Hoop Skirts and the Austen Era (Regency)

 Hi all,
It's been a little while since I was able to update the blog- I blame it on grad school.  And life.  But, I have found a few stray minutes here and there to complete a few new projects!

So for those of you who remember last year's Regency gown, I hated it.  I started with cheap fabric and ended up with a cheap looking awful dress.  It was horrific.  I spent so many hours working on Matt's War of 1812 British Officer's Coat that I just sorta threw mine together.  It was too short, clung to me with static, and was just an embarrassment.
So, this year's Regency Ball in March 3rd required a new gown.  There was NO way I was going to be seen in public again like that!!!

 I decided to use the same pattern again this year since it worked ok last year and I spent all that time altering it to fit well!  The base pattern was a Sense and Sensibility Pattern, and I wouldn't recommend those to anyone who hasn't sewn a few gowns before.  They aren't necessarily the most straight forward patterns, or so I have found.
A few months ago I found a beautiful heavier weight white gauze embroidered with white and purplish gray flowers that I thought would be perfect for a new gown.  I paired that with a deep lavender heavy weight satin that I found at Joann's Fabrics of all places; usually I avoid that place like the plaque since they tend to have cheap plasticky fabrics.  This one is good, though.  I then paired those with a pewter lace that matches the branches for the flowers on the gauze perfectly!!

The gown has a bit of pleating in the back at the waist so it is a bit fuller in the back than it is in the front.  I shortened the overdress because that was a look that was very popular at the time, and also because I was about a yard short on the fabric (I had to guess the yardage when I bought it and it was SUPER expensive!!!).  I will likely wear a petticoat under the gown even though they tended not to do that, mostly because I am used to massive hoops or bustles when I dance and I am worried that I will get tangled up in the dress like I did last time!  With the cheap fabric of the old gown and the desert dry conditions of Colorado, I felt like I was stuck to my gown the whole afternoon!  This fabric is a LOT heavier, so it should be less of a problem, but I'm not taking any chances.

Since it is March in Colorado, I purchased a Spencer jacket last year to hopefully keep me warm.  I had forgotten that it was lavender when I purchased the fabric for the new gown, but it goes perfectly with it!  I purchased this from Bonnie Blue Arts on Etsy:  the construction is good, and her prices are more than reasonable.

 Here's a closeup of the neat lace that I picked up.  It was a bit of a pain to hand sew on, but it came out very well.

My other project was to create some new hoops that are smaller and earlier in the 1860s than my massive elliptical hoops of 1867.  I used Truly Victorian pattern "1858 Round Cage Crinoline," which I was very happy with.  The worst part of creating hoops, and the main reason I would never want to do this for a living, was plotting and sewing all the straight seams on the bag on the bottom of the hoops.  It is a necessary evil though- the whole purpose of the bag is so that you don't step through the cage by accident and trip yourself severely!  They honestly took me maybe 8 hours to complete and were straight forward.  I don't currently have any costumes to go over these quite yet, but this is the base work for some new ideas that I have coming up.  And, as you can see in the background, the birds got to help me which made them very happy.

I think that as far as upcoming projects are concerned, the list keeps getting longer and longer.  Matt and I attend Durango Heritage Days every year down in Durango, Colorado.  One of the fun parts about this weekend is that people stay in costume nearly constantly- a few even attend breakfast in dressing gowns and smoking jackets!  I plan on making Matt a neat Victorian era smoking jacket (not for actual smoking, of course!), and myself a night gown and dressing gown to go over it.  I picked up a neat Simplicity pattern called Vintage Closet: Turn of the Century to 1925 (5188) for my nightgown.  I picked up Ageless Patterns "1868 Smoking Jacket and Cap" for the jacket, and I'm sure that will require a good deal of alteration but should work ok.  I have found a bunch of extant examples of gowns and jackets so I will have lots of inspiration in that project!

