Category Archives: Clothes

Clothes, Fantasy, Från idé till färdigt plagg, In English, Kläder, Uncategorised

Serpent Witch – Part 1

3rd August 2020 Susanna Art Leave a comment

Dress Diary Part 1

Background

The journey has finally begun! The theme of next year’s Your Wardrobe Competition is any character from any literature. Exciting, isn’t it?! I haven’t been able to decide on which character to go for, as I feel like I can’t go down the Jane Austen lane and yet another regency gown. Unfortunately the Elizabeth Gaskell characters are from particular years that I am not willing to spend a year on recreating and the wonderful characters of Dickens are either too young or too old for me. There are some sympathetic background characters in Astrid Lindgren’s books, but I have already made a competition piece inspired by her Edwardian teachers. I have already seen many go for my dear Tolkien characters. For a while, I thought about making a dress for David Eddings’ Polgara. Then there is a character in the Narnia book “The Silver Chair”, which actually has tickled my mind for many years – the Green Witch! When I was a child I dreamed of designing a dress for her, but then I lacked the skill to carry it out. Now, as a member of the Stitchling Society, surrounded by true masters, I think that I actually might be able to pull it through!

The Green Witch

I read the passages with the witch again (in Swedish). She is obviously the most beautiful creature Prince Rilian has ever beheld. Haha! She is very slender, with curly hair and glimmering skin. Her dress is flowy, in a venomous green colour.

I want to make a dress for this lovely lady! In order to get such a slim waist, I will need a corset with waist reduction and breast padding. As I like the victorian take on the medieval fashions (especially the preraphaelite take on this), I will make what I call a Medievorian dress. I will use my lightweight dupioni fabric from Khiva, hoping to create a flowy texture on top of the corset base. I have not yet decided what the arms will look like, as I am not sure how much fabric will be left when the rest of the dress is finished.

I want to make some kind of belt, incorporating her serpent avatar.

Corset

I made a self drafted corset pattern by Cathy Hay’s tutorial, years ago. Because of lack of money and thus lack of the right materials I have never finished it. I have returned to it several times, though, and drawn cryptical lines… I believe I originally made it for giving 2″ waist reduction and some push up.

Here comes my several mockups.

These lines must have been for an Edwardian shape? The corset fitted like a glove, but gave no extra shape.

2nd mockup, with straight lower line, some waist reduction, but no extra room for breasts. Made from a bed cover fabric, a gift from my brother.

3d mockup with too big bust, and back skin spillage because of breast padding pulling the corset forward. I add 2 cm sloping waist.

4th mockup much better, but I reduce the bust a little more and change bent steel boning for spiral steel at the bust. In the sides I add heavily bent steel boning.

4,5 mockup – almost perfect? Sloping waist, waist reduction and padding for the breasts.

Now I am ready for draping the foundation layer and then the dress on the corset mockup. Hopefully I will have time both for finishing the real corset, the dress and accessories in time for the competition.

Clothes, Från idé till färdigt plagg, In English, Kläder, Reconstruct, Sy om

Curtain Dress

19th April 2020 Susanna Art 4 Comments

There is seldom time for sewing since we moved to our house. We are so lucky to have a helping family and to know craftsmen, so that all organic material is removed from the cellar, the electicity, plumbing, draining around the house, topographic changes in the garden and the new floor in our washing room is already finished after only four months! The projects in waiting are quite pressing though… I’m proud of having put back the pavingstones, but the ground needs preparation for grass and flowers, and the cellar is still kind of dangerous.

By Christmas, I laid my hands on a pair of pretty curtains with an extreme amount of fluonces at the second hand shop. 30 SEK. What a find! My husband was horrified, thinking that I intended them for the room of our son. ?

A pair of 1 x 1,6 metres of curtains, rounded at the bottom

Last week, the stormy weather at last gave me an excuse for not working in the garden, but delving into a nice little sewing project. I made a really simple and usable dress out of the curtains. My husband was relieved.

I did everything just I use to: I draped the fabric on my mannequin, pinning it so that the grain lines would be straight and putting darts in front and at the bust. Then I stitched it together, leaving one side seem open for a zipper. There was enough fabric for a halfcirkle skirt. I put pockets in the side seams. This time I carefully ironed the hemline as I folded it twice. The bodice was attached to the skirt and the zipper was inserted. Then I finished the neckline and arms.

