Playing Dress Up at M*AR

Taken just outside the 2nd floor bathroom.
The stalls are large enough to get in and out of easily in that dress.
I am eternally grateful.  

The partner in crime and I headed out to the brand new Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia this weekend. The museum doesn't officially open until April 19th, but they had a special members-only preview on Saturday and Sunday.

The museum is absolutely beautiful and very well laid out.  I majored in anthropology with a minor in art history, intending to go on to a master's in museum studies.  My life didn't play out that way, but it's always something that I've wanted to do and I really appreciate what they've done here.  There's a good mix of interactive displays and I didn't find it to be "dumbed down", which can really kill the appeal of an exhibit for me.

We started out watching a short movie on the first floor and I smelled something really nice, earthy but also kind of spicy.  Initially I assumed it was someone's perfume but I kept smelling it throughout the museum.  It is the museum.  The museum is so new that it smells good.  Like wood. Mmm

We went upstairs and started through the exhibits, attempting not to take out any unsuspecting children with our large rumps.  We were mostly successful.  We did have to explain a few times that we didn't work at the museum, but we expected that.  The actual museum staff are very helpful and friendly!

Ma Easter Bonnet!

We didn't take many pictures inside the museum (dark, crowded, no flash photography) but we took some selfies in a hallway while waiting for the Washington's Tent exhibit.  We're getting better about getting real photos, but old habits die hard!  (Plus, my hat's really cute.)

Unfortunately we didn't allow enough time to get through the whole museum before they closed, so we'll have to go back soon!

We did take some decent photos!

I'll write up another little post with some "behind the scenes" stuff (aka everything that went wrong), but I have no construction photos because I was literally working away for two days without stopping.

Very Victorian Christmas

While I'd really like to catch up chronologically, we're going to start with Christmas since I actually managed to get some halfway decent photos taken of this outfit.  Baby steps...

My partner in crime ordered this absolutely gorgeous dress from As They Sew In France in 2015 and it was finished in time for her to wear it at Steampunk World's Fair in 2016.  I picked up a pair of green earrings and made an off-hand comment about needing to do a green dress to match her red one and wear it at Christmas.  And so the Christmas dress project was born.

Now...that was May and naturally I didn't even start on this until December.  I wanted a dark green taffeta and really didn't think that would be too challenging to find.  I was so, so wrong.

In October I started the hunt for fabric, but I wasn't finding anything at all that I liked in the stores.  I was hopeful that there would be some more options nearer to Christmas, but nothing came up, which left me in a panic in mid-November.  I resorted to looking online, but wasn't finding anything I liked in my price range or the color I wanted.

I found a great silk taffeta at Renaissance Fabrics, but it was more than I wanted to spend on this project.  I "settled" for this emerald green dupioni from Silk Baron.  This is really gorgeous fabric and I love the way it looks, but I would have preferred something smooth without the slubs that dupioni has.  I picked up some cheap cotton broadcloth to use as interlining.  I've never interlined anything before, but it didn't cause any problems and gave the silk some nice body.

Shipping was blessedly fast on the silk and I cut the skirt that weekend using a pattern I'd already used.  The skirt was mostly done that weekend, aside from hemming and the waistband and there it sat for several weeks.

I was terrified to even start on the bodice because I was worried it wouldn't fit and I'd have to make a ton of adjustments.  So I made a mock up.  It went together wonderfully and it fit great!  I needed to make a small adjustment to the back, but my fear was not warranted.

I used Truly Victorian patterns for both of the pieces.  They made up quickly and easily and fit great.

I'll have a proper review of the bodice and skirt up in a bit and will try to take pictures of each piece on my dress form so that there's better detail.

I had the brilliant idea to intentionally go out in costume and take photos, which we never do.  We decided Lonwood Gardens would make a pretty backdrop since they put up lots of pretty decorations for Christmas.  We decided to go on Christmas Day, thinking it would be less crowded.

It was not less crowded.

We ended up not even going through most of the greenhouse since we could hardly even move around, but still managed to get some nice shots; a few outside before it got dark and a few in the ballroom after caroling.

Every time we stopped to take a picture other people would ask for pictures, either of us or with us. We usually wear our outfits somewhere that it's expected, so we don't normally deal with this.

