Historical Sew Fortnightly update
So, I've been participating in the Historical Sew Fortnightly hosted by Dreamstress.com.
The Challenges (thus far):
•#0 (the bonus challenge): Starting Simple - due 31 December NZT. Finish a project, make a very simple garment, or something you have made before.
- repurposed an Elizabethan smock to work under the Regency ball gown:
•#1: Bi/Tri/Quadri/Quin/Sex/Septi/Octo/Nona/Centennial - due 14 Jan. Sew something from __13, whether it be 1913, 1613, or 13BC
- finish the Regency ball gown that I started just after Christmas in time to wear it to Arisia. Technically, I didn't finish sewing on the butt bow until the day I wanted to wear it, but I called it close enough.
•#2: UFO - due Jan 28. Let’s get something off our UFO pile! Use this opportunity to finish off something that’s never quite gotten done, or stalled halfway through.
- I lucked out in that the first two challenges were convenient to what I was already working on, but challenge #3 is due on Monday and I'm at a loss. I've done my cram job to get everything ready for Arisia, so I don't know what to do next. The UFO I really need to sort out is mijan's kilt, but that'd be stretching it for historical relevance. Even though the kilt is an old garment, the one I'm doing is a khaki "utilikilt" style and it's the trial run for one out of Nova Scotia tartant, which only came into existence in 1953. So kilt doesn't count.
- Perhaps the overskirt for the 1860s steampunk mistress? The outfit is more hisorically inspired:
Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think that this is what I'm going to do. I've done a couple of overskirts before. I have some of both the chartreuce and black taffetas left, as well as plenty of the moleskin. I'm not sure exactly how I'd want to do it, yet. I know that I don't want a bulky apron in the front as I kind feel like I have enough plump there, thank you very much. So lots of sashes, then. Perhaps a drapey swag bit with a few fabric flowers at the meeting point? Any ideas from the peanut gallery here?
•#3: Under it all - due Feb 11. Every great historical outfit starts with the right undergarments, and, just in time for Valentines day, here’s you’re excuse to make them. Chemises, corsets, corded petticoats, drawers, garters, stockings…if it goes under your garments, it qualifies.
- I think the only undergarment I have on the short-list to be done is stocking to go under the Medieval garb. Note to self, pick up more silk to do this. I haven't made an order to Dharma Trading Company in a couple of weeks. ;)
•#4: Embellish - due Feb 25. Decorations make the historical garment glorious. Whether you use embroidery, trim, pleating, lace, buttons, bows, applique, quilting, jewels, fringe, or any other form of embellishment, this challenge is all about decorative detail.
- Oh gods, where to start. This most fits with pretty much anything Victorian, but I don't know that I'll have anything to that embellishment stage by this tiem. Perhaps I'll go back through and revisit some completed projects to see what would benefit from additional bling. Probably the Regency ball gown, as I did kind of want to do more beads and some additional decorations on that front under panel that would poke out when I walked. I have fabric/trim/beads left, so I can't possibly be done, right?
•#5: Peasants & Pioneers - due March 11. As wonderful as making pretty, pretty princess dresses is, the vast majority of people have always been poor commoners, whether they were peasants working the land, servants in big houses, or (later), pioneers carving their own space in new lands. This fortnight let’s make something that celebrates the common man.
- Hmm... perhaps the beginnings of the 1800s outfit I've been promising Mijan forever and a day. the under layers would count as pesantry. Or I could throw together a back up servant's garb for my minion so that when we go to cons and I wear historical and have her help me dress, she has the appropriate costumer for it. Otherwise, I don't really know. I hate to try to come up with something new that wasn't on the list, simply to fulfill the challenge. OH! I KNOW! The mother-in-law had asked for a half-cloak to wear over her Acadian costume. That should do the trick. *adds an order from Denver Fabrics onto the to do list*
•#6: Stripes - due March 25. The stripe is one of the oldest patterns, appearing in the earliest textile fragments and visual records of garments, and its never gone out of style since. Celebrate stripes with a striped garment. Will you go for grand baroque stripes, pastel rococo stripes, severe neoclassical stripes, elaborately pleated and bustled Victorian stripes, or something else entirely?
- there are a few yards of a peach and rust striped silks in my stash that I picked up at a mom-and-pop fabric store in Atlanta while down there for Dragon*Con in 2011. That needs to be turned into something. *nods* I just need to figure out what.
•#7: Accessorize - due April 9. Accessories add polish to your outfits, helping to create the perfect historical look. This week is all about bringing an outfit together. Trim a bonnet, paint a fan, crochet an evening bag, sew a shawl, or dye and decorate a pair of shoes to create the perfect period accessory for yourself.
- time to go back and re-evaluate every historical outfit that I have to figure out who still needs gloves and purses. I picked up some kid leather in the vendor room at Arisia that wants to be made into Victorian gloves. Plus I'd like a proper leather pouch to wear with the 14th century garb. A black reticule to go with the 1860s Steampunk Mistress and a generic ivory one that can go with the 1870s ruffly ballgown as well other period dresses would be useful. Yeah, so really, this is going to turn into the "make a half dozen purses" challenge.
I'm anxious to see what other challenges she comes up with. Will there be more garment-specifics? Era-specifics? More material-oriented, such as the stripes? We'll see.
