Latest Posts

Rate the Dress: ca. 1790 stripey separates

Oh my!  The bright blue paisley 1900s frock last week was fun!  Some very strong reactions to the dress.  Some of you loved the fabric.  Some of you hated the fabric.  Some of you loved the lace.  Some of you hated the lace.  Some of you loved the silhouette.  Some of you hates the silhouette.  Some of you hated it all!  Even those of you who loved bits, and had a soft spot for the overall outrageousness, agreed the dress was less than the sum of its parts.  The dress rated a 3.3 out of 10, which is pretty much as low as it goes.

Cyrannetta called the lace on last week’s frock ”  a moldy overgrowth,” and I agree that black lace on a lighter pattern can be a tricky thing to pull off.  Inspired by that, I’ve picked another item which features delicate black lace trim over a patterned fabric, and it’s a Separate!

This unknown young woman wears a blue and white striped zone-front jacket trimmed with fine black lace with an ivory skirt, a sheer buffon, and a fashionable turban inspired headdress trimmed with pink and black striped ribbon and flowers.

Portrait of a Young Woman Holding Two Roses. Agustín Esteve y Marques, ca. 1790

Portrait of a Young Woman Holding Two Roses. Agustín Esteve y Marques, ca. 1790.  Sold at Southebys, 2007

What do you think?  Do you like the jacket with its lace trim, and the way the seamstress played with stripes, using them vertically, horizontally and and diagonally?  What about the stripes in the headdress?  Too matchy-matchy?  A weird contrast?  or the perfect coordinate?  And is the skirt too simple for the rest of the outfit, or a good balance against all the details?

Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10.

Historical Sew Fortnightly – Favourites for Challenges 11-15

I can’t believe we are more than halfway done with the Historical Sew Fortnightly!  I’m half thrilled with what I have accomplished, and sad looking at the rest of the year and realising I’m never going to get all the things I want made.  My wish-list is just too long!

Once again, it’s time for me to share with you the projects that I have drooled over most, that I have most wished I had the time to make, and that best embodied the  spirit of the Historical Sew Fortnightly; the quest to explore history, raise our skill levels and standard, stretch ourselves (or sometimes just get something done, rather than just procrastinating);  and  the spirit of the individual challenge.

I shared my favourites for Challenges 1-5 here, and for Challenges 6-10 here.  You can see all  the creations for each challenge (because there are always dozens more creations that I wish I could feature!) either through the comments for each individual challenge page,  or through the  Facebook group albums).

I’ll share my favourites for 11-15, but I’d like to know if these posts are interesting, valuable, and appreciated.  Cause they don’t get much feedback, and they are rather time consuming and annoying to write (I have to think up 15 different ways to say fantastic!).  So if you don’t get something out of them, this may be my last one.  What do you think?  Shall I continue them?

Challenge #11 — Squares, Rectangles & Triangles

  1. Hilde’s Viking Apron Dress  — The perfect example of the prevalence of garments based on simple geometry in many ancient cultures, meticulously made, and excellent research.
  2. Lace’s corded petticoat  — I just love that she was inspired to make it by seeing other corded petticoats on the HSF.
  3. Black Tulip’s Tunisian ensemble — A really interesting garment, from both a historical, and cultural perspective.  I love her contribution!

Challenge #12— Pretty, Pretty Princesses

  1. Katie’s 1912 Girl Guide uniform inspired by Princess Mary, Countess Harwood.  Perfect proof that princess inspiration comes in all forms, and that princesses do more than wear ball gowns.
  2. Frolicking Frock’s 1870s gown based on Thyra, Dagmar & Alexandra of Denmark.  It’s very pretty, and it’s based on three of the most fascinating princesses of the 19th century.  What’s not to love!
  3. Jenni’s Georgian frock for her little princess –  early 19th century children’s clothing is so lovely, because it was finally children’s clothing, whether you were an ordinary girl, or a princess – as Jenni’s research and frock beautifully demonstrates.

Challenge #13 — Lace & Lacing

  1. Hvitr’s Minoan/Mycenaean heanos, c. 1600 to 1100 BCE – such a perfect example of how lacing can be used in many different applications, and has been used for millennia.
  2. Gina’s corded stays  – Lace and Lacing was corset-o-rama, but these ones really stand out for finish, and perseverance!
  3. Laurie’s Edwardian lace dress – it’s all lace, all over, and suits her perfectly.

Challenge #14 — Eastern Influence

  1. Gouvernante’s 1730s banyan and capSooooooo much envy here!  Not only is the outfit amazing, and a classic example of Eastern Influence, but she has a man willing to wear it!
  2. Heileen’s 1770s-80s Indienne chintz pet-en-l’aire & petticoat – beautifully made.  The fabrics not a perfect match to 18th century examples (but it’s pretty darn hard to find any that is!), but the overall effect is so spot-on!
  3. Isabella’s mid-16th century Turkish jacket – this is a really intriguing and interesting area of Eastern influence, and one no-one else on the HSF really explored.

Challenge #15 —  White

  1. Melissa’s 1812 military waistcoat — She tried a new skill (tailoring) and the result is a triumph!
  2. Amanda’s 1862 sheer cotton summer frock – She didn’t intend it as a HSF challenge, but it was done just in time, and there is nothing wrong with that!  Her frock is still the perfect embodiment of the white dress.
  3. Danielle’s 18th century/Lucile inspired 1916 wedding gown – Watching the process of this gown’s creation was really inspiring as Danielle tackled pattern drafting and detailed work.

What do you think?  The creations are certainly inspiring and interesting, but is my doing posts on them?

And, as usual, Felicity photos to illustrate a non-image based article!

Felicity thedreamstress.com

I’m so cute…

Felicity thedreamstress.com

I’m so distracting…

Felicity thedreamstress.com

You don’t need to sew, just rub my tummy!

Tea, Chinoiserie & a Bison

I love Wellington: it is an amazing little city, with fascinating stuff happening all the time. The one thing that I really miss based on other cities I have lived in is a historical costuming community. I long for Tissot inspired picnics in the garden, and grand Victorian fancy dress balls, and scintillating18th  century French salons happening every other weekend. We have the occasional fantastic event, and I’ve organised a few myself, but there are only so many I can plan a year without completely wearing myself out.

It’s getting better: there is a nascent steampunk community, and my classes are producing corseteers, and every time I go out in an outfit I meet someone new who is fascinated and has always wanted to wear hoopskirts and bustles, or who has already dabbled in making their own.

Really though, the things that keep me sane as a historical costumer in (relative) isolation are the online community, which keeps me connected and motiated, and having a delightful group of friends who are either interested in historical (and not quite as historical) costuming, or willing to indulge my interest in it!

Case in point: last Saturday the darling Madame O treated a group of us to afternoon tea at the Wellesley Club, and suggested that people dress up. No theme, just whatever struck your fancy!

Afternoon tea at the Wellesley thedreamstress.com

Afternoon tea at the Wellesley thedreamstress.com

I’d hoped to debut Polly / Oliver, but I got it stuck in my head that the tea was on Sunday, and when it turned out to be on Saturday and I hadn’t planned my time for that (and had an extra 5 hours of cornelli work to do on the skirt) so instead I threw a few random wardrobe pieces together to wear with the Chinoiserie skirt.

A knit merino top with a bit of lace tucked in the neckline and my Little Bit of Magic cape aren’t quite circa 1903, but they looked very effective paired with the Chinoiserie skirt, and were perfect for sitting and sipping tea and eating profiteroles and cucumber sandwiches.

Afternoon tea at the Wellesley thedreamstress.com

We giggled and chatted and discussing sewing and feminism and what one wore during that time of the month, historically speaking (jumping off from the discussion we’ve been having on the HSF facebook page), and the effectiveness of Regency stays, and deconstructed tea, and how much the taxidermied buffalo head on the wall of the Wellesley Club looks like Benedict Cumberbatch.

Afternoon tea at the Wellesley thedreamstress.com

He totally does. We call him Benedict CumberBison.

After devouring all the sandwiches and lamingtons and tart au citron and getting refills of tea and milk we surveyed the devastation:

Afternoon tea at the Wellesley thedreamstress.com

And took some photos:

Afternoon tea at the Wellesley thedreamstress.com

Afternoon tea at the Wellesley thedreamstress.com

I talked Sarah the Photographer into posing with CumberBison:

Afternoon tea at the Wellesley thedreamstress.com

And my Muff 2.0 (actually, she did that all on her own!):

Afternoon tea at the Wellesley thedreamstress.com

And documented Mrs C’s fabulous reverse-applique mitts:

Afternoon tea at the Wellesley thedreamstress.com

And (hurrah) Madame O was nice enough to indulge my vanity and take quite a few pictures of how pretty the chinoiserie skirt is. It is very pretty.

The 1903 chinoiserie skirt thedreamstress.com

The 1903 chinoiserie skirt thedreamstress.com

The 1903 chinoiserie skirt thedreamstress.com

The 1903 chinoiserie skirt thedreamstress.com

Even with the blob!