Farm Chicks Antique Show!!!

I am so excited!  This Saturday, my Mama and I are going to be attending the Farm Chicks Antique Show in Spokane, WA!!!  I have read about it for years and this year I AM GOING!!!!!  I can't wait!  I have always heard about the big, nationally recognized shows like this one in magazines, seen pictures on flickr, and read about them on blogs....I cannot stand how excited I am about this!  I hope to find lots of fun things to bring home that I can decorate hats, dresses, my house and garden with.  But, I think what I am excited about the most is just being able to see a "real" antique show....not the sad little thing that tries valiantly, but falls short of fabulous here at our fair grounds.  And I love going to Spokane anyway.  I have family there and I love visiting with them!

http://thefarmchicks.typepad.com/

HUZZAH AND AWAY!!!

A Smoking Jacket

There is just something wonderfully Victorian and regal about a smoking jacket.  Not the kind that a lecherous old man, who lives with women old enough to be his great-grandaughters wears.  Ugh....insert all over body shiver....But rather, the handsome, richly colored, brocade and velvet jackets that Gentlemen of yore wore to protect their starched shirts and vests clean of cigar or pipe ash.

While I have been stuck on my back...because it has decided that it should send sharp stabbing pain radiating out in every single direction...I have decided to start researching Greg's Smoking Jacket again.  I had found many images years ago when he really started appreciating cigars.  Being the Victorian/research geek I am, I thought it would be a neat thing for him to wear one while he enjoyed his cigar and port on the patio.  

This is a fabulous image.  I found it on a cigar blog that of course is no longer....I really like the pattern of the fabric and his slippers.  The wide cuffs and collar are wonderful....

Wonderful color combination.  The quilted collar and cuffs are so neat.  I found this on the same cigar blog....but here is another place to view the image..

http://buffalodandy.com/2012/04/24/the-smoking-jacket/

The length of this one is great.  I like the longer ones....

Lovely jacket worn by Charles Dickens on "Dr. Who"  

Mr. Floop's smoking jacket (Spy Kids).  Why the creater of a children's show would be wearing a smoking jacket is beyond me, but this one is fabulous.  The color combination just makes me smile.  And of course the length is long.....

Mr. Floop again.  The shirt, tie and vest under all of the previous jackets along with this one are what set these jackets apart.  These were worn by gentlemen respecting the sensibilities of their ladies.

Gorgeous brocade Greg and I decided to make his Jacket out of.  We need to decide on either dark chocolate brown velvet or black velvet......This will match his vest and puff tie perfectly!!!

Ha!!!  A real robe pattern!  hahahahahaha!!!  Well, it has the perfect shape for the collar and cuffs and I can elongate it so it will be that lovely long length!!  This will be fun!

Regency Stovepipe Hat

Seriously, I think I have a problem.  Like, perhaps I need to join some sort of support group for this!  I cannot stop making hats!  I adore them!  I dream about them!  I see them in a movie, on the web, in a book, in a museum...and I start to salivate, my fingers begin to tingle, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my eyes dilate.  I can imagine myself standing up in a group of costumers and saying, "Hello, my name is Gina and I can't stop making hats."  I wonder if there is a pill for this affliction!  The worst thing?  I have hats that I don't have dresses for yet!!!!!!!  SICK!

Well, my latest lust attack was Lady Catherine de Burgh's stovepipe hat.  You remember her don't you.  From Pride and Prejudice.  The 1995 one.  I absolutely adore that particular one.  The costumes are so wonderful, lush, mesmerizing.  When I want to go into a costuming coma, I watch that one.  Anyway, I love Lady Catherine.  And her outfits.  I don't know what my fascination is with snitty women.  I adore Ruth Dewitt Bukater too.  Such snots, but what wonderful costumes!!  So, anyway, this hat that she wears to the Bennet abode to give Miss Lizzie a proper dressing down.....I LOVE it!  I love her whole outfit actually.  Such a rich color and the textures are wonderful.  

So, I spent most of the day, and half a roll of my husband's craft (er..I mean brown construction) paper getting the pattern just right.      

My Lady Catherine de Burgh...

Love the finger waves...

Oh yes...check out Lizzie's mustard gloves!!!  Cool! 

"Obstinate, headstrong girl!  I am ashamed of you!"

"I take no leave of you, Miss Bennet.  I send no compliments to your mother.  You deserve no such attention.  I am most seriously displeased."

Poor Miss Anne's hat is fabulous as well!  

All the Pride and Prejudice images are from

http://periodmovies.blogspot.com/

My version.  I don't think the diameter is the same nor the height, but I got tired of working on it...so this is where it shall stay!  I did use the brim pattern piece from Lynn McMaster's 1830s Romantic Period Bonnet for the brim.  Again, I was just beyond messing with it.  

http://lynnmcmasters.com/romanticbonnet.html

The colors.  Teal Velvet and Ivory cotton jaquard.  This should be fun!!!

Regency Now? Boy I am all over the map!

