Accessoares – Page 3 – Fashion Through Herstory

1860s silk bonnet (part 2) – decoration

Published on May 28, 2015 by fashionthrougherstory6 Comments

Continuing on the 1860s green silk bonnet:

To get my bonnet to look like my inspiration it needed a bit more work (part 1 – making the bonnet)

To make it go from this to this…

For the trimmings I cut stripes of “whatever left of the silk” and gathered them by hand to get a nice and “poufy” trim.

I also made a few flowers using scraps of the fabric. These are so easy to make and takes really no time at all.
I only wish I had more fabric to make more.

I then pinned the trimmings to the bonnet and stitched them on by hand, one by one until I was satisfied
(or ratter until I run out of scraps to turn into trim…).The first trims pinned on.

The Finished Bonnet:

The Facts:

What: A 1860s bonnet

Pattern: Lynn McMasters “1860s civil war bonnet”

Fabric: 60 cm of green silk taffeta, 30 cm of green cotton for lining.

Cost: 350 Sek

Time: A lot – about 30 hours.

Final Thoughts: I think it came out really pretty, with enough decoration to look right for the period yet being pleasing in my modern styizied eyes.
I can’t wait o wear it.

1860s – silk bonnet (part 1) – making the bonnet

Published on May 25, 2015 by fashionthrougherstory6 Comments

After the mandatory inspiration searching, were I decided on a style of bonnet to make, I got to work,

Inspiration

I decided to drape my own pattern using thin cardboard, pictures and millinery books.

After some fiddling and pinning I got a pattern for a bonnet…Which looked like a total disaster…

No, this would not do, time for plan B.

I ordered Lynn McMasters “1860s bonnet pattern” and started all over again.

After copying the pattern I cut it out in buckram.

To get a better view of how the bonnets shape, I pinned the pieces together for a better look.

After trying it on, I decided to cut a few cm of of the brim.

Marking the pieces

Sewing the millinery wire to the buckram pieces.

Then the pieces was ready to be stitched together.

To get them to line up perfectly I taped the together before I sewed.

Back piece stitched to side piece.

A pretty nice buckram frame

Then I stitched bias-tape round every edge to keep the corners smooth underneath the fabric.

Finished frames:

Then It was time to buy some fabric – deciding on green since that was one of the few colors in the store that would work with my dress (plaid white/blue) without being to obviously matching.

The cut pattern pieces.

As directed in the pattern I also cut cotton bating and some scraps of light green cotton for lining.

Before the fabric was to go on I needed to glue/stitch the batting on te frame to get an even smoother under layer for the silk.

Sadly I forgot to take pictures of this step, but basically I just glued around the edges of the frame pieces and carefully attached the batting to it.

Then it was time for the outer fabric.

(bad at photographing here too – I was working late at night, and didn’t had the camera on hand)

But I started with the crown, working downwards, basting all the edges and the carefully stitching the fabric pieces together.

Silk all stitched on.

Then it was time for the lining.Using a curved needle to baste the crown to the inner corners.

Stitching the fabrics together using small invisible stitches.

Before finishing the last piece (the gathered front) of the lining, It was time for the “curtain”/neckpiece.I basically just gathered a straight piece of silk and pinned it to the curved neck of the bonnet.Then I stitched it on.

Then I gathered, pinned and stitched the last piece of lining to the inner brim of the bonnet, and added some silk ties.

The base for the bonnet was now finished, and all that’s needed was the decoration.

I think it looks stunning and was a bit hesitant of even adding trimmings and decorations.

To be continued…

The Start of a war – Downton Mary’s Autumn Flowery Hat

Published on May 6, 2015 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

Before I could call it a day and be finished with the Striped Lady Mary dress (part 1 & part 2) I needed to make the most vital (and biggest) of her accessorizes – The hat.

The Hat Lady Mary wears in the series are huge and awesome – of course I needed one just like it.

I started with a cheap straw hat as a base.

The most important things I needed from the hat was a straw base, lightly colored and strong enough to carry all the decoration.

