All posts tagged: 1900s

Just a boring old petticoat

One of the problems with my sewing is that I sew A LOT, and not all of it looks particularly interesting and dynamic unless I manage to do a whole photoshoot in it, in a picturesque locale (which, luckily, there are lots of in the Wellington region!). Thing is, photoshoots take a lot of time and planning, and a willing photographer (which, unluckily, Mr D is not often). So I do a bit of self-timed photos, and a lot of mannequin photos. Even with good images, some sewing isn’t that interesting without a really good story, and it’s too easy for too many blog posts to be summed up as: tl:dr – I sewed something and there were a few tiny problems but I fixed them and now I mostly like it. There isn’t a particularly interesting story for this sew. It’s a petticoat suitable for wear under late Victorian and early 1900s garments. It’s a basic 5-gore pattern with a bit of back gathers and a placket closure. It has tucks and a layer …

A 1900s English Wool walking skirt

Published by The Dreamstress

Exoticism and romance is a funny thing isn’t it? It’s so dependent on place and perspective. Hawaii, is, for many people, the very definition of an exotic, romantic destination, and everything from and about Hawaii is coloured in that rosy glow. Growing up in Hawaii, and growing up on Bond, Boston, Burnett, Lewis, and Wynne Jones, and later Stevenson & Austen (and even later, Rowling), England and Scotland were my idea of exotic, romantic locations (sorry Ireland & Wales, somehow you got shafted in the romance stakes when it came to my childhood literature). Mackintoshes and golashes sounded thrilling, and Guy Fawkes was fascinating. I wanted to do all the weird British things I read about, and all the weirdly British things that my family did anyway (tea, baked puddings, but sadly, not Christmas Crackers, which my mother had as a child, but which we could never figure out how to import into Hawaii (they won’t ship them because of the firecracker component)) were that much better. Perspective is everything though. I met some lovely …

A blouse for Marilla of Anne of Green Gables

Published by The Dreamstress

Here is a bit of a confession about the Historical Sew Fortnightly ‘Silver Screen’ challenge: film & TV costumes don’t do a lot for me. Or, more accurately, they don’t do a lot compared to extant garments. There are SO many original pieces that make my heart go pitter patter, but when I watch period dramas it’s very rare for me to love something and want to recreate it. Sometimes a film makes me love a period, and then I go looking for original pieces in that period, but there are only a few costumes I really want to recreate, and even then I suspect I’d tweak. I’m a tweaker! Luckily tweaking is practically mandatory for the Silver Screen challenge, because we’re supposed to historically accuratise the costume we choose. And also luckily there is an onscreen costume that has always fascinated me, that I had fabric for (or close enough), and that fit perfectly into my sewing schedule. My screen choice comes from everyone’s favourite non-BBC period miniseries: the 1980s Anne of Green Gables. …