Stencils!

A few weeks ago, I found this:

It is, in fact, a 14th C illumination of a painted wagon.   Of course, mine looks like a small house but it gave me some great ideas.  Notice the scroll work up top and the heraldry on the bottom half.  I also found one in this illumination that is plain up top but decorated on the bottom. I like this idea.  (The second one is also blue on the top!  Woohoo!)

So, I figured I'd add some sort of heraldry to the bottom of the wagon.  However, I still want to keep it TARDIS-esque for the lulz.  Therefore, my first thought was to paint the Doctor's name in Gallifreyan:

But I'm not quite that insane.  (Also, I don't think it's his name.  Remember River told him to "read" this on the cradle and then the Doctor got all excited.  I think it's the names of everyone who has ever slept in the cradle - which means only one of the circles his name.  Anyway...)

I wanted something...less crazy.  So I went with the seal of Rassilon instead.  It's Time Lady-ie and it looks Celtic too.  It's a win-win for the trailer!

Too bad I messed it up a bit. Basically, I drew it out and then cut it out with an xacto knife...forgetting things like needing to keep big empty spaces connected to the rest of the stencil. Luckily, duct tape does solve all problems.

..and I was way better with the second stencil that I wanted to create.

Meet Spike!   Spike is the very beloved populace badge of Atlantia.  Think of him being on the trailer as a license plate stating what state I'm from.  For Spike, I drew him out and then created the cut outs in a web pattern.  I didn't like any of the existing stencils (either WAY too complicated or way too simple) so I drew up my own. This took a grand total of 15 minutes.  The Seal of Rassilon?  One hour.

I thought about doing a couple of others but I think keeping it simple might be best.  I'll test out the stencils on the trailer tomorrow.

BTW, if anyone else is doing Pennsic prep- Home Depot has packs of 6 Tiki torches for $5.  They are the bamboo ones & a bit short but they are refillable.  I bought two packs and plan on using them as the border around my "camp".  :-)  Or, at least, part of it. 

Mom's Late 1810's/Early 1820's Outfit

 Myself in my handsewn blue checked wool apron front I made last year and Mom in her new Regency Era outfit.  Mom actually liked the petticoat at least.  However, she ended up not liking the dress - she doesn't want a cross front- or the jacket.  *sigh*

Part of the problem was that the Sense and Sensibility pattern I used is ridiculously bulky.  Because I was already piecing the blue wool together from scraps, it ended up with even more seams than necessary as I took it in.  Below is the left back shoulder.  There should be one seam.  There are three.

Even with me taking it in, the jacket was still a bit big for her.   Oh well, it matched the bonnet!

I couldn't do much with the cross over dress - it had to cross over because of the way the tablecloth I used for the skirt was constructed.  It had scallops on three sides but not the fourth.  Therefore, the fourth side had to be hidden in a cross over.  I took off the scallops on the top side to use as trim around the neckline and sleeves. 

The stays and the petticoat are what Mom kept.  The stays are based on an extant pair in my collection.  The pattern for them is available up at Spoonflower.  The petticoat was super simple - just a bunch of trapezoids connected to a waistband with a wide eyelet trim at the bottom.  I also added the cording using a zipper foot - only two rows as I was trying to go for late 1810s/early 1820s.  I wanted the skirts to keep from getting stuck as Mom walked and figured the cording would help.  It did.  :-)

Mom's Spencer

It's not completely done, but it's close.  I still need to add the cuffs and the hooks and eyes.  That's it!   The spencer is out of  navy blue wool scraps that I pretty heavily pieced to get the straps and sleeves.   I'll take more detailed photos later showing the piecing.  I really only had enough of the blue wool for the spencer.

The pattern is the Sense and Sensibility one that I think everyone has.  :-)  I changed it up slightly - adding a casing of blue wool to the bottom of the spencer.  I also had to shorten the sleeves, take in the shoulder straps, and take in the back of the spencer to get it to fit nicely. 

The spencer is lined in very much not period flannel backed baby blue poly satin.  Maybe it's rayon satin.  Something not natural satin. It's all part of the "leftovers" pile.  Mom's cape that she loves is lined in the same satin. So I know it's safe. 

Mom's Corded Late Regency Petticoat

I decided I wanted to play with cording a petticoat. I honestly haven't tried before - I've bought all my hoopskirts- but I saw one of my buddies on my Livejournal friend's list do one a few months back using a zipper foot. It worked. Well, actually. I just did a couple of channels around the hem to give a bit of a puff. I used cotton/poly twine you get at Home Depot. I folded over the hem, held the cord inside the hem, and ran the zipper foot with the needle all the way over to the right. It's not super stiff, but it does add dimension to the dress.