The dress was finished yesterday and today it had its premier. I was too tired and my dear photographer was too eager to go fishing, so there was no photo shoot today, even though the weather is lovely and the woods are full of anemones.

The Photoshoot(s)

Clothes, In English, Kläder

Experimental pattern matching dress

6th March 2020 Susanna Art Leave a comment

This ought to be my third dress from this same fabric (the others were both pregnancy dresses, one regency and one modern), that I bought for 200 SEK three years ago. Unfortunately, the fabric proves to be as bad quality as the price indicates – it falls apart after only one wash… Anyhow. I was eager to make a winter dress, suiting my less curvy body and I wanted to try something new. As I had plenty left of this striped fabric, I cut several smaller pieces and moved them around on the dress form until I found a combination that I liked. It was awfully time consuming to pattern match the stripes on the diagonal. After having sewn the pieces together, with perfect pattern matching, I found out that the fit was catastrophic. I had to disintegrate most of it and put it together again, with many more fittings. Finally, I had my dress, with good enough fit, but then I found out that the fabric was already falling apart… Well, I have something along the way: first and foremost, there should be a finished pattern before matching the stripes of so many small pieces, as the fit is otherwise bound to suffer at the expense of the pattern matching. What are your experiences with pattern matching?

Detta torde vara min tredje klänning sydd i samma randiga tyg, som jag köpte för 200 kronor för tre år sedan (båda de andra klänningarna var mammaklänningar, en modern och en empir). Tyvärr visar sig tyget ha precis så dålig kvalitet som priset antydde – det börjar falla isär efter bara en tvätt… Ja, ja. Jag var ivrig att sy en vinterklänning som skulle passa min nya, plattare kropp och ville testa något nytt. Jag hade massor kvar av det randiga tyget, så jag klippte till flera mindre tygbitar och flyttade omkring dem på provdockan tills jag hittade en kombination som tilltalade mig. Det tog otroligt lång tid att mönsterpassa de diagonala linjerna. Efter att ha sytt ihop alla delar med perfekt mönsterpassning insåg jag att passformen istället var en katastrof. Jag var tvungen att sprätta upp det mesta och sätta ihop bitarna igen och prova klänningen många gånger innan jag slutligen vågade sy ihop bitarna igen. När min klänning äntligen var klar och hade acceptabel passform insår jag att tyget redan börjat gå sönder… Jag har åtminståne lärt mig något på vägen: först och främst bör man ha ett färdigt mönster innan man börjar experimentera med mönsterpassningen av så många små bitar, annars kommer passformen försämras till förmån för en perfekt mönsterpassning. Vad har du för erfarenheter av mönsterpassning?

The dress consists of four underbust pieces and two bust pieces with darts on the front, with a hidden zipper in the mid front. On the back, there are four pieces. The skirt consists of two pieces, forming a whole cirkle skirt. And two arms, off course.

Klänningen består av fyra “underbyst-bitar” och två “bystbitar” med inprovningar och med en dold dragkedja mitt fram. Ryggdelen består av fyra delar. Kjolen består av två delar som samman bildar en hel cirkel. Och så två ärmar, förstås.
There are some wrinkles going on, that I do not know whether they depend on the not so sturdy fabric or my bad pattern making. The wrinkles on the sides of the bust were impossible to get rid of without cutting new pieces of fabric after my dreadful discovery about the fit. I just try my best not to think about them.

Det är små veck överallt på klänningen, som jag inte vet om de beror på det veka tyget eller min slarviga tillskärning. Vecken på sidorna av bysten beror definitivt på tillskärningen och var omöjliga att bli av med utan att klippa ut nya bitar, vilket var uteslutet för en rastlös själ som jag, eftersom bitarna redan var sammanfogade med ärmarna och de knepiga ryggbitarna. Jag gör bara mitt bästa för att inte tänka på vecken.

A photobombing child is one of the most effective ways to forget about wrinkles.

Ett barn som stövlar in på fotot är bland de bästa sätten att komma på andra tankar.

