Historical Sew Fortnightly #15

Short post, and a bit late, but I made a walking skirt!

This skirt is made using the same pattern as all of my late 1880s skirts, but altered to be larger for the wearer. It is unlined, so it's not overly hot to wear.

It has an eight inch deep hem facing, as well as half inch horsehair braid to keep the hem wide and easy to walk in. This skirt was made for Castiel for my Victorian Femme Supernatural Cosplay project.

This skirt has the best waistband of those I've made thus far; it is two inches wide, faced, and was cut slightly curved so there is no bunching or folding. The skirt closes with two buttons on the waistband and two hooks and bars on the placket.

It's pretty simple, but practical and comfortable. Photos of Cas wearing it soon to follow (hopefully!)

The Breakdown:
The Challenge: #15: The Great Outdoors

Fabric:  Black linen/cotton blend

Pattern: Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 1860-1940, 1880s skirt

Year:  mid-1880s

Notions:  Black cotton thread, two hooks and bars, two buttons, 120" half inch polyester horsehair braid

How historically accurate is it?  Very, minus the polyester and the fact that the buttons are plastic. 90-95%?

Hours to complete:  Didn't count, maybe 15 since the handmade the buttonholes and hand-stitched the hem facing.

First worn: Not worn yet

Total cost:  ~$35

Pictures!

So I realized that I never posted the pictures of Gabriel in her corset, so here you go:

As you can see, Gabriel has no ribcage, thus she hourglasses really well. It has also been decided that she has five gallons of tits.

Crowley's corset is done minus the flossing. She had to leave before I was done binding, so I laced her into it unfinished so I could take her measurements before she left.

You can see the part of the top binding hanging loose, but it was sound enough to try on. Ignore the lint on her chemise.

So scandalous

I finished the binding after she left, and added trim.

Need to buy lacing and floss, but it's basically done.

Close-up of trim, and a better image of the color. The corset is a olive green silk, stitched with gold silk thread, and bound in a chocolate brown silk. The trim is some polyester stuff that I had kicking around, and it matched nicely.

I realized that I didn't buy nearly enough fabric for Castiel's outfit, so I was barely able to cut out all the skirt panels. I'll be able to make the placket, and maybe the waistband, but there isn't enough left for the hem facing and the bodice, so I'll be buying more come payday.

Plans for this month include finishing all of Crowley's undergarments, and all of the skirts. Maybe a bodice or two as well. We'll see where I get.

I did the thing!

So when I started the Victorian Femme Supernatural Cosplay project, I sat down and drew up design sketches for each of the outfits I was making. However, I knew that none of the designs would survive the creation process as-is. They were influenced by the Late Bustle period, but they weren't period proper. As I continued to look at more and more fashion plates and surviving garments online, I became more and more disenchanted with my original designs. So a little while ago I sat down and drew a new design for Samifer. This was the original design:

In the show Samifer wears a white suit with a cream shirt. I drew a white suit top, cream shirt and cuffs, white embroidered skirt and a cream over skirt. It's . . . costume-y. It definitely doesn't look like what was worn in the late 1880s. I wanted the skirt to have a train, and I realized most of the trains are on overskirts, not usually on the underskirt. I looked at reception dresses of the time, which have the trains I liked, but more restrained and with longer sleeves than ballgowns, and I came up with this:

A pleated cream false shirt with a white false vest, white bodice with pleated ribbon trim, white cuffs with lace and cream pleating, white overskirt with lace and buttons, and a white underskirt with cream pleating and ribbon.

The skirt was easy, it was flatlined with muslin and sewn the same as all the petticoats. A hem facing was added, and then came the cream pleats.

And they just kept coming.

See that giant pile of fabric hanging off the ironing board and onto the floor? Yeah, I pleated all 360 inches of that into half inch pleats. Over the course of three days, stopping when the board was full to press them with vinegar. It worked like a dream.

You can see to the left that the vinegar pressed pleats are flat and crisp while on the right the freshly ironed but no vinegar pleats look loose. After pressing the pleats were basted together, moved to the far end of the ironing board, and the next section was pleated. The finished pleats were machine sewn to the skirt, and then covered by ribbons that were hand tacked on.

The bottom ribbon is a plain white and the top is slightly sheer with gold stripes straddling a brocade pattern.

'But wait!' you say, 'what's that red peeking out?' You know that hem facing I mentioned? Well it wasn't white, and it wasn't turned to the inside.

Under the pleats is a fiery rose pattern, to be glimpsed as the pleats shift and bounce. Because we ARE talking about Lucifer.

Here's a picture of the hem facing before the pleats were added. It was an eight and a half inch strip of bias tape, sewn to the wrong side, and then turned the the right side (encasing the seam). The top half inch was turned under and hand sewn in place.

The inside of the hem facing. The skirt length was measured on Samifer and cut off at the exact length, so an extra half inch was added to the hem facing so the skirt would be the same length when finished.

The finished skirt. The overskirt will be made later, after the necessary fabric has been measured for the bodice.

Next up will be Castiel's skirt, since her petticoat is now finished.

It's about two inches too short in the back, so her skirt will be cut longer so make up for it (they're both based around the same pattern). Hopefully an update on that will follow soon.

Historical Sew Fortnightly #14: Paisley & Plaid

This is one of those challenges that lines up perfectly with my own deadlines. I wanted to finish my skirt by the end of July, which features plaid. I actually finished the skirt about a week ago, but was unable to get picture at the time. Now that I live in a house full of people, it was much easier to rope someone into taking photos (my husband is always willing to snap pictures, but he fails to comprehend that picture taken for a costuming blog should be focused on the costume.)

Although Dean tends to wear plaid shirt less often than his brother Sam, he still wears a buttload of plaid.

That man's face should be illegal

But I decided early in the planning stages of these costumes that I was using the clothes on the show as inspiration, not direct outfits. I could simply do a blue denim colored skirt with a green Henley-style shirt front on a plaid bodice with a leather jacket and be Dean. But that felt like I was taking the outfits on the show and forcing them to look Victorian, rather than using Victorian principles and designing costumes that the characters would wear if they lived in that time period. With that idea in mind I moved the plaid to the skirt, going for a pleated, active wear look that would blend mobility with style. (Also, there are hidden slits so I can hide things and access them later.) The result:

The blue of the shirt is a little darker than the photo, but you can see the teal plaid nicely. The plaid sections are flatlined since the fabric was a bit on the light side.

In order to make the pleats hang more evenly a half moon of blue fabric was added to the waistband so the pleats would fall from the edge of the bustle.

The pleats aren't as sharp as I'd like, despite ironing them with vinegar and top-stitching, but the skirt still looks good.

Close-up of the plaid

An overskirt is going to be added later. You can't really tell from the photo, but the fabric is ivory with a floral brocade, a homage to the gun Dean favors.

Floral scroll work and a mother-of-pearl handle. Talk about a classy way to die.

Just the facts:
The Challenge: #14 Paisley and Plaid

Fabric: Navy blue broadcloth and Teal Plaid quilters cotton, white muslin for flatlining.

Pattern:  No pattern used, just math and draping

Year: 1884-1889

Notions:  Navy blue polyester thread, teal cotton thread, hook and bar closure

How historically accurate is it? Skirt closure is on the wrong side, and most of the stitching was in polyester thread, but the hem is hand tacked to keep it invisible and the techniques are solid. I'd say 95%

Hours to complete:  Lots. Cutting and flatlining took a while, since the plaid wasn't printed exactly straight of grain. Ironing took an entire day, as did topstitching. I'd put it in the realm of 25-40 hours.

First worn: The day it was completed. I didn't want to take it off.

Total cost: About $25

Two Petticoats done

. . . well, almost.

I have Castiel's petticoat done minus hook and bar closure, and Gabriel's bustle/petticoat combination is finished minus hemming and buttons. Cas' will be done as soon as I can convince her to put on her corset and bustle for fitting. It may need to be shortened, but if so I'll add tucks. Here's what hers looks like:

Back view showing ruffle.

Close-up of ruffle. Three rows of cording made by folding the fabric in half and stitching with the cord sandwiched in-between. Then I stitched the cording flat to the rest of the ruffle with lace underneath.

The hem is decorated with a grey Vandyke border that reminds me of the tips of feathers. Where did I find such nice trim?

$1 for three yards rick-rack, stitched so only half shows beyond the hem. And now you know my secrets.

