I love mail.

There is no better feeling than reaching in your mailbox and pulling out a package that you've been waiting on. In this case, I had two, and they were shoe buckles!

It's a leetle hard to see the detail here, sorry, my camera was not really cooperating! And then the less fancy buckles came also and they have a really neat kind of antique finish on them already. I love that they're not pristine-ly shiny.

Tada! Also, before I took the pictures I noticed that my Georgies had grass stains on them...so I took a damp cloth and wiped them and amazingly the grass stains came right off and the dye did not...I am really impressed by the power of Scotchgard.

Still waiting on the rhinestone buckles, but I think I probably won't show those off until I get the leather paints and can decorate the Devvies.

Buckles and Bows

Today, after being bored out of my wits by the pink anglaise's never-ending hem (I like hand sewing but am feeling impatient lately) and not feeling like finishing my other mitt (the first one turned out nice...but one mitt isn't much good), I started looking seriously at my Georgiana silk and Devonshire leather shoes from American Duchess. These have been the most sizable investment I've made in my 18th century wardrobe by far, but so comfortable and worth it! I ordered the Angelus leather paint supplies for the Devonshires today and while they didn't have a nice cream or ivory color, I will attempt to mix mustard and white. To the best of my knowledge, there aren't any extant leather shoes with designs painted on them, but because I foolishly scotch-guarded my silk Georgies in a hurry to have them ready for an event and now (as far as I know) can't re-dye or paint on them again, I would love to have some shoes with a design on them. I may do a very subtle vine-like design on the leather Devvies to make up for this, and use the matte finish so they're not so obviously shiny leather.

But because the Angelus paints won't get here for some time, I got antsy and started looking at buckles. To date I have tied my Georgies with ribbon and it's pretty, but I want OPTIONS...."Accessories" is my middle name. Aren't these GORGEOUS (European, ca. 1770, V&A Museum).

So I did a little shopping around.....

A nice fall day

I went to a benefit event for the Fort in my blue jacket, new maize petticoat and sky-blue Georgies (from American Duchess) and it ended up being the nicest event I have done yet, because it was smallish reenactor-wise (compared to the hundreds at summer Rendezvous) and a number of the people who had bought tickets to attend were very curious about the reenactors and what they were doing. I was asked numerous times about my outfit, what I was sewing (a haversack), what I knew about the Fort and the area's history, etc. I think it was a great deal more enjoyable to go by myself (usually I'm with a very, well, shall we say extra-talkative gentleman-friend) because it made me a little more approachable and I got the chance to share some of what I do and know and I really loved being informative instead of just decorative. Hopefully I'll get to do this a lot more often!

Alright, enough of the text stuff...time for a few pictures...

More pink progress

I definitely squeaked a bit in exhausted joy once I got the skirt on just a few minutes ago at 1:45am. Ouch. It's looking pretty 80s (and by that I mean 1980s, not 1780s)  like a Laura Ashley frumptastic tea gown right now despite having a quilted puffer petticoat beneath, so I am going to have to do what I really wanted to avoid and make either a bumroll or some panniers. Once the bottom is cut off and hemmed though, that should lighten up the fabric load a bit. Plus Adeline is being a loose woman tonight and is not wearing stays in this shot...naughty dummy...so that might have an affect on the fit as well. For this being my first entirely hand-sewn, self-drafted gown, I don't think it's looking too terrible. It's almost a shame to cut it off at the bottom as it looks pretty trailing, but it's completely impractical for reenactments. I could polonaise it but the fabric is just too unreasonably heavy for it to have that nice poof.

Progress!

I am in looove with my fabric. And I think I finally have the sleeves on...more under the cut (if I can figure out how to do a cut)

Fashion always comes back around

I was reading Dress in Eighteenth-Century Europe by Aileen Ribeiro and A Lady of Fashion: Barbara Johnson’s Album of Styles and Fabrics today and realized that the Brunswick was the 18th century version of the modern day hoodie. Lol. Okay, so maybe it was quite a bit dressier but I don't think I've seen a single painting or sketch where the hood is actually UP on the Brunswick...ladies sort of went around in these previously-meant-for-traveling ensembles no matter what the occasion, just like I go out to the store or to a movie in a hoodie that was meant for athletic wear, and never put the hood up.

Would anyone seriously wear this gorgeous frilly hooded thing outside? I don't think so.

My sleeves aren't looking right on the pink gown. They almost have a puffed sleeve effect going on at the top near the shoulder, which I HATE, but if I decrease the fabric up there, it's almost too tight to get my arm through, and I do not have fat arms in the least. I'm really puzzled. After looking at some paintings and sketches though, I think the sleeve as it stands with the little pleats more toward the gown's back is probably acceptable, even if I would like a smoother silhouette. Boo. Fabric never behaves the way I want it to.

Puzzlement solved

I figured out how to get rid of the bodice rippling...it really was just the fact that I had cut the pieces too long in the waist...they needed to come up higher on the hips. I am so thrilled with the way the lining has turned out, and the way the pattern is matching up! Tonight I should have the sleeves attached and can start on the skirt soon. This fabric is heavy...I'm starting to think possibly too heavy to polonaise, which is sad because I would have loved to do so, but I think I might go ahead and make it nice and full in back like this:

                         (Robe a l'anglaise, ca 1770, picture from the Met museum)

Incidentally, the fabric of the dress in the picture is not far off from my fabric, with that dusty-rose color and the smallish bouquets. It's very pretty...can't wait to get everything all sewn up. I know I should post some progress pictures but I am kind of embarrassed by my raggedy edges and the disarray of my house. When I trim the dress I'd like to keep it fairly simple and just trim around the neck and sleeves like my favorite dress from The Duchess.