Barnkläder, Children's clothes, Clothes, In English, Kläder, Reconstruct, Sy om

Child’s Winter Coat

7th February 2020 Susanna Art Leave a comment

Last year I disintegrated my sister’s old wool winter jacket (she let me, I promise) in order to reuse the lining for my red winter coat. Originally, I planned to use the wool for my nephew’s medieval clothes, but when I had the vlieseline (?) removed, it was too sticky on the wrong side. So I saved it in my stash. When I found this fluffy faux fur at Panduro, I knew just what to use it for! It’s so fluffy I’m gonna die!

Förra året sprättade jag upp min systers gamla vinterjacka (hon tillät det, jag lovar), för att kunna återanvända jackans foder till min röda kappa. Jag sparade yttertyget, som var ett fint ylle. Jag tänkte använda tyget till min systersons medeltidskläder, men det när jag hade tagit bort det stadgande materialet (vlieseline?) var det alldeles för sticksigt, så det fick ligga kvar i tyglagret. När jag hittade denna fluffiga fuskpäls visste jag precis vad jag skulle använda yllet till! Det är så fluffigt att jag dör!

I made a new pattern, tracing the outer lines from my son’s favourite jacket, but adding one centimeter at every side, except at the bottom, where I added one decimeter. I thought about hiding a zipper behind a flap (?) and adding fancy metal buttons, that my son adores, but it seemed too intricate to sew and for a child to put on by himself.

Jag ritade ett nytt mönster genom att rita en centimeter utanför varje kant på hans favoritjacka. Nertill la jag till en decimeter. Jag funderade över att ha en dragkedja dold under en flärp med fina metallknappar, som han älskar, men det verkade vara för knepigt både att sy och för en tvååring att hantera.

I removed the old pockets and used this part for arms. Unfortunately the fabric behind the pocket seams had a lighter colour, which I unsuccessfully tried covering up with black ink. Obviously the ink reflects sunlight very well… I had to make some piecing together, as you see.

Jag sprättade bort de gamla fickorna och använde dessa tygstycken till ärmarna. Tyvärr visade sig tyget under sömmarna ha blivit ljusare, vilket jag försökte maskera med svart tush. Tushet reflekterar visst solljuset väldigt bra… Som du ser fick jag skarva en del för att få tyget att räcka.

When he first tried the jacket on, he began crying and wouldn’t try it again for a few days. Today, I realized that there was a needle left in the faux fur. After removing it, he loved this jacket. He described it as “Awesome! Cozy!”. I am so pleased!

När han testade jackan första gången började han gråta och vägrade ta på den igen. Idag upptäckte jag att en nål gömt sig i den fluffiga fuskpälsen. Efter att jag tagit bort den älskade han sin nya jacka. Han beskrev den som “Häftig! Mysig!” Jag är så glad!

For Christmas gift, I made a pyjamah, tracing his favourite pair. He loves the fact that it is a dress with pockets

Jag sydde en pyjamas till honom i julklapp. Hans favoritpyjamas är en klänning med fickor. Denna använde jag som förlaga och han blev väldigt nöjd.

Clothes, In English, Kläder, Period clothing, Regency, Uncategorised

Regency Waistcoat and the Ball

6th October 2019 Susanna Art Leave a comment

This Saturday was hectic and lovely. After a couple of hours terrible sleep, a was awaken by my happy two year old boy. We played for some hours and then I left for singing and playing the violin at a wedding. The road led through a beautiful autumnal landscape and the sun was shining over the church and the lake. The wedding was filled with love and I felt very honored to play for them (even though my violin untuned itself again and again because of the freezing cold). After having played a folk music march, down the stairs and leading the company to their refreshments, my fingers were numb. I went back by car in a hurry and was so happy to arrive in time for changing clothes in time for the Regency Ball!

Denna lördag var hektisk och härlig. Efter några få timmars dålig sömn väcktes jag av min glada tvååring. Vi lekte i några timmar och sedan åkte jag iväg för att sjunga och spela fiol på en vigsel. Vägen ledde genom ett vackert hötlandskap och solen sken över kyrkan och sjön. Vigseln genomsyrades av kärledk och jag kände mig väldigt hedrad som fick spela för dem (även om min fiol stämde ur sig gång på gång på grund av kylan). Efter att ha spelat en gångmarsch, gåendes nedför trappan och ledande gästerna fram till deras förfriskningar, hade fingrarna tappat känseln av kylan. Jag skyndade mig tillbaka och var så glad när jag insåg att jag skulle hinna byta om i tid för empirbalen på Storebro Herrgård!