Ok, so now it is Regency.  I have been either sick to my tummy or having issues with my back, so I have been lying down quite a bit here lately!  And as I have been in repose, I have been spending quite a bit of time doing research.  And playing around on Pinterest.  And looking at lovely dresses from years ago.  I can't even remember what got me started on Regancy....

Nope....

No, wait.  Yes, I do.  

I purchased one of those lovely HUGE file cabinets from a thrift store last week.  You know, the kind that has 4 super wide, super deep drawers?  Ya, well, I got it to organize all of my patterns, because to my way of thinking, if I organized them, then my house Brownie would quit stealing my patterns and causing me to believe I have early onset Alzheimer's.  In categorizing my patterns, I ran across my Regency Era patterns and my brain started buzzing with costuming insanity again.  I was too tired to quiet the buzzing down, so I let my brain just run with it.  This is what I came up with!

I adore this outfit.  The monochromatic scheme, the hat!!!  The gargantuan muffler.  The trim on the bottom of the skirt.  So fun!  Except mine will be in shades of Teal!!! 

And look at this sleeve!  The bottom one, which of course is in teal!  I can't remember which book I got this image from...I took the picture while at a friends house...

My fabrics.  The teal velvet and lighter teal dupioni!  

This is going to be a fun outfit to make.  Now I just need to come up with an event to wear it to!

New Outfits!!!

Sailor Suits!!!  I am so in love with them!  And...I get to make two!  One for my Mama and one for me!  A wonderful friend and her family are coming to Idaho for a family reunion, and while they are here we are going to do a bit of costuming!!!  Because it will be during the 4th of July holiday, I have chosen sailor suits in blue and ivory!!  I soooooooo cannot wait to wear them!!

Mom's dress will be patterned after the white and red one above from the 1903 Delineator, except hers will have blue where the red is...

This is the dress I have chosen for myself.  LOVE it!!

This wonderful hat is from the MET.  Wire and chiffon and lace!!  This is, hopefully, what our hats will resemble!

Heather at Truly Victorian has come out with fabulous Edwardian Era patterns.  Mom and I purchased the blouse...

and the skirt patterns today.  

http://trulyvictorian.com/

And just for fun, because we already have the rest of the undergarments, I ordered this ruffled corset cover from Ageless Patterns.  Love it!!

http://agelesspatterns.com/

I can't wait to get started on these fun dresses!!!  And again, there will be NO pleating!!!  hahahahahahaha!!!

Everything Old is New Again

I love starting a project because I think in my mind that, "I'll just bet in the 'olden days' a lady like myself; seamstress, milliner; perhaps did the exact same thing".  Well, that is precisely the thought that was going through my head when I started my House of Faithfulness scrapbook at the beginning of the year.  (House of Faithfulness would be the name of my couture business if I had lived in the Victorian or Edwardian era.  It has everything to do with how faithful God is.)

 I had decided that I wanted to so something that went beyond sewing Victorian/Edwardian clothing and hats.  Something that ladies did frequently in their time.  Write.  Not just my sloppy, gotta get it done writing.  But the lovely, flowing, spidery script that children were taught at school and developed over time.  I have letters that belonged to my ancestors and an autograph that was my Great-Aunt's Uncle dating from 1905, that have beautiful examples of such hand writing.  So, I started by finding all the letters of the alphabet and teaching myself to write, using a nibbed pen that belonged to my Great Grandma, Cornelia.  It was so fun that I filled pages and pages of the alphabet; both upper and lower case, days of the week, months of the year, flower and herb names, names of my family, numbers, anything that caught my attention.  

On a trip to Spokane, WA, for my niece's Birthday Party, I happened upon the perfect vintage scrapbook at the antique shop, Vintage Rabbit Antique Mall.  I brought it home with me and immediately began entering ideas for dresses.  Every page is its own dress and at the top of the page is the "name" of the dress.  I have pinned with silk pins (because back then they didn't have ball headed pins back then...) swatches of the fabrics I wish to use on the dress; inspiration images and the patterns I plan on using is written in spidery cursive; and the accessories that are going to be worn with the dress are put down along with any other notes, so I won't forget.  Then when the dress is complete, I pin a photograph to the page so I can see that I did indeed complete it!  It has been such a fun hobby to begin!  

Well, today I was laid up with a very grouchy tummy and I had ample time to peruse the internet for dress designs and to play around in Pinterest.  On Pinterest I found that in all actuality, a young lady from the "very olden days" did the very same thing I am doing!  Well, except she didn't pin a photograph of the completed garment.  Here is an excerpt of what is written on the tumblr where this scrapbook was found...

"A British reverend’s daughter named Barbara Johnson (1738-1825) kept a meticulous diary throughout most of her life (from age 8 to well into her 80s) of the fabrics she used and details of the garments she made with them. What an amazing personal and historical document. Doesn’t it inspire you to do the same?

The original diary is now a part of theVictoria & Albert Museum’s collection."

This is my garment scrapbook...I love the fact that is embossed and ivory in color!

An entry about my Mama's 2010 Christmas dress...

