History-Con Checklist: Pockets

History-Con is literally five days away. And I still have a lot to do.
But I've already done tons, so....phew. I'm almost there!
Here was my original personal list:

• 1780's Handsewn Stays
• Hand-dyed Scarlet Jacket with a super awesome peplum
• Striped Linen Petticoat
• Apron 
• A million cockades
• A fetch little cap
• A plain set of pockets

This what I've completed so far:

• 1780's Handsewn Stays ( due to a "wardrobe change", I'll be wearing my Two-Day Stays. That saves a lot of hand work!)
• Hand-dyed Scarlet Jacket with a super awesome peplum
• Striped Linen Petticoat
• Apron (Since I'm putting my Seafoam hand-sewn stays on hold, I can definitely get this done!)
• A million cockades
• A fetch little cap
• A plain set of pockets

The jacket will be the largest project, but hopefully I'll get it all done in one day. I've already dyed the fabric:

Evidence that I've been working!

So today I'm going to talk about my pockets!

I've already posted about my embroidered pockets, which are on pause for the moment, but I'm going to show the construction of these little bags of joy!

I made my set out of handkerchief linen, and it has a buttery feel to it. I honestly just like rubbing my fingers over it because it's so soft. I know, weird, right? Wrong. It's honestly my favorite fabric right now. I purchased it at Joann's with a 50% off coupon. I went with the cream linen; it's not unbleached, but it's not blindingly white.

For the binding, I decided not to make a self-fabric bias, because that's what I did with my stays and it takes forever. I was over it. Instead, I used a really soft 100% cotton twill tape, which is a whiter white (blerg), but I was  impatient, and most people won't see my  pockets...besides you lovely people reading this. Thank you, by the way. For reading. 

So making a pocket it really easy. I cut out my pattern, and used one piece of fabric each for the front and back. When I finish my embroidered pockets, I'll line the front so the embroidery isn't pulled at by my coins and bread :).

Front and back set together.
This is as smooth as I could get it with a hot, steamy iron. 

I also cut out a little rectangle to sew to the top of the pocket, which my waist tape will be threaded through. 

I then pinned the twill tape to the opening slit of the front of my pocket, making sure the fabric was sandwiched between each side of the tape, especially at the bottom of the slit. Then I used a back-stitch and hand sewed the tape down. 

When that was done, I pinned the front and back together flat, with wrong sides touching. I pinned the twill tape around the edges, careful to get the fabric secure at the curved corners. Then I used a running stitch with the occasional back-stitch.

I finished the edges on the short side of the rectangles, and folded it in half. then I made a small hem on each long side of the rectangle and pinned the edge of the rectangle (hem pressed underneath), and top stitched it to the top of the pocket.

Ta Da! A finished pocket!

Super easy, huh? 

I'm going to purchase more of that twill tape and use it as a waist tape. I'll just feed it through the rectangles and tie it around my waist. 

Next post will most definitely be on my jacket!

Thanks again for reading :)

Until next time!

History-Con Checklist: Petticoat

   History-Con is a couple of weeks away! My next project: A striped twill petticoat.

   Petticoats are incredibly easy to make. Mine are usually plain cotton or linen, and take an afternoon to make. I've hand-sewn this petticoat, since I'm going to wear it with my hand-sewn peplum jacket. I"m super excited about the final outfit now that the event is getting closer.

   I purchased a striped twill a while back, and was going to use it for linings. But it's really pretty, and has a nice weight to it. Not to mention it's a woven stripe, not a printed stripe. I really prefer woven to printed stripes on plain fabric.

   So this is the fabric:

   I purchased 3 yards of 52" fabric. I measured the length of my waist to my ankles, and added a couple of inches for the hem. I also added a few inches to the back piece to compensate for the bum roll in back. If you're going to wear pocket hoops/ bum pads/ etc, you need to take their skirt displacement into account so your hem is even and flat. I added about 5" to the back to make up for the bum pad. 

   Then I pinned  the halves together, right sides together, selvage edge to selvage edge. The selvage was fuzzy, so I trimmed it down, making sure not to cut the weave, just the loose thread ends. Then I whipstitched the skirt together, making sure the bottom hem matched up. I stopped sewing 9" from the front half (the shorter half) to allow access to my pockets underneath. 

Fuzzy selvage edges pinned. They're a little too fuzzy to whipstitch.

Trimmed and sewn selvage. 

   I then hemmed the raw edges on the pocket slits on each side.

The hemmed pocket slit on one side. 

