Hobbity goodness

Hobbity sewing complete! *insert happy Hobbit dancing here*

Chemise

The chemise is calico and a combination of the neckline and raglan sleeves of the Simplicity 5582 peasant blouse and the length of the Regency Underthings chemise.

The neckline is drawstring with a few pleats at the back (because the drawstring casing was just a tad too short for the neckline and I couldn't be bothered cutting and sewing an extra piece of fabric to make it match).

The sleeves are decorated with antique crochet lace (with an adorable butterfly pattern) and criss-cross trim that I threaded with ribbon to make the sleeves adjustable.

I added a ruffle to the bottom of the chemise to give the bottom a bit more bulk when it’s under the skirt (and because I like ruffles!)

 Chemise: front and back.

 Chemise sleeve detail.

Bodice

The bodice is side-lacing with a sweetheart neckline, and is comprised of four pieces: the back panel (brown cotton blend), two side front panels (yellow gingham muslin) and the front (pinky red cotton).

The back panel is Simplicity 5582 bodice back. The front side panels are a combination of Simplicity 5582 bodice front and my own pattern for a curve-front fitted kirtle (use of the curve-front method inspired by this post: a good step-by-step how-to draft a curve-front bodice here). The front panel I drafted myself.

The back panel and front panel have two layers of lining: a thicker pink flannelette (from an old sheet) and white cotton. The yellow gingham muslin side front panels have a layer of pale yellow cotton instead of the pink flannelette, as the gingham muslin was too sheer for a pink lining.

The bodice is lightly boned with 7.6mm black cable ties, to help it keep it's shape. The ends of the cable ties are coated with hot glue to cover any sharp edges. Again the yellow gingham muslin proved too sheer for black cable ties, so the four under the yellow gingham are encased in white bias tape, secured by hot glue.

Gold eyelets were hammered in for the side lacing, and the entire bodice is finished with yellow bias tape, complete with bias tape bow (tutorial here)

Boning layout, pre-glue and bias tape.

Side lacing with gold eyelets.

Skirt

I made two circles skirts; one blue, one green; out of old jacquard tablecloths.

The blue table cloth was already circular, making its transition to skirt much easier (the bottom was already hemmed, score!). The green table cloth was rectangular and required a bit more fiddling with measurements and hemming (this post has lots of helpful pictures and confusing math about circle skirts... if, like me, you're not big on math, I can tell you that a 15cm/6" radius gives plenty of room to fit 105cm/41" hips)

I finished the skirts with a waistband in a similar colour, threaded it with elastic.

Costume front.

Costume back.

Inspiration:

http://rebelshaven.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/hobbitness.html

http://romantichistory.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/lady-hobbit-costume-finished-at-last.html

http://costuminglavenda.blogspot.com.au/p/lotr-everyday-bodices.html

http://costuminglavenda.blogspot.com.au/p/lotr-special-occasion-bodices.html

Let me know if I have left out any details.

Next up is accessories. If anyone could recommend good Hobbit ears, or hairy feet, that would be awesome, otherwise I will spend hours derping around the internet getting distracted while looking for them on my own (what a shame ^_^)

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

whoops

There goes another month without a post... blame this lovely lady as she finally convinced me to join Pinterest where I promptly wasted my November pinning random awesome things.
I also managed some sewing in between Pinteresting around; my Hobbit bodice is near completion, but I am awaiting the return of my glue gun (with much separation anxiety) and two Regency gowns are still in the works.
Rest assured you'll be the first to know when something is finished!

October excuses

As you probably may have guessed by now, I'm a bit of a lazy blogger (in my defense I am also pretty boring and don’t usually have much to talk about). Nonetheless, bad me for not posting anything for October yet!

I am still soldiering along in the Regency sewing challenge, my project for September is very close to completion but I had a mishap with my sewing machine about a week ago where I accidentally put my finger through, and on top of a rather painful sewn finger, I also snapped my needle and haven’t been brave enough to change it until now... but finger is now on the and not swollen and bleeding everywhere (seriously, I do NOT recommend sewing yourself!) and I have braved the change of needle and finished the little sundress that was in progress when I sewed myself.

I have also been busy forgetting about my graduation and having to scramble at the last minute to hire academic dress, but I got there despite the best efforts of my terrible memory and the freight train that broke down on the track ahead of my train.

The only thing left to distract me from my sewing is a trip to Ikea on Monday, but hopefully the Ikea-induced euphoria will translate into desire to sew.

