Bodice Update 2

I finally did it. I cut into the sari.
I’ll back up. Tonight was dedicated to working on both my Netherfield Ball bodice and my green dress bodice.
First up, the green dress, which needs a name. This was a fairly easy cut & assemble process. As I dove right in, I forgot I wanted to line up the back on the wider stripe. Oh, well. Rather than do the jewel neckline, then regret not doing the gathered V neck I love so much and find more comfortable when I have one of my over heating or forgot to eat right spell, I went with the gathered V. I can alway change it out after. I have yet to decide gathering placement. Each has its adventages.

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Next came cutting the NB bodice from the sari. I’ve had a particular section of the sari in mind for the bodice from the start. The pieces barely fit.

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This is one project where every bit of scrap will be saved just incase. I was particularly happy with how the white read through the silk. The color firmly became a lovely peach rather than ‘I might be orange’. I hope you can see the difference here.

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I was hoping to get Dan’s book started as well. But, I ended up proofing my little sister’s research paper. Nicely done. I look forward to hearing what her teacher thinks of a particular phrase.
Next up – Hand finishing the green bodice and deciding on sleeves. Also, getting Dan to stand still for draping.

Published in: on May 9, 2013 at 7:22 pm  Leave a Comment  

All Those Odds and Ends

Now that it is May…. there are only 4 weeks of classes left… the Museum opens this weekend…. Dan has an event next weekend… and I will dress next weekend…. I am having one of those “eegads!” moments. Okay, a series of them. 

Odds and ends of items keep popping into my head. These are pieces I forgot needed to get made, hadn’t thought of or just have been lingering. Some really are not small pieces either.

So, here it is. My long delayed list of items that should have been made months ago, in completely random order:

  • Dan’s book. (I told him I would make him the book he had been wanting for our anniversary.)
  • A general volunteering dress of a tbd date and style. (I would love an excuse to make up the sprigged muslin or welcome a kick in the bottom to get to work on the travel dress. This would be nice for my red/brown fabric)
  • Lily needs a real bag as the one I made her years back just isn’t up to par any more. I am picturing a nice frameless carpet bag.
  • I need a carpet, carpet bag. I love my fabric carpet bags. But, after making the museum’s bags, I really feel like I aught to have an awesome carpet bag.
  • Dan needs better carry-all type bags or box or something. He has his pair of duffle bags and carpet bags that are just way too out of proportion. (long and short. difficult to hold anything.) (What I really should do is pull the frames out of those bags. Remake that fabric into a more suitable, frameless version. Then use the frames for bags more proportionate.)
  • That long, long list of travel  items.
  • The Jenny Lind style fan. This will require finding the damaged fan base I intended to use for this.
  • Lily’s stays
  • Fix my cage. This means reattach the tapes to the bones and strengthen all the other joinings. This poor cage has taken a beating during limb0-living.
  • Alter one cage for Lily.
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     Just to make things interesting, here is this month’s “If I could make a dress per decade” list. (I am defaulting to the MET’s dating today.):

  • 1800-10 – I want this fabric to do this dress.
  • 1810-20 – I want to squish together this dress and this dress.
  • 1820-30 – I love this bodice along with the soft smoothness. (I also really like this one from completely different reasons. Light, air & adorable. Then there is this one for the early part of the decade.)
  • 1830-40 – This dress in just this fabric. But, it would have to be for someone lean like my sister.
  • 1840-50 – The lines curving through the bodice and the pleated trim set into the piped edge look like so much fun to make, while the dress looks so comfortable to weare
  • 1850-60 – Not my normal pick for this decade. Someone showed me this dress the other day. Can anything look so comfy? This is a print I would expect to see on a quilt weight fabric, but I would love to find it in a shirting or lawn.
  • 1860-70
  • 1870-1880 – Maybe
  • 1880-90
  • 1890-1899  
Published in: on May 9, 2013 at 4:00 pm  Leave a Comment  

