The MET Moire Mourning Dress is Complete!

When I first started "collecting" mourning dress images on my Pinterest board Mourning Fashion, I came across this dress that is housed in The MET.  It is made of black moire.  Mourning.  Moire.  Moire.  Mourning.  Can we say match made in heaven?  Loving all things mourning and loving moire, how could I resist recreating this dress?  Well, it is finally complete.  It took me a while to locate and purchase the fabric, which I ended up acquiring from Hobby Lobby, but acquire it I did!  Huzzah!  I am so happy this dress is complete.  I don't think I have ever had such an issue completing a bodice as I did with this one.  It was a colossal pain in the butt.  I almost didn't finish it, so frustrated with it did I become on several occasions.  But, I pushed through and happiness is the final outcome!

Also, an aspect of this project was a first for me.  The use of fringe.  I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to those who love/adore/appreciate fringe.  You see, they remind me of Halloween store flapper costumes and B-Western cowboy shirts.  There is nothing wrong with the previous items, but to see fringe on a lovely Victorian dress?  It has taken me quite a while to come to terms with this. I guess the fact that the Victorian dresses came before the 1920s flapper dresses and B-Western shirts helps quite a bit.  Wanting to stick with the spirit and originality of The MET dress, I chose to use fringe on mine as well.

The only thing I have to do to complete the entire project is to make a hand sewn eyelet lace collar and lengths of hand sewn eyelet lace for the under sleeves.  At this point I am totally procrastinating as I don't want to design it right now...

The Dress

Inspiration for my dress.  Source:  The MET

The fringe.  I am still sort of cringing at the fringe...

I had to make a separate peplum for the back of the bodice.  When the peplum was attached, the bodice refused to fit correctly.  It pulled and did all sorts of nasty things.  However, upon some research, I discovered that there were other bodices that had separate peplums!  Huzzah for that!

Pattern:  

Bodice: Simplicity 4510

Sleeves: Simplicity 2887

Skirt:  me made

More Underwear

Because I needed more new underwear for this project, I also made a new petticoat trimmed with antique eyelet lace and cage crinoline.

Petticoat:

Pattern:  Self drafted

Fabric:  Cotton

Beautiful antique eyelet lace trims the petticoat.

Cage Crinoline:

Pattern:  Truly Victorian 141

Fabrics:  cotton and gros grain ribbon

So now I get to design and make the eyelet lace bits.  I do have several inspiration images that will guide me, so that part is over...

I hope you all have a marvelous rest of your week!

Blessings!

g

Late 1850s Corset, Embroidered Chemise and 1860s Elliptical Hoops!

Good Monday to you all!  I hope you are all doing more than wonderful!  I am well, but life has become a little more busy than I like.  Fall means school and school means teaching, or making sure Colton gets his school work completed (as stated in my previous post, Colton is in a new homeschool co-op where "we" go to school all day Wednesdays then Mondays and Fridays for math...). This means earlier mornings (I'm a night owl, usually going to sleep at 1:30 a.m.) and sluggish feeling days.  All this translates into fewer sewing projects, which is just how it is going to be for a while!

BUT!!!  I have managed to complete a few things.  The hoops have been done for about 2 weeks, the same for the chemise.  The corset is a newer project.   Because of the way I have been feeling physically and other things that have been happening in my life causing me to want to hibernate, it has taken me this long to do a photo shoot with all the new items.  You know when you just feel off plumb and don't really feel like doing anything but sleeping and sitting on the couch, binge watching "Call the Midwife" and eating potato chips?  Yaaaaaaaaaaa....That's how I have been feeling lately.  I know that things will get smoother and I'll be back to my usual self, and I sooooo cannot wait for that!

  

So, on with the pictures of the new underwear items!

Elliptical Hoops

At some point in the hopefully near future, I really want to make two 1860s elliptical dresses....This one and This one.  I had in mind to make the half mourning one for my annual "All Hallow's Eve" mourning dress, but my mind changed itself for me and I will be making another instead.  In any case, the hoops are already made!  Huzzah!!

Pattern: TV 103 Elliptical Cage Crinoline

I thought it would be fun to make a colored cage, but in the end, white won out....

Late 1850s, Early 1860s Corset

I've been wanting a black corset for a very, very long time and since I will be doing the "Dressing the Victorian Lady in Mourning" at The Bishops House this coming Saturday, I thought I would make the corset for the event.  Well, plans fell through for the making of a new dress (oh how did God rescue me from a week of crazy,  out of my mind, working 24/7 on the new project! Thank you Lord for talking some sense into my crazy, OCD brain!!!)  I plan now on dressing in my 1840s Wool Mourning Dress and feel it will be a better thing to do anyway, so huzzah for simpler, non "are you out of your mind?" plans!!!

But again, I now have a new corset for when I do get my newest mourning dress made!

I really love this new corset and think it fits really well.  And....I did flossing on it!  I have never done any flossing except on the tips of the gussets for stability, and am super pleased with how the "tear drops" turned out!  You can't really see very well the color of the flossing, but it is a lovely robin's egg blue!

