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Historical Fashion

2018 Year of Sewing Recap
Historical Fashion

2018 Year of Sewing Recap

2018 was probably my more prolific sewing year yet! I actually have enough to do a year-end sewing recap, which I don’t think I’ve ever done before. (Before anyone gets too envious of all my sewing time, I’ve had some major crap go down in the last few years. Sewing has basically been my art therapy, and luckily is has been healing.)

One of my first projects of the year was resizing my dress form! I put on a lot of weight in the last couple years, and then last fall (2017) managed to lose a significant amount. I had not long before gotten an new Uniquely You foam dress form, and couldn’t afford to replace it with a smaller one. I could, however, afford an electric turkey carver! So I chopped her down a few sizes, refit the cover, and rechristened her Luna.

The first costume event of the year I attended was the annual Jane Austen Evening in Pasadena. Originally I was hoping to wear a dress that I had made several years ago, but I did want to make a new set of stays. And then those stays didn’t work with the dress. So then I needed a new dress. And accessories. Have you ever read the children’s book “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie”? That’s what this project felt like! For this outfit I made new stays, and new dress, sleeveless spencer (the vest thingy), and the turban. And bought new accessories to match my color scheme. ::facepalm::

  • I like this photo especially because your can see i’m not wearing a petticoat and where my shift ends at my knees. SCANDALOUS! The petticoat situation has since been fixed, but not yet worn.

I think my next costumed event wasn’t until Costume College. Friday night I rewore the same white regency dress with new accessories for my a la victim costume. The scandalous no-petticoat look was actually very appropriate for this version! I also used my hand-embroidered reticule for the FIRST TIME since I finished it in 2013.

This Robe a la Francaise was my big project for the year and took most of my spring/summer sewing time. Other than a pair of pocket hoops that I made at my very first Costume College, I had to make all the undergarments in addition to the gown itself. New stays, several petticoats, gown, stomacher, sleeve ruffles, wig styling…. it goes on and on. I liked wearing it more than I thought I would, though! This was my first time wearing a REALLY BIG gown, and I’m not a “take up all the space in the room” kind of person, so I was kind of nervous, but it worked out. Next year I want to tweak a few minor things and do a “real” photoshoot for it.

Next up is this sad little circle skirt that I made for Halloween/October but never wore. Oh well. At least Halloween comes every year. Around this time I also did a little modern wardrobe sewing (woven t-shirt, jogger sweatpants), but I don’t have pics of those.

My final costume is my c.1917 outfit for the Great War Gallop. Any regular reader of the blog should be sick of this one by now. I am!

  • Wearing History Combinations – Front

All in all, I think I finished about 20 new garments and handmade accessories. Not including mockups and failed muslins that never got made properly! I doubt (and kind of hope) that I’ll never have as much sewing time again as I did in 2018, but I am proud of what I’ve created. And I’m crossing my fingers that I won’t have any more wild weight changes in the near future. I made 3 new corsets/stays this year, and it would be a shame if they no longer fit!

Short Hair and Historical Costuming
1930's, Historical Fashion, Regency, WWI

Short Hair and Historical Costuming

Avoiding the hair issue altogether at the 2018 Jane Austen Evening by wearing a turban.

I have short hair. I’ve always had more-or-less short hair – the longest I’ve ever been able to grow it was just past my shoulders. I used to try to keep it as long as I could for playing vintage dress-up, but on a daily basis it wasn’t cute. My hair is fine, and thin, and really just wants to be short. (On the plus side, it takes a heat curl really well, so I can work some magic with a curling iron.)

The thing is, until recently I also had a wig/fake hair phobia. Things like fake hair and fake nails just really grossed me out and I wanted nothing to do with them. Which is a challenge when you want to participate in historical costuming, because not only does fake hair make it easier when you don’t have much of your own, but it’s also much easier to plop a pre-styled wig on your head than spend hours leading up to an event trying to do an elaborate, archaic hairdo on yourself.

I think (hope!) that I’ve gotten over my fear of fake hair, but I’ve also been having fun this past year experimenting with short historical hairstyles. I plan to do full outfit posts about all these costumes in the near future, but I thought it would be fun to look at just the hairstyles together. Apologies for the poor quality of many of the images – I don’t usually think my hair is anything special so I usually skip close-ups, so most of these photos are cropped down from full length images.

For Friday night at Costume College, I dressed in a French Empire style called a la victime, which was fashioned after the chopped-off hair that the aristocracy had to endure before going under the guillotine. The image on the left was my inspiration (I can’t find the original image source – if you can direct me to it, please let me know!). The center image is the excellent trial that my hairdresser did for me (the great/terrible thing about short hair is that you get to visit your hairdresser often, and mine has been helping me with some of these unusual styles). On the right is my final version from Costume College, which is probably too coiffed and attractive, and I realize that my hair is technically too LONG for this style! I don’t get to say that often.