Bodice Update

I have managed to meet my goal for the evening. Both mock-ups and patterns are worked through for the Netherfield Ball dress and the green plaid sheer dress. A mix of corsetry and fitting thoughts….
As I put it on, I realized this was the first time I put my 50s/60s corset on in nearly a year. It is a good thing I did. Lets just say I am a tad over the 4″ gap ideal. Luckily, the shape of me is still basically the shape of it, just a few even inches fluffier. The girls are puckering or over flowing or overly uncomfortable. How odd is it that I am more comfortable with a gap reduction goal than a weight reduction goal? 
I have discovered the easiest was for me to put on my Regency stays is to lay down. The girls rest upward, out-of-the-way while I lace up the front. When I sit or stand up, everything rests nicely into place. This does remind me of Missy’s suggested method of getting her earlier 18th century stays to fit and sit right. She suggested leaning over forward to get everything in position. Now, in the case of today, I layed down on the floor and just didn’t want to get up. Btw – Have I mentioned lately how comfortable these stays are? I like them so much, I want to make another pair just because. Yes, this does sound like an easy way to tempt me into another era permanently.
On to the bodices. The mock-up for the green dress went easier than I thought. I pulled out the pattern I used for my Fort Stanton dress. Oddly, it was the back I found to be too big. I transitioned what I’m removing to the back side. The center front line did change angle a bit. Other than a slight change in the armscye just to please the eye, that was almost it. The other bit is a bad posture problem. I slouch. Bad, bad me. This has caused the back of the neckline to stick up. Option 1 is a tiny dart hidden under the collar. Option 2 is to recut the neckline as much as a half-inch in the back. I’m not sure which I will do.
The Regency bodice was a little more fussy. Why do I want a cross-over bodice so much? Because I do. I think I have the angle of the cross-over right. I do feel like it is very low-cut. While the angle is nice, narrow shoulders, a short shoulder to bust distance and a large bust result in a deep plunge. I will be adding a horizontal panel inside the center. I may also completely raise the line a half-inch. I do have to take a close look to see if originals have the bodice end just under the bust or just below.
Here are some photos of my thought process:

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The green fabric is safely in the wash so I won’t be tempted to cut into it tonight.

Hopeful schedule:

  • Wednesday – Assemble green skirt (make Dan’s book if possible) Skirt assembled, set, hem faced at 10 pm. 🙂 Didn’t get to Dan’s book 😦
  • Thursday – Cut out green bodice and NB bodice.  Cut out NB skirt & piece panels Postponing skirt
  • Friday/Sat/Sun – Get Dan to stand still so I can drape his coat and waist coat. Cut bias. Do what hand work I can.
  • Monday – Assemble green bodice. Decide on sleeves
  • Tuesday – Assemble & attach sleeves. Put bodice & skirt together (green dress)
  • Wednesday – Handfinishing on bodice (green dress)
  • Thursday – Finish hem
  • Friday – pack & see Dan off. Last minute finishings. Finish bonnet to wear. (Hope ribbon arrives.)
  • Satuday – Work on NB dress as much as possible. Draft Dan’s coat & waist coat
  • Sunday – Wear green dress
  • Monday until? – Focus on NB clothes.
Published in: on May 6, 2013 at 6:44 pm  Comments (1)  

New Dress/Sewing Plan

Miscommunication becomes a new dress plan. It turns out I thought we were planning one event for an upcoming weekend, while Dan had plans for another weekend. Upon this realization last night, my brain became quite muddled with thoughts of availability reshuffling. This meant I am now available to volunteer for a particular fun day, if I am needed. Yeah. Then came the thought – Eeek, dress?

I’ve been so focused on the Netherfield Ball clothes, and honestly having little freak-out session over not knowing the detailed ins and outs, that I haven’t put a single thought to a mid-century dress that actually fits. Not one moment of thought.

Oh, did I mention it is May already?

So, this week there will be a new dress.

