The Dreamstress

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Felicity the Sewing cat, hard at work

I’ve been making not one, but two 1900s corsets at the moment, both of which have been in progress for well over a year, and have both been plagued with EVERY POSSIBLE THING THAT COULD GO WRONG.

Felicity must sense how much they have been stressing me, because she’s been practically glued to the sewing table throughout the process. Not only that, but she’s insisted on being as close to the sewing machine as possible. If she could sleep on the sewing machine’s table, she would!

She’s ended up hidden under the moving sewing on a number of occasions (and has also kept the sewing from moving when she got out from under and sat on it), so I finally got a video of it:

I’m testing out the latest addition to my sewing machine flock: a Janome MyExcel

A little bonus: you get to hear the elusive Mr D speak!

Other bonus: even though I was there, and I know that isn’t what was happening, I’m convinced I’m hurling pins on the floor throughout this video.

Next post: the corsets sewing process, and a bit of a review of the TV 1900s corset pattern

Rate the Dress: 16th century splendour

Published by The Dreamstress

Thank goodness for Rate the Dress! It means that I have a definite excuse to focus entirely on historical fashions at least once a week!

We were having such a good run on Rate the Dress: so many 8+ ratings in a row! And then I posted the pink, pigeon breasted, ruffle-dy, smock-dy, totally over-the-top 1900s frock-dy last week. Pop! There went the high ratings bubble! It wasn’t too terrible: there were a lot of 6s, and just enough 8s and 9s to bring it up to a nice, round 7 out of 10.

For this week’s Rate the Dress, we’re looking at a period I’m not such an expert on, and going back to the mid 16th century, to a ‘Portrait of a Lady’ by Peter de Kempeneer (Pedro CampaÃ±a). Though de Kempeneer was Flemish, he mainly worked in Spain or Italy, and this portrait probably depicts a wealthy Italian noblewoman from Ferrara

Portrait of a Lady, Peter de Kempeneer (previously attr. to Girolamo da Carpi), 1535-1550, StÃ¤del Museum, Frankfurt via Wikimedia Commons

The sitters gown makes striking use of gold striping to emphasise the cut of the gown, and the fashionable features. The stripes on the bodice highlight the bust and the extremely wide neckline, and add to the illusion of a small waist. On the sleeves, they mirror the widening and tapering of the sleeve.

Portrait of a Lady, Peter de Kempeneer (previously attr. to Girolamo da Carpi), 1535-1550, StÃ¤del Museum, Frankfurt via Wikimedia Commons

The stripe motif is echoed on the very sheer partlet, which does little to cover the sitters bust, or to hide the beautifully worked border of her chemise.

Portrait of a Lady, Peter de Kempeneer (previously attr. to Girolamo da Carpi), 1535-1550, StÃ¤del Museum, Frankfurt via Wikimedia Commons

The sitters wealth is demonstrated through her jewellery: a gold chain, a pearl necklace, from which hangs a pendant that appears to depict the Virgin Mary, and enormous earrings from which dangle more pearls.

Portrait of a Lady, Peter de Kempeneer (previously attr. to Girolamo da Carpi), 1535-1550, StÃ¤del Museum, Frankfurt via Wikimedia Commons

In one hand she holds a pair of gloves, and in the other a fan of curled ostrich feathers. She rests her arm on a table covered with a carpet probably imported into Italy from the Ottoman Empire: evidence of Italy’s wealth and culture.

Like so many of the costuming portraits we look at, this one was meant to display the sitters beauty, money, and learning. Beyond that, what do you think of the dress?

Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10

(and, a reminder, please be kind to your poor bloggess who has to add all this up and figure out your rating when you give three possible numbers! Please don’t give anything more complicated than a .5 rating, and only give one rating! And if you put it nicely set one line down at the very end of your comment I’ll really like you )

The Scroop Patterns Wonder Unders scrooppatterms.com

Where to get lingerie elastic for the Wonder Unders

Published by The Dreamstress

One of the comments my testers had for the Scroop Wonder Unders pattern is that a guide to where to buy the elastics I recommend would be helpful. So here ’tis!