Pattern:  Simplicity 7215 (shortened by 1 1/4")

Fabrics: Dupioni silk

Cotton canvas

Love my new American Duchess Balmoral boots!

I'm one of those wear your chemise outside of your drawers kind a gal.  I have tried to wear the chemise inside the drawers and the feeling is just too uncomfortable.  I know that there are those who wear it in and more power to ya!  But this chick...chemise out!  

Embroidered Chemise

Ok, so I am super pleased with this chemise and really liked the embroidering so very much that I would like to make a set of drawers and corset cover that has been hand embroidered! Don't know if that will actually happen, but a girl can dream right?  

Pattern: Past Patterns 707

Fabric: Cotton 

The edge of the top looks puckered...I ended up having to take a full 6 strands of the embroidery floss and thread it on the underside of the scallops to "tighten" the top of the chemise up.  Without that tightening floss, it fell way down my shoulders and I really didn't like how it looked.  Also, I wish I hadn't added the buttons as it throws the "center" off a wee bit.  But, the pattern called for it and on one of the extant examples, it was the same way so....there ya go! 

Looking at these pictures, it's hard to believe that I actually embroidered all of that!  

Especially those teeny tiny eyelets!  ACK!!!

The sleeves are even embroidered...

Well, that's all for now....For the next two weeks, I will be slowly working on my mourning dress...This Glorious Work of Beautiful Art!!!!!!!!!!! 

 I hope you are enjoying the fall weather if you are a place where the weather is actually changing!  This is my favorite time of year and I LOVE the colors of the leaves on the trees, especially the bright crimsons!  

Have a wonderfully blessed week my friends!

g

1875 Riding Habit from the MET: Beginning the Skirt...

Good Monday to you all!  I hope you have had a most wonderful weekend!  After taking most of last week off from sewing (I did start and finish the altering to the maternity NFE tea gown that I wore to an event back in June...photo shoot later) I am back at work adding to my Victorian Sports wardrobe.  This week I begin work on an 1875 riding habit inspired by this fabulous one from The MET.  I made two riding habits years ago...like 7 or 8 years ago...and for some idiotic reason, I sold them both.  But that's ok, because I now have an "excuse" to make another one and this one out of a very deep forest green Pendleton Wool.

The patterns I'm using are:

Skirt;  Truly Victorian 1883 Riding Habit Skirt TV264

Bodice:  Past Patterns 902 Riding Habit Bodice PP 902

Past Patterns 901 Riding Habit Trousers PP 901

Inspiration Photos from The MET

Well, I am off to work!  I hope you all have a most wonderful day!

Blessings!

g

Dusty Rose Edwardian Skirt Complete!

Good honks.  I now remember why I hate working with linen.  It is a colossal pain in the neck!  You look at it and it wrinkles just because it can.  But....I finally got the skirt completed and I will grudgingly admit that it looks really good in its linen-y self.  I purchased the fabric at a local thrift store and after a burn test, touch test and a comparative test, concluded that it was indeed linen.  However, it was a shocking, in your face, BAZOOKA! bubblegum pink color!  I thought that RIT had a "tea dye" dye and was saddened to discover that they didn't have one at my JoAnn's, so I brewed up a strong tea...using over 30 tea bags (OHMYGOSH!!  That's why I don't have any tea!  hahahahahahaha!  I totally just now remembered why that is!!!  I am such a dork...)....

Anyway....I brewed up a strong tea and proceeded to dye my fabric a much more sedate, beautiful color of not IN YOUR FACE!!! pink.

I spent hours and hours looking for a super interesting skirt design as I wanted something with a little "umph" to go with the tucked blouse.  I finally found just the right skirt on Wearing History!  (image below....)  It was perfect and I had just enough of the fabric to make what I was wanting to!!!

Huzzah!!!!!

The pattern I used for the skirt is the TVE21 1903 Tulip Skirt.  LOVE this pattern!!!

My inspiration for the skirt, the one on the right.  I found this through Pinterest and was delighted to find out (seriously just 8 minutes ago) that it is from Wearing History blog!  The title of the blog entry and source is :  Inspiration: 1908 German Fashion.  (Thank you Lauren for allowing me to use the image here!!)

I fell in love with the loooong tabs (I don't know what they really are, but since I love tabs, that is what I will call them!!!) and the horizontal lines and the loops!  I didn't have enough fabric to cut bias strips for the loops, so I had to leave those off.  But I did manage enough fabric for three horizontal lines and the long tabs!  Oh, and I added buttons to my skirt, because....

TABS + BUTTONS = HAPPINESS!!!

There are 7 tabs with buttons on the skirt.

Close up of the skirt art!  Happiness!!

Oh...yucky picture...sorry!  But here is the back!

So, next up is a corset cover because my corset is green and I need fluff to fill out that pouter front, then I need to make a new hat...because I love hat!!!!

Be blessed my friends!!!

g