2018 Costume review

Sorry for neglecting you all once again and if you are still here thank you for your patience!

Inspired by several things mostly the #2018bestnine and several reviews of 2018 by other historical costumers. Somehow I really had the feeling I hadn't accomplished that much this year but looking back that is probably because I didn't get round to the things I planned!

It started of as the year of the 1890's green velvet Belle Epoque gown on which I started working on at the start of the year. I took a, planned detour, to make an early medieval gown from 1018. And then 2018 became the year of the 1920's! Not only did I make my own 1920's tea dress but also the three piece suit for my husband. In which I think he looked very smart, even if I say so myself. After that I returned to work on my green velvet Belle Epoque Evening gown and after the soirée in October I made a underbodice to make it suitable for daywear. On top of that I was able to help my son his best friend make a Doctor Strange costume for Comic Con. All in all not bad for a years work, so I end 2018 with a content feeling and way too much ideas for 2019!

I wish you all a very happy, healthy and creative 2019!

All squared up and still now throw

When I was in the hospital my husband brought me my crochet stuff so I could continue to work on our Granny Square Christmas Throw (or Afghan). He knows that having to sit still drives me nuts, so having my crochet stuff there was really great.

I started working on the throw September 2015, when I knew we where going to move house. I liked the idea of working on something for the new house but couldn't do any big projects because I needed to start sorting and packing stuff. Those little squares are nice little and fast projects you can work on in between other things. Unfortunately I ran out of yarn and the colors I needed weren't being sold anymore.
Fast forward to a year later. I remember the throw and start looking on secondhand websites for the yarn and lo and behold I stumble on the right colors in the right amount of yarn!

Now I have enough to make a throw I start getting annoyed with the small size of my squares. If I have to make a whole blanket with them I will have to make an enormous amount of them to get the right size. So I decided to add another row of stitches.

before

after

Around the 10th of  November I had enough squares, a 170 of them to be exact. Then it was time to block them to get a nicer shape.

a granny square, after blocking, in the proces of being blocked and before blocking.

The difference is subtle but the blocked square does look neater.

I tried two methods of joining the squares together and decided to go with the bottom version.

But after making two pieces like this I decided the end result is too wonky. So I am all squared up but still now throw! (Bad pun I know but I can never resist one)

Yikes!

The (in)famous blue coat.

Is it just me or does Murphy's law always apply for those pieces of costume that need to be made in a hurry?

It all started December last year when my son decided that he wanted a grown-up 19th century costume. I feel like making such a complicated outfit for a growing young man is a horrible waste of time so we decided to purchase most of the costume pieces second hand. Vintage is still more affordable than making myself. So it seemed like a good idea and it was! We bought a set consisting of a coat, vest and a pair of pants. The pant weren't in my son his size, he quite long and slender, so a pair of pants needed to be made. As I had been promising my husband a new pair of pants, I decided to not work on a costume for myself this year and concentrate on making my two handsome men look even better.

The trouser for son were finished on schedule and the trousers for my husband were also finished on schedule somewhere at the end of September or beginning of October. After looking for months we decided that the overcoat or cloak needed to be made. We couldn't find a suitable one that also fitted my son. When asked he told me that he wanted a coat not a cloak. We plenty of time until the event I agreed to making a coat for him. I had already ordered the fabric when disaster struck. I got ill, it started out harmeless enough but it turned nasty and I was even hospitalized for five days. After that I needed time to recover. All in all I lost more than a month of sewing time!

I had previously bought two coat patterns, one Victorian style (Simplicity 2517 The Sherlock Holmes Coat) and one Edwardian style (Simplicity 2581 Edwardian Driving Coat).

To my great dismay my son wasn't really interested in either one of them. When I asked him what kind of coat he wanted he showed me this picture.

He wanted the blue coat from Fantastic Beast and where to find them. I wasn't really thrilled about it because the film is set in the mid nineteen twenties but as we consider ourselves lucky that he still wants to join us at events. We thought that a little cheating wouldn't be that bad. 

I ended up combing the patterns I already owned and I am happy to say the coat is almost finished but it has been a real struggle. The event is this Saturday and there is still an awful lot to do! First things first, finishing the (in)famous blue coat.

For those of you in the neighborhood. Our group will be attending this event:

Whitsun Early Middle Ages event, Archeon

This years Whitsun event was really quiet compared to other years with a lot of people we know attending another event. On the other hand the atmosphere was really relaxed and I had a great time with the people who were there and my husband was happy to see more of me. Usually I spend a lot of time away from our tent chatting with others. The weather forecast had been really bad all week and we expected the worst. Fortunately I wasn't too bad, the nights were cold but only a couple of showers during the day. It was great to have some time off from working on our house and I actually did some sewing and nalebinding.

You can find more pictures of this event on our  Facebook page.

Catwalk, historical fashion exhibition, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

 Historical fashion exhibitions seem to be in fashion. I'm not complaining but I am going broke! Still I don't want to miss a thing. Who knows how long it will take before there is another one. This time it was the Catwalk exhibition in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam that had my undivided attention.

Here a very small selection of my photograps:

Robe à la Française, c. 1765 - 1775

Mantua dress with train, c.1759 

Robe à la Française, c. 1765 -1775

Regency Full Evening Dress with train, 1802-1812, silk and gilt brass 

Ball dress of Blonde Lace, 1815-20, silk.

Regency Riding Habit, c. 1826, wool 

Oval Crinoline Day dress, 1863-66, cotton and silk.

Early Bustle day dress 1868-72 

Belle Epoque Dress 1894-95 

Edwardian Coat Suit, linen ca. 1903

Edwardian Wedding dress, 1902, silk and lace 

For much more eyecandy visit my facebook photoalbum.

I am currently working on two project. A small one, a linen 14th century  saint brigitta's coif and a pair of 19th century woollen trousers for my husband. Progress is very slow but at least I am doing creative stuff again!

Ode to Dutch Fashion/Ode aan de Nederlandse Mode

Being thoroughly fed up with working on the house and not doing any costuming related things. I decided it was time for a treat and went to the Ode to Dutch Fashion exhibit in the Gemeentemuseum in Den Haag with a friend. Ode to Dutch Fashion features more than a hundred creations from the history of fashion in the Netherlands from 1900 to 2015 with some much older pieces. Although my main interest is historical fashion, which will become apparant when you see my pictures, I had a really great time.
I forgot to the photograph a lot of the information provided with the costumes. That is why it is missing under a lot of the pictures. Just enjoy and do a game of guess the era! ;-)

Silk dress 1826-1827

Silk dress 1850-1855

Female Jacket 

ca. 1770-1780

Chintz with linen lining

detail of quilted skirt.

 Corset, 18th century, silk, linen with boning

Skirt, 1750-1800, quilted silk

Jacket ca. 1800-1850

Wool damask, metal

Silk dress, Robe ajustée

ca. 1765-1775

Wool damask skirt 18th century

Dress and cape worn by Her Majesty Queen Maxima,

at the investiture of His Majesty King Willem Alexander,

30th of April 2013

(l) Silk cocktail ensemble by Maison Kuiper, Zeist, 1966

(r) Wool ensemble by Koos van den Akker, 1966

A very inspiring 1970's crochet dress.

Fun idea but I think I'll pass.

This is a contemporary design 

and I loved the Edwardian feel.

Looks good on me, doesn't it! ;-)

The museum also provided some costumes you could try on and ofcourse I couldn't resist a chance to play dress up.

It was a one size fits none dress and the bustle was way to low but trying it on was great fun.