Faking it: stockings for the 18th century costume

There was some conversation over on the Historical Sew Fortnightly group about symmetricals (padded stockings: if you're interested in them, Leimomi has a terminology post all about them).  I had joked that these were one of the only historical garments that I would have no use for, seeing as how my legs come with quite enough padding on their own.  Enough for me have a fun cheat to share with you.  I've just in the last year started making 18th century costumes.  Prior to that, the Victorian was fairly forgiving about what sort of stockings that I wore as my legs and ankles were always covered by high boots and long skirts.  But that Victorian sense of modesty didn't exist in the 1700s.  Skirts were higher and shoes were made for showing off.  Enter the need for stockings.

Now, sources for authentic stockings certainly exist, but they're not cheap and thus far seem to all be too small for my thunder thighs to fit in to.  To get around this, I bought a pair of opague white nylon tights for $2.50 a pair.

 Ok, so I bought 8 at a post-CoCo Target run, but only after I figured out it worked.

Lay the tights out and you'll see (or maybe you won't, it's kinda hard to photograph) that there's a narrow band of heavier knit at the top of the thigh going into the briefs portion that acts as a bit of a control top. 

I found that if I cut the leg of the stockings off inside this band, they tended not to unravel.

I put them on and stretched them all the way up to the thigh, then let
them unroll naturally until they fell just below the knee.

There And the best part was... they STAYED UP!  All by themselves.  I may eventually make myself a shiny pair of garters to wear with them, but thus far it was totally not needed.  All through a night of dancing at the Costume College gala and they didn't once slip down.  It probably helps that the tights were a size (or two) smaller than what I would have gotten were I planning to wear the full things.

 Geri caught me shaking my paniers to Sir Mix-a-lot, thus proving that I really did make those stockings work.

Next up, I'll have to figure out a way to fake some clocking on a few pairs.  I've seen both painting and embroidery used for such a purpose, but I have no idea where I'll find me a set of feet willing to sit still while the paint dries.

HSF 15: The Great Outdoors - the Mink Fur Muff

I certainly feel like this is one of the weirder things I've ever made.  About a year ago, my mother let me dig through her significant stash built up from decades of sewing and crafting.  One of the things that she passed on to me was mink stole that had certainly seen better days.  Mom made bears for a time, and one of her friends had passed the stole on to her and so it's just been sitting in people's stashes for ages now.  Fast forward to last December when I had a Steampunk holiday tea to dress for and as it was flipping cold out and I didn't have gloves to match the Victorian ensemble I'd planned to wear, I decided to make a muff.  This was one of those projects that sounded much simpler in my head: cut rectangles of lining, fluff and fur, sew together and Viola!   You're done.

Yeah, not so much.  First thing to do was to METICULOUSLY and very gently remove the fur from it's fabric lining.  The stole was two long strips of fur sewn side-by-side and I needed something shorter and wider than that, so the fur "strips" then had to be separated and cut in half to make the new shape.  

Next up was to sew the fur onto a backing material.  I chose to use the same silk as I was using for the lining so that when I sewed the fur layer to the lining, I could do it by the backing instead of putting more stitch holes in the fur.  This way, any backing that peaked through would be unnoticeable.  I went into this thinking that this step would have been simple... WRONG!  Despite seeming quite rectangular when in the stole, the resulting pieces were anything but.  I ended up having to pull the pieces in towards the cut ends, which ended up giving me a rectangle that was narrower at one end than the other.

Strips of fur had to be sewn together before being sewn to the backing material.
You can kind of see on the left there where even these strips were originally pieced.

Fur whip stitched to the backing fabric in a rust colored thread that would disappear in the fur.

Next I had to work on the insides.  I had seen where others had been quilting the interior of their muffs and I figured that seemed like a good idea.  More than anything, I like how the quilting it kept the lining material from shifting and bunching, which would have been unsightly.

Quilting on the sewing machine, because SURELY that would be easier than doing it by hand, right?

