Frock Chick

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:40:40 GMT

oops. I may have become besotted to the point of obsession in regards to a certain costume.

It may be a Dr Who costume.

It may be historic.

It may be covered in bullion and sequins.

It may have been also used in Madness of King George and The Aristocrats.

I may have just found some fabric for $4/m that will be a good base to cover with some iron on diamates and Heat 'n' Bond (both also bought today) and little silver appliques. As well as all the silver bits and bobs in my stash.

The Girl In the Fireplace is one of my favourite episodes ;) Not surprising as Blink was also written by the same man.

Anyway. I will be wearing this to Geddon and I hope to see some Cybermen over in Melbourne :D And it is a perfect excuse to wear an historic gown to a convention ;) If anyone wishes to join in with the Francaise fun or Whovian 'verse please do let me know ;)

I think I have an idea on how to make the paniers collapsable to lie flat in my suitcase which will be very handy. Said paniers will also work under my aqua francaise :D

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:36:01 GMT

Nononononononono! Sold just last week :(

Wine velvet surcoat from Elizabeth R GBP1,080
Red velvet german inspired gown, Elizabeth R, GBP960
Sans matching surcoat, white gown Elizabeth R GBP2,280 (you can see the plain fabric of the back of the skirt)
Black with alternating coral and blue ribbon bows gown, Elizabeth R, 2,400
Pale gold satin gown, Elizabeth R 540
Green doublet bodice riding gown, Elizabeth R 960
Henrican/Edwardian white brocade gown, Elizabeth R (Check out the shaped skirt!) 1,080

Blackadder's leather doublet and hose!!!! 14,400
Queenie's gold gown 1,200
Queenie's silver gown 1,080
Percy's orange suede suit (as opposed to his green) 600

Sienna Miller's Stardust dress, 600

Wuv, twu wuv.. Peter Cook's cope from Princess Bride 780
You're bluffing, Chris Sarandon's blue doublet from Princess Bride 480

Dressing gown, Mommie Dearest 720

Omar Sherif black and white cloak, 7,200

Rebel Honor Guard, Star Wars ANH (check out the wonderful seaming in the neck area. So pretty...) 4,800

Lady Cranleigh, Dr Who: Black Orchid. 384. I swar this is the same dress as worn by Reinette in the garden in Girl in the Fireplace.

White Witch, Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, 960.

Catwoman cowl, Pfeiffer, 264
Batman parts, Keaton, 1,500 And these are why I made my suit from PVC.

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:54:15 GMT

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:44:17 GMT

White satin ruched front gown. I have only seen contemporary photos of these not an extant item :) I think. Or brain fog has set in again ;)

Late 80s up to 91ish polka dotted net gown, acron and oak leaves applique. So adorable and lovely use of a dark sheer over light fabric.

Straw mesh bustle. So cute, springs covered in straw mesh.

Pretty sheer dress of the 1860s.

Tan silk 60s day dress.

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:07:53 GMT

Hey all, I have been making a lot of posts friends only lately. It has come to light that my audience is rather wider than I intended it to be (which was wide as it was: costume enthusiasts) and thus a few personal details have crept through to more people than anticipated.

So from now my default will be friends only with any completed projects made public, but not events I attend. It's a little saddening but I don't feel comfortable with people keeping track of me through here without my specific knowledge.

I may show some progress pics as well but the default is "friends only" until I learn to keep my big mouth shut about personal details ;)

Fri, 29 May 2009 13:56:31 GMT

I have the start of my 1830s dress :) Sleeves and skirt cut and half french seamed already. Yes, it has been several years since I bought the fabric and several years since I have wanted to make this dress. I have just finally decided that yes I can make it from the fabric I have and that yes the sleeve patterns I have could be adapted for the style I am after.

And thank you for all your responses you lovely people :) It has been solved and I shall try to make it up to everyone :)

Thu, 28 May 2009 01:00:20 GMT

Happy happy happy joy joy joy :)

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=54091&img=219584
This skirt is cut with a gored front and has a vertical and horizontal linear pattern :) I am going to be able to make my 1830s dress the way I want to after all :)
That is one front gore, one wide side gore each side and one straight back panel. Perfect use of my fabric :) Oh. I just need to check how reversable my fabric is actually.

