Historical Sew Monthly

I failed to complete the HSF last year, again, I think it was a combination of factors.

I started out well, I even got a mention by the Dreamstress herself for my knitting hat and souvenir shoes (Thank you so much Leimomi!!!). But then I lost my sewing drive early on and didn't get it back until Autumn. I think that I have inverse seasonal affective disorder.

To remedy this my plan for this year is fairly straight forward; finish all twelve challenges, no long blog entries, also use stash as often as possible. There might or might not be modeled shots.

So all of that aside I present Challenge One: Foundations

The Challenge: Foundations

Fabric: Vintage powernet, elastic strapping, silk remnant.

Pattern: Eclaire Coupe Paris Lingerie Book, pattern #353. You can buy full copies of these books from Etsy seller C'est la Mode Patterns at a great savings over buying them individually. I highly recommend this shop and am saving my pennies for the rest of the books that are available!



Year: 1940-46ish

Notions: Thread, four vintage garter tabs, pink dye.



How historically accurate is it? Pretty accurate, the color is a bit wrong, too bubble gummy pink instead of tea rose, and the notions took the dye differently. Though I may toss it into some blue dye and make it a French royal blue girdle. I did use a three part zig-zag stitch which affects the look of the thing. Aside from these the materials are vintage, as is the pattern so I give it a 75% accuracy rating.

Hours to complete: Around five including dye time.

First worn: For a test run Thursday the 29th.

Total cost: Free!

Challenge thirteen; Under 10$

I was stuck on what to make for this challenge. None of my ideas had much of a spark for me, of course my biggest challenge recently has been finding the time to sew!

In the end I whipped up a re-made blouse to corset cover, plus I can wear it under my regency stays and finally get pictures taken of those as well! I was inspired by the many images available on the internet, so these don't come from a pattern. In fact this corset cover stated out as a thrift store purchased blouse. I used this May Manton pattern as my inspiration:



My blouse had a similar shape to begin with, but I altered it heavily to get the look I was going for. I shortened the straps by 5cm on each side, I also slashed the front and removed three repeats of the eyelet pattern. I then removed the lining and added it between the top and original hem of the blouse. I added five pintucks, spaced 3cm apart, to this piece and added a drawstring at the waist. The tie is made from the hem of the lining piece. I still have a bit of fabric left, the piece that I removed that has three repeats of the eyelet pattern. I may use this to make a bust cover as seen on the upper left in this pattern:



To make something like this French corset cover from the Met.



As is, here is my corset cover worn alone and under regency stays.



The sun came out just as I was taking this set, excuse the odd facial expressions.



I think it turned out pretty well, even if it does look rather awful under my stays!

The Challenge: Under $10

Fabric: Cotton eyelet lawn, in the form of a blouse

Pattern: None

Year: 1912

Notions: Thread

How historically accurate is it? Erm...not very, say 40%

Hours to complete: Two

First worn: Today, for pictures at least!

Total cost: $1.99 at 75% off so... .50!

Challenge twelve; Shape and support

I was going to make an 1880s corset for this challenge, but I could not find my boning anywhere! So instead I made a pair of 1810s regency stays. I started off with Jennie Chancey's Regency Underthings pattern, but I altered them quite a bit.



I used zip ties as boning along the front because cording these areas did not provide enough uplift. I also left out the cording under the bust gussets because again, they did not offer any additional support. I cut down the front and added a channel for a drawstring, these changes make the stays give the correct shape for the period and allow me to adjust the bust. I also altered the shaping of the bust gussets to give more lift and better shaping. The original gussets created a flatter more 1770s silhouette on me, which isn't the desired shape for regency stays.



I hand embroidered the bottoms of the gussets for strength and as decoration. I also hand worked the eyelets.



Currently I'm using satin ribbon as my laces and inside the drawstring channel, I plan to replace this with more accurate cording in the future.



My main fabric is a cotton duck which I lined with a striped quilting cotton that I had on hand and they are bound in bias tape.



I hope to get some modeled pictures up soon!


The Challenge: Shape and support

Fabric: Cotton duck and quilting cotton

Pattern: An altered version of Sense and Sensibilities Regency Underthings Pattern

Year: 1810s

Notions: Thread, embroidery floss, zip ties

How historically accurate is it? Hmmm...zip ties, quilting cotton and bias tape, let's say 50%

Hours to complete: Around five

First worn: Not yet

Total cost: Stash again, free!