Is this normal?  Because it felt weird.

On to the costumes!!

I'm wearing this over one of my underbust corsets from Orchard Corset.  I'm reducing probably about two inches.  Not a lot, just enough to give me a bit of shape.  Unfortunately, since it's an underbust corset the line is a little wonky at the bust.  This would look better with a mid-bust corset, but I'm not in any hurry to make one.

My sad, un-trimmed skirt.

I'm also wearing the massive imperial bustle I made for Steampunk World's Fair in May.  I was worried that it was too big, but seeing it under this skirt I can see that it's just fine.  (But seriously, this thing is actually huge.)

I really wanted a butt-shelf and I think I got it!

The red cloak was made years and years ago for a little red riding hood costume.  We rarely do outside things in cold weather, so I have no other appropriate warm(ish) things, but I thought it worked rather well.  At some point I need to make a new one, but it's been getting me through.

I made the hat to match a muff (which I'm not wearing) and a real fur stole (which I decided not to wear).  It was an easy project; just a strip of faux fur attached to a circle of the same.  I lined it with some fleece from my stash.  I should have made it just a little bit bigger, but it worked and was really quick to put together.

Although you can't see them, I'm also wearing my Victoria carriage boots from American Duchess. They're so cute with their little bows!  They peeked out just a little when I walked and made me happy.

Happy Christmas!

2016 Summary

I've neglected this blog for entirely too long.

I work a full-time (frequently more than 40 hour a week) job and when I'm not working I'm usually working on some project.  Unfortunately, since I'm such a terrible procrastinator, I'm usually running tight against a deadline and don't have time to take progress pictures.  And then I'm inevitably forgetful at the event and don't take pictures there.  So then there are no pictures for the blog and I always say I'm going to take some at another time but then that never happens and who wants to read a blog post with no pictures anyway?!  So then the posts never happen...

I have some time off of work and I'm going to try to get some pictures and write ups of my 2016 projects done while I'm home and get started on some 2017 projects.  I'm really terrible about taking pictures, but I'll share them where I have them.

Summary of 2016 Projects

The Final Wicked Faire (February)

I decided that I was going to this the day before and desperately raided my stash to find something to wear.  I pinned (literally, with safety pins) a chiton together from stash fabric and bound it with my corset.  I made a quick and dirty floral crown and was...I dunno, some kind of pagan goddess?  It worked.

Steampunk World's Fair (May)

Several outfits, but most of them I've worn before.   I have (truly terrible) pictures of every one of them though!  I did make a Military Strawberry Shortcake costume that was super fun, but not actually worn for very long at all.

40s Themed Tea (June)

Bought a cute dress from Amazon and wore it with a vintage hat.  I felt a bit like Madeline in this one.

Bastille Day (July)

My most ambitious project of the year.  I made stays, a petticoat, and a jacket,  Pictures of this also exist!

Jazz Age on the Delaware (July) (scrapped for 20s tea because it was 10,000 degrees that day)

Easy, easy costume.  Found a white dress-like thing at the Goodwill.  Wore it over a slip with stockings and my American Duchess Gibsons.

Harry Potter Book Release Party (July) 

This was the same day as Jazz Age and at midnight....I wore a men's dress shirt, black skirt, and Ravenclaw robe and tie purchased from Amazon.




Pirate Weekend at the PA Ren Faire

Rewore a pirate outfit I made years ago.  It was almost 100 degrees that day and my shoe broke; not an awesome day.

Time Traveler's Weekend at the PA Ren Faire

Cop-out costume.  I'd just gotten off an international flight two days before and was not making anything.  Wore a sparkly tank top, maxi skirt, and awesome floral headdress with horns that I'd bought at Steampunk World's Fair.  I was going for some kind of maenad a la True Blood.

Steampunk Unlimited (October)

Rewore my black kimono with a new skirt.

 Halloween (October)

Medusa.  I'd planned to make a chiton, but couldn't find any fabric I liked.  I stumbled on a weirdly appropriate bridesmaid's dress at the Goodwill the day before and wore that.  I made hair "snakes" out of floral crinoline, which worked surprisingly well.