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=163392&img=18303
Oooooh! I have seen this in aphotos of Melba as marguerite :) I love the 19thC interpretations of 16thC German dress :)
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=163391&img=18314
Haven't seen this one, but it's fairly typical of the style worn at the time :)

Wed, 27 May 2009 12:15:21 GMT

http://www.flickr.com/photos/91424360@N00/3570149604/
pleats showing fabric texture and where the stitches are in the fabric.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/91424360@N00/3570150144/
pleats, showing a seam.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/91424360@N00/3569339213/
leaves. and texture.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/91424360@N00/3570152014/
cuffs, showing how deep the seam allowance is in the sleeve (about half an inch- shadows through from being pressed with an iron). more texture.

Previous piccies are gone as they wound up no better than what is already available online.

Wed, 27 May 2009 10:57:18 GMT

I have a giant embroidery frame :) Well not giant.. 80cm by 50cm kind of big :) Big enough that I'll be able to do my skirt panels for my Worth gown and my applique for the hannibal skirt and the applique for my Han-fu :)

it is made from the remnants of wood trimming from the rebuild of the house and some 1/8" bolts. I'll pad it up in the morning and start work on the Han fu then :) I'll also have a hunt around for my heat n bond and red velvet to see if I can get my hannibal applique shapes worked up. Speaking of which, I do need to hunt for the cale diagram I did.

I'll be drawing my Worth skirt design on the back of the skirt panels and free handing the design with my machine, all the lines where the beads will go. This will give me the advantage of making the fabric even more stable, make the cuts more stable and leave no marks on the front of the dress. Brilliant :) I'll use tailors chalk as it will rub off fairly quickly.

OK while my computor and modem reconnect I shall go doodle and get that sorted.

Oh and bloody flickr. Those pictures were actually about 4000 pixels high so I'll get cropping as you could see the stitches even. Nothing about scaling images in the pages where you upload, and I didn't see any obvious links regarding it. So I'll go hunt out further in their T&C ;)

I'm thinking about that strawberry bink and black velvet dress in harper's Bazaar too. I have some ice blue fabric that could be really pretty made up that way. Ooh or my red cotton sateen.

Right. Big list of fabrics I have and projects I want to do coming up soon. Then I can shed my stash and focus on what I love :)

Connection restored after an hour and some doodling ;)

Tue, 26 May 2009 02:44:50 GMT

My Han-fu headdress is looking awesome right now :) It's only in the initial cutting out stages but it is working really nicely :)

I have marked where to cut some wood for an embroidery frame, it should work nicely, though I may look at the other wood offcuts I have to see if thre is something a little sturdier. Just need to cut and drill holes for the bolts now....

Two projects to help oeople with right now so I will mull over my Francaise a little more before commiting. I am debating bwteen 1770s with the self trimming and smocking and a c1700 manteau. I think the fabric suits the later period better but I am still desperate for an early mantua!

Actually I may just further cull out my fabric and see what my current and near future projects are going to be.

And I shall also ruminate a bit further on what I really want to do with costuming ;)

Mon, 25 May 2009 11:47:00 GMT

http://www.bildindex.de/bilder/rba_c000143a.jpg
Sigh, seen this in b/w so often, and small colour images but this is lovely for details :)
Erzherzogin Maria Magdalena von Österreich Frans Pourbus (der Jüngere), Faktischer Entstehungsort: Graz & Mantua, 1603/1604, Innsbruck, Schloss Ambras, Habsburger Porträtgalerie, Inv.-Nr. 3385

Fri, 22 May 2009 13:18:09 GMT

Sketch of how the KCI dress could look in a solid pale blue. But I can't quite get the real shot/metallic effect of my fabric :) Nor the full effect of the smocking. It's a honeycomb pattern and then the padding also is really pretty and effective with it. So I will probably do all the smocking first and then start cutting the dress.

This is just to show how sheer the voile I have is. 8.3m of the stuff and I am wavering on just what to make from it :)

Fri, 22 May 2009 10:59:29 GMT

http://www.kci.or.jp/cgi-bin/collection/collection.cgi?lang=e&path=1770/05-007716_a

Sadly the photo does it so little justice, you need the Taschen book to really appreciate how stunning the trimming actually is.

