Myssyjä myssyjä....

Mitäpä sitä sateisena päivänä muuta (voisi toki siivotakin :-C ) kuin ommella pari myssyä. Ainahan on käyttöä uusille päähineille.... ainakin voi testata, onko piirtämistä kaavoista mihinkään....

Ensin kokeilin Duran testilesin kaavaa tuollaiselle yksinkertaiselle päähineelle ja sitten heidän versiotaan suklaatyttöpäähineestä. Ohjeet löytyvät siis tuolta http://www.durantextiles.com/newsletter/documents/news_4be_08.asp


Kokeilin ensin tuota simppeliä pellavapäähinettä, jonka tein yksinkertaiseksi, mutta selkeästikin jotain jäi hahmottamatta, sillä tulos oli kovin erilainen.... juu ehkäpä auttaisi tuo päällikappaleen taittaminen, mutta ei nyt oikein innostanut. Kankaana on ohut puuvillabatisti, lankana valkoinen puuvillalanka, ja päähine on näkyviltä osin käsin ommeltu.

Sitten oli tuo suklaatyttömyssy. Kaava oli helppo, mutta myönnän, että piirsin sen omasta päästä, Duran Textilesin kaava oli vain suuntaa-antava... mutta melko samannäköisiä niistä silti tuli. Pitsivalikoimani on päässyt surkeaan kuntoon, mutta ne ovat onneksi helposti vaihdettavissa, mikäli tulee paremmat pitsit vastaan. Pitsin kiinnitystapa ei aukea, vaikka tuijotan seinälläni olevaa kopiota suklaatytöstä (eikä siinäkään kopiossa ole värit muuten oikein, vaikka ostettu samasta paikasta, missä aito on näytillä!!!).

Molemmat myssyt on vuoritettu ohuella pellavalla, päällys on silkkiä (keltainen ja sininen on vähän tasaisempaa dupionia, valkoinen todella römpsyistä). Pitsit ovat siis jotain polyesteria, mutta kelpanevat tähän hätään. Kaikki näkyvät ompeleet on käsinommeltuja.

Ja pitihän sitä tehdä pari perusmyssyäkin, jotka nimesin Elizaksi ja Obedienceksi. Obedience luonnollisesti tuo, jossa on hyvin särmät laskokset. Myssyt ovat takuulla ainutlaatuiset, sillä leikkasin ne suoraan kankaasta ilman kaavoja, kangasta kun oli hyvin rajattu määrä, niin niistä tuli juuri sellaiset kuin kankaasta riitti. Mutta kyllä ne päähän (ainakin pieneen) mahtuvat. 

Kankaana puuvillabatisti, lankana valkoinen puuvillalanka eikä näkyviä koneompeleita.

HSF/M'15 Challenge #7: Accessorise

What the item is: Four 18th century Caps

Fabric: For upper caps dupion (!) silk (white, blue, yellow) and linen for lining, for lower caps cotton batiste

Pattern: For upper caps Duran Textiles chocolate girl caps pattern more or less (it was more like a guideline), the lower caps are my own patterns

Year: 18th century

Notions: Cotton and silk thread, polyester (!!!) lace (but that's easy to change when I find better)

How HA is it? Materials (cotton, silk, linen) are ok, but dupion is not. Poly lace not. And all the invisible seams are machine sewn. 

Hours to complete: two days, working very lazy

First worn: not yet

Total cost: All from stash

HSM'15 Challenge: 5 Practicality

..." even princesses sometimes nees a practical garment that you can DO things in...... we're getting down and dirty and makinf something that is about getting work done: building up, cleaning uo, fixing up, and generally being practical...."  http://thedreamstress.com/2015/04/hsfm-15-challenge-5-practicality/

In July I will be doing all those things in Waterloo - building up the tent and camp, cleaning and cooking, and do either sweating in the heath or getting cold and muddy in the rain... but that was how it was back then.....

I have enough clothes to be honest, but perhaps they are too Skandinavian style and now we should look more like English.... and all my old clothes are a little bit too small.... so I really needed (or at least wanted to) have new dress....

So I made a bib front dress, and I used Laughing Moon's pattern, and it was perhaps the easiest pattern I've ever used....

Of course since I'm going to work in it, I didn't do the train part... and I confess, I made it so that I can wear it with an normal bra, since I really need to WORK in it, not just pretending to work... so the waist is 1 cm lower than in the pattern.... I can't help it, I do have boobs....

Fabric is printed cotton, machine sewn except all the visible seams are hand sewn.

And because I do burn very easily, I made a chemisette. I thought I made a very little collar, but it turned out to be huge, at least to my eye.

Fabric is cotton(-blend?, not sure). All hand sewn. Pattern self drafted.

