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Jane Austen Evening

Jane Austen Evening and Laughing Moon #138
19th Century, Historical Fashion, Jane Austen Evening, Regency, Sewing Pattern

Jane Austen Evening and Laughing Moon #138

Dancing is back! Last night I attended the Jane Austen Evening (my second large event in the same month!). Dances were danced, cookies were eaten, photos were took.

I used Laughing Moon pattern #138 for my dress, with long stays (#LM115) and a bodiced petticoat (#LM132) underneath. Seriously, you can’t go wrong with Laughing Moon Regency patterns! They are high quality with great instructions, they sew up beautifully and work together well.

I was aiming for c.1820 for this ensemble, and the pattern worked perfectly for that. It has the slightly lower waistline and the trapezoidal (a-line) skirt emblematic of the decade. I made Renaissance inspired puffy sleeves with sleeve puffs, which were really the only tricky part of the dress, but the instructions laid out the process clearly.

The sleeves get individually faced and turned, similar to bound buttonholes, and then the gathered puffs get whipped in by hand to the openings. I did add an additional flatlining of my thin taffeta after the puffs were inserted, both to act as more support and to protect the underside of the sleeve from getting my hands caught in the openings.

The backside of my main fabric has lots of delicate “floats” from the weave design and I needed a little more oomph to the body of the skirt, so rather than making a separate petticoat (in addition to the bodiced petticoat) I opted to fully line the skirt with more cream taffeta. I honestly hate dealing with how many layers are involved with historical costuming (oops? I don’t think I’m supposed to admit that) and a lining both protects the skirt and simplifies things for me. I prefer lining modern dresses and skirts to wearing slips, too.

Inspiration dress from c.1818-1822
https://agreeabletyrant.dar.org/gallery/1810s/figured-silk-sarsnet-dress/
Typical Undergarments for 1820s
https://agreeabletyrant.dar.org/gallery/1820s/undergarments/

Other details: I lowered the neckline of the “low” neckline an additional 1″, shortened the skirt 2″, and added drawstrings to the neckline and the waist. The bustpoint is a little high on me, so if I make this again I’ll lower the dart point 1″ and maybe split the dart into 2.

Wig: Styled by me; Jewelry: Monet; Reticule, Shoes, Gloves: Amazon

One Step at a Time
*, 19th Century, Jane Austen Evening, Sewing

One Step at a Time

I’m in the middle of sewing a new Regency dress right now for our local Jane Austen Evening. (Yay, it’s back after the world’s multi-year hiatus!) I’m excited to have a new dress for one of my favorite events, it’s coming along ok, but I keep getting overwhelmed by it. It’s not the biggest project and I haven’t hit any major problems, but I do need to have it finished in the next 10 days and I hate sewing to deadlines. (When I wrote that sentence I almost jumped up from my computer to go work on it again because it stressed me out.)

It’s REALLY REALLY easy to get overwhelmed working on a big costume project. Not only is there lots of sewing to do, but you have to think of all the other styling elements – hair, shoes, jewelry, makeup, stockings, gloves, a fan, a reticule…my mind is spinning. And like I said, this isn’t even the biggest costume project. How to handle all that?

I like lists. A lot. In fact, I’m going to grab a 3×5 card in a second to write down that list of things I need to have. It’s easy to let those little things sit until the last second, but then it’s too late to, say, replace your worn out gloves or get a new fan. So I need to check on all those things while I still have time to do something about them and chuck them all in a box to keep them together until the event.

Then it’s back to sewing. It’s stressing me out, and I’ve put together loads of garments that are similar to this. The problem isn’t the project, it’s my brain. I’m trying to do the project on Easy Mode – I’m working with a great pattern (Laughing Moon #138) and not deviating from the pattern too much. I know which steps are likely to take much longer than one would expect (sleeves, I’m looking at you), and trying to budget enough time for those. But still, my mind keeps jumping ahead to all the zillion little steps that go into a project like this.

The thing is, though, you can only work on one thing at a time. It’s silly to worry about the sleeves while working on the bodice, or about the skirt while working on the sleeves. I can’t do anything about those sections yet and I’ll get to them in time. The thing that is helping me the most is to put those future parts out of my mind and to focus on what’s in front of me RIGHT NOW. Gather the sleeve caps. Sew the underarm. Attach the cuff. Finish the cuff. Attach sleeve to dress. Each of these steps will take as long as they take, and I can’t do the next thing until the last one is finished. So don’t worry about all that. Just do one step at a time.

