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A marvellous monster dress

If you’re into 18th century costuming and/or dinosaurs, you’re probably familiar with the absolutely awesome Vincent Briggs and his pterribly cute Pterrible Dinosaur Drawings (on tumblr, facebook, instagram, or with the world’s best patreon tier level options – pick your favourite poison).

You might even be aware that he also does really fantastic fabric designs. (it’s so unfair that anyone is that talented!).

I looooooove his fabric designs. After a really rubbish first half of 2022, I decided that while a wardrobe full of ridiculous monster dresses wasn’t going to fix things, it would definitely give me a reason to smile when I opened my closet doors. And I was going home to Hawai’i in August – so I could take advantage of shipping to the US, instead of to NZ!

After dithering for ages over which fabric I wanted (because they are ALL so awesome) I settled on Monster Pattern #3 in green…

Image shows a sewing machine stitching white fabric with a pattern of green monsters …and Monster Pattern #1 and Monster Pattern #2 and Crinoid Fossils (I’m going to make something 18th c out of that!) and Polka Dot Monsters in rainbow. They were all too fabulous to get just one!

And I talked a bunch of friends into getting some too! So it’s going to be a monster invasion in Wellington!

I got the biggest amount of Monsters #3 in green. I had a specific dress vision in mind. Something a bit artist smock, a bit chef jacket, a bit 1950s inspired…

The Marvellous Monster Dress thedreamstress.com

I had fun pattern drafting, tested the dress in a cheap fabric (shown above, glamorously paired with tabi mudboots in Hawai’i), made some adjustments, and set to work.

Fiss helped, as she always does:

A calico cat lies on brown pattern paper and white fabric with green monsters, a yellow measuring tape wrapped around her.

There was topstitching:

Image shows a sewing machine topstitching in green on white fabric with a pattern of green monsters

And some very precise seam matching:

Image shows two seams meeting to form a perfect intersection.

(it’s under my arm so you’ll never see it, but it gives me great joy)

And button choosing:

Not those ones…

And a bias tape hem with blind hemming:

And a bit of hand finishing:

And gathering on cuffs:

And finally, done!

I’ve wore it for a pre-holiday picnic at the beach, and for Christmas + Hanukkah celebrations, and for a dozen other special events over summer, because it’s officially my favourite dress ever.

But every time I wear it I’m having so much fun I forget to take photos 🤣

The only time I’ve gotten any was the picnic at the beach:

(Did I mention that it has enormous pockets?)

Since I only got two dress photos, here are some fabulous beach images featuring a seagull, which is very on-theme, because Vincent and I both share a love of Our Flag Means Death, and every time I see a single seagull now I say “Carl!”

In the interest of full transparency, while the monster print is available from Spoonflower, my fabric was actually from a Canadian company that Vincent works with that only does artist-direct sales. Vincent helped me order from them as a friend (and then I paid him a higher commission than he would have gotten from Spoonflower, because that’s what friends do).

So you can order the prints, but you won’t be able to get the exact fabric I used, but Spoonflower still has lots of great fabric options.

If you get some, may it make you as happy as my monster dress makes me…

A woman in a black hat trimmed with ruffles and feathers looks to her left. Her expression is slightly mischievous. She holds a strawberry, and is wearing a black wool mantle tied at the neck with a ribbon over a dress with a large cyclamen pink bow at the front.

Tutorial: ribbon binding for hoodless Scroop + VFG 18th century mantles

Published by The Dreamstress

When Amber and I designed the Scroop + Virgil’s Fine Goods 18th century mantle patterns we tried to keep the amount of extra specialist notions you’d need to have to make a beautiful mantle to a minimum.

So the pattern includes pattern pieces and instructions for mantles with fabric bindings, but…you can also bind your mantles with purchased ribbon!

We used this technique on the hoodless View B Marie Mantle in black wool that Averil models:

This particular technique is for hoodless Marie and Charlotte mantles, but I’ll be doing another tutorial later for versions with hoods.

Here’s how to do it!

You’ll need:

Silk ribbon
Your mantle finished up to the neck pleating step, with the pleating basted in place:

I’m using the 1” wide single faced silk-satin ribbon from Burnley & Trowbridge. If you want something a little wider and lusher (like the cyclamen pink bow Averil is sporting on her dress) Virgil’s Fine Goods carries beautiful silk satin ribbon.

Anything under 3/4”/2cm is tricky to use as binding.

I don’t recommend silk taffeta ribbons, as all the ones I have tried were extremely lightweight, more habotai than taffeta, and will wear through very quickly (if you know someone selling silk taffeta ribbon with a decent weight, please let me know!).

To bind the neck edge:

Measure across 1/2 of the pleated mantle neck edge:

You’ll need this measure + how long you want your ties to be, x2 (or, this measure x 2 + the ribbon requirement given in the Marie or Charlotte patterns) for your binding.

