Two weeks before our first Victorian event during summer I decided that I needed a summer outfit. What followed can only be described as a sewing and costuming frenzy, of the kind I had promised myself long ago never to do again. In my defense I have been working on getting my traveling outfit and my son his Belle Epoque summer costume done, which left me with little time to work on a proper summer outfit for myself. More details on the construction etc of the outfit will be described in an another blog post.
For now I'll just share the lovely pictures of the event.
The photo's on this blog have been edited using https://photofunia.com/ online editing software, which was easy and great fun. I thought it was a great way of seeing if we had achieved the desired effect/look and I must admit that I am quite pleased with the end result.
I have been dreaming of riding a steamtrain in Victorian costume for a long time. A while ago my partner in crime found a steampunk group on Facebook we could join on one of their rides! Which led me to finally finish my 1890's /1900's walking/traveling costume. The cherry on top was that I was able to wear my new antique sunglasses for the first time.
Early morning traveling and costume dreams.
Really happy with my sunglasses!
At the start I was not convinced that I would like this oufit. The pale colour, the huge sleeves are both out of my comfort zone but I am actually very pleased with the end result.
Sometimes I forget that making historical costumes is my hobby because it really starts to feel like work. Only far less enjoyable because I actually love my job! This has been the case since the start of the year.
I started off with the Porpentina Goldstein's Grey Coat from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. After that came a pair of Belle Epoque Linen summer pants for my son. I made a black velvet medici belt for fun.
Picture from: Ik kan kostuumnaaien ca. 1911
Made with a pattern part from McCalls M7732
When that was finished I found out that I hated the fit of my (previous) Belle Epoque Jacket and really needed a new one before the 30th of May. I know that a lot of people in the costuming community, seem to, enjoy sewing until the night before the event. I am not one of those people! I really hate the frustration and stress and that effects te quality of my work. I can't remember cursing, messing up or bleeding on a project this much in ages.
After not being happy with the jacket I made with Past Patterns #113, 1899 - 1910 Spectator Jacket. I decided to give Black Snail Patterns #0715 Bicycle Jacket about 1895 a try.
The pattern from Black Snail looks an awful lot like an original from c. 1896-1898 in the MET.
Brown Wool Cycling Costume with Divided Skirt, c. 1896-1898, American, 2009.300.532a-d, Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Mr. and Mrs. Morton Sultzer, 1979
And even more like this original brown woollen cycling suit from 1896 also in the Met.
Brown Wool Cycling Costume with Divided Skirt, c. 1896-1898, American, Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; In memory of Mrs. Arthur Rideway Ryan (née Katherine Browne) from her children, Katherine B. Ryan, and Marcella Burnell and Arthur Martin Ryan, 1983
Althought I loved the strap details on the front and back of the jacket. I decided to leave them of the simplify the jacket and speed the whole process up.
While doing the research for this blog I came across a fascinating woman called Annie Londonderry,
the woman who cycled around the world in 1894. I won't go in to detail, just follow the link above if you want to know more or google her a bit, but I will share some pictures of her.
Here is a side by side comparison of both the jacket.
With on the left the jacket made with Past Patterns #113
and on the right Black Snail Patterns # 0715
After having worked with both patterns I think I can compare them a little. The Past Patterns Jacket was finished not too long ago but I started the project years ago and made a lot of modifications. I guess the main issue with the Past Patterns jacket is that I chose a fabric, heavy canvas, which is too stiff for this project. It ended up very uncomfortable to wear, which probably means that I won't be wearing it, ever. The other problem was that I had a lot of problems with getting in the sleeves properly and that is why it ended up on the UFO pile in the first place.
The Black Snail pattern description was didn't have much pictures, which is for me a big handicap, as I am a very visual person. I find translating words to actions in general quite hard and it gets worse if it's in a foreign language. English is not native language which means that my brain has two types of translations to do at once. So pictures are very helpful for me. The description clearly has been written by someone with a lot of sewing experience because I sometimes felt I missed a step or two. On the other hand I did learn some great sewing techniques and gained some sewing knowledge.
I liked the sleeves from from the Black Snails pattern the best. The fullness of the sleeve is pleated instead of gathered.
The Past Patterns jacket has box pleats in the back which I like a little bit better than the V shaped pleats of the Black Snails Pattern.
If I had to choose between the patterns, I would choose the Black Snails pattern but that is mainly because it has the look I was trying to achieve in the first place. In the end both patterns have their pro's and cons. A combination of both would be great but I am not going to make one anytime soon.
And this cute little soutache braid decoration...
