On the brighter side of Christmas.

There is sunlight poring into my slightly feverish mind again and it seems I survived the dark times this yeas as well..

So in leaving it behind I'm now showing off my latest addition to my Tess-outfit! It's not going to be winter forever so this will make it wearable later on as well. This outfit is not meant to have corset under at all (aaand now I'm going to have to try it..!), unlike my other Victorian outfit, so it's actually some of the most comfortable clothes I have right now. 

(I did wear it at Christmas dinner..my grandmothers comment on it was that I look like her fathers American mistresses..but more on that later..)

It might not be very accurate, but the being-able-to-move-thing is kind of important in my quest to dress as I like on a daily basis..

I can still wear a hat though!

The other thing I'm showing off today is my handsewing skills. As I've most likely mentioned many times I have wanted to sew something entirely by hand, just to see the difference and to sort of appreciate the effort that goes into some clothes. Sort of like a pre-Victorian sewing quest of deeper understanding (sounding like a pretensions douche there..? no..?)

But to the actual creating! My Lus got baby-dolls for Christmas, one with soft body in a good size..but since it was seriously stupid looking in its cerise-pink kicking suit, I decided to sew some new things for it..(or her..it/she has no name yet..) Made from old pillowcases, it's just so cute now! It's the same design as the dress I made for Lus cousin last year.. with matching pantaloons and bonnet. 

Very mid-late Victorian.

It took me about 2 days to make it, which is roughly the time it would take to make the same dress grown-up-human sized on a sewing machine..So now I have some idea of how long it must have taken to make other things.

teeny tiny waistcoats..

Every-day..

I'm now trying to find the time to actually make some of the things I have in my mind all made up..partly because I can't take things with me when moving away..and partly because my head might explode due to creativity overload..pick which ever. 

The new thing today is my newly finished waistcoats for my Lus, one fancy and one every-day. It's really one of the more fun things to do because it doesn't take a lot of time and one is sort of allowed to get a little eccentric! The awesomer the better! Kind of like hats.

..and fancy!

I do know this look is less of the historically accurate than I go for usually when I'm doing a specific style/era.. but I just really like the idea of dressing up children like adults! Maybe some sort of reaction to the ridiculously long time people act like children most of the time in my own time? I don't know..probably. Or maybe the clothes DO make the man..in which case I might just have made a 3½ year old man..freaky. But a whole lot less freaky than still having "your room" at your parents place forever..you know who you are.

Anywaay..Next on the way out of my head (maybe),with some more or less agonising breaks for procuring the soulless affection called Christmas presents, will be a grown up sized waistcoat in the style of the more casual one..and then some other things. We'll see!

An other life..or todays happyplace.

This might seem like a strange place to want to be..but I've spent the day in corset and hat (I was going to say long skirt and lace-up shoes..but that's not as unusual) while Christmas shopping..and these wintry days I really wish I was somewhere like this:

This is my dream home today! but really it's the top floor of my French theatre..and that's just me being casual. I'm being it right now. And to avoid the "why I loath Christmas"-topic, here's some surroundings to my dream home:

And even if I rather be fucking anywhere else for the next couple of weeks, this would a very exiting  place to be!

Back to the d'Urbervilles..sort of.

Clearly, Tess isn't dressed all the time.

After deciding that first 1880's skirt looked all wrong and I decided to go more towards the smoky-gothic-city-style of an outfit, I kind of had a skirt lying around. So I fixed it up a little..less layered..more length..I returned to my original inspiration: Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Even if she's a really crappy secret keeper and falls in love with a dumbass it still seems to draw me in. I'm not talking about a book here and not the new film, but the 90's miniseries that looks so amazing. That's what's gonna be in the back of my head whilst finishing this one.

The upper part is actually a winter jacket that I didn't  finish 4 years ago lined with the same fabric as the skirt. 

So that will hopefully keep my mind of the fact that Christmas is kind of an annual thing. A lot less into it this year..but a little less hopelessly sad..

And I'm not even gonna mention what I think of the Finnish independence day tomorrow! let's just say I'm proud to be on the Swedish speaking side of the invisible border.. 

