A Victorian Ladies Winter Hood.

I had fallen in love with the pattern and had bought it but wasn't planning on making it soon. That was until the school that I work at borrowed some of my victorian/ edwardian costumes for their Christmas play Father Panov. The setting of the play was nostalgic with a russian feel. One of the costume pieces was a red cape and I thought it would look magnificent on the actress and have a more "russian feel"  with a hood.

side

back

The pattern I used for the hood part was Kay Fig, Ladies Winter Hood 1860, copy of an original pattern.

The school play was great and both actresses looked wonderful in their costumes which made me very proud! Dressing them was also a lot of fun and I loved being involved in the play.

After the play I added some extra black velvet decoration and wore it to the Deventer Dickens fair.The plan was to make it detachable. So I could wear the cape with or without it but if I have enough fabric left I might make the original attached cape from the pattern. Worn over the cape it's an extra layer for warmth but it will also be a nice costume piece on it's own.

Here is a good view of the front 

Photograph made by Benne Solinger

http://www.beninbeeld.nl/wordpress/

Creative Christmas

My family by now knows that I can't sit still and that I am a much happier person when I am doing something. When I am forced to sit still for long periods of time I get grumpy, bored, or sleepy.

So I made these...

  Christmas Eve

This was a felt diy kit given to me by a friend.

It is easy to do but I am not used to working with a glue gun.

Finished these on Christmas Day

These two broomstick lace neckwarmer had been

lying around nearly finished for quite some time.

Christmas Day and Boxing Day

I had bought the yarn and the crochet circle vest pattern 

to make myself a vest for fall.

I never got around to it....

Dickens festijn (Dickens fair) Deventer 2014

After looking at the weather forecast we decided to go to Dickens festijn (a Dickens fair) in Deventer on Sunday. It turned out to be a wise decision. The weather on Sunday was not too bad at all, while Saturdag was horrible. They even closed earlier due to the weather conditions.

On Friday, two days before the event, I decided that I really needed a pair of early victorian stays. Last year my back really ached because of the weight of my quilted petticoat. So when I finally decided which costume I was going to wear. Yes, first world problems I know... I ment making a pair of stays or having to deal with a serious backache all day.

I had bought Past Patterns pattern #705, Early to Mid Nineteenth Century Stays earlier this year. Not having enoug time for a "real" pair of stays, I made a mock-up of view A in some coutile I had left over.

view A (R) 1830-1860 Sensible stays

Although it's not pretty and some extra tweaking still has to been done. It did the trick and distributed the weight of the petticoat. Which made walking around much easier!

front

back

I don't have many pictures of yesterday and the ones I do have are not great. They have been taken at the end of the day when I was already really tired and it shows.

And here is our christmas card for all of you !

Anton Pieck Parade 2014

The weather forecasts had been frightfully bad the whole week. With horrid tales of heavy rains and storms. So when  it only rained a little for a short while last Saturday. We felt truly blessed! 

This year our son came along. It's doesn't happen often

that we have a picture with the three of us in it.

Two of my girlfriends joined us as well.

My 1840's dress looks better on her than it does on me!

This year the lady in the middle didn't need to borrow

one of my costumes. She made her own and

I think she did a splendid job!

This picture is taken in our "living"room.

My husband is teaching our son how to write 

with a dip pen.

It was his first time writing with a dip pen

but he got the hang of it almost immediately.

All three of the ladies where doing needlework.

A proper activity for fine victorian ladies.

Added bonus was that I got some work done.

I added some braid decoration to the 

1860's winter hood that I am currently working on.

Me at the end of the day, tired but happy.

One day victorian chemise

When I tried on my black victorian bustle costume I noticed that my white chemise was a visible at the neckline. Only a little but enough to annoy me! So ofcourse I just had to make a black version...
The pattern was Truly Victorian #102 and it took only one day to make.

I also added an antique veil to my top hat and a strap to my victorian purse. There are still some small things on my to-do-list  but I almost finished preparing for the Anton Pieck Parade.

Next year I would like to be completly dressed in black from the skin up. This means making a pair of black drawers and a bustle. I already dyed my white petticoat, originally the mock-up for my bustle skirt, black. With some small adjustments this could be used to complete the set.

Next year I would also like to make this hat from patterns of time.

It reminds me of the hat worn by Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler in Sherlock Holmes (2009)