All posts tagged: 1770s

A 1760s/70s man’s ensemble – again

I’ve been planning on making an 18th century man’s ensemble to go with the Lady Anne Darcy dress for ages. I started one almost two years ago, but it got set aside in favour of other projects. The Grandeur & Frivolity talk was the perfect excuse to pull it out again and finish it, but things didn’t go that easily. First of all, the jacket didn’t look that grand when I fished it out of the bag that it was crumpled in and ironed it: Clearly some taking it apart and re-shaping and interfacing is in order. That was do-able. Making sleeves out of thin air wasn’t though. And I mean ‘thin air’ literally. I can’t find the extra fabric from this jacket anywhere. And then the waistcoat didn’t fit Daniil, the model for the talk. And I hated the squidgy synthetic fabric it was made out of. So basically, all of the stuff that I started with got stuffed back in the bag it came from, and I restarted. I’m using this suit from …

What I’ve been up to

Published by The Dreamstress

I’ve been super busy in preparation for yesterday’s talk on Baroque and Rococo music and fashion, and consequentially ran out of time to blog. I always do that! I must remember to have blog posts prepared in advance for the four days before and three days after any talk or event, because otherwise I just don’t have time to blog (ergh). I’ve been doing lots of awesome stuff instead of blogging though: I made a 1770’s man’s ensemble (which I am super happy with), and a 1720’s Grand Habit (which I am not at all happy with, but oh well), and I started a 1690s mantua (which I am going to have to set aside while I finish all my other half-finished projects) and I helped Madame Ornata with her polonaise dress, and Ninon’s dress looks amazing. So now I have lots and lots of stuff to blog about! But first I have to run off up the country to give a talk to a quilting group. More madness! And now, for your entertainment and …

Finished projects: Judith’s basket panniers

Published by The Dreamstress

As well as last weeks hoop panniers, Judith also wanted a pair of basket panniers. I based these ones off the basket panniers at Tidens Toej and Norah Waugh’s pattern in Corsets and Crinolines. For the fabric, we selected a blue damask with a subtle baroque-inspired pattern woven into it. I symmetrical widths allowed me to centre the pattern on each basket. As it is for a show, I didn’t put the slits in the top of each basket. It’s much less problematic, and leaves the elegant lines of the pleating undisturbed. To provide a little contrast to the jutting silhouette of the hoop panniers, I dropped the first hoop of the baskets fairly low on the hips, giving a much more informal silhouette. Once again, I used Lacis hooping wire for the hooping. Now I just need to stop selling or giving away my basket panniers as soon as I make one and keep a pair for myself!