Block Print Dress
After being poked by fancyfrocks, here's a bit of info on the dress I made for the guild's Georgian Picnic. WHILE moving, working, rehearsing, reenacting, etc. First post here!
First, the fabric was from Heritage Trading Company on ebay. rvqavalon has used their fabric before. Their printed cottons are fantastic. Besides being ultra-period-accurate - they are literally printed by hand with wooden blocks - the fabric itself is semi-sheer, fine, soft, smooth, just enough to body to keep from collapsing, and super lightweight. By far the heaviest part of this dress is the linen bodice lining.
I don't clearly remember my timeline for this dress. I think I started looking at the pattern on the weekend before the picnic, and drafted the suggested alteration. (Namely, adjusting the over-the-shoulder length.) I didn't have it all traced and cut out until Tuesday. I started some construction late Wednesday night, but did pretty much all of it on Friday, when I was home from work. I didn't want to be sewing Saturday morning beforehand (especially because there was a cantata rehearsal from 9-11), so I pushed hard and didn't try to document the construction. But it worked - it was all done by Saturday at dinnertime!
The pattern worked extremely well. The tricky parts are putting in the sleeve and pleating the skirt. The sleeve was only tricky because it has the typical Regency shape of trying to fit a curved sleeve head into a hole with a corner. The skirt pleats were tricky because my skirt and waist weren't *precisely* the original measurements. But it wasn't hard to adjust. Of course, I always end up with a seam right on top of a pleat the first time I pleat a skirt. ALWAYS.
I love the design of the back! I'm not sure if the puffiness of the shoulder blade area is something to fix in fitting, or if it's simply having a somewhat bulky linen chemise under a light muslin.
The pattern instructions were amazingly clear, and showed exactly how to reproduce the original construction, down to when to backstitch. It was extremely interesting to see how edges were finished or hidden before major pieces were even assembled, and things like drawstring casings were sewn. Honestly, this part was one of the most frustrating, because it would have been so fun to assemble by hand. And I already handsewed the white dress; why not this one? But with a time crunch, I just couldn't do it. And that made me a bit sad. But I still managed to do all visible stitching by hand, except for some topstiching and the skirt tucks. Those I can come back and redo without much trouble.
I'm not sure what brought on this expression...
Wearing this one was really a delight. It was so lightweight! Plus easy to get into. And I got to run in it and fly kites and play with boys. (Little little boys, but hey, I grew up with three of them!)
1790s kite-flying ladies! There was a brisk wind that day, although it didn't funnel down the avenue of trees like I thought it would.
The picnic itself was loads of fun. We had a very pretty site within the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. We were on grass in a grove of trees, with a nice open avenue right beside us. I thought it looked like a scene in the actual park on an English country estate.
And it wasn't a main walkway so we didn't get much traffic from other people. There was lots of yummy food. Total food fail on my part, but I brought blankets. And in my defense there was about zero food in my house at the time!
I have no idea why I'm making a Nora Charles face.
My green Robert Lands went really well with the outfit, as did the green stockings I got from 96th District Storehouse at the Wilson's Creek reenactment in August. SO fun to wear.
The minor failure was the bonnet I tried, from this Timely Tresses pattern, the "Lucia." Although the pattern is dated 1805-1815, the first two styles (all images but the upper left) show up in fashion plates from years earlier.
I was extremely limited in my fabric choices. I had this pinky-red uncut corduroy left over from the 1930s lounging pajamas, but it was only enough to do the third option (the upper left corner). Just a round crown with a little brim, it looked later Regency in style, but I figured I might as well try it. It wasn't hard to put together at all, although I realized that I have done very little millinery over the years. I know how to make bonnet frames and cover them, but it's actually something I do very, very rarely. I used white cardboard (non-corrugated) for the brim, and a yard of millinery wire from my mother's stash.
It didn't really work, at least like I thought it should. The crown as drafted is very shallow, making it more of a cap than a bonnet. With the right hairstyle, and worn at the right angle, I *might* have made it work. But I tried a lot and it just looked like a newsboy's cap at best. Also, the lining was the same for all three styles. But whereas it probably worked fine in the first two bonnet views, it was much too deep for the shallow crown of view 3. That was a pattern or design error, I think.
But I found the silk gauze veil I dyed for my steampunk outfit (INSIDE the white pith helmet, hanging on the wall - go figure) and it made a terrific headscarf. And Hot Sticks, plus lots of hairpins, and curled bangs, gave a better Regency hairstyle than my Costume College attempts. Go me!
I also wore the scrimshaw necklace my brother & sister-in-law (ladylilac12) gave me for my birthday. I've worn the necklace a lot because I like it so much, but it really went well with this outfit. Yay!
Check out the shoulder strap/front matching on the right! [Your right, my left.] Totally by accident. The fabric was not on the straight of grain, so I didn't even try to match things up.
Ideally, I would have had a fuller petticoat (or at least a second one) to make this more a fluffy 1790s silhouette than a very early 1800s, which I think it ended up being. Also I really need to make a chemisette. Or another kerchief. The pattern actually included instructions for a fichu with some sewn-down pleats that should have taken care of the upper-back puffiness. I really hated that and tried to get rid of it, but it wouldn't go away. And just Monday I stumbled on the Oregon Regency Society's blog, and a fantastic entry on different types of fichus, with sketches. I want one of the second type, with the long slit in it! I'll betcha there's no puff with that. At least I corralled the front of the fichu with straight pins. Pins are teh awesome.
Kite-flying was also awesome. I'm totally making my own next year.
This is my favorite picture of the whole event. jenthompson and I watching the kite actually staying up in the air. She edited out the cars that were originally in the picture, and the whole thing looks like a watercolor. I love it.
