AnnCha's dress Diary

My attempt to document my historical costuming and sewing projects

[annchasdressdiary]

Finished sewing!

I have been very productive and finished sewing my costumes for Fortune and Felicity! YAY!

I finished the second ballgown, as well as two (!) spencers. 

The pattern doesn’t hate me anymore :D The first one I finished was actually meant as a toile, but it ended up nice, so I lined and finished it. Lucky I used a nice fabric for the toile. On a pattern note, I found that when I didn’t use the special pattern pieces meant for a larger bust, I had little problem with the fit. When I cut my regular size it went smoothly together and fitted nicely.

In addition I got my character and she is a married mother of 43, so I have made a chemisette and a day cap as well to get a more adult look when wearing my costumes. I am happy with the silly day cap with its lots of lace. (Note to self; you are out of cotton lace). 

I didn’t use a pattern for either. I googled, read a couple of blog posts and experimented. The chemisette is made up of a few rectangles of white cotton with a gathered ruffle, tied on through a drawstring on the separate pieces. The cap is a sorta circle pleated into a headband and decorated with a gathered ruffle, three types of lace and a pink velvet ribbon.  

I also made a regency length shawl, by sewing two pashmina shawls I got off ebay together. The regency shawls were much longer than the ones we get today. This is not my idea, I just followed Jen of Festive Attyre’s instructions. See here.

Since there are so many costumes, I ended up starting to pack my larp-suitcase. It is too big for regular travel and where on earth else will I put all of these costumes in my small apartment? :D

Now to two more dresses, for a friend going to the same larp :)

[annchasdressdiary]

Fortune and Felicity sewing progress

I am very far along in my sewing for the Austen-larp. I have the day dresses finished, one ball gown finished and a new bonnet.

The pink dress is made with a Tilda fabric a friend gifted me. It is lined with some red, satinweave cotton fabric.

The blue dress is made from the rest the same set of bed linen I made an 1890s dress from last autumn. They are simply decorated with some lace around the neckline. The blue dress has lace flowers round the hem, because I had to somehow hide the buttonholes. I cut them from some poor quality poly lace I had. The flowers were the only thing that was nice on that lace.  I left the blue dress unlined, since this larp is late May, so I wanted a light weight dress in case of very warm weather.

The blue silk ball gown is made from a silk I bought in a Bangkok market years ago. I have been holding on to it pending a perfect project. I thought the lightweight silk was perfect for a regency style dress and had just enough for  the dress. I only had small pieces left after cutting. There might be enough for a reticule.The bodice is lined with a Tilda cotton fabric I had left over after a dress project for a friend. The wide lace at the bottom is both for decoration and for adding some weight to the light fabric.

The neckline and sleeve details is beaded with glass beads. (the math said some 1100. yikes). The pleated sleeve is a detail I found on pinterest and copied. The blogger who used it had also decorated with embroidery. I juste added more beads :D

All the dresses are made with sensibilitys regency patterns. I realise that now I am such a nerd I want something more accurate, but I have to think budget since the larp is so expensive. 

My new bonnet is made from a sun screen bought at HM last summer, cardboard from a cornflakes and ritz cracker box and covered in silk. Decorated with some ribbon wire and the left over wide lace from my ballgown. It ended up being ridiculously big. I love it! I am awaiting ostridge feathers in the mail. I will be visible promenading at least :D 

And I have also decorated a plain gown I had in my stash I made for a work event for a friend who is going to borrow it.

What remains is the other ball gown, which is halfway done and my spencer which is in pieces again because the pattern hates me. I also want to make a chemisette.

What I am particularly happy with is how much I have made from my stash. I bought the velvet for the spencer and a silk sari for the unfinished ball gown, but everything else is from stash. Which is nice, since the larp is so expensive.

I have also promised to make a day dress and ball gown for a friend. So lots to do before May. Love it!

[annchasdressdiary]

Suddenly, more sewing plans!