Is there because I accidently damaged the fabric after the whole jacket had been sewn. "Sigh!"
With only the buttons left to be sewn on this project is nearly done. Time to start sewing and costuming for fun again! Oh but wait...my son still needs a vest (gilet) to go with his new Belle Epoque linen summer suit and a jacket and they need to be finished before the 13th of July. I am not allowed by my husband and son to try and make the jacket before the deadline. Probably has something to do with my unlady like behavior when I was working on my own jacket.
And because I am this corny and this big of a Queen fan:
Hello Everyone, I haven't been bloggin for a while. That doesn't mean I haven't been sewing but I have been busy doing some costume maintance (repairs, alterations etc.) aka the boring stuff! Also I've been trying to reduce my UFO Pile also known as costume time-out pile. I have this bad habit of losing interest when a project takes too long or when I didn't make the deadline (event) for it. To prevent the UFO pile from becoming a hill I start each year with finishing/altering/repairing at least one costume.
Rescued from the UFO pile:
Past Patterns #113, 1899-1900 spectator jacket
Beige canvas jacket (made from our old Ektorp Ikea couch cover) based upon Past Patterns #113, 1899-1900 spectator jacket. I modified the pattern, didn't really know what I was doing and didn't write down the changes that I made. So I guess it's save to say that the problems I encountered where all my own fault. Overall I am happy with the result, although I wouldn't recommend using this thick quality canvas for clothing. To be honest I can't even remember when I started this project! I started working on it because we where thinking of doing a steampunk event. I got stuck at the sleeves and found out that I was not cut out to do steampunk. As I wanted to stay authentic, I couldn't come up with any original idea and I was afraid to end up with a "let's glue some gears on it and call it steampunk" costume. So the whole idea and the jacket got abonded.
Repairs/alterations (the boring stuff):
I have several chemisettes and pairs of undersleeves but I
have to admit I am not a big fan of wearing them. So I sometimes sew the collar
and cuffs to the bodice. This set I now also have tacked to the outside of the
bodice to keep them in place. I don't know if it was done like this in the
victorian era but I think it is a very practical short cut.
Same style bodice, different kind of job. Repairing a boning that is poking out. I once bought a synthetic fiber boning casing as it was all I could get in time. It's stretchy, hard to work with and the boning is poking through it. I don't think I am buying this stuff ever again
There is this one project I am working on, but I am not doing it alone and it's not for me. Last year I helped one of my sons friends make a Doctor Strange costume. This time I am helping another of his friends make Porpetina's Goldsteins grey coat from the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. My son already has a Newt Scamander costume and now they want to Dutch Comic Con together as Newt and Tina. More on this project in the next blog post.
I started working on my mid victorian lace day cap during our last event. I had some preparations the day before but started the actual sewing during the event. Judging by the amount of attention it did seem to spark the interest of a lot of the public.
My midvictorian lace daycap is made with a silk base, swiss dot netting, vintage and antique lace and the tiny red ribbon is real silk. It looks sweet, dainty and demure which is the perfect look for the period. There is only one problem with this daycap. Sweet, dainty and demure doesn’t seem to suit me. My husband and son almost choked laughing and one of my friends said I looked like an easter egg. Which is an accurate description of how I feel when I wear it.
Here I am trying it on before going to Dickensfestijn in Deventer.
I am sorry about the poor quality of the photo's. They were made early in the morning in a hurry to get going. It's also the reason why I decided to get "creative" with the last one. Although it might not be that bad, then again it might be that bad I'll leave it up to you to decide. I didn't wear it on the day itself as my bonnet wouldn't stay on when I had it on. That was a good enough reason to leave it at home.
We had planned to go to a Dickens fair somewhere else first but after waiting for the shuttle bus for 30 minutes. We decided to skip the other fair and go to Dickensfestijn Deventer directly while the day was still young. Not a bad decision considering how busy Deventer was! There were 60.000 visitors on this day. Needless to say a lot of photographs where made of us but as we never get to see any of them we decided to buy ourselves a little memento.
I had been looking forward to this Soiree since January this year and it did not dissapoint. The Castle was beautiful, the atmosphere was magical and the other guest inspiring! Due to privacy laws I do not want to share the photographs with others in them but check out these photo album on Facebook if you want to get a good idea of the evening :
ILike some of you might know I had been not only looking forward to this event since January but also preparing for it since January. So I am extremely happy to finally show you the end result!
Overall I am really happy with the end result although there is a fitting issue with the bodice I would like to correct.