Halloween at the PA Ren Faire (October)

Cobbled together an autumn colored outfit from bits and bobs in my stash.  Made a quick but effective bodice the night before.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (November)

Rewore the white 20s style dress with a sweater and grey cloche hat.  It worked surprisingly well!

Star Wars Themed Christmas Potluck (December)

Bought white jeans, white turtleneck, cream colored vest, and grey boots and went as Leia on Hoth.  Possibly the lowest-stress costume I wore all year.

1970s Themed Christmas Brunch (December)

Made a fabulous vintage 70s re-isusse from Simplicity.  Made it up in an obnoxious orange and teal plaid.  It was awesome.



Christmas at Longwood Gardens (December)

Made a new late-bustle era dress.  It wasn't as intense as I thought it was going to be.

2016 Takeaways

I'm doing a lot more costuming events than I have in the past and I'm learning the value of rewearing or repurposing clothing.  It's really just not possible for me to make something new, from scratch, almost every month.  I don't have the time or the funds to do that.

Along with that, I'm starting to understand the value of building out a "wardrobe" of sorts.  I don't generally stick to any one period, but once you have the basics it's much easier to build out.  With the steampunk events I've been doing I've got lots of things that can be put together to make new outfits and it's much easier for me to build outfits with a bustle now that I've made one and don't need to worry about making that in addition to the the rest of the costume.

Some of these events really challenged me to be creative, usually because of time constraints.  I'm also learning that other people don't see that I've safety pinned something together or bought something at the Goodwill, they only see the finished product.  My Wicked Faire and Medusa outfits ended up being really impressive, even though I didn't spend much time or money on them.  I'm not about to start stop sewing and start safety pinning everything together, but I also don't necessarily need to spend tons of time on an item that I'm probably only going to wear once.

2017 Goals and Events

First things first:  Take pictures.  Actual pictures, not selfies.  We're making progress on this and for bigger events we're getting better about taking pictures right away before we forget.  Baby steps

The partner in crime and I seem to both be getting into 18th century costuming and I intend to build out that part of the costuming wardrobe.  I've picked up some wool to make a riding habit and I've got some stash fabric that is begging to be made up into some other 18th century items.

I need to make some foundation items for various periods:  a good chemise, several petticoats, a bumroll, bumpad, pocket hoops, 18th century pockets, some head coverings and pocket hoops.

We'll be back at Steampunk World's Fair this year and have plans for some 18th century events later in the year, possibly something Edwardian early in the year.

Adventures in 18th Century Stay Making

A Strictly Un-Historical Guide (part 1)

Oh dear...so I've officially started on the 18th century costuming excursion and I'm making the stays.

I'd really much rather work on any other part of the out...but stays first, since they're the foundation (literally) for everything else I'm going to make.

Lovely stays from Before the Automobile.

Full disclosure: I decided (many years and many dress sizes ago) that I wanted to make a pair of stays.  I was fresh off a Victorian corset adventure and totally feeling up to it.  I cut the pattern and fitted it and then I started gaining weight and decided that it probably wasn't a great idea to continue making something incredibly time and labor intensive that I probably wouldn't fit for very long and which I couldn't even wear.

I think I still have that mockup around somewhere.

At any rate, even if this isn't really my first time, I'm definitely green as far as stay making goes.

I've read a lot about it, which to be honest is only making more terrified of making these stays.

I cut the pattern out and measured it since the finished garment measurements are weirdly not on the pattern back or the pattern itself.  It seems like it should make up to a reasonable size for me, but that remains to be seen.

I used some spare cotton duck cloth in my stash from when I decided it would be cute to make shopping bags.

Look!  Roosters!

I never made them (shocking I know), but the fabric seems like it'll be OK for a mock up and fitting, although I may use a different fabric for the finished item since there's a bit of stretch to it.

There are only a few pieces for the stays, but of course when I actually make the finished garment I'll need to cut multiples.  Can't wait.


Shoes and stockings will be ordered by the weekend.  Baby steps.

In Which I Venture into the 18th Century

The Partner in Crime and I have stated a little Meetup group to further our costuming adventures, so hopefully there will be more excuses for me to make and wear things and consequently more reasons to update the blog take pictures.  We're trying to do one event every month.  We shall see.

