Masquerade Dress

Now that the Masquerade has past, I can share photos of the dress I was working on. I don’t have any “in-process” photos though. I’m horrible about that. Here is the dress:

And here is my husband and I:

The fabric is one I’ve had for at least a few years. We’ve been calling it my sunset plaid. It is a taffeta weave with thicker threads and moderately tight weave. It is a bit more red then it seems to appear in the photos.

The bodice is just a basic basque bodice with the  basque cut as part of the bodice rather than as an added piece. I generally like this approach. The challenge is getting the lower part of the darts right. I’ve decided to shorten the darts to get a better front flair. I think the front is too flat. I am also going to change the outside dart because that has some pulling. The neckline is actually a jewel neckline just turned down into the V neckline. I couldn’t make up my mind. So, I did it that way. The back is a two piece back. I tried to line up the plaid horizontally. I think I did fairly well given how the pieces curve. The pepulum is shaped with two box pleats underneath the pleating. The trim was actually an after-thought when I had some left.

 

The sleeves started as a funnel sleeve even though you can’t really tell with the tiers. The base is just muslin. Under the top tier there is some extra tucked out so I can change the sleeve to have the bottom two tiers detachable. For the silk, I took the base pattern & cut it into 3 pieces adding an extra inch to the top of the bottom two for overlap. Each silk piece is cut on the bias. An important thing to know if you want to do this – While three pieces will fit on the straight grain, all three pieces will Not fit in one row on the bias of 60″ fabric. It is most economical to cut each piece open separately where they fit. The undersleeves are a temporary make-do from a semi-sheer fabric I had. They are just tacked inside.

The trim is bias strips pleated with the top edge turned down. There is approx. 10 yards of finished trim for the bodice – two rows around the basque and one row on the sleeves. The 30ish yards of bias came from about 1 yard of fabric.

One last note – Yes, there is a balance thing going on with the skirt. I made the skirt first. Then I didn’t try it on until the night of the event. Oooos. It was a good 4+ inches to big. I did a couple quick tucks in the back to get it to stay up. But, there was still some sagging in the front. So, the horizontal lines dip in the front. I’ll be fixing that.

Fall

I’ve been horrible on keeping up with posts, and, well, so many other things. I did send off an article to Connie for the Gazette. It is a military version of the “Connecting with your Audience” article. So, if you get that magazine, please take a look. I do have this list of articles I want to find time to put together for the Companion and for the blog. One in particular I thought might be of interest for the magazine is about the bag obsession I’ve had of late. Okay, not really about the obsession, about the bags themselves.

It is fall…. ahhhhhh. Normally this time of year I am thinking about quilted and wool petticoats, wristlets and wool stockings, wadded hoods and cozy coats. Not so much this year. Instead I am finishing up the dress for the masquerade ball here in town. It is a 50s basque combination done in the sunset silk I’ve had laying around. After the party you will be able to see photos. I may squeeze in another workshop locally this winter. I now have 25 sewing cases and needlebooks done plus the scissors cases and pincushions. Writing to follow. Other than that most of my sewing is for modern clothes including a coat which will eventually make it up on my updates blog.

Autumnal Equinox Sale – From Field To Fashion

I’ve been waiting for the break in hot weather that will hopefully come with the arrival of Autumn. In hope and celebration of the Autumnal Equinox I am have a 24 hour sale for From Field to Fashion. From September 21st at 11:09 pm EDT until September 22nd at 11:09 pm you can save two dollars off From Field to Fashion. You must order during this 24 hour time by commenting below or sending me an email to recieve From Field to Fashion for $8.00 instead of $10.00. Postage is $1.22. NM residents need to pay sales tax. I will confirm your request asap (in the next couple days as we will have company.) Prompt payments are appreciated.  

Rules – Requests/orders must be between September 21st at 11:09 pm EDT and September 22nd at 11:09 pm to recieve the sale price.

A little fun with projects in process

Here are a few of the things I am working on…… with a twist…..

Projects list….

Some how I’ve developed a project list once again…..

• Ongoing sewing cases
• Yoked bodice dress – I don’t have one, therefore I have to have one
• 19th Century coat – Because I miss mine
• 21st Century coat – May just be the same one as above (I want a 19th c. one in a different color but for cost effectiveness this may be an all purpost black coat.
• Dan’s British Rifleman’s Uniform
• Dan’s muslin shirt
• Dan’s white shirt
• Dan’s civilian pants (may purchase those.)
• Dan’s tbd civilian coat
• Dan’s tbd civilian vest
• Medium size leather bag
• Tiny white silk Regency era bag
• Regency corset, bodiced petticoat and dress
• Sunbonnet tbd (since all headwear is in NY)
• Some ribbony stuff possibly to sell (hairnets and neckbows.)
• Because I saw the coolest padded bustle made out of a paisley fabric yesterday, I may have to breakdown and make an 1870s or 80s outfit.
• Then there is at least one surprise project I can’t list online

Bag Pattern

Here is the pattern/illustration for the bag below inspired two at the MET.

Silk Leather (p1) MET bag (p2)

Bags

Since my previous post about wanting a new bag, I’ve decided it would be silly to make what I already have. It is much more fun to make something new.