   I used 1.5" unbleached cotton twill tape for the waistband. I cut two pieces, about 30" each, one for the front half, and one for the back half. Each piece needs to be able to tie around your waist, with a little extra length to allow for multiple layers underneath the petticoat. 

   I pleated both halves of the petticoat, making the center box pleat 2.5", and the knife pleats radiating from the center box pleat about .5". I wasn't too meticulous about the pleats, I just eyeballed them and tried to get everything as uniform as I could. I sewed the pleats down before adding the twill tape, just to make sure everything was secure. 

   After both sides were pleated, I folded the twill tape over the pleated edge, making sure the edges of the tape were even on each side. Then I sewed the twill tape down. 

   I hemmed the cut ends of the tape so it wouldn't fray. 

   On to hemming!!!

   I honestly detest hemming. I think a lot of people do. I'm always so excited that my project is almost  done, and I can dance around my house in my pretty-much-done garment, so finishing the hem is a little bit of a let-down. The end is tangible, but hemming something is super tedious. 

   I want my super fetch Fugawees to show, so I'm hemming the petticoat 5" off the ground. ***** Always set your dress form to your height when wearing your shoes!!!! ***** It's so much easier than guessing and pinning and re-pinning, and you will always know what your garment will look like when you finally put it all together. No surprises here. My petticoat will be ankle length, and will also show off my tan knit wool stockings. 

Please disregard the crummy ribbon ties. Some pretty BA cockades are going to be "Rev"-ing these up. 

   I made a 1" hem, and used a  hem stitch to finish it off. 

Inside hem

Outside of hem stitch

   And here is (Drum-roll, please): 

   The finished petticoat!

How the back half is tied. The front half ties the same way, like an apron.

Petticoat side view with bum roll and under petti

So, I just have to finish my stays to get going on my jacket. The second half of my stays post should be up in a couple of days. Wish me luck!

Up Next: Stays Part 2

History-Con Checklist: Stays in Progress

   Things have been going fairly well!
   I've been hand sewing my stays because I've always wanted to, but I've never had the time.
They're half-boned, made of seafoam-green cotton and white coutil.

   The lining is a really sweet quilting cotton that I wish I could afford more of:

   I used a modified Butterick pattern for these stays ( 99 cents on sale [woohoo!]).

I'm using the bottom right pattern.

   I changed the lacing hole placement and the angle of the side panel. I definitely needed to size down on these; I'm usually a 14 in patterning sizes, but the finished "mainstream" patterned stays are literally my measurements, so I swim in them. I went down to a 12 and took in some of the side panel. I could have taken them in a little more, now that I'm walking around in them, but they give me a good shape. Something to think about if you're not using a pattern company that specializes in historic undergarments.
My stays are seafoam, but I wanted a little bit of contrast, so I used white silk thread for the channels, white silk buttonhole twist for the eyelets, and white silk ribbon for the front and back seams.
   I used wax-free transfer paper to mark off the channels, which I will eventually split into two to reinforce my cane boning.
   Sewing the channels took about two hours a panel (I was watching BBC miniseries while I worked, so it took a little longer), and binding the eyelets took forever! I think it's just that I don't like binding eyelets and buttonholes. It's much the same feeling I get when I'm setting sleeves.

You can see the faint red lines that were my sewing guides. 

   I washed the pieces after sewing the channels and binding the eyelets to remove the traced lines. Then I ironed back the side allowances on each piece and whipstitched them together. I'll cover the stitches on the outside with silk ribbon later.

Whipstitching two sides together. Inside view.

Pieces laid flat.

One half done!

Outside view.

Both sides stitched together. The eyelets are done, if you can pick them out in this image.

A close up of a couple of wonky eyelets :)

   Then it was time to bone my channels!!!
   I usually use large zip ties to bone stays; they're super cheap and won't melt with your body heat. I was doing research, and the general consensus was that wealthy women used only whalebone in their stays (now replaced by German plastic boning), while middling- and lower-classes used reeds and wood. I've always been drawn to portraying middling- to lower-class women in all of my historical impressions. Yes, sometimes it's fun to dress like a princess-- or at least a viscountess-- but dressing up in silks and brocades for every event is really over-represented. And expensive. Give me a linen or cotton gown any day, and I'll be thrilled to wear it. So I knew from the get-go that I would be boning my stays with reed. The only question was what kind of reed?
   There are terrifying horror stories-- maybe urban costuming myths???-- of women being stabbed by broken  reeds in their stays. That scares me. A lot. So I wanted to get something that was incredibly flexible and wouldn't hurt when it (in my mind) inevitably ripped through my stays, impaling me and ruining my day of reenacting. I went online and started researching reeds and cane. I finally found a store in Huntington Beach, Frank's Rush and Cane, which sold a wide variety of....rushes and cane. The employees there are so nice. I recommend their store for all of your weaving, chair-making, patio-covering needs :)
   I ended up with 1/4" (6 mm) binding cane, the kind you wrap around chair and table legs.

