Historical Sew Fortnightly
Published on January 29, 2014

The HSF ’14: Challenge #8 UFOs & PHDs

written by The Dreamstress

I’m a wee bit behind posting challenge pages for the HSF, because I got rather stumped about what to post for Challenge #8, due Thur May 1: UFOs & PHDs.  It’s not like you need inspiration: you either have that stack of UFOs & PHDs, or don’t!

In sewing parlance, a UFO is an Un-Finished Project, and a PHD is a Project Half Done.

I prefer the term PHD: it’s so much more positive than UFO: it’s the ‘glass half full’ speak of sewing, and besides, it sounds posher!  And who doesn’t enjoy saying that they have multiple PHDs? 😉

I certainly have A LOT of PHDs – far more than I would like to.

I’ve got Emily’s Dress (all those bloody pintucks…):

Evening dress worn by Mrs Emily Jane Mildon (nee Whitley), 1902-1904, Collection of Te Manawa Arts and Cultural Centre

Evening dress worn by Mrs Emily Jane Mildon (nee Whitley), 1902-1904, Collection of Te Manawa Arts and Cultural Centre

And the Frou Frou francaise, which is what I plan to do.

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Ramsay, 1765

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Ramsay, 1765

And the Chinoiserie ensemble is only half done, so technically it’s a PHD…

Design sketch for a 1903 chinoiserie inspired promenade dress
And I need to do some work on the Tea Gown, which makes it kind of a PHD (and man, is making a portfolio for that long overdue…)

The 1900s tea gown

The 1900s tea gown

And I’ve always meant to make a day bodice for the raspberry swirl gown, though I like that outfit less and less every year, so it may never happen.  You never know though!

Madame O in the Raspberry Swirl

And finally, there are actually the foundation beginnings of Mariana Victoria’s blue dress sitting in a suitcase somewhere.  Someday they should come out…

And there is a cut out 1770s mans waistcoat somewhere, and a half-finished 1930s swimsuit, and oh, probably some other things I can’t remember!  At least SOME of them will get done this year!

So good luck with your own UFO/PHD projects, and I look forward to seeing the doubly-exciting finished projects when HSF Challenge #8 comes around!

29 Comments

    • The Dreamstress says

      Tempting, but I’m going to save it for Challenge #11: Politics of Fashion, because it fits so beautifully into that one, and because the Frou Frou Francaise feels more like a PHD. And being wool, it will be nice to wear in the middle of winter, whereas I’m hoping I can get a last-days-of-autumn photoshoot with the francaise.

  3. Stella says

    I’m looking forward to this one; it will give me another shot at the Innovation challenge.

    • Prentice says

      Wow, you completed both items. The pants look great and dress is really pretty as well.

  10. HSF #8: Red/Gold Regency Reticule | The Quintessential Clothes Pen says

    […] bit of time to finish up a partially completed Regency reticule, which perfectly fits challenge #8: UFOs and PHDs (click through the link if you don’t know what those acronyms mean in […]

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