2019 Costuming Year in Review
Dec. 27th, 2019 02:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mandie_rwSince, let's be real, I'm not gonna finish anything major in the next couple of days! Maybe that plaid skirt...
2019 Things I Sewed That Are Worth Documenting. (Not counting UFOs created, or hats/headwear things. Hats count but they don't fit nicely into this kind of writeup!)
- 1770s melton cloak. This was just finishing off a UFO but I'm still counting it! Haven't worn it since, of course...
- Early Victorian Dude Clothes. Day vest, shirt, collars, evening vest, day coat, and adjusting various ready-made pieces. Ugh ugh ugh. I love bringing him to events, and I love dressing him up, but wow boy clothes are not fun to sew. I'll continue to do it when I need to, but I am for sure gonna avoid it when I can! His Young Victoria outfits, for instance, are worn for 1860s too, because 99% of the population doesn't actually know or care about the differences between 1840 and 1860s in the cut of man-clothes. I have done enough basic research to know the difference but...if I give him the kind of variety of costumes that I have, we'll have to buy a house, like, tomorrow. ;)
(He's awful spiffy though. #biased)
- Basic basic mid-16thc Flemish working class outfit: kirtle, cap, and sleeves. I have the fabric for the rest of it, now I just need a reason and time! Ha ha haaaaa. The too-long waist really bugs me so I still may take it off and redo it, but it was fun to dip a toe back into 16thc costuming, which is what originally sparked my interest in costuming. Also it's all linen and unboned so very comfy.
- Lavender plaid wool 1898 outfit. Along with all accompanying underwear - net corset, new drawers, chemise, accessories. This took a while! I don't love the jacket collar, which is stupid, and I ran out of time and inspiration for trim, but I adore the outfit as a whole. This event reinforced the fact that that little transitional period between 1898-1901 is my jam, yo. It just speaks to my sensibilities!
- Gettysburg Schtuff! Let's see...added plaid to the ballgown, finished a dinner-appropriate version of the horrible chartreuse dress, and finished off the rational dress outfit. Rational dress was really fun to wear, and I want to have another event in it, just for the hell of it. Preferably one where Alice and I get to clamber on rocks again.
Things I Want to Sew in the New Year But Probably Won't (2020 edition)
Priority:
- UFOs. Finish, throw away, sell...whatever needs to be done! This remains on the list and probably always will... Including a serious reevaluation of the costume closet here: there are entire eras that my group just doesn't do any more, won't do any time in the foreseeable future, and the clothes for it are just taking up space. I also have waaaaay too much 18thc for the amount we do it these days.
- Revamp the underwear bin. Take stock of everything from corsets to chemises. There is currently nothing on the docket for 2020 that I need to build from the skin out, so I want to add to and/or replace some things. Finish the green linen 1770s stays, replace the "Regency" corded bodice/petticoat combo with short stays and a new petticoat, and possibly replace my 1860s corset. It fits just fine, but it's white silk, and since I've been wearing it since 2013 it's getting fairly grody! It'll definitely need replacing by next Gettysburg, so if I have nothing else to work on, that's a good one to do.
- Wearable mockup of Vintage Vogue #1669. I want to make this coat as a dress, out of green wool...it's a weird bee I've had in my bonnet since the pattern came out! I still can't find the wool I have in my head; I want a dark emerald-to-forest green 90-100% wool, in a weight that's heavier than your usual suiting but not full-on coat weight, and that's apparently a really tall order, even disregarding price! Green is really damn hard to find. (So if anyone has a suggestion outside the usual sources that costumers use for wool, feel free to pipe up!) Currently contemplating the B&T broadcloth, although I think it's darker than I want... Anyway, since whatever wool I buy will be almost definitely in the $25+/yd range, I want to work out the kinks in another version first! (Hello, I am not a tailor. This will require tailoring. Eep.) I have some black and white mostly-wool glen plaid that I think will work nicely for that, so if I'm a good girl I will manage to make that while the weather's still cool enough to wear it. We'll see...
Secondary:
- c1900 bathing costume. I still want to do this! But honestly it's so much more fun in my head when there's a group of us, and I don't think it's too high on anybody else's sewing list, so...someday.
- New sack gown. Do I have anywhere to wear it? No. Do I have the fabric for it? Also no. Do I have an unfinished sack in the UFO bin? *looks shifty* Would I still like to make a c1770 silk taffeta sack for no good reason? Yes. Will I? Almost definitely not.
- Floral print linen 1838-40 day dress. I think I cut this out last year in blissful anticipation of having about 3x more sewing time than I actually did before the Young Victoria dinner. Maybe I'll make it for this one?
- 1898-1900 dinner dress. For an event that's only actually happening in my head, but dammit it's fun to plan! This would be a challenge, as I'm only allowed to use a dress length from the Stash. I have ideas though...
