Entries tagged with 1900s knitted vest

2016 in Review

This ended up seeming to be a year of little pieces more than full garments, though I did make costumes from the skin out for the 1690's and 1910's. I did a lot of knitting this year. One of my goals for the year was to do better with my hair for events, and I think I succeeded. There were some hairdos that I was very proud of. I got to go to a lot of events in different periods and had some opportunities to wear things that I had never really gotten to wear. One of the best parts was getting to meet a couple of LJ friends in real life in July.

I finally made the Le Baiser dress I had been planning for years.

( The rest is behind the cut: )

Entry tags:

Progress Report

My project count exploded yesterday. I cut out a pair of shorts from the same pattern that I used for my playsuit shorts last year but in more serviceable brown twill. I cut out three linen Regency bodice linings because it was probably easier to cut three while the linen was out than to get it out again later. I started knitting a vest. So now I have seven projects that are in some state of completion.

The exciting thing is that I'm halfway through the knitting for my shamrock purse!

The center section is running about 30 rows to the inch so I've got about 55 more rows to go before I get back to the much faster-moving and more interesting beading. At least I can read a novel while working this part, even if I wouldn't dare read something serious.

My 1916 dress is progressing. It got some nasty looks for a bit because the chiffon ended up being too opaque to work well with my inspiration image so I'm reworking it a bit. The skirt is making good progress. Currently it's hanging, letting the bias drop. I'll get back to it later this week. I'm not sure how far I'll get since I am having bodice fitting issues that I'll have to resolve. Ah, well.

With the mitts finished, of course I needed another mindless knitting project. The vest is from 1912 pattern book published by Lion Brand yarn.

I suspect the model is not wearing the size given - somehow she looks a lot more buxom than a 34"-36" bust. This is interesting because the back is in single ribbing up to the armscyes, which should ensure that the vest keeps a close fit. We'll see how it goes. I've wanted one of these knitted vests ever since I saw a picture of one from a DAR museum exhibit. (I've linked to it before, but I don't want to go and find it right now.)

Entry tags:

Petticoat Seaming

I started seaming up the 1892 knitted petticoat panels today so that I could estimate how many more panels I need to make. The pattern calls for seaming them with single crochet. That's a pain in the neck. I don't crochet, though I own a couple of crochet hooks for picking up dropped stitches. One seam took me half an hour. Then it looked lousy. The only way I could see to do it was to stitch through the edge stitches, but the seam just doesn't open out flat like a whip-stitched seam so it really doesn't disappear into the knitting. So I did the other two seams with a whip stitch, and I like them much better. Now I have to decide whether I'm too lazy to redo the first seam, leaving it as the center back seam, or whether I'll actually redo it. It doesn't look awful.

The double row of eyelets to the left in the picture is a whip-stitched seam. The next one is the middle of a panel. The row on the right is the single crochet seam. I definitely like the whip-stitched one better.

And the answer to how many more panels? I think I'll need two more, but it could be three. I'll finish five and six and see how it looks then. Number five is almost halfway finished, and my short term plans involve a lot of driving so completion may not be so far off after all. Then I'll be in the market for another knitting project.

By the way, has anyone seen a c. 1900 vest pattern? I want to make one like this one at the DAR museum. (You have to click through a slide show to get to the picture on the DAR website so I linked to Pinterest instead.) I'm guessing I'll end up making a sweater with no sleeves, but I was hoping to find a vest pattern.