Regency Picnic Dress Project - Accessories

Last but not least in Regency outfit project series is the accessories.

The shoes

Let us first discuss a sore point: the shoes. I will admit it: I hate them. They just did not turn out the way I wanted, and they did not exactly survive the event. I first began with a pair of cheap (10$) ballerina flats from Wal-Mart:

Ballerina Flats

While planning for this entire outfit, I hesitated between spray painting and fabric covering these shoes. After looking at a few tutorials for covering shoes with fabric and Modge Podge, I decided this was the best idea (what can I say, I am sometimes wrong). I was leaning towards blue shoes (to go with that taffeta I want to make into a Spencer jacket eventually), and was wondering which one of my leftovers to use, when I remembered I have lime green faux Shantung in my stash (read 100% polyester), which would look great with purple (now leaning towards matching my accessories to my purple Pashmina). Plus I have more than enough for the poke bonnet too, I thought… So lime green it was.

One night, I sat down with my fabric, tools and Modge Podge and a foam brush. After removing the bows from the shoes, I attempted to drape a pattern, but that did not work well. Instead, I cut a piece of my lime green fabric big enough to cover one shoe and I began painting Modge Podge on the toes before sticking my fabric to it. On and on I went, trimming fabric away, painting Modge Podge, but the fabric was not sticking well. I took out some clothespins to keep the fabric sticking to the inside of the shoe, I added more Modge Podge, I panicked when I saw some glue stains appearing on my fabric. I left shoe number one to dry while I attempted a similar operation upon the next shoe. The next day, I was still trying to get the fabric to stick nicely all the way under, to the sole’s edge, and around the opening. I tried to paint Modge Podge on top of my fabric to hide the stains.

(Badly) Fabric covered shoes

On and on and on I tried. On Friday, the day before the event, I just got my hot glue gun out. The results were no better, but at least that fabric was now sticking damnit! I added some trim, hoping the decoration would help. I had intended to make fake seams to the side with gros grain ribbon and to add the same ribbon in centre back and around the opening of the shoe. I was inspired by this American Duchess tutorial for Pemberley shoes. Note to self: gros grain ribbon does not follow curves that well. The trim around the opening of the shoe just looks bad. Finally, I added gathered purple trim to the front (found at Club Tissus for 1.59$ while looking for the lace trim to fix my dress) and some satin ribbons to the sides to wrap around my ankle like period ballerina shoes (one of them came unglued before the end of the day).

Finished shoes

They look awful, I regret trying to cover them with fabric instead of spray painting them, but hey, you can’t always get everything right on the first try. At least I made my learning mistakes on cheap shoes, and they were not for a Mascarade, so I’m not stressing about anyone judging them. I don’t really know what I’m going to do with them now (does Modge Podge come off with lots of soap and water?), but right now, I’m just going to ignore them.

The Poke Bonnet

I actually had to make two poke bonnets: one for me, and one for my daughter. I used the videotutorial by Stephanie Johanesen of the Oregon Regency Society to make both.

I used hot glue to fix the lining (leftover dress fabric), the bias tape around the brim, the bonnet, the trims, the lace, etc. Actually, considering the entire hat is holding with hot glue and I am happily surprised at the result. I made the bonnet part of my using the lime green faux Shantung, trimmed the brim with burble bias tape, covered the edge of the bonnet with purple satin ribbon added some of that amazing pleated ribbon to the top of the brim (it made such a difference, I am so happy I found that trim), added some leftover lace around the bonnets edge (another happy find – had it not been for the hole in my dress, my hat would have been boring) and glued a big purple bow to the right side of the hat, to which I added a lace flower from the lace trim.

Green & Purple bonnet - right side view

Green & Purple bonnet - left side view

 

In the case of my daughter’s I sewed the bias tape, by machine, to the brim of her hat. I also sewed the bottom of the lining inside the bias tape. The rest holds with hot glue. The fabric used for the bonnet is leftover pink English lace from her dress, and to match the red accents in her dress, I used red satin ribbons around the bonnet and as ties. I glued tiny lace decorations (leftovers from my lace trim) on the ties where they meet the brim of the hat, as well as two silk roses from the Dollar store which she had chosen herself. I had added a big red bow to the top of the bonnet, but she did not like it and I had to take it out for her to wear the hat (sometimes, something’s are not worth fighting over).