Goodnight!

Closet-diving and little jars.

There's so many of those bloggs out there that will tell you everything (and I mean everything!) about the lives of people that you barely know/care about, and they all feature at some point (or many) a "today's outfit"-post...and I know, I'm basing my "everything" on those maybe 5 bloggs I've clicked on Facebook for lack of better judgement and the same creepy curiosity that makes me look into peoples windows when I walk by, but still! Well, today I'm doing my interpretation of that..almost..only less lame.

The shirt is not from my wardrobe (even though I do have it on my mannequin which makes it look a little off there with the waistcoat) but part of my Victorian-project to dress up my family all in the same style..you know..as one does..I did finish it some days ago, and it's good enough for a first try. A little too wide, but otherwise it's good. I tried to keep it fairly simple now to start with so there's no extra pleating or such..but maybe I'll try that next time. My favourite detail on it is the buttons that are made to look like cufflinks on the sleeves. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but it looked so cool so I just had to do it!

Now, the 3 other pieces are totally from my wardrobe! The black dress is a gift from Skrutt that I just finished up a bit. It's been lying around for a while, and then I just came to think of the lace collar and had to try it. I've never looked more Catholic in my life. It's staying! for now at least..

Then there's my patched dress..Again in my recycling of fabric, some of this is older than I am. Aside from that it's one of my more artistic and less authentic dresses. It has it's ground idea in an Edwardian nightgown, but it's ripped of at the knees and patched all over with the same and different coloured bits..To me it's the way life tears you apart and then puts you back not quite the same. All the different colours has there own meaning in the puzzle,  like the pink ground fabric is a sunbleched bedsheet from my 1980's childhood..and that deep red comes from one of my sons first pillowcases...and the bow is the same silk ribbon as on my weddingdress..and finally india-patterned purple of which I also made a Victorian corset not so long ago. I think this will be my "thinking artsy thoughts"-dress. Maybe, if I add to it, it will be floor length at some point!

And here it comes: This is what I'm wearing today! my Victorian underskirt and this awesome t-shirt I made yesterday. It's inspired from a green t-shirt just like this, I just liked it so much because it goes so well with my Victorian skirts and makes it all a little more casual, so I made another one. And that text right there, right across my boobs, says "tout est relatif". I've had "all is relative" written on my arm for some time and wanted to use in something..and somehow it just sounded cooler in French..like most things.

So lastly, before I force my self to conform to society's  rules about sleeping at night, I'll do a sneak preview of my first completely useless but fun art projects: my jar-art! I got so into stuffing things into jars at Halloween and this is the next step..it's supposed to be more and less likely life situations..stuffed into jars! And something so vague also needs a confusing title, hence the paperlabels. One is finished (out of 3 so far..), with the random contents of a sofa or bed with the text "there's no time like the stolen".

But since this is not another blogg about someone's life, do not expect a "this is my food"-post next..that will never happen.

In the middle of a storm.

They do say it's gong to be stormy for a few days..but I was referring to the mind storm in my head right now. There's so so many thing flying around and wanting to be figured out and made up...if only I had all the time in the world.

 I have done some things that I will tell you all about when I feel less tired..and more focused..but right now all I can think of is my slightly odd adoration of Love Death and Paris. Probably brought on by my new favourite song: Quand vous mourrez de nos amours by Rufus Wainwright. (Notice how I am trying to pretend it's new and not at all deeply rooted in my personality long before I ever heard this song.) For some reason old pictures of people have always fascinated me, not despite, but because they have all been dead for a long time. Maybe it's my past lives talking..but there's just something safe and familiar about it. 

Anyways..This days happy place is Montmartre..because never did I feel more like I could be a piece of the same puzzle.

..and because love really is the greatest thing you'll ever know.

Dance Dance!

 Why?

..it's 1 am and this just made me laugh so hard I fell of the chair, that's why!

The corset wearers _or_"It's part of our artistic lifestyle!"

..the last one is something I said a lot last weekend..and plan to use a lot more..sometimes you just need a short way to shut someone up. It's all part of the philosophy "either you get it, or you just don't". 