Lookin' academic in my robes at the University of Sydney (or, as I usually called it, Hogwarts)

Regency Sewing Challenge: July & August Updates

My (very late) Regency sewing challenge projects for July and August. 

Bonnet
Plain straw Jane bonnet purchased from Austentation.
White poly-cotton lining
Gold satin cap
Knife-pleated white satin ribbon, with white braid
Gold satin ribbon rosettes with pearls (I'm not entirely sure if these are period, but they were too cute to leave off)
White satin ribbon bow and ties
Pink velvet roses (from Miss Rose Sister Violet, whom I love!)
Yellow roses All stitched, and mainly by hand (the only machine stitching is the hem of the lining... no glue used, although I will be sorely tempted to use it next time, it would make it so much easier!)

I am tossing up whether or not to add more flowers, and possibly a feather.
The only problem I found with this bonnet is that the top of the cap part of the bonnet is very flat so it sits on your head funny, but since it’s a straw bonnet I imagine I can squish it into a rounder shape. I also have an Elinor awaiting decoration, but that’s another project for another month. 

Reticule
Four diamond panels (made from the pattern I found here) 
White poly-cotton lining
Pink and cream upholstery fabric 
White lace decorative trim with pink bead tipped yellow ribbon draw string
Yellow ribbon wrist/shoulder strap
Five yellow tassels (that could probably do with a bit of a trim, they seem very long) 
Mix of machine and hand sewing.

My September project is still in progress as it is pretty embroidery-heavy, but I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the month.

filler

Since my craft projects are taking ages to finish (some brightspark decided embroidery was a good idea... then got distracted with making Hobbit garb), I have decided to start doing some filler entries in the long stretches between projects, this will mainly be recipes or ramblings about my garden (unless I get a specific request). I hope you enjoy and will forgive my tardy craftiness.
Today I would like to share one of my favourite, and more naughty, recipes...

Rocky Road Brownies

1 ½ cup plain flour

250g chocolate, coarsely chopped*

125g butter

½ cup chocolate chips*

½ cup mini marshmallows

½ cup glacé cherries, chopped*

½ cup desiccated coconut

½ cup pecans, chopped*

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 160 °C.

Line 20cm square baking pan with baking paper.

Melt 250g chocolate and butter in double boiler over simmering water; let cool for 5-10 minutes.

Transfer to bigger bowl, if needed, and mix in chocolate chips, marshmallows, cherries, coconut and pecans.

Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until blended.

Mix in flour.

Spoon batter into lined baking pan and bake for 30 minutes or until dry on top and firm to the touch.

Let cool in pan, then enjoy!

(*Dark, milk or white chocolate can be used, as well as other types of fruit and nut. Experiment!)

Here's one I prepared earlier (I've always wanted to say that!)

priorities

Yesterday I handed in the last assignments for my Graduate Diploma, which means I am finished with university once again (although I will probably go back to do my Masters sometime in the future).

More importantly, while I was on campus I went to see the Lego Colosseum on display at the Nicholson Museum... It was so awesome! I love how it shows both ancient and modern, and the attention to detail is amazing. 
All Lego sets should be this big!

The Nicholson Museum also has mummies and lots of other cool stuff from the Mediterranean and Near East, if you're ever in Sydney you should definitely check it out!

The Lego Colosseum is on display until January 2013.

good news, bad news and pretty pictures

The good news: my Australian Dress Register entries that I worked on during my internship are up! If you're keen to see what I worked on have a look at Ted Docker, Amelia Hackney, the Berlei collection items and, my favourite, Annette Kellerman.
I'm so excited that they're finally up! *insert happy dance here*

The bad news: I will not be submitting a July project for the Regency Sewing Challenge, I just don't have time what with three uni assignments due in early August... I have let Aylwen know, and she very nicely let me slide on the promise of two items for August. So no sewing for July, but stay tuned for a bumper August.

The pretty pictures: since I won't be providing any pretties this month, you should have a look at my friend Hollie's fabulous photography. I am seriously blown away by her talent and more than a little proud that she liked my sewing enough to ask me to help out with costumes for Tim Burton inspired shoot. Enjoy!

procrastinating... again...

After ten lovely weeks at the Powerhouse Museum my internship came to its inevitable end and I was very sad to go; I learned so much from the wonderful people there and it was nice to be able to make a contribution to something I am passionate about. I can't wait until my A.D.R. entries are uploaded!
Unfortunately, now that my internship is over I have to face my old nemesis: university assignments. Although my internship report is only suppose to be two thousands long, a trifle really considering how much material I have to work with, I prefer to deal with it in my usual fashion: whinging and procrastinating on the internet.
On top of the pain of having to take something I enjoyed and make it sound as boring as possible, I also had to miss the Abbey Festival, truly heartbreaking since this year was the first to feature the Medieval Carnival! Ahh well, there's always next year... which gives me plenty of time to go crazy with costumes. 