This first bag is inspired by two bags at the MET. Bag 1 and Bag 2. The originals appear to have the leather center bound. Then the silk whipped to the binding. I opted to work off of a base lining because I think that would make a stronger bag. First I made two muslin circles with one side chopped off. These were sewn together with the straight side turned down to the outside. On the outside I traced the shape of the center piece on both sides. Next I gathered strips of the dark chocolate taffetta I already had cut. Since these were already cut 2.5″ wide, I sewed two together to make them wider. They needed to be wide enough to to cover easily the widest part. (In hindsight, it may have been easier to sew the silk strips together at the end.) I gathered the outer edge of the silk.

If I was going to whip the silk to the binding, I would have turned then end over and gauged like I would a skirt. The gathered silk was basted to the lining along the traced line. I turn the ends to cover the edge of the muslin on each side. (I thought about either using a draw string or elastic to hold the ends closed. I have not done that yet, waiting to see how it works with the open pieces.) I bound the edge of the leather with bias strips of the silk. Since I couldn’t find my needle for the leather, I used the maching. I don’ t like how that looks right now. I may cover that seam with beads. The bound leather was then stitched down over the gathered silk. I ran the needle through just the edge of the silk binding. The straps are on grain cut strips of silk over strips of muslin, folded in so each strap is 4 layers each of cotton and silk. These are whip stitched. The button is a cloth button with the silk gathered over muslin scraps. The button loop is a narrow flat strip of folded over silk. Rolling it would have been better.

 

The next bag I am looking at making is similar to this 1870s bag found in the NYPL digital archives.

The illustration calls for embroidered enameled cloth, but I have this beautiful piece of blue leather Dan picked up.

The math for the piece will make a bag 12″ wide, 10″ tall and 5″ deep. I think this should make a decent size bag for carrying items through the day when we don’t have a home-base as we are accustom. I haven’t completely decided on the straps. These small straps are nice for the bag above which will carry light stuff. But, I am not sure for a bag that might carry heavier stuff. I’m worried a shoulder strap will look to much like a modern day purse. I want this to be more like a travel bag. So, maybe wider straps.

Bodice Workshop

I have the wonderful oppertunity to do a bodice draping for the local ladies. Now, when I say local, I actually mean from three different states. It was nice to get to meet some of the local reenacting ladies, each of whom were delightful. (I also got to meet several wonderful kitties.) Ann Dixon writes the Frontier Women’s Living History Assoc. blog. She posted some very kind words.

Fort Stanton Event

This past Saturday, Dan and I got dressed and attended an event at Fort Stanton here in NM. I should say we Finally got dressed and attended an event. More importantly, we finally got to dance together as husband and wife.

The event was much smaller then we are accustom to in NY. The site is a large fort begun in the 1850s and working through WWII I think. The buildings cover a very wide range of time. Most of them are arranged around a center courtyard. I like this arrangement. It allowed for a good presentation area, instructional/interpretive spaces in and infront of the buildings and a side yard for the modern food venders. The walk ways were a huge plus as well since it rained on and off most of the time we were there.

After the social, we talked with one of the local reenactors about educational oppertunities. The fort really is an ideal space for a full weekend of instructional workshops and presentations. It looks like we will be doing some of that while we are here.

I fretted all week about what I did and didn’t have with me for the event. I am usually an obsessive planner for events with a packing and a to-do list each made weeks in advance. Most everything is out and sorted, ready to be packed the weekend before. That certianly didn’t happen this time. I didn’t even try on my dress until Thursday evening. This resulted in a panic run to the W store I hate to buy fabric I couldn’t believe I was buying. Then I started sewing. It is a good thing I ended up making a cotton dress as the rain and dirt would have made a mess of primarily white plaid silk.

When Dan and I were driving, we stopped and he picked me flowers. Isn’t he sweet?

Wanting a New Bag

 Over the weekend I was struck with the want of a new carpet bag. In reality, I want one of my carpet bags. But, it may actually be easier to make a new one then to send mom on a hunt for one in storage.

Here is my red plush carpet bag which Cleo decided was her’s. This one really is an ideal size for travel. It isn’t to big, yet fits lots and lots.

I’ll have to look for a photo of my other one. It is bigger with a flat metal frame. It is good for carrying clothes into an event. But, it is a bit big to carry around all weekend.

 The other kind of travel bag I have is this one in Karen Augusta’s collection which looks like a duffle bag.  For a while Shooting Star had an online class for making this bag. It is so easy to make.  

Bevin ‘s Travel Bag http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q178/canardverte/?action=view&current=travelbag1.jpg

Inside http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q178/canardverte/?action=view&current=travelbag2.jpg

So, now that I want a bag here, what kind do I want?

Dan’s reaction was that my wanting a bag means more work for him, since he would need to bend a frame. So, maybe I’ll make another duffle bag style bag. Maybe.

I do like the structure of a typical carpet bag:

If I wasn’t making my own bag, the go-to place would have to be the Carpet Bagger.  Another option would be leather satchels made by ______.

Then there are these little carpet bags:

http://www.vintagetextile.com/new_page_12.htm

Making a bag….

The bags at top were made with a pattern Bevin made. I have another idea for a bag with a stronger bottom. If you are looking to make a bag, there are a few resources. For a kit, I suggest seeing if Glenna Jo is still offering her kits. Here are directions from the 1880s.

Frames….. Have I mentioned I like Google’s Patent Search?

Here is one from 1840, one from 1863, and one from 1864. There are oodles after 1864.

Other tid-bits

This is a beautiful nameplate with a carpet bag theme.

I made mini versions of the dufflebag style for my doll, Mae and Civility. They were very cute. Mae needs a carpet bag too. Here are direction for a doll sized bag.