Historical Sew Fortnightly Plans

• January – Foundations: make something that is the foundation of a period outfit.
  
  Well, originally I was going Bustle Era, cos that's the one Dh likes, but I've had feedback from 3 other people now and Regency is winning.   Bustle era will come later.   I'm currently prewashing my cotton duck for the corset which I'll make for this challenge.  I'm going to use the Sense and Sensibility stays pattern as I already have it. 
• February – Colour Challenge Blue: Make an item that features blue, in any shade from azure to zaffre.
  
  I've got 4m of sky blue cotton voile which might work for Regency and I've got Simplicity 4055 which with some tweaking might work for a muslin robe.   I think I'll be making the view A bodice and the view B dress and it'll need to be underlined so it's not too see-through.
  Since posting this I've bought (thanks to my birthday voucher) 5m of a cotton/silk narrow striped fabric that would be lovely.
• March – Stashbusting: Make something using only fabric, patterns, trims & notions that you already have in stash.
  
  The petticoat to go with the above outfit I think.  I have plenty of plain white cotton that I can use, old sheets come to mind.   It's possible they may have some poly in them, but they're old enough that they may well be 100% cotton too.
• 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.
  
  Maybe a pelisse in the military style that was popular then, I've got the Sense and Sensibility pattern for this as well and hopefully some red, blue or green wool.  I know I have blue in a fulled wool anyway so this is covered
• 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.
  
  Hmm, for this one I'm not sure, I may even end up back in the eighteenth century for this one.   It'll be winter here in any case so something warm.  Thinking maybe a skirt and jacket.
  Another option I've thought of recently is an apron
• 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.
  
  I think this may be the dress for the SCA side of things, I have some blue linen that would be perfect.
• 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.
  
  Easy choice here, a goatskin fur muff.   I have the fur already and some satin to line it and I can use some wool roving to stuff it too or make some felt to use as the warm layer.
• August – Heirlooms & Heritage: Re-create a garment one of your ancestors wore or would have worn, or use an heirloom sewing supply to create a new heirloom to pass down to the next generations.
  
  Maybe a beaded bag or reticule for this.   I could do a lace shawl as I'm working on a beaded circular shawl and although that's not suitable for the Regency period I'm sure I could fit it into the early 20th century somewhere.  If nothing else a wedding ring shawl, I've found an example of a circular shawl pattern dating to around 1900 in Weldon's Practical Needlework, vol 12.    If I finish it too early though I can always fall back on the quilt for our bed; it's machine sewn but I know quilts have been done through the ages to add warmth to beds.   I'll research before I choose this option though.
• 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.
  
  Not sure what yet, but I'll either use the 2m of cotton velvet I have in stash or one of the brown lambskins.   On thinking this over I also have some camel coloured wool that would be suitable.



• October – Sewing Secrets: Hide something in your sewing, whether it is an almost invisible mend, a secret pocket, a false fastening or front, or a concealed message (such as a political or moral allegiance).
  
  No idea what I'll do for this as yet, wonder if I could do a cap with something hidden in white embroidery
• November – Silver Screen: Be inspired by period fashions as shown onscreen (film or TV), and recreate your favourite historical costume as a historically accurate period piece.
  
  Outlander, that is all.
• 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.
  
  I might redo stashbusting and use some of my stash to make the boys and my husband trousers and smocks for the SCA gathering.
  
  Now, being realistic I may not get all of these done, possibly not even most, but I do want to make more historical items.   I'll still be knitting and spinning and weaving and quilting and of course I know Ian's school wants me to do some sewing for them as well.   I think there'll need to be less computer time to get everything done.

Challenge #4: Under It All

What the item is: 1770's linen shift

The Challenge: #4; Under it All

Fabric: Handkerchief line from Fabrics-store.com

Pattern: Used the diagram from Costume Close Up and some information from http://www.marquise.de/en/1700/howto/frauen/18chemise.shtml

Year: 1776

Notions: Linen thread, beeswax

How historically accurate is it? Pretty good really. The fabric is pretty accurate. All seams are handsewn and flat felled. Lots of running stitch and some whipstitching on the hems.

Hours to complete: I don't know, but it was a lot; so many seams with little stitches took forever!

First worn: Not worn yet, but made to go under my 1776 outfit once finished. I did have a nineteenth century shift, but the sleeves were wrong and so was the neckline for this period.

Total cost: $45US for the fabric and shipping, plus about $8 for the thread I think.

I was talking to my photographer when this was taken

 I should also show off my Red Hot Shawl on Bonnie

I think I should have blocked it harder

But it still looks good on Bonnie and it's lovely and warm too!