Back to procrastinating on the internet! ^_^

Regency Sewing Challenge: June Update

My JAFA sewing challenge pieces for June: a chemisette and cap!

Chemisette
I used the Sense and Sensibility Regency Underthings chemisette pattern, which gives you two collar options (ruffled or pointed) and I went with ruffled (although I ended up knife pleating it) after seeing this picture.
The bottom seam is the only one that is machine sewn, all other seams are hand sewn (because I'm a sucker for punishment).
Oh, and its white cotton lawn (because I love the stuff!)

Cap

The cap is also white cotton lawn, and is based on this picture. The cap is a basic circle, with about 10cm cut off the bottom, this straight edge is then folded over twice (I made the fold about 1cm) and sewn down with the ends left open as I ran a ribbon through it to create an adjustable drawstring back.

The crown is a basic strip of fabric, long enough to go over my head from ear to ear, with the front corners rounded (I used a bowl). The frill is a very long strip of fabric that I cartridge pleated with a small running stitch (the cap is also cartridge pleated in this manner)

The decoration is French knots in a diamond pattern.

I have no idea what I'll be doing next month... If I'm brave enough, I will attempt a gown, if not, a bonnet.

coastal harvests

Hello again! 

Another post for May! Who would have thought I had it in me? My lovely friend at little red gumboots told me she was aiming for a post a week, but I don't have anywhere near the level of social life that she does, so sporadic posts it is for me!

First I would like to share a snapshot of the yummy things coming out of my garden: fresh oranges, passion fruit, salad greens (spinach, rocket, tatsoi and shallots) and a whole lot of tomatoes!

In the interest of the many veggie gardens and fruit trees we have scattered around the place, my mum and I went on the hunt for mushroom compost and found the real deal (i.e. not processed, over packaged and then sold-on for ridiculously inflated prices) at Margin's Mushrooms. The owner was kind enough to give us a tour of his mushroom farm (cool room after cool room of mushroomy goodness!), and he even gave us a few Swiss Browns to take home and try (woo! samples! and they were delicious!). We left with quite a few bricks of mushroom compost, half of which have already disappeared into the veggie gardens, we'll probably have some lovely huge cabbages and peas if we can keep the darn caterpillars off them!

My second random trip of the week was to Little Creek, a family business producing handmade gourmet cheese. This little shop was like a temple to cheese, and I love that the cheese production area was in the next room and could be seen through a window. The cheese selection was great, from hard tasty to ultra soft fromage (or quark) in a variety of flavours (olive being my favourite!). All were available for sampling, and I think I tasted pretty much every product before narrowing down which I wanted to buy (always a tough choice when it comes to cheese!).

Lastly, the Buy Local festival is on this weekend, so Coasties, get out there and support your local businesses!

Regency Sewing Challenge: May Update

As promised, a JAFA sewing challenge progress report! My first official costume piece is a petticoat, since I had already completed my chemise, pantalettes and stays before I entered the challenge (I included some info about them anyway, just in case anyone is interested).

Chemise

I made my chemise out of white cotton lawn, using the Sense & Sensibility Regency Underthings Pattern. I didn’t add the little sleeves because I didn’t particularly like them, I don’t know where the short-sleeves of a gown will sit as yet, and it would look silly under longer sleeves, so I figure if I need to I can just line the sleeves of the gown.

Pantalettes

The pantalettes are Simplicty 2890. The style is a little later than those worn during the Regency period, which was basically two tubes fastened around the waist, which looked about as appealing as the idea of going au natural. I made these to sit on my hips, rather than around my waist as the pattern directs, so I would actually be able to access the drawstring under my corset... something it didn’t look like the pattern took into account!

I pinned the pattern together to see how it would fit before I started cutting my fabric, and since it looked rather large I opted to go a size smaller than I would usually wear, and they stilled turned out massive! The waist/hips are about three times larger than my actual size, which makes for some lovely gathers, but wastes an awful lot of fabric.

Stays

I wanted long stays, as opposed to the more popular short stays of the period, so I used the Simplicity 2621 corset pattern as my base and added four bust gussets.

