Accessoares – Page 2 – Fashion Through Herstory

Elizabeth I – Construction Part 2 – Partlet

Published on November 9, 2016November 8, 2016 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

Once the dress was finished I got started on the accessories.
First up – the Partlet:

I decided right from the start that I would need something to ad a more “Historical” air to my costume, and what would better serve then a nice little shrug in a matching fabric (except some fabulous headgear – hold on, we will be getting to that – later).

Bildresultat för partlet elizabeth Queen Elizabeth in a magnificent outfit, and what seems to be a blackworked partlet/shift.

I’ve one one of these pieces before a couple of years ago for my sister. CIMG3175 Theater costume for the fictional play “The Tempest”

This time, like last time, I used the pattern from “The Tudor Tailor”.
Bildresultat för partlet pattern This is not the pattern I used but, one I found during a quick google search.

I used the leftover golden brocade and cut the pieces.Unfortunately I didn’t manage to pattern match as good as I would have liked, but that something I can live with at this point.

The lining is made from regular white cotton and scraps of fake fur to get hat lux and cosy feeling I wanted.

Doing the whole thing using modern techniques I stitched the outer fabric and the lining together separately and then pinned them together all around.

In one long seam I stitched the whole thing together.

Sandwiching the ties at each lower corner.

Then I snipped all the curves to get them to lie flat.

I used an opening in the lining (which I left open when I stitched the lining together) to turn the whole thing right.

I finished by stitching the opening shut, adding a hook and eye at the lower front edge and pressing the partlet into a nice crisp shape.

The Inside

The Finished Partlet:

The facts:

What: An 16th century Partlet

Pattern: Drafted from “The Tudor Tailor”, even though you can use several of the free patterns available online.

Fabric & Notions: Scraps (2 pieces about 30 x 50 cm) of brocade and white cotton sheets, 3 pieces of fake fur (about 30 x 20 cm) and thread.

Time & Cost: This was a real quick and cheap project which took les then 2 hours and cost almost nothing (since I used scraps)

Final Thoughts: I really like the way it came out (even though I didn’t had the fabric to pattern match the front. I love making these quick and small pieces and are actually thinking of making more of them in lots of different color, fabrics and styles.

Jewelry fit for a Queen

Published on November 2, 2016 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

Earlier this year, when planing one of the major costumes (If you follow me on Instagram you already know of which costume I speak) I wanted to attempt this year, I stumbled upon the perfect accessories in an Etsy shop:
Evil-Ogis-GarbRecycled-Rockstah*

Namely this set of Tudor jewelry.
Photo from “Evil-Ogis-GarbRecycled-Rockstah”

Not only did it include all the pieces I ever dreamed of (ok, minus a ginormous tiara ;-)), but you was also to chose the color of the pearls, metal and chokade pieces. Yay!

Photo from “Evil-Ogis-GarbRecycled-Rockstah”

There was Sooo many colors I wanted (imagine Ruby red, Smaragd green or beautiful Amathyst), but I finally settled for a ivory pearl, gold metal with a auburn chockade.

In my hurry to order I accidentally hit the “Buy” button twice. Ops!
But before I had time to send an email explaining my mistake, I got a message asking if I indeed meant to buy two sets or if they should cancel one of the orders. Talk about costumer service 🙂

Then all there was to wait…

…for the package.

It arrived in a lovely box

with all my Tudor goodies inside

Pretty!

Lets take a closer look:

Bust piece:This was the piece that I coveted most of them all. And it looks exactly as I imaged.

Lovely pendant at the center.

Girdle:
It have a chain in back for size adjustments which is really smart. My only wish is for the hanging front piece to be a little bit longer, like you see in portraits of the time, but I get that that would give it another price.

Necklace:

Earings:

The complete set:
You could never wear to much jewelry, right?

I’m so pleased with the set and love the color and quality of all the pieces. And think hey look great and really authentic for the period.
And just the other day I took them for a real test drive…

*I don’t get any financial (or other) gain for promoting this site or its products, but are simply a happy customer, who like to show things I like on my blog 🙂

1450s Borgia Headwear

Published on September 25, 2016 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

I also needed something on my head to go with my new “Borgia” dress.
So I decided to make a simple headband (kind of a stripped down french hood) with a hair net to hide my hair, or lack thereof.