And of course I need an apron. I have had this printed cotton in my stash for a long time, and in some point I dyed it - with a poor result- the colour is dirty-dull-dark-green. But it's perfect to an apron when carrying wood or ma´king a fire - i think. So never throw anything away...

Printed cotton (self-dyed), all hand sewn.

And because the pattern was so easy to do, I though why not do a sleeveless dress too. The fabric is too thick, but I just wanted to do it anyway. Perhaps there will be a time to take a walk around the camp and dress something with no burning marks, ashes or tears....

Fabric is cotton, but I dont' think it is really suitable to be historically accurate... All but visible seams are machine sewn

And, if I manage to take a walk in the camp - or even around the village - I do need a hat. Very fast done, and really not even knowing what on earth I was doing, but this is how it turned out... but I'm very sure, I'll just use linen caps....

Silk, cotton, silk and cotton thread, a hat from ikea.

HSM'15 Challenge 4 - War & Peace

... Make something that shows the effects of war, or of extended peace.... http://thedreamstress.com/2015/04/hsfm-15-challenge-4-war-peace/


Well, I made a costume for a masquerade ball..... and I based it very very very loosly on that Greuze's painting

What the item is (and how it is a product of war or a lenghty period of peace: Ok, I'm streching the lines here but: Turkey and France weer allies in the 18th century so I guess it was one of the reasons why it was so fashionable to wear turkish style clothes - well, in my country we suffered a lot of every single turkish-russian wars almost the whole century....

The Challenge: War and peace

Fabric: turquoise lyocell and peach polyester duchesse satin

Pattern: Levite 1785-1795 http://www.neheliapatterns.com/html/body_w209.html

Year: Late 18th century

Notions: Poly thread, fake fur, red belt "ribbon" - very thick ribbon

How historically is it) 1 %?? The reason I made this COSTUME was the masquerade I went last week and needed an outfit, fast. I wanted to test this levite pattern too and this was a good reason. But I am not sure the pattern is historically accurate, at least it was very modern-like. The robe a l'anglaise is perhaps cut like a historically accurate, but I took every short cut I could find... And lyocell 200 years too early, even the poly satin would be more historically accurate :-)

Hours to complete: 5 hours!!! including everything - but I don't know if the costume would last another night... very poorly made....

First worn: Sat 25th April

Total cost: absolutely everything from my stash and very very old ones so I just don't know

Kuvat Johanna Talso

HSM'15 Challenge 3 - Stashbusting

What the item is: two pairs of woollen mitts, long and short ones

The Challenge: 3 Stashbusting

Fabric: 100 % wool yarn

Stashed for how long: 4-5 years, the yarn was meant for my 14 th c dress (to tablet weave the edges) - well, the dress is still waiting for those edges, actually even the dress is still a stash fabric...

Pattern: my own, but of course I googles a lot

Year: 18th c/ early 19th c

Notions: None

How historically is it? - Fairly, but they existed :-D. The yarn is 100 % wool, but of course modern type (not self spun or dyed), I haven't seen any patterns/ motifs but I just had to add because it was otherwise so boring to do... I used size 2,5 mm knitting needles, so they are huge to what tehy should be. I just started another pair (red ones this time) with size 0,75 mm but that may be too much (or in this case too little) for me... yet another ufo on it's way...

Hours to complete: a weekend watching tv (all the skiing competitions) - but I did do and undo a lot!

First worn: just for the photos

Total cost: no idea, but I used under 200 g yarn

HSM'15 Challenge 2: Blue

... make something in any shade of blue... http://thedreamstress.com/2015/02/hsfm-15-challenge-2-blue/

I had had this fabric in my stash now for a while and I bought it just because it was cheap. I'm not so in to blue as a colour, but the fabric looked lovely and though it is 100 %  raw silk (except the gold part, I assume) it looked more like wool.

And then I washed it. Very carefully. 30 degrees (Celcius), just like the label said. And this happened.... ok, the blue colour is still there though in this picture the colour is gray, but all the gold was now gone and those black stripes are like nets, they lost some kind of filling?? And when before the wash the fabric looked more like wool, it now has a rough linen look and feel.

So I was going to make a jacket and a petticoat for a lady to be worn as her undress wear but now it's going to be a outfit for a common woman....

Petticoat was made in a "normal" way. Two part joined together with pocket slits and black cotton ribbons to tie it.

For the jacket I used J.P.Ryan's pattern " A fine collection of Ladies' Jackets for Undress Wear" http://www.jpryan.com/details/jacket.html. I had already started to do it before the challenge (so actually a ufo) - I had cut all the parts for the lining (black linen) so I continued from there. Everything is hand sewn with black linen thread (and I would have absolutely used wax if I just could have located it...). The pattern was very fast and easy to sew with no problems, except the sleeves were so tight I had to make them bigger. But since the sleeves were the only thing I tried on, I still don't know if the jacket fits on me, it may be too small....

