Hattendum

When I made the black version of simplicity 1587 I thought it would go very nicely with a bright red cardigan. I was right, but I thought it wanted another red in the outfit and I took it into my head that I would like to make a co-ordinating pillbox hat. This would have been Thursday. I knew that Saturday would be my last chance for a photoshoot for a while so that was my deadline. I did some googling and appealed to my friend, who owns an original pillbox hat, for some photos and measurements. That evening was spent making paper mockups to get the size right - and hemming the purple dress, because I needed that for Saturday too.

Friday after work I immediately cut the buckram, wadding and fabric so I could be sewing it together while at youth group. The outside of the hat is made from faux suede left over from my Esther costume. As well as matching nicely, I wanted a textured fabric that would have some grip on my slippery hair. The hat is lined with leftover dress fabric because I had that immediately on hand.

For construction I opted to forgo blocking (because time and inexperience) and instead cut a circle (with tabs) and a rectangle and sewed them together. I wired only the lower edge of the hat as the top seemed quite stable without. I’m not certain that the wired edge isn’t slightly smaller than the top. I was eyeballing it and I think it should be just a few millimetres bigger, but I don’t know if the whole hat is too small or just that edge.

I have wadding on both sides of the top piece and a layer around the outside of the crown. Once I had the top and inside of the hat covered I put a band around the outside. I wanted this to have a bit of body from the hat so I wrapped my fabric around another strip of wadding. By this time I was at band practice and sewing every second I wasn’t singing, and then in the carpark while waiting to pick up my mum. Turns out the steering wheel makes a very convenient sewing stand.

I got the hat done just in time. We had been planning on an outdoor shoot but the weather was very overcast and windy. The hat stays on pretty well against a breeze; it wasn’t going to survive that.

Generally I’ve found that if you’re in public in weird clothes with a person toting a camera, people seem to assume you’re meant to be there. At one point another person with a camera joined in and took a photo as well. An elderly gentleman, who told me he owned 400 hats, asked about mine and was disappointed to find it wasn’t made properly. I’ll block the next one, promise.

A call to arms

I’ve been wanting to branch out a bit with my 40s sewing and try something other than the pattern I made up at 1 o’clock in the morning three years ago. One of the patterns I picked up is Simplicity 1587, a reprint of a pattern from the 40s. I made a mock-up, probably a year ago now, and started on the adjustments before getting distracted by Butterick 6018.

I pulled out my adjusted 1587 pattern a few weeks ago and made another mock-up. It was almost there. Almost. In the past I would have called it good enough and moved on – after all, arm movement is a luxury, not a necessity – but now it’s time to fix this thing and luxuriate.

My adjustments to this pattern include

• Square shoulder
• Broad shoulder
• My own magic armscye fix
• Large upper arm
• Making the 3/4 sleeve a long sleeve
• Widening the hip yoke
• Moving the zip from the side seam to the back
• Removing the peak and gathers from the centre of the skirt waistline, ‘cos, wow, that looked bad! (Going by other blogs this is a popular change.)

Usually I would omit the facing as my experience is that they just cause trouble without any great advantage but this one actually worked nicely. I sewed it down at the shoulder seams and between that and the zip stitching it all stays in place.

The square shoulder adjustment affected both the front and the yoke. Because of the way they fit together I had to do the yoke adjustment on the diagonal which took a bit to get my head around but seems to have worked.

The fix to the square shoulder and my armscye fix counteract each other so in the future I think I will try doing square shoulder only on the top half of the armscye and see if that turns out neater.

The large upper arm adjustment most confuses me as I don’t have a large upper arm relative to me or relative to average. However, without it, I have uncomfortably limited movement, even with all the shoulder adjustments. Or maybe they exacerbate the problem.

I bought a lovely, lovely, lovely fabric from Lincraft. I am indifferent to the print but it feels beautiful, drapes exactly right and doesn’t static the way a lot of these dresses do. So one black dress (very like the original envelope) was my plan. The fabric was a bit jelly-like and inclined to stretch, so to handle that I sewed all the seams with a tearaway backing. I’ve not used this technique before but it was very successful – I had no trouble with unstable seams.

Then my aunt was clearing out her mother’s stash and gave me a collection of fabrics. This included a very nice, light floral and navy print. I think it must be lawn or voile. I did a burn test so I know it is at least partly an artificial fibre which is probably why it doesn’t crumple very much. Unfortunately there was just not quite enough. No amount of creative laying out was going to get me all the pieces from the fabric. So I scoured the stash for something that might match. There was a skerrick left over from my chemise dress petticoat in just the right purple and a similarly light weight. Sadly it doesn’t quite have the same crease-resistant properties as the print but I don’t think I could do any better (especially since I wanted to start cutting Now). On the plus side, the plain colour means the yoke pleating is actually visible and not lost amongst flowers. 