Cut your length of ribbon, fold it in half to find the centre, and mark the centre point:

Match the centre point to the centre point of the mantle neck edge, and pin in place.

At this point I like to fold my ribbon over the neck edge of the mantle and pin, so I know that when I sew the ribbon on I will be binding the neck edge evenly, with equal amounts of ribbon on both the right side, and wrong side of the mantle. However, this does mean I have to do a rather tricksy manoeuvre where I re-pin the mantle through only one layer of ribbon, and take out the original pins, so I can sew through only one layer of ribbon. Eyeballing it or pressing in a centre fold are also good options. It’s up to you.

With your ribbon pinned to your mantle, sew. Sew the ribbon to the right side of the mantle first. I like to use a whipstitch, but you could also use an edge stitch or a backstitch.

When you reach the end, turn the mantle over, fold the ribbon over the raw edge, and stitch the other side of the ribbon. This edge should always be sewn with a whipstitch or edge stitch.

When you are done sewing on the binding, finish the edges of your ribbon by cutting them into Vs, pinked scallops, zig-zags, or by hemming.

I like to hem as I find modern ribbon tends to fray or unravel, but cutting definitely seems to have been more common based on extant examples and period images.

Pinked scallops (although it’s not entirely clear if we’re seeing her mantle ties or dress bow):

Catharina Charlotta l’Estrade by Ulrica Fredrica Pasch, 1780, (Sinebrychoffin taidemuseo – Helsinki, Finland

V’s:

Zig-zags:

Georg Desmarées (1697–1776), Portrait of Maria Anna Sophia of Saxony (1728-1797), Museum im Wittelsbacher Schloss Friedberg

And, you’re done!

Making a Hawaiian Quilt thedreamstress.com

A Heliconia Hawaiian Quilt

Published by The Dreamstress

13 years ago I finished a Hawaiian quilt, photographed it (with help from Felicity), blogged about it, and gave it to dear friends who had just had a baby.

And then I immediately started another one, because Hawaiian quilts take a looooooooong time to make, especially when you only work on them around other projects. But I knew that at some point someone else I loved enough to make a quilt for would have a baby, and I needed to be ready!

12 and a bit years later, the quilt had progressed quite a lot, but wasn’t quite done, and my dearest friend in the world (the one who knows secrets about me she’s going to have to take to the grave) was pregnant.

And what do you know, the quilt that I started all those years ago was perfect for her and my not-quite-nibling to be.

So one of my big sewing achievements this year was finally finishing my third Hawaiian quilt!

So, that’s one per decade so far…

Hawaiian quilts are fully handsewn. They feature a central motif that’s usually based on a stylised plant (although there are some animal quilts, and a few examples with lei or kahili or historical motifs) appliquéd on to a plain ground. The central motif is cut out from a folded triangle so it opens out to form 4 or 8 mirrored sections.

Different motifs symbolise different things. Breadfruit usually symbolise abundance and are often given for weddings and housewarmings. Pineapples symbolise hospitality so are also popular housewarming gifts

This quilt is based on a heliconia pattern, specifically heliconia rostrata. Heliconias are a flower that have been imported in to Hawai’i as ornamentals. The plant has proved hardy and thrived, without becoming an invasive pest. Heliconia rostrata are usually grown from rhizomes: sections of root that branch out from the parent plant, and develop into their own plant which can be planted elsewhere.

Like me, my friend Stella is an immigrant to NZ. The quilt is a wish that her child will thrive here, growing up with the support of its family and friends, until it can stand on its own.

The quilt represents hundreds of hours of work. You cut the central motif, and then baste it on to to the background layer. The motif is then sewn on with slip or appliqué stitches. The layers of the quilt (applique on background, warm wool batting, backing fabric) are basted together so they don’t shift. Then the layers are quilted together with lines of running stitches that spread out and in from the lines of the motif, like ripples spreading in water.

Finally you bind the edges. This is the only part I did by machine, as I wanted it to be as strong as possible.

As with the other quilt I blogged about, Felicity helped with both making and modelling!

Such a workhorse my cat!

Thirteen years later, and she’s still eager to play fetch with her favourite toys: the plastic caps from water bottles.

(Yes, Stella is fully aware that Felicity has been all over this quilt! Obviously the last thing I did before I gifted it to her was to get it cleaned.)

I’m pleased to report that Stella loves the quilt (baby Embee is a little young to have an option on it), and she’s given it the greatest compliment you can give a sewist who makes you something: she’s actually using it.

Grandma thinks its too precious to be used, and should be put away, but Mum knows me. I want her to use and love it and enjoy it.

Embee gets to lay on it all the time, and better yet, it’s the backdrop to the monthly photo! (awww!).

So every month I get to see a photo of slightly bigger adorable little Embee on my make. 💛 Worth every stitch!