New Beginnings.

Good Morning,

   A new year has begun, and I'm making a change.
   When I started out blogging, I really wanted to blog about my love of wearing historical clothing, and the modifications that would make these historical styles wearable in my day to day life.
   I've sort of diverged from that, and I want to get back to basics this year.
   A Clever Notion will, starting now, be solely about historical clothing with a modern twist, something I really want to explore far more than I have in my previous posts.
   I'll be posting my research and my creations, and now that I have a camera that actually works, there will be many more photos.
   For my love of historical clothing construction without a modern twist, I've started a new blog, "The Tortoise and the Plume". I'm going to be paring down on the stress and time crunches, and making well-researched, well-constructed historical wardrobes.
   Here's to a new year!
   Cheers,
              Meg

Gearing Up for Calico Ghost Town

Good Afternoon!

   How was your Halloween? Mine was so much fun! I had a little bit of a fitting emergency with the Simplicity pattern I used, but my costume ended up looking okay when I called upon the magic of safety pins and false eyelashes.
    Now that Halloween and Veteran's Day have come and gone, I’ve just realized how late in the year it actually is. Christmas is around the corner, and I’m rubbing shoulders with Thanksgiving. So you can imagine the white-hot lance of fear that shot through me when I realized that the Calico Ghost Town Reenactment at the beginning of 2014 will be upon me in no time. This event is blisteringly cold, and is often punctuated by torrential showers and/or snow flurries. I know, I know. I’m really up-selling this reenactment. It is fun. Mostly.
    Since this event is the coldest of the year, I don’t really have much in the way of winter wear. I have flannel drawers and petticoats, wool gloves, and a bunch of wool scarves and shawls. I end up looking like a storybook witch. I think it adds to the persona, but it doesn’t keep me all that warm; the spaces between the scarves and shawls attract little gusts of wind, I swear. So, I have a list of things I want to get done by the Reenactment, which is about two and a half/ three months away:

 Plaid laundering dress

 Olive and black check paletot (lined with flannel?)

 Winter hood

 Plaid flannel wrapper (if I have the time/money)


The Plaid Laundering Dress:
   A couple of months ago I started hand-sewing a new laundering dress, since my machine was on the fritz. It’s better now, but all of the long seams have already been done, so I’m going to continue to hand sew. I’m calling it a “laundering dress” specifically because of some modifications I’m making.
   First, the skirts are a bit on the short side, making it easier to tramp around camp without getting caught up on stakes/ ropes when I’ve got armfuls of laundry. The skirt is cartridge-pleated a little narrower than the usual day gown (three 44” panels serge to serge), so I can walk through camp without having to maneuver skirts around.
    I absolutely hate bishop sleeves, which are good for rolling up when doing laundry, so I’m going with a buttoned coat sleeve, which I can unbutton at the wrists and roll to my elbows so the fabric doesn’t get wet. I’m going to line the bodice and sleeves with unbleached muslin, and the kick pleat will be unbleached muslin as well.
   My maroon gown is pretty and all, but the fabric isn’t really accurate, and I want to go with something a little more dirt-friendly. I purchased a tan plaid, and I’m changing up my usual hook and eye front closure for a buttoned closure. I’m using these really sweet untreated wood buttons, and hand sewing the button holes.    The bodice is gathered, which was fairly common for coarse or homespun cotton gowns during the period. A friend of mine said it wasn’t all that fashionable during the war, but I’m a laundress, so I really shouldn’t be looking all that fashionable or I’ll attract too much attention and get myself fired. So gathered it shall be.
   I won’t be sewing a collar to the gown, but instead will be using my trusty linen kerchief, which I think looks adventurous and comes in really handy in the summer.
   Both armscyes have self-piping, and the skirt will have self-bias around the bottom. I’m slightly worried that I may run out of fabric; I purposefully bought less than I usually do because the fabric was not on sale and I want to force myself to piece. I usually have a lot of fabric left over, and this wastes money and fabric, especially since I haven’t started quilting any of my scrap yet. I know I’m going to have to piece the sleeves, and definitely the bias and piping. If all else fails, I’ll probably take out some volume from the skirt for sleeves and piping.

