A 1770’s Silk Mantelet

Or maybe a mantle? Honestly I’m not sure what makes them different from what I’ve seen ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ So, this was the first challenge of the year and was made in preparation for a “cold” outing in Colonial Williamsburg- the day after our scheduled Historic Costumer’s Winter Mini-Market in February. As a stash busting project that I was glad to bust-it-out quickly.

Did I drop something? Idk- I never know how to pose with my face…

The Challenge: January: Dressed to the 9’s

Material: Palest lavender lilac silk taffeta scrap (about 1 yardx60″w) from The Purple Edwardian dress a year ago and nearly a yard of white silk taffeta. Silk purchased from Silk Baron.

Pattern: Modified from the Lace Cloak (or Mantle) in Costume Closeup, by Linda Baumgarten, page 50.

Year: 1778-1779

Notions: Silk Thread, Silk ribbon, Pinking Chisel, ribbons

How historically accurate is it? I would say 95%. The garment is entirely hand stitched and trimmed in a manner close to fashion plates from 1778/1779 and”in style.” I decided not to line the Mantelet because Virginia is warm- so is silk- and also, I didn’t want to use any more precious silk from my stash.

Galerie des modes et costumes français 1778

Galerie des modes et costumes français 1778

Hours to complete: 10. The body of the garment itself took about 4 hours to complete, whereas the trimming took at least 6 hours. Always allot double time for trimming. ALWAYS.

This took FOREVER to do! UGH.

The sad and lonely mantle, just waiting for its trimmings.

The sad and lonely mantle, just waiting for its trimmings.

This took FOREVER to do! UGH.

 

First worn: Colonial Williamsburg for a promenade down DoG street- More pics can be viewed through others’ instagram accounts. I was abysmal at taking photos that day- sorry, everyone.

Total cost: $30ish for a large scrap of lavender silk and the one yard of fabric for the trim

What would I do differently? This was a hasty project (I absolutely *thought* I needed something for Virginia- spoiler alert– I did not need it, but wore it anyway GOSH DARNIT) so… I didn’t completely think through the functionality of the hood and made it too shallow to be useful. It is a purely decorative hood- and that fact makes me sad.

Takeaway: This was a really fun project to try and also to make-do with the stash remnants. For wear, I was surprised at how warm it was with no lining. It did try to choke me a lot, but I’m not sure how to keep a cloak- like garment from doing that, aside from the cross cross tie technique. I did feel extra spiffy in this Mantelet, even though it completely covered the great fit of my new wool dress. I definitely felt “Dressed To The 9’s” with my extra silk!

I also finally got to debut the Giant Calash bonnet from 6? years ago! Super fun and weird way to spend the day.

 

 

 

 

Advertisements

I’m in a BOOK!!!

Hello friends, I wanted to announce that I have been blurbed about in an official Star Wars Book!!

OOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo!!!!

 In Feb 2010, I was interviewed via email, by Bonnie Burton, to be featured on the Official Star Wars blog. I had been checking that blog every day for 9 months and was somewhat disappointed that I hadn’t seen anything on there yet. Then I got the email that perked up my spirits… She had chosen to put me in her newest book, The Star Wars Craft Book! It came in today…..and here I am!

AAAHHHHH!!!!!!

If any of you get a hold of the book, I’m on page 102 and am featured for my General Grievous. As a Star Wars fanatic, I can’t tell you how honored/excited/awesome it feels just to have that little blurb in there 🙂
Aside from me, there’s some awesome crafts that I think I may do in the near future. My faves are the Cantina Band spoons and Ewok Hat. AHHH, I want to make them noowwwww!!!! I was like a nerd at Comic-Con. ( BTW, I will attend in the near future). Other features include blurbs about Sammi Resendes, Kayla Kromer, and Amanda Jean Camarillo. All of which have made some pretty awesome things. 

All in all, the book is a great book for adults AND kids, I highly suggest you purchase it.

P.S.
Speaking of Star Wars, I have a new shirt to show off:

DAWWWW.

A surprise gift from my friend Travis of Debugging-Life It has become one of my favorite shirts of all times. Thanks man!

Phew, What a day… What. A. Day. 😀

Christmas 2010!!!!

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas equipped with all the festivities, family and fun. I had a very blessed time with my family and I got a lot of awesome things this Christmas that I’d like to show you all 🙂

BOOKS
The past couple of years, I have been receiving books for the majority of my presents. I have an Amazon Wishlist and from it I received:

The Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Fashion in Detail by Susan North

and 

The Nineteenth Century Fashion in Detail by Lucy Johnston

Both these books are from the Victoria and Albert Fashion Museum collection and are really fascinating. I love being able to see individual stitches, minor flaws (that make me feel better about my work), and simply the wonderful detailed photographs/descriptions of the garments. The only thing to make them better would be to have photos of the whole garment instead of really up close ones. The book is great though. I’m soooo glad I have them now!

The Cut of Men’s Clothes: 1600-1900

and

Corsets and Crinolines both by Norah Waugh 

These books are just wonderful. I got a used/older version of the Cut of Men’s Clothes and a new version of Corsets and Crinolines but I couldn’t be happier. These are definitely must-haves.