Last week, my husband and I traveled with a bunch of our Victorian Dance friends on a cruise to the Caribbean islands.  During the day, we were your average tourist; we visited the sights, hung out on the beach, and ate an incredible amount of food.  Three of the evenings, however, were dedicated to Victorian Balls.  The first was the Captains Dinner, so instead of modern formal wear our group of 53 all showed up in our Victorian finery.  

The second was the Sapphire Ball, in which everyone's gown or costume had at least some blue on it.  

The third was a Cowboys and Calicos dance, which was much simpler given it was on the last night of the cruise and we had to scramble to pack up everything afterwards. 

One pretty nifty addition was a Victorian Swimsuit Party!  A large group of us visited one of the pools on board in 1890's swimwear and we certainly turned some heads!  Since I participated in the shenanigans, I don't have any photographs but will add a few soon if I can.

All in all, we had a fantastic time and I got to try out some new gowns.  The light green embroidered gown was trotted out for a second go round and it was quite nice.  The Starry Night Gown made it's debut and was very well received.  And, my swimsuit was just adorable!

One of the best parts of being involved in a large group of people that have the same interests as you is that you are able to bounce ideas off of everyone.  I came back from the cruise with about a million different ideas for The Next Project, although most of them will have to be on hold until the end of the semester (yeah, grad school).  On the list, however, are a Smoking Jacket or morning coat for Matt and a Dressing Gown for myself.  We came up with the idea for a Victorian Slumber Party a little too soon before the cruise, but one is in the works for next time!  Also, I need to work on a cute Calico dress for myself, I'm just not that happy with the split riding skirts and vest I purchased; they just aren't authentic enough.  I know I'm just being picky, but it's little projects like these that are fun!

Hopefully I will be posting again soon with a fun project, but until then, enjoy the gowns from the cruise!

Just a quick note: Gowns In Action

I must admit that as I typed the title for this post, I had the Muppets "Pigs In Space" theme going through my head!  Ah, the silliness that is brought on by cold medicine :)
Here's a photo taken at the R.M.S Titanic Dinner:

The Bottle Green Gown came out wonderfully, much better than I had ever anticipated.  I have an hourglass waist, so I wasn't sure how a high wasted gown would work with my figure.  Answer: it worked just fine.  I even find myself excited to wear it again, the sign of a successful project.

Here's an oldie but goodie, a bustle day dress that I created for the Durango Heritage Train last year.  It uses the Truly Victorian TV101 bustle, so a very 1880s look.  At one point, as I was strolling around Durango with some friends of mine, a 'gentleman' drove by in a car and yelled "Nice A*s".  Very classy!!!

I unfortunately didn't get any shots of the maiden voyage of my new Pale Green Natural Form Gown for the cruise, but my husband was sick with a head cold so my attention was elsewhere.  That said, the gown was a success!  Short of losing one of the flowers that was safety pinned on the side of the gown, everything went nicely.  It is a little long for flats, which is what I wore, so I will have to pick up a pair of flesh tone or white dance shoes with a bit of a heel so that I don't have to worry about stepping on the hem.  All in all, though, it was very nice and I got TONS of compliments.

A Slight Change of Plans...

Hi all!
So, after getting all psyched to make the emerald I have had a slight change of plans.  My husband and I were in Durango at Durango Heritage Festival this weekend and were chatting with a few fellow passengers on the Victorian Dance Cruise we will be going on in January.  That's right, Victorian Dance Cruise :)  It will be epic: 7 days; Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica; AND 3 Victorian Balls during the evenings!!!  Any of you that have ever been on a cruise ship know that things can be a little... tight on board.  Tiny rooms, miniatures of everything.  And my hoop skirts are 126 inches.  One of the balls, the Sapphire Ball, semi-requires a gown with a blue theme and originally I was thinking the  Sapphire and Snow Ballgown would be perfect.  But not with 126 inch hoops!!!  So, a new gown is required.
Hence the change in plans.  I will be making (hopefully in time!!!) a new natural form gown.  Another natural form gown would also make it so that I have no hoops or bustles to pack :)  Enter the Starry Night Gown:

Starry Night Gown

Keep in mind that the original gown, from La Mode Ilustree, was in black and white, so you'll have to use a bit of imagination here.  I am picturing a deep blue (perhaps royal?  navy? sapphire?) in either dupioni or shantung.  Silver lace to adorn the edges of the bodice and skirts.  And, I already found a lace that I love (see photo below)!!!  