Pink Toddler Bonnet - without bow

Pink Toddler Bonnet - with bow

Jewellery

I shopped for a long time for the perfect necklace, but in the end, I wore this gold tone medallion which I found for 3$ at Zellers maybe two years ago (I wear it fairly often too). It may not be accurate for the period, but I decided it matched the other accessories well.

Golden necklace

As earrings, I wore faux pearl tear drop danglers. Simple, elegant, could have been worn in period.

Faux pearl tear drop danglers

Hair

For the longest time, in planning for that picnic, I figured I would curl my hair the night before with rag curls and do some sort of updo the day of. As it happens, I was sewing the buttons to my dress at 11PM the night before the picnic, and was too tired to spend over 1h curling my hair, so after some Googling, I decided to go for a braided bun instead.

My regency updo

The hair style I was trying to copy had two small braids starting on each side of the face and curling themselves gracefully around the bun. I discovered my hair is no longer long enough to achieve this; I was barely able to pull the two small braids around the bun to hide the bobby pins holding them in place.

Shawl

The last of my accessory is my shawl. It is a beautiful purple, black and green Pashmina that a co-worker gave me for Christmas. Since it has a paisley pattern, I thought it was just perfect. As I mentioned, this was the inspiration for the colour scheme of all the accessories.

Purple and Green Pashmina

Phew! All done. Now you know all about my Regency dress project. I don’t know if I’ll make another dress any time soon, but I am very tempted to make accessory kits in various colours to change the look of my dress. There are a few things I’d like to try: Spencer jacket, open robe, turban… So many possibilities!

Regency Picnic Dress Project - Dress

Second in my Regency outfit project series is the dress. Originally, I had wanted to make it based on Patterns of Fashion 1: Englishwomen's Dresses and their Construction, c. 1660-1860, the 1806-2809 Frock and the 1797-1805 Morning Dress, but my attempt at a bodice muslin was a complete disaster, so I ended up making my own pattern from scratch for the bodice and sleeves, and only vaguely following POF1 1797-1805 Morning Dress for the skirt’s shape and measurements. It worked out much better than I expected. One of my fears was that my shift or stays would show, but in drafting my own pattern, I made sure this would not happen.

I made the front of the bodice gathered at neckline and under bust level, while the back lays flat. The back also has a princess line which I tried to place lower than is done on modern patterns, to make it look more period accurate (an hour of intense image Googling went into the placement of this seam). The neckline is finished with a self bias binding that doubles as a drawstring casing so the neckline can be pulled tighter (effectively avoiding me any wardrobe malfunctions).

Regency Dress - Front

The sleeves are elbow length, just like I wanted, and are ever so slightly gathered at the top.

The skirt is gathered all the way around with a 2:1 ratio. It is floor length at the front and has a train in the back. I will eventually add loops to bustle up the train (just as shown in POF1) to make it easier to wear out in the park or for general day wear; the train can be let down for the evening. I will also have to adjust the hem level once I loose my baby belly!

Regency Dress - Back

Since the skirt and bodice are gathered separately, it was difficult to keep the gathers tight enough to fit properly at the under bust level. My solution was to bind that seam in some bias tape and use this as a drawstring casing. This way, both the neckline and under bust seam can be tightened through hidden drawstrings. The visible closure consists four (real) shell nacre buttons down the centre back of the bodice.

Back closure and ties

The material I used is a tone on tone white printed cotton sheeting fabric that has been in my stash since my fashion school days. I had bought it to use in various draping, pattern making and sewing projects, but ended up only needing a little for a simple dress shirt. I remember finding it in the sale section for 3$/metre (so I had bought 5 metres), and being thrilled when I found out that this fabric was meant for bed sheets so it is 300 cm (about 90”) wide. The print on it is very small and subtle organic scrolls and is just enough to give a certain visual interest to the dress (I also have a Medievalite cotehardie cut from this fabric, to be finished eventually).