Aaaaand, this is about the place where the project got bagged up and put on hold until today.  I pulled it out and started trying to assemble the layers, not realizing until half-way through that my rectangle of fur was not a true rectangle.  I worked around this by assembling the lining and fur into tubes separately, then stuffing the lining inside the fur tube and hoping for the best.  The added bulk of the buckling lining means that the muff retains a bit of its rounded shape, even without a pair of hands in it.  The fur backing and lining were whip stitched together and a fabric wrist strap was inserted into one end.  The fur was old and quite delicate, and many of the mink tails broke along the way.  The stubby bits were left on one edge and the only remaining full tail was inserted into a pretty yellow bow and pined to the front of the muff.

Now it just needs to be not August and cold enough so that I can find and excuse to wear it!

What the item is: fur muff

The Challenge: The Great Outdoors

Fabric: mink recovered from a vintage stole, silk crepe, cotton batting

Pattern: none

Year: this could work for anything from the late 1700s up into the early 20th century.

Notions: poly ribbon and thread, scrap ribbon for cinching in the ends and a touch of tacky glue.

How historically accurate is it? meh, not too shabby, I suppose. Though I didn't really base it on any existing pieces or images.

Hours to complete: 10, perhaps. The fur had to be painstakingly removed from it's original backing and then pieced back together into a more rectangular shape. Lesson learned, I will NOT be working with real fur again any time soon.

First worn: it WAS intended for a holiday tea back in December, but set aside in the rush. It'll have to wait for it to not be August and sweltering before it gets to see the light of day.

Total cost: fur was gifted to me from my mom's stash and the silk was leftover from making a dress for a friend. So out of pocket? $3 worth of batting. But the valuation would have been closer to $60, given the shabby state of the fur.

Costume College, Sunday & Monday's trip to the LA Fashion District

Sunday started off with Breakfast belles and Beaus, which was the evolution of the Sunday Undies breakfast.  I wore my 18th century short gown with a new teal petticoat and the white work apron.  Unfortunately, this was another one of those outfits where I failed to snap any personal photos of the completed outfit.  Gina at Beauty From Ashes caught half of me in a photo of someone else, so that will just have to serve as a teaser until the official studio pictures come out.  I am loving what I can see of the shape here and can't wait to see what it looks like in good light from the front.  The teal petticoat was banged out at the eleventh hour when I realize that the whitework embroidery apron I'd been working on in all my spare moments was not going to show up very well on top of the ivory quilted petticoat.  The petticoat was a simple two panels at 56" wide (total circumference = 110" after seams) with 9" side slits for pocket access and a 12" ruffle pinked top and bottom.  I LOVE this teal/magenta/white color combination and I love the teal enough to want to take the rest of the fabric and make a top of some sort to go with it.

In amongst the two costumed meals of the day (omg, so full), I caught a couple of panels. see  There was Tasteful Tints and Textures with the ladies from Truly Victorian.  I had never really paid attention to how many and what kinds of colors/prints/fabrics were used in gowns from the Victorian era.  It makes me reevaluate every bustle gown I've ever made to see how 'proper' my fabric selection was.  And then I cringe a bit when I realize that both of the bustle projects I have lined up to do next break all of those rules.  However, as they are an historical reinterpretation of a super hero and legit interpretation of a satire print, I think it'll be okay.

The 19th Century Accessories talk turned out to be a slide show portrait cram session of over 400 years of history.  While the presenter was totally knowledgeable, it would have been nice to have had a focused hour on a shorter time frame.  However, I did pick up an inclination to do some 1790s Turkery nonsense and I picked up a handful of coral colored beads on Monday to get me started.

Back to the room for a quick change and then I headed down for the afternoon tea, themed after the Ladies Day at the Ascot (big hats, yay!).  I got to wear my chemise a la reine and beregere hat out for the very first time.  I loved how springy it felt.  And also, the hedgehog wig was very easy to style and wear.  Just a couple of pins to hold it and a few of the more rogue sections of hair in place and it was ready to go.  It was amusing to see a table full of corseted women try to reach the tray in the center of the table.  I had trouble keeping the straps of my stays tucked in the dress, though.  I may end up making a pair of strapless stays to get around the issue.  Or perhaps modify the pair I have to make the straps detachable.  

