All posts tagged: pet en l’aire

Re-pleating the pet

After deciding that the original linen lining of my 1780s pet-en-l’aire simply wasn’t going to do, I unpicked all my back pleating, put on a soft unbleached cotton lining, and started again. Luckily the pleats from my first pleating were still pressed in, so it made the re-doing process much easier, and the soft cotton was much more amenable and cooperative than the linen I first tried to use was. I’m very happy with the re-do, even if my stitching isn’t absolutely even and perfect. The silk is very, very tightly woven, hard to stitch through, and shows every stitch that has ever been put in it. My new stitches are literally exactly the same as my old stitches. With the pleats all hand-sewn in, I bound the top of the pet with a strip of the silk. I was worried I wouldn’t have enough to fold the binding over, so I cut my binding rather wide, and then of course it was too wide, and isn’t as neat as I would like. Because the …

Five for Friday: Questions I’m bound to be asked at a talk

Published by The Dreamstress

Whenever I give a talk there are certain questions I can be almost certain I will be asked. How long does it take to make one of these dresses? A long time. A long, longtime. But it does depend on the dress. A Regency, even hand-sewn, can go together in 12 hours. I actually counted with the tea gown, and it took between 32-40 hours from draping to hemming. The Ninon dress was much longer, thanks to all the hand-sewing and bodice boning. The Japonisme dress would have been relatively quick, were it not for the hand-appliques obi motifs. Are the dresses (and corsets) uncomfortable to wear? Chiara in Ninon said “Yes!” much too enthusiastically to this question this time, much to my chagrin.Certainly cramming all five us into a car for the ride from dressing to Premier House didn’t help with the comfort factor. I like to say that they are ‘differently comfortable’. Like a suit isn’t the same as jeans, but you wouldn’t necessarily say uncomfortable. How do you sit in them? …

Taking tea and talking about tea fashions at Premier House

Published by The Dreamstress

Monday was the much anticipated (at least by me) afternoon tea charity fundraiser for Save the Children at Premier House, where I gave a talk about the history of tea, and the way it has influenced fashion. It was a fabulous day: the event completely sold out resulting in a sizeable donation for Save the Children, the sun shone brightly all morning, Premier House looked wonderful, and so did my models. I wore Japonisme, the chintz pet made its ‘soft debut’, Julie debuted as a model in the Raspberry Swirl, Chiara looked beyond amazing in Ninon (as always), and I also debuted a new 1900s tea gown that I haven’t told you about yet. Lots of excitement! With everything I do, there are so many people to acknowledge. Save the Children for having the event of course, my models for being gorgeous and supportive and keeping me calm and putting up with my running around like a crazy women during the dressing. Most of all, there are the people who contributed and supported in the …