Regency Waistcoat

I made a new waistcoat to to match the new black tailcoat. After several months of dithering, I ordered a beautiful silk fabric from Renaissance Fabrics. I really wanted to buy all of their fabrics… I drafted my own pattern, consisting of two lined front pieces with pockets, two back pieces and a standing collar out of two pieces of fabric, as in this sketch. I will upload some better pictures later.

Jag sydde en ny väst som skulle matcha min mans nya empirrock. Efter flera månader av beslutsångest beställde jag till slut ett vackert sidentyg från Renaissance Fabrics. Egentligen hade jag velat köpa alla deras tyger! Jag hade inte goda erfarenheter av det västmönstret från Reconstructing History, som jag använde förra gången, så nu ritade jag ett eget mönster. Det består av två fodrade framstycken och två bakstycken, samt en stående krage, som på denna skiss. Jag ska ladda upp några bättre bilder på västen senare.

My magnificent husband in whole!

Min stilige man, i hela sin härlighet!

Reticule

The last day before the ball, i quickly made a reticule to hide my cell phone. I had some help from my son.

Dagen innan balen sydde jag en retikyl för att gömma min mobiltelefon. Min son hjälpte till.

The company prepares for the ball

Ten years ago, a couple of friends and other Jane Austen fanatics attempted to sew regency dresses, using the hardly decipherable morning dress pattern of Recreating History. My sister and I made our first regency dresses. Caroline made this lovely yellow dress. My sister did me the honor of wearing the velvet dress, that was inspired by Kiera Knightley’s in the Hollywood version of Pride an Prejudice. Her daughters wore the white bed sheet dress and the one I made from leftovers from my sisters regency dress.

För tio år sedan hade vi en studiecirkel där jag och några andra Jane Austen-nördar sydde empirklänningar, med hjälp av det svårkodade morgon-klänning-mönstret från Recreating History. Dessa var min och min systers första empriklänningar. Caroline sydde denna fina gula klänning. Min syster gjorde mig äran att använda min sammetsklänning, som jag sydde utifrån Kiera Knightlys i Hollywoodversionen av Stolthet och fördom. Hennes döttrar använde den vita lakan-klänningen och klänningen som jag sydde av stuvbitar från min systers empirklänning.

My niece is a styling pro!

Min systerdotter är ett styling-proffs!

I am quite proud of the fact that I have sewn all of the outfits, except for Carlines dress. I wore my YWU competion entry dress.

Jag är faktiskt ganska stolt över faktumet att jag har sytt alla dräkter, förutom Carolines klänning, som jag dock också var ganska involverad i. Själv använde jag mitt tävlingsbidrag till YWU.

At the ball
Thank you, Ellen, for arranging such a lovely evening!

Clothes, Empir, Historiskt, Kläder, Regency, Uncategorised

Green Regency Dress

17th August 2019 Susanna Art 2 Comments

As my only practical regency dress is now too big for me, I wanted a new, washable dress. Once again, I used the simple model with drawstrings at the neckline and under the bust, just as I have done with the girls’ dresses. I remembered to have seen a dress with smooth waist at the front, but I have not been able to find that picture again. Has anyone else seen this picture, or did I make it up? Probably, the back should be open and closed by drawstrings, in order to be truly accurate.

Eftersom min enda praktiska empirklänning endast passade under graviditeten, var jag sugen på att sy en ny, tvättbar klänning. Jag använde modell som flickornas klänningar, med dragsko i urringning och under bysten. Jag mindes att jag sett en klänning där tyget låg slätt framtill, under bysten, men har sedan inte kunnat hitta bilden igen. Har ni sett den, eller har jag hittat på? För att klänningen skulle vara tidstypisk, borde den egentligen ha haft en öppning i ryggen, som stängts med dragskorna.

This was how I made the pattern smooth over the waist. Then I trimmed away the excess fabric in the neckline and armpit. The back of the bodice is just broad overall.