(All pictures are courtesy of jenthompson. I love friends who take good pictures! You can see the entire group's pictures on Flickr.)
First, the fabric was from Heritage Trading Company on ebay. rvqavalon has used their fabric before. Their printed cottons are fantastic. Besides being ultra-period-accurate - they are literally printed by hand with wooden blocks - the fabric itself is semi-sheer, fine, soft, smooth, just enough to body to keep from collapsing, and super lightweight. By far the heaviest part of this dress is the linen bodice lining.
I don't clearly remember my timeline for this dress. I think I started looking at the pattern on the weekend before the picnic, and drafted the suggested alteration. (Namely, adjusting the over-the-shoulder length.) I didn't have it all traced and cut out until Tuesday. I started some construction late Wednesday night, but did pretty much all of it on Friday, when I was home from work. I didn't want to be sewing Saturday morning beforehand (especially because there was a cantata rehearsal from 9-11), so I pushed hard and didn't try to document the construction. But it worked - it was all done by Saturday at dinnertime!
The pattern worked extremely well. The tricky parts are putting in the sleeve and pleating the skirt. The sleeve was only tricky because it has the typical Regency shape of trying to fit a curved sleeve head into a hole with a corner. The skirt pleats were tricky because my skirt and waist weren't *precisely* the original measurements. But it wasn't hard to adjust. Of course, I always end up with a seam right on top of a pleat the first time I pleat a skirt. ALWAYS.
I love the design of the back! I'm not sure if the puffiness of the shoulder blade area is something to fix in fitting, or if it's simply having a somewhat bulky linen chemise under a light muslin.
The pattern instructions were amazingly clear, and showed exactly how to reproduce the original construction, down to when to backstitch. It was extremely interesting to see how edges were finished or hidden before major pieces were even assembled, and things like drawstring casings were sewn. Honestly, this part was one of the most frustrating, because it would have been so fun to assemble by hand. And I already handsewed the white dress; why not this one? But with a time crunch, I just couldn't do it. And that made me a bit sad. But I still managed to do all visible stitching by hand, except for some topstiching and the skirt tucks. Those I can come back and redo without much trouble.
I'm not sure what brought on this expression...
Wearing this one was really a delight. It was so lightweight! Plus easy to get into. And I got to run in it and fly kites and play with boys. (Little little boys, but hey, I grew up with three of them!)
1790s kite-flying ladies! There was a brisk wind that day, although it didn't funnel down the avenue of trees like I thought it would.
The picnic itself was loads of fun. We had a very pretty site within the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. We were on grass in a grove of trees, with a nice open avenue right beside us. I thought it looked like a scene in the actual park on an English country estate.
And it wasn't a main walkway so we didn't get much traffic from other people. There was lots of yummy food. Total food fail on my part, but I brought blankets. And in my defense there was about zero food in my house at the time!
I have no idea why I'm making a Nora Charles face.
My green Robert Lands went really well with the outfit, as did the green stockings I got from 96th District Storehouse at the Wilson's Creek reenactment in August. SO fun to wear.
The minor failure was the bonnet I tried, from this Timely Tresses pattern, the "Lucia." Although the pattern is dated 1805-1815, the first two styles (all images but the upper left) show up in fashion plates from years earlier.
I was extremely limited in my fabric choices. I had this pinky-red uncut corduroy left over from the 1930s lounging pajamas, but it was only enough to do the third option (the upper left corner). Just a round crown with a little brim, it looked later Regency in style, but I figured I might as well try it. It wasn't hard to put together at all, although I realized that I have done very little millinery over the years. I know how to make bonnet frames and cover them, but it's actually something I do very, very rarely. I used white cardboard (non-corrugated) for the brim, and a yard of millinery wire from my mother's stash.
It didn't really work, at least like I thought it should. The crown as drafted is very shallow, making it more of a cap than a bonnet. With the right hairstyle, and worn at the right angle, I *might* have made it work. But I tried a lot and it just looked like a newsboy's cap at best. Also, the lining was the same for all three styles. But whereas it probably worked fine in the first two bonnet views, it was much too deep for the shallow crown of view 3. That was a pattern or design error, I think.
But I found the silk gauze veil I dyed for my steampunk outfit (INSIDE the white pith helmet, hanging on the wall - go figure) and it made a terrific headscarf. And Hot Sticks, plus lots of hairpins, and curled bangs, gave a better Regency hairstyle than my Costume College attempts. Go me!
I also wore the scrimshaw necklace my brother & sister-in-law (ladylilac12) gave me for my birthday. I've worn the necklace a lot because I like it so much, but it really went well with this outfit. Yay!
Check out the shoulder strap/front matching on the right! [Your right, my left.] Totally by accident. The fabric was not on the straight of grain, so I didn't even try to match things up.
Ideally, I would have had a fuller petticoat (or at least a second one) to make this more a fluffy 1790s silhouette than a very early 1800s, which I think it ended up being. Also I really need to make a chemisette. Or another kerchief. The pattern actually included instructions for a fichu with some sewn-down pleats that should have taken care of the upper-back puffiness. I really hated that and tried to get rid of it, but it wouldn't go away. And just Monday I stumbled on the Oregon Regency Society's blog, and a fantastic entry on different types of fichus, with sketches. I want one of the second type, with the long slit in it! I'll betcha there's no puff with that. At least I corralled the front of the fichu with straight pins. Pins are teh awesome.
Kite-flying was also awesome. I'm totally making my own next year.
This is my favorite picture of the whole event. jenthompson and I watching the kite actually staying up in the air. She edited out the cars that were originally in the picture, and the whole thing looks like a watercolor. I love it.
(All pictures are courtesy of jenthompson. I love friends who take good pictures! You can see the entire group's pictures on Flickr.)