Peach Beaded Ball Gown

A couple of weekends ago I attended an 1812 ball in Salem's Old Town Hall that was put on by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers.  It was a fabulous ball!  The venue was great.  There were so many people, and pretty much everyone was dressed for the period.  I got there a little late (so hard to find parking in Salem!) so only danced 4 sets, but they were very fun.  There was an intermission with refreshments that was also lovely.  I met up with a friend there and made a few new ones as well!  So on to the stuff you're really here for, the pictures!

I was so pleased with my dress and how it came out!  There's just a couple little things that bother me, but I'm going to try to ignore them.  It's based on quite a few different fashion plates from around 1812.  It's a peachy pink silk shantung underdress with a beaded (and sequined) net overlay.  The net is not historically accurate, it has clear opalescent sequins on some of the flowers, but that made it sparkle so nicely!  It's covered with embroidery and there are round and marquis shaped pearls all over, one on each flower and around the scalloped hem border.  I think it's probably bridal fabric but it was just too pretty to pass up.  I had a very limited amount (I think 2 or 2.5 yards) and about the same of the silk, so I had to be very careful with it.  And I used up pretty much every bit of it!  I flatlined the net to the silk on the bodice and sleeves.  The skirt is left separate.  The underdress skirt is just a triangular shaped, no gathers skirt.  For the overlay I used a wide panel that I curved slightly in the middle.  I then pleated the rest of it in the back.  There are a few little tucks on the front and sides to help it lay better.  The one thing I'm disappointed about is that the net seemed to stretch with wear.  I had originally hemmed the pink silk skirt to hang about 1.5 inches below the "top" of the scalloped hem.  But I noticed by the end of the night they were basically the same length.  Which is a bummer as it's not like I can take the hem up.  I can let the silk hem down but I wanted it to be ankle length, especially as this makes it much easier to dance in.

I have a posture problem...  Photo courtesy of Quinn.

Don't mind the crooked back, my roommate had to mark it so it's a little off.  I couldn't tell in the mirror at the time.  Will be fixing that for sure.

With my friends at the ball.  Photo courtesy of Quinn.

I was pretty pleased with my accessories too!  I got to wear my new tiara to help camouflage the hair piece I was wearing.  I felt like a pretty princess!  I also wore my vintage kid leather elbow length gloves.  I found the perfect shoes at a dance store in Burlington.  And got them for a steal! I'd been looking at these ones online for forever and debating whether to buy them or not.  I put it off so long that it was only a few days from the ball and I didn't know what I'd wear for shoes.  I had some not so great options but I really wanted satin dancing slippers.  The dance store had these back in storage and I guess they'd been there forever because they told me "eh, ten dollars" when I asked their price.  They didn't have my exact size so I'd been debating between half size up or half size down but when I heard that I said, I'll take them both!  I wore the smaller ones to the ball but they definitely hurt by the end of the night.  I'm glad I bought two pairs as well because I have "elf toes" which totally put holes in shoes right over my big toe.  This is already happening on the smaller pair!  I'm glad that I'll still have some when that eventually goes all the way through.

Last but not least, my favorite accessory, and a totally last minute thing, my fan.  I will do a post about these soon.  I am so so excited that they've been working out.  It's actually almost totally period correct!  I will have to share the secret on that soon.  I mounted it literally 2 hours before the ball.  Luckily it dried quickly and I could use it by the time I got there.  It got a lot of compliments and I'm thinking maybe I need to teach a class or do a tutorial or something.  I've thought of selling them but they do take some time to make.  Anyway, like I said, more on that to come!

Thanks to Quinn for the picture!

CADD strikes again!

So you know how I had that big long list of things I was going to make? Yeah, I'm already straying from it. I went to Montreal with my Mom for Thanksgiving and we of course had to check out the fabric stores! :) And I found some pretty mauve cotton velvet that I thought would be perfect for a pelisse trimmed in white swans down (aka marabou feather trim). So that's what I'm making now for the holiday tea instead of the NA riding outfit.  That gets pushed down the list once again.  Oh well!  I want to hand sew that spencer anyway, and at this point, I don't think I'm going to have time to hand sew something completely.  And at least part of it will get done!  I'm still doing the white dress...

