Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

After attending several events in the Boston area that have required the use of a hoop skirt, I had determined it was time to upgrade my Amazon hoop to something more substantial (especially since I seem to continuously step on the front of my skirts while dancing). While at Costume College, I purchased the Truly Victorian walking hoop pattern and some hoop steel, only to get home and realize I had not purchased enough steel to make the hoop as patterned. My initial thought was that I needed to order a second set of steel, but I was reminded by my mother of the old hoop skirt I had sitting up in our attic.

So a little bit of backstory here; I have always been interested in costumes. Starting in elementary school, I began planning my halloween costumes months in advance, often roping my mom into making something for me to wear instead of the cheaply made options found at party stores. And for a while, my mom enjoyed making my costumes. This resulted in handmade fleece Powerpuff Girl costumes, a white fleece cape to wear over my Cinderella dress (which I have since repurposed into a new, more adult cape to wear with my current Cinderella costume), and eventually a civil war era hoop skirt and dress made from a purple tie-dye patterned quilting cotton and a series of simplicity civil war patterns. I loved that dress and wore it several times for halloween, but that was the straw that broke the camel's back for my mom; I had to learn how to sew. Jump forward to 2019 with the need for a new hoop skirt that would support my pink ballgown. So with the date for Victoria and Albert Ball looming closer, I decided to cannibalize my old hoops for steel and create a brand new set.

Construction-wise, I followed Truly Victorian's Walking Hoop pattern with some minor adjustments. Instead of just pinning the threaded hoops to the support tapes and stitching them by hand, I stitched the casing in place before threading the steel into the casing. The only issue with this is that the front of my hoops are not perfectly finished, but I'll manage. In terms of wearability, the hoops do the job, except I'm still tripping over my front hem. It looks like I'll have to go back to the alteration board with this gown!

Cottage Bonnet Adventures

Hello fall! In typical New England fashion, the leaves are just beginning to change and fall and temperatures have begun to drop. Days are feeling shorter as night falls faster, yet I still have lots of catching up to do blog-wise on my various projects for and post Costume College. As promised, I present information on my endeavor in buckram hat forms.

As I've mentioned a multitude of times prior, I can't seem to kick the bug I have for early victorian clothing and the only way to do that is to make something from that era. Since I already spent time making the proper undergarments for an 1840s gown last fall, it made a lot of sense to make a bonnet to wear with the gown I was making for Costume College (although this bonnet was finished ages before the dress).

"Most true it is that ‘beauty is in the eye of the gazer.’"

Goodness, it's been quite a busy few weeks since arriving home from my first Costume College; with a whirlwind of craziness at work and another costumed event last weekend, I've barely had time to take a breather. As per usual, I've unpacked all over our living room, leaving a bit of a hurricane of petticoats and bonnets (and gloves and hairthings...).

Returning Heroes

Last October, I finished my first go at a victorian ballgown with excellent results and about 4 or 5 yards remaining of bubblegum pink silk taffeta. I wore this gown to The Commonwealth Vintage Dancers' holiday ball in December and subsequently attended their Regency Ball in February where I was convinced to attend their Civil War era, only costume required event in March. Initially I had held off on attending as my first gown is much more 1840s, with the slim sleeves and long pointed bodice, but I was roped in to attending by several of the lovely ladies who run the group.

Bubblegum Goodness

Like I forecasted, I am several months past my anticipated post date, but I am back (temporarily)! Back in October, I finished my bubblegum pink 1840s ballgown and I proudly wore it to the Victoria and Albert dance weekend, but in typical fashion, I only managed to get one decent photo of it, which i post thus:

The gown features about six or seven yards of bubblegum pink silk taffeta which I scoured the NY Garment district for, initially searching for lilac and ending up on pink because the lilac would take 10+ weeks to order. Who knew that lilac would be impossible to find? In summary, I am quite proud of my little gown and its ability to function for 2 eras (yes, 2 - with hoops it can also pass for 1850s). It is missing sleeve piping which I hope to remedy in the future, and lacks a Bertha (due to my lack of time finishing it for its first wearing) but it is what it is. Its next debut will be at Costume College in California in July!

Adding on

Writing this the night that I got back from my Victorian dance weekend and I am absolutely exhausted, but in a very very good way. The last couple days have been a series of furiously fitting, cutting, sewing, and sewing some more, culminating in the ball last night. My gown was done mostly (I'll get into more in the next post), but I had something to wear that I was proud of (and got several compliments on). But I ramble.

Just the Basics

It's been a very long time since I've actually blogged, which has to do with a number of personal issues and lack of motivation to actually do any sewing. This past summer I got the bug to make things again and decided the best way to get anything done was to make a deadline for myself in the form of a hard ticket event. Enter the Victoria and Albert dance weekend (hosted by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers) ¹. The event spans a weekend in October where attendees learn dances from the time of Victoria and Albert's reign, culminating in a fancy ball on Saturday and a casual dance on Sunday.