A big historical larp in Sweden was just announced! I have gotten at least one friend to go with me and that means I will be going.

It is a Jane Austen inspired, Regency era larp called Fortune and Felicity.(link) The organizers are taking over an entire 19th century village called Medevi Brunn and there will be at least 150 players. Yay! So much fun!

Which means, that my plans for just making a new white regency dress is changed into a Regency wardrobe :D I have patterns for everything, including a spencer so all I need is time and fabric. 

But the bare minimum is:

2 or 3 day dresses. Looking at some light weight block print cotton. Very period and nice if we get good weather. Still want my white regency gown. I have one dress from an earlier project as well.

1 or 2 evening gowns. Looking into finding some nice silk taffeta. Luckily the Regency gowns need only 3 metres of fabric if 160 cm wide.

 Spencer. I really want to make one in velvet. But if I can’t get it I’ll make it in wool.

 New undergarments. The previously mentioned bodiced petticoat and I’ll need two more chemises and maybe a new night gown.

 Make a new set or modify my old set of stays.  Timewise my long stays plans will have to wait for last or another year.

And finally have a picture of me in my Regency gown from two and a half years ago, at a work event. I have since learned a lot. I expect that the result from my sewing this year will be alot better :)

[annchasdressdiary]

A wish list for my sewing year

-Finishing the stakk and opplut for my bunad

-Knitting the red stockings for my bunad

-Making a bodiced petticoat for a regency  dress

- Making a set of long regency stays

- Making a white regency dress

- Knitting a pineapple reticule

- Knitting Selbu mittens

- A 1950s shirt dress

- A 1950s skiing outfit

- Making a new Regency bonnet

- A new sewing machine

[annchasdressdiary]

Plans for 2017

I have decided not to officially be in the HSM this year. I need to regroup and find my inspiration again. Also, I have not planned a lot of historical LARPs this year. But I have a few plans, including one that is very exciting for me personally and something I will spend years on before it is fully complete

I am making myself a bunad, the traditional Norwegian folk costume. I finally feel I have the skills to do so, so I have started. It is a very expensive venture, but I had saved some funds so I got to start it this Christmas. I am making the bunad that is traditional for the region where I grew up, Aust-Agder. It is called Aust-Agder or Åmli bunad.

Mine will have green brocade instead of red. And the edge of the skirt is a little different. I plan on having it wearable for a friends wedding in July, so I will have one of the printed aprons available, and no headscarf until I have the time to do that much embroidery.

I also have two larps this year set to the 1950s. One set in an American summer camp the 4th of July weekend and one set in the Norwegian Christmas. So I will be sewing some for those larps, but I don’t consider that historical sewing, only retro/vintage. But expect posts about those.

I have one historical larp planned, set to the Scottish highlands in the 1880s. Depending on the character there could be alot of bustle related sewing, so am looking forward to that :) 

[annchasdressdiary]

2016- my sewing year summary

This year I very quickly fell off the HSM. My motivation was low and I needed to have something specific with deadlines for me to even get something done in 2016. My events this year was 4 larps, 1 Victorian picnic and work deadlines.

Even so, I got a lot of sewing done. I will make it easy and list everything I have made this year below.

- 1 1850s evening gown

- 1 pretty petticoat, to be used under victorian costumes

- 4 mid Victorian gentlemans shirts for work

- 2 late Victorian black cotton servants dresses for work

- 1 lobstertail bustle

- 1 ca 1900 skirt and blouse outfit

-1 1870s bustle gown

- 2 1890s day dresses

-1 1890s evening bodice matching a day skirt

-1 1890s peach and black lace evening gown

- 1 1890s s-bend corset

- 1 1890s petticoat

- 1 1890s corset cover

- 1 Elsie WW1 era blouse

- 1 WW1-era gingham day outfit

- 1 1916 evening gown

- 2 late 1870s day dresses

- 1 late 1870s evening bodice with matching apron in silk

- 1 Victorian gentlemans sleeping cap

In summary, 10 whole dresses, 2 extra bodices, 6 pieces of underwear,1 skirt and 6 shirts/blouses. 