Where might you ask did this idea come from?  Well, other than the fabric.  I recently saw Kleidung um 1800's beautiful winter ensemble, trimmed in silk velvet that I thought was just lovely!  Perfect for cold weather!  And, my friend Antonia has been posting pictures and information about swans down.  I don't know about you, but to me, white swansdown says winter to me.  And then, I'll have a somewhat nicer coat to wear over my ball gown in February!  They will clash pretty terribly, but that's ok.  You'll see one, and then you'll see the other.

I already have my basic regency patterns ready to go, so I'm just going to go for it!  All I really need to figure out is how exactly I want to close it and how I'm actually going to attach these feathers...  I'm using white marabou feather boas (hopefully 5 will be enough?) and I guess I can just do a wide whip stitch, right?  Kind of a combo between basting stitches and whip stitches?

I've been looking at fashion plates from 1811 - 1813 for inspiration and here's a few that have struck me that I'm going to meld together.  I'm trying to stick with an 1812 theme... that way I'll have an actual wardrobe, plus, next year is the bicentenial!

This is the main look I think I'm going for.

I love the braid closures and the swooping back hem.

This was the inspiration for this reproduction.  SO pretty!

And look, here's my colors!  Perfect!

Not the same thing I'm going for, but I do love her little hat.

I also love the ones that have little hoods! Still deciding whether to do that or just a standing collar.

From 1813 I think.  So pretty though!

I love the fur around the sleeve head!

  I'll need a little hat too.  I'm thinking a soft hat from a purple silk I have in the stash that will go nicely with the mauve. Though this yellow hat is pretty fun!

The yellow hat in this one is cute too!

More progress reports to come soon!

Thanks again to nuranar and her fashion plate photo sets where I found all this great inspiration and more to feed my Costume Attention Deficit Disorder! :)

Ball gown progress pics

Here's some pictures of the dress so far, the silk underskirt is just pinned to Miss Ella so I can see how it will look.

The back will either button or hook closed.  Haven't decided yet.

A close up of the sequins and beads on the net

After looking through more fashion plates (thanks nuranar!) I've realized that my dress could still be kind of 1812, which is what the ball is supposed to be.  It's probably going to be somewhere between 12-14 so maybe I'm just super fashionable! :)  In 1812 the skirts were very narrow and columnular.  By 1815 they were starting to get more of the triangle shape, but still not as full as they'd get by the 20's.  Check out this progression:

Ball gown from 1812.  Skirt is ankle length and not very full except in the back.  I like the sleeves in this one too!

This is from 1813.  Hard to see the shape of the skirt since she's dancing, but it still seems pretty straight.  Also love these sleeves!

From 1814, this one has a net overlay!  And pink underdress!  But it's more triangular than the 1812.  Also the skirt is shorter than the last two.

This is from 1815.  I really like these sleeves.  And again shorter more a-line skirt with an overlay!

From 1816.  Are these all starting to look the same to you too?  Shorter a-line skirt as well.  Maybe the waist line is really what's changing most?

So who knows, maybe I can give my dress an 1812 date after all.  The bodice on that one is a bit longer than the others, as is mine (really, I can't achieve that high of a bust line, even in period underwear). My skirt is going to be just a tad shorter probably, more like the later ones, I had to conserve fabric...

As for the sleeves, I've gotten some good ideas and it seems like they don't have to be super full, so I think they're doable, which is good!  I may do a super short sleeve that's gathered up in the center, which would nicely echo the bodice, plus I could still use the scallop border without having it look lame.  The idea in my head will look pretty, it's just a matter of whether or not I can execute it!  I may leave the undersleeve off entirely and just keep them net, we'll have to see.  That would be nice because then I could add some extra volume to the bottom of the skirt!

Regency Accessories - Shoes

So I've had Regency on the brain a lot lately.  And one thing I've needed for a long time is some appropriate shoes, for both every day wear and for dances.  And I've found both!

