Duck handle

Yesterday my son and I visited his great grandmother (from his father's side) and she gave me this lovely duck handle. Which I presume is made from celluloid, an early type of plastic. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, often used to replace ivory and bone.

Although it's not the "real" thing and I have no clue how old it is. I do think it's lovely and my husband will use it to make a victorian/edwardian style walking cane for me. Or maybe it will end up as the handle of a parasol or umbrella.

First day "event" of the year.

It was no big event, just a day in the Archeon with friends. But we had a really great time.

Tunic for a little viking

I am so happy that I managed to make a tunic for my son. Out of small pieces of fabric, we had left over from other projects. The brownishyellow is dyed with unionskins, the orangered has been dyed with madder. My son wants some embroidery on the neckline. But this will have to wait a little while. My next project will be a viking outfit for a young lady, the daughter of friends.

Adventures in hat making: Edwardian hat, part 10, progress report

Recently this Edwardian hat dated to 1912-1915 was for sale on Ebay. It is a little bit later than the period that I am aiming for. Which is 1909, but it has the same style of underbrim as my hat. And to my great relieve the date is not that far off. ;-)



Next step is (hand)sewing the satin ribbon the the side of the brim. And sewing the top of the hat to the brim. Both will have to be done by my husband, who has more strength in his hands then I do. Althoug I know that I am very lucky that he is kind enough to do it for me. I don't like having to depend on someone else, because I would like to finish this project as soon as possible. And now I have to wait, patiently, until he has the time. After he's done the best part of making a hat can begin; decorating!

Edwardian boater style hat

Edwardian ladies cycling outfit


Edwardian ladies golfing outfit.



I just purchased this Edwardian Boater style hat. It's probably from the 1970's but does have the right style for my "practical" Edwardian Spring Costume Set. It has a beige cotton skirt, a white cotton blouse and a ladies vest. I still need to make a black or dark blue bow tie. The skirt and the blouse need some alterations.



This blouse used to have pintucks but I never was really satisfied with how they came out. I thought it looked rather messy. So I replaced the pintucks with wide lace, that I lined with silk.

Adventures in hat making: Edwardian hat, part 9

The wonderunder that I used, to glue the two parts of my brim together. Got under my iron without me knowing it. And made a big white stain on the black woollen fabric ! Ofcourse I can't remove the stain.

The good news is that the answer is simple; a pleated, purple silk fabric over the underside of the brim. Just like I really wanted all along, for extra dramatic flair, but couldn't document for the Edwardian age.

After desperately searching the internet I found these pictures of Camille Clifford with the same type of hat.








The bad news is that I had to order new silk fabric. I think I am going to nickname this hat, the money pit!

Here more, not so period, but ever so lovely, inspiration for the hat.


Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady