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Research is what keeps me up at night...
Jan. 19th, 2012 05:22 pmAnd it feels weird that I'm turnign into a researcher, me, the "OMG it's prettiz I wants its "-girl. I'm looking through my magazines collection, compiling tartan occurrences and looking at silk vs. plain petticoats and at how to get the correct fullness at the bottom. Mighty ruffles of Doom ! Lots and lots of ruffles on top of ruffles on top of flounces on top of... You get the picture.
First, I need to make myself some actual clothes to wear for Easter-shmeaster-when-do-we-do-this-Heileen-? I'm looking for plaid blouses, because I have four meters of plaid taffetas, and this photograph has made me want to make an 1890s plaid blouse for years.
Now the questions :
- which year do I choose ? I have a soft spot for some 1895-96 designs, but tartan really does seem typical of 1897-98. The sleeves would be a little more work, as I haven't yet found patterns or diagrams for those, but I could go a little more crazy on the trim. And I have a bazillion skirt patterns/cutting diagrams at hand.
- OMG I have to choose a fabric ! The blouse itself is settled. I have some silk remnants from my wedding dress that coordinate quite well and would make nice accents. I'm leaning towards some wool or the like for the skirt.
Option one would be the same short plush I used for my 1885 dolman. I then have different shades of wool* twills that might work, one more reddish brown, one a lighter brown. It also suddenly occurred to me there's a hint of light blue-grey in the plaid, and I have the world's prettiest lightweight blue wool*, but alas, only 2 meters. I doubt I can wing an entire bell skirt out of that.
The skirt won't get done for a while, though. First I will concentrate on the blouse and make the waistband of my existing 1898 skirt a smidge larger - I made the skirt before Heimlich, it's a little too tight now, not much, I don't expect to have to move the zipper**.
Then I'll need proper petticoats, because I'm ashamed of the ones I have, and after I've read a very complete description of a fashionable 1898 silk petticoat, I can't see a way to alter my existant ones to my satisfaction. Now if only I could find a nice, cheap taffetas with rosebuds or B&W stripes (it can be synthetic, as long as it's not screaming "Polyester !" too loudly, but it has to be cheap). And lace. I need yards and yards of lace.
Then probably the rest of the underwear : chemise, drawers, corset cover.
And only after that am I allowed to make plans for the next ensemble... but the dark turquoise wool is talking to me in my sleep :p
*all wools courtesy of my grandmother's hidden mighty wool stash of doom that we found while emptying the house. It filled about 1/4th of her wardrobe, and she didn't even sew !
**Yes, it has a zipper, I wear it in everyday life, so it got everyday conveniences.
First, I need to make myself some actual clothes to wear for Easter-shmeaster-when-do-we-do-this-Heileen-? I'm looking for plaid blouses, because I have four meters of plaid taffetas, and this photograph has made me want to make an 1890s plaid blouse for years.
Now the questions :
- which year do I choose ? I have a soft spot for some 1895-96 designs, but tartan really does seem typical of 1897-98. The sleeves would be a little more work, as I haven't yet found patterns or diagrams for those, but I could go a little more crazy on the trim. And I have a bazillion skirt patterns/cutting diagrams at hand.
- OMG I have to choose a fabric ! The blouse itself is settled. I have some silk remnants from my wedding dress that coordinate quite well and would make nice accents. I'm leaning towards some wool or the like for the skirt.
Option one would be the same short plush I used for my 1885 dolman. I then have different shades of wool* twills that might work, one more reddish brown, one a lighter brown. It also suddenly occurred to me there's a hint of light blue-grey in the plaid, and I have the world's prettiest lightweight blue wool*, but alas, only 2 meters. I doubt I can wing an entire bell skirt out of that.
The skirt won't get done for a while, though. First I will concentrate on the blouse and make the waistband of my existing 1898 skirt a smidge larger - I made the skirt before Heimlich, it's a little too tight now, not much, I don't expect to have to move the zipper**.
Then I'll need proper petticoats, because I'm ashamed of the ones I have, and after I've read a very complete description of a fashionable 1898 silk petticoat, I can't see a way to alter my existant ones to my satisfaction. Now if only I could find a nice, cheap taffetas with rosebuds or B&W stripes (it can be synthetic, as long as it's not screaming "Polyester !" too loudly, but it has to be cheap). And lace. I need yards and yards of lace.
Then probably the rest of the underwear : chemise, drawers, corset cover.
And only after that am I allowed to make plans for the next ensemble... but the dark turquoise wool is talking to me in my sleep :p
*all wools courtesy of my grandmother's hidden mighty wool stash of doom that we found while emptying the house. It filled about 1/4th of her wardrobe, and she didn't even sew !
**Yes, it has a zipper, I wear it in everyday life, so it got everyday conveniences.