Because the fabric was now after the wash so coarse/ weaving was so loose (or what ever is the right term...) I had to top stitch the whole jacket. Though I tried to use very tiny back stitches it seemed like it would break if strech even a little bit. So the top stitching seemed like the only solution, historically accurate or not...

And the cuffs...I had so little fabric left I couldn't match the stripes, the other cuff did match but there was no way I could get the other one match. I tried piecing but the seams made the cuff so thick. And it didn't look good when the other cuff matched and the other didn't. So I decided not the use those cuffs at all. 

There are 5 lacing holes on both sides, hand sewn of course, but not in the nicest way I'm afraid. But I'll keep on practising...

The stomacher is supported with 3 cable ties, those attachment parts are made from the same black ribbon I used in the petticoat. Sadly there seems to be some stripes from the wash...

And since I had few small pieces of the fabric left I made a little pocket. This pocket is meant to be worn over the petticoat.

Challenge #2 Blue

What the item is? A jacket and a petticoat (and a pocket)

Fabric: Raw silk and black linen for lining

Pattern: Basic petticoat pattern and J.P.Ryan's - Ladies' Jackets for Undress Wear

Year: Later 18th century

Notions: Black linen thread, black cotton ribbon, cable ties for the stomacher

How historically accurate is it? Looks ok, but I guess raw silk was not used, but luckily this feels and looks like linen (though it used to look like wool), all hand sewn

Hours to complete: One week

First worn: not yet and since it's been a ufo for a while I guess it wont fit anymore 

Total cost: the silk was 6 €/ m, linen about 12 €/ m I guess 

HSM'15 Challenge 1

Foundations " make something that is the foundation of an outfit "


I have wanted for a quite some time to make a proper empire (regency) outfit - I do have those for the peasant-me, but not for the lady-me ;-). BUT because of my busty bodytype I always thought it would be absolutely nononono...... until I saw so many busty ladies wearing empire (regency) dresses and even ladies bustier than me and they looked good. So I thought I can at least try...

My main goal for this challenge was to make a empire (regency) stays/ corset (I don't know when the word changed). And because I had to order a pattern for it I ordered one for the bodiced petticoat too (http://www.neheleniapatterns.com/). I have to advertise Nehelia, because they are just so good and helpful!


The shift
Of course I understood that I have to start with the shift. This year I have promised not to buy any fabric so I have to use only my stash - and there wasn't suitable linen for my shift so I had to use cotton batiste. The pattern is very basic, but I manage to mess something up so the sleeves were too big. I solved the problem making a fold on the shoulders. Not nice, not period (I guess) but will do now. The shift is totally hand sewn with cotton thread.

The corset - mock up

I used for the corset Mantua-Maker's Regency Corset 1800-1820 pattern. When I saw the picture that is in the cover page of the pattern I thought that the pattern was a good waste of money. I really looks awful.... (not the one in this picture thou)...

I started by making a mock-up using a very sheer old sheet and the result was very awful. So I thought it would never work. But then I took better fabrics - one layer cotton twill and one layer coutil. And I chose one size bigger and changed the bust gussets a little bit and made it til the end using my sewing machine, metal eyelets and cable ties. And then I tested it how it fits. And it fitted, almost too well. I had lowered the bust gussets so they started lower and now my girls weren't high enough. But thou they are fastly made and there's nearly nothing historical sewing they give me the 1830-40's silhoutte (bust is much lower than in the empire/ regency corset). So if I ever need a 1830-40's dress I already have a corset for it. Sadly I sewed it so badly....

At this point I thought I wouldn't be able to make the real corset in time, so I did the bodiced petticoat

Bodiced petticoat 

While still waiting for the patterns I started to make the skirt part for the bodiced petticoat. When I got the pattern (Period Impressions: Bodicen Pettiocoat) I saw that the skirt was too wide but I didn't change it. It may be too voluminous but I'll see to it when I have a dress to test it. The pattern was easy, the instructions were easy to follow after I skipped the lining part which confuced me a little bit (the pattern sheet said cut the lining part, but no mentions of the lining in the instructions...) Because I ended up sewing it before I made the "real" corset I made eyelets instead of hook and eyes because I wasn't sure what my measurements would be with the corset. The bodicet petticoat is cotton, all hand sewn with the cotton thread. And must say, my fastest hand sewing project ever! The blue colour is from the marking pen....

The empire/ regency corset

After the petticoat was done I started with the corset. I for some reason wanted to make my corset from a linen fabric my mother bought me few years ago. It is thick so I can't use it for normal under wears and it stays stiff even after washing it. So I made a full linen corset, only too layers. 