Back of the bodice at the top. Front at the bottom.

After sewing the front and back bodice parts together, I attached the skirt. In the front it lays smooth, while it is gathered in the back. At the waist seam, I added a waistband, where I hid the drawstring. At the inside of the neckline I also put a drawstring. I made a simple, straight arm. Last, I stitched the rolled hems by hand.

Efter att ha sytt samman fram- och bakstycke satte jag dit kjolen. Framtill ligger den slätt mot överdelen, medan den är rynkad baktill. Över sömmen under bysten fäste jag ett midjeband, som jag använde för dragskon. Ärmarna är bara raks tygstycken med ärmkulle. Jag handsydde rullfållarna sist.

I am happy with the result. I felt like one of the Dashwood sisters. The only thing lacking now are long kid gloves. Please tell me if you find a pair for me!

Jag är nöjd. Jag kände mig faktiskt som en av systrarna Dashwood. Vad som verkligen saknas i denna ensamble är ett par långa skinnhandskar. Säg till mig om ni hittar ett sådant par, snälla!

Clothes, In English, Kläder

Summer dress

10th August 2019 Susanna Art Leave a comment

A friend of mine had a cotton fabric, with floral print, waiting for becoming a dress. She asked me whether I would like to make a dress for her and showed me some pictures of models that she liked. This was was what I came up with.

En av mina vänner hade ett bomullstyg med blommigt mönster, som låg och väntade på att få bli en klänning. Hon frågade mig om jag skulle vilja sy upp klänningen åt henne och visade mig vilka modeller hon gillade. Så här blev det.

I draped the fabric directly on the dress form. We had two fittings before I finished it and gave it to her at one of my concerts.

Jag draperade tyget direkt på provdockan. Vi testade klänningen på henne två gånger innan jag i all hast sydde färdigt den och överlämnade den, i samband med en av mina konserter.

The dress consists of only five pieces of fabric – upper and lower part of the bodice front and the bodice back, front and back of the skirt. The skirt is a gathered half circle. The arms are just an extension of the bodice. At one side, I have hidden an old zipper.

Klänningen består bara av fyra tygstycken – övre och nedre del av livets framsida och livets baksida (låter fyndigt, mot min vilja), fram och bak på kjolen. Kjolen är en rynkad halvcirkelkjol. Ärmarna är bara en liten förlängning av livdelen. I ena sidan har jag gömt en gammal dragkedja.

I hope to show the dress on its rightful owner soon!

Jag hoppas på att även kunna visa upp ägaren i hennes klänning snart!

Children's clothes, Clothes, Fantasy, Historiskt, In English, Kläder, Period clothing, Uncategorised

Medieval Kirtle

10th August 2019 Susanna Art Leave a comment

This summer was wonderful, but intense. At the first day of my vacation I realized that I would have to prepare three different repertoires for the four concerts in three weeks, so I understood that I needed to finish my sewing projects quickly. Said and done. In one day I finished a modern dress for my friend, I made a kirtle for my sister’s boy to wear at the Medieval Week of Visby and I also finished the regency waistcoat for my husband. The extremely simple regency dress was sewn in one day on sewing machine, but I finished the long roll hems the other day.

Den här sommaren var underbar, men intensiv. Första dagen på semestern insåg jag att jag måste lära in tre olika repertoarer för de fyra sångtillfällena, fördelade över tre veckor, så jag förstod att jag måste slutföra mina påbörjade sömnadsprojekt innan detta. Sagt och gjort. På en dag sydde jag färdigt en klänning åt min vän, jag sydde en kjortel åt en pojke som skulle med till Medeltidsveckan i Visby och jag blev äntligen klar med en empirväst åt min man. Dessutom blev sydde jag en ny, extremt enkel empirklänning, men handsydde fållarna för några dagar sedan.

Quick Medieval Kirtle

Last summer I helped my nieces sewing their own medievalish dresses for Söderköpings gästabud. This summer we had planned to take their whole family to the Medieval Week of Visby for a day, so now their little brother also needed a kirtle. I used a fabric that I found in a second hand shop and the usual “squares and triangles method”.

