Debbie's 1849 Skirt and Blouse

And the long weekend has finally rolled around. I am looking forward to getting lots of work done on my costuming this weekend. I do have a couple of things planned, but in the meantime I have every intention of knuckling down to work. I had the afternoon of work yesterday, so I was able to come home and make a good start on my upcoming projects. The main thing was getting some cutting out done so that I can actually start sewing up some more of my stuff.



And it really worked. I got so much done yesterday. Apart from the cutting out, I finished my mum's 1840s skirt.

It was mostly done, but I had to add the silk band above the detail. Without it, I was loosing the detail in the skirt. This helps it stand out a lot more. I have to say though, I found the pinning of all the pleats rather tedious. The colour of the silk is a tie through in the whole outfit. The bonnet and reticule as well as the belt will be made out of the silk as well as detail on the garibaldi blouse that I have also finished.


The white cotton is fully lined front and back with white quilters cotton to elliminate the need for a corset cover. But I did carry the colours through the blouse by using the skirt fabric at the neck and on the cuffs. So that this blouse is never going to be used as with another outfit, but will be a complete set. The other thing that I used the silk on is my dad' vest:


It helps make my mum and dad look more like a couple by tying the colour through, plus the purple will go really well with his suit (which will be grey). Oh, and I lined the vest with some of the leftover fabric from mum's skirt. I did change the pattern a little this time, in that it is cut straight across at the bottom. And mum covered the buttons for with the silk for me (I don't do buttons). So credit to mum for helping me out.