Gabriel's bustled petticoat is based off of some images I found online. I won't be able to continue work on her outfit until she returns from her fieldwork next month.

The front two-thirds are plain, with the back third boned. There is a ruffle that goes around the entire skirt at knee level, and a separate piece of fabric with five rows of ruffles that covers the boning and back of the skirt.

With the ruffles moved aside you can see the boning underneath.

The back ruffles are trimmed in green bias tape for contrast and to help them stand out better. I'll probably add some little hooks and eyes to the back ruffle piece to prevent shifting. Still need to do the photo shoot for my skirt, but I'm feeling accomplished so far. I'll be switching gears soon and doing a mock-up for my friend's quilted armor, but I still think I'll be able to start Samifer's skirt before August. Things are finally starting to come together.

Panic and Things Accomplished

In my last post I mentioned receiving some life changing news. My husband and I were informed that we had to be out of our home by the end of the month.

Fuck

It was only a day or two later that we were told the timeline had changed, we had until the end of the week.

Double Fuck

We still own our home (which is an RV), and we can still store things in it, but it had to be moved to a different property and we could no longer live in it (it is illegal to live in an RV unless you're in an RV park. It's very common in So Cal, especially on horse properties, because land is so expensive. The law isn't really enforced, but the county will kick you out if there's a complaint. And guess what? There was a complaint.)

So on Thursday my husband and I packed up our stuff, moved into our friends' loft, and had our RV moved to a different property. It was painful, and hectic. We had been living in our trailer for about five years in four different locations in three cities. Just the two of us and our one little bird (cat).

Our trailer is too old to be accepted into most parks, but we're looking into our housing opportunities and hopefully soon we will have a stable place again. And we are lucky to have such a wonderful support network.

I spent the first few days cleaning and organizing and getting used to the new environment. Yesterday I finally decided it was time to start sewing again. I was able to finish my skirt and am halfway through Castiel's petticoat. I need to pick up more muslin, but I should be finished with it tomorrow. Then there's Gabriel's bustle/petticoat combination, and I may even get Samifer's skirt done by the end of the month. I don't have any pictures yet, but they will be coming soon.

Mope

On Friday I received some bad news (no one died, but it was still life changing news). I cried, I panicked, I got over myself and made an action plan. Things are going to be okay, but it's scary and I'm going to be busy over the next few weeks.

Yesterday was spent moping. Do you have mope days? You don't cry cause 'been there done that' and you don't need the headache, and you don't really freak out because it won't lead anywhere so you'd rather not take that path; you just ignore all your responsibilities and sit around to prove to yourself you still have control of your life. One of those days where chocolate, pickles, and ramen all sound equally good and you'd eat all three if you had 'em. One of those days where you need a small, brainless project that you know you can finish before dinner just to feel a sense of accomplishment. One of those days where a Netflix marathon is its own form of therapy. A Mope Day.

Yesterday was a Mope Day and I decided to make a set of pockets to go with my new petticoat. I pulled out fabric I'd been planning on using for pockets:

Drafted a pattern by hand, cut out four pieces, cut a slit in two, and bound the pieces together by hand using bias tape. The result:

I used the cotton twill tape the I had wanted to be my petticoat waistband to be the pocket ties. There was just enough to be able to tie it around my waist, so I stitched the pockets to it.

Over normal clothes, because I don't have full 18th century undergarments

The pockets are only attached to the waistband at the corners, since stays and a bum pad will likely change the placement. If I have to move them I can do so easily, and once I'm sure of placement I'll stitch the top of the pockets to the waistband as well.

The Challenge: #13 Under $10

Fabric: Cotton print bought years ago

Pattern: Made by me, based on the shape of existent pockets

Year: 18th century

Notions: Green thread, cotton twill tape, and pre-made bias tape

How historically accurate is it? The print is wrong, and both the bias tape and thread are cotton-poly blends. But the shape and construction are good. 75 or 80%?

Hours to complete: 5ish. The first pocket was done in an hour and a half, but the second took longer because I had to keep pausing to help my husband hack the terminals in Fallout 3. I am a pro at hacking in that game.

First worn: Just for the photoshoot

Total cost: Fabric was a remnant, I think it cost between $2-$4. The bias tape was a $1 clearance item, the thread was a gift and the cotton twill was leftover from a previous project. So total about $5.