Förra sommaren hjälpte jag mina systerdöttrar att sy deras egna medeltida klänningar till Söderköpings gästabud. Den här sommaren skulle hela deras familj följa med oss till Medeltidsveckan i Visby. Därmed behövde även lillebror en kjortel. Jag använde ett tyg som jag hittat på Eriskhjälpen. Den är gjord efter “fyrkanter och trianglar-metoden”.These are the pattern pieces that I used.

Detta är alla mönsterbitar jag använde.

After having sewn the front piece to the back piece, I made the arms (which were way too long). I attached the square gusset for the armpit first, then I stitched the rest of the arm and last I inserted the arms into the kirtle.

Efter att jag sytt samman framdelen och bakdelen, sydde jag armar (alldeles för långa). Jag satte fast de fyrkantiga ärmsprund innan jag sydde samman ärmen och satte in den i själva kjorteln.

Then I inserted the triangle gussets into the front, back and side seams. Last sew the hems by hand. I believe I made this in about four hours.

Sedan satte jag in trianglarna mitt fram, mitt bak och i sidorna. Slutligen fållade jag för hand. Jag tror att allt detta tog fyra timmar.

My nephew was most dashing in his new garment! Unfortunately the best picture was taken in front of some cars, so my mother helped me blend that picture with her picture of a medieval french castle. Isn’t it awesome?!

Pojken var väldigt fin i sin nya dräkt! Tyvärr togs den bästa bilden framför några bilar, så mamma hjälpte mig att sammanfoga den bilden med en av hennes bilder av ett franskt medeltida slott. Är det inte en fantastisk bild?!

And here are some pictures from the Medieval week.

Här kommer några bilder frön Medeltidsveckan.

Our family, looking like going on a roller coaster

I will soon make a new post showing off the summer dress, the regency waistcoat and the extremely simple regency dress.

Snart ska jag även göra ett inlägg om sommarklänningen, empirvästen och den extremt enkla empirklänningen.

Clothes, Kläder, Uncategorised

Open back

7th June 2019 Susanna Art Leave a comment

I made yet another quick dress. ? The idea was radiant, but I simply had no time to execute it well. The construction was complicated and there was too much going on at work and my boy demanded undivided attention). I had no patiens to wait for better times, so I made one quick seam at a time and did not make enough ajustments as I went. I think it’s kind of pretty and was very happy for it yesterday, when everybody else were sweating and I felt cool. Then I understood that I perhaps exposed myself more than I had planned to. ?I thought it was foolproof, covering everything except for the back. But obviously not. I will try to get some nice strings to pull the front tighter to the body, while making some intricate crisscross in the back. Uh. I don’t know…

Jag sydde ännu en snabb klänning. ? Konstruktionen var komplicerad, men jag var alltför ivrig att bli klar med den (samtidigt som jobbet och barnet var för krävande), så klänningen blev inte perfekt och nu är det för sent att ändra på. Den är dock skapligt fin och extremt sval – perfekt om den här sommaren skulle bli lika varm som förra. Jag var hur nöjd som helst, tills jag testade att ha den på kalas igår och insåg att den inte var så idiotsäker som jag trodde, med hela framsidan skyld och endast ryggen fri… Jag ska försöka hitta några fina snoddar att dra framsidan tightare mot kroppen, när de bildar något avancerat mönster på ryggen… Åh. Jag vet inte… I have used two Tanzanian ketenges. I started with using the pretty borders of the first ketenge for covering the bust, going down the sides, crossing each other in the back and then continuing in their uncut state at the bottom. It was really tricky to bring the top together with the skirt part. I used the lower part of the second ketenge for the front, using two sets of longitudinal darts – one pair visible in the from and one invisible pair along the border. At the bottom back, I had to make hidden darts growing toward the corners of the borders.

Jag har anänt två tanzanska skynken. Jag började med att använda två hörn för att täcka bysten, sedan löper borderna snett ned längs sidan och ryggen för att korsa varandra och fortsätta ned i kjolen. Borden är alltså sammanhängande förutom vid bysten, där jag klippt bort en stor del av ketengets kortsida. Det var jätteknepigt att sätta ihop de båda tygstyckena på ett bra sätt. Det är två par longitudinella infodringar på framsidan, ett synligt par och ett par dolt längs hela borden. På baksidans nederdel löper två horisontella infodringar längs borden.