My last programming bit of the weekend was on how to teach at Costume College.  Just something to think about for next year.  Then it was back into my civies for dinner across the street and packing up the room so I'd be ready to head out for Monday's safari to the LA Fashion District.  I had signed up for the con-sponsored trip which provided a bus to take us into town and then waited there for us so that we could drop off purchases or just come hide in the shade for a bit of a break.  This was a nice touch as it was hella hot popping in and out of these tiny little shops packed floor-to-ceiling with all manner of fabrics and notions.

My fashion district hall.

All told I spent $203, which was only $3 over my budget.  Something I was fairly proud of for not keeping very close track.  Trying to make all of my purchases in cash certainly helped, though.  It may not look like a lot spread out on the hotel bedspread, but I bought a LOT of trim, which normally jacks the cost of an outfit up very quickly.  Also, fabrics I do fairly well with knowing how to order what I need online, but I find trims a lot harder.

What I came home with:
- Extra large paper fan (ended up being practical for the trip home, too).

- 8 yards of green silk with lavender, burgundy and olive threads running through it. No idea what I'll make with it, but I'm thinking late 18th century or perhaps Regency.

- Lavender and green ribbon trim to match the striped silk.

- Gold braid that was something like $1.50/yd, because simple gold braid will always find a use.

- 4 dozen gold buttons for the Captain Marvel natural form era gown ($3/dz!!!)

- 7 yards of English net lace for engageants and whatever else needs $5/yd lace.

- 4 yards of white linen for a new chemise.

- 1.5 yds of the most lurid yellow silk taffeta I have ever seen that I cannot wait to make a pair of 18th c mitts out of, plus line a hood and perhaps trim a Brunswick jacket.

- enough red coral-ish beads to deck out a Turkish-inspired 1790s outfit yet to be designed.

- burgundy looped trim for the Regency open robe project that's yet to have taken off.

- 1 yard each of burgundy and lavender tassels for decking out reticules and the like.

Wow.  When I write it all up, that's a LOT of stuff.  I think I'll make it a goal that one half of it needs to be used (at least once, not used up) by the time next year's Costume College rolls around.

Finally came across the PERFECT buttons for the Captain Marvel dress, which is next up on my to do list.

My one real impulse buy was this crazy striped silk and a 12 yards of a complementary ribbon trim.
I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but I'm sure I'll figure out something.

Costume College, Saturday

Saturday started off bright at early at 9am for more programming.  I started with a talk on tailoring a man's Regency tailcoats, presented by the gal who designs patterns for Laughing Moon.  I picked up a few tid bits about construction and such, but it was mostly targeted towards people who are going to use their patterns as opposed to those figuring it out from the tailoring manuals of the time.  She did have some good notes about fabric weights and the types of support structure that were and were not required for the time period, though.  So that was helpful.

Next up was a class on beginning bobbin lace.  While kits were available (of which I bought one), there wasn't really the time for any instruction.  It was more of an introduction to what it was, with the tools for those who want to try it at home.

If I ever get around to using my kit, this is the sample of what it is that I'll be making.

 Next up was 18th century women's outerwear, which covered short and long cloaks and pelisses.  No real new information for me there, but I caught a lot of names for references and research collections online.  Also, now I want to make a pelisse.  No good reason for it, other than I haven't made one yet and they look interesting.  Oh, this 18th century rabbit hole that I have fallen into.

Also hit Five Faux-Historical Accessories which singled out some of the biggest no-nos of accessorizing historical costume, as well some both some cheap-n-easy-n-close-enough and not-so-cheap-but-super-accurate ways of fixing it.  Makes me want to go home and make a lot of purses and reticules and the like.

Saturday night was the big gala event, and what a production it was.  They do this semi-organized 'red carpet' event where they have chairs lining the halls going into the ballroom and attendees get to walk down it and have their picture taken/be gawked at.  It was kinda fun, if a little overwhelming.  But I suppose it's better than the alternative, which is everyone just crowding about the space and hoping to catch a picture of the costumes if they can. It also significantly ups the likelihood of finding photos of yourself online the next day, which I appreciated.  The Honey and I went the full nine yards with the hair and makeup, which I thought really pulled the whole thing together.  The look was relatively simple, really. After a touch of concealer where needed, we just loaded up with a metric ton of matte white eye shadow from Sephora, then touched the cheeks with a matte red. Red lip liner only, to keep it matte.   A scant touch of mascara for both of us and a light dusting of pale blue eye shadow for me and we were ready to go.  I know there's not really supposed to be any color on the eyelids, but my babies were getting lost in a sea of white powder and I had to do something.