Most of my 40s dresses have the zip starting a couple of inches below the neckline and close with a hook and eye, or have a v-shape in the back. This allows enough opening for the dress to come off over my hips as no-one sells zips long enough for my waist-to-hip ratio. For these dresses I decided to forgo this convenience and started the zip itself at the neckline. By 'decided' I mean I forgot on the first one... but it looked so much neater that I did it on purpose the second time.

Both dresses went together quickly, bar a pause due to running out of thread (both times!) and they fit very comfortably. They have no discomfort in the arm and shoulder region which is a nice change so I think my adjustments were the right thing to do.

Security blanket

A few weeks ago a friend who works as a school chaplain approached me to commission a costume to wear for her school's book week festivities. The character she wanted to dress up as is the Amygdala (part of the brain) as portrayed in the book Hey Warrior. The book was written to help kids understand how the brain works when they feel anxious.

We decided on a onesie for the costume, using Simplicity 8276. I measured the paper pattern up against my friend and it turned out to be just the right length. And that's all the fitting it required. Easy!

I did need to make one adjustment to the pattern. The Amygdala has a little curl on top of its head so I needed to work out how to add that to the hood. I considered trying to reshape the hood itself and maybe using wire, but then I noticed that the hood came premade with convenient seams for adding ears and horns and the like. To get the shape for the swirl I printed out a photo of the plush Amygdala's head and traced an outline onto some tear-away fabric. I cut two squares from my fabric and sewed around the swirl shape (allowing a little extra space for the stuffing). Then I trimmed the squares back to a small seam allowance. I turned it right side out very carefully, trying to get as far along the thin swirl as I could without pulling apart the seam. Then I stuffed it with wadding.

The eyes and mouth are made of felt, handsewn together with blanket stitch. Blanket stitch is one of those things I never really got my head around so I had to get my mum to show my how to do it (and then show me again, when I started out trying to do it backwards). I'm really happy with how it turned out – it makes a nice subtle eyelash effect

I first looked for fabric for at Spotlight but nothing there was very inspiring. So instead of buying fabric I went to Big W and bought a blanket. One of those incredibly snugly mink ones that seem to be particularly trendy in blue this year. The blanket sewed fine and blended very smoothly with the thinner pink minky I got from Spotlight.

Vacuuming was a necessary step in the cutting out process for this project.

I had been hoping to get a slightly redder pink, and the minky came in exactly the right shade, but unfortunately the range of rib trim was very limited, so I went with the lighter shade to match the available trim. In the first instance I wanted to try bleaching and dying the fabric to colour the paws and feet but after a week of soaking in bleach my test swatch hadn't changed, so I had to give up on that idea.

I bought a plain blue knit to line the hood and to make pockets. To ensure the pockets were well concealed I made the pocket-to-garment seam allowance very thin, then sewed the rest of the side seam with the normal allowance, meaning there's about half a centimetre of pocket that is fur, before the actual pocket fabric starts.

And here it is completed:

The eyelets have it

I don't wear short skirts often but I did have one made of faux leather with a pattern of little cut-outs. This skirt served its purpose admirably but recently the layers of vinyl came apart and started tearing and basically the thing is a complete mess now.

R.I.P.

I went through the shops hoping to find a replacement ‘little black skirt’ but couldn't find anything I liked. So I traced a pattern from my old skirt and got all the black fabric out of the stash and hoped inspiration would strike.

It didn't.

I had a few ideas about using the knit covered in small ruffles but decided that, really, my hips don't need that kind of help. I put it all away again and resigned myself to probably months of fruitless store visits.

Then I had an idea. I came up with a design featuring large eyelets in the hem and in the yoke. The eyelets would complement a strip of snaps that would be the skirt closure. For fabric I used the leftovers from my Asgardian outfit. I had only just enough – I had to add a centre back seem to my pattern and piece one of the yoke linings.

I went to spotlight to get eyelets and discovered that the number I needed would cost about $50! I wouldn't pay that much for the whole skirt. So I went to Bunnings instead. There I got eyelets and tool for $15. The only drawback was that these only came in gold when I had planned for the skirt to have silver trim but more gold is definitely a thing I can live with.

The skirt, yoke and yoke lining were sewn together before I added the eyelets. Then the yoke lining was folded down and stitched onto the skirt/yoke seam, forming a backing behind the eyelets. I had widened the yoke from the original skirt and not tested it particularly well so it was a relief that it fitted ok.

It is possible that 'hardware' as opposed to 'fashion' eyelets may not quite get on with fabric the same way but for an inexpensive, casual skirt I don't care. I got the cheap Bunnings eyelets, Craftright brand. I had to buy two packs, one that had a few eyelets and a tool and a refill pack of 50 eyelets. Turns out the refill pack eyelets were slightly different: the washer was more flat and the back of the eyelet split as it turned down (probably on purpose, but the finish is not as neat).

Still, the skirt came out looking pretty nice. I bought 2m of chain for threading through the yoke eyelets – it's removable; threading pattern may vary. The snaps are functional to about halfway down after which the remainder are decorative. The distance between the eyelets was more guided by 'does this look nice' than mathematical divisions but it managed to come out looking reasonably balanced and even.