I will be using the semi-sheer green plaid on the left. (Yes, this is one of the fabrics I was thinking about dyeing. Too late for that.)

I have two different dress thoughts – Simple, basic, versatile is one idea. The other is a 50s to 60s comparison. Since I have the same fabric in another colorway, a peachy/pinkish color, I like the idea of doing one as 50s and one as 60s, this being the 60s.

But, time is a factor here. Did I mention it is already May and I still haven’t mocked up Dan’s Netherfield Ball clothes?

The plan and the options….

Skirt – Sticking to a plain skirt. I can always add trims later.

Neckline – Basic pearl neckline. While I prefer a V neckline on my sheers, I can/should do a nice V neck on the 50s dress.

Sleeves – Open or closed??? I would like to do an open sleeve with tiers in the skirt for the 50s dress, assuming I have enough fabric. Does that encourage or discourage me from doing an open sleeve for this dress? Hmm?  I do rather like the idea of an open sleeve. (I used to find them such a bother to wear.) This one looks like it would be very comfortable in the heat. It may also be nice to mimic the sleeve I have on the original brown dress. If I did a coat sleeve or a bishop sleeve, I would be tempted to do something with the top of the sleeve. Do I really want additional fabric at the top? I don’t think I do. (Though, I can always change that.)

 Bodice – Basic, gathered bodice with half high lining.

Sounds like a plan. My hope is to cut out and fit both my Regency dress mock-up and the mock-up for this Monday night. I know I can work through this dress fairly quickly. It will be good to do a dress I am confident about doing before confusing myself more (again) on the Regency clothing.

Of course, after all this thinking, I had to remember this dress. How lovely it would be to have a cross-over sheer. Oh, the comfort.

PS – I loved the fabric on the right when I bought it. Since then… I’m not sure. Thoughts?

Published in: on May 5, 2013 at 8:00 pm  Comments (4)  

NB Sewing Journal – Underpinnings Finished

I finished my shift/chemise, stays and bodiced petticoat last night. The last button-hole was finished as bedtime settled in. As soon as I was home from work today, I was able to try everything on. 🙂  This evening is test night to make sure everything fits and is comfortable. I really wanted to share photos. But, as soon as I got my chemise and stays on, my phone’s battery died. So, a summary instead. Everything is quite comfortable. There isn’t much I can say about the chemise, other than it draws up quite nicely. The stays are a comfort level that may just threaten my mid-century clothes to banishment. Really. This one is that comfortable even with the “shelf.” I figure I’m giving them quite the wearing test as I’m curled up on the couch. It is so nice to have this support without having a large underwire digging into my side. I don’t have as much “separate” as I know is ideal. I’ll be more able to achieve that with a transitional pair for my next set. Yes, I’ve already decided there will be more of this clothing. (see below) Now, the bodiced petti…. can we say “C.O.M.F.Y.”? I did a gored skirt with a 84″ hem. LOVE it. This skirt is so very comfortable.

Adjustments:

– I still need to solve the lacing problem. I couldn’t get the 1/4″ round cord through. Right now I have crochet cotton laced in with a bodkin. Either, I need to find a strong, narrow lace I can use with the bodkin or I need to make the holes bigger.
– The waist of the bodiced petti needs to come in about an inch, maybe two, to fit more snuggly. I don’t think it should be loose. I need to decide between a drawstring, darts in the bodice front or taking it out of the sides. So, the question would be – Did they use darts?

Next steps:

– Decide between drafting and draping my bodice. With the duct tape dummy oops, this is a looming decision.
– Drape or draft a toile of my bodice.
– Get Dan’s measurements and do some rough sketches of his clothing.

You know how I mentioned more clothes above? Well, I keep dreaming up dress ideas for the uber-awesome white and green sheer a truely lovely someone sent me. I also started thinking up clothes for Lily.

