Look, I made a hat

An attention span shorter tha--

2009-11-10T02:42:39Z

OK, so my weekly art class posts didn't take. I guess I was super excited about the class at the start of the semester, but being in class with 19-year-olds has gotten reeeeal old. As in, not a challenge. But after last week's class I will say that a MUST for any of you visiting New York is the Frick Collection. I absolutely love this museum, and this week I was reminded of what a treasure it is. The collection is astonishing.

But in a historical textile matter, take a look at this portrait of Thomas Cromwell by Holbein. Zoom in to the lower left corner. What is that? I don't recognize the pattern. Do you think it's a rug or a blanket strewn over something? I'm stumped!

Tell me

2009-10-24T00:57:41Z

I have 8 yards of dark chocolate brown silk taffeta from the fabric.com sale.

What should I ~~do with it?~~ make with it? (Caught that! Don't say "mail it to me." ;)

New York's Sweet Millions

2009-09-29T00:07:13Z

In lieu of any significant content, I am posting a commercial for the benefit of the non-New Yorkers on my list. This shit is so freaking sweet, get ready for adult onset diabetes.

RIP Ma'am

2009-09-02T22:07:44Z

Adopted 2-22-2002
At peace 9-2-2009

Ideas for mounting costumes for display?

2009-08-24T19:38:52Z

I might have a phenomenal opportunity headed my way that would involve mounting costumes for public display. It's something I would very much like to do, but I'm rather lost as to how I would actually mount the pieces for display. This is, unfortunately, neither a museum setting with mounting resources readily available nor a project with a large budget.

The way the costumes would be mounted would be entirely up to me. I could make it realistic looking, a la displays at Kyoto or the Met, or I can make it abstract, like having the costumes hang from a plain old hanger with little to no "body" visible, provided I somehow give the costumes the proper shape. Human models are out of the question.

I've looked into buying and/or renting mannequins for the display, but unless I can ~~butcher~~ customize them, I doubt I'll achieve the proper fit using an "off-the-rack" form. I'm also considering trying a duct tape form, but that would be a pretty fugly decolletage.

Has anyone out there had experience with mounting costumes for display? Or does anyone have a good idea they could pass along? I'm hopping with excitement about this opportunity, but superstition is getting the best of me and I don't want to jinx anything by saying anything too soon! I appreciate your input!

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CoCo Tea?

2009-07-29T14:14:30Z

Does anybody know of someone who wants to get rid of their ticket to Sunday's Tea?

Please tell me it was a dream

2009-07-21T14:20:53Z

I was reading my friends pages, and koshka_the_cat posted that she had THREE gala dresses to wear this year.

Did this really happen?

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Feeling guilty

2009-07-13T15:58:59Z

I feel horrible for saying this, but I really, really want to go to Costume College. I want to forget that my best friend is dying. I want to finish up some costume pieces and have a stress-free vacation with my costuming friends. There is so much I want to discuss with you guys that I can't do online. I want to ooh and aah over your accomplishments and get the inspiration I've been lacking for mine.

I have no way of knowing how Ma'am is really doing aside from what the vet's lab results are telling me. She is the same old soul she's always been, except now I see she's slower, weaker, and not eating as much. The end stage diagnosis was a complete shock because there has been no change in her demeanor. Part of me wants to forego her kidney diet food and daily sub-q injections, just to give her a stress-free ending. But I will never forgive myself if I look back and feel like I killed her.

There is one more treatment option that the vet gave me, but I opted not to do it. See, your kidneys produce a hormone that tells your bone marrow to make red blood cells. Ma'am's kidneys aren't functioning, so her red blood cell count is practically nonexistent, hence her feeling weak. This last-resort treatment involves injecting her 1-3 times per week with this hormone she's not producing so she can make red blood cells. This also involves weekly monitoring of her red blood cell count. Even if I did the injections at home she would still have to go to the vet at least once a week for a blood sample to send to the lab. Plus, the cost on top of it all... Bottom line, I can't put her through that. But I can't help but feel like I'm quitting on her, either.

I don't know how much time we have left together. In some ways it would be easier for her to go soon. Both of our suffering would end. But I think of yesterday, when I napped on the sofa and she napped on my stomach...I'm tearing up at work thinking about it. I'm not ready to say goodbye. And if I'm gone for five days at CC, maybe she'll think I left her. Remember, it's just the two of us here. I'm her world.

