Regency Dress progress

So far this quarter, I've been trying to juggle taking a mere 12 credit hours (I normally take about 17), piano lessons and life. But here's the progress on the Regency dress!

Certainly not the most beautiful pic
of me, but there's the dress.

The pics have the dress pinned together (sans sleeves) in what I hope it will look like. I decided to gather them Corded style, so wonderfully explained by The Dreamstress...though, I did mine by hand instead of machine.

pretttttyyyyyy!

 I really like the cording method rather than a running stitch. It's way more secure and delivers the most gorgeous gathers! I do believe I will use this method of gathering from now on.

Notice the cream yarn? I'm using it for my cord instead of real cord. Why? It doesn't have a tendency to bulge, requires a very thin channel and I have a ton of it. Yay thriftiness!!!

Le View de Side

You can kinda see the cording on the skirt portion in the side view ANNNND you can also see the Apron-front line. I decided to do something a little different than the typical apron front bodices I've seen. I got the idea from the dress Marianne twists her ankle in.

I understand this is not Marianne, but
it is the same dress, just from Persuasion (2007)

Now, I realize that these pics are not of Marianne, but for viewing purposes, the stills from Persuasion (2007) are a lot more illustrative. The bodice piece is a gathered trapezoid creating a more seamless effect, so in theory, you won't be able to tell if it's an apron front or not... but we'll see how sneaky I actually am later on, when it's closer to finished.*crosses fingers*

See how the lines are angled?

I'm still not positive on the style of the sleeves yet. I'm torn between elbow length or cap. Sometimes I wish I could do both, but it would look rather silly.

Bodiced Petticoat: Finished.

Finally, I'm getting around to posting this! I finished my hand-stitched petticoat right before Christmas and took pictures on Christmas day. I'm set with the undergarments and am ready for the real dressmaking now!

side view

me being goofy

ick, I look very ticked off. but here is the front.

Back view

The entire garment is stitched by hand and made of a white cotton bedsheet from a hospital which was bought from a thrift shop.

In Progress: Late 1790's Bodiced Petticoat

Well, I'm not entirely sure that it's 1790's but the overall outfit will be. I started this project on Monday and have spent many many many hours in my sewing room trying to finish it so far. It is made out of a bedsheet from a hospital:

kinda spooky...

The sheet cost me $1.50 from a thrift store and had more than enough fabric to do the job. The bodice is a modified stays pattern, lined with the same bed sheet and is entirely hand-sewn. The skirt is attached only with pins at the moment...

Front Bodice

The best pic of the side I could get

It will have a waistband, to bring the bulk of the gathers down a bit, for a smaller waistline. I also didn't notice that the bodice of my petticoat is smaller than my stays until looking at the pictures for this post. :-/ Oh well I guess. Anywho, that's my progress!

Regency Short Stays, finished.

I recently finished my short stays and I am pretty pleased! This is the first time I've only done an entire hand sewn garment. GO ME!

Pattern: It is a self drafted pattern based off of the Sense and Sensibility "Regency Underthings"
Fabrics: I have no clue what the outside fabric is, but it is like canvas. The binding is the same "canvas-y" fabric. They are lined with muslin.
Other Materials: 14 Zip-ties for boning, hand quilting thread
Time: Patterning, 20 min. Fitting the gussets, 2 1/2 hours. Sewing, MANY MANY HOURS. Binding, 6 hours.
Stitches: Mainly saddle stitches, except the binding.
Cost: $2 mystery fabric + $1 muslin + $1.50 thread + $2 zip ties= $6.50 total.

Here's some more pics and then I'll talk more about it.

Sorry again.

What I like:
It is amazingly comfortable. It is quite effective. It was a relatively fast project (if done by sewing machine). It was relatively easy, being my first run with gussets. It has a pretty back. Some of my stitches turned out fabulous, after I got the hang of it.
What I'm okay with:
It's an odd color of creme. There's some puckeryness around/on the gussets. Ironing took a while to navigate the zip-ties/bones.

What I would do different:
I would have used 3 layers of fabric, to prevent the puckery. Used a fabric that I could identify. I would have made it a little smaller. Make sure that the front was even (it goes slightly downhill on the right side).

What I'm going to do: 
I plan to do some flossing on the stays in a light blue or just a white, but I'm still not sure how accurate that would be?

Some pretty stitches

Thanks for reading!

Civil War Day 2010

Every year my 8th Grade teacher hosts a Civil War day for her students and I have been part of the festivities for the last 4 years. I normally teach on what life was like for those at home during the 1860's while some reenacting friends/classmates of mine teach on the battlefront aspect.We've had the local newspapers interview us before, but this year I finally got some pictures of us in action!