For the construction I used ” A Damsel in this Dress” great tutorial on hoods.
(www.adamselindisdress.wordpress.com/2014/09/16/how-to-make-french-hoods)

The materialsI used the same striped brocade as n the dress, on top of buckram and lined with cotton scraps.

Cutting the outer fabric

Using the machine to attach the milliner wire to the Buckram

Pinning and stitching the fabric to the frame

Adding lace to the edge

And a velvet strip to be decorated with pearls.

Then I attached the lining

I used a bought, blue hairnet to pick up the colors from the dress.

I really wanted to add beads to the hairnet as seen in paintings of the time (and in “The Borgias” series) but it didn’t work at all. So after a few tries I decided to go on without them.

I finished the headband by stitching the hairnet to the cresent and adding wig snaps to the inside to keep it on my head.

Finished headdress (and a sneak a peak of the dress being worn)

Just the facts:

Challenge: Nr 5/2016 Holes

What: a 1490s Italian headwear – Cresent with hairnet.

Pattern: I made my own.

Fabric/notions: Thread, Scraps of striped brocade, cotton, buckram, lace ribbon, velvet ribbon, some pearls and about 60 cm of millinery wire. And of course a hairnet.

How historical accurate: Not sure., Since I didn’t really did any research for this one, but just wanted a pretty headress to go with my dress (Sorry). maybe 3/10.

Time: Most of it are hand made, so I guestimate about 2-3 hours.

Cost: Slim to none since it all was scraps, but lets say 50 Sek (8 Usd) for everything (including the hairnet*).

First worn: Late august for photos, and a few days later on he yearly Medieval fair.

Final thoughts: I think it looks pretty and works well with the dress. It does also do the job of (togheter with some lose hair ringlets) hiding my own short hair.

*Gott’a love Ebay 🙂

2015 – A year in rerview

Published on February 13, 2016 by fashionthrougherstory3 Comments

I’m a bit behind in posting, but here are a summary of the items I made last year.

January:

I started the year with grand planes (pun intended) and made pannier for the first HSM challenge of the year – Foundation

And one snowy evening I cobbled together a fake fur hat to match my neck-stole

February:

For Februarys challenge – blue, I continued with the winter theme and finished my Redingote which I´ve started in the fall.

I also had the time to (start) and finish a 18th century maids outfit for the 3rd challenge – Stashbusting.

Mars:

And while I was in the mood to clear out some stash I also made a “Little red riding hood” 18th century cape

and a brown wool skirt for my sister.

April:

April came with spring, and I made a summery outfit for “Lady Mary” and the – War and Peace challenge

I also made a 1860s blouse and 1850s silk bonnet for a summer event.

May:

In May I made a cotton blouse for the – Practicality challenge and then a skirt, hat and belt to go with it.

June:

In June I scrambled to finish my 1850s plaid summer dress in time for an event.

Then I had some fun designing and making a crazy 18th(ish) century masquarde costume.

July:

Almost all of July was spent on making this 17th century bodice (and skirt and accessories) for Isis wardrobes “Sew 17th century challenge”

August:

August is medieval month in our part of town so I made an 15th century Burgundian dress for my sister

And used an old thrift store find to complete the -Heirlome challenge with a 1850s farmers dress.

September:

September, with its magical colors and a drawing to the forest, made me want to make an “Outlander” inspired outfit.
And to make a stylish (yet autumn inspired) 1900s day dress for the Brown Challenge.

October:

For the Sewing secrets Challenge, I made a new skirt to my 17th century bodice (not yet blogged about)

It was around this time my head finally caught up with my body and realized I was pregnant, and needed to slow the heck down.
And that´s exactly what I did – I closed the door to my sewing room, and have just now started to once again peak through the key hole.

And so my sewing year of 2015 ends in October.

I´t will be some time before I´m back to more regular posting and sewing (but I finally starting to dream of pretty dresses again) so hopefully I can show you some new stuff in not so long.

*For more pictures and construction of the pieces take a look at the “Portfolio” page.

Past Brown Creations

Published on September 27, 2015 by fashionthrougherstory2 Comments

This months theme for HSM/15 is “Brown”.

The Dreamstress whites:
it’s not the most exciting colour by modern standards, but brown has been one of the most common, and popular, colours throughout history. Make something brown.

I actually like brown.
It’s a great color that (in my opinion) accentuates almost any other color. Its softer then black and cooler then white when making color combinations. Brown also comes in a lot of different shades from dark chocolate to golden and soft nougat. It’s also been a (more or les=) popular color throughout history.

