The Dreamstress

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Five for Friday: What I’ve been up to early 2019 edition

It’s been a long time since I’ve done a life catch-up post. So long, that some of the things I’ve been collecting for it feel like they happened years ago… I’m pretty sure it’s only been months, but life is moving very fast for me!

So what have I been up to?

1. Lots of visits to Zealandia

My lovely in-laws gave us annual passes to Zealandia for Christmas (best present ever) and I’ve been blissfully indulging my love of/obsession with New Zealand’s native birds at every possible opportunity.

Mr D is not quite so obsessed with birds, but he’s delighted to go along with any activity that doesn’t involve costumes, movies with subtitles, or the weekend vege markets, so he’s been loving the weekly (or more) trips to Zealandia.

Zealandia has been such a feature of our lives this summer that I’m probably going to gift/inflict you with a post all about it, so I’ll try to restrain myself from posting 1000 pictures in this one.

The photo above is a hihi (stitchbird) – a bird which has the distinction of having the best Maori AND English names!

Hihi are extremely rare nectar eating birds that were driven to extinction on the main islands of NZ, but have been reintroduced through sanctuaries like Zealandia.

2. Re-upholstering some chairs

Our dining room table had chairs that were upholstered in this exceedingly attractive 1980s peach fabric:

Chairs to be reupholstered thedreamstress.com

So chic…

Re-doing them had been on my to-do list ever since we bought the table, but it never quite made it to the top priority. In mid December I decided it was something that was going to be done before the end of 2018 (or else), and I spent a day with the staple puller and the stapler.

And now I have a set of fun, significantly more attractive, chairs:

Every chair has a different fabric, but they all coordinate.

3. A bit of baking

Finding the time to bake is a huge indulgence for me. Mr D isn’t a baked goods fan, so if I make something it’s either to bestow on friends or students (or friends/students) or to try to work my way through on my own. And I’m time poor, so any time I manage to make something to take somewhere is a huge achievement.

But one place where I always try to make time to bake is peach season. Peach kuchen made from the Tassajara baking book recipe is one of my all time favourite desserts (though it’s easily eclipsed by mango kuchen, its ‘we live in Hawai’i and you can’t buy peaches but we have mangoes coming out of our ears’ cousin’).

Yummm…. Summer in a slice of pie.

4. Sewing!

I’ve done so much modern wardrobe sewing I haven’t blogged, in addition to the historical sewing I have blogged, and the Scroop Patterns stuff you’ve seen as model samples, etc.

I’ve made jeans:

I’ve tried both the Closet Case Ginger Jeans (pretty good pattern, but the grainline is off and makes the legs twist on most people, and the super perky and handholdy instructions aren’t my cup of tea) and the Cashmerette Jeans (great pattern at most sizes, but the grading is off in the pear fit in the smallest 3 sizes, and I slightly prefer the Ginger’s sewing techniques)

And swimsuits:

Closet Case Sophie Swimsuit thedreamstress.com

It’s been extremely warm in Wellington this summer (nice in a very short term way, extremely scary in a long term way) and I’ve been swimming a couple of times a week, so made a couple of swimsuits. I’ll probably do a blog review on those.

And I’ve made a couple of dresses, and a couple of skirts, and a couple of T-shirts, and a couple of blouses, and some pants, and probably more…

But it hasn’t all been work, because I’ve also been:

5. Watching the world’s most spectacular sunset

Sunset on the west coast of Wellington thedreamstress.com

I’m from Hawai’i, and live in New Zealand, so I have seen some pretty amazing sunsets over the years. This one, however, was beyond special.

We went for a walk around the coast, and it just got better and better as we walked, finishing in a blaze of striped clouds, with the South Island glowing purple in the distance. Wonderful.

Rate the Dress: Crinoline Era Stripes

Published by The Dreamstress

Stripes are a classic pattern which appear in almost every era of dress. Some fashion historians have claimed that they are most common and fashionable in eras where there has been upheaval and unrest, and there is a general desire for order and simplicity. My life certainly feels very busy and chaotic at the moment (in a good way), and this week’s striped frock, in a cool and relaxing blue and white colour scheme, just jumped out at me as the right pick for rate the dress. Maybe there is something in the claim!

