This historical costume project came about as an attempt to salvage another historical costume project. Let’s begin with the dress that inspired the jacket. Warning, this post is long so if you’d like to skip to the discussion on the jacket, continue down until you see more jacket photos. I sewed this white Regency gown years ago but due to a massive fail on my part, it lingered in the Drawer of Shame ever since….
There’s nothing like a strict deadline to motivate you to finish a project. That’s what I gave myself for this newest historical costume. To celebrate my birthday I decided to visit the Medieval Faire near Austin and of course, I needed clothes to wear. The Faire I went to is themed more toward the European middle ages than the Renaissance so I went with something in the middle – the 14th century. Plague times, yeah!…
After what seems like years I’ve finally finished my 1840s costume. I completed the dress months ago but the bonnet languished unfinished until recently. Underneath all of this, I’m wearing my Victorian undergarments (including four petticoats!), silk stockings and brown leather ballet flats (not exactly period accurate but close enough for now). Let’s talk about this dress: The pattern is Laughing Moon Mercantile #114 with some minor adjustments. I made View B but with the flat…
This might be my most elaborate costume make to date. And I finished it justintime for my event at an art museum where these photos were taken (so ignore the buses and cars in the background). To summarize, I’m wearing a cotton chemise under this Victorian corset, a steel lobster-tail bustle with ruffled petticoat, an underskirt, overskirt, bodice, bonnet, along with silk stockings and costume lace-up boots. Also, my mother-in-law was kind enough to let…
I’ve been neglecting the blog in favor of Instagram this month. I haven’t finished many projects but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been sewing. So so much sewing… and drafting and cleaning and planning, etc. As a little re-cap, here are just a few of the things I’ve been working on lately… Blank Slate Sewing Team Earlier this month as part of the Blank Slate Sewing Team I shared my Denver Sweatshirt hack over at…
When I tell people I like making historical costumes they always ask me, “Where are you going to wear that?” Well, guess what? I finally wore a costume to an event! I went to Dallas for the DFW Costumer’s Guild‘s annual Georgian Picnic. It’s a gathering of costuming enthusiasts where we dress up in 18th-century through Regency era clothes, eat, play games, socialize, and generally have a fun time. (from Festive Attyre’s Flickr album) Here’s everyone…
Warning: this post is long. I’m sharing six (!!!) pieces I’ve made. All for costumes. I’m working on several historical costumes right now but this group of garments is for my 1840s costume. Some of these items are more 1860s/Civil War era, others much earlier, but they can still be used for the 1840s. Let’s start from the innermost layer and work our way out… Chemise: Made of white muslin, the chemise was like a big…
At last I have taken proper pictures of this costume! I’m wearing my Regency underthings along with a bodiced petticoat (which is exactly what it sounds like – a petticoat with a sleeveless bodice attached to it). The Dress first: Some soft blue cotton I bought locally at a store that no longer exists 🙁 If you’ve read my previous post on sewing Regency you’ll know that I’ve had such a hard time with Big…