18th Century Dinner Magic

Last weekend a bunch of us Lumieres (an18th century social group) got together for a deeeeelightful dinner at a Russian restaurant called Babushka in Walnut Creek. I have never been more happily stuffed with potato and cheese dishes as I was that evening, so much so that my new stays got a little snug and the idea of dancing went out the window! But the costumes, good company, and very pretty atmosphere made for a very lovely evening.

AND I finally finished my Brunswick! Not all by hand as I originally intended (I do enough hand sewing with my hats) but it was finished enough to be wearable! Here's me at the table, I haven't seen any full length photos yet:

I still need to make proper cuffs for the sleeves instead of just doing a quick hem and adding a bit of lace but otherwise, it's pretty much done. I actually wasn't as crazy about the style as I thought I would be--thought it made me look slightly matronly until I remembered that the Brunswick was primarily a traveling costume and was probably the 18th century equivalent of wearing yoga pants on long car trips. It's not super fitted at the waist (something I prefer) and the neckline is a bit more modest than I'm used to for this period but it fits well, was comfortable to wear and overall I'm happy with how it turned out.

My original Brunswick posts are here and here.

I also made new stays for this event as the pair I made a few years ago are too big. I used Simplicity 3635 and the fit is perfect, I didn't make any adjustments at all. That NEVER happens! Next time I could add a tiny bit to the strap length (I'm a little on the tall side) and I still need to bind the bottom edge but other than that I'm a happy camper. I'll write about them on my next post when I get started documenting some pretty hefty projects for a big trip I'm planning next year. (!!!)

Here are a few photos of the event. I didn't take a lot of photos but below I have linked to a couple of posts by friends who also blogged about the event.

Pretty Dresses!

Bunny 

And of course we had champagne. Russian wine, too! 

Lots more lovely photos and dress diaries on Kendra's blog and on Sarah's blog.