1890s Cheerios jacket

 Let's talk about another project made this year during the lockdown. Take a drink, eat popcorn because this jacket has a long story. I called this project "Cheerios" because of the colour of the fabric. 

After watching Crimson Peak movie a couple of years ago I fell in love with the costumes and immediately wanted to reproduce the yellow dress, though it's not properly my colour. I went to the fabric shop, found some lovely mustard cotton but then I realized it wasn't enough for a complete dress. Nevermind, I bought it with the intention to make a fitted bodice. I adapted the pattern to my measures, cut the mockup, did some fittings, cut sleeves lining...and put everything in a box for 3 or 4 years. Don't ask me why I didn't finish it before. There was something wrong with me and my mind and I was literally afraid to start working on that out of stock cotton (you know...no room for error!). 

So I waited. And waited. And waited. Until last year, when I found the mock up in a box and remembered of this project. I put the mockup on the dress form and it looked ok but when I tried it on, I immediately realized there was no enough room for the overlap at center fronts. I did darts smaller, put a facing. Nothing. It was way too tight. This was probably the reason why I didn't finish it back then. Totally discouraged, I took the mock up and put in the box for some months again. 

During the lockdown I was looking for some easy sewing projects to do using stash materials as long as I couldn't order something new and - oh! - this little thing came to my mind again. This time the sewing Gods were with me. I tried the mock up on and - omfg - I understood I could turn the bodice into a fitted jacket with reverse, MY FAVOURITE THING! Squeeee! I rip the mock up, cut the fashion fabric, assembled the whole thing and admired how beautifully this jacket looked with a plastron instead of a sleeveless blouse. 

I ordered an antique silk organza and lace plastron on eBay but alas it was too delicate so I used it as reference to draft a pattern and make one of my own using some cotton and laces from stash. So much better as I could move and breath in the jacket without ruining the delicate silk organza. After finishing the bodice and adding the boning  I worked with the sleeves, which were incredibly big; they are attached to a fitted sleeve lining so there's no way to use sleeve supports; I stitched some netting in the upper cap of the sleeve to give just some support. 

Then I made buttonholes (later covered by hand) and used vintage honey buttons to close it. 

And it was done!

Then summer came and couldn't wear it until last weekend, when the weather finally allowed me to  put it on for the whole day. And my friends, it was a success! Enjoy! Sometimes it's amazing to see how wrong projects can turn into something beautiful and unexpected. I wore it with a matching hat with vintage veiling, antique silver buckle, gold pleated earrings and antique cammeo. 

Making a black 1890s outfit, part 2

Let's go with the second part of this project. To be honest the outfit has been finished and already worn but, as usual, I'm always late with the blog :( 

So, after finishing the skirt and hand sewing the trim all around the hem I started to work on the blouse. It was essentially draped on the dress form to fit since my pattern was incredibly short waisted, probably designed to be sewn to the skirt. I suppose this was called for a theatrical use.  

This process took a while but it was worthy.

The upper part of the neckline is gathered to fit.

The pattern didn't have any tips for fastening so after looking to some extant pieces I went for back fastening with fabric covered buttons. 

The hem of the blouse is bounded with black cotton bias tape and the seams are gently boned to keep it in place when worn. 

Now the sleeves. I didn't want exaggerate sleeves in my blouse and luckily, the ones in my pattern weren't so big! I just did some basic alterations to fit my arms and they were ready! They're flat lined in cotton as the rest of the blouse; for a more puffy look I should have added some padding (maybe organza ruffles?) between the lining and the fashion fabric but I'm happy with the result. 

And that's all! The making of the skirt and the blouse took about a week: I'm losing weight and I needed to shorten the waistband of the skirt, which took me a while (rip it off, measure again, shorten it, make the back pleats again, baste the whole stuff together, try it on,  remove hooks and eyes on the left side and sew again). The collar turned out too big but this can be easily fixed in a second moment. 

It was a very simple and fast project, not bad to be my first jump into the 90s! I also purchased a pattern for an accurate hat. 

Making a 1890s black outfit, part 1

Hi everyone! The holiday season has started and so this means I have some spare time to work on my personal projects. This time I'd like to introduce my 1890s black outfit. I'm new to late Victorian costuming (oh well, let's say I explored very few of it) and let's say I'm not a fan of those huge sleeves. After looking at some extant examples I saw huge sleeves last

ed for a very short time and not every 1890s bodice had leg-o'-mutton sleeves so I decided to give this era a try. I found some beautiful examples of black dresses not stricky mourning and went ahead with that idea.

Both there dresses are beautiful and I love Cléo de Mérode hairstyle!

So, after checking the web for resources I decided my dress would have been in black cotton sateen with very minimal embellishments. 

Before starting to work on the skirt I worked on the undergarments. I took and old Edwardian petticoat from my closet and restyled it, sergin' again seams and adding a lovely ruffle at the bottom to help the skirt in keeping its shape at the bottom. Luckily I already had corset and chemise (no combinations yet alas!) so this part came together really quickly. 

Then I started to work on the skirt. I drafted a pattern by my own looking at some period layouts. It's really simple, trust me. All you have to do is to measure yourself carefully at waist, centre front and back if you want a train. Divide your waist measurements by 7 (the number of gores, since the front is cut on fold) and draft your pattern; the back and side back have to be more generous in size to end up with the pleats. 

Gored skirts ended in with very large pleats at the back to create the "fan" look and that's what I did. The front is straight all around my hips. My skirt is high waisted to use the waistband as belt. I have very large hips and  I have to say this skirt is incredibly comfortable, smoothing my curves and making my belly look really flat. AH! 

I wanted my skirt to be light, to be worn in summertime as well so it's not lined or flat lined. The hem is reinforced with some black bias tape 25 mm wide faced inwards. 

The back of the skirt closes with hook&eyes and two pair of snaps (they're HA, did you know? They were invented in the 1880s!) mounted over the placket. Unfortunately my waistband ended to be too large so it overlaps too much but it can be easily fixed in a second moment. 

When I was done with the skirt I hand sewn some yards of beautiful vintage velvet trim all around the hem as decoration. It's so lovely! 

Now the fun part: bodice and sleeves!