Because no project is complete without at least one major problem, I discovered after assembling my skirt panels that one of them had a toonie sized hole (about 1” for my non-Canadian readers). By that time, I no longer had enough fabric to cut a new skirt panel, so after much pondering and some support from my Facebook fans, my solution was to patch the whole and go out to buy a lace trim to cover my patch.

The hole

First I placed a piece of fabric bigger than my whole on the reverse of my fabric.

The Patch

Then, I used a piece of fusing bigger than the patch to cover it and I pressed the fusing to keep the patch in place

 Fusing on top of the patched hole

Finally, I covered the patched hole on the right side of the fabric with my lace trim.

Trim hiding the patched hole

I used the lace trim to create a design, adding a little visual interest to my skirt. I sewed a long line of lace trim from top to bottom on each back panel, at equal distances (based on the hole I had to cover), and added two more lines to the front panel, on either side. I have to say, I am happy with the result. It adds a little je ne sais quoi to the dress. As it turns out, this was a happy accident. Plus, that lace trim was just 1.29$/metre.

You already know what the end result looked like, but what the heck, here it is once more.

Regency Lady in the park

The great advantage of a plain white dress is I can accessorize however I want to create different looks! Maybe I’ll even wear it for Yule / Christmas with a red shawl!

Regency Picnic Dress Project - Underwear

As promised, here is (finally) a series of posts on the items making up my Regency outfit (now that you have seen pictures of the actual result as worn at the picnic). I know, I know, I should have posted progress pictures earlier, but hey, I’m pregnant, which is the best excuse to be lazy, whatever the situation!

First up, underwear.

For this project, I wanted to make period underwear for a change. As mentioned before, I love historical costuming, but other than some white t-tunics for my SCA wear, I have never bothered before with underpinnings, though I keep telling myself I will. And this time, I did! Since I am pregnant, I couldn’t go with a long corset or stays (which is also why I went for Regency instead of my favourite 1750’s look). Researching for this outfit, I discovered half stays, and I ended up buying Sense and Sensibility Regency Underthings pattern (in PDF format). I used it to make both my shift and half stays.

Shift

Shift & Short Stays

Another thing I should point out about this project is that I tried to use material from my stash as much as possible, to avoid spending too much on fabric. That is why my shift is made of poly cotton poplin, while I used draping muslin for the lining of my stays, some thickly woven polyester for the interlining and matte satin for the fashion layer (and I have no clue what these fabrics were used for originally – I just found them in one of my bins - though I think the matte satin is from the wedding dress I made a friend five years ago.

The boning used for my half stays is tie-wraps (I find they are the best – besides, it’s not like I get to wear these undies often anyways). I did “splurge” on bias tape for binding both my stays and the neckline of my shift, and I also bought plenty of cheap white ribbon to use as drawstrings, and even some shoe laces for the same purpose.

Not period accurate? I don’t care! I was going for proper shape, not historical accuracy – everything is machine sewn, and I even serged all the seams of my shift instead of making flat felled seams like the pattern suggested.

But hey, I did do the eyelets on my stays by hand; that must count for something! (It was my first attempt at making hand sewn eyelets, so not one of them looks like the other, but again, one learns through practice and experience).

Short Stays - Front 

Short Stays - Back

My biggest challenge for the stays was making it fit properly; try as I may to fit it tightly on myself, the end result is just slightly too big (but still wearable). And this is why I was happy I didn’t invest in expensive fabrics for my first attempt; you can’t feel too bad if you don’t do well with leftovers. Another thing is, those v-shaped inserts to make the cups terrified me - that is, until I figured out they were no more complicated than a welt pocket (of which I had to make many in fashion school), and then they became very easy.

All in all, I am satisfied with my first ever period underwear. And a plus: I can wear my shift with earlier styles as well! So my next period underwear project will be a pair of 18th century stays.

P.S. In case you wonder, I did not go commando under that shift. The half stays may have replaced a modern bra, but there was no way I was leaving the house without wearing some briefs. There is a limit (for me) to historical accuracy!