In addition some not historical sewing like a couple of new skirts, doll clothes for a friends daughter and some other gifts.

And since all blog posts should have a picture to be interesting, have one of my favourites from 2016: 

[annchasdressdiary]

Sneak preview of the past week of sewing

Proper writeup will come later, but here are a few pics of the sewing I did from Sunday to Sunday last week.

A day ensemble in cotton made from Laughing moons 1890s bodice pattern. Skirt from no particular pattern, I just looked at pictures and winged it(Not much yardage left).

Hat is old, but matches :D

A petticoat in white cotton made from Laughing moons pattern 102.

And a 1901 S-bend corset made from Black snail patterns Straight front corset pattern. 

Happily all the pieces came together nicely. I am especially proud of the corset. It is my first proper corset and it turned out so nice!

 A productive weekend, but I still need to finish my 1890s evening wear. Hopefully I will get far this week :)

[annchasdressdiary]

Autumn of crazy sewing-or I have way too much to do!

This autumn I am going to no less than three historical larps. One set in 1899 in about a month, one set in 1917 in two months and one set in 1879 in December. Of course I have a lot to do. 

I had a slump in sewing this spring so there were a few months with little sewing done, even though I knew about two of the larps.

For the 1890s larp I am playing a young, rich aristocrat and need several outfits. In spring I made the pink confection I posted about earlier. I finally finished it! Had fitting issues, realised I forgot to add the side back pieces this weekend. 

I have almost finished another day outfit this weekend but I still need to finish the evening wear, where I only have half a bodice finished. One will be in peach taffeta and one will be an evening bodice for my pink confection skirt.

And I need a new corset as mentioned in previous post. The pattern is printed and the busk and boning is on their way from the UK. I have an apropriate fabric in my stash so all I can do is read the instructions and wait.

For the 1917 larp I need at least one new evening gown and maybe a new daytime outfit.

For the 1879 larp I need a black simple servants dress and a nice Sunday dress.

In addition to my own outfits, I promised to make a dress for a friend going to the same larp in December, with a day and an evening bodice.

So all in all, I have a lot of sewing to do in very little time.

[annchasdressdiary]

1870s blue and white bustle ensemble

A friend of mine contacted me this spring gushing over a new made to order dress she ordered via etsy. Black velvet bustle era gown. Expensive but really nice. She doesn’t really do much costuming but she wanted that kind of dress.

A couple of months later she contacted me and asked if I wanted to join her on a costuming event so that she could use her new dress in a proper setting. It coincided with my summer holidays so I jumped at the opportunity. The event was a picnic with the society Viktoriansk piknik Christiania, or Victorian picnic Christiania(the old name for Oslo). It was a steampicnic where we traveled on a museum railway with a train from late 19th early 20th century. 

I could have just worn one of my other dresses since the theme was as broad as the Victorian era, I have several 1860s dresses for instance, but I decided I wanted to match my friends dress’ time period and make a new dress. 

Also,the larp I was going to in August was cancelled and I needed a summer sewing project- so a picnic dress instead of a steampunk outfit it was. 

I first made a lobster tail bustle following American Duchess’ excellent tutorial. Probably not really correct for the dress, but I wanted one that I could use for both eras of bustle.

I found a nice print at home pattern on etsy and rooted in my stash for fabric and got to it. The pattern was very nice and comprehensive, made by indie designer Black snail patterns.  They have more patterns and I am going to try their Edwardian straight front corset pattern next.

I was a bit apprehensive since I only had eight metres of my fabric and the pattern gave 11 metres as what I needed. But the original pattern had the flounces cut on the bias, which eats up a lot of yardage. I decided to cut on the grain and hope for the best. It was just about enough. If I had my way i would have put a little more fabric into the flounces, but that was purely for my own aestethics. It wasn’t needed.