Last week: an 1890s wedding dress is muted purple with cream and mouse-brown

Everyone loves a bride, but not everyone loves a wedding dress…

Most of you felt there was a lot that was positive to say about the dress as a picture of restrained elegance and practicality. But there was also something not-quite-right about the trim, whether it was an unappealing resemblance to wasps nests, or the suspicion that it was a later add-on that wasn’t up to the general sewing and design standards of the original dress.

The Total: 7.9 out of 10

We’re dropping just a few points each week…

This week: an 1860s day dress (part of a robe a transformation) in blue and white stripes.

This dress, from the collection of Les Arts Decoratifs, is a robe Ã transformation: a dress with multiple bodices, or alterable bodices, which allows it to be suitable for wearing at different times of day, or at a range of different events. Unfortunately there are no images of the other bodice to this dress available online, so we are rating the day bodice only:

Robe Ã transformation (day bodice only), 1868-72, Les Arts Decoratifs

Both bodice and skirt are made from a thin, lightweight (probably cotton, judging by how visible the hem is) fabric, in a rather bold blue and white stripe.

The stripe of the fabric is used to create visual interest and additional patterning, with a V drawing they eye up the back peplum to the curved back bodice panels which flow up the back like wing lines. The same Vs are repeated on the front of the peplum, drawing the eye to the bust darts. On the skirt the stripes show the exact grain of each skirt panel.

The stripes and the overall design play tricks with your eye, and your mind. From one angle the dress is almost clownishly playful, from another quite severe and restrained. Is it full of little design details, or austere in its simplicity?

Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10

A reminder about rating — feel free to be critical if you don’t like a thing, but make sure that your comments aren’t actually insulting to those who do like a garment. Our different tastes are what make Rate the Dress so interesting. It’s no fun when a comment implies that anyone who doesn’t agree with it, or who would wear a garment, is totally lacking in taste.

(as usual, nothing more complicated than a .5. I also hugely appreciate it if you only do one rating, and set it on a line at the very end of your comment, so I can find it! And 0 is not on a scale of 1 to 10. Thanks in advance!)

A ca. 1799 inspired regency dress thedreamstress.com

A Regency Gown Re-make

Published by The Dreamstress

Remember the ca. 1799 gown I wore at Old Government House in Parramatta? The one I wasn’t that happy with?

If you are a very keen reader with an excellent memory and a good eye for detail, you may have realised that the dress re-appeared, now with a wrap front, at the Sew & Eat Historical Retreat, and at the picnic where I debuted my new Regency bonnet.

As I wasn’t happy with the dress as I first wore it in Australia, I had a go at re-styling it.

First, I fixed the fit issues: unpicking the sleeves, giving them a little more room, and re-setting them.

They are definitely more comfortable now. In their first iteration they cut into the front of my arm rather painfully: I had great posture, but couldn’t reach anything in front of me! Now I have full range of movement. First part of the re-make? Total success!

I’m significantly less thrilled with the second part of the remake. I decided to try a wrap front, instead of the gathered front the dress had had before. I used the few scrap of fabric I had left to create a wrap bodice, sliced the skirt up the centre front, and moved fullness from the back gathers, to create a new shape.

Unfortunately the wrap flaps open in the skirt, and refuses to stay sitting nicely on my bust. It’s most annoying, and I don’t like it.

I am, however, very happy with the back view:

The reduction in fullness is just what the dress needed. I absolutely love the effect of the new back view.

But I’d really like to get this dress right, so it’s headed into remake #3 (third time had better be the charm!)

For remake #3, I’ve unpicked the two panels that formed the wrap, and will turn one of them into a new front panel for the dress. I’ll split the other one in half, and re-sew it on each side, two form two narrow side panels, so the skirt won’t loose any fullness, but won’t have a big seam down the centre front.

I’m still working out what exactly I’m going to do with the front bodice. Either a bib front with sewn-down gathers, or a return to a drawstring front.

I also plan to add darts to the under-bodice. With my small bust, I really need all the help I can get in keeping the under-bodice under my bust – right now it likes to creep upwards.

If I do switch to a bib front I’m considering adding lacing (instead of the current overlap-and-pin situation) to the underbodice.

And I may shorten those sleeves to a bit above the elbow, and add a lace edge, as you see in so many portraits of the early 19th century.

But before I have to decide all of that I have lots and lots of skirt seaming to do!