Accessories and Underthings - Lisa

I'm ready for another fitting on my muslin for the Polonaise but I can't do it until next weekend.  In the mean time I must have dreamt up 15 new projects.  But it's time to stop dreaming and start getting things done. I decided to make a petticoat using the 1895 Skirt pattern at Tudor Links 1895 Skirt because I want to use it for an actual skirt and this is a great test.  This pattern is free but not actual size, so I needed to do some math to make sure it would fit me.  It was surprisingly easy to figure out and went together quickly.  I'm using twill tape for a waistband since I have a lot of it and it's fast.  Since this pattern worked well for me, I'm going to go ahead and make a new brown skirt out of a nicer fabric to wear under the Polonaise.

I made ruffles for the bottom but can't attach them until I've got a hem.  There is no word for the special tedium of hemming ruffles.  The ruffles should give me a little more volume at the bottom. 

I also removed the drawstring from a taffeta petticoat I already had.  The new waistband solves the problem I was having with a lopsided hem. 

All that's left is a chemise to wear under my corset.  Underwear? Check!


With a little spare time, I am revisited crocheted lace.  My grandmother showed me how to make doilies when I was just a little nugget, and I haven't done it since, but I was thinking that I could make lace for my sleeves and neckline.  Not because making it myself is so much better, but I can't find anything I like that isn't onerously expensive.  For the record, it is possible to find lovely patterns on line and free.  Unfortunately, trying to read a pattern makes my brain melt.  So I'm making it up myself.  Again.  And trying to remember to write some notes as I go.  First I made fingerless gloves.  I still need to finish hanging strings and add a button closure and probably some decoration. Now I'm just finishing lace for my sleeves.  It's pressed but not starched which will give it more shape.  It ruffles nicely when the edge is straight. I'll make something similar around the neckline.  I may make some for the hem.  I'm not ready to commit to that just yet. 

I now inhabit a world of beige-y sameness.  I am really looking forward to moving ahead with some color.  This Saturday, Robin and I will be helping each other with fittings and hems and comparing ideas for trim.  Theoretically, I will be able to start cutting the plaid after this. 

Brainstorm from a Sleepless Night - Robin

The only reason I was going to make two different hoop skirts (cage crinoline and a farthingale) was because I could NOT figure out how to adjust the hoops in the bottom "bag" portion of the skirt once it was sewn shut.  Last night, however, my brain wouldn't turn off and I saw that dang light bulb over my head saying: Use the epoxy to glue on snaps instead of gluing the hoop ends together permanently. So I'm going to try that on a little leftover piece of hoop wire today to see how that might work. If it does, I'll be able to adjust the hoops for different styles AND I'll be able to collapse it to get it into a suitcase, something I really didn't think about until last night.

Oh, yea, I also envisioned many different ways to trim the skirt and the pagoda top, turning them every-which-way in my mind. Stay tuned....

Making a hoop skirt - Robin

I had originally thought to make an adjustable hoop skirt/farthingale but decided to make two separate undergarments.

Round and round I go. The dang thing is 130" in diameter with 4 hoop channels. This is taking a lot longer than I thought.

The hoop wire is cut, the bottom bag is sewn and the grosgrain ribbon has channels sewn into it. Try not to use yellow tracing paper on white stuff - you'll go blind and after a while you won't even be able to see your markings!  The directions say to use tape to put the hoop wire together, but I don't like that idea because once I sew up the bag, I won't be able to get to them in case something slips without ripping seams, so I'm going to the hardware store to get some epoxy. That ought to  hold the suckers.  I need to find some of that plastic stuff you dip the ends of boning wire with, too, so work is halted for now. After that, it should go a lot faster.

Ren fabric choices - Robin

Haven't found the proper fabric yet for the fore panel for the Renaissance skirt. I've been searching online embroidery sites to see what's around, because Queen Elizabeth had this fantastic one embroidered for her by Bess of Harwick and I thought I'd see what I could replicate. So far, nothing for sale makes me fall in love. Here are two close ones, though, and I'll use them as jumping off points.  Maybe I'll machine embroidery the entire fore panel and embellish it with pearls.  No hurry on this one though.

I have an embroidery machine, but my software for downloading from the internet is so outdated that I had to buy new stuff. Waaah!

New source for trim ideas! Lisa

Found a great source for DIY trim - from crocheted lace to soutache braid patterns.  The site has PDF's of original instructions from the late 1800's thru early 20th century.  I can't cut and past pictures, but there are pages and pages of books.  I expect I will be able to distract myself from any product work for weeks...even months!

Antique Pattern Library

(yes, that means I'm struggling with my muslin...sad face)

Fitting the Muslin, Polonaise - Lisa

I finally cut the muslin for the polonaise.  It took longer then I thought because, well, while searching for my measuring tape I decided I need to clean up the knitting pile and that led to organizing my box of notions, and now I've tidied my office and the spare bedroom.  In among the knitting I found an packet of sewing carbons that was so old the price tag was marked $0.39.  I can use those!  (actually they were so old they didn't really work very well).

With the muslin cut and basted I need to get my first fitting.  I don't have a dress form so it's up to Robin to re-pin darts and adjust shoulders and all the other necessary evils.  Has there ever been a dart that fit?  The instructions were great and worked really well.  I followed them religiously.  The result was very close to accurate.  As expected, the muslin is too wide in the shoulders and needs an inch more in the bust.  There is no adjustment for shoulder width in the cutting instructions and I have narrow shoulders and a short torso so this was expected.  The bust initially seemed good but changed after the shoulders were fitted.  I may add a small dart at the armscye to eliminate some bunching.  I'm only basting it now and will figure it out when we fit the sleeve. 

And yes, since we live rather far apart, the easiest place to meet and fit was the ladies room at my office.  This restroom is shared with other tenants on the floor of one of SF's largest office buildings.  So, or course nearly every woman on the floor wandered by as we were fitting the darts. 

I used safety pins for the fitting since I didn't want to lose pins carrying the muslin back and forth from home.  Robin also delivered two big bags of fabric we bought online.  I have at least two bags more at her house.  Most of this is for undergarments but, at under $2 a yard, I bought some cotton 'on spec'. 

I'll be back after my extended-family vacation in SoCal with the final fitting and then I'm getting to work on the real thing.  But now?  I'm goin' to Disneyland!

Robin - I love fabric!

Here are my fabrics for the Mid-Victorian day dress. Joanne's was having a sale on their Silkessence lining fabric so I went a little crazy. The lavender is for the bodice and the overskirt. The blueberry (top fabric) will be used for accent ribbons and in the bonnet. The silk lavender and peach stipe will peak out the bottom of that huge skirt. I'm excited to start, but I have to make the corset first.

My beau will be wearing that grey wool frock coat lined in a dashing red.  I'm a bit concerned about the amount of tailoring I'll have to learn in order to create a frock coat, but  hey- it's only engineering, right?

This is what I have so far for the Elizabethan garb. Green velvet for the doublet/bodice, loads of white linen, a lovely clay colored silk that has shots of pink and green iridescent flashes through it, and  a charmeuse for his slops and other accent pieces, maybe the sleeve linings. I still have not found the right material for my underskirt. The one I wanted had sold out by the time I tried to order it. Waaah!