Stays in Progress

My stays are coming along, so far I can wear them, but I probably shouldn't do that too much.  I still need to add my leather trim and lining.

A piece cut out from my fashion fabric (blue) and the interior fabric.

 All the pieces have channels sewn and are filled with reed boning.

 The piece have been sewn together and the eyelets added.
Interior view

 Exterior view

First fitting.  It took us several attempts to find a cord long enough to allow for sewing me in.

 Victoria Secrets only wishes they made lift like this!

Testing it out with a petticoat.

My gown was actually loose, unbelievable!!!!

Poke Bonnet

For this weekend's event I decided that I "had to have" a poke bonnet.  Mostly because I love the look, but also because the past two years I've come home rather sunburned, even though I'd liberally applied the sunscreen.  A bonnet would be the perfect solution!  Ben attempted to find one ready for purchase, so sweet of him, but had no luck.  So I quickly looked up how to make one, thank you YouTube!  I found these great instructions:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgwWJHzPpr8


The hat came from Goodwill, I think it was $2 or so...

 Following the directions from the video I cut the hat where I wanted it, about 2/3 down.  Originally I angled the sides out, but I didn't like that, so I ended up rounding the corners.

 Testing out the look, I think we're off to a good start!  I'm lining the hat with left over musslin I have, and I'll use my favorite blue linen for the back.  It's perfect because I found a pair of shoes at Ross almost the exact same shade and my pocket is made of the same fabric, matchy matchy!

 I sewed two straight lines of stiches for gathering, one across the bottom and one further up, and then I pulled them in.  Sewing the fabric to the hat was ALOT easier than I imagined, yipee!!!!

 Due to the fact that it was now after midnight the night before the event, Ben assisted me in cheating, we hot-glued biased tape to the rim.

 I apologize for the lack of pictures on sewing the poke section of the poke bonnet, it was late and I was in quite a rush.  In fact, all of the white trim ribbon was sewed on in the car while we drove (quite typical for us, it's not an event if we're not rushing to finish a project).  My favorite quote from our last event:  David calls to ask us a question, we inform him we're at JoAnn's.  He replies, "What on Earth are you buying at the fabric store at 9pm that you expect to possibly have sewn by 10am tomorrow!?!?!?!"  We defended ourselves that it was just some quick easy trim.  This hat project was not quite so quick, but we did it!

Front:

Side/Back:

It worked, I did not get burned this year!

Rev War Man's Shirt

I've just begun a new project, making a shirt for my husband for his Revolutionary War impression.  Instead of making new post each time, I will add pictures/text to this one, so come back to check the progress!

I am using the Kannik's Korner pattern, courtesy of my dear from Nicki who is loaning it to me! 

I also like to sew to inspirational movies, I found yet another version of Pride and Prejudice (made in the 80's) and thought I'd give it a try!

That is one long piece of fabric!  In fact it is too long, so I will have scraps!

The 1st step is to roll the hem on the collar, my fingers hurt that's a lot of pinching!

Hard at work in my cozy pants!

Every single time I start sewing, Lucy decides she needs more attention and comes to sit in my lap!

Watch out girls, the romantic redcoat is back!

After hemming the neckline and the bottom of the shirt/side slits I began sewing on triangular gussets to the collar.

Then I pinned and sewed on rectangular pieces of fabric to strengthen the shoulders.

My little sewing friend, Lucy, just can't help but be involved...

 The nice thing about hand-sewing is that it is portable, so I took it with me when I visited a friend for the day, she baked in the kitchen and I sat there sewing and chatting with her.

Below you will see pictures of the collar being attached.  I started with a rectangular piece that I folded and hemmed.  The pattern required that I pin the centers and quarters in order to align them to those parts of the shirt, this worked very well.

I used a basting stitch to gather the neckline and then pinned on the collar.

The collar has now been attached on one side and is being flipped up so that the other side can be hemmed down.

This is an inside view between the two layers of the collar.

It is now time to sew down the top side of the collar!

It is looking much more like a shirt than a poncho now that the collar has been attached.

Next Up was the sleeves and the cuffs!  First the cuff received decorative stitches.  Then again I marked the center and quarter section of both the sleeve and the cuffs.

The sleeve had basting stitches sewn on and they were then cinched up to be the same size as the cuff.

The cuff was then pinned in place and back-stitch stitches were applied. 

I am half-way done here, one side has been attached (just like the collar) and I'm about to sew on the other side using a hem stitch.

 You have to fold under the edge and hold it in place as you sew the hem stitch.  

Yay, the cuffs are attached to both sleeves!!! 

 Next I sewed button holes to the collar and sleeves.  Doesn't Ben look handsome in his collared poncho?

I attached the sleeves, sorry for the lack of pictures.  After that I attached the "sleeve piece" which provides extra support for wear'n'tear.

Just look at how big that gusset is!  Ben loves the extra room that it provides! 

Last but not least came the triangular gussets on the slits of the bottom of the shirt (genius if you ask me, this will help save Ben's shirt from being ripped up the sides)!

Outside View

Inside View

 Ben couldn't be happier to try on his new shirt!

And try out lots of poses in it too!

In in undress, with a shako.... 

Check out that sleeve/gusset!!!! 

It looks great with his handmade (by us) wool waistcoat!

Now to try it on with his 95th trousers! 

I just barely finished in time for this weekend's Napoleonic event!