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 

Helmikuun koru

 Joseph Wright: 

Rouva Andrew Lindington n. 1762

Rouvalla on tulkintani mukaan kolmikerroksinen lasihelmikoru kaulallaan. Tein omat versioni värillisinä, sillä ei nyt heti sattunut silmään juuri oikean sävyisiä valkoisia lasihelmiä - oli vain joko täysin kirkkaita tai sitten täysin valkoisia. Joten niistä tuli sitten pinkit ja siniset :-)

Setteihin kuuluu kaulakoru, rannekoru ja korvakorut. Kiinnitys nauhalla, kuten tuohon aikaan useimmiten näyttää olleen tapana. 

Lasihelmistä tehty kaulakoru on todella painava, joten saa nähdä, kestääkö hento, heh, kaulani tämän painon....

Tammikuun koru

Tällä korulla ei ollut mitään historiallista taustaa - itse asiassa tämän tyyliset korut ja 1700-luku yhdistyvät vain amerikkalaisissa elokuvissa. Kai. En ainakaan ole törmännyt yhteenkään maalaukseen tai koruun, mikä olisi lähelläkään tätä mallia. Mutta kaunis kuitenkin, mielestäni.

Korussa on käytetty koruvaijeria, kuparisia korunjakajia ja luonnonvalkoisia tekohelmiä. Korut sidotaan ruskealla tekosilkkinauhalla.

Häät Suomenlinnassa

Helsingin Wanhalle Warusväelle tuli tilaus - heidät haluttiin ohjelmanumeroksi häihin, ja toki olimme innokkaina menossa.

Sotilaiden tehtäviin kuului miekkakuja morsiusparin saapuessa kirkosta, hääväen saattaminen Ferseniin ja lopuksi vielä morsiamen ryöstö.

Saavuimme Suomenlinnaan samalla lautalla kuin suurin osa häävieraistakin. Yritimme olla huomaamattomia, mutta se tuskin onnistui ulkonäöllämme ja äänekkyydellämme....

ja olihan se myös ystävänpäivä...

Ennen ensimmäistä kohtausta oli aikaa hieman suunnitella ja harjoitella. Paikaksi valikoitui Galleria Rantakasarmi, jonka modernit teokset eivät saaneet kovinkaan suurta innostusta osakseen. Enimmäkseen sinne tänne heiluvat sotilaat aiheuttivat sydämentykytystä Gallerian pitäjälle miekkojen sohiessa sinne tänne. 

Galleriassa oli kuitenkin hyvä tehdä suunnitelmia siitä, kuinka päivän tapahtumat oikein hoidetaan. Tosin nyt suunniteltiin vasta vaiheet 1) miekkakuja ja kunnialaukaukset sekä 2) hääväen saattaminen Ferseeniin. 

Ja vähän ehdittiin harjoitella äksiisiäkin...

Ja sitten kohti kirkkoa...

Kirkon pihalla harjoiteltiin sekä miekkakujaa että kunnialaukauksien ampumista. 

Pientä äkseerausta siis.

Ja sitten tulikin jo hääväki ja viimeisenä hääpari kirkosta ulos. Valitettavasti kunnialaukauksista ei tullut otettua kuvia, kun hääväellä oli luonnollisesti etuoikeus kuvien ottamiseen eturivistä...

Kunnialaukauksien (4 kappaletta, alkoi jo tulla kylmä itsellekin) jälkeen hääpari siirtyi autoon, jonka perässä waruswäki marssi johdattaen hääväen juhlapaikalle Ferseeniin. Me kaksi mamsellia pidimme huolta peräpäässä, ettei kukaan häävieraista eksynyt tahi uupunut matkalle.

Hääväen päästyä lämpimään jatkoimme kohti Panimoravintolan kahvilaa. Matkalla perinteisesti pysähdyimme Ehrensvärdin haudalle pitämään minuutin kestoisen hiljaisen hetken.

Bestman oli onnistunut unohtamaan meidän ruokailumme, mutta onneksi me mamsellit saimme jotain järjestettyä. Herkullista härkäseljankaa (kuuma keitto kylmän jälkeen oli todella hyvää!) ja hivenen olutta ja ehkä suklaakakkuakin nautittuamme siirryimme hostelliin suunnittelemaan neidon ryöstöä.

Siirryimme siis hostellilta takaisin Ferseeniin, ja juuri ennen sisäänmenoa miehet naamioivat itsensä naamarein tai huivein.

Miehet valtasivat salin, pari sotilasta piti sulhasta aloittaan ja loput muuta hääväkeä kun kolme kuljetti morsiamen pois. 

Sen jälkeen alkoi kapteenin ja tämän adjutantin johdolla sulhasen äksiisiharjoitukset. Jotka menivät kuuleman mukaan todella hyvin. Niin hyvin, että morsian päätettiin palauttaa. Mutta koska Suomenlinnan ruusu oli vieläkin (tuntemattomasta syystä) ilman miestä, yritettiin, josko sulhanen haluaisi sittenkin tämän ruusun eikä sitä juuri vihittyä vaimoaan. Jostain syystä sulhanen valitsi ennemmin lisätehtävän ja tuon juuri vihityn vaimonsa ja niin kaunis Suomenlinnan ruusu palautettiin häkkiinsä odottamaan seuraavaa sulhasehdokasta.

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.