Catching Up

It\"s been a while, once again, since the last entry here and seems to be a habit of mine. Especially as I go about gathering up materials and supplies for Dragon Con costuming.

Here are a few shots from way back in January, taken at the Twelfth Night Ball.

This is the ice blue ball gown I was working on, and barely had enough time to finish...and I still don\"t consider it totally finished. But, it turned out to be a gown "that would do" and is stylishly simple.

A surprise photo with Anders, Photo: Laurie Tavan

Tea-dyed satin slippers; they went from a glaring white, to this lovely candlelight ivory thanks to some English breakfast tea. They show up a slightly deeper shade in this photo than they actually are.

I wanted to add more trimmings made from the blue silk and gold trims, around the neckline for a faux bertha collar (as seen on some extant ballgowns). I\"m still hoping to give it a delicate helping of that, a little extra on the sleeves, and perhaps something on the skirt as well made from the taffeta and gold metal brush fringe. Something along the lines of this, instead of having the metal fringe straight along the hemline as I do now:

Still, I wish I had a good shot of the bodice front. With that said, the gown ended up very much reminding people of Cinderella, and that became my nickname for the evening ;-)

A little more boning at the seams is needed, too. Hopefully as the weather and free time improves, and I’ll maybe head up to Villa Montalvo for a quick photo shoot with this gown. The Villa is the same location we shot my Sisi velvet and mink ensemble, so it should be the perfect spot for a Cinderella-like set.

Striking a Winterhalter pose with Jenny Storm, Photo: Bill Watters

Dancing

Photo: Laurie Tavan

With Daniel and Laura, photo: Christopher Erickson

And then things just got weird...

Photo by Bill Watters

Buttons And Braid

A couple of months back, I had mentioned that my friend Anders had acquired boxes upon boxes of wondrous things. Mainly buttons.
There were also loads of genuine silver and gold braid, of varying width and design, many in their original wrappings from 19th to early 20th century Germany and England.
He has started an Etsy shop, Greyfell Productions, with just a few of these items so far. But you can get an idea of the types of buttons and military braid we have available from this huge lot.
A lot of these items would be fantastic trimmings for a ladies military inspired Georgian or Victorian riding habit.

So Many Buttons!

You know those scenes in old films or cartoons when a character finds piles of treasure, and dives in, swimming around in it? Well, that was me recently, thanks to my friend Anders.
I took a 'treasure bath'.
So. Many. Buttons. Gold, silver, and all very old. A few bakelite here and there. Plus, a ton of other stuff I need to keep secret for now. This photo is just a small sampling of the huge grip of stuff I snagged for myself.

Gold French military buttons in disintegrating pink tissue and card stock. The package with the exquisite handwriting is a never opened card of German silver braid. All of it probably from around WWI, and could be used for much earlier projects.

It's the stuff of romance....

Helpful info for tailoring details...

I'm just putting this here as a helpful tool for us all. It's a great post by Hallie over At The Sign Of The Golden Scissors; 18th century button stands for menswear...or menswear-inspired ladies garments.
This tailoring tip will be especially helpful to me when I start a late 1770s frock coat...after I finish those damn breeches :

http://thegoldenscissors.blogspot.com/2013/01/whats-under.html

French, Ensemble in yellow. ca. 1765, silk, metal.

Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Mockup Done, Velveteen Cut...

A handsome man in great breeches.

After completing the mockup of the Breeches Of Doom, and a few 'minor' adjustments to those (longer in the crotch, slightly longer in the leg and some extra room at the knee so it will stay buttoned), I was finally ready to cut the pattern out of the real fabric.
Hopefully it works...by work, I mean beating the hell out of it and making it whimper uncle until it behaves.

Final thoughts on this for now;
the J.P. Ryan pattern, regardless of mistakes in the instructions and pieces, is an already frustrating garment to construct. I think it's simply compounded by the messiness and sometimes lack of instruction. This pattern is like running the gauntlet, separating the people who craft from the Goddamned Seamstresses. If you make it through to the end and use common sense as a weapon against the evil of misleading information, you are one victorious Goddamned Seamstress...even if you end up bruised (and quite possibly bleeding) with a less than perfect pair of breeches in the end.

And yes, I'm making these out of a cotton velveteen...I'm crazy...or this is going to get really interesting.

xoxo

Breeches Continued

Here they are so far. Tonight I'm putting the waistband on, but I think that's all I will accomplish until tomorrow. Work took the wind out of my sails today and all I want to do is curl up with my sweetie and a slice of pizza.

These are just the mockup, but the actual breeches I am going to make will be from a plum burgundy velveteen. A frock coat of the same material will follow...I only hope the pattern for that doesn't have too many speed bumps.
Plus, the patterns for my own gown(s) are from the same company (once I get to those).
I already plan on adjusting things, and I can drape my own without a pattern if needed, so if the instructions or pattern itself are off again I can catch it in the mockup...but hopefully without too much futzing.
Futzing makes me impatient.

Once More Into The Breach!...Er, Breeches!

Today I began the mock-up of Anders' 1770-80s breeches; ugh.
Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to finally be making them, but holy Amadeus. There are not only a ton of pieces to this pattern, but a couple of flaws that would seriously ruin a person's day if they aren't carefully paying attention (along with a good sense of how a fall front is constructed).

So far so good!