This set of images is from a couple different nights at Camp Hollywood. Left and center are from “Cabaret Night”, so in a nod to Weimar Berlin I wore a man’s suit and fingerwaved my hair. The photo on the right is from the very next night, when my husband and I participated in a swing dance tribute performance for the 90th anniversary of the Venice Beach Clip. No way am I ever gonna have hair as long and thick as Genevieve Grazis, and no way am I ready for dancing with fake hair, but I can still do some good curl fluff and wear a big bow for the right effect. As a non-hair-person who has had to become somewhat adept with her hair, it blows my mind to look at this set of photos and see that the exact same haircut can produce such different looks.

Irene and Vernon Castle image source from The Whirl of Life (1915).

This final short hair look was what I wore to the Great War Gallop. This style was loosely inspired by Irene Castle, who led the bob trend by chopping off her hair in all the way back in 1914! Again, for this style, I just used a curling iron all over and sculpted my “curl fluff” into an appropriate shape/silhouette for the period.

Do you have short hair? How do you handle it when playing historical dress-up? Are there other short hair icons I should attempt to emulate?

Past Patterns #9384: Ladies’ Three or Four-Piece Skirt: Circa 1917
Historical Fashion, pattern, Sewing, WWI

Past Patterns #9384: Ladies’ Three or Four-Piece Skirt: Circa 1917

We’re finally at the end of this Teens costume series! Today we’re going to look at the Past Patterns #9384 Ladies’ Three or Four-Piece Skirt.

With this skirt pattern, we’re back into the category of “only for the brave”. Like the Past Patterns’ Princess Slip pattern, this skirt pattern is a single-size repro with copies of only the original sparse instructions and pattern markings. I found an ad for this pattern in the October 1916 issue of the Ladies’ Home Journal, but unfortunately there were no fun fashion illustrations of it to share.

As a reminder, Christina (in the pink) and I used this same skirt pattern in our outfits for the Great War Gallop. And in looking through my old photo files, I found pics of the version Lauren made AGES ago! (Circa 2011?) Christina and Lauren both made version A, and I made version B.

Front page of instructions
Back page of instructions

Since I made view B, I used pieces 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7. I should have also used piece 4, but I got so wrapped up in trying to figure out how the belt worked that I forgot it also had a waistband, so I wound up doing an overcomplicated internal waist facing instead. Oops!

  • Skirt Side
  • Skirt Back
  • Skirt Front
Waistband hook, snaps, and buttons for closures. The snaps are not mentioned in the instructions ANYWHERE, so it took me a while to figure out how this placket closure should work.
Waistband interior construction. I attached some heavy-duty waistband interfacing to the brown petersham facing, which provides a really excellent level of support. I also added stay-tape to the sideseams for additional support. An original would probably use a skinny twill tape for support on the sideseams, but this modern stuff is what I had in my stash.
Pocket Detail. I cut 4 of the pocket pieces to make a double-sided pocket, so that the face of the fabric is visible on both sides when the flap is folded down. I did mine as a patch pocket and the flap is not actually functional.
Skirt in Progress. I’m not normally so diligent about things like thread marking, but this time I was very glad I did it. It made the snap and button placement MUCH easier to do accurately. I wasn’t completely pleased with the shape of the skirt at this point – it was too long and not full enough at the hem, even with a petticoat under it.
  • Sleeve wigan as hem interfacing
  • This was a BEAST of a hem to sew, but I’m pleased with the final look!

In order to remedy the soft hem, I found some sleeve wigan in my stash and added it to the skirt hem. I was worried it might be too stiff, but since it is on the bias I think it gives just the right amount of support!

Costumer’s Guild West Holiday Tea
Historical Fashion, Holidays, Outings

Costumer’s Guild West Holiday Tea

A couple weeks ago I had an opportunity to wear my new Teens outfit again to the Costumer’s Guild West Holiday Tea. The unofficial theme was 19th Century, but that means it’s a bit of a free-for-all in terms of time period. It’s just a nice excuse to get dressed up and meet up with friends! I carpooled with my friend Laura, and she was very gracious that I made us late for the event. I’m not used to anyone in L.A. being punctual, so I was very surprised to be among the last to arrive!

Beth and Laura, wearing 1910s and 1950s

I don’t have a “proper” hat for this outfit yet, but since the main event was afternoon tea, I decided to throw on a little knit beret. It’s a bit small for the period, but if I have to do it wrong, I figure I might as well err on the side of being more chic! I realize now that I did miss out on the chance to add some nutty pom-poms onto it, though.

A properly-sized Teens Tam!