First, I have been looking into jazz boots for a while now as a "half boot" substitute.  Half boots were the outdoor and walking shoe of choice in the Regency period.  At least for young ladies of leisure!  Most were kid leather but other materials were used (more info in the article link below).  The jazz boots I've been sourcing come in canvas (in multiple colors) or in leather (in black or white).  I've been waffling back and forth between leather or canvas and then colors for forever!  It's too hard a choice!  I kind of want them all.  But since I'm not sure they'll actually work, I decided I'd start with the less expensive canvas and then if I really liked them, I'd get a leather pair eventually down the road.

But once again I was faced with what color to get.  I'd found black, white, red and tan (or nude as they call it).  So I started to do some research in fashion plates and through extant boots to see what might have been most popular.  I found that in a lot of fashion plates they have either white or colored shoes, but most of them don't look like half boots.  But finally I found a reference to "Nankeen" boots being a very popular choice.  Here's a pair from an article about Regency shoes (I can't find the proper source for the actual boots, anyone?).

How sweet is that rosette?  Dresses up a more utilitarian shoe. :)

And it just happens I found some that look surprisingly similar to this pair!  All I need is to change the laces and add a little rosette to the front!  (Plus, the free 2-day shipping, free returns and super reasonable price from the website above made it seem like a no brainer.)

Nankeen was a yellowish cotton that was produced in China.  It's described as being pale yellow or buff.  I figure the tan is pretty close.  I also debated for a while about the white canvas and the possibility of dying them myself to some fun color, but I didn't want to risk the heel and sole leather.  And I think the tan is a pretty versatile color, it could go with a lot of things, and will match the pelisse I already have!

There's one drawback to these shoes.  They have a split leather sole.  It would be easy for a cobbler to add a sole to it, but I think I will wear them as is for now and see how they feel.  I bought them 2 sizes bigger than my regular size since as dance shoes, they are meant to be very snug.  I want to be able to wear a nice cotton sock with them and maybe even insert an insole that would add more support.  I'll report back on how they do once I get the shoes!

The other pair I am going to order for the ball I'm attending in February are also dance shoes.  These are ballet shoes, that are much more substantial than regular ballet slippers though.  They are sometimes called recital shoes or award shoes.  They have more substantial soles (still a nice suede leather!) as well as sides.  They too can be dyed, but I think I'll keep mine a nice white/ivory to guarantee they go with any dress I might make in the future.  I found them through the same source as the other shoes, here!  They actually have quite a few different kinds of these shoes that could work, all at different price range and sturdiness.  Some look more like regular ballet slippers.  I like the idea of just a bit more support though.  And these are pretty close to the extant ones below!

Just add ribbons!

From the Bata Shoe Museum - 1812

Anyway, I'm excited for my Regency shoes!  The other option that I'll mention since I want her to continue making historical footwear, is that American Duchess is coming out with a new Regency shoe, the Pemberly!  They are all leather and have a small heel.  They look very nice, but are a little out of my budget for now, so I'm going to go with these and see how they do!

Beginings of a ball gown

I actually did some sewing this weekend!  On Friday I made TONS of plans about the events and projects I have coming up through next summer and it's lit a fire under me, so I'm taking advantage of the motivation and getting stuff done!

I'll add another post here in a bit about all those plans... lots of fun!

So lately I've been wanting to work on a Regency ball gown even though I don't really need it until February (there's an 1812 ball in Salem that's going to be great!), but like I said... taking advantage of the motivation while I can!  And it actually worked because the bodice is almost done!