The flaws I noted, and have heard about from other sewers with this pattern, is the mismatch between what is shown on a pattern piece and what is shown in the instructions.
On the fall front lining for instance, they have one of the markings (a spot in the seam allowance to clip in) on the wrong edge of the pattern, which can confuse the user as to what edge to stitch together.
Edited to note:***After further inspection and a near fail I just caught, I noticed the instructions actually do have you stitch the incorrect edges together for the fall front lining.***

Also, when an edge on the front of the breeches should be "turned under" to the wrong side of fabric, it shows it in the instructions being turned outward, toward the right side/outside. Very odd.
I plan on sending a friendly note to the company (J.P Ryan) about the issues above, but should any of you try the 1770s fall front breeches pattern, be wary.

The Cult Of Beauty:The Victorian Avant-Garde

More photos from Sunday:

Drawing room (photo: Anders hudson)

Photo: RJ Johnson

The gold room (Photo: Anders Hudson)

The other side of the dress, Shannon and I watch the presentation (Photo: Daniel Silveira)

Strolling Amongst Greatness

This past weekend, I attended, educated and entertained guests at "The Cult Of Beauty:The Victorian Avant-Garde, 1860–1900" at San Francisco's Museum at the Legion Of Honor.

A few fellow Dickens fair folk were invited by the museum to present artworks, acting as the artists themselves. There was even a portion of a play acted out by said artists; Oscar Wild's 'The Importance Of Being Ernest".

Dark Garden Corsetry also had a display in the gallery next to ours, with live scenes of Aubrey Beardsley works, posed by models for onlookers to sketch.
It was an all-around day of beauty indeed.
This amazing showcase of some of the world's most prized Pre-Raphaelite works of art had to be one of the most amazing I have seen in a very long time.

Photos in the exhibit itself were obviously verboten, but one could take photos without a flash throughout the rest of the museum, and during the vignettes and mini plays.
I'll be posting those shortly. My friend Anders snapped a few of me in my silk and velvet 1884 promenade gown, in some amazing settings. While they didn't turn out bad, I only wish we'd had more than an iPhone camera.
A couple of other friends captured an image or two during the day, that look much more professional.
I'll post more when I'm home and not at my work computer ;-)

Here is a nice one taken by Daniel Silveira:
The wrinkling at the bodice front bugs the hell out of me. I was wearing a different corset than the one I had fitted the bodice to originally, so it misbehaved a bit.

Sources, Tips and Tricks?

I've decided to try my hand at metallic bullion decoration for my gent's burgundy velvet frock coat. Also known as Goldwork.
I'm not intent on anything too involved (like the bodice in my header image), but I'd like to do some designs on the self fabric-covered buttons, both on the frock coat and waistcoat.
I figure buttons are a good place to start for a beginner; less surface area.
Something along these lines:
http://goldnstitches.typepad.com/gold-n-stitches/2010/01/goldwork-buttons.html

I have a pretty good idea of how it's done, but I was wondering if anyone knows of some good online tutorials on the subject.

xoxo

For the gents....

Since the next couple of posts here will likely be about sewing a frock coat and breeches  I'll also be posting info and resources on men's fashion and haberdashery. Including wigs :-)

Fortunately for we historically appropriate types, and the men who are willing, Lacy Wigs has finally released a pretty decent men's 18th century wig.
Like mine in this post, it comes in a "Discount" version...which actually ends up looking better and more realistic than their more expensive "Deluxe" versions.

This one also comes in the same natural hair colors as mine, not just in the overly costumey and synthetic looking white ("White" wigs in the 18th century were a light blonde powdered to a lighter almost white shade).

Here's the link! The wig pictured is their more expensive version, hence the shinier texture of the hair, but the colors are the same:
http://www.maxwigs.com/discount-colonial-man-by-lacey-costume-wigs-p1336.html

So many pattern bits...

These are just for the breeches o_O


Above is the J.P. Ryan fall front breeches pattern.
I figure that starting with the breeches will be best, so I can more easily determine the length of both frock coat and waistcoat.
The waistcoat needs to be long enough at the center front to cover the waistband closures on the breeches, and the coat's front corners need to hit right above the breeches knee band. Perhaps a little higher, but then as now, it's entirely up to the wearer.
Through the 18th c. longer coat lengths were used for business and dress occasions, while the shorter lengths (as short as mid thigh) were used for sport; hunting, etc.
The person I'm making these for is rather tall, so we will probably stick with the longer option.

Waistcoat fabrics...

Today I was able to find some fabric for a waistcoat.
I thought about going with a gold or cream colored silk taffeta, but instead found this wonderful sage green/taupe shot silk. It looks beautiful with the burgundy velvet I have for the coat and breeches mentioned here.


I also found this flower and diamond patterned damask for another waistcoat; very 1780s. Perhaps not for wear with the cool-toned burgundy velvet, as its color is a bit on the warm side, but it would be nice with a dove grey, cream, or even deep gold coat & breeches.

I hope I have time this weekend to at least get started on the coat!

Fabric mission accomplished

Not only did I find the perfect solid silk taffeta to use with my striped Georgian gown (Striped fabric swatch shown with it)....
I also acquired a silk satin damask I'd been lusting after since seeing it a few months ago.
My love decided to get it for me as a birthday present ;-)
The 8.5 yards of this will go into my Robe a la Francaise, and a waistcoat.
The colors are a gorgeous rich, warm rose color with a gold pattern in a 'Chinoiserie' figural theme. Hugely popular during the middle to late 18th century...