Here are some of my brown pieces I’ve added t my historical wardrobe theses past years:

One of my favorite dresses is this 1780s robe a la Anglaise in a lovely flowery cotton matched with a golden petticoat and brown stockings.

1850s lend itself great to the brown color pallet.
This walking dress in printed cotton makes an impact on everyone around.

The dress also comes with an evening bodice.

A photo from 1929 inspired this simple cotton dress, the brown boots and white collar ads perfectly to the authenticity.

Who knew a 1880s evening gown in brown could be so glamours. The light teal skirt, white gloves and the dark brown fringe perfectly sets of the nougat in the gown.

The same 1880s trained bodice, paired with leather pants and heavy duty boots, also works for a softer Steampunk style.

Simple rural 18th century woolen bodice in light nougat/dark beige perfectly matches the plaid in the skirt and the softness in the nature all around.

IMG_1115-ok 18th century menswear in a wide spectrum of brown hues, with the coat as the obvious focal point, matched with golden/brown waistcoat and beige/brown suede breeches.

A simple white shirt made fabulous with the help of a nice brown 1990s woolen skirt and cola colored belt.

This dark chocolate 18th century skirt reads as black, but makes a softer contrast to the white apron and stockings then black. The bodice is actually yellow with purple stripes, but can very well be read as brown.

Dark wine paired with chocolate brown makes for a serene medieval picture.

Golden poly knit makes for a nice Egyptian masquerade costume.

I’ve also made several accessories to my costumes:
Brown fake fur hat, matched with bought fake fur muff and fox stole, worn with my 1900s walking outfit.

A 1660s (or any period really) fake fur stole/shawl.

Chocolate velvet sleeveless spencer, made to go with my yellow regency gown.

Velvet cape trimmed with fake fur and 1840s velvet bonnet, make for some pretty Dickensien winter picture..

Sometimes the simplest of items make a huge different, This 1550s outfit wouldn’t be complete without the brown apron.

What do you think of the color brown?

“Sew 17th century Challenge” – Fur Shawl

Published on August 6, 2015 by fashionthrougherstory2 Comments

The next thing to be made after the skirt, cuffs and coifs (not exactly but I’m twisting the order of things in my attempt to postpone the unpreventable showing of the bodice) was the fur shawl .

I drafted the shawl pattern using the bodice pieces as a guide.Drafting from the bodice neckline

The only tricky part about the pattern was trying to get the scale right.

I tried the paper pattern over my bodice mock-up. (Spoiler alert 1 . bodice mock-up)

When I was happy with the size I cut the piece in my favorite faux fur fabric
(previously used in my brown velvet cape and 19th century fur hat)
I also used some leftover linen for interlining and a small piece of lightly brow wool

I started by basting the linen to the fur to get a bit more stability.

Then I pinned and stitched the wool to the fur by hand.

Trying the almost finished shawl on my dresform. (Spoiler alert 2 – bodice foundation)

The last thing to do was to make some ties form scraps of the skirt material.

The finished shawl:

The facts:

What: A faux fur shawl, which work for pretty much every era from 1500-1950s

Pattern: I drafted my own using my bodice neckline as a guide.

Fabric & Notions: 20 cm faux fur, 20 cm linen for interning, 20 cm soft wool for lining, thread, hook and eyes and scraps of fabric for ties.

How historical accurate: Not really. Its pretty obvious the fur is fake, but I did look at originals to copie and used materials (except the fur) and construction techniques. Maybe 5/10

Time: 3 hours – completely hand stitched.

Cost: Nothing, since everything came from stash scraps.

Final Thoughts: I love how simple and fast the whole process went an dhow extremely versatile the shawl is.
It will fit almost anybody in any given timeperiod. Such a perfect garment/accessorie.

“Sew 17th century Challenge” – Coif (much needed head-wear)

Published on August 3, 2015August 4, 2015 by fashionthrougherstory4 Comments

The one thing I felt would be the hardest to replicate in my chosen painting was not one of the clothing pieces, but the girls beautiful hairdo.

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My short red modern hairstyle do not lend itself well to even the easiest of historical hairdos.
I’ve tried hairpieces and wigs but never been totally happy with it – try to blend or attach hairpieces to a non existing do, or wear a wig when the small red hair at your sideburns take every opportunity to escape.