..but obviously, the seamstress in me also see the silhouettes of the 1860's, 1880's & 1900..sort of.

But mostly I just want to say..corsets are awesome! whether you're a pseudo-Victorian or just feel like being eccentric at a party. Either way, this one's for my girlfriends..there's no one I'd rather mock porn with <3

Trying things out..!

Just some things I'm trying out..

After having finished my Victorian outfit I thought I'd try my newly successful pattern on something else, so I made a jacket. A little modified of course (the first one was made for corset wearing) but basically the same design. Turns out that went really well..just not for me. Too big, too white and too short, but it looks nice when I'm not wearing it. So hopefully I'll find a home for it somewhere else...on someone else's much taller and much more suntanned body. Or something.

And the other things there are my new hat..and a first try at a plain cotton cap..but I underestimated the size of my head. On Lus head it fit perfectly..but he's not always into showing things of..

But the next try out is much more successful!  It's a birthday present that I finished just last weekend for my girlfriend (..a relationship that used to be a lot weirder, trust me). She's always been an inspiration for dollmaking, but until now I've never really been able to capture her..always too light and too proportional..and a little big headed..but that's what they all suffer from. So now I present, my girlfriend in a jar!

At first I was going to continue my street-children-theme..but for some reason I think that might creep her out..so she became a 2011 forest princess! That's as modern as it gets people!

Next up is some shirt making..and some dollmaking (Lorna Doon style probably, I just can't get that out of my mind!).. and what am I gonna wear to the slumber-party this weekend? (..yeah..that's probably just exactly what it sounds like..)

Just one last thing..

 

..because I need to remember this day as the day when something good happened too, today I finished the last piece to my 1880's outfit. The final buttonhole on the final petticoat is now done! Now I can step into Victorian London and blend right in!

Most of all I'm surprised I managed to do this much before something else caught my attention and then I'd be in the place where I'm most..sidetracked and lots of lose pieces lying around. 

And because today deserves a happy place:

London 2011

Happy Halloween people!

Since today is the real Halloween I'm trying to keep the scary spirit up, but most of it is all partied out I must confess..Fortunately for me my outfit looked a lot better on me than on the mannequin, but not very witchy..more like a Fable barmaid..but I can live with that too! The party was wild enough for no one to actually ask me what I dressed up as, and the only clue to the witchiness was my poiton-bottle-necklace. Either way, my goal was to look very Fabel-y! 

..And now might be a good time to mention that Fable is my favourite game (or maybe I should say my only game..which would be a vicious lie, because I have two! there's also Kefflings..), but more for the world it has..not so much for the story of the game. One of my impossible wishes is to move in to the world of fable..maybe in a house in Bowerstone..or Oakfield..that would be today's happyplace.

But on the that subject, my Halloween outfit (which is not of the 1800's as most of my stuff lately) and the film Lorna Doone that I watched part of this morning made me so very inspired to go back in time further than usually and do more 1600's things..we'll see..It's calling for me...

Witching it up!

 

Just a short one before I go to sleep way too late again. 

As I said, I threw together a witches outfit for Halloween..though it looks mostly peasant-y..and here I am flaunting it. The only new (that is relatively new, it's part of a dress I made  10 years ago) thing is the apron and an adorable little potion flask-necklace (tame travel, my favourite!). Then there's the pirate chemise and stays with a black underskirt and two red skirts on that and thadaa! I'm so rolling around in it right now. 

And just as a side note: as you can see, mannequins don't really lace up that well...

..and one can wonder..is that a 4th generation of dressmakers I'm seeing..?

Halloween countdown!

Since I just watched the latest episode of Dexter and the combination of murder an religion kind of creeps me out in a big way I thought, "bogging sounds like a good idea!". 

Here's a witch who knows when bare thigh is a good thing and not.

