Sabrina

So last week I went out in costume with my local ladies (of the group Victorian at Heart) twice. We headed to the nearby fort to celebrate the Queen's birthday (that's Queen Victoria, and yeah, in Canada we get a long weekend for her birthday). The fort was built in the 1830s and reenactors working at the fort represent the year 1852 (because it's an uncontroversial year in Canadian history, how Canadian is that?! lol). We went last year and it made me want a suitable dress. Obviously the 1845 one would have been perfect, but it wasn't nearly done yet, so I wore my old favourite 1867 print. The fort has been getting restored with better fire safety things and new paint.

( See more about the fort and my day there behind the cut! )

There was a nice breeze which made for some interesting pictures of skirts and curls blown about by the wind. You can see the river behind me. I assume the fort was built by the river on purpose for convenience of having water and water transport.


I had a wonderful time. I love going to the fort for several reasons: it's one of the oldest historic sites around here, there's so much to see and explore, and the reenactors who work there are lovely people who are friendly and welcoming. :)

My 1867 print dress is just about done. I made a collar and cuffs the other day and got them tacked on to the dress yesterday. The only thing left is hooks and eyes. I think I am going to do hooks with thread eyes. I gave up on the idea of overcasting the armscye seam allowances because the piping makes it kind of weird and I don't want to have to deal with it. So yeah, just hooks and eyes left.

I just cast on 103 stitches for my nubia/Canadian cloud. I have the Jamieson and Smith Shetland Supreme 2-ply laceweight and am using size 7/4.5mm needles. So far I've knitted one row. I think I am going to do a 4 row pattern: 3 rows of knit and 1 row of yarn over-knit 2 together. I tried some samples of just Knit and YO,K2tog, but I think it was too holey for the larger needles. I was also trying out some even larger needles and thought it just looked too open-weave-y. I think these ones are big enough.

Since the 1867 dress is so close to being finished and today is the day I don't have to go to school, I am about to head off to cut out my 1883 green velveteen bodice. I am so ready to be working on something new. This print dress has taken forever. I am hoping the velveteen bodice won't take too long, especially since I already have my tried and true 1880 bodice pattern! I'm going to shorten the back about 1/2" to get rid of the slight wrinkles that I've been having with it. Maybe I can even get it done by November! (HA, let's not get carried away. ;p)

It still needs a hem and hooks/eyes. And I need to unpick some of the stitching attaching the skirt to the waistband and redo it because I didn't overlap properly for the opening in the skirt, so it gapes a bit. Annoying, but shouldn't take too long. One of my classes has videos of storytelling to listen to instead of books to read, and one of the benefits of that is that I can get handsewing or knitting done during those hours. It's great! Anyways, here's the bodice (which is a bit too long in the back, something I need to fix on my future Victorian stuff) with skirt attached. I knife pleated the front/sides and cartridge pleated the back of the skirt and then whipped the skirt to the waistband (as per the advice I got on The Sewing Academy).

Busy and productive day today. I made lasagna for dinner and am looking forward to eating it. :) I took the dog out for a short walk. I got some homework done. And I finished some edits for my funding application proposal because we are having a workshop on them tomorrow. Still to do: machine sew the skirt of my 1867 print dress together, probably after dinner.

Speaking of my 1867 dress, here's what it looks like right now. I think the sleeves are better than they were before. Thanks for all the advice! I ended up reshaping the curve of the elbow so that it was less curved, thus less fabric in the elbow. I also took in the sleevehead a bit. And I rotated the sleeve forward. So now the sleeves are have an acceptable level of wrinkle.

You can also (sort of) see the antique china buttons I got for this dress from Treadle Yard Goods in St. Paul, MN. I think they were a good choice.

Well, my 1867 print dress might not have a skirt and the sleeves might be messed up, but it has closures! I just finished doing all the buttons and buttonholes. So next time I try it on to fix the sleeves, I won't have to pin myself into it. :)

Hoping to reset one sleeve tomorrow, another sleeve on Sunday, then cut out the skirt on Monday, assemble it on Tuesday, hem it on Wednesday, and add the hooks to the waistband on Thursday. Then it'll be all done! I just need to be disciplined.

Got my apartment stuff sorted out (keys on the way to me and bill paid) and thinking about other things, like what is on the sewing docket for the coming year. I've mentioned my projects before but I'm kind of sad that all of my upcoming projects are already decided. I like it being a bit open-ended. But since the reason for these projects being determined is the fact that I have specific things to wear these to, it's not really a bad thing. So here are the projects and their different elements, just to keep it organized:

1. 1895 ensemble: petticoat, corset cover, skirt, blouse, bow tie, straw boater, (jacket?)
2. 2 baby quilts
3. 1867 outfit: corset, crinoline, petticoat, (chemise?), print dress, hat, shawl
4. 1883 plaid kilted outfit: kilted underskirt, overskirt, velveteen bodice (I hope 1m is enough for this, if now, I have a cotton-silk suiting I could dye green that would work), (collar?), (cuffs?)
5. 1883 outerwear: coat, faux fur short cape, faux fur muff, faux fur hat, nubia
6. Modern: grey shorts

It's a lot of items for me to make in a year, but last year I made 3 ensembles/dresses for Costume College, so I think I can get it done. And when these are finished, I have some others that I want to get done after (maybe for the Francaise Dinner or Costume College in 2017).