My 2010 Christmas dress...

Greg's frock coat, vest and puff tie entry.

This has been so fun and I look forward to filling it up....maybe even until I am well into my 80s!!!  I have also started a botanical scrapbook....I'll share that one later.

And Here She Is!! Re-Purposed Hat!

I love it when I make something and it turns out well!  Like this little hat.  I so wanted to make a wide brimmed cloche that would look similar to original cloches.  So, I am pretty pleased with this one!  

Here is a link to the cloche that very surprisingly resembles the one I made...

http://www.ruedelapaixhats.com/items/1920s_lace_straw_wedding_cloche.aspx

(This online shop is fantastic!!!  Absolutely wonderful selection of hats!!!)

The ribbon is just for show...not a permanent one.  I hope to find a lovely vintage piece to put on it!

Pretty darn close to my eye balls!!  I can't wait to  make a dress to wear this one with!  

Putting Re-purposed Straw to Good Use!

I don't have a pattern for a 1920s era cloche, so for this hat, I decided to use the Ivory Silk Ruched cloche I made last month.  It was the perfect shape and in all actuality, I wanted this hat to be a little looser on my great big noggin.

Starting with the already started top of the hat....(I learned this a long time ago when using straw from an "already hat".  The makers of the "already hat" have generously started your hat for you!  Isn't that nice of them?  Just stop the destruction of the "already hat" when the crown is about the size of a frozen juice can lid.  Believe me, it will save you much, much, work!)...and working down, I just tucked the lower level beneath the upper level, pinning as I went.  At the bottom, I made the brim oblong to emulate my inspiration.    

Image of the "already made" top of crown!  

New cloche on "frame" of Ivory silk cloche.  Because I am not blessed to own a millinery sewing machine, I had to hand tack the straw together...

Alright...everything from the old hat was used for this new one.  I used the already covered wire for the brim so it would hold its shape!  

After machine sewing on the wire, I hand tacked a strip of the straw on top of the wire to "hide" it!

The Destruction of Yet Another Hat!!!

If it means the construction of another hat from the 20s?  Heck ya!!!!

Since I had wonderful "luck" with my Ruth's Butter Yellow Tea Dress hat, I thought I'd give the 20s a go...

I simply adore the look and lines of this 20s era cloche!  I have previously made two other cloches, but their brim is much smaller.  This sweet one...I don't know why, but it just makes my heart happy!!  So, I searched and searched for yet another open weave straw hat to cannibalize.  Ebay came to my rescue.  

This beauty is what I found!  And score!!!  Look at those gorgeous poppies in obnoxious red/orange!!!  Yes, they did get added to the Ruth's Butter Yellow Tea Dress hat!  TaDa!!!

This is the result of taking flowers off of the hat.  The ribbon was glued on and I had some issues with removing it that resulted in some damage to the straw...but that was ok.

After about half an hour of picking, cutting and seam ripping, this is what I ended up with!  Yards and yards of lovely open weave millinery straw!!!

Up next....molding and forming a new hat!

What Do You Do When You Don't Have Enough Hair?

And you don't want to wear a wig?  And you have hair that Locks of Love wouldn't take because it was too short?  Well, you do what I found on facebook one day.  You make your own chignon!  I tried it and low and behold...it totally worked!!!  I was so ecstatic when I got it completed.  After 4 hours of sewing VERY slick hair onto tulle, I shouted for joy and my 14 year old came running.  I showed him what I accomplished and he said (with all the enthusiasm a 14 year old can muster upon looking at something that appears to be a dead critter mounded together on netting), "Moooom....what is that?"  I told him with great excitement that it was an Edwardian chignon.  He raised his eyebrows in that adorable way he does when in his mind he is thinking that his mother has lost hers, shrugged his shoulders, muttered, "Ooooooo-k." And returned to his school work.  Well, I thought it was cool!!!  

Here is the link for the facebook page I found this wonderful creation on.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150751758560616.463214.697200615&type=1

What a genius Miss Benson is!!!

My hair made into a chignon!!!

Since my hair isn't long enough to just pull straight back, I opted to twist the sides...

And just swept up the ends into a flattish knot in the back.

I have some wonderful vintage and reproduction hair pins that I employed to anchor the chignon to my head

Hair piece in action!!  It stayed put, matched my hair, because it was...er....my hair, and was so fun to wear!!!

Hair pins I used.  They belonged to my Great Grandma Cornelia Rotramel Walters!!!

Hand Made Flowers for a Hat...

In doing my research for 1920s cloches, I notices that the adornment on hats had changed along with the dress fashion.  It was considerable less and not as "fluffy".  Thus the reason for making my own leaves and flowers of the fabrics I used on my dress.  I also chose to adhere the flowers/leaves to the hat via silk pins.  This way, they can be removed if I ever make a plain ivory dress or wish to use different flowers on the hat. 

For the large dark teal flower, I just gathered the strip of folded and zig-zagged fabric, circled it into the semblance of a cabbage rose, ironed the snot out of it and then beaded it.