At Her Leisure

I realized that I never posted about the 1900's hat I made earlier this year after I finished it. I got as far as putting pictures up on Flickr and then forgot about writing the actual post.

I took the Costume On 1900's hat class, and this is what came of it. Everything was supplied in the kit except for the roses and ribbons that trim it.



It's a wire frame hat. The brim is covered with a densely woven plain-weave cotton and a fine net that is tucked on the underside and puffed on the top side. The brim is covered with a light braid. I'm very pleased with how it came out. Part of the class was making a bandeau to help it sit properly on the head, but when I went to figure out how to place it, I actually didn't want it. I put it with the rest of the millinery supplies, and perhaps I'll use it on a future project.





I learned some things in the class, particularly about bandeaux and common styles from the mid-1900's (decade, not century). I had made a wire-frame bonnet before so there wasn't really anything new there. The timing of the class left something to be desired. It was a three-hour class that began with a discussion of styles. By the halfway point we had only worked on our bandeaux. Then we took a short break and started the wire frames when we came back. With twenty minutes left in the class, we had the crowns but really hadn't started the brims. The instructor spent the last twenty minutes going through all the remaining steps required. There had been enough previews of coming steps earlier on that I was ahead on constructing the frame, and I did finish the class with a finished frame and finished bandeau. I was way ahead of the next student, who had started attaching the first brim wire. We were invited to come back to future sessions of the class for more assistance, but I did not do so. I was able to follow the rest of the instructions from my notes.

I went to the second session that the class was taught so it is entirely possible that any future sessions will have much better timing.

I wore the hat to Costume College with the 1908 eyelet dress that I only wore for a couple of hours last year before spilling my lunch on it.





Even though the brim is heavily biased toward the front, it was a fairly stable hat to wear. That was a pleasant surprise.

It took three washes, but all the mustard came out of my eyelet dress.

The next time a sandwich looks overfull I’ll knock some stuff off of it before attempting to eat it.

I got pictures of my 1908 eyelet dress. My mother-in-law took them over the weekend.





It's cotton eyelet with a pattern from The Edwardian Modiste scaled to my size. I really do like how the scaled patterns work. This one needed very little adjustment - it was really just about figuring out what seam allowances were given and which ones you had to add. Pieces were not given for the collar and sleeve bands so I had to make those up. It's the first truly well-fitted collar I've managed, which made me happy.

I gave myself all of Sunday afternoon to be idle. That meant reading four short stories out of Mr. Mulliner Speaking and working on the 1908 eyelet dress. I made a lot of progress - the skirt is in one piece, the jumper bodice is assembled pending fitting, and the waist is well under way. I worked on the waist more last night so it just needs a collar and sleeves to be finished. It's actually a separate garment from the combined jumper and skirt, which it took a couple of readings of the pattern to realize. I may end up basting the two pieces together at the waistline if they don't want to cooperate.