After a Fashion: How to Reproduce, Restore, and Wear Vintage Styles 

and

The Edwardian Modiste: 85 Authentic Patterns with Instructions, Fashion Plates and Period Sewing Techniques

both by Francis Grimble

 I knew these would be great the moment I saw them. Last year I was happy to get Francis’ book: Reconstruction Era Fashions and to say the least, It’s fantastic. After a Fashion is chock full of very useful information for me since I’m quite a novice at just about everything. I was looking at some of the chapters in it just thinking “Oh, that makes sense now!” and the like. Very good book. The Edwardian Modiste is also good. I find it funny that each fashion plate has a pasted face on it. 

Heirloom Embroidery by Jan Constantine

This was a surprise book my mom happened to find. I keep telling her that I want to start embroidery so she got me a book on it 🙂 I love my mommy.

Spencerian Penmanship by Platt Rogers Spencer

Another endeavor I would like to start on is my handwriting. I would like to write well and beautifully. I think of all my books I got, this present got the biggest reaction from me. This is something I’m dying to start on.


OTHER THAN BOOKS
Apart from all the awesome books I got the following things:

Young Victoria

This movie is superb. I seriously love it.

Return to Cranford 

How can you go wrong with a period miniseries? You can’t. Especially if it’s from the BBC. My brother and I bought Cranford (and other series) 

The whole show is just so darn adorable. Judi Dench plays a really caring/naive character, which is soooo refreshing compared to her role as M from 007, which is pretty rigid. The series is definitely one worth watching.

Pennywhistles!

I recently played an original arrangement of O Come, O Come Emmanuel at my church a few weeks ago. I decided I wanted more of them (they’re fixed key instruments) so I got 4 new ones in keys other than D so now I can play WHATEVER I WANT 😀

I also got a Yarn Carrier, Truffles, a 9-headed Dragon Incense Burner, a SnapFish photo album of my boyfriend and I, a LIGHTSABER UMBRELLA, some clothes, a springform pan, and some moneys. It was a really blessed Christmas to say the least. I received way more than I was ever expecting. OH YEAH!!! And I got a necklace that belonged to my Great-Grandmother.

Isn’t it pretty?

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!!!

 

*Sigh*

This weekend I was hoping to do some fun stuff. I.E. sewing, crochet, a few more recordings etc. but was overcome with homework from dawn til dusk all weekend long. My homework consisted of reading the story of the life of Mary Jemison, practicing piano, writing an essay, blah blah blah blah blah. Complete with more blah, blah and blah.

Though my homework was exhausting, I felt I should say a bit about The Narrative of the Life of Mary Jemison. I really enjoyed it. The book is a first person account of a woman of Irish heritage and her life as an adopted Seneca woman. Unlike many captivity narratives, she portrays the Native Americans as a lovely people and culture rather than a barbaric cult of savages. It was a long read for me was very good and enlightening, despite the time it took from my other interests. I do encourage those who have not read it to do so if they get a chance. I read the latest edition, with an introduction by June Namais, which also helps keep in perspective what is elaborated upon and what is from Jemison herself. I really do encourage you to read it… and lucky for you it’s not an assignment

And now, I’ll give you some cuteness to counteract the lame of my post

Joel!!!

Christmas 2009

I just HAVE to blog about my Christmas presents. I’ve not been able to stop looking at them since I opened the packages.

1)  Corsets: Historical Patterns and Techniques by Jill Salen
                    This has some really wonderful pictures and patterns.  I can’t wait to use them. I’m really eyeing the late 19th century patterns. It’s completely worth the full price if you’re any kind of costumer.

2)   60 Civil War-Era Fashion Patterns by Kristina Seleshanko
                     This book covers all of the 1860’s, not just the American Civil War years. It has a nice collection of women’s and children’s patterns throughout the era. It’s around $12 on Amazon.com, another good buy.

3)   Civil War Ladies: Fashion and Needle-Arts of the Early 1860’s
                       It’s REALLY HEAVY. A collection of patterns and pictures from Peterson’s Magazine 1861-1864. There are many, many great pictures but not a whole lot of instructions/patterns for clothing. It also has piano music from the era and other accessories that would be nice to have with the wardrobe. 🙂

4)   The Art of Manipulating Fabric by Collette Wolff
                      This one’s a wonderful buy. I’ve not been sewing for a long time, so there are lots of techniques I would never have figured out without this book. Ideas out the wazzoo and lots of pictures make it easy to understand. It’s going to pair really well with the next book…..

5)   Reconstruction Era Fashions by Francis Grimble
                         BUY THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are so many good things about the book, I can’t begin to name them all. This is one of my favorite time periods for clothing and it is a nice reference for all sorts of things. It has LOTS AND LOTS of ideas for the surrounding periods. I CAN”T WAIT TO START SEWING!!!!

Other than the books, I got socks and dishes for my hopechest. It was a really nice Christmas overall. I hope you all did too 🙂