Published in: on March 19, 2013 at 4:36 pm  Comments (3)  
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NB Sewing Journal – Bodice thoughts

As this weekend is packed full already, there won’t be any sewing likely. I am hoping to get in some sketching for my bodice. I know how I want the front to look. That is just going to be a matter of draping. The back is another story. Looking at originals and sketches, this era seems to have a greater variety in back construction than the 40s, 50s and 60s do.

Here are some of the bodice back constructions I am seeing (pulled from Costume in Detail):
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With these in mind, I’m leaning in one of two directions. This is the safer direction. The construction seems simple with lines that make sense to me. With this type of back, the sleeve placement should be easy enough to find.
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The other option I find quite tempting is this cross-over back. With the cross-over front I have in mind, this would complement nicely. I would still want the closure to be in the front. Although, this back closure looks easy. The part where this dress has the nice front and back cross-over is quite appealing.
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Now, I do have a bodice related snag. After reading this article, I need to put my stays back on to compare. I’m concerned I should have put in gussets. My mid-century corsets are all about gussets. Gail shaped this very nicely to my body. So, maybe she got the right fit without the gussets. Fingers crossed since the bones are already set in.

Thinking a bit about the sleeves. Here is one thought (there will be many more). This is a simple sleeve. If I can get one of the gold motifs to sit centered, that could be nice. It might need applique. image

A side note – I do wish I had a list of hem circumferences. I was only able to pull a couple from CD. I think I’m leaning towards a 96″ petti hem and a 112″-120″ dress hem. The metal weave is rather stiff. Around the hem, I think it will hold out some body rather than hang.

Published in: on March 8, 2013 at 12:20 pm  Comments (4)  

NB Sewing Journal -The Information Gathering Stage

You know the saying “the more you know, the more you know you don’t know?” Well, that certainly applies to my Regency learning curve. This morning I awoke with a long list of questions. But first, I should back up to say I am calling this an information gathering stage rather than a reseach stage because with so much information and so little time, I don’t feel this is proper research.

On to the clothing questions I need to find the answers to. I’ll seperate these in “his clothes” and “her clothes”.

His Clothes

  • What year did this waist seam on the coat come in?
  • What is the evolution of the shape of the front, sorta waist line down into the tails? (I’m seeing 4 different versions.)
  • Collars… 4″, is this on both the coat and waistcoat?
  • Is there a significance in the the width between the button rows for occasion or material?
  • Is that side seam on the waist coat straight like it appears in some?
  • How much of a difference should be seen between the coat front length and waistcoat front length? I was guessing 2-3 inches. Then I saw some maniquin displays with much more space.
  • Where should the coat waist land, natural waist or just above natural waist.
  • Pants…. I still have the plaid question. Is it appropriate for this occasion? What would be my best replacement on a budget? the slightly heavy cream wool I have? a narrow wale corduroy? a twill cotton?
  • White stockings…. is it awful to ask him to wear one of my pairs?
  • Am I correct that stripes tend to go vertically or horizontally on waistcoats? I think I just saw one diagonal.
  • Is there a formality difference in pocket construction on waistcoats? Does it matter?
  • What are the overall fabric formality guidelines?

Her Clothes

  • With such a small bodice, where do I stuff all the fabric from the chemise if I do a straight cut chemise? Should I just do a lower cut yoked chemise?
  • Should my shoulder straps on my stays be attached or not? I think I’m seeing both. If I attach them, there should be less bulk. But, does this make wearing difficult?
  • I’ve seen bodiced pettis and pettis with straps. This just seems to add to the fabric under the bodice. What other methods keep the petti up at the ribcage? Did they button it to the corset? Maybe the straps are the best direction.
  • Does my petticoat go over or under the little tail on my short stays? I’m picturing bumroll, tail, petticoat or petti, bumroll, tail.
  • What are acceptable closures? I’m seeing ties and small buttons on the drop/bibfront bodices. Are hooks & eyes acceptable as well? For a cross-over bodice, I can figure out buttons if need be.

I’m sure there will be more to add to my list….. Is it odd that I find this part fun?

