JAFA Progress entry #9

And to continue with the productivity, I have completed my blue silk regency spencer. I made this to wear over my blue check cotton gown. Since the gown was so plain and simple, I wanted something pretty to wear with it, and then I found the blue silk. And to top it off, I saw the cross over design of the spencer on a BBC production and decided that I wanted to make something similar.

It took a little fiddling with the pattern to join the two back pieces and then design the curve of the back. I am really happy with how it turned out, and look forward to wearing it with the dress. I even took the needle to it and did a little ribbon embroidery on the front and sleeves, but that will have to wait until I wear the thing. Next project is the matching bonnet.

JAFA Progress entry #8

After a week of feeling like death warmed up, I have finally made a little progress on more of my JAFA sewing. I have made two pairs of late regency drawers. Since I was not quite with it when I started sewing these on Sunday afternoon, they only just got finnished today. Originally these were going to be made at the very last minute as I don't really need them per se, but would like them. They were always a project that would get made if I had time, but since I didn't want to stuff up something else that I was working on, I decided to go with these as they are pretty mindless to sew.

Both pairs are made with a white sheeting cotton as the top half and a nice cotton voile at the bottom. Apparently this was common practice to use a nicer fabric on the bottom to save on money. It worked for me, because I had very little voile left over after cutting out a heap of chemises and a skirt. One pair is pure white with a pretty embroidered cotton lace on the hem. The other pair has a thinner lace on the bottom but with a blue check cotton bias sewn on (left over from my blue day gown).

JAFA Progress entry #7

Now that I am back from Japan, it is time to get a move on with my dresses for JAFA. And on that note, I finnished my next regency day gown on the weekend. It is a blue check tartan, drawstring gown with 3/4 sleeves. It's very simple but I decided to add pleating at the back instead of gathering. I like how it worked out, but the whole idea of the simple gown is that it will have a matching spencer (which I am currently working on) and a bonnet. The spencer is pretty detailed, so that it is the main focus of the ensemble. But here is a sneak peek at the gown.

I am glad that I am making progress on everything, and now I only have a few bits and pieces of accessories to make (last minute if I have time), and 3 more full dresses to go. Not to mention that I need to get a move on making my White Queen costume for Supanova, but that is another project entirely.

JAFA Progress entry #6

Even though I don't have much to show for it, I made a lot of progress for JAFA this weekend gone. I had Friday off on a flex day, so I managed to get a whole lot of fabric cut out. I now have every single one of my gowns for JAFA cut out and ready to be made up. As Saturday was pretty much gone after my Lolita meet, I really made the effort to get stuck into some actual sewing yesterday.

The only pictures I can post at this stage are my latest completed chemises. The one with the yellow ribbon is made of cotton voile and the one with the green ribbon is a thicker cotton that I had leftover from one of my Dad's historical shirts. I figure the thicker one would be better with one of my Georgian gowns or if it is particularly cold one night. With these two chemises included that gives me five in total. Thankfully that's all I am aiming for, so now I really don't have to worry about any more of the wretched things. At least they go together pretty quickly. And now, I can make more progress on the outer garments.

JAFA Progress entry #5

After quite some time, and some very sore fingers, I have finally finished my Georgian undergarments; well aside from petticoats. So far I have my stays...

I used the JP ryan strapless stays pattern to make them, and really it is perfect for me. Normally, because I am rather high waisted, I have to adjust all my patterns to fit, but this one fit to perfection. It even gives me a fantastic period bustline. As you can see, they are bright orange dupion silk (I saw the orange fabric and could not resist in getting it). The are completely boned with both plastic boning and cable ties. Actually, I found a perfect place to get cable ties. Jaycar at Aspley sell ones in heaps of different sizes and lengths, so I was able to get ones that were long enough for the back panels. I did change the lacing at the back so that it is cross instead of spiral, as I have found that spiral will slip on me and ends up loosening in places after a few hours.And yes, it is lined with cupcake fabric.

The next layer is my false rump. This is to help pad out the back of my dress to give it the correct 1780s shape. I made the pattern up by going on a few drawings in 'Costume in Detail'. The fabric is left over from one of my vintage dresses and is 100% cotton, and it is stuffed with some left-over wadding.

Lastly, are my pockets. Also made from left-over fabric (it does come in handy some times) it is from my 1830s ballgown. I thought it appropriate that it was already embroidered so that they would be pretty. They are lined with red cotton voile and bound in pink silk (another leftover). I also used up some of my remaining grosgrain ribbon as the waist tie.