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.

Brunswick Part 2

Started working on the petticoat this week. Easy peasy, I thought, I'll just cut two lengths out and sew them together leaving openings at..the sides?...and at the back? I couldn't decide on what direction to go so I consulted the very fabulous Costume in Detal by Nancy Bradfield to see how they did it "back in the old days." If you haven't seen this book, it's well worth every penny because it's packed with pages of drawings of actual garrments and some even have measurements! And inside construction detail! Basically I could do no wrong with any combination of openings so I'm going with side openings that hopefully later will also double as pocket openings when I actually make my 18th century pockets. They are on the list!

Here's a really mediocre photo, taken in a hotel room while traveling for work. No pressing has been done at this point, just lots of hand stitching:

Handsewing is pretty good way to make the time fly, let me tell you. I just zipped along with a backstitch about 1/2" in from the selvedge* beginning about 8 inches down from the top edge. My stitches on the first side look pretty good. The second side not so much--I was getting tired and the light was fading so they went a little wonky in places. Makes you realize how important daylight must have been to candle-era seamstresses, seriously. The openings (shown on the left) were just rolled twice and stitched down. Voila! Still have to do the pleating along the top edge, put the twill tape on, and get myself a nice hem but I'm feeling accomplished nontheless.

*Okay, technically, if you are going to wash a garment you should trim off the selvedge edge in case it does some bizarre shrinking action. This isn't going to get washed AND I didn't want to make a mess while traveling so the selvedge, fringey bits and all, got to stay.

Brunswick, part 1

Spent the whole weekend at a fabulous workshop where we learned how to create an 18th century dress called a Brunswick. The workshop was put on by Burnley & Trowbridge and taught by Janea Whitacre from Williamsburg--a rare opportunity for us West Coasters to geek out on the 18th century with someone who is a master of her craft! This is the first time I've EVER made anything this huge entirely by hand. It was also the first time I've ever draped an 18th century gown completely from scratch and I admit it took a bit of concentration on my part to wrap my head around the period draping techniques but I think I'm getting the hang of it. Am I finished? Nope, still have tons of sewing to do on the jacket and the petticoat hasn't even been started yet but my friends and I are planning lots of sewing dates to "get 'er done" in a timely fashion so that we can wear our new frocks asap. In my case, I hope to finish before Costume College!

Here's a quick photo of my pile of pieces right now. The fabric is this cheery blue mystery decorator fabric I've had in the stash for at least 7 years so it was time to put it to use. This is The Year of the Stash. after all. I'm doing a low neck and a shorter skirt so it looks a bit different from the above portrait. Yes, all sewn by hand. Did I mention this is all being sewn by HAND?