Laughing Moon #138, under construction

Regency Evening Gown 2012

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have some process shots of creating my dress for this year’s Jane Austen Evening. My dress was inspired by this one from the exhibit Napoleon: The Empire of Fashion – I’ve drooled over the dress ever since I bought the catalog, and when I found some sheer striped fabric in the LA garment district I decided to give it a shot.
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Inspiration
The below 3 images are found via Thomason Photography. I was happy to find this website, because the exhibit catalog doesn’t show the sleeve clearly. I never found a photo of the back, so I just made it up based on my previous Regency dresses.

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Draping

Earlier this year I bought my very first dress form, Beatrice, and she was a life saver for this project. I took all my measurements with my stays on, then put them on her, laced and padded her out to match. I draped the bodice directly on top and only had 2 fittings from start to finish, and honestly the bodice of this dress fits me better than anything else in my closet. 
I had 2 fabrics to work with, my base satin and the sheer striped fabric. First step was draping the satin underlayer – I wasn’t sure exactly where I wanted the neckline, so I marked a couple options and picked one in my first fitting. I think(?) I picked the lower one.

I like to make notes on my muslins during draping or fitting, so that I remember what to do to the pattern. I decided to have drawstring closures at the neck and waistline, and because I wanted a slight gathered effect, I added a little extra to the CB of the pattern when I traced off my muslin.
I don’t have a shot of the side view, but I kept the armhole really high, right under the armpit. High armholes are not the standard in today’s clothing but they are crucial for good movement (especially in non-stretch fabrics!), and since I would be dancing in this dress I wanted to be able to lift my arms!

Next I draped my sheer striped fabric on top of my muslin. Luckily this fabric was not expensive, so I bought extra and decided to drape directly in the real fabric, and knew I could start over if I had too. As you can see, the bodice is bias like the original. Love directional stripes! (OK, all stripes are directional, but you know what I mean.)
 I don’t even want to remember how long it took me to drape this darn bodice! Hours, literally. Getting all the tucks and poufiness placed correctly and flatteringly was really hard. I draped half, marked all the tucks, and then transfered it to the other side on the flat. The over layers of the bodice are flatlined to the satin.
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Construction

The rest was fairly easy! So of course I didn’t take process shots of it, grr. The neckline is finished with bias binding casing and trimmed with lace and a beaded trim, and I slipstitched the waistline seam allowance closed to create a casing. Here’s the inside view of the front – yes, I overlocked the inside seam allowances!
For the skirt and sleeves, I used my modified Sense & Sensibility pattern from last year and just added the striped overskirt, which was a couple of rectangles with a bunch of box pleats. I did the CB placket wrong because the edges are supposed to butt up to each other, but my placket is for edges that overlap. Oh well, that’s nothing a little hook and eye can’t fix!
The Finished Dress!!
Whew! Thanks for indulging me that post, and congrats if you made it to the end! 😉

Jane Austen Evening 2012

This past Saturday Chris and I attended the 14th Annual Jane Austen Evening in Pasadena, CA. This is our 3rd time attending, and I think we have a better time every year! It’s such a fun event – we see a few people regularly at other events, but lot of attendees we only see at the dance practices and the event, and then we all disappear for 11 months until the following January.
I got a fancy-pants camera for Christmas, and I’m still just learning how to use it (where’s the zoom again?), and this was it’s first official outing. Hopefully this means I’ll have lots of fab pictures for you in the future!
This year we were greeted by the rabble protesting us 1% who are high-falutin’ enough to attend a sumputous tea and ball…

Chris and I shared tea with Post-Captain Paul and his lovely partner, Kendra. 
(hope I got the rank correct! I’m hopeless about military things.)

Chris wore the same ensemble I made for him last year – I was hoping to make a pair of trousers for him this year, but didn’t have enough time. That’s why the photo is from the waist up. 😉

My dress was inspired by a gown from the exhibit Napoleon: The Empire of Fashion. I fell in love with this gown when I bought the exhibit catalog, and when I found the sheer striped fabric I knew I had to give it a try. It’s not intended as an exact copy, but I guess it turned out pretty darn close – several people recognized it from the original, which was a pleasant and unexpected surprise!

I did take some process shots of creating my dress – I guess I should post those soon, right?
The hall filled with dancing.

Lauren looked amazing as always, and had a new turban and accessories to go with a dress from last year. I’m so glad she wore this dress for another outing, it’s just stunning!