May was Steampunk World's Fair, June is a little vintage themed tea, and July is Bastille Day at the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia.

Steampunk and various vintage periods are well within my wheelhouse.  I can cobble that stuff together pretty easily and I've sewn for those periods before.  The 18th century is a whole new beast.

I have none of the undergarments and nothing even remotely suitable to wear and I'm unlikely to pick up anything appropriate at the Goodwill.

Luckily it is pretty popular with reenactors, so I can research fairly easily and I patterns are available and the event isn't really meant to be historically accurate, so I'm not feeling overwhelmed on that end.

I'm going to attempt something working-class for this event. 

A word about accuracy:  I'm not concerned about historical accuracy in my costuming.  I enjoy the research and I can probably tell you more than the average person about what people really wore at any given time in history, but I also know that period appropriate fabrics are expensive and period techniques (like hand sewing) can be time consuming.  I'm far more interested in making something that is evocative of the period at a cost that is reasonable to me in the 21st century.  

Planning

American Duchess just released some patterns for Simplicity that I'm going to use as a starting point for my undergarments and a little jacket.  I'm planning to make the petticoat without a pattern. (Pray for me).

 


They're Outlander themed, which would be a bit earlier than the period I'm shooting for, but the base patterns should be pretty good for what I'm planning: A walking length skirt and Pierrot jacket.  I'll need to make some alterations, but it's a good start.

I'm hoping the end result will be something like this from the Kyoto Costume Institute:

Vive la revolution!

As intimidated as I am of this project I've really been wanting to do something from this period for a while and now I finally have an excuse.  And I have an excuse to buy these gorgeous shoes that I've been lusting after for at least a year...

American Duchess Kensington Shoes in Oxblood
Be still, my heart.

So...things I need to make:

• chemise
• stays
• bum pad or bum roll
• fichu
• cap (maybe)
• apron (maybe)
• at least one petticoat (but I really need several)
• skirt
• jacket

Plus I need to buy stockings and shoes and a hat.  And the event is in a month.  

It's highly likely that I will not make that chemise.  I'm not banking on it, but the stays are non-negotiable.  I have to make them and the bum pad or it's just not going to look right and I'm slightly terrified of making the stays.

I picked up a super cute (but probably not even remotely historically accurate) fabric for the jacket at JoAnns and found some pretty fabric for the stays, ordered reed boning (that I may or may not use), and ordered some linen blend fabric for the petticoat(s). 

Stay tuned.

Steampunk World's Fair 2016

The Partner in Crime and I attended the Steampunk World's Fair in Piscataway, NJ a few weeks ago.  Unlike last year I actually remembered to take pictures of our outfits.  Don't get excited, they're not great pictures, but they do exist!  Baby steps.

Friday

We arrived late on Friday night since she'd worked all day and I was furiously finishing up costume bits.  I know this is shocking, but I decided to add stuff at the last minute and then didn't actually have the materials to complete that piece.  Planning!

So Friday we knew we were going to go to the American Murder Song premiere for VIPs.  Bought the VIP tickets especially for it.

We ended up not actually seeing it because we chatted with friends before going to see the show.  That was dumb.  Lesson learned.

We'd decided to go with a dark theme for this night.

PiC is a voodoo priestess.  I lamed out on my costume makeup and just ended up wearing some black and blue stuff that I cobbled together.

The lace shirt is from the Goodwill and worn over a blue tank top from H&M.  Blue and black paisley corset is the 426 from Orchard Corset, and the black skirt is the bustle skirt from hell that I made up for Steampunk Unlimited last year.

 

Saturday

Right, so we decided that for the big Saturday costume we were going to make Strawberry Shortcake and Blueberry Muffin outfits and compete in the costume contest.  We were pretty excited until we realized that when the event coordinators announced the schedule there was no costume contest. *whomp whomp*

Because the schedule only comes out a few days before the event and costumes take considerably longer than that to create we were both already pretty deep into the Berries.

We decided to persevere since at this point I was mostly done with the creation of significant parts of the outfit and she'd already purchased everything for hers.  We were going to look cute either way.

