A Lovely New Book and The Damsel Gown

I bought a book! I know, in the grand scheme of things this is not a big deal, but it is to me! This is not a textbook for my degree! I know *gasp*! AND it's a sewing book. Yay! (insert happy dance)

I bought The Tudor Tailor by Ninya Mikhaila and Jane Malcom-Davies from Amazon. (And the title of the book is linked to their website, totally drool worthy!)

The pretty book:

(http://www.amazon.com/The-Tudor-Tailor-Reconstructing-Sixteenth-Century/dp/0896762556/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362332744&sr=8-1&keywords=the+tudor+tailor) 

Needless to say it is an absolutely gorgeous book and I love it already! I have officially decided to love the era more than hate it right now. Late Elizabethan Nobles still scare me and some of the fashions are a bit particular to my tastes. Anyway! It makes the Damsel Dress so much easier! As well as the Tudor Sew-A-Long I am plotting for the summer. But I digress. 

Thanks to this book, I have spent the day plotting my gown. I feel quite proud of myself. I'm even price hunting! Which is really useful. If only I could discover if underpetticoats were lined....

Oh and there will be pics of the Regency servant attire soon. It's almost done and hands down one of the easiest historical outfits I've done! And probably the fastest!

Cheers!

Merlina

Historical Sew Forthnightly

I give up! I tried to be so organized, I planned, I thought things out! I had a simple and concise list of projects for the year. Well that went to hell way to easily. I have made none from the list and have already given in to insentient adding to the List. Fine! We shall try to think of an amended list and then understand how we lost the path in the first place. (Perhaps simply because I dislike doing what is expected)

There are several things at fault in these circumstances. First, I joined the Historical Sewing Fortnightly, hosted by Leimomi Oakes at The Dreamtress.

Click and be brought to the information! Tis better than me summarizing

Which in itself sounds like a really cool idea. Chances to sew things for fun and specific purposes. But the projects only last two weeks, and us nutcases, specifically me, can get a bit carried away with what we are planning. So far I had kind of a cop out. I thought I could finish this snood I started but then I got pissy and went against the plan (and decided I wanted silk). So I only finished the gold braid - which will eventually grace the new snood, as soon as I get silk. 

The next challenge is Peasants and Pioneers. I have a project that technically one third of the way through. I stepped out of my comfort zone and did Regency. So far I have short stays and a petticoat with shoulder straps. I've also cut out the lining for the dress bodice and have the rest of the dress planned. And I am doing all of it with stuff I have in my stash! (Except for the tapes and the cord for lacing.)

So far:

Short Stays over Colonial Shift

I know, not the world's greatest shot. This is what happens when Lover is at rehearsal and you really want costume pics. I made the stays out of muslin and reed boning. Based off the Simplicity Pattern 4052. I didn't have the directions so I made it up as I went. I didn't make a new shift due to the time restraint and the overall lack of suitable fabric. I don't have any pics of the petticoat yet. The gown planned to go over is a green drop front dress made of aged fabric (old sheets), and a heavier brown apron. It's a work dress and I promise there will be pics. 

Next post shall cover more of the new distractions and hopefully more project pics and obviously plotting.

Cheers, 

Merlina

Shoes! More Shoes!

I think we can all safely agree that Lauren at American Duchess rocks. I also think she doesn't sleep. She has just released a new pair of glorious historical shoes! Well not just one pair but three!

Taken from American Duchess (http://americanduchess.blogspot.com/2013/02/gibson-edwardian-shoes-giveaway.html)

They are Edwardian shoes in three colors as seen above. Think of all the possibilities! Titanic, Downton Abbey, and numerous others too. 

I love her shoes and since grad students do not have a budget that allows for pretty shoes like these, I'm gonna have to keep drooling about them. Oh if only......

And in case you want them too:

http://americanduchess.blogspot.com/2013/02/gibson-edwardian-shoes-giveaway.html

http://www.american-duchess.com/

Now you can drool with me.....

Cheers, 

Merlina

A Damsel in Distress or a Distressing Damsel?

It's clear, the list is off the table. I started with a nice, defined, short list of what I intended to make this year. 

• Pirate Garb
• Stays and Shift 
• Curtain-A-Long 
• Tudor Undergarments

The 1790s gown wasn't originally on the list, then I fell in love with theses shoes:

They're from the 1790s and the pic is from Vintage Textiles. I originally saw them on American Duchess ages ago and saved the pic, then found it when organizing files. One cannot make shoes and not have a dress to go with them! 

So despite the 1790s not being my favorite time, that joined the list. Then we decided to have some fun and run around at the NY Renaissance Faire as more than just the secret project. Lover and I like having characters to be. And since part of the Secret project also works as Hero Attire (Clue #3). We decided to also go as the Hero/Damsel. Which was more to design! But really fun to play, I mean who doesn't want to be rescued and swept off her feet every once and a while?

After look at tons of pics and trying to think of something, I came up with this:

I love the sleeves but I wanted to make the dress blue and that would look too much like Belle's out of Once Upon a Time:

 Both pics are from IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0305780/mediaindex)

Don't get me wrong, I like Belle as a character, sometimes, but I really don't want people to think that's who I'm dressed up as. And Once Upon a Time is a really good show, but I want this to be me, one of my characters. So back to the drawing board.

