At Her Leisure

I finished this hat back in the spring. As usual, I didn't feel like doing hair so that I could get good hat pictures so I put it off until I wore it at Costume College. Then I forgot that I hadn't posted it so I still didn't post pictures. Now you can finally have pictures not only of the hat but of the full ensemble.



As a bonus, here's a picture of me with the finished hat and my mother-in-law with the mockup. Obviously brim shaping works a lot better when the brim is wired.



It's the Timely Tresses Sophia with the straight crown and brim 4. Brim 4 definitely feels like an afterthought. It's not mentioned anywhere in the instructions, and the headsize opening is elliptical while the tip is circular so the crown is a little funky. I didn't notice in the mockup and couldn't bring myself to tear it all back apart after I had assembled the buckram frame so I left it alone. With bows and flowers up against it, you don't notice, but it really should have an oval tip.

I doubled the buckram in the brim because that is a big brim, and it needed the extra stiffness. It's mulled with muslin and covered with ivory silk taffeta. The ribbons are moire rayon ribbons in a couple of widths of ivory and one width of green. The flowers are velvet forget-me-nots.

I varied a little from the fashion plate in trimming it because I was informed that the bow up near the top of the crown on the side looked stupid. I didn't disagree and decided to do something a little different. I also didn't have a nice wide piece of lace to drape over the edge of the brim so I was going to have to make a variance there anyway. I'm pleased with how it came out, and it sits well on the head. I did not need a hatpin or to tie the ribbons under my chin instead of at the waist like the fashion plate showed. Hats that stay put are the best. (I was not out in a stiff breeze. I'm sure it would need a little help in that situation.)

I'm generally quite pleased with the whole outfit. The flounces on the skirt gave it really good body, even for a wool with a lot of drape. The pelerine came out at just the right level of sheerness. The bonnet sits well. I look forward to wearing this one again.

I'd love to give credit to the photographer, but I don't remember who took these pictures. marianme? theladyrebecca? koshka_the_cat? mala_14? It could be any of them! Or even someone else I haven't thought of.

I ended up sewing more over the weekend than I really felt justified in. I got other stuff done too, but there's still a list. (Of course, there will always be a list because there will always be little stuff that would be better done.)

That being said, I finished the 1826 promenade dress. I was pleased to see that the weight of the flounces does indeed make the hem hang nicely with the padding in it.



It's a green wool with bodice and sleeves lined in linen. I put a layer of silk organza in the tops of the sleeves, but it still doesn't provide enough loft. The wool has lots of drape to it, which I like but is less than ideal for these sleeves. I tried it on with the 1830's sleeve puffs, but they're too big and stuff the sleeves full. I'll need to do something to support them a bit, but I need to figure out what. The Lady's Stratagem was no help. (To be fair, it's like 600 pages long, and I only looked at the index and flipped through a few other pages so there could be something I didn't see.)

Today I realized that I made a smock for the late 16th century/early 17th century a few years ago. Since body linens were mostly unchanged for ages and ages, a 14th century smock should be very, very similar to a 16th century one. I used a pattern from The Tudor Tailor so it really is probably meant for the 15th-16th centuries. It's also really similar to the instructions from The Medieval Tailor's Assistant so I feel like I'm on very stable ground not making a new one.

Between finishing the dress and not needing to make a smock, my Costume College list is in better shape. I still want bathing shoes (started), a 14th century gown, a wimple, a veil, and a 1930's dress, but that's a much more achievable list.

I started cutting out an 1826 promenade dress this evening. It made me appreciate that I’ve been doing this for awhile. I used the skirt from my 1820’s copper evening dress, the bodice from my 1835 paisley dress with extra fullness, and the oversleeve from the same 1820’s dress from Patterns of Fashion, even though I didn’t use it for my 1820’s dress a dozen years ago.

I still need to cut the lining, the belt, and the flounces, but I’ll wait on the flounces until I have the dress mostly together so I can figure out how deep they should be.