Noooooo!!!! I just realised something:
http://www.kci.or.jp/exhibitions/index_e.html
Japonism in Fashion, New Zealand
Jul. -Oct. 2003, at the Museum of New Zealand, Te papa Tongarewa, Wellington
Dec. 2003-Mar. 2004, at the Christchurch Art Gallery, Te Puna O Waiwhetu, Christfhurch

I know I wanted to go and now I really wish I had. I think "my" worth gown would have been in it :( Well Worth's copy of his own gown but in pale pink rather than pale yellow and with c1893 huge sleeves ;) But the embroidery was the same.

pout.

oooh:
http://www.wacoal.jp/c/kci/2009/02/dresstudyvol552009.html
DRESSTUDY Vol. 55 (Spring 2009)　38p. 500 yen +S&H fee: 200yen
・CONTENTS
LECTURE: Luxury in the Western Culture by.Koichi KABAYAMA
Bourgeois Luxury in Seventeenth-Century Germany:
A Costume Collection in the Hessisches Landesmusum Darmstadt by.Johannes PIETSCH
:D

Fri, 22 May 2009 05:23:58 GMT

This is me hanging my head in shame. *shame*

I found my sky blue taffeta at the shop after all and I have bought what was left on the roll. 9m is quite deceptive when it folds up this flat.

So now I get to decide if I do the smocked gown from Kyoto (which is grey and patterned) or a just-barely natural form gown. When the butt was still quite big and round but not up in the small of the back ;)

Also found Art of Dress in the local library, another sheer francaise in there (painting not extant) so that was pretty exciting.

I also noticed in my perusal of Historical fashion in Detail last night that there are a lot of heavy stitches used in the outside garments. All the really fine work seems to be saved for the undies or informal jackets. Linen goods essentially. The stitches aren't messy just really quite... there. the thread is quite heavy and the stitches are quite noticeable even in heavy silks. Yet they also don't look as if they are broadcasting the fact that they are there.

Anyway, I'm going to drape the stand with my taffeta and smile and wonder if I am really mad..... Might sketch the Kyoto dress and see how it will look in this colour after all.

Oh and I might have watched Dangerous Liasons the other day. I always get emotional at the very end. Not when everyone is dying but when the mask has fallen and a scapegoat found. A very deserving scapegoat to be sure, but a scapegoat never the less.

Fri, 22 May 2009 01:30:44 GMT

A few uploads of in progress stuff with hopefully a bit of help for anyone on a budget in terms of fabric allowance ;0

Hanfu "pattern":

One saree cut into rectangles to make best use.

Francaise:

Ironing the pleats.
I may not have actually decided to do this if I hadn't had the option of doing funky stripe matching for the pleats. I can even match them fairly well at the waist.

How I cut the dress from 3.2m of fabric :) It works out pretty close to the art of the tailor pattern, except I cut the bodice front seperately rather than have it drape. Proportionally it's about right (twice the fabric in the back as the front) so very little waste this way, I love it.

Harper's Bazaar:

My quickie colour change for the fashion plate.

Just wrapping my form in the silk and testing how my trim there is. Still need to get the dye. You can see the blue shade it actually is near the bottom of the photo.

Thu, 21 May 2009 10:36:44 GMT

I have photos of the red silk with the trim pinned in place. it looks pretty even now :) Needs to be dyed black tough.

The francaise has the pleats pressed nice and crisp and now I can sew it up. Except I don't want to ;) I love patterning and working out the puzzle of best use of fabric and all that but I find the rest boring ;) So that is my personal challenge ;) Pattern like a demon and then be angelic and do the grunt work ;)

Umm yes I may have just enough time to get the dye if I go for a walk now....

Wed, 20 May 2009 13:07:51 GMT

http://www.studio-international.co.uk/studio-images/modes_en_miroir/5mantua_b.asp

Wed, 20 May 2009 12:16:37 GMT

Wed, 20 May 2009 11:18:48 GMT

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sersie/105736756/in/set-72057594071943160/
Coronation gown of Catherien the Great. Cloth of silver.

Wed, 20 May 2009 11:18:12 GMT

Sigh.

Money spent, things bought:
gold paint (for lots of funky accessories, possibly even my Carlotta Hannibal costume at last?)
pins (for pinning)
silver machine thread (for the Saya y ropa)
nuts and bolts (to make a large embroidery frame)
florintine (eaten)
25m blue rayon lace (for my 1876 gown.)

Yep, I finally found a wide rayon lace suitable for my 1876 dress. that harper's Bazaar fashion plate I have adored since I was a teenager and that I will make from red silk ;)

Now to make sure I do indeed have enough.
Pinned in place... seems to be enough for what I want to do :) Now to get some black dye and boil it all to the right colour.

