My Love Affair with 1950's Dior

If you follow me on Pinterest, you'll know that I recently went on a 1950's pinning spree (when I should be doing homework... hehe!)  This was in anticipation of the 1950's Thanksgiving party that I'm hosting later this month and also because I secretly ADORE the 1950's.  I had originally planned on making a dress for the party but a friend of mine loaned me an actual 1950's dress that is not only gorgeous but also fits me beautifully.  However, I had originally planned on making this Christian Dior gown:

And as I was perusing through Pinterest, I kept running across more and more Dior gowns that I fell in love with.

(If I don't have a PC Regency or CW Wedding, this will be my wedding dress.)

I just can't get over how amazingly classic and beautiful these gowns are... I definitely feel some '50's inspiration coming on!  I need to tear through my CW and Regency stashes before I can indulge in the 1950's though.  Soon, though, very soon!

The Amateur Milliner

Hello everyone! A short post today, but I wanted to let everyone know that for the very very first time I am trying my hand at millinery! I am armed with heavyweight buckram and two Timely Tresses patterns (and other boring, unimpressive supplies). I completed the brim this evening. It needs a bit of shaping but, other than that, I think it turned out well! Here it is:

Have a lovely day everyone!

Economical Fabric Shopping

As most reenactors know, fabric can get very expensive very quickly (especially if one is buying fabric for a victorian gown!)  Things that seem cheap can multiply out of control.  Something that is $8 per yard can be appealing, but once one multiplies that into the, say, 7 yards necessary for an 1860's gown, that quickly becomes out of many peoples' price ranges (especially poor college students like me).  So, being fabric-savvy for 1860's projects requires a lot of digging through sales and websites and discount bins.  So, here is a little guide to economical fabric shopping!

The fabric for my Regency chemisette and fichu were given to me by a friend.

First off, for 1860's things, one can get away with 7 yards of 45" or 6 yards of 60" (though I once got away with 5 yards of 60"... not sure how I did that!)  It is very, very, very crucially important to get enough for a dress at once.  Fabric often is hit and run.  If you think that you can just go back to the store or website and buy more when you can, I'm afraid you'll have many too-small lengths of fabric lying around that you will have nothing to do with!  So always buy as much as you need for your entire garment.

I was able to purchase this black silk for $12.50 and this blue silk for $10 because of using 50% off coupons at Joann's

Secondly, Joann's, Hobby Lobby, and Hancock's can be nice and local, but it's very hard to find period-correct cotton prints when you are not shopping with a mentor (which you should always do!).  I prefer online retailers because I can email links to people who are much more knowledgeable than me and also post on online forums such as The Sewing Academy.  You can also post pictures of fabrics you see in store, but like I said before, fabric stores are a hit and run and you never know if it will still be there when you come back.

This red wool was purchased from Fabric.com during a sale, and cost around $6 a yard.

So, here is a list of my favorite online retailers:
Fabric.com - Good selection of tropical weight wools for dressmaking (my red wool is from Fabric.com), decent selection of reproduction cotton prints
Fashionfabricsclub.com - Every fabric known to man, pretty much.  Decent prices and nice fabrics.  My lavender semi-sheer plaid is from there, along with my Regency striped fabric and Sarah's blue plaid shirting for her 1860's wash dress.
Fabricmartfabrics.com - Very nice fabrics, good wools, silks, and cotton semi-sheers.
All of these retailers are great, but some of their fabrics are exorbitantly expensive--that is, if you look at the wrong time.  Which brings me to my next topic...

The fabric for my 1860's wrapper was purchased from Fabric.com for $3.50 a yard, after posting on the Sewing Academy for approval of the fabric.

Sales, clearances, closeouts, whatever you call it, these are a seamstress's best friend.  I rarely ever buy fabric when it's not on sale.  Each of the websites I just listed have email lists notifying customers of sales, clearance sections, and even "Dollar Deal" sections (one of the reasons why I love Fabric Mart so much. I bought the most beautiful green and white semi-sheer plaid from there for $1 a yard!)  Troll the sales.  Sometimes you can score $4 a yard wool or $1 and $2 a yard cottons!