Published in: on March 7, 2013 at 2:10 am  Comments (5)  
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“Two Heads…..”

How much fluff can there be in one person’s head?
I now know the answer….. A full bag.

With my recent revival in millinery fascination, it is time for new model heads. (Okay, the part where I can’t get to my bonnet stands from Dad, nudged this along.)

Tonight, I made a pair of red and blue striped heads to hold my bonnets. The pattern I used  by Lynn McMasters (here) was easy to follow. I used a heavier canvas weight fabric I picked up at Bits & Pieces. Good choice. Inside each is a full back of poly-fill. Really. The base is a thick piece of wood my tech friends cut for me.

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These will be nice for working on my bonnets. I can pin right through the bonnet. (I do have a third cut & pieced, awaiting fill and a base.)
A few numbers to add – Just under 1 yard of 44″ fabric made 3 heads. I only paid $.60 at Bits & Pieces. Regularly, figure $5-8 with a Joann’s coupon. The wood was cut for me at no cost. The fiber-fill I also had on hand. I think it was $4.99 a bag. If bought from scratch with one of Joann’s sales and coupons, 3 heads would cost about $12.50 to $23. Not bad.

 

Published in: on March 6, 2013 at 5:43 pm  Comments (4)  
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Netherfield Ball!

The event I’ve been planning and sewing for is none other than GCVM’s Netherfield Ball! The museum is recognizing the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice by throwing this ball to be held in their beautiful Grand Gallery. Part of newly renovated Wehle Gallery, the grand gallery is a stunning location with its glowing hardwood floors and gorgeous red walls. What an ideal location for a ball!

I’m just a bit excited. Okay, I’m more than a bit excited.

I’ve added a Pinterest board to collect my thoughts on.

Here is a sketch of where I am going with my dress. I’ll be draping that once I have the corset and unders finished.

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As soon as books arrive, I can start drafting Dan’s clothes. I ordered a blue on white stripe for his waistcoat. Fingers crossed everything looks good together. If not…. um, different pants may be in order.

A Huge “Thank You!” to those of you who have been helping and pointing pieces out to me.

Published in: on March 6, 2013 at 11:05 am  Comments (4)  
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A Whole New Sewing Plan

In light of a uber-awesome event, which I will not name until I have our tickets purchased due to the limited number, all sewing has been rearranged. There is now a new sewing list with fabric being rededicated. All of this must be sewn, change that, must be researched, draped and sewn in the next 3 months.

For Dan –

  • Regency pants  (plaid with some blue wool)
  • Regency waistcoat (Ummmm????)
  • Regency frock coat or formal coat – must find out which is which, and what is what on this (Dark blue wool )
  • Regency shirt? (white cotton)
  • Figure out what to do about headwear and footwear.

For Me –

  • Regency corset (which was draped and patterned for me a year ago. Talk about a kick in the bottom to get working on it.)
  • Regency under-everything: chemise, petticoat….
  • Regency dress – to be made out of the vintage sari I was going to use for the court dress.
  • Dance slippers…
  • Hair… um… something….
  • do I need new gloves???

Here are the fabrics I’m planning on. The sari has a large empty area as well as a wide panel of the gold design. The gold is very stiff. The plaid wool has a bit of texture to it. I think it will be comfy for him.
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Here is a better look at the wool.
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This all said, I am very, very new to the Regency era of clothing. I’ve worn poor examples of the dresses and have one sad mock-up from a decade ago. So, I’m starting from scratch here. I am open, very open, to a reading list whether it be articles, books, tutorials, what have you. Send them my way!!!

My biggest learning hurdles are the different shape in sleeve for my dress along with the whole construction and shaping of Dan’s coat plus his pants. Honestly, with his coat and waistcoat if someone were to specifically say ” make this”, it would help narrow my focus down while aiding my learning curve.

Published in: on March 4, 2013 at 2:36 pm  Comments (20)  
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