So I'm now counting down the days to my favourite holiday, Halloween. (I do see the irony in that. My second favourite is Easter..I think we all see where that's going.) It's been decided, I'm going as a witch to my own Halloween party! 
Today my Lus helped me finish up the potion jars and I made the few items needed to complete my witch outfit. I felt really cooled out there for a moment (okay, it's still that moment!) when I realized that I now have enough complete pieces of clothing to just find an outfit that just needs a few extra things..and that's that. I've always wanted that to be possible! So my added pieces are apron and maybe a headpiece. I'll probably do some accessories too, but for now I'm gonna enjoy being cooled out.

I must squeeze in though that, and this happens every time there's a dress up situation, Googling for inspiration really sucks ass! Clearly Google knows that there's just no other theme than stripper for a dress up party! I'm serious, write anything with costume and there will be 100 stripping "costumes"...really, we're not all living in an American comedy. ("oh God, it's just me isn't it" is the first thought after that) 

But back to Halloween!

About the potion jars, that's artistic freedom if anything! Just some cleaned up food jars and vitamin bottles, fabric,paper and string and basically whatever one can think of stuffing the jars with! I went a bit stuffing crazy, but I think I succeeded  in not over doing it..too much..I think. My sons favourite is the one with a shrinked child inside..and the least favourite the one with the skeleton..both victims of my "DrinkMe" shrinking potion. 

Hopefully the Halloween party will be a success..! It might be less of a success at the daycare when Lus walks in as "Puss in booths" on monday..but that's just a different story.

My happy place, 22d of October.

..in reality there's no part of me thinking I could actually live in the country (because everyone knows that's where the mass murdering psychos thrive..and bugs.), in reality I need city noise and asphalt under my feet to be truly happy.. but this looks so like the house I dreamt of having as a child..it is also right where I'd want it, in a living history museum in France (if I remember correctly).

It doesn't get more "Belle-from the beauty and the beast" to me..aside from the fact that I've always been very Belle pre-Beast maybe...the Beast kind of fucks it all up. It's not adventure enough to just move to the forest with your boyfriend and get a golden dress, come oon!!

"Victorianized"

.."Victorionized" is a Skrutt-invented expression for what I experienced some time ago. 

One might think that someone who lights the gas light in the morning, knows how to boil starch and who's 3 year old child says "splendid" wouldn't be surprised at the level of impact "Victorianazition" can have on life..but just the other day my son got to a bottle of cough syrup..and my first thought when I came in the room and saw him drinking it  was: oh my God, tell me that one's not opium based!! Because for a second there it seemed totally possible. Fortunately cough medicines haven't really changed at all (aside from the opium..) in the way that the most dangerous ingredient is liquorice, so he was fine.

But it really gave me a perspective on how "Victorianized" I already am. 

The flower language?

...and I didn't mean a little flowers! Considering the vast amount of flowers my mother-in-law brought me today I might just have to learn some of this!?

No..probably wont.

little things

In the middle of all the big entire-outfit-making projects I do sneak off  sometimes to do  little things on the side..in some cases they end up awsomafying my outfit..other times it's just cool in it self. In a way these are like creative one night stands..if you know what I mean.

..like this one.

or this..

Like the "picture" I made yesterday (literallyyy). I'm not sure what to call it..but the idea was born out of having lots of small dolls lying around and a bathroom decoration-frame thingy my friend Skrutt (again) thought I might have use for..and clearly I did! So in my 2-day project I molested the frame and turned it into a window. It's the new home for my Victorian street children. I always tend to be more fascinated by the dark side of life..so from the left there is first and orphan boy and his baby sister..a factory girl..a street-seller selling candy..and a pickpocketing boy. In my mind it's around Christmas time..hence the snow. All of the are alone, not all of them has shoes. And all the advertisement in the background is authentic Victorian. That's always fun to research, some of them are seriously odd!

Other than that I've been practising my hat making skills! I went a little hat-making-crazy after getting a bunch of base hats from my mother-in-law for my birthday..and today she came over to see her grandson bringing fabric flowers so now it's on again! but I am getting better at it. I think..?

The first one is obviously the paper one for my outfit. Then the black and the pale straw hats next to it. And today I made the one on the lamp..really pleased with that one! And yes, that is a spider peaking out under the flower.

