2018 “In Review”

Geesh! This year has proven to me that I’m not in control of time (or anything for that matter) in any way. I can’t believe the year is almost over… there were so many things that I had intended/scheduled to make but absolutely did not. I don’t know about anyone else, but this year kicked my butt. In terms of “upping my game”- in terms of quality events- in terms of meeting new people- in terms of turning my life upside down. It was a lot to cram in there.

Surprisingly, I’m alive. *CHECK*

This year, I had made a “resolution” to follow the “Must Do List” and to keep up with the Historical Sew Monthly. That went well for about 4 months. Then I tanked HARD. Moving really disrupted everything. I mean, my husband’s job was terminated at the beginning of January, so it’s been an entire year of upheaval- now that I look back on it. We’re finally getting into a “groove” in our new little town and I’m so excited to have some stability. I have an awesome friend who watches Anne once a week so I can get a solid day’s work in and the commission waitlist is getting smaller for Virgil’s Fine Goods. I know that once I get to where I feel I have a handle on things it’ll all go topsy-turvy but for now I’ll enjoy the little bit of routine we’ve got goin’ on.

Anyway, back to this year…. How did I do? On a scale of 1-10 (10 being best) I would say I fall around 4 or 5. I kept up with work stuff but personal projects didn’t go as planned in any way… If I were being graded at school, I would qualify it all as a D, but I’m getting close to 30 so I don’t even know why I would think in terms of that….

I still haven’t made my birthday apron yet- adlkfjahkdljahfdh- but I guess that’s the trade-off when I want to garden, do canning and craftting while having a kid under 2. It’s going to happen next year though. IT MUST.

The Must-Do List (2017) Progress

Finish Yellow 19th Century Ball Gown– Now I need to blog about it
Add more trim to Green Check 19th Century Gown
Finish Regency Stays- Busk Pocket, add real straps
Add Buttons to Black Regency Gown
Fasten Straps to Regency Petticoat
Re-Make Wool 18th Century Petticoat
Trim White 18th Century Petticoat–
Trim Pierrot Jacket– Now I need to blog about it
Hem Ian’s 19th Century Shirt

Wellllllll that’s not great. BUT I did make some fun things this year:

Finished Personal Projects:

(a lot of these will get their own blog post soon, I just have such a hard time getting nice photos to use!)

The 1908 Purple Dress
1908 Corset
1810 Yellow Silk Evening Gown
1760s-1770s Small Hoop
1760s-1770s Chine Saque Gown
Anne’s 18th century kit (cloak, mitts, gown, cap)
Anne’s 19th century dresses (3 dresses and corded cap)
1800-1805 White Ikat Crossover Gown
1787 Silk Cap
1810 Trimmed Straw Bonnet
1919 Christmas Dress for Anne
Late-1770s Linen Dress for Felicity

Unfinished Personal Projects (These will be added to next year’s “Must-Do” List)

1805 French Blue Bonnet- I just need to hem the ties!
1800 Green Corded Bonnet Repro- Add brim and trim
Felicity’s Rose Garden Dress Redo

All in all it was an alright year for historical clothing but next year is gonna be wayyyyyy better!

 

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The Must-Do List of 2017

My 2017 “Resolution” was to refrain from starting any new projects until I finished my UFO’s- aka THE MUST DO LIST. I did well on my quest, though I didn’t post much about it on here. I put a lot on instagram, but with a baby and tending my etsy shop I found it hard to find time to write! So here’s one big post with a run-down of my [semi] successful venture.

My must-do list had a lot of projects that were *almost* finished or ones that NEEDED to be made, based on what event was coming up. These are its successes:

Fix Blue Linen 18th Century Petti: This lovely p’cote was made and given to me by the Fat-Reenactress a few years ago before I had a full 18th century kit. I had worn it to death and the waistband started to ravel so it needed some re-vamping. SUCCESS!

Mend 18th Century Chintz Bedgown: Another item that received a LOT Of love over the years. I am notorious for ripping out the right bottom armscye of almost everything I have. As a result, this bedgown had been washed numerous times with the hole in it. I added a cute little patch to it which doubles as a gusset and I now have more room to move! Unfortunately, my post-baby body is a little too big for it anymore, so a new bedgown is on the list for 2018. Overall, SUCCESS!!

TurkeyRed Early 19th Century Shortgown: A while back I made an adorable lower-class ensemble of turkey-red fabric for my 19thcentury/regency adventures. The fit was great, it was ridiculously sweet, and very adjustable!…. but I made it with lined, long sleeves. -Not great for wearing year-round-  I had a little bit of fabric left over from the project, so I pieced together a matching 3/4 length sleeve version. I ended up wearing this while pregnant at the Kalamazoo History Show and on Friday at the Jane Austen Festival (shortly after I had the baby). It’s very comfortable and cute, to boot! SUCCESS!!!

Patrick’s 19th Century Shirt: Sooooooo, a lonnnnnng lonnnnnng time ago I had told Patrick that I would make him a shirt since I was starting to prototype men’s shirts for the Virgil’s store. That project got pushed back again. And again. And again. I can’t tell you how many times that project was literally on my worktable and then I’d get an order, thinking “I’ll do that RIGHT after this order.” Hhahahahahahahahahahaha. Can you guess what happened? Anyways, I just said “screw all that” one week and finished that puppy. FINALLY SUCCESS!!!!

Binding Ian’s 19th Century Top Hat: I’m a novice at pulling hats, but when I initially pulled Ian’s top hat last year, I was really proud of myself. I didn’t have time to bind it when it needed to be worn. I finally finished it! YAY! Not the prettiest, but I’m not at all practiced. I plan to take a class on it so I can get better and maybe even carry them in my shop! Overall, SUCCESS!!!!