All my inspiration gowns where off-shoulder evening gowns and I made mine so that it would lay on my shoulder. I really hate off-shoulder dresses and I need the bodice to work for a day time event coming up soon. I guess I didn't alter the pattern pieces enough to really make it work.
I don't have enough time until the next event to take the bodice apart and make the changes. So for I will focus on making a chemisette to fill in the neckline and a pair of sleeves appropriate for daytime. Maybe after I finish that and there is enough time left I'll make a red velvet bolero jacket and wear the skirt with a white lace blouse and jacket instead.
I have been down with the flu for several days now and my frustration levels are going up. The bodice for my Belle Epoque ensemble is nearly done it just needs to be finished. If you follow me on instagram (https://www.instagram.com/medievalwitch74/) you have been able to see the progress I have made but I will share the pictures here as well.
back of the bodice
When you have to piece together a bodice from leftover scraps of velvet the chances of making a mistake with the pile is higher. I have been sewing for years and this still happens! Fortunately there is still enough fabric left.
Front of the bodice
Putting in the boning and playing around with
decorating ideas.
The boning is in, now I just need to finish the hems and sew in the sleeves. Sewing in the lace was all I could do while having the flu. The rest really will have to wait until I feel well enough. I really love the combination of the green with the white. Still not sure if I am bold enough to decorate the dress. I'm not a frilly kinda girl, bit strange maybe when you are into Victorian costuming, and I love the clean lines of my inspiration pieces.
(l) Posthumous portrait of Empress Elisabeth of Austria
attribute to Joszi Arpad Koppay ca.1898
(m)Maria Feodorovna wearing a fur-trimmed red dress
by François Flameng in 1894.
(r)Edith Kingdon Gould in her red Worth dress,
portrait by Théobald Chartran, 1898
I am still thinking of adding satin ribbon flowers or maybe some white fur to the heads of the sleeves though much like the brown fur in the portrait of Maria Feodorovna.
For as long I can remember I've always loved the jewelery from the Turn of the century/Belle Epoque/Jugendstil. The fashion however beautiful, I think is less becoming for my short and stout build and my age. So I've never really dared to make a Belle Epoque era costume, until now that is! A while ago, quite a while ago as costumes take a long time to plan, I fell in love with Butterick pattern 3716, the Victorian Bridal gown.
So when I could snatch it up for an afforable price I didn't hesitate. Now I am starting to wonder if it would have been wiser to wait a little londer. Why, you might ask yourself. Well I am still not sure whether or not I am bold enough to wear the leg-o-mutton sleeves, so characteristic for 1890's era. I am tempted to make them a little bit smaller.
After recieving the pattern I wasn't really happy with the construction of the bodice. So after some consideration I bought Laughing Moon #103, 1890's waist with four bodice and five sleeve options. Not only is this pattern more versatile but the construction is far more historically accurate.
With the pattern pieces for the skirt I encountered the same problem. Something that I did anticipate when I bought the pattern but I had hoped that it would be easy to work around them. The biggest issues with it? The skirt has a zipper and no walking or short train option. I think I am spoiled by all the great historical patterns available. The long train was taking up more fabric than I had and the pattern pieces were to wide for my fabric.
"Insert great big SIGH" Back to the drawing board it was!
The easiest option would have been to purchase Laughing Moon #101 1890's Five gore skirt and I would have if I hadn't been flat broke.
The line drawing on the back of envelop reminded me of another pattern. One that I did own already, the Folkwear #209 Walking skirt. Which has a walking skirt length and a short train length.
I still didn't have enough fabric for a train but I'm not a big fan of those anyway, I am far too clumsy to wear one. The pattern pieces fitted my fabric and best part, no zipper required!The biggest difference between the two patterns is that the back of the folkwear skirt is gathered and the back of the Laughing Moon is pleated. I decided to go for a pleated back, it worked better with the velvet I was using and looks slightly more sophisticated in my opinion.
And then I got a chance to buy McCalls 7732 by the talented Angela Clayton, which is also from the 1890's era. The hasn't arrived yet but maybe I will be using elements of this pattern like the belt, undershirt or coat for this ensemble.
It's hard to judge a (very nearly) finished skirt pictured on a coat hanger but at least this way I get to show off the lovely colour of the fabric, Emerald green!
front
back
I cut the skirt the exact length of the pattern pieces. The bottom of the skirt ended up on the floor. I added a wide hem of different fabric to keep the skirt as long as possible. I am going to wear it at the Salon de la Societe raffinee, so it will be part of an elegant evening ensemble.