Here we are texting the obligatory "look how silly we look" selfies to our friends back home.

Here we are all dressed up.  I like how the red/blue/ivory with gold and brown color palette worked out.

Actually, sitting in panniers turned out to be not that difficult after all.
So long as the seats next to me remained unoccupied.  ;)

Such a cad.  The outfit was like an open invitation to ham it up for the crowds.

Another full length shot.  I think I know why women in the time seemed to pose with their hands
where they did.  I needed to use the fan to hide where my pocket access slits tended to gape open.
Add that to the list of things that need to be tweaked when I get home, as well as adding fur revers
to my bodice, hooks to hold the front of the skirts up and moving the shoulder seam on Honey's coat.

I fell behind and this outfit totally would not have happened had it not been for Bethany's last minute help.
I did the pattern & mock up of the coat, her the cutting and assembly, and I the hem/trim/buttons.

Honey's wig, courtesy of Bethany.  It was perfect!

I'm just giddy over my wig.  I took a lot of progress pics and promise to get those up here at some point very soon.  I had to use the glue stick trick to get the tiny hairs in front of my ears to stay in place, but next time will have to powder them a bit more thoroughly.  I'll probably disassemble the wig and re-style it at some point before the next Costume Con, try to make the shape a bit less cone-like and a bit more symmetrical.  Maybe now I can read Kendra's book in depth and figure out a better way to manage that nonsense in the back.

Shot of my wig, courtesy of Geri, who had the forethought to take side
view photos of both the wig and the dress for me.

And some bonus shots of some of my favorite costumes of the night.  Most of them were from people I didn't know personally, so if you recognize yourself or a friend, please let me know.

So miffed that this photo didn't turn out better, but I had to include it anyway
because the makeup and prosthetics job on this was just phenomenal.

This matched pair were really sharp in their slate grey.  I kind of wanted to follow
him around and take pictures of the pleats in his coat, as they were pretty sharp.

This outfit was so fun, and she seemed to have such fun wearing it.  Bounding around
and running up and down the halls, fluffs of hair and swags of fabric bouncing in the breeze.

Not the best view from the side, but...

...check out that trim!  I will bow down to the master on this one.  That braid is well done.

The little embroidered emblems inside the swirls of trim were so intricate.

Another entry from the 18th c court ensembles group.  It was a coronation gown,
so she had one hell of a train following her around.

  

The petals of this skirt were just to die for.

Woo hoo, plaid!  Orange and blue plaid is one of those prints that I'd look at on the bolt and think, nah.
But it loos SO sharp in a bustle dress.  Well done, Tracy!

Possibly my all time favorite of the night.  The embroidery on this was so sharp.
And her veil was divine.  And the TIARA!   

Tanya looking RWAR!  All of her costumes were so fun.

Urgh, this pic just does not do justice to Melissa's awesome sleeves.

Victorian looking positively innocent in white at a table filled with red.  Loving the hair.

Costume College, Thursday & Friday

While classes at Costume College properly start on Friday morning, the event gets rolling on Thursday evening with the Pool Party.  This year they had a Tiki Chic theme and I wore the hibiscus kimono that I'd made for mom.  I loved that it gave me the excuse to wear my hand-painted haori jacket that normally gets no love at regular cons.  Lesson learned.  Wearing silk to CoCo = getting petted in the elevators.  Whether that's a caution or encouragement is up to the individual to decide.

I paired the outfit with a paper parasol that I'd picked up in a zoo gift shop somewhere
along the way (maybe Denver?).  It fit with the "purses and parasols" sub-theme of the
social, but was otherwise kinda useless in this after sunset event.

My adoptive con family (not con mommies, more like big sisters), who took me in and made me feel right at home. 

With Honey later in the evening, when he got bored and decided to crash the party.

