1880´s Halloween Dress and Winter Talma

Hello everyone!

I didn´t get around taking photos of my new 1880´s Halloween Dress and matching winter Talma in autumn but now we´ve taken them, so here they are! The dress and talma were sewed last autumn and the hat last month. Both dress and talma feature extensive machine embroidery.

Here I´m holding the talma in my hand so that the bodice of the dress is visible. It was -4 degrees Celsius and I managed just fine. :)

For the bodice I used pattern by Truly Victorian- TV463 1884 French Vest Bodice. It has machine embroidery on back and both sleeves. Halloween embroidery designs are from Urban Threads: Halloween Glow and Wolf Trio. Skirt hem is embroidered with designs from Embroidery Library: Autumn Glow and Urban Threads: Halloween Glow and Flickering Feline. All the designs are embroidered entirely with Glow In The Dark thread. Skirt and overskirt are drafted by me. Skirt is worn over Imperial Tournure and Winter 1880´s Petticoat.

Details of embroidery on the hem of the skirt.

And here is the Talma worn over the dress. Pattern I used for this is again by Truly Victorian- TV500 Talma Wrap. I love it! Talmas, dolmans and capes are my favorite outerwear. They are so easy to put on and off without distorting the dress etc. Back and edges are edged with decorative tassel trim. Talma is machine embroidered with designs from Urban Threads: Ghost Baroque using viscose machine embroidery threads. I must admit that these designs gave me the idea for this Talma in the first place. :)

Detail of the hat. Pattern for this hat is by Lynn McMasters- Late Victorian Tall Hat. I made the crown in size Small because I´m quite tall myself. The bird is not real, it is a millinery bird made in Styrofoam and covered in feathers. Curved brim was a fun challenge to make. My husband helped me to make the brim-base for blocking the buckram from Styrofoam wreath.

Dragon embroidery on the back.

Another detail of the hat. <3

Talma embroidery: Pumpkin and Bird Skull.

Tree and Rose.

Ghost and Ghost Witch. The witch was a separate design and not a part of Ghost Baroque design pack.

Raven and Bat.

Dragon Smoke, also a separate design, not a part of Ghost Baroque design pack.

Sewing 9 meters of ruffles for the skirt on my Singer 201K using ruffler foot for the first time. Brilliant device! I shall use it more often now that I know how it works. :)

Thank you for reading and see you next time! :)

1880´s Christmas Bustle Dress

Hello again!

Please, let me introduce you ... my 1880´s Christmas dress! A little late but better late than never, right? ;) I started working on this ensemble last year a little too late in December, it was 10.12. I think. And with all Christmas hurry I just couldn´t complete it in to weeks. I got it finished in 11.1. instead. But it will be ready for next Christmas. ;) The whole idea for this dress came from a beautiful quilting cotton I found in a store in the beginning of December. It´s the plaid one I used for skirt and faux vest. It is the only material I purchased for this ensemble, everything else came from my stash.

For overskirt I used Truly Victorian pattern (TV362 1884 Wash Overskirt). Great pattern, easy and quick assembly but it eats a lot of fabric! I was lucky I had quite a lot of red tulle lace, but still I had to piece it a bit. For skirt I used my own 3-panel pattern I drafted last year.

Detail of the embroidery. The Blue Jay and Tea Cup design is from Embroidery Library. It´s embroidered by machine using mostly viscose embroidery thread. Then I embroidered beads and sequins around the design. For collar trim I pleated double-face satin ribbon and hand-sewed crystals on it.

Detail of lace applique, beading and sequins. All sewn by hand.

For bodice I used pattern by Truly Victorian (TV463- 1884 French Vest Bodice). This is second time I used this pattern and I love it! It is truly unique how it instructs you to draft the pattern to fit you like a glove. All pieces are flatlined separately, then the bodice is sewn together, boned with 5mm wide spiral steel boning and then lined with cotton lining.