Gauge fail

What the items is: 1920's cloche hat

The Challenge:  #3: Pink

Fabric:  Merino/Possum/Silk yarn; Kauri 4ply by Zealana (fingering weight for those people using the US yarn system)

Pattern: Chapeau Marier from Knitty.com

Year: 1920's; it's based on cloches from the era so not exact

Notions:  There will be a ribbon

How historically accurate is it?  Probably not as much as I'd like; the pattern is "based on" not an original 1920's pattern and yarn back then definitely didn't include possum, so probably about 40%

Hours to complete:  Took me 7 days of knitting around all the other stuff I do.

First worn:  Not by me, unfortunately I didn't check my gauge and it's 5.5 stitches off what it should be over 4".   This means that although it can get onto my noggin, it tends to wander up and off fairly quickly, so it's going to be a birthday gift for our goddaughter instead.   I will get more of the yarn and try again for me on 3mm needles.   From what I've read on Ravelry the gauge is not right for quite a few people; I should have swatched, but didn't have enough yarn.....

Total cost: $11.00NZ

DS2 is not overly impressed by this pink hat; luckily it's not meant for him.

My Calash

The Challenge: #2 Innovation

The Innovation:  The Calash was designed to overcome the problems of protecting a large hairdo; the idea is to protect the hair from wind and rain and it even had a ribbon to hold onto to prevent it from flying backwards in a gust of wind.   Good girls didn't snap their ribbons, but those who weren't quite so good were known to snap them to attract the attention of the opposite sex (scandalous!).   

Fabric:  Dupioni Silk (not period accurate) and linen (accurate); the silk was from old stash, the linen recent stash.

Pattern:  None, got some ideas from a tutorial, but it was lacking seriously in the detail I needed so in the end I winged it from photo's.   The outer supports are garden irrigation tubing and the inner bits are done with cotton cord pulled taught to give the wagon cover look.

Year: 1776

Notions:  Polyester thread, cotton cord, garden irrigation tube and a little ribbon.

How historically accurate is it?  Design wise I think it's pretty good, my fabric is halfway there so I'd say about 65% total.   There was some machine sewing for the channels cos I was feeling lazy.

Hours to complete:  7

First worn:  for the photoshoot

Total cost:   $8 for the linen, everything else was from old stash so no longer has a value.

It came out a little lower than I'd hoped for, but I won't ever be doing the huge hair to the extent that I'd need  a high one anyway and I'd happily wear this as it is.   I'd go so far as to say I love this thing!

Make Do and Mend

Challenge #1- Make Do and Mend

The Historical Sew Fortnightly

This is a redo of part of my panniers; the original "boning" (plastic garden tubing) didn't cope with the weight of my petticoat, so I've got spring steel to replace it and hope that that copes!

Year: 1776

Notions: 6 lengths of 63cm spring steel from Sew Curvy in the UK

How historically accurate is it?:  Aside from the materials being plastic coated steel the rest is pretty accurate, it's all handsewn and I think the fabric might be linen.   The original would probably have used cane to bone it, but I've seen metal cage panniers too so it could be right.   I'll give the whole thing an 8/10

Hours to complete:  1 hour approx

First worn: not yet

Total cost:hmm, bought the steel a few months back and can't remember the cost.

Panniers pre-fix

What the old support structure looked like on removal

The new sprung steel version; much better so far.

Will do another post later on the rest of my life; figure I should probably keep costuming in separate posts from running/knitting etc.

Finally the stays are completed!

And they're done early enough that I don't have to put them in the post due on Sunday for the wool blog hop which I'm pleased about.

Not 100% happy with the placement of the shoulder straps

Flat front, this is historically correct I think.

Back lacing more even than last time; I think it'll look better when I lose a little pudge.

The Challenge:  Wood Metal and Bone

Fabric:  3 layers.   Lining is quilting cotton, then there's a layer of something unknown for strength and the top layer is cotton canvas.   I've also used 2 chamois cloths for the binding and polyester ribbon for the lacing.   The boning is all plastic zip ties and I have a wood busk (thanks to Mitre 10 for the wood paint stick).   I'm still working on the lacing I'll use in the end, but that's from linen thread being made into a cord on a lucet.

Pattern: Ralph Pink pattern, upsized.

Year: 1770

Notions: Polyester thread, cotton thread.

How historically accurate is it?  Fairly accurate I think.   The pattern is from an extant garment, though the body in it is definitely modern (need to cut out the sugar), many of the fabrics are fairly similar to what was used originally.   I'd guess at about 80%

Hours to complete:  Many, a lot of handsewing with all those little eyelets and the binding.

First worn:  Just now, been wearing it for close to an hour and my back is much happier in this than it was in the commercial corset I've got.


Total cost:  Probably around $20

In knitting news I've finished the first sock from my pair of Hermione's Everyday Socks

The yarn is from HappyGoKnitty; her shop is not stocked at the moment as she's just moved, but I'm sure she'll be stocking soon.   This yarn is merino/silk.   It was a little cheaper than normal due to some white spots in the yarn, but that didn't particularly bother me; I just love the colour changes!