Sewing Victorian Corsets - Prepping for Dicken's Faire ?

In January or February of 2020 I made it my goal to create Dicken’s Fair outfits for myself, my daughter, her friend and her friend’s mother. We all LOVE going to the Great Dicken’s Christmas Fair together every year and I was determined to go in costume with each of them in costume as well. It’s just so much more fun, in costume. Who knew at the time, that our plans would be derailed by a certain global pandemic.

So, of course, I started with the underpinnings. What one wears beneath the clothing helps create the silhouette and make the look more authentic. I had previously made myself victorian drawers and a shift, that I wore under my 1830’s costume, so the next thing would be a corset.

Making My Own Vintage Inspired Panties

A few years ago, I copied my favorite underwear so I would have my own pattern. I just loved the vintage styling of the knickers from What Katie Did, but really wanted some that matched the bras I make for myself. Now, every time I need new undies, I can make them myself. I love it! Such an upgrade to have fancy panties at my fingertips. Yay!

So in perusing my drawers, recently, I decided to make some more. I scrounged through my collection of bra and panty making supplies and found that I had just enough supplies to make two pair to go coordinate with two different bras. I have a taupe colored Natori bra that I love and a taupe and brown bra that I made a few years ago. So excited, was I, to find I could make undies to match.

The Frannie Adventure Doll - Designing a Rag Doll

Over the last few months I’ve been hard at work developing a pattern for a Rag Doll. “Why a Rag Doll?” you might ask. Well the truth is that I’ve always loved dolls. I loved my barbies, I loved my china dolls, and I loved hand made rag dolls as well. When I was 8 years old, My Grandma Fran gave me her Bisque Baby Doll that she got when she was 8. I still have that doll. It’s a little worse for wear and needs some attention but I still have it.

I also loved making dolls and made quite a few as a child. It always gave me pleasure and I was infinitely fascinated by the process.

1950's Dress Mending and Remodel

This is a quick little post to share with you my most recent garment renovation. Last year, my friend Joy gave me this darling vintage 1950’s turquoise dress. It was stained (on the front bust and neckline) but in decent shape otherwise. It’s been hanging on my rack waiting for a makeover. I knew right away, that it needed a neckline overhaul, so that it what happened after I finally decided to tackle it.

How to Mend a Vintage Dress with Busted out Armholes

A few years ago, a friend gave me this gorgeous 1930’s/1940’s era dress with rips in the armhole. She thought I could use the fabric or make a pattern from it. She didn’t think it was ever going to be wearable again.

This blog post is about how I fixed the dress so it could be worn again. I was lucky, in that the dress had side ties the could be removed and used for extra fabric. After undoing those seams, and pressing the fabric, I had enough to make patches that I eventually sewed back on.

Remodeling a 1920's Dress to Give it another Life

First, I’ll start out by saying that I believe vintage textiles are special but not necessarily precious. They are something we should treasure but that we should also use. This is a somewhat controversial point of contention between archivists, historians and collectors when it comes to clothing, especially historic clothing that marks an era in time. Some feel that they should be put away for posterity and preserved for history’s sake. Others feel that they should be worn and treasured personally. I’m kind of in both minds about this, , depending on the garment. However, my own line is drawn when a garment will likely go into the landfill, because someone deems it unwearable for whatever reason - in this case, deteriorating and falling apart. I’m SUPER-NOT into the landfill. My hope is that we can re-use parts of garments that are falling apart and that will extend the life of the original textile.

Regency Birthday Picnic - a Socially Distanced Celebration

This was a day I will never forget. So civilized and doing everything I love - Spending time with friends & Family, English Tea & Dressing up in Costume. I still can’t believe how wonderfully lucky I am to have friends and family willing to do this for me.

Regency Birthday Picnic - Sewing my Regency Spencer and Cross Front Gown

I started this whole birthday escapade because I was invited to enter something in the California & National “Make It With Wool” contest. I knew I wanted to make a spencer and and therefore a whole outfit because I didn’t currently have a dress to go with the wool I had chosen. Below I’ll take you through the process of making my gown and eventually, my spencer jacket.

Regency Men's Upcycle Project - Sewing a Waistcoat and Breeches

Menswear. Hmmm. I do not have a lot of experience with menswear and this was my first foray into it in a long time. For my event, it would be historic menswear and I have even less experience than that. Making something for my husband, well that is a whole other situation. He’s not really into dressing up, but agreed to it for my 50th birthday. Good man. I decided simpler was better. He’s the gent pictured on the right in the photo above, incognito without his requisite gray Levis and zip hoodie. I made the waistcoat and breeches. The shirt, hat and stockings were purchased and I still have a long way to go.