I purchased this medium-weight wool at Fabric Mart for $5 a yard, and the polished cotton and wool batting for $5 and $10 a yard, respectively.  Ebay is a good place to find fabrics, but it requires a great deal of wading through improper fabrics.  Remember to narrow your search using the sidebar on the left.

And also, COUPONS!  Almost every retailer has at least one coupon active at any given time.  Websites such as Retailmenot.com and store emails are very helpful in notifying you about coupons.  When I got this:

and this:

from Fabric.com, they were priced at $4 a yard, but I was able to use a 15% off coupon that brought them down to $3.40 per yard!  Also, places like Fabric.com offer free shipping if you spend over a certain amount, which is very helpful.  Joann Fabrics is also very good at putting out 50% off coupons, which is how I got silk for $10 a yard there.  Get on email lists and keep an eye out!

I purchased this fabric from Fashion Fabrics Club for $6 a yard

And finally, and less easily, make reenacting friends.  I know many, many people who have large stashes of period correct fabric that they could never completely use in their entire lives (we call that Stash Beyond Life Expectancy).  The fabric for my yellow dress was bought from a good friend, Hannah, who had bought it with hopes of making herself a dress.  I also bought a dress length of block printed Regency cotton from a lovely woman I met at the Jane Austen festival this year.  And, my final steal will be explained in detail in my Perryville post, but I must say it was quite a deal!

I hope this helped and I wish you all safe travels in the abyss of online fabric shopping!

My very first award!

I am pleased to announced that this little blog has received its first award!  My dear friend Julia over at The Bohemian Belle nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award... and here it is!

The award rules are as follows:

1. Thank and link back to the person who nominated you
2. Paste the award to your blog
3. Tell 7 things about yourself
4. Nominate 15 other blogs

So, about me!

1. I am absolutely OBSESSIVE over BBC Sherlock, Doctor Who, and Supernatural.  It's slightly unhealthy and strange, but I can't help myself!  I have a tumblog dedicated solely to these shows (plus a few others!)

2. I drink tea like it's my job.  I'd do anything for a good cuppa.  I even carry around a tea bag and some sweetener in my wallet in case of tea emergencies.  My favorite tea is Twining's Lady Grey.  Go out and try some!

3. I am a freshman in college right now, and man, is it kicking my butt!  I'm studying history and English with hopes of becoming a professor (but, honestly, I really just want to get the heck out of school!)

4. I have only been sewing for one and a half years!  I started in June of 2011 with the yellow Civil War dress that I have pictured somewhere on the blog... A lovely friend of my mother's taught me to make it and helped me along in the process.  I've been learning more and more ever since.

5. I LOVE networking with other bloggers!  My favorite event by far was the Jane Austen Festival this year, where I got to meet Julia, Jenni, Maggie, and many other dear friends who sew amazing things and are wonderful people!

6. I do only American Civil War and English Regency right now, but I really want to get into Georgian.  It is my dream to sew a pair of baby pink silk Georgian stays!

7. Finally, I am a COMPLETE Anglophile... if you didn't already figure that out!  I love all things British and I hope to study abroad in either London or Guildford in the next couple of years.

And now for the nominations (most of these are probably repeats, so bear with me)...

1. Romantic History

2. Misty Clouds

3. Jessica Dean by Design

4. The Fashionable Past

5. The Story of a Seamstress

6. The Jane Austen Tea Society

7. Diary of a Seamstress

8. Living with Jane

9. Adventures of a Costumer

10. World Turn'd Upside Down

11. The Diary of Miss Emily Waterman

12. Maggie's Costume Wardrobe

13. Leatherbound Reviews

14. The Lady's Resource Site

15. Addicted to Jane Austen

And now, I bid you farewell!  I am off to Perryville, Kentucky for the 150th anniversary this weekend!