I stitched the netting irregularly and random to the brim of the hat.

For the flowers I visited E-bay before Easter and ordered tree silk flower bouquets in muted brown, beige and violet colors, and the arrived in perfect time a week ago.

I needed to cut the flowers from the stems on each of the bouquets, but that went really easy and fast using a nippers, and then they were ready to be attached.

I placed a few flowers on the hat just to get a feeling for how many I would need, and how to best arrange them to get the flowing organic look of the original.

Looks pretty good I think.

I tried to stitch the flowers down but It didn’t work, so after some hesitation I decided to use the most loved (and hated) tool of them all – hot glue.

Then I got to work arranging and attaching the flowers as I went.
It was so easy, and went so fast, it almost felt like cheating.All you need for your hat project: Hat, Netting, Flowers, Inspiration pic and hot glue…

Finished Hat:

And a few pics from the photoshoot:

The facts:

What: a 1914s summer hat (with autumn colored flowers)

Notions/Materials: A big brimmed straw hat, synthetic flowers in different muted colors, white hat netting, thread and hot glue (ops…)

Time: 1 hour

Cost: 250Sek (40Usd)

Final Thought: The hat is a bit to wide in the brim and a bit to small in the head to be perfect. Put considering the shape (and look) of most modern straw hats I won’t complain.
I think it turned out beautifully, and think it fits my “Lady Mary” dress just perfect.

18th century Tavern Maid – Accessoares

Published on March 15, 2015 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

The days leading up to my planed “18th century Maid“photoshoot, I worked on getting all those small items and accessories in order.

Here are some of the things I made and used to get the look just right:

The leftovers from the jacket (part 1. & part 2.) I turned into a simplified version of a 18th century pocket. Cutting the pieces in front, back and strength fabric – all of which was almost unusable scraps to begin with.

It was such a quick project (took about 2 hours, once I figured out how I wanted it).

In hindsight I should have made bias tapes for the opening as well, but suppose I didn’t had enough fabric anyway.

I also made a new fichu, since I wanted something les fancy then my regular silk one.It’s basically a cut triangle, with hemmed edges.

I re-used my white apron, but shortened it about 12 cm to get it to fit lenght of the skirt.

I also used my “old” cap (made it a couple of months ago) paired with a orange/sierra ribbon.

The final touch was to ad a cross, which I bought on sale in January for about 10 Sek (1,6 Usd).

Everything a proper maid will ever need.

Fluffy Fur Hat

Published on January 31, 2015 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been obsessing over beautiful fur garments for the last two months.
And more precise – fur hats.

My main inspiration.

Russian fabulousnes from the latest version of “Anna Karenina”

So, in the days after Christmas I dug a piece of left over faux fur out of my stash, and got to work.

I cut the pieces for the hat in fur, cotton batting and linen for lining.

Then I hand stitched the ends of the rectangle together,and attached the circle shaped crown.

When pinning the lining in, I realized the bating made it to bulky, so I decided to remove it.
Then I stitched the linen to the fur and turned it right side out.

The finished hat:

The Facts:

Pattern: N,one – I just drew one rectangle and one circle a few cm bigger then my head measurements.

Fabric: 0,3 m of faux fur and the same amount of linen.

Notions: Thread

Time: About two hours

Cost: Basically nothing. The linen was leftover scraps, and the fur have been in my stash for a year and a half just waiting to be used for some winters stuff.

Final Thougts: This was such a fun, quick and easy project. I would love to make some minor modifications to the pattern and then make several of these hats and sell (I already have a few interested buyers…)

Gentle(wo)mans 18th century Riding Hat

Published on December 30, 2014 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

For the HSF 22 – Gentlemen, I had some grand planes, but life happened and the project has been postponed till next year.

So instead I decided to make and submit the complementary accessory to the original outfit – A 18th century riding hat.

Some inspiration:

To start, I bought a simple wool/felt hat at the local fashion store.

Then I drowned it completely in hot water, and forced it onto a acting hat block (a flower pot) and molded and pinned it to shape.