Olive and Black Check Paletot: 
   This little beauty will probably lead me tear out my hair. I posted about this project, and was super psyched about it. I bought this really great olive and green wool check in the Garment District a couple of years ago, and it is perfect for a paletot. So I made a mockup and cut out the fabric. I also bought some cotton velveteen for sleeve cuff and neckline decoration. The sleeves and the little cap sleeves are done, and the sleeves only need some flannel lining basted in. The body of the paletot, though. Sometimes I really dislike being a woman. Especially the sudden hormonal weight gain where you least expect it. I mean, I honestly find myself thinking “do people really store fat there?” Don’t get me wrong; being a woman is way more awesome than being a man, in my biased experience. But the strange, sudden weight gain? I can live without it. Needless to say, I cut out the paletot when I was ten pounds lighter than I am now. And a large portion of those ten pounds magically ended up where it really matters in fitting upper body garments. The thing strains to cover my bust, and I definitely need to tear this thing apart and piece the heck out of it. I only have a small amount of fabric left, so I’m going to have to be very creative, I think.

Winter Hood:
   I found a great tutorial about Romantic History’s winter hood. I usually use a large-brimmed straw hat during the rest of the year, but I don’t ever take it to Calico. My face is always so cold that I end up wrapping multiple scarves around my head. But I was cleaning out my fabric chest, and realized that I have a couple of old Irish Wool skirts that would make an amazing winter bonnet. I also found some plaid flannel shirting and am going to line the inside of the bonnet with that, since the wool is a little scratchy. I plan on machining this, but I may hand quilt the brim if I’m feeling brave.

Plaid Flannel Wrapper:
So this project is going to be saved for last, if I’m feeling really ambitious. I have a mid-century wrapper pattern that I’ve made a mockup of, and it is awesome. And in flannel? I would never ever change out of it. Ever. If I can find some well-priced plaid flannel, and if I have enough time, I’ll whip this up on my Singer.

Halloween, How Are You Here so Soon?

   My favorite holiday has to be Halloween. I think I've mentioned that a time or two.
   This year, a lot of things are happening, including my best friend's move to LA, an Eagle Scout project,  and an unexpected "promotion" at work. All in the next two weeks. So my costume is going to be as laid back as I can possibly manage, without having to revert to "zombie in a t-shirt and jeans".
   I'm thinking Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service.

               

   It's pretty simple: a purple dress, a red hairbow, red flats, and a broom. I'll probably fashion a little radio to hang on the end of the broom, and I'll wear a big messenger bag. Done.
   I've purchased 3 3/4 yds of the darkest purple I could find at Joann's, thread, and an invisible zipper to match. Sewing with a zipper always weirds me out,  especially if I've been hand sewing a lot beforehand.

   I'm using the Simplicity 5802 pattern for the dress. I'm going to use View A with the 3/4 length sleeves.

 I want to go as Kiki with an adult twist. Not "adult" adult; there won't be any fishnets or cleavage. It'll just be a sophisticated version of Kiki. Kiki all grown up and being awesome as a successful entrepreneur. . . . The hairbow stays, though.

History-Con Checklist: Feeling the Heat

It's the day before The Fort MacArthur event, and let me tell you what... I'm super stressed. Of course, as a procrastinator, I'm always stressed when it comes to events... and whether I will be fully clothed at said events.
I have have quite a bit to do.
My peplum and my trim are still hanging out in a little pile on the floor together. But I have sleeves! And the jacket closes on my body!
I'm going to make crazy quick false undersleeves, and I may or may not have time to make a new cap. Fingers crossed.
Next time I will refrain from sewing garments for my friends. My friend K was a great sport, seeing as she had never sewn anything before. But she has a new Georgian wardrobe! Yeah, I didn't blog about all of her new clothing, but she'll definitely be modeling it tomorrow.
So here's to a crazy all-nighter...my third this week.
Wish me luck.
Tons of pics tomorrow!

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.