets, but I'll fix that later.)

 

 

Cartridge pleats! My favorite kind!

 

 

     The very rough concept sketch for my Prom Pretty Woods dress:

     I bought the silk for it! It's this brilliant turquoise dupioni. I really like the texture the slubs give it.

     The vintage shoes I found online didn't work out, so I decided on some repros! American Duchess does some of the finest historical shoe reproductions I've ever seen. I order the 1920's Spectators, "23Skidoo" and absolutely love them! Great work.

American Duchess Shoe Shop

 

     That's the damage for now, but here's sneak peak for my next dress:

 

I call her "Moon Lady"

 

 



Concentration Musings

     I've been having so much fun just thinking up the other dresses for my Concentration! Haven't decided them all yet, but here are some brainstorming bits:

This sorta is a good visual...I had this dream of a violet velvet 1930s dress with some fun sleeves.

 

 

I ordered some vintage 20s shoes on eBay that look a bit like these with the side details, except in ivory leather and a bit more elegantly shaped (maybe to wear with my Pretty Woods dress!)

 

And then I got really inspired by these gloves Amanda Seyfried wears in In Time.

They loose the hand part of them when she's on the run, to still cover her "timer".

I think they're leather or some kind of fabric, but I plan to make some ivory silk ones to go with my Pretty Woods. I love the way they bunch up at the wrists!

Concentration Dress #2: 1920s Pretty Woods

     The next dress on my list is inspired by a 1923 Robe de Style by Jean Lanvin titled "Pretty Woods". Lanvin designed some really lovely Robes de Style and I wanted to try my hand at making one. It's to be my senior prom dress and I'm very excited about it! Here's the dress:

I saw it in the Smithsonian Fashion: The Difinitive History of Costume and Style.
Mum got it for me for Christmas and I've fallen in love.
I turned the page to it, and was like, "Mum, I found my prom dress."

          There will be some changes. I'm not doing those tabs in the front and I'm thinking maybe cherry blossoms instead of, I think, peonies..? Might keep those, though. The silk might be a brighter teal, too. And perhaps a low V neck in back....all just thoughts. We'll see.

Concentration Dress #1: 1830s Periwinkle

     My first dress I am tackling for my AP Art Studio concentration (six pieces total!) is an early 1830s day dress. I'm using a lovely periwinkle medium-weight cotton and a white cotton for the lining. Here are some early inspiration photos:

via Behind the Tapestry blog

via Annie Leibovitz for Vogue

via pinterest

     And an early concept sketch on mine:

     As for a pattern, since I'm not the most skilled at draping yet, I'm using Truly Victorian's Early 1830s dress pattern with Gigot sleeves for daytime wear. The bodice is heavily altered, 1) because I didn't want a gathered bertha/neckline thing and 2) because I am petite, which entails a lot of alterations in fitting and 3) I wanted a laced back instead of a hook and eye closure.
     I traced my corsetted size from the bodice pattern on large tracing paper, sewed the mock-up, and pinned on the back and spent a while adjusting where the darts would be and fixing the shoulders and waist height to my shrimpy proportions. Mum was great help with pinning me into it. Once we had the right alterations, I ripped all the seams out and used the flat mock-up pieces as my new pattern to cut my fashion fabric and lining from. I sewed the fashion fabric pieces together, but got delayed sewing the lining, because I lost one of the pieces in my monstrously messy bedroom. I had plenty lining left, so I re-cut it later.
     Then, I set to stitching boning channels to the seam allowances inside the bodice. Still finishing that up:

Channels will be on every seam.

Close-up.

     That's as far as I've got on the bodice, but I picked out a lovely buckle and olive-grey velvet ribbon for the belt. Belts were a thing back then, right? I like it, anyhow:

The thread is some upholstery thread I'll be using for the cartridge pleats on the skirt.

And some new embroidery things. I'm trying my luck at hankerchief embroidery...

     That's all I got for now. Will post about the sleeves and skirt later. Till then...

 

Slap, Bang, Here We Are Again

     Well, I don't like what I've been doing with this blog. I don't particularly like leaving it to decompose in the depths of blogger-space; neglected and unused. I think I will now put it to good use. I've always admired costuming and sewing and DIY blogs in general and they were the reason I originally started a blog: I fancied myself a costumer. I don't quite know if I am a costumer, as artists can often find themselves questioning their artistry. Yet, I think I will pursue this blogging/costuming idea. It sounds like fun and I'd like to do it more wholeheartedly this time. So, here I go.
     We'll see what happens. I think it will be okay. If not, I'll at least take some good lessons out of the whole thing as one will do in any endeavor. So, a toast to the costumes and blogging that follows and, most importantly, the learning.
     I think I will start with chronicling my working in my AP Art Studio class. I have chosen my concentration, which does include a lot of costuming.
     And here we go...