Time for flaunting!

 

A very short: I'm all done! Yeeei! 

Apart for some minor adjustments at the end, it does look like I dreamed it would. The accuracy-perfectionist is satisfied (ok, almost satisfied) and the environmentally cautious anti-consumerist in my is happy to say  that there is almost nothing new about this dress. All the fabric and lace and buttons have already been used as something else..the starched stripes inside the bodice and all the fabric covering the hat is older than my self.

 I feel a little scarlet o'hara in my cutting up of curtains and bedsheets...only less horrid.

To be continued...

..and some more from the 1880's.

So now that I've nearly finished my outfit ( I still haven't done that last thing) I've decided to include my family too! (not the extended one..I'm not crazy..er..)

Victorian child

My husband is already partly styled up from previous sewing adventures, so I'm mostly doing shirts, but my son with all his growing all the time "gets" to be styled again. Actually I've never really made a Victorian child's outfit before..what I have done is made him into a miniature adult..Victorian. So here's some of my inspiration for all this! 

Victorian child in progress

Just like my own clothes I'm going for a sort of in the middle style, not poor but not rich either. As a Victorian child my son will be having knee-length trousers, shirt, jacket, a huge bow around his neck that'll be just freaking adorable and hat (aside from things like socks and shit..). I've already done the shirt! 

Next is a larger version (or possibly 2, but that's my secret project for now) and less frilly around the neck for my other boy's outfit. Like always I've googled a picture of how the shirt and pattern should look and stared at it creepily for some time to figure it out, so now I just have to draw it up, try it and hope that all that staring paid off. 

Truth is I'd kill (not literally..I'm not nearly bad enough at it for that) for a pre-made pattern ordered of the internet to fit all sizes, but alas, I live where dreams go to die and apparently "they" don't ship to the yello-snow covered hell-hole that is my birthplace..it's true, there is no room for patriotism when denial has left the building.

Anywaay, side tracked a little there, but what's a little bitterness at 2.40 in the "morning", now back to the point of this blogg.

My favourite inspiration for my husbands outfit right now is a picture I found of the man who illustrated one of my favourite books, Gustave Dore. It's a little too early in the era, but I like the casual style! 

I really do like getting drawn into a period of time and every single detail of it becomes interesting! Something I discover  more and more is that this one fascinates me a lot more than first expected. It's like going on a vacation..only to me that implies the desperate longing to stay..and this has in a way become like that. I'd like to have as much of it around me as I possibly can. Like I mentioned in an earlier blogg post, this feels more like home than my own time and place. And, unlike some pseudo-psychologist might think..there's nothing rose-coloured about it.

Picture from Dore's London

As I'm doing this..sewing and researching, there grows a story in all of it..but more on that much later.

 

And lastly..If you're sitting out there in a  nice foreign country..enjoy! Living in Finland is like that time your sister ate all your Christmas calendar candy..lot's of expectations and that blowhole sitting next to you with a big chocolate mouth. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister deeply.. I just loath this country very much. 

Hopefully by next year I wont have reason to bitch about it, so I can promise this to be my only time!

No..I can't end with that..this will be my sending-me-to-bed ending, it has nothing to do with anything, but it does make me in a very good mood! 

 Good night!

Hatty-lishious! (no mercury involved)

Yeah..I just had to..tiny Alice in wonderland/ hatmaking joke there...

Anywaay! 

I'm now (fingers crossed) finished with my Victorian outfit! Yeeei! except one minor adjustment, but a time optimist like me would estimate that to be done..by it self almost! that's how small it is! So I'm now enjoin the feeling of accomplishment. I have no pictures yet, but I can say: I've literally broken parts of my fingers, but it looks amazing!

What I do have pictures of though is the last piece of it all, the hat. By it self it could have been better..but it just goes so awesomely with the rest of the outfit. It gives it a more damaged look in a way. And since you've all seen my inspiration...

my new olded-down books

And speaking of damaged, I "simply must" include one more thing! As the bohemian artist he is..and knows me to be..my husband made me my favourite book: the picture of Dorian Gray. I just love that book! And, awesome as he is, he even made me the book Dorian reads IN the book! It is one called a Rebours..so far thats pretty much all I know.

