The Blue En Fourreau

I've been avoiding my blog....There I said it!

I have been super busy creating, and have ton of things that I have made  over the past 8 months that I would love to share with you, and I will.  But I'll be honest, It's probably just gonna be pics and not much writing.  But Who doesn't love Pictures of pretty things!

The Blue Linen En Fourreau......

This was a commission I made for Mrs. B.  It was a lovely linen that she wished to be made into a gown that would be servicable for a lengthy period of time.  It was constructed from 3 meters of fabric and all visible seams were hand sewn, while interior seams were machined.   The pattern is draped, with the sleeves being a combination of modern pattern drafting and draping.

Piecing to get a full sleeve.

ALAS...even though this gown was made almost a year ago I still have no pictures of Mrs. S in the gown....That woman is elusive!

Enjoy!

Cheers,

Kate

The Saque....Or the gown I almost killed myself to make in a week!

So here are more photo's of the Robe a la Francais that I made for a wonderful lady in the Regiment. Mrs. L provided the fabric, a silk dupioni, and requested that it could be done by the celebration for Robbie Burns. 

I warn you...Its going to be SUPER heavy with pictures!  But I think you'll enjoy that. The only thing missing is the trimming.  She also wanted cuffs and decoration which were to be done later.  As it is LATER now, (LOL), I am almost finished on the trimmings and will post pictures soon. 

Enjoy!!

The stays were hers and the pockets I made for this gown.

hi....ANd stuff!

So, I'll admit, I have been Seriously LACKING in blog posts....Its been what?  MONTHS?  YUp....

Sorry!

I will try to update what has been happening in my sewing life these past few months, but here is a teaser of what I am trying to make....In a week.

Yes I said a Week!

This will be my first Sacque and unfortunately I don't get to be the recipient....:(

WHat you can't see is the back lining piece, which is made out of two layers of linen.  It has an opening 2/3 of the way up the back and has lacing holes to allow for adjustment  if needed.  I also boned the center back as well as the middle of the side back piece in order to support the "Watteau" pleats so they didn't collapse or pull at the neckline.  The gown is made from a Silk dupioni, which I know isn't period correct, but it is what the client bought to use.  It is a finer dupioni, so it does have slubs, but not that many. 

I also have a Facebook page for my blog if you want to start following it...I actually post more photo's there as its easier to upload when I take pics from my phone....

The Naked Catwalk

Ta for now.

Green With Envy....

Well maybe not envy, but I was definitely seeing green as I was making my current gown.  I finished it weeks ago and have since worn it to two events....but I just realized I haven't shown you.  

I ordered 5 yards of this wonderful 5.3 oz green linen from http://www.fabric-store.com/, and it was super awesome to work with....It softened up and washed beautifully in the washing machine.  I draped the pattern on Mrs. Squishypants, and decided to go with the "a l'anglais" style back, as it was new and I had never done it before.  I am getting better at sleeves too, The muslin worked awesome with three little pleats at the sleeve head, but as I was fitting the actual sleeves I had to combine the three into two and fiddle with them a bit....Still at least it wasn't hours of remakes and fiddling!

I used hooks and thread eyes for the front closure and they work but I am not too happy with the result....if I'm not laced tight enough, they pull and you can see them.  To me it ruins the clean lines of the front of the dress, but since I haven't mastered the "pinning of oneself" into a gown yet, it will have to do. 

Busy Busy Busy....

Honestly I'm still here!  I've been super busy during the past few weeks.  First the hubby was home, and then he left and we all got sick.  I finally feel back to normal after 7 days and I have been busy.  I draped and draped and draped the Poiret coat, did a mock up of a new corset pattern, and have been working away at Sam's 1780's stays.  I almost have one half of them done.  I just finished binding around the tabs with some faux suede I found years ago.