The dress came together beautifully. I am especially proud of the fit in the back. I didn’t have time to bone the bodice before I had to pack and leave for my holidays, but with a corset under it wasn’t really necessary. I will bone it later, after the autumn of crazy sewing(own post later)when I have the time.

I also reworked an old H&M strawhat for the outfit. I looked at fashion plates of hats from the era, reshaped the hat with hot water and decorated it with blue ribbon, a bit of lace and fake blue roses.

I thought it could fit into the HSM challenge for travel, and will probably enter it, way too late :P 

[annchasdressdiary]

Treasures in the mail

Yesterday I had a few packages in the mail and they were pretty sewing treasures. A peachy poly silk taffeta and almost 60 metres of black lace for an 1890s evening gown. So looking forward to the result. 

[annchasdressdiary]

Bowstravaganza

Staying home from work feeling sick enough not to go, but not too sick to handsew in the sofa while watching documentaries results in this:

Here are 14 out of 20 handmade bows, made from the small scraps that are usually too small to do any good. I love feeling economical yet somehow opulent. I mostly finished the bodice and pinned on the bows to get an idea of where I wanted them.

Sometimes I really love playing a character that is so much younger than I really am. I can indulge in girly and frilly designs :)

[annchasdressdiary]

March sewing progress

I have been active this week. So even though I have hardly done any knitting on my shawl I have made at least one thing that fits into the March hsm challenge. An Edwardian apron.

The apron is made with sense and sensibility’s Edwardian apron pattern.  I made it for work, as a prototype for the new summer uniforms. 

My other sewing project this week is a belle epoque outfit. I am going to a Larp set in 1899 later this year, together with my other larps I need a couple of new weekend wardrobes. So I am starting early. I’m maybe 75 percent finished with this outfit. I started with tracing the patterns yesterday and cut and sewed today. I have enough fabric left  to make an evening bodice as well, despite having cut two pieces wrong, and no way to salvage them, other than cutting another, correct piece. Excuse the illfitting pic on Constance, I didn’t bother making it nice. The patterns are Laughing moon 1890s bodice pattern an truly victorians 1898 flared skirt. Both patterns have been lovely to work with.

The bodice still need the sleeves, some lace for decoration and a bunch of hooks and eyes for closure. 

All in all, a productive week 😀

[annchasdressdiary]

March challenge planning-Protection

Initially I was at a loss about what to make for this challenge. I did not have any projects planned or something that immediately came to mind when I read about the challenge.

But I have lately been on a knitting kick and decided that since the February challenge was so completed so early I have the time to make one of the things I have wanted for a while, a large, lace knit Victorian shawl.  

I chose this free pattern from Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/aran-weight-victorian-lace-shawl

Top picture is of the shawl from the ravelry site. The pattern has an optional edge pattern, but that takes twice the amount of yarn, so I will probably finish it with a nice simple crocheted edge instead.

And I chose this yarn. 

It’s a wool/alpaca mix. Not entirely HA but I like it and it’s nice to work with. I might add some lavender yarn to change it up, but we will see.The colour is nice and neutral as well, so it will work with most of my dresses.

I’ll start the project this weekend. I’ll keep you updated.

[annchasdressdiary]

HSM February challenge: Tucks and pleats

Early with a challenge for once. It does help that this project also needed finishing before going to that LARP. So without further ado, here is the FB-group write-up:

What the item is: 19th century petticoat decorated with pintucks

The Challenge: #2 Tucks and Pleats. I needed a new petticoat since my old pretty over-petticoat needed retiring. Fabric/Materials: 2 metres of white cotton broadcloth Pattern: None, a tube of fabric gathered into a waistband Year: generic 19th century, but was worn for the first time under a mid-century dress Notions: Ca. 3 metres of cotton lace, ca. 3 metres light yellow polyblend lace, thread, one button How historically accurate is it? The look is ok, but it is machine sewn and one of the laces is synthetic, so about 7 out of 10 Hours to complete: 4 First worn: January 30th, under my 1850s dress Total cost: Lace, button and thread was from stash, fabric was new and cost about 7 dollars for two metres.

