I knew pinky's regency dress was oddly familiar

 

The youngest of the Dashwood sisters as portrayed by Emilie Francois in the 1995 version Sense and Sensibility was a big fan of the fichu, even whilst fighting off pirates and assigning underlings to the more unsavory tasks associated with running a large vessel.

No wonder you mother and sister run your life, wuss.

What kind of dumbass doesn't know where the Nile is?

So this is what grown ups do.
When will angry birds be invented?

I could have saved you all that terrible blubbering
if you'd only listened to me about the rain.

Don't you wish your treehouse was boss like mine?

Emilie acted in two more movies post Sense and Sensibility, Paws and New Year's Day before graduated from Cambridge University. She also earned an MA from Georgetown and is working on her doctorate at Oxford while pursuing a career in journalism. In 2003, she converted to Islam and gave up acting.

I dream of aqua

and sea glass and mint green and teal and turquoise and anything in that family. I even talked mr man into a seafoam couch back in the early days of our relationship when all I had to do was smile pretty to win an argument. Color selection was the easy part. It's everything else that's a bit of a bear to decide. 1820, the year the Davenport House was completed was something of a hinky middle ground both for fashion.

Nearly everyone is familiar with the two differing silhouettes of the early 19th century even if only by sight. The first was the Regency Era, the era when Mad King George was beginning to lose his marbles and the people were seeing the wisdom of currying favor with the Prince Regency, or Prinny if you're a fan of regency era bodice rippers. If ever a bosom should be heaving, it would be in this era when the undergarments of the era were designed not just to lift and separate as the modern eye favors but to the extreme of putting one's ::ahem:: assets on a pronounced shelf. This is the era most often portrayed in Jane Austen adaptation. The 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility is a case study in turn of the century fashion with most of the costuming set firmly around 1795, a full 25 years earlier than the completion of the Davenport House. 

The second era is the Victorian Era, named after none other than Queen Victoria of England. Most of us know her as an old fashioned, stooped over and stout woman draped entirely in black, she wasn't always that way. Victoria was never considered a beauty, but she was quite fashionable back in her day, even if her mama wouldn't let her walk up the staircase by her lonesome. The early Victorian era starts with the beginning of her reign in 1837 and features a more reasonable waistline, full, sumptuous skirts, and lots of fripperies around the shoulders.

Not quite right for 1820 either. 

There was also the lesser known Romantic Era, which doesn't even rate an honorable mention on Wikipedia. How you like dem apples? Did you ever watch Doctor Dolittle as a kid? Not that hot mess crap with Eddie "screw comedy, I need a paycheck" Murphy but the old school original awesomeness that I watched until my little heart burst featuring Rex Harrison and Samantha Eggar whom I loved solely for her name. (Did you know she was on Star Trek TNG? Yeah, I didn't know that either. Be still my slightly geeky heart.)

The Romantic Era is probably best forgotten as it involves some of the most exaggerated silhouettes since panniers were in fashion. Huge skirts, monsterous shoulders, and hats you use to carry a week's worth of groceries inside. I mean look at that awful dijon mustardy looking thing on poor Samantha Eggar's head? But don't you worry your or rather, my pretty little head. The Romantic Era is just a sketch too late for the Davenport house as well. Trust me, no one is more relieved than I, even if I do like a ridiculous bonnet.

If you want the most accurate depiction of Regency Era fashions, there's really nothing better than Ackermann's Repository. The British periodical, printed from 1809 - 1829 pretty much covered every topic of the day. Politics, society gossip, the latest literary releases, and, of primary interest to the ladies, fashion. So I lost myself on google and pinterest for hours on end looking for the perfect inspiration. (If you scroll down, you'll find links to other years and issues.) I started in about 1817 and flipped around until I found a year where one's waistline wasn't somewhere around the nipples.

1823 was kind of a meh year for history. Britain did some prison reform, central America decided it was tired of Spain's crap, and Pope Pius VII kicked the bucket. But it seems to be a fabulous year for fashion as evidenced here. I think the pink is my favorite. What distinguishes the 1820s from earlier regency fashions isn't just the lowered waist but also the heavily decorated sleeves and hems. Is flouffy a technical term? What about flouncy? I don't know. What I do know is I can do this. Now let's get back to the color scheme. How exactly did I want to work aqua/seafoam/sage into the mix? And while I was ruminating on that over some celeb gossip, I struck gold.

Yes, it's a doll outfit. How about you shut it? It's beautiful. It's gorgeous. It's the color scheme I wish I could do in my living room and it's perfection. It was created by Sugarloaf Doll Clothes over on etsy but is alas, sold out because I'm not the only one who thought this divine. Check out her other work.

