Planning for 1776

It has been a full month since I posted about creating an ensemble for the 250th. Since then, I have found I have endless questions. I am questioning fabrics, fibers, fit, fashion, seam details, and even myself.

I forgot what it was like to start a new time period. While, this technically is not a new time period for me, it feels like it is because my mindset is different than it was nearly 30 years ago when I last dressed for this era. (I am floored I can say nearly 30 years ago.)

One of my big hurdles is direction. I usually have a defined purpose or roll I develop a set of clothing for. In this case, all I have is “I know I will regret having it if I don’t have it.” I find this is hard for me. I need a vision, an end goal to focus on. That doesn’t exist yet.

No goal. No drive or motivation.

I am hoping that by the time I get a full set of under layers – new shift, petticoats, stays, stockings. Together, I will have a clearer vision to focus on.

What I have done is dig through my stash to identify materials that can be used for this project.

You may notice the pallette is pretty blaaaaaa bland. Or, maybe I am just seeing it that way because of what I said above

Here is what I have, some with purpose:

3 yards of 3.7oz white linen – new shift
5 yards of 5.3oz white linen – petticoats
7+yards of heavy weight light grey linen/cotton blend (45″wide) – petticoats (or gown) (I have this weird desire to make a petticoat and jacket out of this and paint it.)
Misc linen of different med-heavy weights – stays
Dress length of pale green windowpane check wool – maybe gown
Pink print on heavy cotton upholstery-esque OSV reproduction – can I use this for stays? Pretty
Reproduction OSV print on heavy cotton upholstery-esque – trade
Off white cashmere/wool – not sure why I pulled this out
2 yards small scale plaid I thought was wool but turns out to be a cotton shirting – apron or trade
Cotton voile – caps

Somewhere in my stash (hoping the big totes) should be a blue on white larger scale floral border print. That may be the right fabric for a gown that will motivate me.