[annchasdressdiary]

HSM January challenge: Procrastination

Here is the FB-group write-up. Late of course. But, I got stomach flu on the last day of January, when I was going to upload it, so I got a proper excuse.  

What the item is: Early 1850s dinner dress

The Challenge: Procrastination. The dress was planned and made in ok time, but I am submitting it for the methods I have used. Some of them I have skipped on several projects, because I thought they would be too hard or time-consuming. Especially piping seams and the amount of gathering. The skirt is also done with cartridge pleats, but that is hidden by the bodice. Fabric/Materials: 6 metres of cotton print material, 1 metre of cotton broadcloth for lining bodice, satin cord for piping, zip ties for boning. Pattern: Truly Victorian 454, altered by me to be more dinner appropriate, with shorter sleeves and lower neckline. Year: early 1850s Notions: hooks and eyes, thread, 1 metre lace for sleeves, 1 metre grey ribbon. How historically accurate is it? 50/50? A lot of it is machine sewn, and the thread, lace and ribbon while looking ok, is poly-blend. In addition, I don’t know if dinner dresses were made of cotton or had shirring, but I liked it, so I made it that way. Hours to complete: 24? First worn: January 30th, for a Dickens inspired party. Total cost: 500 Nok or 57 USD

[annchasdressdiary]

HSM 2016 progress report

The past weekend and this weekend I have been focused on the 1840s dress since the event is the coming Saturday and I fly south for it on Thursday. I ended up not getting very far on the dress in the holidays since I was still recuperating from getting sick. At least I had everything I needed when I started the project for real.

I will enter the dress in the January challenge, procrastination. It was never an UFO, and it took a while to really get started on it, but because it included some techniques I have been skipping/substituting in my sewing because it seemed hard or too complicated. They are making and using piping, gathering for decoration and cartridge pleating. The dress ended  up as a dinner dress somewhere between fitting the mockup and sewing the bodice. Shorter sleeves and lower neckline. This is the first time I have altered a pattern and it came out looking this good. I couldn’t find any sources for the shirred front on evening wear, but decided that I didn’t care because it looks nice.  The HSM write up will follow in a separate post with pics taken at the event. But here are a couple of shots of it. (Caption says dress finished for larp. I tried it on with all the underpinnings and forgot to take a proper photo, so have a saved snap)

The second project I needed done by the event was a new pretty petticoat, since my other over petticoat, bought used, has become too worn. It is a simple white cotton broadcloth petticoat, decorated with two kinds of lace and 4 pintucks. It also fits smoothly into the February challenge, tucks and pleats.  Here seen on Constance:

Details.

So, two challenges done, can’t wait to get proper pics, with me fully styled at the event :) 

[annchasdressdiary]

Sewing holidays haul

This year I have a very long Christmas break, due to owed vacation days, extra hours and long distances to travel home. So with another week off I decided to do some shopping and plan some sewing the next few days.

Pictured is the pretty fabric for my 1840s dress, you can glimpse the pattern to the right. Found in the Christmas fabric section at Stoff og Stil. Perfect since it’s being made for a Dickensian Christmas LARP. You can also see the white cotton I bought for lining and the pretty flowered fabric I found at IKEA, perfect for an 18th century pierrot jacket or pet en l’aire. As well as some notions, hooks and eyes, ribbon for making piping, thread, zip ties for boning, pattern paper and a new pair of scissors since my fabric scissors are back home and I’m not sure of my moms(or rather her husbands use of them)

Details from the fabric for the 1840s dress.

Details from pretty IKEA fabric. I was really lucky as it had arrived today and was actually from next years stock. Especially since I don’t live near an IKEA and their webshop doesn’t do cut lengths of fabric. It’s called Sigbritt and is 100 % cotton. I think it will also perfectly fit in with one of the HSM  2016 challenges; Patterns. A big bonus :)