Two Regency Dresses

This is Rebecca! She and her mum hired me to make Regency dresses for the Vintage Ball. I am very, very, very happy with how both of them turned out!

Becca's dress is loosely patterend of the Simplicity version of the Sense and Sensibility gown pattern. She picked out the ideal cotton print, which looks perfect on her! I modified the sleeves to be elbow-legnth, and used a false-button closure on the back. I trimmed it with white ribbon and little seed pearls around the neckline.

Below is unfortunately the only good picture I have of Mrs. B. in her dress. Again, I modified the S&S pattern, although this time I made it a drop-front gown. It crosses over underneath and closes with hooks and eyes, and then the "apron-front" part attatches with thread loops to some vintage wooden buttons I had in my stash. I'm quite pleased with it!

An 1874 Mourning Gown

I made my first bustle gown for the Vintage Ball this year. Above are the images I used for research, and down here is the result! As you might be able to see, the jacket has little tabs around the bottom and tails with tassels. I got my idea for the tabs from a 1870's tintype, which I have somehow managed to lose in the depths of my research. :/ Anyway, I've got this on over a mid- Victorian corset I made, my Regency shift (I know, I know, not accurate), a petticoat and a bustle pad. The skirt portion has a pleated ruffle, and is constructed with 5 gores. I made up the pattern as I went. :)

Community Colleges Contain Creepers.

I'm just sayin'.

And they took out the Chick-Fil-A that was here! :(

And by the way, ladies (or gentlemen to whom this applies), LEGGINGS ARE NOT PANTS! Ugh.

School started this week for me, so that means I'm off to Virginia Western on Tuesdays and Thursdays and work the rest of the time. My next big, BIG project will involve outfitting the cast of "It's a Wonderful Life" for a high school near my house. I've never made any 1930's clothes, so it should be interesting, and definitely a new experience!

For now, I thought I'd show yall some of the first dresses I ever made. EVER EVER EVER. Like the first three dresses I ever put together.

This is a much, much younger me in the second dress I ever made. Looking back, it was pretty horrible, but I learned so much when I was making it!

The green 1860s dress my friend Abigail is wearing here was made about the same time as my blue dress. It was pretty accurate, historically, looking back on it, and had a dog-leg closure and the skirt was cartridge-pleated. We both worked on it together, and laughed our faces off when we couldn't figure out why on earth the sleeves looked so funky and wouldn't fit! Thankfully, we discovered we'd stitched them on backwards, and quickly repaired the mistake.

And here, in this picture, the seventh from the right, is the first dress I ever made! I made it just before I started high school. It's a muslin regency dress taken from the Simplicity version of the Sense and Sensibility pattern. It has been altered, and my friend Hilary is wearing it here for a recent production of Pride and Prejudice, in which she played Kitty. The purple open robe (as well as most of the other costumes in this picture) she's wearing over it was made by the fabulous Emily Marsh, whose site you can visit here. (It's really worth taking a look at!)

That's all I've got for now, but I do have three 18th century hats, a 1790 jacket and a new early regency dress I made that I haven't shown you yet, so expect to see it in the next posting! Hope all yall have a good rest of the week and enjoy the weekend!

the ball and future projects- yay!

come with us, through time and space, to the land of the mighty POOF.

part of my group-- and you thought homeschoolers didn't have friends!

aren't they lovely?


yay!

It's about time I posted pics from the ball/the finished polonaise gown, considering it was a month ago!

The ball was lovely, and the gown was pretty close to perfect. I had only minimal trouble with the front closure (two pins came out whilst getting in/out of the limo) and I ended up taking off my fichu and putting it in one of my pockets during some of the dancing because it kept coming halfway off (grr!). My stays were surprisingly comfortable, although the worst part was not being able to slouch... bad posture, I know.

Anyway, two weeks ago I had major surgery on my hip joint-- long story. I got hurt in soccer two years ago and I'm just now getting it repaired. Needless to say, I've been sitting around doing very little because of it. Even though I have completely neglected posting any pictures , I've been working on a blue linen gown for a possible Williamsburg trip next December/next summer. It's a late 1770s- early 80s polonaise, with a mock zone-front and rutched trim. It's nearly done, except for the trimming and the evil evil evil sleeves... ughhh.... but it's been something to keep me busy whilst I sit.

As far as other projects, I've been meaning to make a jacket out of some white and blue cotton I have, which I'll probably start when I finish the blue gown. It shouldn't be too complicated! Also, I'd really love to make my brothers outfits for the Williamsburg trip, but then I would have to make the frightening venture into the daunting realm of man clothes! (*screams*) It can't be that bad, and I've started some of the research, but the biggest problem most people seem to be having is patterns for breeches. This worries me! Any advice??

Another more current project is making accurate 18th c. clothes for my cousin, Kate. I've been wanting to make some clothes for kids, because they just look easier and hopefully won't take as long to make, and she was the perfect guinea pig, so I'm working on a gown, a few petticoats, a fichu and a shift for her. She already has some of my old gowns from when I was little and a few mob caps that belonged to me! Recycling is awesome. :)

well, that's it for the time being!

EXAMS!! ARRRRGGHHHH.

On Thanksgiving, I started/completed my shift IN ONE DAY! It's all machine done, but I'm so proud of it that I don't really care. I made it out of muslin, which was good because it was cheap, and I have leftovers for whatever I need it for later! ^_^ So, thus far, my whole 18th c. wardrobe has cost under $150, which makes me very happy. The most expensive things were the red petticoat I bought and the material, which was around $70, with several leftover yards of each.
My current projects I've got going:
-18th c. straw low crowned hat: I've put pictures of this on facebook, and will have these up on here after exams are over. Tis pretty much finished, but I'm really craving some feathers for it.
-Owl apron: So my mum looked far and wide because she wanted to find me an apron with an owl on it for Christmas, because I love anything with owls and she wants me to learn to cook better. She couldn't find one, so she bought me a pattern and some cute owl material!!! Pics will follow. 0,0
-Embroideried stomacher-- Just a random project to keep me busy. I've no gown to wear it with, but oh well.
This week is finals!!!! GRR. But afterwords is the ball!!! Yay! I've even been asked, too... Mr. Amazing reserved me months ago! ^^
So, that's it for the moment. Better posts with pictures of EVERYTHING will come as soon as exams are over.
-Sarah

oh. my. goodness. gosh.

For some reason, I no longer feel as guilty about using material that is not 100% accurate.... It could be worse. Much worse. Much MUCH worse.
http://http//www.buycostumes.com/Marie-Antoinette-Adult-Costume-Gold/34633/ProductDetail.aspx?REF=AFC-datafeed&AID=10273928&PID=2587658&SID=pcost-18th
*gag!*
Today, my petticoat came! I bought it from here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/bonniemissflora. It's a really really dark red, and I'll be wearing it and a pink one I made underneath my green silk one for the ball. Pics will be posted when I can be bothered. I did try everything on last night and was quite satisfied! I just need to hem the green and pink petticoats and finish the trim on one of the sleeves of the gown (still!). Oh, and I'm hoping to get out tomorrow to get some material for my shift.
Also, I started on a little side project of a short jacket-- practice for one I want to make for a possible senior trip to Williamsburg/possible reenacting. I'm still kind of in the researching stages at the moment but have a general idea of what I want to do.
Well, that's all for this time! Bye!