The Unfortunate Cost of Adding Another Historic Period

So, recently I've been very, very jealous of everyone doing the 18th century curtain-along... mainly because the fabrics look like this:

And those are curtains.  Yes.  100% cotton curtains that can be found at any old Lowe's or Sears (and on some online retailers, too).  That makes this beautiful print only about $8 per yard which is super reasonable considering it's GORGEOUS!  I just have to have it, and I have to make something from it.

But what?  It needs to be something near the 1770's, because that's the period of time I had originally planned on doing for Georgian.  And then it struck me.  The most amazing idea ever.

A Robe a l'Anglaise with a red silk quilted petticoat underneath.

I know.  Right?

It's the most amazing thing ever.

BUT WAIT.

I do not have any of the proper undergarments OR skirt supports, nor do I have proper shoes.  Basically, to make this wonderful, amazing thing, I need to invest a giant chunk of change in yet another historical period.  I know one other person in my general area that can help me out and she is a busy woman!  So this post is mostly going to either convince me to or not to invest in the 1770s.

1. Cost.
The necessary amount of fabric, 2 curtain panels, would cost $50.  Wool batting would be another $30, I have muslin lying around, and the silk would cost at least $40.  I already have some cotton voile for the fripperies.  This is already beginning to look like a $120 outfit, just on the outside.  I can borrow patterns, so I don't need to worry about that cost (hopefully).  Then I need to make a chemise--I already have muslin, like I said before.  Stays are going to be a special pain.  Not only do I need boning (plastic boning will cost, I'm guessing, around $10), but I also need silk for the outer layer and I already have linen for the two inner layers.  The silk will cost $20.  Let's add in the giant headache I have concerning stays.  I'll probably drop two years in life expectancy just because of them.  Then I must make skirt supports, and I have no idea what they will cost or what they will look like.  Add a petti for over the skirt supports out of muslin--got that.  And let's look at the cost...

A total of $150+ and two years off my life.

My sad realization is that, however badly I wish to do it, I cannot do the curtain along :(  Possibly after Christmas, when I can ask for all of these things on my list, I will be able to invest.  Now, however, it's just not possible.  Oh well.  I'll be able to live vicariously through people like Jen and Caroline and Lauren.

Anywho, forget about my woes and go buy some curtains and make them into a dress.  It turns out great every time, right?

A Regency Tea Party

Today (yesterday?) I hosted a Regency tea party for my friends and I, and what fun we had!

This is the table set up.  We enjoyed tea, toast, homemade jam (by yours truly), pound cake, cucumber sandwiches, sugar cookies, and, to top it all off, lemon and strawberry ice (sorbetto).  It was quite the spread!

My masterpiece was the pineapple centerpiece.  An article from the Jane Austen Centre in Bath talked about pineapples in the Regency period.  Actually, if you can believe it, merchants would rent out pineapples to the poorer set so that they could use them as centerpieces at their parties, and then finally sell them to the richer customers to be eaten at their parties.  Who knew?

We enjoyed Jane Austen themed teas from Bingley's Teas, Ltd.  The two teas that we had, Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Longbourn Wedding Tea, were both divine.  I can't stress how much I recommend these teas to both the Jane Austen lover and the tea connoisseur.  They are simply lovely!

All of my lovely, beautiful friends looking lovely and beautiful in their Regency dresses.

Some of my friends delighted us by playing the piano--either seriously or as a joke.

And of course, the shoe (or lack of shoe) shot.  AKA I love my Pemberlies and was happy that I had a chance to show them off.

All in all, I had a wonderful time!  If you're looking for something to do, I highly suggest a tea party.  It was quite fun to have an afternoon of elegance!

Love, Melissa

Exciting Regency prospects...

A ball gown!

A Regency Sari ball gown, to be exact.  I picked up a Sari from an Ebay dealer--only $20 for 5 yards of silk!  Yay!  It was exactly what I was looking for.  I'm thinking of making it in the style of the above gown and this gown...

I would post pictures, but apparently my computer decided I didn't need those photos.  You know, along with the Trevi fountain photos from Rome.  Thanks, computer.  I will take pictures and post them very soon.  Thanks!