This was a quick shot while I was back in the sewing room cutting out more binding.  I found a wonderful tutorial on binding the edges of stays Here done by Cathy Hay from Your Wardrobe Unlock'd.  Its gotta be the best tutorial I've seen.  I've also found that binding the tabs without the boning in the channels makes the job a little bit easier as you can bend the stays around and crumple them with your hands as you work.

The Steampunked Alice

So I've been wanting to create a bustlette for the Alice dress and was inspired by this one on the blue dress in the movie The Secret of Moonacre.

I Love how the hoops are exposed and you can see the cage.  I was looking for more inspiration pictures and happened across this extant bustle....

http://www.metmuseum.org/special/extreme_beauty/13.L.htm

Which I think was the inspiration for the MoonAcre movie costumes.  I can't wait to start on this! 

Adventures in Breeches....The Finale.

The Breeches are done!

The Man looks great in them too!  I have a few alterations to make to the pattern.  The opening on the sides of the fall front gape a bit, so I need to shorten that. and take out about a cm in the center front so it doesn't bag and it lays flat.

I also have to work out the sequence of construction better.  There were a few issues while sewing that I want to address for the next pair.  Its pretty good for a finished muslin.  I did do two other muslins first and then decided I need to to have a finished one.  These are made out of linen and are completely machine stitched.  I will hand stitch the next pair on all the elements that require top stitching.

Has the right amount of baggy bum....gives him the illusion of perkyness...LOL!

A little baggy in the  CF.  Gonna take out about 1.5 cm and it should lay flat.

I think I need to shorten the width of the band so it hits the back of the knee and you can see the curve of the calf.

The placket opening is a bit too long.  Although you can't see it in this picture.

The gusset needs to be a bit bigger and the waistband needs to be longer.  I want him to be able to gain weight and still be able to wear these.  He tends to get heavier in the winter than in the summer, so I need the extra wiggle room.

They are missing buttons, which I don't have.  I looked through my HUGE button jar and the only thing I have alot of are plastic ones.  I wasn't really feeling up to cutting out a ton of circles and doing fabric covered buttons. 

I also tried to keep the bum as fitted as I could and still allow unrestricted movement.  I think it's baggy enough to give the look of 18th century breeches without the excess saggy diaper look.

I think once I have the pattern perfect then I will try to make a pair out of Chamois leather.  Buckskin breeches would look yummy on him!

Adventures in Breeches

After I finished my polonaise, and The MAN and I attended a soiree to celebrate Robbie Burns, I asked him if he wanted to join the world of re enactment.  He agreed and told me that before I was allowed to man any more girly clothes, I had to make him a proper set of clothes.

Super excited that The Man wants to play dress up with me, I started right away on a pair of breeches.  For inspiration I found these, which were originally made from buckskin.  I love the how the fall front comes from the side seam, the decorative stitching,  and overall esthetics of the front fall shaping.

I made up the pattern and had to wait 6 weeks for the hubby to be back home.   He agreed to let me take pictures of him, under the orders that I chopped him off at the waist. Mission accomplished!  The overall design in almost perfect.  I a few alterations to make.  Mainly they are too big, too long, and the seat needs more fabric to allow for more movement in the legs now that I have them pinned tighter.

I pinned one leg on the inseam and you can see that the one side is wrinkling on his upper thigh near the junk.  I like the hang of the leg that is not pinned. 

After they were pinned there wasn't much room in the seat, and although he has a cute bum, it's not period accurate.  I was hoping to make a compromise between the ubersaggy bottomed period version and the modern version of the pant.  I'll be reshaping the seat and adding more volume to get the right look.

Gonna have to shorten them

He was pretty concerned with what i was writing on his bum....Alteration notations of course!  Like I would do anything otherwise, (wink, wink)

Overall I think they worked out pretty good for the first muslin.  I have a few changes, but nothing major.  After I make a basic version for his first set of clothes, I plan to make a pair out of a nice soft chamois leather.  I'm so excited to be finally moving forward on his clothing, but not before I fix a few zippers, a grad dress and a bridesmaids dress, which are all due next week.


Cheers,

K