“Tam-o’-shanters have a new place owing to the popularity of skating and sweaters”
The Delineator for December, 1919, page 125

The tea spread!
Photo by Val LaBore

Folkwear Armistice Blouse
Historical Fashion, pattern, Sewing, WWI

Folkwear Armistice Blouse

  • Christina, Charlton, and Beth at The Great War Gallop

We’re finally done with undies and can finally look at the real clothes from my Teens costume! About half the women at the Great War Gallop used the Folkwear Armistice Blouse pattern, which was both amusing and also interesting to see how they all came out. Christina and I (in the pic above) were complete pattern twins, and used the same blouse AND skirt pattern! She made the skirt with the overlay drape, and I did the version with patch pockets. 

I actually made this blouse last summer for Costume College to wear as part of an “adventurer” outfit, but I didn’t finish my jodhpurs in time, so the blouse has gone unworn until now. My recollection of making it is a bit hazy, but I remember it going together fairly easily, and the pattern has modern step-by-step instructions. Now that I’ve spent more time researching the Teens, I believe this pattern is a modern interpretation of the period style and neither the fit nor the construction are 100% accurate, but it is very close and is accessible to a modern sewer. If you can make a modern blouse, you can make this.

As with most everything I make, there are still a few finishing details that are still unfinished! Because it’s worn tucked in, I never hemmed the bottom edge, and the back gathering is secured with a safety pin instead of the cute little belt that it’s supposed to have. I will probably eventually add the belt but never hem it.

I do wish the center panel were a little higher – it looks okay in these photos, but my chemise & slip are constantly threatening to peek out the top. And I don’t love the wide neck (which is exacerbated by my using too-heavy interfacing), but seeing that most everyone’s versions have a wide neck made me feel better about mine. But overall I’m pleased with it. I’ve wanted to make this blouse for many years!!

Past Patterns 1912-1916 Princess Slip
1912, Edwardian, Historical Fashion, Sewing, WWI

Past Patterns 1912-1916 Princess Slip

Now we’re getting into the territory of “only for the brave”. This slip pattern is a single-size, straight-up repro of a Ladies Home Journal pattern, reproduced by Past Patterns (Pattern #9206: Ladies’ and Misses’ Dart-Fitted Princess Slip: Circa 1912-1916). The instructions are a single sheet of paper with the front and back of the pattern envelope photocopied on it. Honestly, the only reason I chose to do a princess slip instead of a separate corset cover/petticoat was because I wanted to cut down on the number of garments I had to make in a short period of time, but using an original pattern is not a path I recommend for new sewers. The actual sewing wasn’t hard, but deciphering the pattern did take some work.

Below you can see the total extent of the instructions. Don’t be fooled by the chunks of text that say “HELPS” and “FOLLOW THESE EASY DIRECTIONS”! Most of that text is generic and not specific to this pattern, so nearly all of the instructions are what you see here in the illustrations. I decided that the button opening is supposed to be on the back for all views, and I’m still not sure if you’re supposed to use only the circular flounce or the gathered flounce (but I cut all the pieces before I started questioning that, so I ended up using ALL THE FLOUNCES for extra floof).

  • Front Instructions
  • Back Instructions

The pattern states that it’s for size 34″ bust, 24″ waist, 37″ hips, but  frequently these old patterns have quite a bit of ease. I’m 2″-4″ bigger than those measurements throughout, and I still ended up pinching out more from the darts.

I used the same fabric and neckline lace as on my combinations. Because this slip has a CB opening, I decided to stitch my drawstring “ribbon” to it, which works well for wearing but isn’t great for laundry – I can’t remove the ribbon when it goes in the washer, so it gets a bit tangled.

  • CB opening – outside
  • CB opening – inside

Unlike with my combinations, for the slip I *did* remember to cut down the armholes before finishing them. I eyeballed the armhole placement and snipped the curve to open up to that point. This is something you want to mark while it’s on a body/dressform, so you can see in 3-D where you want the armhole to be. The armhole then got the bias tape treatment to finish it off.

Finally, the flounce! These lace strips were actually the first bits of heirloom sewing I did – I wanted to practice my technique before doing any neckline lace. Again, I followed the methods outlined on the Wearing History blog, with the only modification of using strips of receipt paper as a tear-away interfacing for support.

  • Finished lace panel
  • Narrow zigzag to join strips of lace

There are 6 panels total, and I joined them together with French seams after applying the lace. Then I hemmed the bottom, gathered the top, and  zigzagged it and the circular flounce to the bottom of the petticoat. Eventually that raw top edge should get covered with some wide beading lace with a pretty ribbon, but because that part is decorative and not functional, I’m waiting to find something affordable. Lace is not cheap! This insertion lace was already sitting in my stash – another lucky find from long ago.

  • Finished gathered flounce
  • Circular flounce under the gathered flounce

Done with undies for now! Whew. Next up – blouse and skirt!