And this time I followed the pattern and didn't make any alterations except I moved the bust gussets little (they were too close in the middle). And I followed the instructions. The pattern is just wonderful!! It even made my bust look tiny  :-)

I liked sewing gussets and everything except the gording in front of the corset. That's why there is so little cording, but time will tell if I have to do more (and the linen may strech so the cording could keep it straight). All hand sewn with linen thread, linen fabric, cable ties, cotton cord and cotton bias tape and cotton lace for the lacing. The corset looks much better on me but I won't put a picture on me here... Did I say the pattern is great!

And I made the wooden busk but I forgot the take a picture

My first ever cordings



Looks like it's no problem for that 8 stiches/inch, it's true - the more handsewing the tinier stiches

Challenge info:

What the item is: Empire/ Regency underwear

Challenge 1:Foundations

Fabric: cotton (shift and bodiced petticoat), linen (corset) (mock-up 1830's corset cotton)

Pattern: Basic shift pattern, Period Impression's Bodiced petticoat and Mantua-Makers Regency Corset 1800-1820 

Year: 1815 - but I guess any empire/ regency will do, and my mock-up corset is for 1830-1840's

Notions: Cotton and linen threads, cotton cord, cable ties, cotton lace, wooden busk, (for 1830's corset metal eyelets)

How historically accurate: If not counting the mock-up 1830's corset, I could say it's pretty ok. (the fabrics are modern and the threads are modern etc but in general). I think the parts I made of cotton should be linen and vice versa. All three parts are totally hand sewn with period techniques (except I sewed cording using running stiches and I dont' know if that ok)

Hours to complete: Didn't count, but Mr T. said too many (the house is a mess again)

First worn: not yet, just tried them on quickly 

Total cost: all from stash, and I can't guess what it would cost if I bought all the fabrics and notions. 

The historical sew monthly 2015

I didin't manage to sew much last year, but now I have new strength and time. So the "game" is on!

Challenges and my plans:

January - Foundations: make something that is the foundation of a period outfit

My plan - regency stays

February - Colour challenge Blue: Make an item that features blue, in any shade from azure to zaffre

My plan - a jacket and a petticoat. I'n not sure yet what kind of jacket, but the fabric is wool-like silk, so it should be for a lady not a kitchen maid.....

March - stashbusting: Make something using only fabric, patterns, trims & notions that you already have in stash

My plan - is to make something using these fabrics. I could easily do about 40 outfits from the fabrics of this shelf, and sadly it's just one the the shelfs...

April - War & peace: the extremes of conflict and long periods of peacetime both influence what people wear. Make something that shows the effects of war, or of extended peace

My plan - Heh, all I do is for war & peace anyway :-) I don't need clothes only for summer time camping, the future event for carrying the king over the wintery mountains home will need 

a good woolen clothes for me to survive

May - Practicality: Fancy party frocks are all very well, but everyone, even princesses, sometimes needs a practical garment that you can do things in. Create the jeans-and-T-shirt-get-the-house-clean-and-garden-sorted outfit of your chosen period

My plan - Jumping to medieval times.... I have so many practical clothes that I can work with so why not make a outfit for him to work around the camp. I even already have a suitable shovel for him :-) 

The oufit will include thorsberg trousers, basic shirt and a tunic, but not in brown. 

June - Out of your comfort zone: create a garment from a time period you haven't done before, or that uses a new skill or technique that you've never tried before

My plans - yes, I have done a dress like these once before - and it was awfully made, the fabric was horrible and it's now distroyed. So I'll start it again, from the beginning and hopefully learning this time how to really make it. And I haven't decided the right gown yet....

July - Accessorize: The final touch of the right accessory creates the perfect period look. Bring an outfit together by creating an accessory to go with your historical wardrobe.

My plan - to make a fontange and few caps and something small while camping

August - Heirlooms  Heritage: Re-create a garment one of your ancestors wore or would have worn, or use a heirloom sewing supply to create a new heirloom to pass down to the next generations

My plan - jumping again in time, now to the 1900's... to finally make the outfit (or at least close to it) my greatgarndmother wore as a young mother

September - Colour challenge brown: it's not the most exciting colour by modern standards, but brown has been one of the most common, and popular, colours throughout history. Make something brown. 

My plan - a cloak. A brown woolen long cloak. Cloak that I can wear as a peasant and attachable fur trimmings (fake, I don't use real) when being a lady. And a muff if I have the time.

October - Sewing secrets: Hide something in your sewing, whether it is an almost invisiblemend, a secret pocket, a false fastening or front, or a concealed message (such as political or moral allegiance). 

My plan - still a secret even for me :-)

November - Silver Screen: Be inspired be period fashions as shown on screen (film or TV), and recreate your favourite historical costume as a historically accurate period piece

My plan - yes, it has been my plan since I saw the movie the first time. 

But the colour may or may not be different....

December - Re-Do: It's the last challenge of the year, so let's keep things simple by re-doing any of the previous 11 challenges

My plan - hah, I'll try to finish even one of the UFOs I've started during this year ;-D