I haven't quite settled on all the details as I can't decide between a beautiful warmish mint linen I recently bought on sale from Fabric Mart after Christmas or if I want to pick up a beautiful vintage sari and thus, save myself some of the embroidery necessary to reproduce an elaborate hem. I also haven't decided on a pattern yet as there aren't any that are accurate for those years. I'll have to figure out what will be easiest to adjust and work from there, something I can't do until I've fitted my stays. So stay tuned.

Why yes, there will be a bonnet involved.

I can hardly contain my excitement, even if I will end up looking like a walking pint of mint chocolate chip icing.

In the meantime, if you don't have endless hours to putter around on the internet, do not visit this site or this one here. 

You people never listen.

A good start

My hair look gorgeous, does it not?

Well, here it is, my first Sew Simple of the year. Three pieces, front and back cut on the fold and sleeves, four if you count the strip I cut to finish the neckline. I used McCalls 6571, view A. I'd give you a review of the pattern but I didn't use the instructions. The fabric is a ponte knit I pulled out of the red tag section at Joann's. It was 50% off and called to me from among the poly chiffons, mostly because of the thin silver stripe between the white and navy. I'll try to get a better picture when I wear it ice skating tomorrow.

We're going to play don't ask, don't tell when it comes to the fiber content. Just know that it feels like heaven and I want to live in it. My only regret is that I didn't add a bit of length to it. It looks just perfect but that's because I've not hemmed it. I might never hem it. The ponte won't fray. It does look a wee but unfinished though. You tell me. To hem or not to hem?

Like a boss

I'm sure I'll be kicking myself in a few weeks for taking on so much but for now, let's go with it. As I still have a tee shirt to finish let Bear Allen kicks my ass, I'm just going to be a lazy heifer and let the creator of #sewingdares, the lovely Gillian at Crafting a Rainbow do all my explaining for me. So yeah, go here.

I suppose this would be a good time to pimp my twitter, right? 

Also, here's a sneak peek of my first tee.

I really couldn't wait

I wasn't planning to share this until they were finished but look, I'm peeing myself with excitement here. When I decided to make pinky a set of stays, I just knew it was going to be an ordeal. See, as you all know, I sew. What I don't do is jack with patterns or do a lot of fitting adjustment. I might lower a waistline, raise a hem, but by and large, I cut and sew a pattern as is out of the envelope. If it needs adjusting, that bad boy isn't going to be made. However, just you try finding a pattern for a set of little girls' stays. I can find some patterns for little girl corsets in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, but no regency stays. (And yes, they wore them.)

Click here for more info
on these late 18th century stays

I'd almost decided not to make them at all but, in keeping with my personal pledge to take more care with my sewing, I decided, hey, why not? I ordered the S&S regency underthings pattern while it was on sale at the end of the year. I'm sure there's some rational method of mathlike figuring that would tell you exactly how much you would need to size down a woman's pattern, but you know what? I don't do that. So I randomly decided 60% sounded like a good idea and carried on with my bad self.

Pattern in hand, I gave it a good stare down and decided the size 20 looked pinkyish. And it did. I copied the pieces onto quilter's grid, cut them out, and gave them a quick basting on the girl child. Other than the strap being too short and about half an inch off shape-wise, it was a near perfect fit.

As you can see, there's a gap between the strap and the back bodice piece.

I used a french curve, or rather what's left of my broken french curve, damned dog, to connect the shoulder strap and draw a new, almost as graceful line down to the back bodice pieces.  Then I pinned it back onto pinky to see how it turned out. If you notice, I pinned the stays on top of a tee shirt because unlike modern clothing, ladies of the era wore their support garments on top of a shift. The theory was that the cotton or linen of the chemise would absorb sweat and little girl stink so that mom could do less laundry.

The strap in this picture is still a bit long and doesn't quite match up but I fixed it and now have my pieces all ready to be cut out of muslin. If you'll look at the top picture again, you'll notice those two lines on the top. That's supposed to be where the gussets go. What are gussets you ask?

From the Oregon Regency Society
aka my current best friend

Yeah, the pinkster doesn't need any gussets.While pinky would probably love me for life if I allowed her to stuff her gussets as ladies were wont to do in the era, her father would kill us all dead. Plus, she's nine. What does she need with . . . gussets? And that's what I've been trying to tell her for months. That stinker.

Since we're talking about short stays, let's look at some pretty reproductions other bloggers have made.

from Sarah Jane at Romantic History

from Amber Brooks at Music, Corsets, and Star Wars

I'm late, I'm late

The week does not end until tomorrow night, yes??

Therefore, I still have at least 24 hours before I'm in a rabbit stew regarding my self imposed one Simple Sewing Challenge, right?