To add to the awesomeness, he also pointed out that these books are very much in line with my current project, the Victorian dress! My only regret is that I didn't marry him sooner! No I'm just joking. I'm kind of enjoin the thought of having a child born out of wedlock. 

I'm sure Dorian Gray would approve.

le Lit by Toulouse Lautrec..this picture doesn't really have anything to do with the rest..I just really like it.

Victorian Inspiration

I'm still working on the 1870's-80's bodice..applying some lace and such this evening.. With a new pattern and some much appreciated help from my all-curious husband (lot's of love) I DID fight of my enemy, dr.Sleevel! Weee! Bubble baths and skydiving for everyone! ...you know what I mean. "I'll be back"..he said and I believed him. But for now the sleeves are fine. 

Anywaay. I wanted to upload my original inspiration for the dress I'm making. It's a horrible histories music video, enjoy!

I must say though...all this corset wearing lately is kind of starting to have an effect...I've heard that one gets no permanent "damage" (I'm not exactly tightlacing) from sporadic use..but it sure feels weird having organs moved around. Thing is though, after some weeks that is the only side effect. It's true what they say..it's just a question of being used to it.

...Fucking bitch sleeves from hell..!!

I am now at the end of my Victorian outfit. I have a message for you. Sleeves are evil.

..BAD vs EVIL..

It is kind of a known thing in the seemstress-comunity it seems that sleeves are bitches, but I have now spent a day (all of it!) trying to fit my sleeves onto the bodice..it's now 1 am and, aside from that my blog is totally fucking with me in a bad way, I've given up..for now. 

yeah..that's me right now too..

Problem is that they look fine and fit fine pinned on..until I sew them on and try it..then it's all wrong again! and I didn't even change anything!? I'm starting to suspect there's a spiderman-looking super villain hiding in my closet (I will call you "dr.Sleevil", 2 evils in one) and twisting my sleeves around when I turn around..he's been following me around for years now. Sleeves has always been my weakness.

just don't look at the hat!

Then again, I thought, looking at the pictures of the era..they do kind of look exactly like I feel in my off twisted sleeves.. like they have their arm stuck in a tightly wrinkled condom. And then I'm not even mentioning the body..!

But since this is my dress, I'm wanting to take the best bits from the 1870's and -80's..and in the end there might be very little from the -80's..more like the 1880's look like in modern films! Because it might just turn out that I knew it all along..every -80's is fugly.

But there are some nice things in it too, so maybe I'll just wait and see...

..lastly...Sleeves are evil and they make me want to join a group like this one. 

 Good night.

Regency continues...

Just because I couldn't stand the thought of  being laced up and bustled while sewing one more day in a row I took a break in my victorian dressmaking. So now, a short step back!

 

 This is my regency outfits pièce de résistance, the bonnet. 

Much like the dress it self it is supposed to be very plain in design and particular in shape. I decided to set the outfit in the year 1805, because it's so very stereotypically regency..something between the post-revolutionary execution-centered and the decoration-crazy stale-braided. 

So here it is! the bonnet and also the inspirational fashionplate. 

All of it 1805.

Back to 1876.

"London 1874. Keep your wits about you..this city is vast, and intriguet..and you do not know your way around" 

London

This is how my new inspirational series starts out. I always look for new inspiration and for now my two new favourites are TV series. Maison Close & the Crimson petal and the White...the latter one is the one that I get stuck in.

Paris

I love the look of Maison Close, but being French and all things quickly passes me by when it's in the background..this would be a good thing when I'm creating..both physically and mentally. 

 This is not the case with the Crimson petal and the White. I believe that when I get over the nauseating anxiety of recognising that world a little too much, I'll love this series! but so far... At least the look is new! It's a lot dirtier and darker than the look of Maison Close, but so it should be..So my goal is to merge the two styles..and that will be the new inspiration for my re-newed 1870-80's dress.

Just a peak of the new and all too familiar the Crimson petal and the White.