Detail of the hat. The pattern is Bustle Era Hat by Lynn McMasters, view C. Although I love it and it is probably the most beautiful hat I´ve made so far, I have an issue with it- it took 4 hatpins to keep it in place and I still didn´t feel like it is secured properly. The reason why it doesn´t want to sit on the head properly is that the bottom edge of the crown is more curved than the head. I love the outcome but because of this I probably won´t be making more of view C in the future. I´ll option for views A & B I made before and they fit perfectly with just one hatpin.

The materials I used for this project: 

-red striped tulle/lace I used for the overskirt

-horrible skull quilting cotton I used for lining the bodice

-black/silver velvet I didn´t use

-black plaid snowflake quilting cotton I used for the skirt and faux vest

-cranberry quilting cotton I used for bodice

-red guipure lace off-cut I used for appliques

-red satin I used as lining for pleats on the bodice

Here is the leftover of cranberry quilting cotton I used for bodice, you can see I had to place all pieces very strategically to get them all cut out. I got this fabric from my dear friend Liisa, thank you darling! I bet you didn´t guess what will come out of it. ;)

Jia helping to press bodice pieces. :)

Geisha with collar pieces that need to be pressed.

And Chanel found the best possible bed on a buckram I used for the base of the hat.

That´s all for today folks, thank you for reading!

1890´s Purple/green Day Dress

Hello again!

My next project I wanted to share with you is 1890´s Day Dress. I made it in early autumn. The idea for this dress started with cream floral quilt-weight cotton I had in my fabric stash. I absolutely love this fabric with purple flowers and yellow-green leaves (which is my favorite shade of green). The fabric piece was too small for anything big but I knew I wanted to pair it with other fabrics anyway. Next I found this rich purple cotton velvet in my stash, which was the perfect shade. That´s when I knew the silhouette and type of dress I wanted to make. All that was missing was skirt fabric. So I got  a green taffeta with most beautiful sheen.

Preview of the 1890´s Day Dress. Bodice is flat-lined and fully boned with 5mm spiral steel boning. It fastens in front with hooks and eyelets, buttons are purely decorative. 

Mutton leg sleeves assembled and ready to be inserted. I used for these sleeves pattern by Laughing Moon (LM103). 

Skirt hem ruffle before ironing, 6,5 meters of it!

Sewing the hem ruffle on my Singer 221K Featherweight. It took some serious measuring and precision to get the pleats even. After attaching the ruffle to the skirt I hand-sewed notches on all pleats to keep the purple lining visible. Two notches per pleat.

Front view of finished 1890´s Day Dress.  Again please excuse the silhouette of the skirt. I haven´t yet made the appropriate 1890´s petticoat to give it the proper flare.  

Side and back view of the dress.

Detail of the back.

Finished hem ruffle.

Accompanying hat to the dress. This is one of my favorite hats. It is a Bustle era hat and the pattern is from Lynn McMasters. Embellishments are my own. These hats were still worn in first half of 1890´s so it is appropriate for the dress. The inspiration for this hat were hats in the show Lizzie Borden Chronicles which has probably the best costumes ever.

Side and back view of the hat.

Then I made Victorian underbust corset. I drafted the pattern from Dore Corset pattern (overbust) by Laughing Moon. This is a one layer corset in jacquard coutil with wide spring steel busk. I will have to get a better photo of this.

Detail of a modesty panel in the back.

Edwardian hat referred to as a Togue. The pattern was from a book Making Edwardian Costumes for Women by Suzanne Rowland. It is a reproduction hat. The frame is made of wires and then netting is applied over it. Trim is all hand-stitched using net, knitting yarn and gold trim. 

Side view of the togue with organza flower made by me.

This hat reminds me of Dowager Countess of Grantham from Downton Abbey. The colors fits as well! Now I still have to make a dress or cape or dress & cape to go with it.

Thank you for reading and have a nice weekend!