Side view.  The mess is a couple of different projects.  One is my Edwardian UFO and the other is the pattern pieces to the spencer I'm working on next.

The dummy mummy and my Mom now have different dimensions- which is why the fit is a bit off on the dummy mummy.  However, you can see the skirt flares well for the 1810s/early 1820s look.

Side view with the petticoat.  It's not a big amount of puffiness - just enough to keep the dress "light" looking. 

A close up of the cording under the dress.  I added some wide eyelet edging to the hem of the petticoat - so, should it peek out, it's okay. You'll just see more muslin and embroidered lace.

If she likes this style, I might make her more petticoats in different colors - I have some green that would look fabulous beneath this dress.  Right now, she has a lovely blue bonnet with a white feather courtesy of the Bohemian Belle.  I'm trying to create a wardrobe for her that will match that.  Which means I should probably make a navy blue petticoat next rather than green.  ;-)

Mom's Regency Dress

Originally, the skirt was a tablecloth.  :-)  I bought the tablecloth years ago on etsy as part of a lot.  The other tablecloth already became my Regency era gown. This one will be Mom's. 

The tablecloth was only finished on three edges.  The far width edge was rolled over and sewn down.  I cut off the top scallop edge of the tablecloth (actually, I cut it and then ripped the cut right down to the other width edge so that it would be straight..) and used that for trim.  The edge is now on the sleeve edge as well as around the neckline.  I only have maybe 8" of it left! 

The pattern is one I developed for Mom.  She tried on her stays I made her and the mock up only needed a few minor changes.  The lines of the pattern are based on extant garments.  Except the sleeves...those are the basic trapezoid with a bell curve at the top.   The entire dress is machine sewn.  

Getting to wear the blue and white 1920's Dress

Thank you so much for all the comments everyone previously gave on this dress! I figured that, given the amount of comments, you might actually want to see what the dress looks like on. :-)

I really like the way it wears. It's comfy and fun. I can MOVE (no corset! Yay!) but I still feel like I'm wearing something *different*. The only thing I might change is the neckline. I think a less open neckline with maybe a more T-tunic keyhole style might work better. The dress kept wanting to slip off the shoulder a bit because the neckline was so open. Still, it's fine as is and I'll definitely wear this one again.

The beaded cap is actually an item I've had for a few years. A friend in the SCA got a bag of "stuff". The stuff turned out to be various garb pieces. Two ladies who were members of my household at that point, found this in the bag, ran it out to me, and declared that it mine. :-) It's perfect for Italian Renn as well as 1920's.

My hair is done up in the same style as I did last year with only a bit more "wave". Since I've gotten bangs since the last time I tried this, I just got a couple of bobby pins and pinched the bangs under the beaded cap. I'm trying to grow them out again anyway.

The shoes are ones I found a few years ago at Old Pueblo Traders. The clothing is all "old lady" but the shoes look nicely vintage and fit my feet! Even though I wear a perfectly normal 8 or 8 1/2, depending on the shoe company, most shoe companies have decided that my feet are too short. The back of many shoes come up too high (a few have been as much as a half inch past where a shoe should hit on my foot!) I end up with mules a lot for that reason. However, the shoes the old lady clothing store sells are fine. I guess I just have old lady feet? I figured that's the one part of the body that really wouldn't change drastically with time!

The car is from 1927. :-) No Branson to drive me around, unfortunately. We think he was drinking in a corner somewhere....

HSF #9: Black & White

The Challenge:Black & White
Fabric: I *think* it's a cotton embossed with velvet but it might be linen.
Pattern:  My own!
Year:  1590's ish
Notions: Thread, purple silk lining
How historically accurate is it? The cut is correct and the fabric looks correct - even close up- but it is all machine sewn.
Hours to complete: four or five
First worn: This weekend, hopefully. I'll post much better pictures when I get a chance
Total cost: I think I got the fabric for $15? The silk lining was some violet silk I got to line a work dress a couple of years ago. I *think* it was $25. So somewhere around the $30 range given the amount of fabric I used.

I promise to post more later. I just wanted to get this up. I managed to do this while recovering from the flu - which is not fun. I think I've gotten a total of 5 hours of sleep in the past 72 hours thanks to this stupid cough. I do have to iron the jacket and add the hooks and eyes, admittedly. However, it's in jacket form right now so that counts!