Believe me when I say that it was freezing when we shot these pictures some days ago, in the cool wind and long shadows of the evening. ?

Barnkläder, Children's clothes, Clothes, Empir, Historiskt, In English, Period clothing, Regency

Regency Gentleman, Toddler and Teen

1st April 2019 Susanna Art Leave a comment

At Tjolöholm Castle 2016

Teenager’s Dress

These last few months have been crazy. I’ve had my internship at the psychiatric ward, which have been both thrilling and exhausting, as I have been working nights a lot more than I tolerate. At the same time I have been preparing clothes for a recency ball. In a weak moment I decided to even participate in dancing sessions before the ball, in order to fully enjoy the historically authentic ball (for those of you who don’t know me, I am not the dancing type). My dear nieces will accompany us for the dancing lessons and thus, there is need for one more regency dress, for a slender thirteenyearold. The younger niece will wear this dress which will be long enough after having removed the pin tucks. I made the quickest dress ever, with the least amount of material ever, leaving approximately five square centimetres of scraps. This is the result.

This is what fabric was left after making the dress. I’m quite proud of myself.

The new dress with floral print and the old white dress which has now been successfully lengthened by removing the pin tucks.

Toddler’s Dress

Our toddler will join the dancing sessions, off course. So he needs a kirtle. I made one in a few hours by machine. He should have a pair of trousers and a hat too, but there is no time and what does it matter, really? If you want some background about children’s clothing, see this lovely page.

Tired boy in the company of his best friends

Fall Front Breeches

I have been working on a new pair of breeches for my husband for some years, moments at a time. Now only the buttons remain. I have tried to solve the mystery of the construction of the elusive fall front breeches and drafted the pattern myself. This is how I have interpreted what I have seen in pictures.

1) putting together front, back and both sides 2) cutting slits by the sides for narrow or broad fall front 3) adding the pieces behind the fall front

5) adding fabric pieces to the fall front sides 6) folding the pieces around the sides in order to hide the raw edges 7) adding one piece more to the top of the fall front in the same way

After I stopped documenting this process – why, in heavens name? – I added a waistband to hide the raw edges at the rest of the top of the breeches. I hid the raw edges of the end of the legs in the same way. And at the very last I will add buttons and make button holes!

Shirt with Ruffles

I thought that he also needed a nicer shirt and cravat than the first set of clothes, so I made a new shirt with ruffles in the neckline and by the cuffs. Afterwards, I have found excellent tutorials for period regency shirt construction, as in Fabric and Fiction and at Your Wardrobe Unlocked. This one is obviously wrong in many ways.

I started by cutting the double length wished for, folded and cut a whole for the head and a slit at the mid front. Then I added two square arms with square gussets at the arm pits, with gathering at the shoulder and at the end of the arms. I also added ruffles at the slit in the front, although I found out later that the slit should probably have been 3-4 dm long and the ruffles should have been in one continuing piece, instead of one on each side.

I have no idea how this should be done, but this was my way of making the ruffles at the end of the arms: I had two pieces of fabrics in which I hid the raw edge of the arm gathering. After having stitched this in place, I added a folded piece of fabric with gathering, which I tucked in between the two layers in the same way as the arm gathering.

I believe that the opening in the from should have been longer, but then there would not have been enough of fabric for ruffles.

Ruffles sewn by hand and self covered buttons for the collar.

Tailcoat

My most time consuming sewing project ever must be his new tailcoat. I have used historical methods and made all of the interlining by hand – hundreds of stitches that no one will ever see… ? I used the fantastic pattern of Laughing Moon that I bought for the prize money for my win in the 2017 competition of Your Wardrobe Unlocked.

Now there is only a new waistcoat left to make the suit complete. And a pair of shoes, stockings, pocket watch, new hair etc… When starting to update the historical wardrobe, there is no end to it, especially as the family expands.

If I’m still alive by the end of the week, after two more nights at work, I look forward to see all of these clothes during the dancing session.

The dance training was featured in the local newspaper, with some nice pictures. This was what our family looked like. Alas, it was all too obvious that I had not made adjustments for the tail coat during the process, for it did not fit as well as I had hoped for.

Susanna Art Blog