I'm using a pretty peachy-pink silk that I bought a couple of yards of randomly at Sewfisticated with a really pretty embroidered pearl beaded white net overlay.  I think it was some kind of bridal fabric, and while it's not 100% accurate (it has some clear sequins under many of the pearls, but they aren't very obvious and just adds a bit more sparkle) it's certainly is very pretty!  The silk has a very slight slub, but as it's an underlay it doesn't matter since it doesn't even show! :)

I draped the pattern for the bodice a few weeks ago.  It has a square-ish neck that dips center front because of gathering down the bodice.  It will button (or maybe hook) in back.  I flat lined the net to the silk.  Originally I was going to use a flimsier fabric for the underdress and make them separately, but I realized what a pain the net was going to be to sew with and this is actually working really well.  Because it's a "stiffer" dress and because I don't have a *ton* of fabric (only two yards of each fabric, really cutting it close, but it's actually going to work, just barely!) I'm going for a more 1815's date, with an a-line skirt with no gathering in the front.  I think I might even slightly pad them of the underdress to help hold it out a bit.

The two things I haven't figured out are sleeves and whether to use a waist band or not.  Sewing a waistband with this fabric would just be a little crazy, unless it was huge, so I may forgo that.  For the sleeves I'm worried about how much fabric I have.  Most 1815 sleeves are pretty puffy, as far as I can remember, but I'd like to use the scallop border of the net along the bottom of the sleeve and that means, straight (plus less fabric).  Guess I'm going to have to do a little more research first!

For now, it's cutting the skirt pannels and seaming them together.  The two skirts are going to be seperate, or that was my plan until just now when I realized what a pain that will be.  But it will hang so much prettier!  The net is pretty heavy from all the beading so it would move around the dress nicely if it was free to move!

To complete the outfit I need to get satin ballet slippers/flats, there are some on eBay that I've been eyeing forever and I'll probably wear my elbow length leather gloves, though they are very tight.  Too bad I don't have anything to make a pretty evening cloak with.  Guess I'll just have to wear my tan pelisse and use my huge fur muff! :)

So that's what I'm working on for now.  When that's done, I'll have to figure out what I'm motivated most to work on next!  Pictures soon!

Aqua Regency Ensemble

So I promised pictures of at least the new things I made for Costume Con!  The first was probably my favorite outfit of the weekend, especially to wear as it was very comfortable.

I don't have a good picture of the dress alone.  It's a drop front based on the pattern in Janet Arnold.  I am not happy with the sleeves and plan on re-doing them at some point, but with the Spencer, that doesn't show and so doesn't matter too much!  The dress is made from a very lightweight cotton with blue Swiss dots.  I left a train, and I love the way it looks.  I sewed most of this by hand.

The Spencer was made from silk from Sewfisticated.  It has a very fine slub but it doesn't show too much.  I based this on a Spencer that Elizabeth Bennett wears in the 1995 Pride & Prejudice. Most of this was done by machine as I was in a hurry to get it finished.  The bodice is lined with aqua cotton, the sleeves are unlined.  They are in three parts, the long undersleeve, short puffed sleeve and vandyked over sleeve.  The puffed and vandyked sleeve are the same pattern with the bottom cut off the oversleeve.  The raw edges were then turned up and hemed with a small running stitch.  The back and shoulder seams were also top stitched by hand to add to the look.

My accessories were a straw hat or capote based on one that Marianne Dashwood wears in Sense & Sensibility.  The stripe fabric was cut on the bias and gathered to the crown piece and the brim.  I then wrapped a piece of ivory silk ribbon and a piece of blue velvet ribbon over the brim and finished it with a small rosette made from the striped fabric with a covered button in the middle.  The brim was created from a straw hat from Michael's that was partially dissembled and then slightly shaped with water.

The reticule is from the same stripe fabric as the hat.  I made up my own pattern of four diamond shaped pieces sewn together with a drawstring through the top and a small tassel of velvet ribbon on the bottom.  I also wore elbow length leather gloves with it and cream boots.

My hair was super simple to do as I created some little curly hairpieces to go on either side of my face and over a bun of my own hair in the back.  I was inspired by Harriet Smith's hair from the new Emma movie.

Next on the list...

So, it seems I can't just take a break from sewing for a bit...  I have too many things I want to do (and too much fabric to do it all with) that I can't just sit around and do nothing.  I knew this would happen.  I've been so busy and stressed for the last three months really that I thought I need to impose at least two weeks of not working on anything.  But of course the moment I'm done with something, my brain is full speed ahead on all the new projects I want to do.