Costumer's Picnic 2012

You may recall me mentioning a while back that Nancy-Raven and I were planning a costumed picnic this summer. The picnic was held last Saturday. I was unable to post my costume progress along the way, but I will make item specific posts soon (basically once all the items have been laundered – it was hot, and sitting on grass will stain white dresses). For now, let me share pictures of the picnic itself.

There were only 5 of us at l’Île-des-Moulins: Nancy-Raven, her Sweetie (who does not wish for his picture to be published, so I blurred out his face in the photos he appears in) and 7 months old son, my 3 ½ years old daughter and myself. Other people had expressed the wish to come but unfortunately had to work on the weekend (maybe next year). As it was a lovely day, we got many requests for pictures (mostly from French tourists - I was surprised there were so many of them in my small town), and quite a few stares; there were also a few comments about our strollers not matching our outfits (too modern), but to hell with them. Strollers are practical and period ones are expensive!

 

My daughter

Looking at the lake

 

Here, ducky!

Regency Lady

Kneeling

33 weeks pregnant and showing

18th Century Family

Mother and Son

Birthday card! (with a certificate stating her gift is a pair of Black Pompadours from American Duchess)

Fencing with sticks

Mother & Daughter

Another Mother & Daughter pose

The Ladies of the Picnic

Cutesy!

Hitching a ride

On last adorable toddler picture for the road

Lets do this again soon!

Regency Picnic Dress Project - Research

Nancy-Raven and I are planning a sort of Time Traveller’s Picnic for this summer. This means of course that I get an excuse to make a new costume since I’ll be around 7 month pregnant by then! I intend to make my first Regency outfit for the event; I would rather wear something loose fitting around my baby belly. As with any new project, I start with a ton of research – it is the best part of any project. My first source of inspiration for a regency outfit was Lis’ Pride & Prejudice & Zombies’ costume.

Lis’ Pride & Prejudice & Zombies Dress

 

Since I know very little about Regency period garb, I was glad to discover that I could make myself some half-corset that will adapt to my pregnant shape. Lis used Simplicity 4052 which is now out of print, but I am considering getting the Sense and Sensibility Regency Underthings pattern in PDF format.

Sense and Sensibility Regency Underthings pattern

This way I’ll be covered for undies. It will be my first project ever with period underwear (other than the under tunics I wear with Medieval garb). I have some cotton poplin I can use for the shift and some canvas leftover for the stays.

For the dress, I looked at many models, but the one I fell in love with is Goldenspring’s Regency Muslin Gown.

Goldenspring’s Regency Muslin Gown

I love the pleated back, the train, and the sleeves! I am quite self conscious about my figure (as I may or may not have stated many times before) and my upper arms are no exception. Short cap sleeves as we usually see on dresses inspired by that era are not really my thing, but above the elbow sleeves are quite perfect. To make the pattern, I am aiming to use patterns from Patterns of Fashion 1, the bottom of the 1797-1805 Morning Dress and the bodice and sleeves of the 1806-2809 Frock (pages 48-49 of Patterns of Fashion 1), combined with Simplicity 4055 as a base and MacGyver something out of all of this. Let’s hope the results are good.

 

Janet Arnold, 1797-1805 Morning Dress, Patterns of Fashion 1, page 48

Janet Arnold, 1806-2809 Frock, Patterns of Fashion 1, page 48

Fabric wise, I wanted some sort of cotton, maybe English Lace, but I discovered that I have enough leftover of this white cotton sheeting with tiny white organic print to make that dress, so I won’t even have to spend on fabric.

 Cotton Sheeting for Regency dress

I used to think bonnets were ridiculous, but now I find myself itching to make many. I found this video tutorial on how to make a poke bonnet through  Lis’ Pride & Prejudice & Zombies’ page, made by the Oregon Regency Society.

I know someone who is going to get a couple of straw hats the next time she is at Magie du Dollar! (I want to make one for my daughter also).

Next I’ll need shoes. I found these on Etsy which look awesome.

 Original Design Black Leather Regency Shoes

What I intend to do though is find a pair of cheap ballet flats and add satin ribbons to them so I can lace them up like period shoes.