I used some weights to make it hold its shape while drying over night.

When the hat had dried and the shape was set I pinned one of the side up and stitched it on. I then added a length of feathery trim I found in my stash.

I also added a piece of black satin ribbon and a small buckle to finish it of.

The finished hat:

Just the facts:

Challenge: nr 22 – Gentlemen

What: A 18th century riding hat made from a regular fashion wool hat.

Notions: Thread, satin sash, 1 silver buckle and 80 cm of feather ribbon.

Time: Active time, maybe 30 minutes (24 hours if you count the drying).

Cost: 100 Sek (16 Usd) – 79 Sek for the hat, and the rest of the notions came from stash.

How historical accurate: Not really. Apart from the fact that black wool hast were common for riding attire, there is noting accurate about it.

First worn: Not yet, since this is part of a whole ensemble which is not yet finished.

Final thoughts: I can’t quite decide if I like it or not. It may be that it looks to “costumy” to be any good. But I guess I can always add more feathers.

This was such a fast and easy project that I cant help feel I’m totally cheating as the HSF goes, but at this moment I don’t care, I’m just happy to have something to submit as my final item to finish this years race.

Regency hairdo

Published on November 20, 2014 by fashionthrougherstory5 Comments

I’d be the first to admit that I know nothing about hair – My own are really short and don’t need much attentions, and when I had long hair a couple of years ago, I just wore it in a ponytail or bun.

But with great costumes comes great hair styles… or something like that.

So today I will show you the hairstyle I did on my sister for the Regency ball.

The day before the ball she pinned her hair up in curlers while still wet, and then slept on it.

The first thing to do was to remove all the hair pins.

And shake the hair out, using the fingers to get it really big and fluffy.

Then I gathered most of the hair in a ponytail, leaving some hanging in the front. Using the ponytail as a base I attached a hair doughnut to add some volume and structure to the do.

I then twisted and pinned the rest of the hair up in messy curls

Lastly I added the golden headband and secured it with some boby-pins.

The finished hairdo at the ball.

I could also have left some of the front hair curls hanging to get another effect.

The finished hair do at the photoshoot.

Peace of cake.

18th century Lacy sleeve cuffs

Published on October 8, 2014 by fashionthrougherstory3 Comments

For the HSF nr 19 – HSF-Inspiration (draw inspiration from any of your fellow HSFs items), I decided to make a pair of 18th century sleeve cuffs.

I found a 6 m long piece of lace in my stash, and decided to use it for this project. I originally had some much more delicate lace in mind for this project, but I couldn´t find any I liked in a reasonable enough price range.
So the white lace it is.

The only problem was, it was too white.

After some debating with myself, I decided to try to tea dye it.
And so I did.The salt´s for setting the color.

Cooking away on the stove.

Rinsing the leftover color out.

When dry, the lace was in dire need of some ironing.

Then it was time to start on the cuffs.
I decided to use two different kinds of lace, using the middle one as extension on the second layer on the cuff.

So I stitched the edges of the pieces together, creating different sized circles of the lace.

then I gathered and pined the pieces together.But then I realised that once the extension lace was gathered into the bias tape, the cuffs would be too puffy.

So I decided to trim a piece of the longer lace to get a more modest gather to start with.The bottom piece are the one cut of.

Then I pinned the second layer to it.

And finished of with the bias-tape.

And Finished:

Just the facts:

Challenge: 19 – HSF Inspiration

What: 18th century lace cuffs.

Inspiration: Erin Lee´s 19th century lace cuffs.

Pattern: none, I just gathered and stitched.

Fabric: None.

Notions: a total of 3 m of cotton lace, 60 cm of bias-tape and thread.

How historical accurate: Not particularly. But I did take what I had at hand, and if that´s not period then I don’t know…
They are completely hand stitched, and hand dyed with natural material. Maybe 5/10.

Time: 4 hours including the dying.

Cost: 50 Sek (8 Usd)

First worn: I hope to wear them on an up-coming costume event this november.