Category Archives: Costuming


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Hand Sewing

I am currently in the middle of three hand-sewing projects:

  • Adding pearls to the hairnet I completed two months ago. It’s not going too bad but it seems like I can only add about 8-10 pearls at a sitting. At this rate it will get finished in a few years.
  • Smocking for the front of a tunic – I was looking for German construction instructions and found this lattice smocking. When I read the directions it occurred to me that I own a plastic stencil that looked very similar to the grid design and I had to know if it would work. So I traced the stencil and, sure enough, I got the desired result – not nearly as clean and nice looking but pretty close. It should take a few more hours of sewing and that will be complete.
  • Finally the German skirt.

The German skirt is coming along nicely.

First I cut out three panels of 60inch wide fabric and sewed those together (I had cut out four but only used three) and then I added pleater tape and pulled it to size and am now finished hand sewing it to a canvas band which will then get sewn to a belt so that the weight of the dress sits on the hips rather than my shoulders. If the smocking has taught me anything it’s that I really don’t have the time or patience for pleating without the use of tape. However – I should have stuck with the original plan to pleat the linen in with the skirt – in the end I decided that I was afraid that if they were pleated together then they would not flow as nicely and it would be a pain in the butt to try to clean. It is a very lightweight linen though so I will put it on a standard waistband which shouldn’t be too difficult.

Once the skirt is stitched up (which should be in the next day or two) then it can be hung so I can hem it next week. In the mean time I can get started on the top of the dress and hopefully my fabric purchase should be here by then. I’m excited to see if this gold fabric I ordered will work!


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Analyse the Old

This is the Great Pearl Monster, GPM for short, and I’m going to use it as the foundation for the design for the new dress. So what I liked about GPM:

  • It’s all in one piece which is so convenient and once its on there is no fuss and actually comfortable.
  •  The belt sewn into the waistband took all the pressure off the shoulders and put it on the waist.
  • One giant pocket
  • I always got so many compliments on it!

And what I didn’t like about the GPM:

  • The pearls made it so heavy. Also they took a lot of time to sew on (I’ve only had to make two small repairs so they are really sewn on well!)
  • The sleeves are very confining and I don’t want anything that tight again. Also afraid to carry things because of pearls.
  • The unattached bottom of the center section sometime rides up.
  • The belt broke.

There’s one A&S question I hate = If you had to do it all over again what would you do differently? So what am I going to do differently when I remake this dress?

  • Wool lined with linen. The last one was trigger (heavy cotton with some stretch) and while it was comfortable I suspect wool will be more comfortable.
  • Self lined skirt – the last one wasn’t lined but I always wear a skirt under it. I’m just going to pleat the wool with the linen.
  • Get a belt that is actual leather – the last one was pretty wore out when I sewed it in and now I’m going to try replacing it.
  • Big voluminous sleeves – not so big I can’t work but big enough that they will never be tight.

So I took a good look at how I made the last one (and I took some pictures) and I’m ready to dig into this project.

 


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Clothes

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Anna of Rožmitál by Jacob Seisenegger,1529

I decided I need some clothes because nothing fits right now. I found this dress which really appears to be two versions of the same basic dress so this is the one I’m going to go with. I’d like to be able to just throw it over my head and go so it won’t be very tight. Now to figure out those sleeves.