Wreathed in Violets

Alicia. 24. She/Her. Vintage style, not vintage values. I'm a historical costumer and cosplayer! Here you can find my: Costume Blog Instagram Ko-Fi

[wreathedinviolets]

Hey, I love your Gentleman Jack Cosplay! I'm planning on making this too and I was wondering if you could give me advice on fabrics/tell me what you used? Especially for the coat! It's absolutely gorgeous. Thanks! Emily xx

Hi, sorry I don’t check this blog that much! 

The fabrics are: 

Stays: sturdy cotton

shirt: medium weight shirt linen 

skirt: light/medium weight wool 

waistcoat: medium weight cotton interlined in tailor’s hair canvas

Coat: light/medium weight suit wool interlined in hair canvas and lined in wool/cotton sateen. (Of note, the original was made out of waxed linen) 

Necktie: lightweight satin

You can find more info back when I was posting about making it on instagram (also wreathedinviolets) and under the Gentleman Jack highlight on my profile there. 

[wreathedinviolets]

[Jaunty music] My Gentleman Jack cosplay came together just in time for Dragoncon and I even found an Ann Walker cosplayer to propose to! Corset, shirt, skirt, waistcoat, greatcoat, and cravat are all made by me out of natural (therefore breathable!) fabrics. The corset is the only piece I took from a pattern, everything else is self drafted based on extant garments and photos from the show.

[wreathedinviolets]

On my way to steal your girl, Anne Lister edition. I’m making a Gentleman Jack costume for DragonCon and spent this weekend making the shirt and drafting a waistcoat pattern. So far so good and I’m obsessed with these sleeves!! Made from 100% linen and drafted from Costume Close-up by Linda Baumgarten. 

[wreathedinviolets]

Vintage things! I’m not good about uploading pictures to this blog, but here is a 1940′s dress I made from an original vintage pattern. I wasn’t sure about the shoulder pads when I was constructing the dress, but I found I really like how I look in them! I used a peachy kona cotton and original vintage buttons and belt buckle (which I covered in the same fabric). 

[wreathedinviolets]

1930′s Nancy Drew progress! Both of these pieces are self-drafted and based on Nancy’s original design on the Secret of the Old Clock cover as well as extant garments. The blouse is a cream challis with square vintage buttons and a smocked waist. The skirt, which I’m still working on, is herringbone wool lined with a lightweight cotton. It’s a six-gored skirt with four inverted box pleats at the side front and side back seams. After this, I’m making a suit jacket to go with it out of the same navy blue wool. My progress has slowed down a lot since I’ve started a full time “office job” but I’m enjoying the break from screens when I get home and get to work on these <3 

[wreathedinviolets]

This turned into a Sappho cosplay and I’m not even mad. I made this Greek Peplos after playing too much Assassins Creed and needing a cheap project with lots of hand work. These types of classical garments are just rectangles of fabric draped in specific ways, so this has a grand total of one seam and is open on one side. I hand dyed the fabric (the dye mix recipe was called Mykonos Blue!) then painted on about 10 yards of designs in bronze fabric paint. I really love how it turned out, especially since it only cost about $30 to make! Thinking about full on going as Sappho to a con and handing out poetry, maybe some wlw stuff?? 

[anoixiwitch]

This is incredible! Do you have a guide for how one would go about draping and seaming this? I love it, it’s gorgeous!

[wreathedinviolets]

Thank you! I posted about the process of making it here.

[wreathedinviolets]

My Chemise a la Reine from a visit to Williamsburg! I made this dress in a few days and based the under bodice on a pattern from the American Duchess dressmaking book. It’s made out of cotton voile and worn over mid 18th century stays and a quilted petticoat. The bows and sash are silk taffeta and the hat is an altered beach hat from tjmaxx.

[wreathedinviolets]

I saw your Sappho costume and I'm floored by how good it looks! What fabric did you use for the gown?

Aww thank you! It’s 100% cotton crepe :) 

[wreathedinviolets]

This 18th century quilted petticoat is based on extant examples and finished with methods from the American Duchess dressmaking book. I used the reverse side of an old quilt that I cut into two pieces and seamed at the sides with room left for pocket openings. I cut out about half an inch of batting at the top edge to pleat it down to my waist measurement, then enclosed the raw edge with grosgrain ribbon. It ties at both sides and has a hem circumference of about 120 inches. I love that it’s fast to do (especially if you use a border that’s already finished at the hem!) and that it repurposes material not in use anymore! 

[wreathedinviolets]

This turned into a Sappho cosplay and I’m not even mad. I made this Greek Peplos after playing too much Assassins Creed and needing a cheap project with lots of hand work. These types of classical garments are just rectangles of fabric draped in specific ways, so this has a grand total of one seam and is open on one side. I hand dyed the fabric (the dye mix recipe was called Mykonos Blue!) then painted on about 10 yards of designs in bronze fabric paint. I really love how it turned out, especially since it only cost about $30 to make! Thinking about full on going as Sappho to a con and handing out poetry, maybe some wlw stuff?? 

[wreathedinviolets]

This is probably a dumb question but I saw you saying you handpainted some fabric and how does that... work? Won’t the paint flake off??? Do you have to use special paint or use a special sealing or priming agent?

There is special fabric paint! I used Lumiere metallic fabric paint in bronze but there are a lot of options out there depending on the use. This specific paint is completely dry in 24 hours and can be heat sealed with an iron. Under extreme wear it would probably get a few minor cracks, but since it covers a pretty small surface area and it’s for a costume I will probably only wear a few times, it will look just as solid later as it does now. 

[wreathedinviolets]

I’m finally done with all the hand painting on my Grecian peplos! This is all handpainted and runs the length of the hem, the hem of the folded over area on the top, and all the way up the side opening. The fabric was too opaque to trace the design through and too dark for transfer paper to show up on it, so I ended up drawing out the design by hand. I used a ruler to outline the dimensions first, which was twice as hard as usual because of the crepe texture (!!). I went through six audiobooks doing ~10 yards of this, but the results were definitely worth it

[wreathedinviolets]

Making Medieval Horns

Medieval horned headdresses are great for the sole reason that they convey regal opulence but also EVIL. I, too, would like to look like an evil princess which is really the only “why” …

Blog is up about how I made my medieval horns and the research behind them! 

[wreathedinviolets]

My completed Regency stays and chemise! Both are from a laughing moon pattern. I love how labor-intensive stays are compared to the cost of making them. They’re made out of cotton sateen with cotton cord, synthetic whalebone, and a wooden paint stirrer for a busk. The chemise is knee length and made out of a remnant from a local fabric store. 

[wreathedinviolets]

Regency corded stays. I finished these this week along with a chemise to go underneath. The petticoat is a little less straightforward because I’m drafting it myself with a train but I’m on track to be done with my foundations at the end of the month! 

[wreathedinviolets]

Making a 1740’s Riding Habit

Hello and welcome to Alicia finishes everything 2 months after her self-imposed deadline! The challenge of finishing a whole riding habit complete with undergarments was already hefty to undertake …

Riding Habit blog is up! This part runs through how I made the jacket, skirt, shirt, and stock from a variety of books, patterns, and blogs. 

[wreathedinviolets]

One of my projects this month is making a costume from Ancient Greece, which I’ve informally dubbed a Sappho cosplay. This is only the base, as i’m planning on hand painting patterns onto it in metallic bronze. I’m really happy with it so far, especially with the problems I ran into dying the fabric in two separate batches. Onward!