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.

Some random details!

Good morning world! 

Since I tried to squeeze in a lot of big stuff (and barely succeeding)  last time, I thought I'd just focus on the little stuff this time. As I've learned in my dollhouse making, it's the small things that make everything come alive..It's not the basic furniture or layout, its the pattern of the wallpaper..it's the food on the table and expression of a face. Now I'm learning that the same goes for clothing. So I'm trying to incorporate more detail into my creations..which means a lot of research and a lot of small-handy work! Fortunately..I do have small hands and long nails! 

The first thing is on my under-dress (or chemise). Clearly, I didn't make the lace (I have tried it, do not have the focus capacity for lacemaking!), but it just looks so nice with the drawstring and lace together..all in the the colour of slightly old milk. Because that's how I like my whites. And just above the hemline there's another thing: a small yellow embroidery, about 5 cm.. "Libertine Leveller". Partly inspired of one of my favourite series (the devils whore)..and partly because it's true. But I think for now..that's better left there.

Next is the hat-pins! I just can't sop looking at them! who knew they'd be that quick to make and still look that beautiful..just metal thread and some beads. My Lus even made some, but he preferred putting beads on..and back in the box again.

Lastly, this was the only thing I actually did sew entirely by hand in my Regency exploration, an embroidered handkerchief. Like every time so far I just start embroidering and see where it takes me..this time it became parts of my husbands name and some snaky bits..

Oh, no there is one more thing! Because surprises are kind of annoying..here's something to figure out:

..what the fuck is that, I hear you asking.

Lavender regency and so on...

 

 

my Lus likes to picture...

 So I'm now done with my Regency dress. Actually it's been done for a while..aand I've even done some other things in between..but here it is! It turned out rather different from my plan..But it's so cute..! And since it's not for me I could go good girl-pretty in pastel-crazy! and that's actually really fun occasionally. I'll probably make a hat to go with it, because..you know..hats are awesome. But so far, this is how it turned out! and my dear friend was even kind enough to pose while trying it on.

So now she's so totally ready for a situation like this:

Other than that, because a regency dress is really quick to make when cheating, I've actually done some smaller things in between. 

Like this shirt! It's for my husbands Fable-outfit, but it's also a Restoration-spin off witch makes it more interesting to me. It's not linen and it has a plastic button, but hey, I'm throwing authenticity out the window (or door..because that's how much I care) anyway right now and just let the fabric speak to me! That sounds a little insane, so let's move on.

Then, after having made some trousers (as I'm trying to get used to calling them now) for my little Lus, I continued on my Victorian dress. For some time it has annoyed me that I've had nothing complete for my self..mostly just bits and pieces..but now I'm finally seeing the end of the dressmaking tunnel! All I have left now is the tallie (how fancy isn't that! I recently figured out that it's just a fancy word for "upper part", hahaa!), an apron-overskrit and a hat to match.

But there is just a serious amount of layers in these things! There is the chemise (alterations made today and done), the corset (new!), the bustle (fixed it today and it's just adorable..), the petticoats (already had those), the corset-cover...and THEN the skirts (witch I switched out..cotton's just to heavy..) and upper part! 

I'm gonna so roll around in my own awsomeness if I get this done.. But first! here's my dress-parade so far:

So now I'm just sitting around in my chemise and petticoat and looking at the metal thread..hoping it will make itself into a hat pin. Goodnight!