I don't know where this is going. I guess I feel guilty for wanting to forget that she is leaving me. I missed Costume Con 2008 at the last minute and was horribly disappointed. It seems selfish, crass and gauche, though, to choose a stupid convention over the creature I vowed to care for. I'm so in denial. Fuck me.

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sad sad

2009-07-09T03:16:20Z

I'm not a particularly religious person, but I do find comfort in believing that this is the best of all possible worlds, that somehow there is a reason for everything that happens and that the chaotic randomness of our universe is the result of a design that is far greater than we can ever begin to imagine.

I had been immensely peeved when I wasn't selected to teach at Costume College. I had proposed some top-notch lectures (IMHO) and I am aching to add something more sophisticated to my costuming CV in anticipation of applying to grad school at the end of this year. Further, after the burnout of Costume Con, and a thorough self-search about why I costume, I had concluded that a break from Costume College was necessary, and that I wouldn't return next year.

I suppose life happens when you're making plans.

Some of you know that my beloved kitty, Ma'am, suffers from kidney problems. I give her fluids on a nightly basis and she is on a regulated kidney food diet. Today I spoke with her vet about her latest test results. Her disease has progressed to Stage IV renal failure. Terminal. It's a matter of weeks now, if that. Tomorrow we have an appointment to discuss remaining options to make the rest of her life easier.

I'm afraid this means I have to scrap Costume College. I regret not being able to see those of you who weren't able to come to Costume Con, and those of you whom I haven't seen in many years. I want to spend as much time with my little friend before she isn't with me anymore. She is, after all, the love of my life.

Ivory Tudor

2009-06-15T14:04:21Z

Would such a thing as a 1530s-1540s ivory colored Tudor gown have existed? Internet portrait research only yields the ubiquitous red and black color schemes. Did the introduction of white into English fashion come only after the Spanish influence of Elizabethan times? I'm at work and away from my textbooks and would like to know before I get too deep into the plan I'm hatching...

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Fastes de Cour et Ceremonies Royales

2009-05-13T00:21:46Z

I...I...I can hardly formulate a thought. I got my book of the exhibition currently at Versailles.

Page 60. White redingote. Claimed.

WE ARE FIERCE

2009-05-10T02:00:53Z

Photo from trystbat

Stripedy Polonaise Alert!!!

2009-04-23T03:37:29Z

Resurfacing for a quick hello...and to announce that you can find me at 123 Stripedy Lane, Polonaiseville!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the pictures are horrible, but you get the idea. Lots more trimming to be done on it, but I'll call it Good Enough for its debut in Williamsburg next week!

Gable hoods

2009-04-14T18:35:26Z

Who on my f-list has made a gable hood? I'm not happy with the results I'm getting using the Tudor Tailor technique. Anyone have good luck with the TT or any other construction method?

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Best news ever!

2009-04-09T14:48:36Z

Angela of Burnley and Trowbridge just emailed me and told me she is coming to Costime College! And she is brimging Janea Whitacre with her!!!

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Tap tap is this thing on?

2009-04-09T02:18:04Z

Screw LOST, I have a new shiny to distract me tonight! :D

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Jubilima and the Mystery of the Black Tudor Pearls

2009-04-03T21:45:11Z

Thank you for all your responses to my last post regarding the use of black pearls in the Tudor era. As seekatesew and myladyswardrobe pointed out, it was most likely that the 19th century touch-up of the Holbein sketch darkened the pearls, and that the original was probably white pearls.

I believe this is the sketch that the print was based on, and indeed the 19th century version did employ artistic license with the pearl decoration.

Case closed! :)

Tudor pearls

2009-04-03T03:18:43Z

I'm in love with the pearl treatment on this gable hood:

Supposedly this is a 19th century print of a Holbein drawing. I'm not so well educated on Holbein's work, so I truly don't know if the pearls are black in the original. I'm scouring wardrobe accounts trying to find proof of colored pearls, but I'm not having much luck. I see entries relating to golden pearls, ragged pearls, and even glass pearls, but nothing about black pearls.

So...before my eyes cross any further, does anybody have any evidence that they were available/used? I have the feeling that the proof will be right there in front of my face.

