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.

Meanwhile...

Slowly our new house is becoming a home. There is an awful lot to do; cleaning, unpacking, creating storage space for all our stuff. We found out that we actually have more re-eantment related things than "normal"things!
The sewing I do these days is not too exciting. Although I find it quite hard actually to sew curtains! Cutting straight lines is much harder that cutting pattern pieces. We bought window sheers at IKEA that only needed to be made shorter. It would have been cheaper to buy fabric but I liked these Borghild window sheers so much!

The small wooden outhouse holds all my natural dyes stuff.

I finally have my own garden to work in.

The curtains are made of petrol velvet and are same curtains we used in our last house.  Fortunately we only had to alter them a little.

Although I have my own vintage/antique sewing table in the living room I still work on the dining table. The table is too small and we'll have to get creative to make it larger without damaging it.

On the table three original 19th century fashion plates 

from my favorite era's and a Belle Epoque style lamp. 

A lot of women dream of walk in closets now I finally have one, Not for my everyday clothes ofcourse but for our costumes and accessories. Although some modern pieces have found a temporary spot there as well.

In the back are my boxes with patterns and on the other side of the room are two closets for my fabrics and yarns.

The attic is still a really big pile of boxes! It will be a challenge to locate everything before the re-enactment seasons starts.  

Big Project

Over the years I have shared with you many stories about my costume and crafts projects. I haven't done anything costume or textile craft related since October and here is why. On the 30th of October we got the keys to our new house a fixer-upper in definite need of a whole lot of TLC.

I started packing our stuff at the end of September because there is simply a whole lot of it. We lost count somewhere around 150 boxes. Would you expect anything else with three creative people?

Since then I have been removing wall paper, painting walls, cleaning up etc etc..
Amidst all the moving chaos we also celebrated our son his 14th birthday with the family members who where there that day.

The boxes with our Victorian stuff we kept separate from the rest because we had a Victorian themed event on the 13th of December.

The living room was kinda tidy and done for Christmas but we didn't decorate it with lots of Christmas decorations like we usually do. 

Today my husband baked Dutch traditional treats for New Years Eve.  Oliebollen (sort of round doughnuts with pieces of apple and raisins) and a appelbeignets (slices of apple fried in sweet dough).

We wish you all a wonderful New Years Eve and a Happy 2016!

1848's Jacket update

In March this year I started working on a early Victorian jacket with the 1848's jacket aka kacabajka pattern from Marmota's Dress Diaries but I didn't get it to work. I enlarged the pattern but the fit was really off for my body type/size. That could be due to the alterations I had made to the pattern because I wanted a round neckline and the jacket to close in front. Whatever the reasons were I didn't get it to work, got discoraged and put the project away waiting for new insights and inspiration.

We all havebeen here, more than once, right?!

I bought the Simplicity 4900 pattern. Hoping for a quick and easy fix but when it finally came in I saw that the skirt of the dress was cut in a different way, half a circle  sewn to the bodice instead of princess seams. Than I was used to for this type of jacket so I still wasn't content.

Simplicity 4900 Civil War Dress and Riding jacket

I ended up blending together four different patterns to make my version of the jacket. The pattern of the original 1848's was the base and I then I used the bodice pattern of Simplicity 4900 to get the right fit on my upper body, the Period Impressions paletot pattern for the skirt and the pattern of the bell sleeves from TrulyVictorian #560, Late Bustle Coat.

Truly Victorian pattern #560

I still very much a work in progress. There are some issues with attaching the faux fur in the middle of the back because that pattern pieces has a very round hemline. 

The other problem that I am facing is setting the sleeves in the right way. As the bodice and the sleeves are not from the same pattern and I always struggle with setting in sleeves.

My husband and son have nicknamed this jacket the Mrs. Santa Claus jacket. My only defense is; but that's how it looks in the picture!

And this is the image (right) that I am referring to:

Although the green coat on the left is longer than my jacket the fabric in the back does drape the same way and it has the same slight bell sleeves that I am looking for.

The red coat also has the right style of sleeves and the front looks like the pointed front of my jacket. Which is easier to see when the jacket is worn.

A Vintage Singer 99k sewing machine

A while ago I bought a Singer 99k, I've always wanted an antique looking sewing machine but never knew what make and model. Until I came across this Singer 99, it is the little sister of the Singer 66. She is only 3/4 the size of her bigger sister and weights less which makes her a little more portable than a full scale sewing machine. A feature my husband is particularly grateful for as I want to use it at 19th century events and he will be most likely the person ending up carring her around. She was born, a term they really use at the Singer website, on the 24th of September of 1952. Something that was clearly visible when I got her.

She came in the 1950's faux crocodile skin carrying case, a motor, footpedal and light and with the "modern" faceplate. The carrying case is very practical it protects my machine during transport.  I absolutely love the motor, foot pedal and the light. This means that I have two machines for the price of one. I can use it at home with all the modern conveniences and at an event as a hand crank machine. We only need to loosen two screws to change it!

So I bought an original  hand crank on Ebay and took the motor, foot pedal and the light off.

1950's faceplate

I also bought the old version of the faceplate to make her look older. Plastic surgery reversed!

1911-early 1950's

The old lacquer of the wooden bases had been badly damaged through the years. We sanded it down and waxed it.

She didn't come with any accessories, so I bought a original 1950's  99k box with a lot of different sewing feet and a seam guide.

 Now she looks exactly like an older version from 1911 and is ready to attend her first event!

For safety reasons in time the motor, foot pedal and light will be fitted with new black electrical cords. Now it is time for me to start practising sewing with a hand crank machine.