Getting Ready for my 50th Birthday - Recycled Regency Style

I’m turning 50 so I’m going to party like it’s 1799-1820. Yes! you heard it here. A party like no other, socially distanced, at the park in regency attire. We’ll all be wearing masks and it will be highly civilized. A girl’s got to celebrate half a century, after all.

As a kid, I always wanted to be both older and live in another time. Now I have my wish on both accounts. There is nothing like embracing the age you are in. At 49+ I’m embracing the fact that I LOVE to dress up in costume and that I love making costumes.

The Folkwear Sailor Pants - A Pattern Review

When Folkwear Patterns reached out to me to try out their new Sailor Pants Pattern, I was beyond excited. I love everything nautical and thought new sailor pants would be a great addition to my Fall wardrobe. The pattern design is very cute, being cut from an original pair of US Navy issued Vintage Sailor Pants. The design has the classic button front with laced up back waist, flared legs (with a gusset) and some darling hidden pocket details.

Creating a Mini (Early) 1930's Capsule Wardrobe - Part 2

This is the second installment of Creating a Mini (Early) 1930’s Capsule Wardrobe. What is a “Capsule” wardrobe? It’s a group of pieces that easily coordinate with each other. This dress along with the dress from my previous post use coordinating fabrics as well as accessories. Next in the series should be some interchangeable separates. I have a few other items in the queue so those pieces will have to wait a while.

Creating a Mini (Early) 1930's Capsule Wardrobe - Part 1

It all started last fall when a student asked me if I was interested in 40 boxes of donated fabric. It may sound like heaven but, think about all the space that takes up. What am I going on about? It was heaven. I sorted through everything, prepared it for sale (I love finding homes for unused fabric) and then picked a few things just for myself. Inside this treasure trove was a collection of lovely coordinating silks, wools and rayons that had just the 1930’s look, I’m gaga for.

Sewing a 1930's Cotton Summer Dress

It’s been a long hot Summer around here. Well, not that hot really, but the temperature here is starting to rise and it’s time for a new cotton sun dress. August and September are the hottest months around here. I won this blue cotton swiss dot in a raffle at the Greater Bay Area Costumer’s Guild Open House, earlier this year. It’s the perfect weight for a Summer Dress.

Sewing a 1930's Capelet and Another Silly Hat

It’s super hard for me to decide which I enjoy more, this silly little 1930’s hat or the luscious capelet in a Japanese Cotton. They were both very fun makes and great additions to my wardrobe. You might have guessed by now, that Navy is my Black. I much prefer a little color to my basics and navy blue really fits the bill.

Sewing a 1940's Ensemble from head to toe - Brown & Yellow, who would have known?

Well, here we are in week six of our Shelter in Pace assignment. I’ve been very busy over the last few weeks, even though my teaching business has been minimized dramatically and I’ve taken on a whole new way of working. In the midst of this corona-crisis, my way of staying sane, is to sew. It’s really amazing how just focusing on a project, lifts my mood and makes me feel better.

Sewing a Regency Gown and Bonnet

I hope this blog post entertains you and helps you think of pretty, if not somewhat silly things. We all need a little bit more of that right now.

My last post was about constructing a Poke Bonnet for a Regency Costume I had purchased. This is the sister post to that one, as the dress and bonnet, pictured here, were made so that my mother could have a costume for the Sanditon Screening at the Castro Theater.

Making a Regency Poke Bonnet

In December I found out about a KQED movie premier of the BBC production of Sanditon, the previously unfinished book by Jane Austen. The event was posted on the Greater Bay Area Costumer’s Guild Facebook Discussion group and when I heard about it, I was thrilled. This meant I could wear the gorgeous Rust colored and pink trimmed dress that I bought from Jean Martin at the GBACG Bazaar. Apparently, this dress was used on the set of a BBC production at one point and even has a BBC label inside. I had finished mending it and adjusting the fit in November and needed the right occasion to wear it. The movie premier at the Castro Theater in San Francisco was the perfect venue to do just that. And as it turns out, a good portion of the movie has the characters walking outside, which is appropriate as this dress is a more of a walking dress. So I would fit right in.

Vintage Adventuring - Updating my Tweed Sport Coat, Sewing a Jodhpurs and Finishing a Knit Vest

long for country living. Imagine a pastoral English countryside with sprawling hills surrounding a historic village. There are Corgi’s running around and gobs of standing stones…..well maybe that’s a bit much, but you get the idea, right? A good walk, and maybe some riding (I am wearing Jodhpurs after all) and then back to the lodge for tea or cocktails.

Vintage Coat Renovation - Sewing a 1930's Inspired Ensemble

Do you ever have fabric that feels like it’s money burning a hole in your pocket? Well, I sure did when my friend Laurie Ann gave me this gorgeous polka dot viscose shantung. Oh, my, it was love at first site. And it was gifted along with a coordinating brown trouser weight fabric as well. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sew up a new outfit, perfect for our cool autumn weather.

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