1. Painted 1780s gown: bum pad, petticoat, petticoat, gown, wig, cap/hat
2. Lilac silk and cream net 1871 evening gown: petticoat, skirt, overskirt, bodice
3. 1816 ensemble: print dress or shortgown/skirt combo, cap/hat, apron, ruff/chemisette
4. 1790 riding habit: shirt, cravat, petticoat, waistcoat, jacket, hat
OR 4. 1908 ensemble: net guimpe, green jumper dress, (hat?)
OR 4. 1920s one-hour dress: lavender polka dot day dress, hat
OR 4. Yellow linen-rayon 1930s/40s something
OR 4. 1916 outfit: petticoat, corset cover, striped skirt, blouse, hat
OR 4. 1869 burnt orange dress: dress, overdress,
5. Modern: pants, (blouse?), (wool-cashmere blazer?) (birds voile dress?)

( Other potential sewing )

I have a variety of things that I want to sew in the coming year and a half. Some of them have deadlines or events, which is good for making sure I get things done. I'm excited about getting to try new eras as well as having eras that I can now do fairly comfortably. I still need to make more underthings, which is sort of a downer, but I am looking forward to having them in the wardrobe. So here are the projects that you should be seeing in the not-too-distant future:

Must sew:

• 1895 Tailor-made Gown for a conference presentation in April: drawers, petticoat, corset cover, shirtwaist, skirt, jacket, hat (I have most of the supplies for this one, after a trip to the fabric store today. Still need something for the hat and maybe other small things that I will figure out as I go along.)


• 1867 Cotton Print for living history celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Confederation: corset, hoop, petticoat, petticoat, dress, shawl, bonnet (I need all kinds of things for this one, like all the supplies for the hoop, busk, cotton for the petticoats, buttons, and bonnet supplies.)


• 1883 Little House Winter Dress: kilted skirt, overskirt, bodice (Yay for having all the correct undies for this! I am using my blue and green brushed cotton plaid for the skirts and my green dyed velveteen which burn testing makes me think is cotton for the bodice. The velveteen was originally supposed to be for my GoT Tyrell outfit. I wanted black velveteen for this project, but I have the green on hand and it matches, so it's getting used. Also need buttons.)


• 1883 Little House Winter Outerwear: coat, cape, muff (I can use the burgundy wool I got upsold on in London to make the coat, with a hood I think. Need to get some faux fur for a cape and muff, as well as whatever else that will require.)


• 2 Baby Quilts for friends' babies being born at the end of August and early December

Bonus sewing or projects that may also appear in the coming year or so:

• 1820 Blue Print for living history: shortgown and petticoat a la koshka_the_cat or a morning gown, chemisette, cap (Living history does lots of Regency era, so would be useful to have this, especially now that I have my quick 'n' dirty stays. Have all the supplies for this.)


• 1790 Riding Habit: shirt, skirt, waistcoat, jacket (Now that I know how to make death head buttons, I can make buttons for this. Have all the other materials as well as correct undies.)


• 1916 Ensemble for living history celebration of 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Manitoba: skirt, shirtwaist (I have fabric and the undies for this.)


• 1780 Painted Gown: stays, bumpad, petticoat, skirt, gown (I have almost all the stuff for this. Would be very labour intensive project with all the painting. No real occasion to wear though. Maybe for Quebec City?)


• 1870s Little House Winter Dress: petticoat, skirt, overskit, bodice, mantle (I have some possible fabrics for this, but would still need to buy more to really make it. Definitely a maybe.)


• 1950s playsuit: shorts, skirt, top (I have all the stuff for this, but not really an occasion. Except for the shorts; I need more and better shorts in my life.)


• Retro Yellow Dot Sundress (I have all the stuff for this, minus zipper. For wearing in regular life.)


• (Modern) Birds Voile Sundress (I have all the stuff for this, minus zipper. For wearing in regular life.)


• Smooth Sailing Trousers (I have some plum plaid that I could make a pretty awesome pair of trousers out of. For wearing in regular life.)


• 1779 Striped Polonaise: same underthings as 1780 Painted Gown, skirt, polonaise (I have the striped silk but need lots of silk organza for this to make it froofy. No real occasion to wear though. Maybe for Quebec City?)


• 1871 Lavender Silk and Cream Net Gown: petticoat, skirt, overskirt, dinner bodice, ballgown bodice (I have the lavender silk but need lots of cotton net for this. No real occasion to wear though. But I want something FROOFY!)

I have fabric for other projects that are languishing in the stash, but these ones make the (not-so-)short-list either because I have an occasion for them or because I have all the supplies (or because I just got the fabric for them and am thus super excited about them because they're new and shiny!). Links go to Pinterest boards.

Whew! That's enough!