Beautiful lineup of costumers and their creations, including Katherine of The Fashionable Past, Loren of The Costumer’s Closet, and Lauren of Wearing History. Chris saw our group of ladies lined up for a photo op and spied all the cameras sitting on a table, quickly grabbed all of them and started shooting. And who says that chivalry is dead? 😉
All in all, the Jane Austen Evening was a huge success, like always. It’s growing more and more popular every year, and tickets sold out this year in less than a week! The date for next year is already set for January 26, 2013, and if you are interested in attending I recommend joining the email list and buying tickets as soon as they go on sale!

Sense and Sensibility Chemise

Today is the end of the long Thanksgiving weekend here in the US, and I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it! We visited with family on Wednesday and Thursday, and on Friday Chris and I met up with friends to go see the Debbie Reynolds costume auction preview in Beverly Hills. (other) Chris from wacky tacky and Lauren from Wearing History did write-ups of our visit, so pop over to check those out!

In other news, I’ve been buckling down and starting to work on some Regency wear in earnest – the annual Jane Austen Evening is at the end of January, so it’s time to get going!
This week I made a chemise from the Sense and Sensibility Underthings pattern. It was nice to work on such an easy-going garment – I tend to get wrapped up in fitting, make 3 mockups, and then burn out before getting to the real thing! I’m usually of the tank-top-is-good-enough opinion when it comes to undergarments that won’t be seen, but someday I want to make a nice sheer white gown, so having a proper chemise is important. It was very easy to put together, and I even did the flat felled seams. Loose fit and cotton? I might have to make more clothing like that…
I only have 2 comments regarding this pattern:
1) Even though I technically fall into the Medium size category, I made the Small chemise. It’s plenty big enough! On the next one I might even remove some of the fullness – I’d rather have a slimmer chemise and add more fullness with a petticoat, if necessary.
2) For the bias casing around the neckline, the instructions say to stitch the bias tape to the neck, then fold back 1/4″ on the other side of the bias tape. That’s insanely hard! Press back the 1/4″ BEFORE you stitch the bias tape to the neckline and you’ll be much happier.
Here some photos of Beatrice wearing my chemise over the Mantua Maker stays…the stays are basically done, but I’m not entirely happy with them and still want to tweak them. But that’s for another post!
Blurry Photo – whoops! :o) I shortened the chemise hem length only about an inch, and probably shouldn’t have even done that. It rides up a little with the stays on.
I really like the drawstring at the neckline – it’s adjustable so you can raise or lower the neckline depending on your gown. The strings are on the inside, and you tie it at the front.
Obviously, the back neckline is adjustable too. 🙂 (Re: the stays, yes I did cross-lacing instead of spiral. I think it would be nearly impossible to get dressed in rear opening spiral laced stays without a maid!) 
Side View illustrating how the stays only come halfway up the breast, and the chemise holds in the top – here’s a great post about the proper fit of stays on the Oregon Regency Society blog.

Jane Austen Evening

Last Saturday we attended the 2011 Jane Austen Evening – as most of you know, I’ve been sewing for this event for weeks, and the projects inspired me to start blogging. Whew! What fun, but I’m glad that now I get to enjoy my memories instead of worrying about what else I should be sewing!
My dress is from the classic Sensibility pattern, but I’ve fit and altered the bodice quite extensively. My version has a lower and wider neckline, I added to the bust height so that it can stay down around my ribcage and not ride up, I interlined the sleeves with organza to make them pouf, and updated the back closure to lacing instead of buttons.
Catching a few rays of daylight outside the ball.

 
Closest pictures I have to a front and back view of my dress. 
I’m pretty sure I got more compliments on my jewelry than my dress. As it should be!

With one of my dearest friends, Ashley. It was her first Regency Ball, and I think she’s hooked too!

Adam (Ashley’s husband) was a great sport. I think he was my favorite dance partner of the evening – he really got into the spirit, and took every opportunity to strike a dapper pose. 🙂

I think Chris and I usually look like this when we dance – him teasing me, and me looking mad. 😉

High Tea before the ball.
Sweets – sweet!
The Tea Master at work – all the servers wore period outfits, which was a nice touch.
One fellow setting up his table.

A couple of the nicely decorated tables. I don’t want to bother bringing all that china, but on Ashley’s suggestion I’m going to bring a tablecloth and centerpiece next year.
I have more pictures of the impressive menswear at the Ball that I’ll be sharing soon over at Fashioning Beau Brummell – please check that out too!
I don’t have many pictures of the dancing (I was too busy having fun!), but if you want to see more, check out the Jane Austen Evening Facebook page – there is loads more eye candy there!