Eva's journal

Yes, I have again made something for one of my dolls. Something that is a part of a larger project.

Arabella has got herself a pair of 18th century stays.



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I think that I got a little overwhelmed by the idea that all outfits had to be made in four copies since I have four dolls who are (very unlike looking) sisters. But then I decided that I can make them outfits from different periods or regions. So Sophia (the blond one) is getting a German 16th century gown, Ginevra (the redhead) will get a Tudor or Elizabethan outfit and Elizabeth (the black haired one) will get a 1660s gown. 
At least that's the current plan.

And yes, it was a pain to sew the tabs and boring to make the lacing holes. Next thing to make is a panier or possibly a pair of pocket hoops.

Yesterday I finished the muslin gown, and even managed to take photos of it before rushing down town to meet som friends and discuss our plans for today's big anti-nazi rally.

I wrote a page about it over at my costuming blog, with lots more pictures and info.




Today the nazis will march through Gothenburg, so it's unlikely that I will spend much time thinking about costuming, but I have lots of plans for garments to be worn with this wardrobe staple of the late 18th - early 19th century.

Yeah, you all know me: I have a tendency to get very enthusiastic about new things, so what I did yesterday is not so strange: I started on a pair of late 18th century transitional stays.

Anna has chosen the very late 18th century as her period for our upcoming regency picnic which of course fueled my enthusiasm. Since I had already bought white thin cotton to make a round gown to be worn either separately or with an open gown, the idea was there already. It was mainly the timing that was affected, since I had thought about making this later in the autumn.

Well, that was not to be: having run out of hand sewing projects that I could work on in the evenings - the embroidered smock I am making for  Valeria requires good lighting and eyes that are not tired - I needed another project. I started with the skirt for the round gown, which will have two rows of very pretty coral pink silk tabby ribbon around the hem. I could not, however start on the bodice before I had decided whether to wear it with my slightly later regency stays, or make a new, late 18th century pair.

And yesterday I decided to go for it. I dug out some strong linen for the stays, my just a little bit too large effigy stays to have some idea of size, and an extremly sturdy polycotton twill that I use for mock-ups for stays.

I also looked around on the internet and found several useful blog posts to help me figure out what I wanted to do.

These were the ones I looked at the most, two of my old friends here in the costuming world, and a new for me blog.

Festive Attyre

Katherine's dress site

Rococo Atelier

Most of these mentioned the book Corsets by Jill Salen, and I have ordered it on ILL, but of course I couldn't wait for that to arrive. So by studying the pictures on Rococo Atelier, which showed both her version with cups, and the original pattern with a gusset I came up with a pattern that I tried with enough success to go on to cutting the linen.

I got as far as making all the lacing holes on one front piece yesterday, and the rest this morning, and I have now also sewn all the boning channels on machine. Yesterday I was sorely tempted to make it all by hand, but sense prevailed, I have lots of real life work and many other projects to work on.

Since I don't have any white bias tape at home, and I'm not that interested in making some I am going to take a walk downtown and get it, as well as catch some pokemon.

My trip to England was not only beer, rock'n'roll, dolls, fabric shopping and lovely friends; it also had a higher purpose, since I was presenting at at conference called "The geography of luxury: east, west and global directions" held at the University of Warwick in Coventry. My paper was on Swedish sumptuary law and can be read here.

Oooh! Look at this gorgeous (at least what we can see of it) Danish outfit from 1791!

Sort of.

Yesterday the city museum here in Gothenburg opened their new permanent exhibition on the 18th century. And since I didn't go to the picnic last Saturday I thought that it would be a good opportunity to wear my cotton print dress. I had my cotton petticoat and cotton print dress but had, like a artisan's wife or small shop owner could have done, spiffed it up with a linen apron woven in patterns, a straw hat with a silk crown and silk ribbons on the dress. I had also done my hair semi-high (with the helps of rats), but not powdered it. And of course I wore my frilled linen cap under the hat.




If I'm going to go to more 18th century events I think that I will need a pair of proper shoes and maybe even a wig, though I tend to stay below the strata where those were worn. But it would be a way to get rid of the very annoying banngs.

The new 18th century petticoat, from possibly hand woven striped cotton or cotton/linen is finished, now I start on the gown, which is in a repro printed cotton/linen - red flowers on creamy white.

I was going to make an under dress in 15th century venetian style to wear under my wedding dress, which was made like an overdress, but worn just with a wide smock - sort of pre-Raphaelite-esque - but when I started looking for my wedding dress I couldn't find it. I must have packed it away somewhere in the storage years ago. I will look for it, but not tonight. So instead I decided to start on # 7 on this list: another 18th century outfit. The only problem is that I probably should make some kind of jumps too, since it will be lower class and I don't know if women from that social stratum wore stays. I'm not portraying a peasant or anything, just not nobility or wealthy bourgeoisie. I will have striped skirt in unbleached and blue linen/cotton and a gown from another, finer linen/cotton with a red print.

I plan to wear this on the 28th and that ought to be possible if I use the machine.

On Sunday there was a huge flea market in Majorna, a part of Gothenburg. Among the things I bought (mostly stuff for Maja) is these shoes, which I think with some fixing can be a reasonable fake for 17th and 18th century costumes. If I was doing those periods for real I would have bought replica shoes, but since I'm not I'm settling for something that looks reasonably good. At least for now. They were ca 6 dollars.

Having just paid for a piece of hand woven striped fabric, which I intend to use as a petticoat for a new 18th century outfit I can't help but wonder why I feel such a need for 18th century outfits - it's not like I have anywhere to wear them.