Pause Button

On Monday I got back from vacation and found a huge pile of stuff on my plate. So much stuff that - especially with school starting - I'm going to have to put something on hold. Unfortunately, it looks like that's going to be my sewing (until I can get rid of something else, anyway). I still need to post pictures of the final Regency undergarments and I'm only half done with my costume backlog, but my next project (a Regency dress) will have to wait. However, I do have lots of things to look forward to when I get started again. On our grand tour of visiting friends and family in Virginia, Eric and I spent some time in Colonial Williamsburg doing the tourist thing and I brought back some goodies from the bookstore.

So many patterns, so little time!

Textbooks!

Classes start on Thursday and here I have all my books in a row and I'm ready to go! Can you guess what I'm studying based on these titles?

A Victorian Corset from Simplicity 5726 (2009)

After I finished Eowyn's Shieldmaiden Dress a costumer friend of a friend of my mom's said that it made her want to teach me how to make a real corset. I haven't seen her since, but I'm sure she'd be glad to know that in 2009 I left plastic boning behind and did it.

I found the fabric years ago on the discount upholstery pile at G Street Fabrics and after I made some Ren Faire garb from it, I saved a yard. When I decided to make my first corset, I was glad I still had it! The facing fabric is backed with coutil and the corset is lined in black cotton. I think I made a muslin for this, but I must not have paid it much attention. The final corset is fairly large on me and the bust is too big even with the back overlapping. Practically, this means that I can't wear this corset without something underneath it. The pattern was pretty good and explained things well, but the Silverado corset pattern just fits me so much better.

At the 2009 Maryland Renaissance Festival. You can
see how my mom was able to lace the corset
completely closed.

Hogwarts Wear

In light of tonight's premiere, here is a look back at the various pieces and outfits I've worn to Harry Potter book and movie releases over the years. Unfortunately, I won't be going tonight at midnight and in costume. It's not really something that one can do alone.

This is the pattern I used to make my wizard's robes
in  2003. They were my first real costuming project.

The first event I went to was the midnight release of Book 5 at a local bookstore with my friend Christine. At the time, I was under the mistaken idea that I was a Ravenclaw and wore my robes with a blue plaid skirt and white button-down. Before the next release (Book 6) I made t-shirts for Christine and myself. 

The front of the shirts I made: I'm in Sirius denial...

Padfoot Lives!

During the previous year I had also found an ankle length size 12 pleated grey linen skirt in the costume storage at my high school theatre department. It came home with me one day, where I took it in and hemmed it into a schoolgirl skirt.

Movie 5 was the next midnight premiere I did with friends. I loaned out my robes and kept it simple with a white button-down and my grey skirt. By this time I had realized I was a Slytherin, but my red hair was somewhat of a Gryffindor characteristic...so I borrowed a tie.

Me, as Lily Evans, prior to the summer 2007
premiere of "Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix."

Dueling against Bellatrix Black before the movie.

Later that same summer, I dressed up again for the midnight release of Book 7. This time I loaned out my skirt and decided to get my Death Eater on!

Assaulting innocent muggles in my living room.

The last time I dressed up was for an evening screening of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." I drove 2 hours to be able to go with friends, this time opting to be Ginny Weasley.

Ginny Weasley in 2009

 While I will drive 2-3 hours to go to a costumer party or a midnight release, the distance has gotten a bit too extreme now that I'm in Texas. I was blonde last year, so I contemplated showing up by myself as Luna Lovegood and just walking around really spaced out, but it's not really much fun if you don't have people to go with. In any case, I'll be set next time I need to dress up for a Harry Potter event. Except I should probably break down and buy a Slytherin tie.

Eowyn's Shieldmaiden Gown (2003)

This was my first major costuming project and I'm still pretty proud of it. That's not to say that it's not without problems, but the final product was fairly impressive for my skill level at the time. I made this dress to wear to the midnight premiere of The Return of the King, having been inspired by glimpses of it in the trailer for The Two Towers and Katherine's recreation. I also used her instructions for drafting the corset. 

Me, wearing the dress the night of  The Return of the King premiere.

This dress consists of three parts: the corset, vest, and chemise. I made the vest using Simplicity 9888, which I'd fortunately already had on hand. The pattern is intended for knits, so I added a zipper up the center back to close the vest. I used three rows of Fishhooks on each side to make a cap sleeve and trimmed the neckline with Waves. The fabric for the vest and corset is a faux suede from Warehouse Fabrics. This was the first project where I encountered my neckline issues, which you can see I corrected in the vest with a dart on either side.

The corset is quilted all the way around and boned with plastic featherweight boning (this was LONG before I discovered the wonders of steel). It is also trimmed with Fishhooks and features hand-sewn eyelets for the back lacing. The chemise is the only part that I'm not really happy with, but the fabric is gorgeous. I based it on a bliaut pattern from Patterns for Theatrical Costumes by Katherine Holkeboer and underestimated the amount of fabric I would need, thus the sleeves came out a little wonky. I was also working so close to the wire that it was never hemmed properly - just basted.

I learned a lot of skills from working on this project, which I still use today; pintucks, hand-sewn eyelets, drafting, pattern resizing - all kinds of things. I just wasn't ready to tackle embroidery at the time.

Elizabeth Bennet's Green Spencer Jacket (2004)

Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet in "Pride and Prejudice"

Keeping with our Regency theme, here is the 2nd half of my high school regency wardrobe. I actually adapted a pattern to make this jacket and used left over materials from Arwen's Blood Red Gown (you'll read about that next week). Thus, the jacket is blue velvet, not green, and lined in red satin. I altered the Regency bodice pattern from Patterns for Theatrical Costumes by Katherine Holkeboer; raising the neckline, cutting the center front, and adding the collar. Because I was using a bodice pattern, the waist is a bit higher than I would prefer and the sleeves are a little tight at the wrist. However, that didn't prevent this jacket from entering my everyday wardrobe when I was in high school. Unfortunately, now I can't even close the front frogs.

The jacket front on my dress form. You can see the red lining peeking out.

The jacket back. I guess the collar is a little wonky.

Regency Day Dress from Butterick (2004)

Since I am currently working in the Regency, let us visit my first attempt in this era. In 2004 I made a day dress using this Butterick pattern. The instructions were excellent and the pattern went together easily, but there were some design elements that I don't really like. The square neckline is very low and has rather sharp corners, which would probably make it impossible for me to wear my new corset underneath. Also, the sleeves are enormous and I can't get a spencer jacket over them comfortably.  My main complaint is the closure, which works with a series of hooks and eyes below the waist and lacing above. I find it to be very inelegant. I originally made this dress in a green calico, but it was said that I looked like a sprig of grass - thus, the addition of the gold ribbon at the waistline. I think it helps to break up the color, but there is sill an abundance of green.

Unlike most of my high school costuming projects, this dress is fully lined and impeccably made. There are only two things that I would do to improve the construction: hand sew the eyelets and turn under the edge where the eyelets are sewn.

No, I'm not wearing a corset. The bust is just too small now.

The back of the dress, on my dress form.