The Shadow of My Hand: helmikuuta 2018

maanantai 19. helmikuuta 2018

Revisiting the blue robe à la Francaise

I made my first and so far only robe à la Francaise in 2015 but never wore it to an event until the Christmas ball last November. As I had reworked the trimming entirely, I thought to write a new post about it.
Initially I was happy about the general shape of the robe but the trimmings I first put on it did not feel right. So last year I finally got around changing them and the result is in my opinion much better, frillier, and definitely much more 18th century. The trims consist of ruched robe fabric frills wit pinked edges, double edged wide lace pleated partly on top of that and partly winding around it, taffeta bows, and hand-crocheted-by-me trim on the sleeve frill edges. The petticoat is also decorated with the same lace and bows and to tie it together with the robe (since they are of different fabrics) I put a net ruffle on the hem of the petticoat. I might make a new petticoat later if I ever manage to find suitable fabric, but the one I have now works fine, too. I still have to adjust the engageantes, because I attached them too low under the sleeve frills and they reach my wrists, which they really shouldn't.
The photos below were all taken by Sanna of Rococo Atelier, and Mia did wonders with my hair.

I had some misgivings about having TOO MUCH frills and bows on this, but then I got over it. Too much frou frou in the 18th century? There is no such thing.

Looking at pictures of the latest hair styles.

The feathers refused to settle and kept turning into this very bunny ears type of an arrangement so I just gave up trying to fix it :P

lauantai 3. helmikuuta 2018

1910s walking suit

FINALLY! Finally I made a hat to go with my 1910s walking suit and finally there's enough daylight to take decent photos!
I made the suit last autumn but never got around filming it then and anyway I wanted to wait until I had the whole ensemble together before writing anything about it. I was inspired by the suit that Hattie Morahan wears in the movie Mr. Sherlock, especially for the jacket but I ended up making my skirt shorter to show the ankles so I'm still debating which exact year of the 1910s my suit represents. The jacket shape is very 1914, but the shorter skirt would place it in 1918-1919.
I drafted the jacket pattern myself and first made a toile to try out the shapes. The bodice of the jacket is very typical for the 1910s: loose around the bust and back, gathered to a waist band, the shoulder seam is dropped and almost batwing style, and the sleeves are narrow and have cuffs. The collar is showy and wide and I made the back of the collar pointy too, to echo the shape of the back hem.
For the skirt I used this pattern (the lower one of the two), though as said, I made my skirt shorter partly because I didn't have too much fabric and also because I wanted my ankles to show. I wrote about the gaiters I made for this suit earlier so the short skirt works better with them too. I love the tulip shape of the skirt and the smart casual feel of it.
The blouse fabric is net lace fabric with very prominent embroidered stripes, and I thought that it looks very period. The blouse pattern is my own and a very simple shape. The blouse closes with buttons and thread loops as I didn't want to even try making button holes on the net...
The hat was inspired by the style shown on this fashion plate (the lower left corner), and it is a soft crown hat with wire only on the brim edge. I'm going to make a couple more hats later but this was a good start; I like the quirky shapes of the 1910s headwear.

The suit fabric is smokey blue velvet and the cuffs and the hem are edged with a bluey-violet fabric I had in stash (incidentally the same I used to make the Courtois dress). The hat is dark blue boucle-velvet type fabric. All hand-sewn by me :)

Picture time!