But at the last minute a sponsor came forward and they were able to make a costume contest happen!  We participated but were totally blown away by some of the amazing costumes so we didn't win.  This outfit was so comfortable that I ended up staying in it all day.  Hooray!

Here's me being Lieutenant Strawberry Shortcake, Airship Brigade

Everyone thought I was a stewardess....I am not a stewardess.

I dug myself in pretty deep attempting to make a pair of jhodpurs from the new Butterick pattern (B6340) that just didn't end up coming out to anything that I could wear.  It's actually a pretty nice pattern, but it probably shouldn't be make up in white. (Bad things happened.  That's another story.)

In the end I made the jacket (more details in a future post) and did a quick modification on some pants from WalMart.

I purchased the corset from Timeless Trends and found the blouse at Goodwill. The socks are leprechaun socks from JoAnn's bought on clearance after St. Paddy's Day.  There's an obnoxious buckle just under the knee, it's hidden by the pants.  I already owned the brown boots.

Some detail pictures of the jacket and my adorable strawberry medal.

 

And a better picture of the hat

Kimono Dress

I wore the kimono dress Saturday morning, but styled it differently from last year.  Of course, I have zero pictures of last year's outfit...

Here it is this year.

 

I made a bustle!  And yes, I am in desperate need of a petticoat.  It's on the project list.

The obnoxiously coral underskirt was the last minute project.  I ended up at Walmart around 1 PM on Friday to buy thread to finish that skirt.  Because I am the queen of last-minute costuming the skirt is finished and actually not half bad.

It's not properly made up by any means and the side and back seams are sewn with white thread, but it's in one piece and it's wearable.  

Some (maybe not so) obvious problems with the skirt:  It's too short in the back.  I bought 4 yards of this fabric assuming that i was going to use one pattern and then decided to use a different pattern.  This was probably a good idea in the end, since the new pattern allowed for the giant bustle in the back, but I ended up short about a yard of fabric, so I didn't actually make the pattern properly which ultimately left it short in the back.

It didn't really matter for this outfit since the back is covered. but if I want to make wear it with the bustle and no over skirt I am going to have to lengthen it.  Somehow.  Right.



I also made that giant bustle.  It wasn't as hard as I anticipated and I was actually able to make it entirely in two evenings after work.

It was serviceable for the event, but still needs work. There's some really terrible gathering at the top that luckily got covered by the waistband but I managed to totally mis-measure the waistband so it's too short.  I also ended up having so much trouble with the boning piece at the top that I gave up on it.  I called it done at the time, but I will correct the waistband issue and add the extra boning piece at the top.  I also wanted to add a pleated ruffle at the bottom, but I got lazy (shocking) so I didn't do it.

And yes, I see the very obvious boning through the dress.  I know I am also in dire need of a petticoat.  I actually just bought some sheets that I intend to cannibalize to make a lovely yellow petticoat.  With ruffles.  Progress.

Some close up shots of my hair and the corset.

 

 Sunday

Sunday was a quick pack up and leave.  We'd planned to wear our lovely outfits purchased from Midnight Orchid and I paired mine with a tank top.  Under normal May weather circumstances this would have been perfect, but the weather did not cooperate and we ended up freezing our butts off and changing into civilian clothes in short order.  Unfortunately no photos since we changed so quickly.

Steampunk Unlimited and the Bustle Skirt from Hell!

I'm such a procrastinator.  I have a terrible, terrible habit of planning really well and then just not executing.  *sigh*

At any rate, Steampunk Unlimited...  I've known since last year that I'd be going to this.  Do I have anything to wear?  No, no I don't.  Well...I mean I could wear what I wore last year...or something I wore to Steampunk World's Fair...or I could have finished one of my UFOs...but I didn't.  I decided I wanted to do something different.

Of course I did.  Over planning and under performing.  Yep, that sounds about right.

So after the crazyness of impromptu costuming all summer and the Prohibition party I finally sat down to decide what I wanted to wear.

Two weeks before the event.

Yep.  That sounds right.

I have a pretty decent fabric and pattern stash, so I started there.  I found Simplicity 1819, which I've been wanting to make for a while.  I actually have a stash of lovely home decor fabrics that I purchased specifically with this pattern in mind.  I pulled some of the fabric and played around with my surprisingly vast selection of corsets and settled on two outfits.