While we just about closed the party down, it's a good thing that I didn't party TOO hard, because classes got rolling first thing Friday morning with Freshman Orientation at 8am.  I was surprised by just how many first timers there were.  But then again, the Dean seemed a bit surprised/pleased, too.  So perhaps this wasn't the norm.  I promptly ignored the number one rule of con-going and booked myself solid from 8-5 on my first day.  But there was just SO much to do.  After orientation/latter absorption time, I headed off to my only Limited class of the weekend, Embroidering a mid-19th century handkerchief.  It was essentially white work, which I've been working on for a while now, but I picked up some great alternate ways of doing things and learned a bit about how to take a line art design and choose the proper stitches to actually work it.  Plus the instructor brought in a batch of extant examples to drool over, and really, most of the class time got eaten up with the ogling, but I'm not complaining.

I had a linen handkerchief in my busy work bag for hemming, so I substituted it in for the cotton practice one
we were given in our kits.  I'm not really great at following through on practice projects, so I'm hoping that it
being a serviceable piece will help me stick it out.  The flowers and leaves are just so LITTLE, though.  Perhaps
I can use that to my advantage; challenging myself to complete just one leaf or just one flower at a time.

Monday I also hit up a Make-n-Take leather thimble workshop, a hand-bound eyelets overview, a sewing machine maintenance class (in which I took a LOT of notes, and also learned that perhaps ten years is long enough to be torturing my economy model Singer).

You kind of needed a thimble in order to work on this thimble, but I did get it most of the way done in class.
It's one of those in progress projects that I'll need to bang out when I get settled back at home.

Last class of the day was another make-n-take, this time getting us started on making death head buttons.  The instructor had some great super-sized props for teaching a large class and the class was great at getting me over that hump of not knowing where to even start.

I must not have been wrapping my button mold tight enough, but that led me to accidentally
discovering how to make two-color buttons when I tied off what was left of the red that I was
given and finished off with some of the white embroidery floss left over from my handkerchief class.

Friday evening's activity was the Ice Cream Social (theme: Club Ice, which I'm taking to have meant jewels and such).  But after a long day with no break, I was feeling pretty puny and decided to lay down for a nap instead.  The Honey kept poking me, though, and I did get up and get dressed in my Mr Freeze smoking jacket (with matching cravat and big 'diamond' tie tack) and head on down.  This was another one of those awkward social situations where I could look around the room and recognize lots of people from there blogs and such, but I had never met them personally and didn't know how to start.  I was definitely getting that bit where newbies can find Costume College intimidating, because it seemed like EVERYONE was there in groups and it's kinda overwhelming.  I mean, really, how does one go about approaching someone new and saying the equivalent of "Hey, I've totally read all about the underwear you're wearing under that dress.  That corset makes your boobs look great!" and not come off at totally creepy?  Hmm... perhaps the social should have included and ice breaker?  I didn't snap any personal shots of my costume for this, but I did stop by official photography, so I'll have to post that once they become available.

And thus ended day two .

HSF 14: Paisley & Plaid - 1920s Flat Cap

Since I knew that I'd be well and truly occupied with Costume College this weekend, I got a quick and easy item out of the way for the next HSF challenge a few weeks in advance.  Behold, the early 20th century man's flat cap (part the second).

The hat matches the plaid lined Norfolk jacket that I finished for my honey back in January.  The hat I'd originally made was a touch too small and I had inserted the lining inside out (but I'd run out of time to remake it until now).

The original attempt at a flat cap for the 1920s Joker was made out of the plaid gauze flat lined to linen, then lined with polyester lining fabric.  For this one, I went with a more coordinated match to the suit.  

What the item is: man's flat cap
The Challenge: Paisley & Plaid
Fabric: wool/poly suiting, plaid cotton gauze lining, a few scraps of interfacing for the brim.
Pattern: loosely based on whatever tutorials I could find on a cursory google search.
Year: 1920s
Notions: just the thread to hold it all together
How historically accurate is it? I'd give it a 6/10.  The look is there, but it was not based on any particular extant piece.
Hours to complete: 3
First worn: at the KCCG's Friday Night Jazz Dinner
Total cost: I'm calling it zero, since it's assembled with scraps left over from the Joker's Norfolk jacket project. Even then, it's only a few dollars worth or materials.