Challenge ten; Art

I had so many inspirations for this challenge, but the biggest challenge of all was being historically inspired! I love Georgia O'Keeffe's cityscapes, I love the colors and impressionistic shapes of Marcel Duchamp's paintings. Sadly both of these leave me envisioning very modern garments, not historical ones.

I settled for a combination of pieces for my inspiration and made a blouse. I love the neckline shape and the floaty ties on the dress in this painting by Marie Laurencin titled Portrait de Madame Paul Guillaume. The shaded cool colors are also lovely!



My second inspiration piece, which I also love, is shown in two paintings of the same woman, but by two artists; Suzanne Valadon's and Robert Delaunay's identically titled Portrait de Maria Lani.



I like that both art blouses are similar in shade and shape (sleeveless, mauvy pink), for my blouse I used the leftover voile from the Pink challenge dyed to be more mauve, I did not however dye the ties. I cut it out as a wrap blouse from the bodice of a vintage 1940s pattern, but altered the neckline to be more of a curved boatneck and I cut it longer in the hips. I lengthened the wrap ties at the waist. I can wear it as in the first painting with a curved neckline in front or with the wrap in the front as in the Maria Lani portraits. I did not add the collar because I could not wear it like the first picture with a collar. I did try unsuccessfully to add the collar as a facing type piece which could be folded under, but it did not work.





Here it is worn over a blue blouse as in the Maria Lani portraits, it's a bit large, has sleeves and doesn't have the white collar, but it still gives the same impression.



Also a shot with it wrapped in the back. I like this blouse quite a lot because it can be worn in an historical context or in a modern one. I did have one dye related incident in which there was a spot of unmixed dye on the bodice. I used this defect to test a dyeing technique I've been working on. Now it has a darker watercolory area on the right bust (when worn with the wrap in the back) which I quite like.



The Challenge: Art

Fabric: Pink cotton voile

Pattern: A very altered 1940s dress bodice

Year: 1929ish

Notions: Plum and Warm Black procion dye, thread

How historically accurate is it? Fabric and style are spot on, but my pattern is 1940s, so maybe 75%

Hours to complete: Not including the drying time from the dye bath, around two hours

First worn: Not yet

Total cost: Free! All from stash again.

Timeline shift

I have to make up for lost time, my beloved computer died on me, along with all of the information held within it. Seven years worth of patterns, pictures, writing and countless other things gone, I have some on backup, but not most of it. This has been sad and yet also freeing in some ways though I do cling to the past at times.

Of course now that I am possessor of tech once more I must wrap up my projects as of late. This will be done in stages and in order, hence MMM wrap up then my HSF posts!

Me Made May 2014

Thank you to Zoe for hosting, Me Made May always such a fun and inspirational month! I loved it again this year, and while I did not meet my goal of not repeating items more than once a week I do know what I need to work on. I also received comments on some of my garments from people whose blogs I adore, and which made me squee like a child with a new toy! I appreciate everyone's comments and I really love seeing all the excellent seamstresses work being worn in real life. I often feel like my town doesn't have a very thriving sewing community, Me Made May is great because it connects all of the participants into one large community.

And now for my results; I wore my Burda jeans nine times and my Vogue 1247 skirts seven times, my other bottoms were store bought or bought then altered of which I wore my two pairs of altered gray jeans eight times total. More me made pants and skirts would be nice, clearly if these were to be gray they would be very much appreciated. I relied heavily on my Drape, Drape tees also, wearing them a total of eight times, and on my Vogue 1247 blouses which I wore five times, also my Vogue stripe tee which I wore thrice. My Burda blouses were worn four times total, but since I made them while pregnant during the last MMM the fit is a bit off now, but I still like them quite a lot and may craft a Regency-Modern chemisette to wear with them for more coverage. My circle wrap was worn twice and my shibori scarf also appeared five times because, well, I love a good scarf!

I was going to post a picture of all of my outfits in one image but I will have to buy the new version of Adobe Photoshop first, iPhoto just doesn't cut the mustard! So I trust it will suffice if I post my four favorite outfits in no particular order.



All of my outfits can still be seen on my Flickr page here. As can my outfits from MMM 2013 here.

Challenge nine; Black & White

I love black, yet for some reason this challenge ended up being rather tricky for me. At first I made a dress from a pattern that I have used before, a vintage draped front dress pattern with two sleeve options. It didn't work! I had forgotten the issues this pattern has with my figure. As is it's 80% done, but I need to do some additional fitting and hemming before it will be finished.