No, the only time I feel I actually can get away (barley) with my modern hairdo is while wearing a fully covered head-cloth, hat, bonnet, turban etc.

So what to do?

I needed to find an appropriate head coverage to make.
So on to the ever knowing Pinterest I went.

And found two alternatives that I really liked:

The simple head-cloth with its adorable turned up brim.

And the smaller Coif, which may not cover all of the hair, but probably would work better together with my bodice and fur collar and still giving me some neck. I almost wish I’ve found this painting earlier, so to make this as my 17th century project instead…

This example is worn with a forhead cloth – perfect for taming my short and flying bangs.

Patterns for this kind of coif can be found in almost every book covering this period in time.
But I choose to use the great pattern/tutorial from “The pragmatic costumer”

So this weekend I drafted the pattern – following the awesomely easy instructions.

While drafting I decide to not make a mock-up but a kind of working toile instead.
So I dug through my fabrics and found this lovely patterned golden polyester fabric, I’ve bought with 17th century doublet, dress or waistcoat in mind.
Yep, it’s really that narrow.

So I cut the pieces in golden polyester and white left over linen fabric.
I also added some pieces for the forehead-cloth.

As a “mock-up” I didn’t wanted to wast any time making it up, so I stitched the whole coif on the sewing machine.First seams ready, time to turn and press.

Then I folded the channel for the gathering cord.

I sigzaged the back seam and basted around the opening to get a nice closed top.

The technique was almost the same as in the hood on my 18th century red riding hood.

And lastly I put in the gathering cord.

They look so small and cute – and actually quite good in this fabric.

Finished forehead cloth:

Finished gold patterned Coif:

***

Then it was on to the real deal.

Nice linen /cotton blend ready for the linen thread and needle.

This time I only cut one of each piece (omitting the lining) to reduce the stiffness and bulky feeling I got from the patterned one.

I just whinged it on the size of the forehead cloth, and it seemed to work nicely on the test run, so I use the same size on the linen one.

One thing I changed on this one was hemming the center back opening before gathering it – this way makes for a much nicer finish.

I also added some scrap lace to the outer edge.

Getting the gathering cord ready.

like a baby’s cap…

Finished linen coif:

The Facts:

Challenge: nr 7-2015 Accessorize

What: Two 1550-1650s Coif

Pattern: Based on “The pragmatic Costumer”s pattern tutorial (which was awesome)

Fabric & Notions: (for both coifs) 30 cm linen fabric, 30 cm patterned gold polyester fabric, thread, 50 cm (x 2) thin cord and 60 cm small lace.

How historical Accurate: The linen coif are pretty straight on – accurate pattern, material and stitches. About 8/10
The patterned one are completely modern – polyester fabric and machine construction. More like 5/10

Time: 3 hours total for both (linen 2,5 hours, patterned 0,5 hours).

Cost: About 80 Sek (10 Usd) total.

First Worn: hopefully someday soon for photos.

Final Thoughts: I really like the way they both came out. So simple and fast – I even consider the possibility to make and sell these in a near future.

“Sew 17th century Challenge” – Linnen accessories

Published on August 2, 2015 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

The next thing to tackle after the skirt was the body linens, or the smock.
(Actually the next thing I made was the bodice, but since that would be considered the “head piece” I’m keeping the suspense by holding on to it a bit longer).

The only thing you see of the smock in the picture is the folded-up sleeve.However, after some looking through books for patterns, I decided to not make a new smock for this costume after all.

reason 1: All patterns showed long sleeves – which for me would be a bit to bulky to fold like in the picture.
(since I accidentally made my the bodice sleeves above elbow length, ops.)

reason 2: I already have several chemises and smocks (Yeah I know – “You can never have to many chemises…” But I honestly just wanted to finish this outfit at that time).

reason 3: I found the perfect alternative – loose linen cuffs – Perfect!

Using no patterns but looking at Janet Arnolds “Pattern of Fashion” for reference,I cut and stitched a pair of linen cuffs, later to be basted onto the bodice sleeves.

The construction method was so simple there is no reason to get into detail, so here they are:Pared with the sleeve

Facts:

What: A pair of separate cuffs

Fabric & Notions: 20 cm of ivory linen and thread.