Matt and Dylan

Matt and Dylan talking to the students about loading the gun

The "Reenactment"

The "Charge"

 My portion starts out with some facts about how people lived and whatnot, then I got to the fun part, which was dressing the girls up in the outfits. I dressed the volunteer with all the layers and let them wear the skirt I made a while back. They seemed to really enjoy it.

There's a petticoat after this, but is no picture of it   D:

The Whole Get-up

It's a really fun thing to do, and I hope to do it for many years to come. I just need to get more hoops, skirts and corsets so I can have an army of 1860's gals. YAY

Living History

I've decided to post an old, but relevant video. This is of some fellow reenactors and I at our local junior high school, teaching about the Civil War. The boys and I have been participating in this for over 5 years and enjoy every moment of it.   Also in this video is my most favorite teacher, Mrs. Redefer. Without her I would have never found my passion for history. Enjoy!

Bonnet Trouble

I have decided, on a whim, to make a bonnet. Crazy? yes. I have no pattern whatsoever.

To start with, I've had this a straw bonnet for some time, bought from a sutler. It originally had a ribbon and flower on it, but both were not very good quality so I took them off. So Yesterday, I decided to tear my bonnet apart, because it is NOT the right shape. I need one with some sort of spoon shape.

I managed to get the brim and crown apart. I also cut a section of the crown off to enable my hair to get through.

 Now I don't know where to go. :{

So, I don't have any appropriate fabric. haha. That's what I get for tearing something up on a whim. I think I'm going to buy some crushed taffeta (there's some on sale at Joanns). I believe I want some in Ivory or Bone, as it would go with more outfits. I'm not sure if I want to go with blue, black, or another color?

I have no clue what I'll do next, but we'll see where I get. :)  If you have any suggestions or fabric you want to get rid of, let me know!!!!!!!

18th Century Under-Petticoat

Yet another addition to the 18th century pool... This is an under-petticoat worn over the bumroll. Here ya go!


Ingredients:
2, 72''wide White Curtains purchased at a thrift store
Thread
something for ties

Cost:
$3

Time to prepare:
2 hours


I chose to use curtains because they are already hemmed and I happened to come across a pair of lightweight, cream ones. This petticoat has 2 ties, to be tied on each side of the hips.

First I measured from my waist to how long I wanted my petticoat to be, about 37'' for me. I then measured from the bottom (already hemmed) part up to the disired length. You cut the whole bottom off of it from there. You need to do this twice to get a nice full petticoat. The width of the curtains were 72'' so my petticoat's circumference is 144''.

From there I took the sides and pinned them overlapping eachother, zigzag stitching from the bottom all but 6'' at the top (on both sides), to keep the petticoat smooth.

For both the front and back, the fabric needs to be gathered to the centermost part of each tie, leaving enough on each end to tie to the other portion. Sew that down and finish with whatever method you see fit. I just surged the tie to the fabric and was done with it.


Again, this is another AMAZINGLY THRIFTY thing to do that took no time at all! :) It makes me so happy

Bumroll

So, right now I have this crazy itch for 18th century stuff... so I'm busting out things left and right and having fun doing it. :)

note: A bumroll is another undergarment used in the 18th century. It was used to give the illusion that a woman had larger hips and rear, a sign of fertility (so they say).

Here's my bumroll and how I made it:

Ingredients:
1 Old Pillow case
21 plastic bags
Thread

Cost:
$0

Time to prepare:
45 min.

I got my idea from this site on how to measure it. It says to take a measurement of your hips, and take away 4 inches. This measurement (28 inches in my case) is what the inner oval shall be. From there I modified because the lady who makes this is 5'11'' compared to my 5'2'', and I would have looked ridiculous on me. At the very back of mine, I measured 5'' from the center oval. On the sides, 3'1/2''. Then you just connect the dots to make the crescent shape


then you cut it out:


then sew it together according to the directions on the site and stuff with your plastic grocery bags:



sew up the opening and add ties:


TAAAADAAAAA!!!!! bumroll.


This was totally easy and thrifty and I like it :)

Finished Grey Dress

This is my finished "Nun Dress", as my brother calls it. I don't think it cost me more than $12, which is quite an accomplishment I think. :)



I made the collar and undersleeves from a cheesecloth of all things! I got them both done in about 2 hours. I'm excited to start making new bodices for this dress, I think that it will be a very nice and practical dress for whatever I may need it for :D

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Here it is without the under sleeves:


And here's me with my mommy!