The last item I’ll need to make is a reticule purse. This seems fairly easy so I am not worrying about it yet (meaning, knowing me, that I’ll be making it the day of – just you watch me!).

Now for the really hard decision: what colour should I go for for the accessories? I have a beautiful Pashmina shawl in purple and olive green which would look lovely...

Purple and Olive Green Pashmina Shawl

...but I was also thinking of using this steel blue pin tucked taffeta I have leftover for my bonnet. 

 Steel Blue Pin Tucked Taffeta

Which colour should I choose? If I match to the Pashmina, I could look for gold or green fabric for my bonnet, trim it with purple gros grain ribbon, and wear my gold flats. If I choose the taffeta, I would add light pink ribbons and flowers to my bonnet, and I could probably find a similar Pashmina in blue and silver. Plus, I was thinking of eventually making a Spencer type jacket out of that taffeta. 

Decisions, decisions…

Theatre Ghost: President John Tyler / Fantômes de Théâtre: Président John Tyler

I have finally finished the third of the play costumes for Nancy-Raven. I worked on it all of last week and added the last touches yesterday. Now all of the costumes are in the hands of the director and I can’t wait to see what it ends up looking like on the day of premiere (and last), on April 9.

J’ai enfin terminé le troisième des costumes pour la pièce de théâtre dont Nancy-Raven est la costumière. J’y ai travaillé tout le long de la semaine dernière et j’y ai ajouté les derniers détails hier. Tous les costumes sont maintenant entre les mains de l'auteure / metteur en scène et j’ai bien hâte de voir le résultat le soir de la première (et dernière), le 9 avril prochain.

My last assigned costume was President John Tyler. To be honest, I had never heard of that United States President before, but then again, I’m Quebecois, so I learned about Canadian and Quebec Prime Ministers in high school, not our southern neighbour’s head of state. I also have no idea why he is a character in the play as I do not know the story yet. I’ll let you know after I see it.

Le dernier costume que l’on m’a assigné est celui du Président John Tyler. Pour être honnête, je n’avais jamais entendu parler de ce Président États-Uniens auparavant, mais bien entendu, je suis Québécoise, alors on m’a appris les noms des Premiers Ministres Québécois et Canadiens dans mes cours d’histoire au secondaire, pas ceux des chefs d’état de nos voisins du sud. Je n’ai aussi aucune idée sur la raison pour laquelle il a été inclus dans les personnages de cette pièce puisque je n’en connais pas encore l’histoire. Je vous le laisserai savoir après l’avoir vu.

The Inspiration for his costume was this portrait of President Tyler.

L’inspiration pour ce costume fut ce portrait du Président Tyler.

President John Tyler, Reproduction of a photographic print, between ca. 1860 and 1865, printed later / Président John Tyler, Reproduction d'une photographie imprimée, entre 1860 et 1865, imprimée plus tard

My job was to make it in beige, with front Velcro closure for easy costume changes and with as little layers as possible, considering the rapidity of said costume changes. I was asked to make it in two layers because the character apparently takes off his jacket during a scene.

Mon travail impliquait de faire un ensemble semblable, en beige, avec fermeture de Velcro pour faciliter les changements de costumes, et avec le moins d’épaisseur de vêtements possible dû à la rapidité des dit changements. On m’a demandé le faire en deux épaisseurs car le personnage enlève apparement son veston pendant une scène.

Vest and Shirt combo / Combinaison Veste et chemise

The first layer consists of a short vest with attached collar and sleeves to mimic the shirt he should be wearing under the vest. The jacquard for the vest came from an old skirt that the director bought from a second hand clothes sale (church basement), while the cotton for the shirt was bought by Nancy-Raven in the bargain section of our favourite Fabricville. I used pattern Simplicity 8910 for the vest and Butterick 4486 for the shirt collar and sleeves. The fake front shirt piece I drew myself. It closes with five squares of Velcro.

