accessories – Fashion Through Herstory

“Jane” A Regency Daydress – Construction Part 2

Published on August 19, 2017 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

The second part of “Romantic Recollections” Regency challenge was to add embroidery to the piece I just made.
But since I’m a total beginner at embroidery I decided to not risk my new gown but instead make a reticule to decorate.

My inspiration

For the design I turned to my book about 18th century Embroidery.

I used a design element from a original pair of stays but changed the style from metalwork to silk embroidery. My design sketch based on the drawing from the book.

It took me two nights but once the embroidery was complete I pressed them to circles of stiff fusible interlining. Then I stitched the bag from a long strip of satin, gathered it to the circles. The lining was made a lot smaller and in regular cotton sheeting. I made a channel at the top and added ribbons for straps. Although the bag turned out nice, the proportions are all wrong, and it’s way to big. So after I took some pictures of it, I took it in quite a bit to make it better.

***

To finish the look (from Janet Arnolds book) I also needed something I’ve been planing to make, but never taken the time for before – a Chemisette.

So now was the time 🙂

Using the pattern diagram and pictures from Arnolds Book I quickly cut and stitched the chemisette. This pic is from Bradfields “Costume close-up”

The thing that had me thinking the most was the “Mushroom-pleated” collar, something I knew I would not be able to do with my cotton lawn and limited time. So i opted for a simple gathering to the neckband instead.

I cut the three layers of Ruches in different lengths, and pinked the hems.

The Finished Chemisette: And the collar “Puffed”: Worn with the dress:

Make-do Pieced shawl (HSM 2/2017)

Published on March 25, 2017 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

One other thing I made that would fit perfectly into the challenge of “Make-do and mend” for last months HSM, is this simple cotton shawl/neckerchief.

It started out as a small piece of rectangular fabric (50 x 140 cm) that I got for 10 sek (1 Usd) at a estate sale last summer.

It reminded me of lots of Swedish folk costumes and fabrics worn by my peasant ancestors back in the day.

I knew I wanted to make something that could be paired with outfits from 18th century all the way through to the 1920s. But what?

It was the small amount of fabric (les then 50cm) that made the choice for me – a shawl/neckerchief/fichu, would be perfect.

The only problem was the piece was to short to make a proper shawl.
But as they say – “Piecing is period”…
Time for some mathematics.

I cut the fabric in 4 different sized pieces and then attached them again to get that biggest size shawl with the least amount of seams possible.

The sewing itself was noting special, just spaced backstitches and folded over edges and hems. detail of pieced corner

finished but not yet pressed.

The only thing that I wasn’t completely happy with was the fact the plaid was a un-even, which caused the side-turned piece not possible to pattern match. But I don’t think that will be noticeable once worn.

The finished shawl:

Paired with my 18th century “Outlander” jacket:

Just the facts:

Challenge: nr 2/2017 – Re-make,

What: a 18th-20th century neckerchief/shawl/fichu

How it fits the challenge: The fabric is second hand from a estate sale, and I pieced the fabric to make a bigger shawl then the original fabric.

Pattern: None – just made some quick calculations.

Fabric/Notions: 70 cm blue/white plaid cotton fabric and thread.

Time/Cost: About 15 Sek (1.5 Usd), and 3 hours.

How historical accurate: Spot on I think :-). The material and weaved in plaids are good, and so are the stitching with waxed linnen thread and the fact that I pieced together a bigger piece from a smaller one.

First worn: Beginning of Mars for photos

Final thoughts: I think it is good, and i will probably get some use out of it being so simple and non time specific.

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 🙂

“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.

8720ccafa4d9c913a35d3afff6c9d5d4

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.

Vintage Shopping in the Capital

Published on March 25, 2015 by fashionthrougherstoryLeave a comment

This weekend me and a friend went to Stockholm for the movie premiere of the movie “Huldra”.

But before we needed to get ourselfs ready for the night, we headed down town for some vintage store browsing and a tiny bit of shopping.

First we visited the much talked about vintage store “Old Touch“

Just the window display are to die for.
I totally understand why everybody recommend this store for anything vintage.

The gentlemen section

a dress from the 1950s.

It seams I got some extra love for old shoes somehow.

Bags in plenty hanging on the walls, on the shelves and every other place where they would fit.Take a good look at that golden one, because it’s no longer hanging on that wall…

Then, on our way home, we stumbled on the shop “Epok“, which caries everything you could possibly need from late 19th century to 1950s.

This store was even more cramped, and every square inch was packed with stuff.

Lace veils, collars and shawls hanging from the ceiling.

Hats on the walls.

A fabulous hat from 1910s.

Kristin found a dress from the early 1920s, and tried the skirt onThe skirt is in two layers, with lots and lots of decorative embroidery and sparkly pallets.

I bought myself a pair of crocheted gloves (for my next big HSM project), and a beautiful beaded party bag. It’s from the 60s, and if it wasn’t in such impeccable shape it could easterly be mistaken for something a lot older.I highly recommend a visit in to both of these stores.
But be aware, they’r both totally rabbit holes, where you can get lost for hours and emerge with a lot less money then when you entered.

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.