A lovely painting

"English School, Circa 1830, Portrait of a lady in a black dress"

Isn't this painting beautiful? The girl is stunning, and I adore her dress. I'm sorely tempted to recreate it. I'm thinking black wool with black silk taffeta bertha trimming and belt. I've been wanting a black wool 1830s dress for a while, and I've even picked out fabric for it. 
I've even tried out her hairstyle, and it actually works with my long, thick, stubborn hair. I do resemble her a bit, or at least that's what a friend told me.

HSM May: Practicality: Pieced Linen Apron

I graduated at the end of April (yay!), so I've finally had time to sew again. I've been working on some more accurate 1830s stays (with embroidery, because I can't just do something simple). I'll hopefully finish them and post about them soon! I wasn't going to do the HSM challenge this month, but I changed my mind when I remembered that I'd picked up some linen at Goodwill a while back. I didn't have enough time to make a full ensemble, so I decided I could make an apron after reading through The Workwoman's Guide (such a valuable resource!). 

The apron is 40" wide by about 33" long, and the waistband/tie is about a nail (2 1/4") wide. This is very close to the dimensions in The Workwoman's Guide, accounting for the fabric I had. The body is made of 5 pieces, and the waistband is made of 3 pieces, because my linen was in kind of weirdly shaped pieces when I bought it.

This picture doesn't really display the apron properly, but I didn't think it would look right on my silk dress.

You can see the piecing more clearly here.

My small prick stitches in the hem. Its rather hard taking a picture of white-on-white detail, especially with just a crappy iPhone. 

The Challenge: Practicality 

Fabric: About 1.5 yards of off-white linen

Pattern: None, I used the diagrams and instructions in The Workwoman's Guide

Year: I was shooting for 1830s, but it could probably work for multiple periods

Notions: Cotton thread

How historically accurate is it?  I'd say about 90%. The fabric is close, and it was entirely hand sewn with period techniques, though it should probably have been sewn with linen thread. 

Hours to complete: Probably 5-7? I'm rubbish at keeping track of time.

First worn: Just around the house, to show my family.

Total cost: Probably $1-$2. I don't remember how much I paid for the linen, but it wasn't much. The thread was already in my stash, but I probably only used less than $0.50 worth.

(Very Belated) HSM January: Foundations: 1830s Petticoat

I promise I did finish this challenge before it was due, but my computer decided to stop charging. I've finally gotten a new one (which is pink and very cute!), so I'm writing up my post now.

Over my corded petticoat and one other petticoat.

The Challenge: Foundations

Fabric: 4 yards of white cotton from stash, about $3.50/yard originally

Pattern: none

Year: I'm aiming for 1830-ish, but I think it's plausible for 1830-1860

Notions: White cotton thread  and white button from stash

How historically accurate is it?: For 1830, I'd say about 85%. The materials are perfectly plausible, and it's handsewn except for the hem.

Hours to complete: Probably 8-10. I did a lot of the handsewing in the car, so I'm not exactly sure. It also took a while to iron the hem.

First worn: Not yet, except for a prance around the house.

Total cost: About $15, although everything was from my stash

Fabric Find

About a week ago, I went to a local(ish) Walmart that wasn't the one I usually go to, and they happened to still sell fabric. I happened upon some lovely historical-looking cotton in the clearance section, marked down to $2/yard! It was about $3/yard at regular price, which is still a good find. After waiting a long while for someone to help me (the store was rather busy that day), I went home with almost 8 yards of fabulous fabric for less than $15. I asked for 7 yards at the counter, but there was about 7 yards and 29 inches on the bolt. The lady gave the 29 inches to me for free.

My fabric, with measuring tape for scale

I plan on making an 1830s dress with it. I fell in love with this dress and knew I wanted to make it. If I find a more similar fabric to the original, I may use the green for an 1820s dress, because it kind of reminds me of Fantine's green dress in Les Mis. But first, I want to make some accurate stays!

Hannibal Slavegirl Collar, Star Princess Stars, and Degas 2.0 Progress

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. Life gets in the way.
I have an incredible love for the costumes in Phantom of the Opera, so naturally I want to make replicas of all of them. My weight isn't stable right now because of wacky hormones, so I can't really make tons of costumes for myself right now, but I can make them for other people and embellishments for my future ones.

My Hannibal Slavegirl Collar, on top of my 1830s dress

European Hannibal Slavegirl (UK)

My collar was imspired by the European versions, especially the Hamburg ones. It was made of 20 flower appliques, from about a yard of a trim purchased from Etsy. The center of the appliques had a cluster of cheap-looking gold beads, and I didn't like them, so I cut them off. I replaced them with some red and green gems and gold seed and bugle beads. This will eventually be put on the Slavegirl bodice, made of red and green velvet with gold trims. This bodice is also worn under the Dressing Gown, which I will make someday soon (I even have a lovely silk and some laces for it).

Another of my favourite of Christine's costumes is the Star Princess.
Obviously, I'm not making the actual costume yet, but I've been stocking up on beads, gems, and metal stars. I've beaded 15 out of the 21 stars for the skirt so far. The plan is having 7 rows of 4 stars each (the bottom-most star isn't beaded. I could do 10 rows of 4 stars because I have 40 stars, but I need to save stars for the bodice, mask, and tiara. My best friend Abigail and my grandma both bought me some stars- totalling to 20, but I pried them apart to make 20 stars with a blue gem and 20 plain stars. I glued silver/clear star gems on the plain ones. The fourth star is just like the middle, but without the beads.

   

 One of my favourite non-Christine costumes is the Degas. It is worn by Meg Giry and the other balle girls. The costume is based on Degas' La Petit Danseuse De 14 Ans. I've made this costume before, but was never happy with it, so I'm trying again. So far, I've made the bodice pattern and cut out the cotton denim/twill (I don't remember which) lining.

Kara Klein, Broadway

Bodice lining (Guest appearance from Slavegirl Collar)

Brown Plaid 1830s Dress (Finished!)

I'm finally getting around to posting the dress. Sorry for the delay!

Sorry for the covered face; I didn't like what my face was doing

The classic mirror picture

The entire dress is hand sewn, along with most of my undergarments. The bodice is flat-lined with tan cotton, and the skirt has a 10-inch hem facing of the same cotton.

I was working with about 5.5 yards of silk, and the pattern called for 7.5, so I had to piece a bit. Both sleeves are pieced, one in 2 pieces and the other in 5 pieces. Two bodice pieces are pieced, one side and one back. It was tricky to match up the patterns, as I've never done with before, but I think I did a pretty good job. 

The skirt looks longer than it is, because of the angle the pictures were taken, but the skirt hits right above my ankle bone. This length seems to be pretty common of the period. I could probably even go a bit shorter because I'm still a teen. 

I ended up buying a different pair of shoes to wear. The shape of the shoe is rather close to period shoes, or at least as close as you can find in a department store. The ankle straps aren't quite right, but they're close-ish (very real word). I'll probably end up taking them off and adding some silk ribbon, but I wear the shoes with modern clothes and like them as-is. I think I'll be able to use them for other decades too.

"Precious" flat

American Duchess Pre-order and Giveaway

The Virginia

American Duchess has a new shoe! Pre-order for the Virginia is going on now. It's a lovely shoe, just like all of the other shoes American Duchess offers.