Time & Cost: 0,5 hour (completely hand sewn) and about 20 Sek.

swiss Waist

Published on June 15, 2015 by fashionthrougherstory4 Comments

As a final touch on my sisters 1860s outfit (Skirt, Blouse, Hat) I decided to make a Swiss waist. I love the look of so many of these pictures.

As it appers, Lots of other bloggers started to show interest in the small, but faboulus looking accessorie.
“Katie Lowely” made one as her HSM15 – Practiality entry.
And “Vintage Visions” examens one of her ancient ones using lots o new photos.

I’ve also had this pattern showing up in my Pinetest feed not long ago.And following the link I discovered that Catheine of ” The fashionable Past” had drafted it from an extant piece in her colection (and also made a great tutorial for stitching it up, which I of course found only after I finished making my own…Doh)

Perfect!

As I wanted this project to be yet another fast one I dow into my scrap bin staright away and came up agin with two pieces of black fabric one cotton lawn and one piece of polyester taffeta.

So I copied the patten and altered it to my sisters measurments, then I cut 1 of each piec in taffeta and two in cotton.
I bsted the one of the cotton pieces to the taffeta as interlining nad pinned the pieces togeter or assemebly.

I stitched the cotton lining and the taffteta together at the front and back.

I made boning chanells from the selvedge at the side seam.

On pieces this uniform and simular, it is extra important to mark your front/back/up/down/right/wrong side.

The it was time to stitch the outer fabric to the lining. I tried the “sticth and turn” method, with bad result.So I ended up ripping the seam out, turning the edges in from the outside and securing them with a wisible seam. (Totaly on purpose…)

Then I inserted the bones at the side seams.

I measured and marked the placeent for the lacing holes.

And spent one evening in front o the Tv sewing them.

Once the lacin holes was fininshed I inserted the last bones and stitched the edge closed by hand.

Then I finished of by adding hooks and eyes to the front edge.

The fininshed Swiss Waist (and whole outfit):

The whole outfit including:
hat, Blouse, Skirt, Swiss wist and accessories like, fan, shawl, necktie and lace glowes.

The facts:

What: A 1860s Swiss Waist – Belt accessorie

Pattern: “Koshka the cats” pattern for “Swiss waist ca 1860s”

Fabric and notions: Scraps of black cotton and ployester taffeta, thread, scarps of boning, buttonhole thread and hooks and eyes.

Time & cost: About 4 hours and 50 sek (8Usd)

Final thought: It serves it’s purpose, but I think It nwould ahve benefitted from another fabric choise and some more boning.

1860s blue/white hat

Published on June 1, 2015 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

Wise from my previous try at millinery, I ordered a pattern without even trying to draft my own for my sister 1860s hat. Lynn McMasters “1860s summer hat”

I drafted and cut the pattern for a medium sized hat and got to work on the buckram.

Stitching the millinery wire to the buckram.

Then I taped and sewed the top and side piece together by hand.

I covered the edges with bias tape.

Then it was time to cut the fabric.
Knowing my sisters fondness for blue, and having just recently finished my 18th century Redingote in a lovely blue wool, I decided to use the scraps for her hat.
Cutting the wool.

I also cut the pieces in cotton thin bathing for interlining, and white linen for lining.left to right: Buckram, bathing, blue wool, pattern piece and linen lining.

I carefully covered the buckram base with first bathing and then wool.

Then it was time for the lining. The piece underneath the brim was pleated, pinned and stitched on.

And the crown part was covered in two steps – first the top, and then the sides.

Then I stitched the brim and the crown part together.

And flipped it over to sew the lining together.

The finished (un-trimmed) hat:

But no hat is complete without some decoration…

I cut stripes of white chiffon to put on the hat. Looking pretty good.

I also wanted to ad a lace veil… ..But decided not to since it looked so stupid, and I doubt my sister would want to wear it like that.

I pinned and sewed the chiffon to the hat in a shape of a bow with long tails.
To get some more interest to the look, I also added a bit of lace to the bow.

And that was that.

The finished hat

The facts:

What: a 1860s hat

Pattern: Lynn McMasters 1860s summer hat

Fabric & Notions: scraps of blue wool, white linnen and cotton bathing, 30cm buckram, 2m millenery wire, thread, 30cm polyester chiffong and 10cm polyester lace for decoration.

Time: About 20 hours.

Cost: ca 200 Sek (32 Usd) – all fabric from stash.

Final thoughts: I think it look really good and I hope my sister likes it – because I do.