   I figured that it could withstand my hip-to-corseted waist ratio of it could be double-knotted. The trick was to soak it overnight. So that's what I did....

   To be continued!!!!!!

Next Up: Finishing my stays and a post about my striped petticoat.

Back From the Dead.

Hello. How are you? I think it’s been literally a year. Or at least it feels like it’s been a year. Never take a job with “flexible” hours and “opportunities” to cover extra shifts. You will never have a life. Or a blog.

On that note:

I am going to start sewing again. I blew the dust off of Clara-Belle, pulled out my thimbles, and bought another awesome pair of Lefty fabric shears. Because when you take those “opportunities” for extra shifts, it’s okay to buy an expensive pair of scissors to ward off the darkness of your really sad life  work schedule.

            My last attempt at sewing is a half-finished house-dress/nightdress that I can just throw on after work and not have to take off until I get up in the morning. It’s sitting in a corner while I live in leggings and sweatery-tunics (when not in my uniform). I’m still waiting for stirrup-pants to come back. But I’m going to start sewing in earnest. Really. I swear.

            Pockets!!!

            I will be embroidering and sewing a pair of 18^th century pockets. Like these:

Georgian Pockets

            18^th century pockets were worn beneath the petticoats and above the chemise and stays. They were basically two pouches tied to the waist (one pouch on each hip) to store things on the go. What things? I imagine coins and bread? Or maybe just some lip balm and house keys?

            I’m going to be using this embroidery design from an extant piece, but I’ll be changing up the color scheme dramatically.

                                                                        

Embroidery design

So vibrant! Yay!

I’m going to be using some off-white linen, cotton embroidery floss in reds, pinks, oranges and yellows, and this super fetch silk ribbon I bought forever ago but was too nervous to use.

My color scheme.

Linen, embroidery floss, and hand-dyed silk ribbon.

Of course, the embroidery will take forever, seeing as I’ve never legitimately embroidered anything in my life. But hey, why not try something brand-spankin’ new? Just for kicks? I’m doing it.

I’ll be posting pics of my embroidery progress!

It really is great to have something to talk about other than my job.

And as always, thank you for reading my silly, silly blog.

-Meg

Hello, Again. I Have Some News.

It's been a while.
How are you?
I've been surprisingly busy for an as-yet-unemployed college graduate. Things are steadily coming together. First things first.
I have my first truly prized possession.
                                       Introducing: Clara Belle (she's so heavy. Literally 20 lbs).

This little beauty was given to me by my Uncle Rick as a graduation present. He's the best, he really is. Thank you again, Uncle Rick!!!!!
The needle wouldn't move, so I took it in to my local sewing/vacuum repair, and they told me they could assess it for $170. Too many zeros. So my wonderful, handsome, clever boyfriend offered to look at it, on the condition that he could use it, since his family's machine is on the fritz. Done.

Alex.

So we had ourselves a machine-cleaning party! 

It consisted of me whimpering in the background as he unscrewed the entire thing. I knew he knew what he was doing, but parts started piling up and I was afraid I'd never be able to put them back together. This has happened to me when I feel in the "handy" mood. My favorite watch is in pieces in a ziploc as I write this.

I cleaned and polished all of the enameled and shiny bits. The front piece facing you in the pic above, the brown, sticky-looking bit, was a pain to scrub, but I got it and it's friends to look like this:

I'd say she looks pretty good! Alex got everything working again, and we figured out how to change the foot pressure and the stitch length. Loading the bobbin is a trip.

We did some research, and based upon the serial number, discovered that Clara Belle was born in Scotland in 1916! So really, her name should be Wee Clara McBelle. Alex calls her "Clarice" in a creepy voice. It's quite charming.
So I now have a 1916 hand-powered Singer sewing machine!!!!! I'm so happy! I can use it anywhere! While watching Criminal Minds, in my backyard. Even at the beach. Definitely at the beach. Don't try to dissuade me on this. It will be happening. And then we'll bury each other in the sand and eat ice cream cones.
Until next time!