Having a decorative yoke means I have to wear a tucked in shirt, which I don't do, so that may take some getting used to.

Prints charming

A couple of years ago I designed this shirt with a notion of using up some printed cottons in the stash.

I traced a pattern off a bought shirt and made a new pattern by a haphazard method of adjusting mock-ups on myself. Once I had something I was happy with I found that the fabric I was planning to use was nowhere near enough so I put the pattern away but kept the picture on my phone in case I should happen upon a fabric store.

I eventually selected a couple of prints from Spotlight’s range of cotton duck. The fabric kind of looks like it is not meant for shirts but on the other hand it’s sturdy without being stiff. Since I made my pattern I have been educated in the ways of pattern-making and adjusting, however I decided I couldn’t be bothered redoing my pattern. I just did a square shoulder adjustment and called it good. Well, that and I drafted a stand for the collar. And part way through I remembered that it would need plackets for the sleeves and buttons so I drafted them too.

The peplum is fully lined. First I sewed all the panels together for each layer, stopping the seam where the corner started curving. Then I sewed the two layers together along the lower edge, taking the stitching on each panel up to meet the existing seam. I next sewed the peplum to the shirt body and topstitched a strip of fabric over the join. The panels went together like panels. The front yoke and back peak are lined with poplin and top-stitched over the body panels.

I was pleasantly surprised with how this turned out. Most of the way along I was ‘not sure about this’ because old pattern, weird fabric and prints, and construction techniques made up on the fly but the overall effect is pretty neat. And the inside looks quite good too, I think. I’m struggling to imagine me wearing it though.

I Won't Give In

Having got my 1830s ballgown finished well ahead of Jafa I decided now was the time to make that new regency ballgown I hadn't got to yet. This dress has been a long time coming. I’ve had the fabric for years and been planning it for longer. I originally had it planned for Jafa 2015 but that was derailed by a) needing new stays and b) my sewing machine dying. So I added it to my plans for 2016 (notice how only one other of those plans has actually happened).

The ball gown is based on a fashion plate in Fashions in the Era of Jane Austen. The dress is described in the book as being crimson satin under silver-stripe French gauze, edged in satin and “the body of the dress has open fronds [sic] with stomacher”.

I was unable to find a silver-striped fabric but instead I have a plain white ‘silky’ chiffon to go over red faille – they’re not the fabric types listed but they are both lovely. I have a white satin single-fold bias and multi-purpose red ribbons for the edging. The flowers I've got are foam which... will do.

The new stays mentioned above turned out to be perfect for 1830s but rubbish for 1815. I did a couple of muslins for this gown, couldn't make them work and gave up. I consoled myself with an 1830s day dress.

Jafa 2017 came and went and as 2018's event started looming on the horizon I decided to have another attempt at regency stays. Success. Now, finally with the right undergarments, I attempted another muslin.

And to my great surprise it was pretty close.

All this time I had been looking at the bodice design and couldn't work out how it was meant to work. I considered bib front and wrap but neither seemed to really fit the fashion plate – especially the way the skirt peaks up in the centre front waistline under the trim of the bodice. Also, whoever heard of a stomacher on a regency gown?

I eventually decided (after nearly giving up on the whole thing once again) that 'open fronds' was probably meant to be 'open fronts' – Google at least returns results with that phrase. So I made a sort of half-bib front underbodice attached to the skirt with two 'fronts' that close over the top.

The front on the bib side is sewn into the waistline for part of the way. I gathered the pieces slightly along the top and bottom to smooth out the curved shape. I was very pleased to find they sat exactly on the curved waistband – shaping the fronts was an inexact science. The fronts hook together in the centre over the stomacher which is sewn to the underbodice.

It looks quite nice not having a back opening.

I made a channel for the waist tie (the most important part of any regency dress) from the front waist seam allowance. The cord goes around behind me and then through an eyelet in the underbodice to tie at the side.

I didn't try to make my shoulder straps exactly the same as the picture, instead using a substantial enough design that had a slight risk that the thing might actually stay on my shoulders. For the sleeve pattern I started with Sleeve C from Period Costumes for the Stage and Screen but cut quite a lot out of the middle so now it is a smaller puff.

For the skirt I used my standard pattern (based on figure 37 in The Cut of Women's Clothes), which I love, but moved the side seams further to the front and removed the centre back seam. And I added the peak to the skirt front. I used French seams on the tulle skirt. I should probably stop harbouring suspicion towards French seams at some point soon as they turned out quite neatly.

The white satin is sewed on by machine and the red ribbon (which covers the machine stitches) is sewn by hand (I got so sick of it). I figured out a neater way of doing it about halfway through but that was too late. I don't love this design, because regency, so I was not as careful or fussy as I might have been otherwise.

Or at least, I didn't love it until I got to wearing it. It turned out so well and I felt amazing. Other people at the festival enjoyed it too; I got stopped for lots of photos and two people recognised it from the fashion plate. I didn't always love it, but I love it now so very dearly.

There were many gorgeous ballgowns on the dance floor.