Of course, if anyone has a suggestion as to what else they could be besides black pearls, please say so.

A sneak peek of Anne Boleyn

2009-04-02T02:48:32Z

OK, not only do I suck at keeping Sekrit Projects (TM), but I find it impossible to keep my trap shut once I let the cat out of the bag.

I am SO EXCITED about my Anne Boleyn costume. I LOVE IT! I know I probably shouldn't do this...but it's been so long since I"ve been so proud of a costume, I have to share! I'll keep it behind a cut, if you prefer the surprise.

So, if you would like to sneak a peek at my Historical Masquerade costume...

Boo-yah! April Fools!

C'mon, you didn't REALLY fall for that, did you? ;)

I ARE A WEEKEND WARRIOR!

2009-03-23T02:19:59Z

Marathon sewing weekend complete, baby! And to wrap it up, here is one last post:

Good night! More update pictures next weekend!

Kirtle neckline fixed!

2009-03-23T00:10:00Z

Thank you to the excellent comments about the cord neckline on my Tudor kirtle. After reading everyone's input, I came up with a solution that works for me.

I removed the old cord casing, and made another using a thinner linen. Then I flipped the cording to the inside of the bodice:

When I stitched down the cording, I stab stitched all the way through all the layers of the kirtle:

Everything gets covered up by the decorative fabric anyway, and the cord can still be tightened:

Voila! Thank you ladies, I couldn't have done it without you!

Tudor kirtle halp

2009-03-22T17:55:51Z

I'm running into a little bit of difficulty with the neckline on my Tudor kirtle. I'm following the Tudor Tailor technique of using a drawstring cord to get the top of the bodice smooth against my chest, and that seems to work out just fine. The problem is now applying the decorative fabric to the top of the bodice. The TT instructions seem to indicate that the top of the neckline is to be pressed so that the channel is on the inside, but all the fabric is so bulky that it doesn't want to fold that way.. At best, it looks like I can stitch down the decorative fabric to lay prettily beneath the cording channel, but that means that the cording channel then becomes the top of the neckline. That doesn't seem like the look I should be going for.

Can anyone out there give me any suggestions to help solve this problem?

ETA: Pictures to clarify

Here is the front of the kirtle. It's not lying smoothly on my dummy because a) nothing fits my dummy and b) the drawstring cord is loose. You can see how the cord wants to be at top of the neckline:

Here is the back of the kirtle. I have stitched down about six inches of the decorative fabric on the left side. See how the cord tries to peek out? I even tried stitching the decorative fabric by catching some of the cord casing, but I don't think that will work out in the long run because if I accidentally stitch into the cord itself, the drawstring method won't work after all:

Here I just let the cording roll out to where it wants to be. The fabric likes doing this, but I don't think this is the period-correct look:

Here you can see that I futzed with the cording a little bit to try to get it to turn toward the inside of the bodice. This would be fine if I thought it might stay that way, but with body movement the whole thing will eventually slide out to where it wants to go anyway:

Riding habit progress pics

2009-03-16T16:42:04Z

This is the riding habit begun at the Burnley and Trowbridge workshop led by Mark Hutter. It's made of white silk-and-worsted blend (only $12/yard, absolutely stunning color, weight, and drape, courtesy of B&T), and the waistcoat and accent linings are made of the same Keroualle Red silk satin that I'm using for the Charles II project.

I think that my jacket skirts are a little too long in the back, but we'll call it Good Enough For Now.

Here's a peek at the Keroualle Red lining of the jacket skirts.

Now onto the eleventy-million buttonholes for the waistcoat. *groan*

Plottin'...

2009-03-09T04:56:39Z

Are any of my friends out there planning on doing Steampunk at Costume Con? I have FAR TOO MUCH ON MY PLATE to be thinking of adding another costume to my To-Make list, but I am really, really tempted to play Steampunk again. Ever since marchek introduced me to Dances of Vice last summer, I've been itching to get back into Steampunk fun. :)

Oooh...speaking of Dances of Vice, do I know of anyone who is going to Le Sacre du Printemps in two weeks?

Thought of the day

2009-03-09T04:37:43Z

I'm hard at work on my Anne Boleyn kirtle, and the more I get into it the more I want to make an honest and sturdy Kentwell-accurate working class gown.