I've Started Another Embroidered Waistcoat! No, I Haven't Actually Finished The Other One Yet, But I

The stripes! Why are stripes always *so* good? ♥

Le Follet, 1855, No. 1971 : Chapeaux Mme Naudé (…), anonymous, after Anaïs Colin-Toudouze, 1855 (x)

1605-1625 Adam van Breen - Winter Pleasures

(Gemäldegalerie, Berlin)

The petticoat is finished! It didn't even take as long as I anticipated, even with all the hand-sewing that was involved. Everything but the long interior seams had to be hand-sewn, which was a bit of a pain, but it makes the finished skirt so much nicer looking. The next step will be to pattern out the under-bodice before starting on the levite itself. This particular dress is a little unusual, in that the under-bodice actually closes under a stomacher rather than down the center-front, which is more typical for levites and polonaises. I'm so pleased with how quickly and smoothly this project has gone so far! Of course, I haven't started on the gown itself, so we'll see if my good luck streak lasts

This hits so many of my niche interests, it's perfect. ♥

Bookbinding: A Stitch in Time

My mom has been hoping to get her hands on a hard copy of A Stitch in Time, which, as I'm sure most of you are aware, tends to be pricey if you can find it. (It's currently listed for ~$115 on eBay, and more expensive elsewhere.)

So, I decided to put my bookbinding skills to use and make her one for her birthday.

Notes on the design and construction:

The cover design was inspired by (or rather adapted from via considerable photoshopping) this book cover from 1901 that happened to cross my dashboard in a post with a bunch of other cool old book covers:

I created the Cardassian building silhouettes based on a screencap, and the DS9 silhouette is borrowed from the Niners logo. The orchid on the back cover emerging from the Obsidian Order logo is one I found in Cricut Design Space.

(Feel free to use these in your own projects, if you like.)

The bookcloth is by BOOKCRAFTSUPPLYCO on Etsy (dark green). The cover designs are HTV, Cricut Everyday Iron-On (black), Cricut Foil Iron-On (gold), and Vinyl Frog Metallic Foil (holographic silver). The Cardassian Union logos on the end pages were done using Cricut's foil transfer system (gold). The fonts on the cover are DS9 Title and DS9 Credits from st-minutiae.com.

I never did update when this got finished last summer, did I?

Happy with how it turned out, even if it does take some serious hairpin architecture to construct a bun that'll hold the hat steady - it's a little heavier (and a lot more ready to blow around in the wind) than anticipated.

Day Dress

c.1855

England

This type of widely protruding skirt that appeared around the middle of the 19th century came to be known later under the name of the "crinoline style." As can be seen with this dress, large design motifs proved immensely effective on these voluminous skirts. The border pattern here is wood-block printed and repeats every 20.6 cm. Compared to small-scale designs, large patterns require a solid technique to avoid misalignment of the print colors. Considering that this mixed fabric of silk and wool is a material hard to print on, this dress with its bright and cheerful colors is a particularly fine example on how much cloth printing techniques had evolved.

The Kyoto Costume Institute

Embroidery on the 18th Century court suit is moving right along! This project started way back in February but had to be put aside because of how much schoolwork I was doing this semester. Now that school is out, I’m finally getting the chance to go back to it.

This suit is based on extant 18th Century court suits. The waistcoat is a cream duchess silk satin with cotton embroidery and metal spangles. So many spangles! I’m glad I have a fella that will let me make his clothes sparkly.

I’m hoping to finish up this week and finally begin the construction. I also need to make a new shirt for him before I can move on to the coat, so that’s in the queue, as well. Now to decide what embroidery pattern to use for the coat...

bodice, waistcoat

c. 1615-1618

linen, silk, silver, silver-gilt, metal, hand-stitched

Glasgow Museums

Working on a new set of breeches for M. I completely mucked up the first attempt, so I had to cut out a new front and start over. Things have gone pretty smoothly since then. The only quibble I have with the pattern is that there aren’t any bands at the leg hems, and all the extant examples I’ve seen have bands. Shouldn’t be too difficult to add, though!

One of my favorites. Still planning to make my green version someday.

yellow silk evening dress with oak leaf design

c.1902

House of Worth

Fashion Museum of Bath