Yes, two.  In spite of the fact that we're only going for one day and that I had just two weeks to make the outfits.

Sounds about right.

I wanted something that I could wear during the day and then easily change in the parking lot for a different look for the evening concert.  I decided to make the long skirt without the apron and the short view separate, wear one corset and bring a second.  I knew I wanted to change the waistband to a  drawstring to make it easier to get in and out of and eliminate the need for adjustments later.  I hate adjustments.  I don't like the ruffle, so I planned to extend the bottom to make it long enough and eliminate all that work making the ruffle. 

Awesome.  So I had a game plan, got myself together and cut the pattern out.

And then nothing.  Because I have an event in two weeks, so there's no pressure for me to make anything yet, right?  I don't even have a good excuse for this, I just didn't want to do it.

So this weekend I knew I needed to get this stupid skirt made.  So I watched TV and didn't actually start working on the skirt until 3 PM on Saturday.  Ugh such a procrastinator.

At some point during the cutting process it occurred to me that I might not have enough fabric to actually execute on this grand plan.

It was about this point that I realized that I'd already screwed up.

This pattern is weird.  It's an apron and bustle built onto the skirt.  The front and back cascades are all separate pieces.  I did not realize this when I cut the pattern pieces or when I started to cut the fabric.

The front of the skirt under the apron is three pieces.  I ended up cutting two of those pieces at the longer length, but not as long as I wanted to replace the ruffle before I realized my mistake.

The apron is (way way!) too short to make without anything under it (although now that I think of it it would have looked cute over leggings...)  Since they were too short to use for the long skirt and too long for the short skirt,  I cut them down, but I ended up wasting a good chunk of the fabric because of it.

Luckily I caught it before cutting the third panel or the back pieces.  *sigh*  Once I realized my mistake I cut the remaining pieces and started putting the short skirt together.  I figured of the two skirts the shorter one would be more versatile and I knew I'd definitely have the fabric for it.

I ended up about 1 yard too short to make the longer underskirt and decided to go to the fabric store in the hopes that they might have some more of the fabric.

I bought this stuff on red tag clearance from JoAnn's years ago but I still see it show up occasionally.  The problem is that it's not JoAnn's fabric, its remnants from somewhere else that end up there, so if it wasn't in clearance there wouldn't be any of it anywhere in the store.  It was a crapshoot, but I decided to at least try to see if I could get some more of it.

They didn't have it.  They had the same taffeta in a gorgeous teal color that I seriously considered buying to make a layer, but ultimately decided against.  And that is how I wasted most of my Sunday.

Let's recap: wasted half of Saturday cutting fabric I ended up not using.  Wasted half of Sunday shopping for fabric I ended up not buying.  Skirt still in pieces.  Event the following Saturday.

Awesome.

That is how I ended up sewing this stupid thing together at 10 PM the weekend before Steampunk Unlimited and why as of Monday and it still was not done.

I ended up scrapping the cascades because I am, quite frankly, too lazy to cut a lining or properly finish the edges.  I'll tell you it's because I don't like the way they look, but that's only half true.

So I spent all that time carrying the pattern markings over to the fabric and by the time I actually needed them they'd worn off on all the pieces except for the cascades, which I wasn't using.  Excellent.  Guess it's not like I needed them or anything...

In addition to deciding to scrap the waistband I also decided that I didn't like the weird bustle pulley system Simplicity wanted me to rig up or to line the bustle.  I ended up deciding to make the bustle like I did for my skirt last year and just tack up the puffy bits.  So I really didn't need a lot of those markings.  I made a rolled hem on the bustle.  I hate rolled hems.

As of Monday and the skirt was mostly done.  I managed to tack up the puffy bits on the bustle (previously held up with safety pins) and hemmed the skirt.  True to form, I did this Friday night after work.

I also found out at that last minute it was going to be in the 50s on Saturday and my "clothing" plan was a short skirt, lace top, and a corset...I contemplated making myself a jacket too.

Unexpected jacket made in less than a week?  Hahaha! No.  I wore a cloak that I'd made years ago for a red riding hood costume.