Obviously I recommend starting with your local fabric and craft store (if you don’t support them, they aren’t going to continue to exist!), but if you don’t have a small, locally owned store to shop at, it’s very easy to get suitable elastic online.

Here is a short list of companies that sell picot, pre-folded and foldable elastic. They are sorted by location, and then alphabetically. I am not affiliated with any of them except Made Marion Craft, nor have I tested their services.

Australia & NZ:

Booby Traps (NSW Australia)
Everything you need! Picot elastics! Fold-over elastics! Tricot! Fabrics!

Nellie-Joan’s Lingerie Findings (NZ)
A nice selection of picot elastic, and a small selection of fold-over elastic. Payment by direct deposit only.

Made Marion Craft (Wellington, NZ)
A great selection of fold-over elastics are available in store, as well as picot elastics in the basic colours. They will ship by inquiry, and should have elastic in their etsy store soon.

SewSquirrel (Australia)
Occasionally carries suitable elastics.

The Remnant Warehouse (Sydney, Australia)
A small selection of fold-over elastic, and a slightly wider range of different types of picot elastics.

North America:

Bra-makers Supply (Ontario, Canada)
A huge variety of different types of fold-over elastic, plus a nice selection of picot elastics – pay attention to the descriptions of firmness with those.

FabricBistro (South Carolina, USA) Etsy.
Both foldover and picot elastic.

Fabric Depot Co. (Texas, US)
Not the easiest place to use, as their website and catalogue are a bit old fashioned, but they do have a good range of picot and foldover elastics (see ‘Elastics’ under their catalogue – currently pages 48-50), including the fancy metallic stuff I used to make my ‘Hedgehog Girl’ superhero wonder-unders. Plus, they sell nylon tricot – perfect for making the slip version of the Wonder Unders

Flora’s Garden (California, US) Etsy
Picot elastic, piping elastic (which can be used instead of picot), and some fold-over elastic.

Home Sew (Pennsylvania, US)
A nice selection of basic fold over and picot elastic, in various widths.

Porcelynne (California, US) Etsy
Tons of picot and foldover elastics in an amazing range of colours and patterns.

Sew Sassy Fabrics (Alabama, US)
Fold-over elastic in a huge range of colours and patterns (including zebra and candy stripe!), plus a whole bunch of different kinds of picot & scalloped edged lingerie elastics.

Sweet Cups Bra-Maker Supplies (California, US)
A small selection of picot and fold-over elastics (click on ‘Choose Options’ to see more colours of each kind).

UK & Europe:

B.Wear (Sweden)
A small selection of suitable elastics.

Crafty Koala ( UK) Etsy
Fold-over elastic in 70 colours.

English Couture Company (UK)
Carries both picot and fold-over elastic.

La Lopez (Netherlands)
I think you can get the right kind of elastic through their site, but am struggling with the translations. In Dutch.

Lijfgoed (Netherlands)
Carries a range of lingerie elastic, many picot types. In Dutch.

LingerieMakingShop (UK)
Cute lace-edged lingerie elastic

Sewing Chest (UK)
A great selection of fold-over elastic, and a reasonable selection of picot and scallop edged lingerie elastic.

SewWardrobe (UK) Etsy
A small selection of nice picot elastic.

Sewy (Germany)
Lots and lots of great elastic (under Zutaten und Kurzwarenpakete). In German.

StudioCostura (Spain) Etsy
Mostly aimed at bra-making, but a small selection of suitable picot elastics.

Vena Cava Design (UK)
Carries a very small selection of fold-over elastic and ruffled lingerie elastic (which also works well for knickers, though some people find ruffles irritate their skin.) I’m including them because many of you in the UK may already use them for corset supplies, so it’s easy to add on your elastic order as well.

Other:

There are hundreds of other shops on Etsy that sell picot elastic and fold-over elastic (FOE). With the latter, be wary of the stuff with metallic patterning, especially if the patterning is on both sides of the fold, as some people find it itchy.

This list was accurate as of 12/16. If you find a non-working link, leave a comment and I’ll update.

Know of any other sites or stores you’d recommend? Leave a comment, I’ll check them out, and add them to the list if they are suitable!