Busy

... hence no posts for a long time! I'm working on stuff, I swear. I've been busy with work, dance training and other dance related stuff. My ceili team is going to the Mainland Europe qualifiers this weekend and I'm also doing solos there so it's been a very dance-filled autumn. I also had the team dresses (8 of them all together) over at my place for a quick makeover because the original seamstress had no time to finish them... Also, I'm working full time with my PhD. dissertation and did I mention the dancing already? :)

But. The Vernet dress. I'm fairly confident I can finish it in time for the December deadline because everything is cut and nearly sewn and I just need to assemble everything. The hem looks like this at the moment, though minus the pins, because I did sew the first bubble-frill on after taking the photo.

Because I apparently can't write a coherent post concentrating on just one topic, here's another random post on shoes. Take a look at these beauties that I got recently:

I fell in love with them earlier this year and have been hunting for a good deal for them as their regular price was a bit too steep for my taste. As luck would have it, I found one and got the shoes. They're super comfortable, ridiculously pretty and pink. What more could you ask?

Adventures in hatland

I'm procrastinating with the francaise, so I decided to try my hand at hatmaking. The hat still needs to be trimmed, but I must say I like the result!

 A big thanks to Sabine and Megan who generously shared their hattery wisdom and patterns!

I'm going to trim the hat according to the hats on the right on this fashion plate:

No idea of the source, sorry! If you know, tell me!

Apparently Regency is my go-to project period with which to regroup when I'm stuck with sewing projects from other eras. I also found new (and cheap!) Regencyesque shoes in the local supermarket which I can restyle for my dresses. I already have two older pairs of the same model in black and nude, and I was thinking that I could keep the new black shoes as they are and use the older black pair for my Vernet project shoes. The new white pair I might decorate or paint since I've never done that before.

I'm also waiting for a lace order to arrive so that I can really start with the Vernet project... Maybe next week!





But no worries, the francaise has a deadline in late April, so that I can wear it at a masked ball, so I'm not forgetting it and I'm going to finish it, I swear :)

Things from 1820s and 1920s

First things first: the Nordiska Museet spencer is finished. Here's the original:

I haven't been able to find any information on this on the internet, so the picture is my photo of a photo in a book called Empirens Döttrar (transl. Daughters of the Empire or Daughters of the Regency Age, depending on one's point of view). The book says that this is a riding habit from ca. the 1820s.

Here's my version of it, worn with my massive red bonnet. The hat is maybe leaning over to the 1830s, but I like it anyway :) As said I haven't yet found suitable decorative buttons but the jacket works well without them, too.

I really like the silhouette here.

The gown is the very first Regency dress I ever made, with the fern embroideries on the hem.

Ok, let's take a time-warping jump, 100 years ahead. I've been waiting the Great Gatsby movie for ages and it finally opens here this week. With that in mind, I made a little cloche hat which I intend to wear with my American Duchess Skidoos when I go and see the film :) I drafted the hat pattern myself, but I was inspired by this DL Designs hat. Have a look at some photos, do!

Overtaken by the Charleston craze

The shoes are actually red and white, it doesn't show here very well

The brim can be worn asymmetrically like this or symmetrically, framing the face more

20s-esque accessories with the only actual thing from the 20s in my possession: my fiddle, built in 1928

 

By the way, I've also been a good girl and started sewing on the pelisse trimmings :)

Shoes!

A little while ago, I received a long awaited parcel from America. Before Christmas I had ordered shoes from the fabulous American Duchess when she annouced the new 23Skidoo model. I knew I had to have them and placed the order as soon as it was possible. For good measure, I decided to buy not one  but two pairs, once I was paying for the customs and all that. So, long story short, after Christmas, both the lovely Skidoos and the gorgeous Astorias finally arrived.

Astorias, they're supposed to be "imperfect"(hence the lower price) but I can't see any imperfections. They're lovely!

The Skidoos, still pristine and white...

All my pretty shoes :)

This week I finally got around painting the Skidoos, as was my intention when I ordered the white ones. I also painted the other white t-straps I have.

Red and white!

I love the red and white combination, but I'm still not so sure about the other pair. Maybe I take the paint off of those, after all

I have kind of mixed feelings about the paint (Artidee leather paint) I used. The black paint worked fine and the result is very even, but the red paint (of the same brand, bought at the same time as the black...) was very difficult get even and in my opinion, the result could be better. However, I can't wait to wear the Skidoos in their new look!

Costuming ADD

Hmm, I seem to have trouble concentrating on only one project. Nothing new there, I think it keeps things interesting :) So, the pelisse is still waiting for the trimmings and the beads, I just need the proper mindset to get on with  it. Meanwhile, I begun yet another spencer, after this lovely little thing. The orginal is a riding habit jacket from about 1820s, and it's in the Nordiska Museet in Stockholm, Sweden.

The trimmings are gorgeous! (Photos from the book Empirens Döttrar)

The whole riding habit

Now, I only want the jacket, because I love the trimmings and I don't really want to make a Regency riding habit. I found a nice inky blue, sort of chenille-y, velvet fabric, used the trusty bodice/spencer pattern and this is where I've got, so far:

I chose to embroider the flowery swirls, even though the original uses cord trimming to line them out. I still need to put on the rest of the trimmings, the sleeves and the lining.

This (and the pelisse) led me to another in-between project. I mentioned that bonnet in the previous post, and had put together the hat base. I went to look for fabric to cover the hat and actually found fabric that was the perfect colour. Only it's silk. And pretty much the priciest fabric (per metre) I've ever bought.... Isn't it always the way? Luckily, I only needed about half a metre, so I didn't end up completely broke after all :)

I made the hat base out of stiff needlepoint (?) fabric and the pattern is my own. Everything is hand-sewn, as always. I'm very happy with the results and the silk was a dream to sew!

Lastly, the other day I found perfect Regencyesque shoes in the local supermarket, under 20€ a pair, so I immediately bought 2 pairs :) I mean to trim and maybe paint the nude shoes to go with the sari gown and other finer clothes. The black ones can remain the way they are, plain and black. I have one other pair that I found last year and I was thinking of painting them red to match the bonnet.

Can you say score? :)