Here's a list of the things I'm dreaming about doing.  How many will actually happen and in what order is yet to be determined.

Regency ballgown - embroidered and beaded net fabric for this
Green striped round gown
Aqua Edwardian afternoon ensemble
Navy blue linen Gothic Fitted Dress with reversible wool sideless surcotte, oneside pink, one side light blue (for King Richard's Faire) - this was a new decision yesterday...
Northager Abbey riding ensemble - white trained gown with blue velvet spencer, neckcloth and top hat
Purple striped early bustle dress
And, I have tons of pretty silk in blues and greens that I'm thinking of making 18th century jackets with or something, plus a quilted silk petticoat to finish.

But of course I'm crazy and started a new project last night.  I'd finished the pioneer stuff I needed to do and was doing some cleaning and organizing of the sewing area.  As I was going through my fabric (and all these plans were tempting me) I decided to start with something easy and fun (that of course I have absolutely no need for) that I can hand sew on my trip or at work.  Forget the fact that I am already working on an 18th century embroidered pocket.  I am crazy. 

Anyways, using the pattern from my Aqua spencer, I am making a simple drawstring Regency gown out of some embroidered cotton with a metalic stripe.  I wasn't super happy with how my drop-front Regency dress came out for CosCon (especially the sleeves) and so I figured before jumping into some other regency dresses, I should first figure out a pattern that works.  I cut it out and started sewing it last night.  I am not lining it as I will wear it over my bodiced petticoat, and so I am flat felling all the seams.  I love Regency dresses for hand sewing because they are so fast and easy!  I have the bodice almost entirely assembled just from an hour and a half of sewing last night while finishing a movie!  The other reason I started with this dress is because if I don't get to the Regency ballgown I will still have something I can wear to a dance, since the metalic thread makes it a little dressier than everyday occasions.  Anyway.  I hope it turns out!  I think I'd have enough fabric to re-do the bodice if I'm not happy with it.  I altered the pattern without doing a mock-up.  Since I'm doing a drawstring closure, I figured it wouldn't be too much of a problem! 

Anyway, I promise to post pictures of a lot of these things soon!  I realize I still haven't posted pictures from Costume Con!  I need to fix that!  I had a couple new things that I was really happy with!

The Drop Front Gown

So, I uploaded pics and thought I'd share.  They're not the best since they are obviously backlit, but this is my new sewing space!  Hooray for not having everything crammed into my room anymore!   I used the pattern from Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion, I think it's the 1805 dress?  Can't remember, it's the only drop-front one though. 

The fabric is a blue swiss dot on white.

It's going to have a bit of a train!

You can't see it, but there are tiny hand stitches on those curved seams... :)

This was draping the Spencer over the dress.

I decided not to redo the bib because although I don't like how wide I made the binding around the edges, I've decided to make dorset buttons to attach it to the dress and they're a little bigger so I need more space for a button hole.  I don't know why I decided to do that since I have lots of lovely vintage buttons that I am sure would work.  So I'll share a pic of the button too.

With my pointer finger -my nail polish is totally chipped, so you get this side... :)

The back!

I started the second, but it's looking dingy (since I continued with the same piece of thread) and it's not centered so I'm going to redo it.  I used this tutorial to figure out how to make them.  It actually wasn't that hard, though it did take me about 40 minutes to make one button... o_O  It was my first though, so I'm sure I'd get faster the more I did it.

Still need to get sleeves on this thing!!  *sigh*  So much to do!

Crossing things off the list - the Aqua Spencer!

I made myself be super productive this weekend.  Only two weeks before Costume Con!

By Friday night I had my corset pretty much done.  All that's left is shaping the top and bottom a bit, binding it and adding lace and flossing (which may have to wait...) so that's good!  I need to have the article done by Friday, which means that needs to be my focus this week.