And so I made a hat, or re-made a hat as it were. It was originally a bucket hat from the thrift shop from which I removed the decorative items, I then re-shaped it to be more of a period style. My inspiration was 1920s and 30s hats and hat illustrations like these:



I just love that first one!

Here is how my hat turned out:



Sally Stitch is wearing the black dress of fail in these pictures also. Here is the hat on me, sorry about the image quality, a grill makes a rather lousy tripod! Also my hair makes the brim stick out oddly on the back right side, it's fine when I use a hatpin but strange looking without one.



To make the hat I unsewed the original brim and all of the trimmings, I re-sewed it after I reduced the brim size and trimmed the wire. Then I bent and folded it into a shape that I liked and pinned it in place. I recommend buying a milliners block for this, I used my own head and kept poking myself in the forehead! After I removed it I sewed the folds in place matching the brim stitches. I am overall pleased with the way it turned out, but since it has already become hot here I will have to wait to wear it!

The Challenge: Black & White

Fabric: None, I used a wool felt hat

Pattern: None

Year: 1930ish

Notions: Needle and thread

How historically accurate is it? 75%, materials are accurate, but I'm not sure about the shape

Hours to complete: two

First worn: Not yet, I made a wool hat right before Summer so this will have to wait before I wear it!

Total cost: $2

Challenge eight; UFOs and PHDs

I have so many PHDs to work on! I set out to: finish my sample Rosie jeans and bodice/Rosie blouse from the previous challenges, I also have a Ceylon dress circa 1942 I've been working on and my Sew for Victory ensemble. All of them just need a bit of work to be completed; in fact the Rosie jeans only need eyes sewn on for the side hooks.



I made them from some dark mid weight denim that I had on hand, I wear my Rosie cord pants often so I know these will be the same. I ended up narrowing the legs by 3/4" because the denim I used is very stiff and they looked rather like two denim smokestacks instead of trousers. I used no pockets on the jeans, though I did sew some up. I might add them later on, but at least this project is finished!

The Challenge: UFOS and PHDs

Fabric: 1.5 yards of dark heavyweight denim

Pattern: None/my own

Year: 1943

Notions: Hooks and eyes, six of them

How historically accurate is it? We'll say 50%, I'm not sure about the pants style in denim for a woman or the side hooks

Hours to complete: Who knows? five?

First worn: Today!

Total cost: All from stash so free!

The blouse needs its facing, buttons and a hem. I made it with my leftover sewing print cotton and some white cotton for the contrast portions. Yeah it still needs those previously mentioned things, it's still a PHD.

The Ceylon dress needs buttons and a hem. I just have to say, wow was this pattern wonky! Pieces did not line up correctly and the use of the same pattern markings at top and bottom on the waist piece exacerbated this. Luckily I have sewn for years now and noted this on the pattern so I altered the notches to be different before cutting it out. I added underarm gussets/patches to bring the armscye up two inches in order to avoid creating a weak spot and lots of strain on the sleeve. I wish I had noted this in the pattern itself but in my try-ons it seemed ok, oh well this is really just a wearable muslin so now I know. I also replaced the sleeves (which I didn't like) with a vintage sleeve pattern (the one from my Rosie blouse). I then found the original pattern that I assume this pattern is based on for sale on Etsy, it has the cutest sleeves and pockets and frankly wish I had bought it instead (sadly it is now sold)! With a lot of work (of which it still needs more) I think this will be wearable, but sadly it too is still a PHD.



The Victory set needs the jacket finished and the pockets added to the dress. Not anymore, this set I finished and I think it turned out great! This set has its own post (the previous one) because it was for another sew along, but since it was hovering in UFO territory for so long I will still count it here, plus it's pre-war so it counts as historical. There are far too many picture of this outfit on my Flickr page.

The Challenge: UFOs and PHDs

Fabric: 2.5 yards of shot cotton in Mushroom, 1 yard in coal

Pattern: Clotilde 2889

Year: 1945ish, the pattern was undated

Notions: Two hooks and eyes, three snaps, fifteen vintage buttons in navy, six vintage buttons in pink, one vintage belt buckle in pink.

How historically accurate is it? Totally! Vintage pattern and notions, accurate fabrics and sewing techniques.

Hours to complete: Around a million.

First worn: Yesterday, to dinner and then shopping.

Total cost: Around 35$, lots of online purchases required for this set!

So that's two out of four or three out of five, not bad I guess.