2019 Things I Sewed That Are Worth Documenting. (Not counting UFOs created, or hats/headwear things. Hats count but they don't fit nicely into this kind of writeup!)
- 1770s melton cloak. This was just finishing off a UFO but I'm still counting it! Haven't worn it since, of course...
- Early Victorian Dude Clothes. Day vest, shirt, collars, evening vest, day coat, and adjusting various ready-made pieces. Ugh ugh ugh. I love bringing him to events, and I love dressing him up, but wow boy clothes are not fun to sew. I'll continue to do it when I need to, but I am for sure gonna avoid it when I can! His Young Victoria outfits, for instance, are worn for 1860s too, because 99% of the population doesn't actually know or care about the differences between 1840 and 1860s in the cut of man-clothes. I have done enough basic research to know the difference but...if I give him the kind of variety of costumes that I have, we'll have to buy a house, like, tomorrow. ;)
(He's awful spiffy though. #biased)
- Basic basic mid-16thc Flemish working class outfit: kirtle, cap, and sleeves. I have the fabric for the rest of it, now I just need a reason and time! Ha ha haaaaa. The too-long waist really bugs me so I still may take it off and redo it, but it was fun to dip a toe back into 16thc costuming, which is what originally sparked my interest in costuming. Also it's all linen and unboned so very comfy.
- Lavender plaid wool 1898 outfit. Along with all accompanying underwear - net corset, new drawers, chemise, accessories. This took a while! I don't love the jacket collar, which is stupid, and I ran out of time and inspiration for trim, but I adore the outfit as a whole. This event reinforced the fact that that little transitional period between 1898-1901 is my jam, yo. It just speaks to my sensibilities!
- Gettysburg Schtuff! Let's see...added plaid to the ballgown, finished a dinner-appropriate version of the horrible chartreuse dress, and finished off the rational dress outfit. Rational dress was really fun to wear, and I want to have another event in it, just for the hell of it. Preferably one where Alice and I get to clamber on rocks again.
Things I Want to Sew in the New Year But Probably Won't (2020 edition)
Priority:
- UFOs. Finish, throw away, sell...whatever needs to be done! This remains on the list and probably always will... Including a serious reevaluation of the costume closet here: there are entire eras that my group just doesn't do any more, won't do any time in the foreseeable future, and the clothes for it are just taking up space. I also have waaaaay too much 18thc for the amount we do it these days.
- Revamp the underwear bin. Take stock of everything from corsets to chemises. There is currently nothing on the docket for 2020 that I need to build from the skin out, so I want to add to and/or replace some things. Finish the green linen 1770s stays, replace the "Regency" corded bodice/petticoat combo with short stays and a new petticoat, and possibly replace my 1860s corset. It fits just fine, but it's white silk, and since I've been wearing it since 2013 it's getting fairly grody! It'll definitely need replacing by next Gettysburg, so if I have nothing else to work on, that's a good one to do.
- Wearable mockup of Vintage Vogue #1669. I want to make this coat as a dress, out of green wool...it's a weird bee I've had in my bonnet since the pattern came out! I still can't find the wool I have in my head; I want a dark emerald-to-forest green 90-100% wool, in a weight that's heavier than your usual suiting but not full-on coat weight, and that's apparently a really tall order, even disregarding price! Green is really damn hard to find. (So if anyone has a suggestion outside the usual sources that costumers use for wool, feel free to pipe up!) Currently contemplating the B&T broadcloth, although I think it's darker than I want... Anyway, since whatever wool I buy will be almost definitely in the $25+/yd range, I want to work out the kinks in another version first! (Hello, I am not a tailor. This will require tailoring. Eep.) I have some black and white mostly-wool glen plaid that I think will work nicely for that, so if I'm a good girl I will manage to make that while the weather's still cool enough to wear it. We'll see...
Secondary:
- c1900 bathing costume. I still want to do this! But honestly it's so much more fun in my head when there's a group of us, and I don't think it's too high on anybody else's sewing list, so...someday.
- New sack gown. Do I have anywhere to wear it? No. Do I have the fabric for it? Also no. Do I have an unfinished sack in the UFO bin? *looks shifty* Would I still like to make a c1770 silk taffeta sack for no good reason? Yes. Will I? Almost definitely not.
- Floral print linen 1838-40 day dress. I think I cut this out last year in blissful anticipation of having about 3x more sewing time than I actually did before the Young Victoria dinner. Maybe I'll make it for this one?
- 1898-1900 dinner dress. For an event that's only actually happening in my head, but dammit it's fun to plan! This would be a challenge, as I'm only allowed to use a dress length from the Stash. I have ideas though...