But I couldn't resist getting started on my Regency Spencer!  I so wanted to have this done.  So I did a lot of it by machine which is too bad, but some of it has to be hand finished, so that will at least add the look to it a bit.  I'm pretty pleased with how it's turning out.  I decided to make a copy of Lizzy's Blue Spencer after all.  The sleeves were so cute and I liked how it curved up in the back!  Saturday was spent draping and cutting and assembling the bodice.  The sleeves took forever to work out and I'm still not 100% pleased, but I was pulling out my hair, so they'll do.  I was also trying to pattern sleeves for the drop-front dress this will be worn over but had absolutely no luck!  Talk about sleevil!!  It's because of the small back pannel.  The armscye comes in really far in the back, so everything I tried was pulling.  I need to figure out to account for that still.

Anyway, here are pics of the Spencer!  I took pics of the dress but with my camera, not my phone, so of course I haven't uploaded those.  No time!

First, my inspiration:

See more here.

Still needs buttons...

Showing the zig-zag sleeve detail...

See the back curves up a bit? The gathering of my skirt will flow perfectly from under there!

And I managed to get the entire thing out of one yard of fabric!!  With all these scraps left over!  So that means more projects with the aqua silk! :)

Talk about conserving fabric! :)

All that's left to do is finish one side of the zig-zag sleeve (just turning it up - the edge is fray checked - and pick stitching it) bind both of the gathered sleeves and then hem the long sleeves, make buttons and do button holes.  These unfortunately will probably have to be done by machine.  There's just no time!

I am kind of sad I didn't make it short sleeved.  I got these fabulous white leather gloves (NOS that are actually "washable" though I'm not going to try that out) that I thought would look perfect with the dress!  So summery!  Oh well, I can still wear them maybe...

You can see the tag that says it's washable.

So many little details still left to work on though!  Three hats, hems and petticoats!  Not to mention finishing the Francaise!  I think I'm going to have to do hems on the machine as well.  I'm not going to add a placket to my Tudor gown though, maybe just a little hook and eye.  I got "The Tudor Tailor" and it said they didn't use plackets, so that saves some time!  I've also decided there probably won't be time to add more trim down the front of my jumper, but that's ok too.  I wore it as is already and it was fine.  Plus I'm worried that since the trim is lightly wired that it will make the skirt wonky if I sit down, then stand up.  So that cuts down the list a bit at least!

Ok, back to work!

The List

So....  I thought I'd make a list of everything I have to do related to Costume Con so that when I can get back to all of that I'll remember and get going on it! :P

• Finish drop-front Regency gown (sleeves, hem, re-do bib)
• Make Aqua Spencer (possibly now short sleeved with long sleeves to baste in! Win Win!)
• Make Striped Regency Bonnet
• Make red Regency bonnet to go with Jumper/Pelisse ensemble
• Add placket to Tudor kirtle
• See about adding cable tie boning to kirtle bodice to reduce horizontal lines
• Finish gold snood with pearls
• Make velvet flat cap
• Possibly lengthen doublet/jacket just a bit by taking down the seam allowance a bit
• Finish Floral Francaise which includes hem, petticoat, sleeve flounces, trimmings around neckline
• Alter short stays and attach petticoat to them
• Make bigger 18th c pockets (very quick n dirty job ok)
• Fix blonde wig
• Figure out hairpieces for other costumes (make braids and curls and things with hair I have)

So OK.  It sounded like a lot to do, and it is, but now reading over everything I think it's totally doable!  I just need to stay busy busy busy and multi-task, like making all the hats/bonnets at once, taking things to work on at lunch (doing the snood right now), etc.  The only question mark is the Spencer, that could take some time.  I guess I won't be hand sewing it.  And I may save the long sleeves for another time (I have some elbow length gloves coming that I think will be perfect with this outfit!).

Anyway, am I crazy? Wait.  Don't answer that...

