Better late than never...

I'm shamefully late on writing about my only summer costuming event! Two weeks ago I attended the 18th century fair in a village called Isokyrö which is about 30-40 minutes drive away from where I live. The event has existed for years but I only managed to go there for the first time last year and decided then that I would return. Together with some costuming, history enthusiast and reenactor friends we had decided to take a booth at the market to sell accessories for the 18th century ladies. This year was also special historically because it marked the 300 year anniversary of the battle of Napue (a place in the area) between Sweden and Russia in the beginning of the 18th century. To commemorate this momentous event there was a big battle reenactment with participants from Finland, Sweden, Russia, Norway, Latvia and Ukraine. It was all very exiting and I had a lovely time even though we didn't really sell that much of our wares. The weather was... well, let's say there was weather. It was generally warm, with spells of pouring rain every day and strange muggy, sticky weather the rest of the time which is very interesting with an outdoors event. At least I didn't have to wear the woollen uniforms that the soldiers sported... :)

I feel that in connection to the event and this post I must point out that I don't consider myself as a reenactor as such. I don't strive for the absolute historical correctness in my clothes or accessories. That being said, from the materials readily available to me I try to look for those that will at least look somewhat authentic, even though they might not be that 100%.

Right. Onwards to the pictures!

At the church door. The old Church of Isokyrö is very unique. It was built in the 16th century and all its inner walls are decorated with fabulous murals from the same era.

The Swedish Caroline soldiers preparing to march off to the battle.

I think these guys were the Ukranian extraction.

On the battle field. There was quite a lot of standing still before anything at all happened.

Kaari Utrio, a well known Finnish author giving a lecture in the church. She writes historical novels, specialising in the Medieval times in Finland. She's also written more lighthearted novels on Helsinki in the 1830s.

The market was packed on Saturday

Sanna of Rococo Atelier, repenting in the stocks. I can tell you, it didn't help :)

Returning from the battle. I loved the fabulous elf hats on these soldiers!

Part of us (that is the booth people) took part in the battle reenactment.

The soldiers' camp in the evening.

Ladies fashion boutique

This was the first day, we then moved the table to the front of the booth to encourage the shy market goers to come and take a look.

Me weaving a heddle ribbon.

The church in the background

Roosting.

Some impromptu mourning

My clothes matched the berries so well that some pictures had to be taken.

No, I didn't dive in :)

In the raspberry thickets

Arranging the garters

"Madam, I do believe your behind could use a bit of extra volume. Here, purchase this handy enhancer direct from Paris!"

With Maija of Couture Mayah

Preparing to dance Le Pistolet. The lads in red are Russian soldiers.

Clap, the gun is loaded.

Oh, I'm slain! *dies*

Random standing around. I had to draw the hem of my anglaise up through the pocket slits because I was wearing so flat shoes that the hem dragged in the mud all the time.

Some posing.

With Sanna, she wore my swallow tail jacket on Sunday.

Floral robe à l'Anglaise (and new shoes!)

As I mentioned in the previous post, I've been making a new robe à l'Anglaise, and I finished it yesterday. I think it turned out better than the stripy anglaise I made before; the fit and the look are better and it just works. The pattern is from Linda Baumgarten's Costume Close-up and I just made the necessary modifications to fit and to the lenght of the hem, as I didn't want to make a retroussee hem this time. The overall look of the gown is very simple, it has only box-pleated self-fabric trims on the neckline and on the cuffs and the bodice is closed with pins. I wanted something more everyday and plain, and I think I succeeded. I still need to make a fichu scarf as I only have a black one, and an apron, since I'm going to wear the gown at an 18th century market.

The fabric is cotton and an Ikea duvet cover, by the name of Hållrot. I found out that the pattern on it is an authentic historical print from the collections of the Museum of Printed Textiles (Musée de l’Impression sur Êtoffes) in Mulhouse, France. So, hooray!

Also, today I went to the post office to pick up a shoe delivery from the American Duchess. I ordered 18th shoes for myself and some friends, and they couldn't have come at the more perfect time :) The service and the speed of delivery at the AD were as good as ever and I'm very happy with my new shoesies. Pictures below :)

They've come. They're here.

Pretty buckles.

Otherwise ok, but I really need a new bumpad, the current one produces a weird shelf-like silhouette...

I'm fairly chuffed about the whole get-up.

Close-up of the bodice. I chose to close it with pins and I'm really pleased with the shape of the neckline and the trims.

Sample garters I've been making for the event in August. They say "Halte la" :)

New shoes! My feet look massive, due to the strange camera angle..

A bit hard to see, but this is a close-up of the en fourreau pleats

The box pleated trim, cut with pinking shears

The inside; for once I managed to make it tidy.

What have I been up to?

I feel like I've been very industrious, having finished the Irish dance dress and the Courtois portrait dress. I don't start work until the beginning of August and my mad travel-every-week June and the folk music festival bit of the July are done, so I have plenty of time to just hang around, enjoy the new home and sew.
I still need to get some proper photos taken of the Courtois dress, but it is finished. The next thing is to make an evening bodice for the skirts and I did find a lovely period photo of a beautiful lady in a ball gown that I'd like to try and reproduce.

I'd like to try and make an evening bodice like this. I seem to remember I found this photo through a French blog. If anyone knows the source, let me know and I'll add it here!

With the Victorian interlude finished, I've returned to the 18th century. I'm preparing for an event in early August, the 18th century market in Isokyrö, which is a village nearby. I went there last year for one day, but this year I'm planning to stay the whole weekend. I'm participating in setting up a market booth with some costumer and re-enactor friends, selling all sorts of fripperies and pretty things an 18th century lady would like to have. There's also going to be a big battle re-enactment commemorating the battle of Napue fought 300 years ago.

So, to prepare I've been knitting mitts and weaving garters. I'm also sewing a new, plainer robe à l'Anglaise because I realised that all my 18th century clothes - apart from the black swallow tail jacket - are too fine to be worn in a market environment. Again, as I'm not a re-enactor, I don't feel the need to follow the time period very strictly, so my new gown is your typical, generic anglaise which can be dressed up or down with different accessories.

The anglaise is coming together nicely; I'm currently battling with the sleeve placement and the shoulder straps but once I get that done, I only have the self-fabric trims to make and attach and that's it. I have a lot of the fabric, so I might make a petticoat to go with the gown, but it works with my red petticoat too.

New anglaise on the left, I'm using the stripy one as reference for the measurements. I also trimmed my hat :)

Civilised garters and some ribbon I've made. Must make more of these :)