All posts filed under: Crafty stuff

A set of Baroque pearl accessories

One of the reasons I love 17th century fashion so much is the jewellery. 18th century jewellery is very pretty, but it tends to get a bit heavy on diamonds and overly ornamented, and just too bling-y. Mid 17th century jewellery is fabulous though. It’s all pearls. Throat skimming pearl necklaces, round or baroque. And pearl drop earrings the size of pigeon eggs, with more pearls twined through the hair. Pearl trimmed clothes, and large hanging drop pearls dangling off broaches. (sings) Pearls, Glorious Pearls! Whenever I’ve worn Ninon, I’ve faked the pearls from my stash of random pearl necklaces, but have always intended to make a set of jewels that captured the look a little better. With the masquerade ball coming up, I thought it was high time I did it. I had a set of really beautiful, high quality faux pearls, still unstrung, so I strung them, and added a vintage clasp (not 17th c HA, but still very pretty, and it gave the effect). I remembered reading somewhere about women in the …

HSF/M ’15: Challenge #3: Stashbusting

Published by The Dreamstress

The third Historical Sew used-to-be-Fortnightly-now-it’s-Monthly challenge of 2015 is Stashbusting. Unlike previous challenges, like Blue, there is no research or inspiration needed for a Stashbusting challenge: you either have one, or don’t, and if you have one, the question is simply, how big is it? Mine is ummm…big. There are bits of it stored in chests and suitcases and boxes all over the house. Mostly I sort by colour, with specialty boxes of linens, laces, and a few other pieces. Where I have so much of one colour (cough *white*) that it doesn’t fit in one box, it’s sorted by fibre and weight: a box of white silks, a box of lightweight whites, and a box of mid-heavyweight whites. Under our bed I have my red stash: Isn’t the dark red swoon-worthy? It’s a proper vintage rayon, with flowers and moon shapes on it, and it just begs to be made up as a late ’30s frock! And I’m currently working on a dress in the feather print – so the red stash is being …

A bit of fun sewing: cushions

Published by The Dreamstress

Do you know that I do lots of sewing that never makes it to the blog? I do! Mostly cardigans and t-shirts. This would be a really boring blog if I showed you all the cardigans and t-shirts I make. And knickers. This would be a really weird blog if I showed you all the knickers I make. But I also trial patterns, and make class sample, and make stuff I just forget to blog about. Here are a few cushions I made a couple of weeks back as class samples. One with buttons (and sailboats! Mr D likes sailboats): And one with bobbles (because bobbles make everything better): And lastly, one with an appliqued kiwi (because New Zealand!). The fabric for the sailboat, and the wool plaid and red for the applique cushions are things I picked up at Fabric-a-Brac in Palmy and Wellington, respectively. The bobble cushion is made with fabric I inherited from Nana, and have held on to because I knew that one day it would be perfect for something. …