Wed, 20 May 2009 00:42:37 GMT

Just put in some appropriate tags for the francaise and the worth gowns. So I can keep track of all the ideas I have had for them both over the last few years ;) I know I have more posts I just can't find them all as I probably used dates for the 18thC gowns rather than terms.

modehistorique fairly recently posted a link to a sheer Francaise sold on Christies (visit her journal and check out the awesomesauce before looking for the link). The description of it mentions muslin and I was really thrilled to see it especially as I had wanted to make a muslin francaise a while back thanks to the one in the V&A. Sadly the only photo they have online is a closeup of the net trim. Historic Fashion in Detail has a line drawing (where the gathers of the panniers are apparently on drawstrings) and a large image of the trimming on the skirt. I really want to find a photo of the full gown.
What is interesting is the Christies one looks to be intended for formal wear while the V&A one is much simpler and possibly less formal. I am certain I found some examples of texts from the 80s that were also cotton or sheer cotton. I can't find them in my journal though! I do have my lovely sheer voile that was going to be another 1870s ruffly dress but I think I think I'll look for an organdy substitute for that instead so I can use a heavy bobbin lace for insertions in it.

Oh and I also salvaged some cotton lace, proper fine machine made lace not heavy bobbin :) Will swap it for some of my poly and nylon stuff as it was for the Trash to fashion kids. Seriously they can cut the cheap stuff up not the vintage!

My current test dress (the blue striped francaise) will hopefully have comperes made from the same fabric and then the petticoat and trimming will need to be hunted for in my stash. I am sure I have some.

Still dreaming of the KCI dress with the honeycomb smocked trimmings.. in sky blue taffeta. Sigh. (click the francaise tag to see how much too long I have waited to buy the fabric ;) it no longer exsists.)

Tue, 19 May 2009 10:08:10 GMT

Hooray! Photos with flash, good for colour not so good for looking pretty ;) Good also for showing seams and textures :)

So..

Sunburst Gown:
Skirt front, side and back. Train pinned over as well.

I got 6 or so yards from eldawen and I still have about 1.2m of a half width left to make the bodice from :) So yes, it was plenty, and I got my full train out of that as well.
Yeah, the train is about 1.5m so the gored from and sides were cut from about 3m.. I think I did some creative topping and tailing of the pieces!

francaise:
Basic shaped cut and pinned together. 3.25m of fabric at 1.62 wide. I cut along the selvages to get the vertical stripes. I think this might have been curtain fabric that was ripped in half, wish I knew where the other half was so I could make matching pleated frolls. Still I can hunt out some that will blend in.
This was salvaged fabric that was on the way to the tip!

Han-fu 1:
Silk crepe georgette saree cut in rectangles.

This looks very plain right now, but wait ;)

Han-fu 2:
Pretty much an irridescent fabric as it has two weft "colours" (gold for one pattern the ombre diamond in many colours for the other) and one warp.

Due to the extravagent nature of the fabric there is very little that needs to be done with it :D

Tue, 19 May 2009 05:12:37 GMT

Having a blst on my current project :) Yep the Chinese costume bug has hit :) I'm being heavily influenced by Han-fu of the Ming and Tang periods and the portrayal of those styles in movies and contemporary styles 9Miss China, tousism photos etc.)

And I have just started my own :) I'll post a few progress pics as I go, I will be going a fair bit of embroidery and applique. Right now I have cut some embroidered designs from a saree and have over dyed them. Next step is to get some ombre effects going on with some more dye and then clipping and sewing to the base fabric. I have plotted the design already on the floor. I am going to need a huge frame for this, so I may invest in some nuts and bolts and work out what I can do with the wood left over from the house rebuild.

Just deciding between a few fabrics as to what to use for the base. I think i'll actually use my white saree and overdye it. It will be the perfect texture after washing and I should be able to piece the robes I want from it.

Mon, 18 May 2009 11:50:54 GMT

Striped taffeta, some time in front of the tv and we have the start of a francaise.

No. I don't want to talk about it.

;)

ebay auctions

Mon, 18 May 2009 11:49:51 GMT

Nice view of the inside seam treatment :)
Nice early 1890s style.
Really nifty 1890s jacket style ensemble, buttons down the back.
Sweet calico 1870s dress :)
Fab moire bodice
j'adore! I have a small collection (of photos) of red dresses from the 1860s and 70s....