Faux fur – Fashion Through Herstory

(HSM 12/2017) A fur trimmed Burgundy Burgundian Gown – Photoshoot

Published on May 5, 2018May 7, 2018 by fashionthrougherstory2 Comments

Once my Burgundian gown (finally) was finished, I decided to take some nice wintery photos of it.
But since being pregnant (and feeling “fat – not yet baby belly”) and constantly tired, combined with the planing it takes to get these shoots together, had the snow melted by the time.

The good thing about this dress is that even though I did’n know about the coming baby when I started the gown (last fall) there was no problem what so ever, of fitting in it 🙂
We even got some nice “maternity” photos.

photo: Elin Evaldsdotter

(HSM 12/2017) A fur trimmed Burgundy Burgundian Gown

Published on May 2, 2018May 1, 2018 by fashionthrougherstory3 Comments

This gown been long over due (originally planed to enter it to the HSM 2017 nr 12), and since starting it (in early september 2017) I had some serious down time in energy and sewing time.

But this spring I decided I really wanted it finished and of the UFO-pile, so here it is.

Ever since I made my sister her Burgundian gown, I knew I wanted one of my own, so when the challenge “Animal” came my way through the “Historical sew Monthly 2017”, I immediately started plotting my gown.

I used a Burgundy (dark-red/brownish) colored cotton satin, that I got for a steal on a fabric sale about a year ago.

The 5 m I had, was just enough to piece out dress and additional skirt gores.

Since this was to be a quick and “un-necessary” project, made in a not historical accurate fabric I decided to stitch it all on my sewing-machine.

So that’s what I did, overlocking the edges and everything.

I think I spent the whole of 1 hour stitching it together, adding the sleeves and asking my boyfriend to mark the hem.

But then I got stuck – on the fur trimings.

After some searching, both for inspirational pictures and in the fabric stores, I decided on a dark brown faux “wolf” fur, that would work nice with the red and browns in the gown.

But by the time I got the fur into my sewing-room, I realized it would take some serious planing to get it done.
Having a 1,5 year old kid around meant I needed to find at least a couple of hours of un-interrupted sewing/cutting time…
Yeah, good luck with that.

So there I was, trying to find both the energy, inspiration and time to finish the dress.
Neddles to say the gown went into my UFO pile for a few months.

I dug it out to finish only this past weeks, so that I could wear it on a dance recital late april.
The dance recital didn’t happened, but the dress got finished, so I count it a win anyway.

Against my better judgement I decided to cut the fur like it was a regular fabric – which it clearly is not!
I spent a few hours cursing my lazy as for not bothering to cut the pieces one by one from the backside of the fabric (like I should have), thous ending up with hairs and fur bits EVERYWHERE.Can you say – werewolf 😉

Attaching the fur went pretty easy, only the fur was so thick I had a bit trouble seeing my needle when I hand stitched it on.There is a needle attached to that tread, I promise…

The work payed of, and the effect of the dark fur against the burgundy of the gown is striking.

Testing the almost finished gown to see how it looks.

I’m so happy I stuck to it, and managed to finish it, even though I will probably find fury bits in my sewing-room (and the rest of our apartment) for a few years time…Finally finished

Finished Pictures:

The facts:

What: a 1450s Medieval “Burgundian” gown.

Pattern: Self drafted based on pattern from “The Medieval Tailor assistant”

Fabric: 5 m of cotton sateen and 2 m of faux fur

Notion: Thread

Time: 10 hours (of sewing time)

Cost: About 50 Sek for the fabric and 200 Sek for the fur so about 20Usd total.

Final thoughts: I really like this type of gown. It looks so elegant and beautiful, and since it doesn’t require any particular fitting I can wear it both with and without the baby bump.
Dressed and ready for some photos.

A Royal Cape – Fake it ’til you make it

Published on November 20, 2016 by fashionthrougherstory5 Comments

To turn my Elizabeth I dress into something a bit more royal, I decided to make an ermine cape.

I originally wanted to make a coronation robe like the one my inspiration painting (below), but since I only got scraps left from the dress fabric, I opted for a simpler (and more theatrical/fake) style.

I used my old cape pattern, and a soft white fake fur I bought a few years back to made a short cape.

Then I cut small pieces of a black fur trim I had in my stash and placed them on the cape to get the ermine look.Testing the spaces of the black “tails”.

Once I decided their placement I stitched them on by hand.

An hour later the cape was finished.

The finished cape:

The facts:

What: A fake Ermine cape

Pattern: I drafted my own.

Fabric & Notions: 0,5 m white fake fur, 30 cm black fur trim, thread, hook and eye.

Time & Cost: 2 hours (1 hours to attach the black fur pieces), about 100 Sek (10 Usd)

Final Thoughts: Not one of my finest works, but it will do for its theatrical purpose.

“Sew 17th century challenge” – The finished ensamble

Published on August 14, 2015August 14, 2015 by fashionthrougherstory18 Comments

And here it is at last, The finished “Sew 17th century challenge” ensemble:
Inspiration pic (like you don’t know by now…)

Skirt

+ Coif (headwear)

+ Cufs

+ Fur shawl

+ Bodice (part 1, 2 & 3)

= the finished ensamble:

The facts:

What: Reproduction of Gerard Ter Borch’s “The Concert”

Pieces: Skirt, cuffs, coif, fur shawl and bodice

Time: About 60-70 hours

Cost: About 400 Sek (60Usd)

Final thoughts: I think this challenge was great and I loved making all these pieces, and stepping away from my usual time periods.
I’m allready planing some new 17th century outfits.

Sneak a peak from the photoshoot:
Modell: Annica Siljat

“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.

1900s Winter sports – photoshoot

Published on February 4, 2015 by fashionthrougherstory2 Comments

I’d intended to go to the yearly 19th century ice skating meeting, in the capital, the first week of the new year.

But even though life happened, and I was unable to attend, I still had a vision of how cute my outfit would look. So I made plans for doing a ice skating photoshoot instead.

Well, despite three weeks of daily snow, the ice haven’t settled on the river by my house.
So, no ice skating, but at leas I managed to get a winter shoot of the costume.
Maybe I can go skating next year instead….

I’m wearing: My Suffragett skirt and shirtwaist, 1901s corset, modern jacket, glowes, faux fur scarf and my new fur hat (decorated with feathers and suffraget brosch).

poor little faux fox, out in the cold…

Photo: Maria Petersson

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…)