I used white cotton broadcloth for the lining and white cotton lawn for the cover, with cotton/polyester bias binding. (I will also note for anyone attempting similar that cotton broadcloth was a horrendous choice for lining, as any cut edge frays like crazy, making neat seams and the application of bias binding pretty difficult: the thickness of the fabric was fine, but next time I will go for something with a tighter weave.)

The busk is a timber scrap my dad cut to size for me (hardwood is recommended, but I think this is only medium, and I haven’t had any problems with it yet).

The rest of the boning is 450mm by 7.6mm black plastic cable ties, cut to size, with hot glue applied to the ends to prevent the sharp edges from piercing the fabric (seriously, cap your boning! I didn’t in my last corset and it rips the fabric AND stabs you), as well as a few rows of cording under the bust gussets.

Also note that if you’re going to add bust gussets to a pattern that doesn’t already include them, you’re going to have to compensate for the extra room by making the side or back panels a little narrower: I didn’t and the top few eyelets at the back practically overlap when I lace it up, and I’ll probably have to go back and put a dart under the arms to make the stays fit properly.

A fabulous article on the Regency silhouette and how to fit stays correctly can be found here.

Petticoat

The petticoat is based on the one seen here, but made using the skirt outline from Simplicity 8852. I cut three skirt panels and then sewed them onto a tubular waist band (so a tie can be inserted), leaving the front panel straight, but pleating along the sides, then added the shoulder straps. The ruffle at the bottom came pre-pleated from Spotlight (thank you Spotlight!), and adds a nice bit of detail.

Next month: Chemisette!

April update

Well, so much for my a-post-a-month-minimum rule!

Here’s a quick recap of my March/April, because I know that you’re dying to know...

·         Saw Ross Noble live, learned that if you sit a row back from the stage he can see you and you will spend the rest of the evening having every question you answer turned into a joke... IT WAS AWESOME!

·         Took a cheese-making course with John and Juan at Home Cheese Making, made camembert with my own two hands and learned how to make ricotta... if you are a little OCD about cleanliness and hand sanitiser then cheese-making is for you!

·         Went to Canberra to see the Renaissance Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia, and the artworks were amazing, nothing you print off a computer can compare to the depth of colour and the intricate detail of the Renaissance artists, it was mindboggling to see what the human hand is capable of.

·         Accepted the 2013 Sewing Challenge issued by Earthly Delights to create one item of Regency clothing per month until the Jane Austen Festival next year (which is the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice, so I'm especially keen to attend and look fabulous!)... I am aiming to complete historically accurate undergarments (chemise, pantalettes, stay, petticoat and chemisette), as well as a day dress (or two), a ball gown, and accessories (bonnets, reticules, etc.). I will have to update the JAFA every month, so I will try to remember to blog my progress as well.

·         Finally, I was accepted to intern at the Powerhouse Museum working on the Australian Dress Register. I start tomorrow and I am very excited to work with historical garments, I will share news and pictures if I am able.

Until the next time I get off my lazy butt to blog ♥

February? Hello? Where'd you go?

Apparently it’s March already (of course, I’m only going by my youngest brother’s constant advertisement that it’s his birthday and his attempts to wheedle outrageously expensive gifts out of my parents)… It seems a little early in the year to be wondering where it’s going so fast! I’ve only just realised I didn’t post anything in February (I was either extremely busy… or extremely lazy… I’ll leave which up to your imagination).

I have been working away at my Regency wardrobe, I am now the proud owner of a chemise and corset… I will post some pictures as soon as I finish my drawers (and finish laughing at how ridiculous they look, of course they’re only half done, so I’m hoping they improve!)… They’re not strictly proper for the Regency period, but I refuse to go anywhere, especially in a dress, without some form of underwear, so they’ll have to do!

Next on the list is a petticoat and chemisette, then it’s onto the gown!

In other news, I am pursuing an amazing internship opportunity as part of my university course, fingers crossed for Powerhouse Museum and the Australian Dress Register! (.org, if you’re interested), and planning a quick trip down to Canberra to see the Renaissance exhibition before it ends in early April.

The Harry Potter exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum ends early April as well, if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend you go! It was amazing!

enchanted dreams

Having achieved my dream of attending the Abbey Medieval Festival in 2011, I have expanded my whimsical wishes to attending the Jane Austen Festival, although I probably won't be able to achieve this dream until next year (on account of being poor and disorganised). 
I am curbing my disappointment at having to miss it this year by getting a very early start on my Regency wardrobe, telling as many of my friends that will listen about this fabulous event, and reading all the reports from the festival with many an envious sigh.