Heh. Heh heh BONNET

[mandie_rw]

Okay, well, I solved my "which part of the Regency do I want to make a dress from" dilemma...

...by being wildly extravagant and buying myself a Timely Tresses bonnet!

It's v. nice:

And will solidly put me in the post-1810 years. Yay for not having to actually make decisions! I've been plotting all week - when my virtual students were writing essays and taking quizzes, I was not in fact doing Teacher Prep Stuff! It's very close to what I would have made myself (barring color of trimmings, because I hadn't settled on that. But I love red!), so what the hell, Treat Yo Self, right? Let a professional sew that straw form together!

It's not TERRIBLY blowing my budget, either...pricey, yes, but what do I do this teaching crap for except to buy costume stuff, amirite? Now I'm really not allowed to buy yardage for the outfit, though. (Notions, ok, yardage, not.) And I checked the fabric stash inventory list, and I forgot that I have a big chunk of white swiss dot that was on a stupid-good sale a few years ago...so I can in fact have a white dress as a base if I want, if the old one doesn't fit any more.

So, depending on weather, and whether (ha ha) we do April or July (or both!), I'm narrowing down the current final contestants to at least one of these, or some combination thereof:

- Cream figured poplin pelisse, trimmed with some color of silk (have red, might be too matchy? Investigation required)
- Little white swiss dot v.2.0
- Retrim red linen spencer (I really didn't have enough trim for the effect I wanted; it looks passable but I'd like it better redone)
- Sage green mini-stripe silk spencer (this week in Pinterest research I remembered what I wanted to do with it...something based on this. Not an exact recreation, but I quite like the 'petals' effect! Even though, ugh, so much piping...)

Comments

[marianme]

Hurrah for plans and lovely bonnet.

[mandie_rw]

Plans are MOST FUN. And I'm excited for a professionally made bonnet...I'm a competent milliner overall so I usually go for the cheaper option of me-made, but this will be a treat!

[atherleisure]

Very pretty bonnet. I like the green striped silk spencer a lot. I like green a lot.

[mandie_rw]

Green is a definite favorite of mine! I've moved away from it a bit, but way way back in the mid-00s when I started sewing, I made at least three or four green gowns. There are so many great shades! <3

[hharris]

Ooh, la, la. It's a nice thing to spend money on!

[mandie_rw]

I thought so! Very worth it. <3

[mala_14]

Oooh that bonnet is darling!

My vote (although all the options sound great) is for the poplin pelisse, maybe trimmed with green or blue or a blue-y green or a green-y blue, so that it's not too matchy with the bonnet. Which would also leave you the option of retrimming the red linen spencer should the weather be too hot for the pelisse, since that sounds like less work than the other options. But of course all plans are subject to change and the whims of the seamstress!

[mandie_rw]

Isn't it just?! I saw it while browsing their site for ideas, was like, oh, I should make something like THAT, hmm, let's start sourcing supplies...and then later realized - orrrrr I could just BUY it, haha.

Heh. Most definitely subject to the whims of the seamstress! ;) I really like the idea of the cream poplin trimmed with green, though. I think I still have some bits of a kind of mid-olive-green in the small-yardage basket...hmmm hmmm.

[brickhousewench]

I NOW HAVE BONNET ENVY!

[mandie_rw]

:D Isn't it FAB? I'm pretty sure I should wear it while doing all my Regency sewing this year, it'll definitely be inspiring, hahaha!