Fashion plate from SceneInThePast on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/51592109@N08/4841506241/in/set-72157624611694164/

 

 

Anne’s 18th Century Stays: I did up this project while the in-laws were in town on New Years day. Easy peasy, kept me busy, and they ended up fitting when Anne was 4 months old! Full Post Here. SUCCESS!!!!!!

18th Century Gestational Stays: I was fortunate enough to go to the Textile Conference in Colonial Williamsburg last year and had to make SOMETHING that would enable me to wear my 18th century stuff. Luckily, this were a quick whip (the binding was a different story) and turned out pretty well. Full post here. I’ll be sure to post about fit sometime soon- I promise! SUCCESS!!!!!!!

 

Alter Ian’s 19th Century Breeches: Had to move the buttons from one side to the other. and lengthen the strap. SUCCESS!!!!!!!

Finish the Paintings: Blog Posts about these paintings are here. But, this was a collaborative project started well over 2 years ago and I kept procrastinating. Well, they’re done now. SO. DONE. We framed them for Christmas and so happy about it! WE plan to offer prints of these to sell- stay tuned for the official announcement! SUCCESS!!!!!!!

Basic Silk Kerchief: Found an amazingly light vintage silk in exactly a 36×36″ square. I had hemmed one side, and then tucked it away somewhere. Fast forward to 5 months later when I used it as a travel project! YAY! It’s fantastic for keeping you warm without added bulk. Hooray! SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!

 

FAILS:

These are the fails of my list- the items I never got around to, to my shame!

Finish Yellow 19th Century Ball Gown: Didn’t do.
Add more trim to Green Check 19th Century Gown: Nope!
Finish Regency Stays: Hahaha
Add Buttons to Black Regency Gown: Nada.
Fasten Straps to Regency Petticoat: Still safety pinned.
Re-Make Wool 18th Century Petticoat: Hasn’t even been unfolded!

 

Other Items, not on the list, were made as well. Here’s a few of them!

 

Hope you all had a Happy New Year and can’t wait to see what next year holds!

 

Felicity Friday: Work Wear Accessories

Tags

Felicity, historicallyaccuratefelicity, History

I’ve been using my free time between work and life to put together Felicity’s historically accurate wardrobe for various 18th century occasions. My purpose for making this extensive wardrobe isn’t just to satisfy my need for tiny things, but to use Felicity as a teaching tool for children’s groups at various events or lectures I do! She’s really fun to share with people of all ages and they love seeing how her clothes are made just like they’re supposed to be.

Here she is, so cutely put together.

Right now I’m working diligently on making her some work wear in contrast to the middling class/half dress I typically depict at an event. This way, I can show the public possibly camp-follower impressions or just lower class impressions without having to point at individuals that happen to be passing by! This week I finished up:

So many little things!

A checked kerchief  made from Burnley and Trowbridge cross barred linen– the scraps from a 19th century apron I made last year (I’ll post about early Regency aprons soon).

An 18th century apron to match my own- blue & white plaid cotton with tiiiiiiiny binding from thin linen tape.

Tiny stitches and bindings!

And a new linen petticoat- also made from scraps from my own! So dainty! Next week I’ll update you as to what Felicity gets to wear next but for now if you’ve been working on Felicity projects, do link them in the comments. I want to seeeeee!

Now she’s almost ready for all this cold weather we’ve got goin’ on

 

Felicity’s Quilted Petticoat

While in New Zealand I took a couple projects with me to pass the time while traveling. I worked on quilting a small panel because it was easily packed away and not overly complicated- and why wouldn’t I want to make a wee quilted petti for her?!

All in all, the project took me more than 25 hours to complete- even as a simple diamond pattern.

I based the color and pattern decision on a number of images (Links here, here and here) that depict working class individuals which would make this type of garment plausible for someone like Felicity to possibly have had.

The Polite Maccaroni presenting a Nosegay to Miss Blossom
from the Lewis Walpole Library

 

Probably the smallest binding I’ve ever had to make

Hand for scale and white balance!

So cuuuuuute!

 

The petticoat is made of a scrap of silk taffeta, lightweight cotton batting and scraps of handkerchief weight linen. It’s sewn in silk thread and tied with thin linen tapes.

I decided to make a pearl necklace for her, too, since I have one!

So little! The beads came from some leftover beads from a wedding dress I had altered

Little rings and ribbons!

So petite 🙂

Other than a pocket and some shoes, Felicity will only need a top garment to complete her ensemble. I plan on making a linen dress for myself within the month, so I will likely make a matching one for her. More exciting stuff to come!

A New Cap for Felicity

Enter a caption

As I’m sure you’ve seen in a few of my posts (here ), I love Felicity! Part of my love for her is a desire to make her as accurate as possible. Eventually I’d like to have a “Felicity Version” of my 18th century clothes, but for now I make smaller versions of things when I happen to be out and about. I keep a small sewing kit with me and a project prepared for just these occasions.

           Bag & contents: L-R, Needle Book, Thimble Case with Silver Thimble, Cotton Thread, Leftover piece of ruffle from Felicity’s cap, Wax & safety pins- ‘cuz you need those sometimes

Felicity’s cap is a single layer cotton cap made from scraps of Burnley and Trowbridge cotton mull. This fabric works up nicely and has some good body when made up small-like. The edges are done with rolled hems, aside from the bag of the cap that attaches to the front pieces- it was done using a whipped-rolled hem. All pieces are whipped together and voila!

Whipped seams!

Pretty finish.

 

           

 

Pretty caps!