Weekend Update

I am really glad this weekend is over.  I have had to put sewing on hold pretty much all this week (though not planning as is evidenced by my last post...) so that I could get a bunch of prep work done for my church responsibility as Pioneer Trek Clothing Committee Chair.  Did I explain this already?  We're doing a three day pioneer hike pulling handcarts this summer with the youth of our church and I'm in charge of making sure everyone is dressed "appropriately".  This of course does not mean historically accurately.  Unfortunately.  But you really can't expect that of around 100 kids from tons of different backgrounds.   Anyway, I've compiled a lot of information and had to present it tonight to all the youth leaders.  If you guys are interested, check out the web pages I made with lots of info about Mormon Pioneers and what they wore as well as what we'll be wearing on our trek.  I didn't write all of the information I've posted, but have gleaned and filtered lots of things from internetland.  And created the "bloomers" tutorial myself. :)

Now that that's out of the way it's on to the corset!!  And then finish the Francaise (I decided not to stress about getting that done for this weekend, but Costume Con instead) and then FINALLY on to the Regency plans.  And a million other little things, hats, wigs, etc.  But I have three weeks!  I think I can get it done!

But now you know why I haven't been posting much.  I'll try to be better!

Regency Musings

So, I'll need to put up pictures soon of the bib front Regency dress I started a couple months ago (first I need to actually take some!).  It was going to be for a Regency ball, but I ended up going to a Steampunk event that weekend instead, so I didn't finish it.  But I'm going to finish it for Costume Con and I have lots of scheming plans for it as well.

A few months ago, my favorite store for silks (Sewfisticated) had this gorgeous aqua silk.  Now, remember how I'd made a New Year's Resolution not to buy any fabric?  Well, I had been good and resisted the silk a couple weeks before, but when I went back and it was still there I had to buy just a yard.  I had to!  Turquoise and aqua are my colors!  It was screaming my name.  I couldn't resist the siren song.  So, I didn't know what I'd do with it at first, but I think when I got home I realized how perfectly it matched the tiny blue dots in my Regency dress.  So I thought, bonnet!  But then, I had an even better idea, last week.  I was already planning a couple of other bonnets, so why use this glorious fabric on just that?

The stripe is for the gathered crown of my bonnet! :)

So instead I'm going to make a little spencer!  The original plan was for short sleeves, but then I went and bought another yard (they still had it at the store!) and I'm thinking something like Lizzy Bennett's blue spencer from the good P&P.  It's either that or something like Jane's short sleeved one from that same movie.

I've found a few fashion plates with short sleeved spencers, but not in the exact style that I wanted, but I am totally drawn to these late 1790's plates.  I think I may take some of my cues from them.

1796 from here
labeled: a short-sleeved black bodice with black lace trim

1795 - its the one in the middle labeled:
Robe of coquelicot-coloured Irish poplin

from here

eta: I had the description wrong originally.  Since I can't see the back I'm not sure if this is more like a full open robe or just a short jacket.  Kinda interesting though!

So what do you guys think?  Short or long sleeved spencer?


All that's left to do on the dress is the sleeves and hem, but now I'm not totally happy with the bib front so I think I will redo that just a bit.  I think that will be pretty easy.  For sleeves I'm going to do a straight elbow length with the short puff sleeve spencer on top.


The other thing I need to do is create a better petticoat or bodiced petticoat and/or fix my short stays.  While I'm happy with how my long Regency stays turned out they are actually not the most comfortable thing to wear.  I made a short pair years ago from the Sense & Sensibility Simplicity pattern and they actually worked pretty well, but now they are far too big.  If I fix them I may just baste a "petticoat" to the bottom of them to make a little bodiced petti, we'll have to see.

All of this is time dependent.  I am so so busy it's not even funny.  I have so much to do and it's stressing me out.  Another problem is that I stay up until midnight getting stuff done and then when I try to go to sleep I can't shut my brain off worrying about getting everything done and so miss about an hour or so sleep at night.  It would be no use to try to be productive instead though.  *Sigh*  I just need to tell myself like I did while on study abroad in London that I can sleep in May.  Most of this stress will be over in May, let's not dwell on the fact that I'll have new deadlines at that point though...


Anyway, back to Regency plans!  I'm excited for how this ensemble is looking in my head at least!  Hopefully that will be realized in real life. :)