Le premier vêtement consiste en une veste courte avec des manches et un col attaché pour simuler la chemise qui devrait être portée dessous. Le jaquard de la veste provient d’une jupe trouvée par l'auteure / metteur en scène dans une vente de vêtement de seconde main (sous-sol d’église), tandis que la cottonade de la chemise a été acheté chez Fabricville, dans la section des ventes. J’ai utilisée le patron Simplicity 8910 pour la veste et Butterick 4486 pour le col et les manches de la chemise. Le faux devant de chemise je dessinai moi-même. Le tout se ferme au devan grace à cinq carrés de Velcro.

Bow worn with shirt-vest / Boucle portée avec la veste-chemise

It was specified to me how very important it was that the costume of President Tyler include a cravat or bow tie of some sort. Out of an old satin peasant shirt, found once again in a second hand clothes sale, I cut strips of fabric to make a band that wraps around the actor’s neck, the bow and the knot. The band closes at the front with a strip of Velcro and the bow was hand sewn to the band, on top of the Velcro’s seam.

On m’a spécifié à quel point il était important que le costume du President Tyler inclus une cravate ou un nœud quelconque au cou. Dans une vieille chemise paysane de satin, encore une fois trouvée dans une vente de vêtement de seconde main, j’ai découpé des rectagles de tissus pour faire la bande s’attachant autour du cou, la boucle et le nœud. La bande s’attache au devant avec un carré de Velcro et le nœud est cousu à la main dur la bande, au dessus de Velcro.

Tailcoat / Veston Queue de Pie

I realized when taking this picture that the vest was too long. I fixed before giving it to Nancy-Raven, but I was too lazy to take new pictures. That's what happens when you sew until 2:30 AM to catch a deadline and your toddler wakes you up at 6:30 AM. So don't you worry, both the vest and the jacket are flush.

J'ai réalisé en prenant cette photo que la veste était trop longue. Je l'ai raccourcie avant de la remettre à Nancy-Raven, mais j'ai été trop paresseuse pour reprendre de nouvelles photos. C'est ce qui arrive quand on se couche à 2:30 pour terminer un projet à temps, et que votre fillette vous réveille à 6:30. Je vous rassure, le veston et la veste ont maintenant la même longueur au devant.

On top of this is the tailcoat. I used pattern Butterick 3648, but had to reduce the size considerably as the actor is Small and my pattern was a Large/Extra-Large. I just hope it fits him well since I couldn’t meet him and make any adjustments. The fabric is upholstery jacquard from Fabricville’s bargain section. It was very nice to work with! It is once again closed with Velcro. I wish I could have added decorative buttons, but it was not in the budget.

Un veston à queue de pie est porté par-dessus. J’ai utilisé le patron Butterick 3648, mais il m’a fallu le réduire considérablement puisque le comédien porte la taille Petit et que mon patron est un Large/Extra-Large . J’espère seulement qu’il lui ira puisque je n’ai pu le rencontrer et l’ajuster sur lui. Le tissu est un jaqcard de recouvrement trouvé dans la section des ventes de Fabricville. C’est un tissu avec lequel il fut très agréable travailler! Ce veston s’attache encore une fois avec du Velcro. J’aurais aimé ajouter des boutons décoratifs, mais il n’y avait pas de place dans le budget pour les fioritures.

From what I heard, this will be worn with grey pants, over a white t-shirt. With luck, I can get pictures on the day of the play, but with all the costume changes, I don’t know if it will be possible. We’ll see!

D’après ce que l’on m’a dit, cet ensemble sera porté avec un pantalon gris, par-dessus un gaminet blanc. Avec un peu de chance, je pourrai en prendre des photos le jour de la pièce, mais avec tous les changements de costumes prévus, je ne sais pas si cela sera possible. On verra!

This concludes my involvement in making the costumes for this play (can you believe I don’t even know the title?). For more of this project’s costumes, please visit Nancy-Raven’s Blog. And now, on to the next project. Lets see, what should I attack next… (Other than spring cleaning of my sewing room.)

Ceci conlu ma participation à la fabrication des costumes de cette pièce (pouvez-vous croire que je n’en connais toujours pas le titre?). Pour plus de costumes de ce projet, visitez le blogue de Nancy-Raven. Et maintenant, passons au prochain projet. Voyons voir, que pourrais-je attaquer ensuite… (À part le ménage de mon atelier.)