So I thought I need to be in a dress that could be a "working dress" for a noblewoman in the Elizabethan Times, because A) for some reason upper class women are the majority of the ones who run around damselling. and B) I wanted to be even a little historical.

Also because I fell in love with pretty purple linen off Renaissance Fabrics. Linen would be nice and cool for the hot summer. So I got bored and doodled, and since I can't find the sketch, I have a pic of the idea that I did off the Tudors Scene Maker off Doll Divine. It's a really cool way to get ideas and lose track of massive amounts of time.

The left image shows my Elizabethan character, Isabel, dressed for court before the Queen, and the right shows her as a damsel in a working dress which is really the same as court dress just with unlaced sleeves, sleeve rolls, no ruffs, partlet or fancy hair. The idea is to be on the summer progress with the Queen, ie like a RenFaire. 

My plan is to make the purple out of purple linen, the underskirt and sleeves out of damask or flocked fabric, and then have all the pieces. 

So now there are sixes things on the list instead of four. And I've already made some stuff I didn't even bother to list. Perhaps I need to learn to plan better. Or maybe it's just a costumer thing. 

Cheers 

Merlina

More Secret Project!

A brief post with more clues for the Super Secret Project. Hehe. It is well underway. In addition to the shirt, the pants are almost finished. Lover is doing quite well with his first sewing project. (I delegated pants because I still have far too many projects in progress) There may or may not be pictures, I can't decide, because they could give away the project. I don't think they will though.

For this project I get to work with buttons, such a rare thing. So here are some of the potential buttons:

Possible of for the shirt

Another possibility for the shirt. 

 Clasps. Right in the center there

These look the closest to what is needed. I will tell you I need more than one

 And pirate buttons! Which are not related to the rest but who doesn't like pirate buttons?

Keep guessing!

Merlina

Old World Tokens

It was tradition for ages for the lady to grant her knight a token of her affection. This was part of the rules of Courtly Love. Gradually it be came less formal and the gifts we give today to one's significant others are at least partially influenced by this. Originally, I think, it was a sleeve or glove then a ribbon when the knight was to joust for the lady. You can see this in several episode of The Tudors. (Yes not historically accurate but still pretty fun).

Tokens of affection were often handmade items. Keep in mind, noblewomen had time to sit and do all the embroidery and sewing. (Unlike us who scrounge for sewing time - well I do). Sometimes it would be family crests then it became initials, intertwined.

Now, before I show you all the pretty pictures, it must be said, I loathe embroidery. I rarely if ever do any of it. Yes, I did make a Christmas table runner, but that took me two years. So the fact I did this in about four days total, spread over a week, is a pretty big deal for me.

And now for the pictures.

In progress, letters intertwined and the crown beginning

More of the crown

Finished piece, except for the hemming around the edges. 

The colors are brighter in real life

I made it on a scrap of Aida cloth I found in the stash, and with DMC cotton embroidery thread. I found the pattern out of a book I found in the library. I don't remember the name but it was full of monograms. I blended a couple of the patterns together to get the image I liked. All the colors are symbolic and directly linked with Heraldry - a hobby and fascination of mine. 

I'm quite happy with it. And it's likely the only embroidery I'll do for the next couples years. Although embroidery floss is quite useful for eyelets.....

And no, no you don't get to know who the initials are for. ;)

Merlina

Cats and Sewing

We interrupt your regular sewing news to bring you cute news overload! It seems cats and sewing going hand in hand. Personally I blame all the moving pieces and feline curiosity. My sewing world is no exception. I have three but only two are truly interested in sewing and only one when it amuses her - which for those of you who know, is typical feline behavior. 

So allow me to introduce:

Mittens, our Queen. 

She is thirteen and a sweetheart, unless she doesn't want to be at any given moment. She likes sleeping on fresh from the dryer prewashed fabric and any fabric left laying around, especially fleece. She also likes to ensure the trim stays where it should, help lace stays and corsets, and most importantly, sample any snacks. 

As we can see: 

Cat and Vanilla milk shake 

Next in the feline social order is Zoey. She is seven and does not help, simply observes, and fights Mittens for the warm fabrics

Finally we have Sylvester

He is the most helpful. He keeps fabric from flying away when it's getting cut out, he kills all the invisible mice hiding in the wrinkles. He also captures run away spools of thread and bobbins. Sylvester is the Official Cat Who Sits Upon Things That Are Next to be Sewed, as well as Official Needle Watcher - he stares at the sewing needle to ensure it goes up and down at the same time. He learned the hard way not to touch. (No really wound, just hit on the head with part of the moving machine)

This is Sylvester and Mittens assisting with the pinning

And Sylvester invisible mouse hunting

Cats assist until more interesting things happen: 

Like Cardinals

And this is the end of the interruption, back to your regular scheduled programming!

Plus if you want more fun kitty and doggy sewing assistance check out some of the posts on American Duchess, and The Dreamstress. They also make awesome costumes/historical clothing. So much so that it scares me sometimes. I know there are others with sewing pets, I just can't remember those off the list I follow so I'm sorry if I forgot! 

Cheers!

Merlina