The Challenges (thus far):
•#0 (the bonus challenge): Starting Simple - due 31 December NZT. Finish a project, make a very simple garment, or something you have made before.
- repurposed an Elizabethan smock to work under the Regency ball gown:
•#1: Bi/Tri/Quadri/Quin/Sex/Septi/Octo/Nona/Centennial - due 14 Jan. Sew something from __13, whether it be 1913, 1613, or 13BC
- finish the Regency ball gown that I started just after Christmas in time to wear it to Arisia. Technically, I didn't finish sewing on the butt bow until the day I wanted to wear it, but I called it close enough.
•#2: UFO - due Jan 28. Let’s get something off our UFO pile! Use this opportunity to finish off something that’s never quite gotten done, or stalled halfway through.
- I lucked out in that the first two challenges were convenient to what I was already working on, but challenge #3 is due on Monday and I'm at a loss. I've done my cram job to get everything ready for Arisia, so I don't know what to do next. The UFO I really need to sort out is mijan's kilt, but that'd be stretching it for historical relevance. Even though the kilt is an old garment, the one I'm doing is a khaki "utilikilt" style and it's the trial run for one out of Nova Scotia tartant, which only came into existence in 1953. So kilt doesn't count.
- Perhaps the overskirt for the 1860s steampunk mistress? The outfit is more hisorically inspired:
Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think that this is what I'm going to do. I've done a couple of overskirts before. I have some of both the chartreuce and black taffetas left, as well as plenty of the moleskin. I'm not sure exactly how I'd want to do it, yet. I know that I don't want a bulky apron in the front as I kind feel like I have enough plump there, thank you very much. So lots of sashes, then. Perhaps a drapey swag bit with a few fabric flowers at the meeting point? Any ideas from the peanut gallery here?
•#3: Under it all - due Feb 11. Every great historical outfit starts with the right undergarments, and, just in time for Valentines day, here’s you’re excuse to make them. Chemises, corsets, corded petticoats, drawers, garters, stockings…if it goes under your garments, it qualifies.
- I think the only undergarment I have on the short-list to be done is stocking to go under the Medieval garb. Note to self, pick up more silk to do this. I haven't made an order to Dharma Trading Company in a couple of weeks. ;)
•#4: Embellish - due Feb 25. Decorations make the historical garment glorious. Whether you use embroidery, trim, pleating, lace, buttons, bows, applique, quilting, jewels, fringe, or any other form of embellishment, this challenge is all about decorative detail.
- Oh gods, where to start. This most fits with pretty much anything Victorian, but I don't know that I'll have anything to that embellishment stage by this tiem. Perhaps I'll go back through and revisit some completed projects to see what would benefit from additional bling. Probably the Regency ball gown, as I did kind of want to do more beads and some additional decorations on that front under panel that would poke out when I walked. I have fabric/trim/beads left, so I can't possibly be done, right?
•#5: Peasants & Pioneers - due March 11. As wonderful as making pretty, pretty princess dresses is, the vast majority of people have always been poor commoners, whether they were peasants working the land, servants in big houses, or (later), pioneers carving their own space in new lands. This fortnight let’s make something that celebrates the common man.
- Hmm... perhaps the beginnings of the 1800s outfit I've been promising Mijan forever and a day. the under layers would count as pesantry. Or I could throw together a back up servant's garb for my minion so that when we go to cons and I wear historical and have her help me dress, she has the appropriate costumer for it. Otherwise, I don't really know. I hate to try to come up with something new that wasn't on the list, simply to fulfill the challenge. OH! I KNOW! The mother-in-law had asked for a half-cloak to wear over her Acadian costume. That should do the trick. *adds an order from Denver Fabrics onto the to do list*
•#6: Stripes - due March 25. The stripe is one of the oldest patterns, appearing in the earliest textile fragments and visual records of garments, and its never gone out of style since. Celebrate stripes with a striped garment. Will you go for grand baroque stripes, pastel rococo stripes, severe neoclassical stripes, elaborately pleated and bustled Victorian stripes, or something else entirely?
- there are a few yards of a peach and rust striped silks in my stash that I picked up at a mom-and-pop fabric store in Atlanta while down there for Dragon*Con in 2011. That needs to be turned into something. *nods* I just need to figure out what.
•#7: Accessorize - due April 9. Accessories add polish to your outfits, helping to create the perfect historical look. This week is all about bringing an outfit together. Trim a bonnet, paint a fan, crochet an evening bag, sew a shawl, or dye and decorate a pair of shoes to create the perfect period accessory for yourself.
- time to go back and re-evaluate every historical outfit that I have to figure out who still needs gloves and purses. I picked up some kid leather in the vendor room at Arisia that wants to be made into Victorian gloves. Plus I'd like a proper leather pouch to wear with the 14th century garb. A black reticule to go with the 1860s Steampunk Mistress and a generic ivory one that can go with the 1870s ruffly ballgown as well other period dresses would be useful. Yeah, so really, this is going to turn into the "make a half dozen purses" challenge.
I'm anxious to see what other challenges she comes up with. Will there be more garment-specifics? Era-specifics? More material-oriented, such as the stripes? We'll see.