Either silver or black bullion fringe trim for the skirts and bodice edge.  White lace for the neckline of the bodice, hopefully I can find some soft (aka not itchy) white lace.  I have some blue samples on order from NY Fashion Fabrics, which has provided me with fabrics in the past and they have been VERY good quality silks :)

All in all, I am pretty psyched about this project.  It will be tight to get it all done in time for January with classes and work etc, but I think I can make it happen.  I will also have to get over this nasty head cold that I picked up, although I don't anticipate that lasting too awfully long. 

Silver Lace

The patterns I have aren't quite perfect so I will have to do some re-working of those.  Not the end of the world, just a bit of extra work.  I'll keep you all appraised as samples come in and things begin to progress.

Help me choose the next gown :

Ok, everyone, I need a new project.  Honestly, if I don't have a project I feel a little lost.  Even if I had a project that I sat on for a few months (*cough* Green Gown *cough*), I at least still had a project to work on from time to time.  I am currently without.  OK, not completely without, I still have to finish the butterfly train on the Natural Form Gown for the cruise, but that's not a lot of work.
So, let's look at some options:

 This emerald gown could be interesting- not too much expensive trim, but it has a neat melding of greens.  And I don't really have a deep green Victorian gown.  I have the Sapphire and Snow antebellum gown, the Ruby Gown, and the new Pale Green Natural Form gown.

The Blue and White gown here caught my eye because it has some interesting trim work.

 This is an extant gown from the 1860s that I've had my eye on for a while.  If I can find the right fabric and lace, this gown could be absolutely stunning!!!

 This is another I've had in my archives for a while.  This one is more the 1880s massive bustle style that is always interesting.  It could be done either in deep blue or green, or for any color for that matter.

This is a pretty sweet natural form gown, but the lace may be SUPER expensive.  That is A LOT of fabric.

So what do you think?  Any gowns strike anyone as "Must Have"!?  I'll take a poll and see what you all think....

10/2/12 7pm MDT NOTE: I am adding 2 additional gowns, both blue (I seem to have a thing for that color).  Both are day dresses, not ball gowns.

 1870s Blue Paisley Gown

1870s Blue Plaid Gown

Finally, After all these years...

OK, so perhaps not years, but most certainly months.  I have finally completed the 1912 Bottle Green Gown with only 2 weeks to spare!!!  Honestly, it sat draped over my manikin for months on end because I was too terrified to do the zipper.  Yes, it's true, I have never put in a zipper before.  But, to my defense, I have never created a gown that wasn't period, and hence never needed to do one.  I thought about going with buttons, or snaps, or clips or some sort, but in the end the zipper made the most sense.  So, last week, I finally put the damned thing in.  And, honestly, even though I didn't actually follow the directions for the invisible zipper, everything turned out just fine.  From there, I decided to layer the netting overskirt by taking a 6 inch tuck and tacked it up underneath the beaded overskirt.  That shows off just a bit of the lighter lace and gives the gown a more 1912 look.  I also finally took the plunge and wove a ribbon through the beaded netting to pull that up in the same way the original gown was presented.  To cover that black ribbon, I took a hair clip a friend of mine made that I had purchased a while ago and looped it through the ribbon.  I think it really brings out some of the colors in the netting :)  I also put in a clasp at the top of the zipper to ensure the evil thing doesn't decide to unzip during dinner. I sort of make it a thing not to go dress-less in public!!!
Also featured is my little helper, Newton.  You can see him inspecting my work, probably asking "Why did you put in so much time on this thing when you could have just been petting the kitties?!?"
Fortunately, the gown fits perfectly (the benefit of making your own stuff!!!), and with a petticoat I already have the skirts look fabulous!!!  I purchased a Gibson Girl style wig to go with it, the closest I could get to 1912.  It will be a little 'dated' (about 5 years dated) but no one will likely notice.
My husband and I were lucky enough to find a vintage tailcoat at Wear It Again, Sam downtown.  I never expected to find one long enough to fit him, but it works pretty well.  We also found a tux shirt that fits perfectly!!!  A quick trip to the formals place in the mall furnished the cummerbund, bow tie, and shirt and cuff links.  He's going to be dashingly handsome!
Since I haven't written in so long, I can't remember if I mentioned the purpose of this little outing.  We will be attending a Titanic Ball at the Durango Heritage Festival.  We were assigned the personas of 2 actual First-class passengers: Thornton and Orian Davidson.  A quick web search provided life details and some pretty nice portraits:

Regarding Mr. Davidson:
"Mr Thornton Davidson was born 17 May 1880 the son of Sir Charles Peers Davidson, Chief Justice of the Quebec Supreme Court. The Davidson's were an indomitable Protestant family of United Empire Loyalists. His older brother Shirley and his fiancée, Eileen Hingston, died in a suicide pact by drowning in 1907 after Judge Davidson refused to allow Shirley to marry Eileen because she was a Roman Catholic.

Thornton Davidson was an accomplished yachtsman, " a sailor of intrepid daring and remarkable skill." He played hockey with the Montreal Victorias, played tennis and was a good horseman. He started as a teller at the Bank of Montreal, represented the Wall Street firm of Charles Head and Son in Montreal, then opened a brokerage house of his own with his partner, Robert Hickson.

He married Orian Hays, the second daughter of the president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in Montreal on 3 November 1906.

Since neither of them had been abroad Charles Hays invited them to join him on a business trip to England. They boarded the Titanic at Southampton and occupied Cabin B-71 (Ticket No. F.C. 12750, £52)."

Regarding Mrs. Davidson:

"Mrs Thornton Davidson (Orian Hays), 27, was born November 18, 1884 the daughter of Charles Melville Hays and Clara Jennings Gregg, She and her husband, Thorton Davidson were returning to their home in Montreal after a holiday in Paris. Mr and Mrs Davidson occupied cabin B-71. Mr and Mrs Hays occupied cabin B-69."

Going Green

Well, I apologize for being so lax in my updates, but between the wild fires and the heat, my sewing has been fairly limited.  I was, however, able to get portions of the bodice of the 1912 Bottle Green Gown finished :)  I line the bodice with bottle green satin, unfortunately not silk because I couldn't find any silk in the correct color and weave.  Then, I layered a beige lace with clear sequins over the front of the bodice.  I took the edging from that fabric and created a scalloped trim around the entire neckline.  That, of course, had to be hand sewn.  I then set up the fabric pieces for the black lace overbodice so that the sleeve edging was the scalloped edging of the fabric.  The front of the overbodice is a separate piece, and the 3 scallops are part of that.  I then hand sewed the lace to the inside of the scallops of the beige lace.  The neckline is gorgeous on, and the 2 laces give a ton of sparkle, I am pretty pleased with it.  I am still in the process of deciding whether to close the back portion of the gown with a zipper, which would not be historically correct.  The other option is hooks and eyes or snaps, which would be more historically correct, but probably not as 'sturdy.'  

I am currently working on the skirts- the green underskirt has the same beige trim as the bodice, but it rings the bottom of the gown.  There is then an overskirt of a black netting with velvet patterning on the bottom of the skirt, which has turned out to be a little tricky since it is hard to hide the seams on netting.

I also have been putting the finishing touches on the green natural form gown- hand tacking the lace trim on the pannier overskirt, hand sewing trim onto the lower seam of the bodice, etc.  So, coming along nicely!

I will try to be better about updates, but it all depends on how much sewing I am able to get done.  It is 102 degrees F today in Fort Collins, so being upstairs sewing is fairly miserable.  We don't have AC. Fun fun!