Right.

It would be done already if my stays pattern hadn't come in the mail and set my little heart aflutter. I've already traced off the pattern and cut out my muslin.

I should probably do that post about my Davenport ensemble sometime soon, huh? And I still haven't located the fabric for pinky's dress, which has to be done this weekend, the fabric locating I mean as I intend to present it as my next Sew Fortnightly Challenge. I ordered up a yard of silk batiste, some voile for the fichu, and batiste for the lining and petticoat. As soon as it all arrives, I promise to provide pictures.

ARE YOU HAPPY, BEAR ALLEN???

She knows I love her.

Grocery Day!!!

I'm feeling awful proud of myself this week. I actually had my list prepped yesterday. I promise you this is a bigger miracle than you know, like Mother Theresa in a shriveled up raisin miracle, aka a miracle only in the minds of the faithful, or the not so faithful. You know, me.

I guess that explains why I seemingly couldn't follow my own damned list even though I draw it up in a way that puts all the like things together. So don't ask me why my dumb ass had to go back to the soup aisle twenty times and the cereal aisle four more. Just know that it happened.

Actually, I know exactly why. It was that baby of mine, that's what it was. I love the squirmy little bugger but man, oh man, he makes things hard than it has to be. I shouldn't tell tales on this kid. He's actually really mellow. When we arrive, he hangs out in the driver's seat of his swaggermobile, aka, the grocery cart with the steering wheel and vroom vrooms up and down the various aisles, playing with the brand new, oh no, never obnoxious monkey his grandma sent him for Christmas. (No seriously, this thing is adoooooooorable, for the most part.) But inevitably, his interest wanes and there starts up a distinct whine from which a mother can never escape. Then comes the various attempts to dissuade him from the meltdown.

First, you try to get him to play tricks. "How big is pudding?" I ask while trying to remember why the hell I didn't write down what size cans of tomatoes I needed. Once he gets tired of raises his arms, I try to get him to clap his little hands, then we wave our arms, but eventually, this isn't working either. Then comes the cookies. After he's coated in a fine layer of gross, we begin the whining and wheedling portion of our afternoon. 

And no, I'm not talking about the baby.

Finally, when the baby is slobbering and whimpering and you've finally found that illusive can of tomato paste, (why the hell are the tiny cans always on the tippie top shelf??), you head from the home stretch and pull into the check out lane after taking out a tower of carefully stacked saltines. There, the baby sobs into his grimy little fists, behaving as if you're beating him while you silently plead with the cashier to hurry it up already. Finally, the groceries are on the conveyor belt and you can pick up the kid. Instantly, he shuts his face, as if you've somehow brought about world peace through the simple act of allowing the fruit of your womb to share his gummed up banana cookies with the front of your cardigan. All you have to do now is hand over your debit card for a quick swipe and you're home free.

Except that your debit card is under the front seat of the car.

::le sigh::

It's always the baby's fault.

Anyway, if you made it through, here's the weekly menu.

Tonight: spaghetti with garlic bread (make extra large batch of sauce and use on Sunday and Tuesday)

Friday: pesto chicken salad (bake chicken thighs with pesto sauce, save half for Saturday's dinner)

Saturday Breakfast: a variation of this involving crescent rolls

Saturday Dinner: creamy garlic pasta with pesto chicken and cornbread twists (w/Friday's chicken)

Sunday: chicken parm sandwiches, chips, apple bacon slaw, and hummingbird cake (w/tonight's sauce)

Monday: crockpot beef tips over egg noodles with broccoli

Tuesday: beef and barley soup and cornbread twists (w/tonight's sauce)

I came in at $128, including $7 worth of coffee, some garbage bags, and the crystal lite drink mixes mr man likes for work. Add in what I saved by shopping at the commissary, and we're at about $150 or so for the average family of 4.

Tea at the Davenport Part Pinky

Don't ever ask pinky what kind of dress she wants. The answer will always be something Barbie threw up after a night of drinking tequila rose and pepto bismol after throwing a frat party at the dream house. Then you'll have to deal with the hemming, the hawing, the exasperated sighs as you try to take her down from the pink bubblegum nightmare cliff.

No, the best approach is to give her a starting point and say, do you want a dress like this. It helps if your starting point is somewhere close to where you'd like to be. Lucky for me, pinky's little heart lit up like the ghetto firecrackers my neighbors were setting off at three in the morning last night. (Yes, last night and no, I don't live in some alien world where New Year's eve came a day late.)

And the winner is . . . that sweet, adorable little yellow dress on the left with the lavender sash.

Beautiful, am I right? It's precious and feminine and frilly without the need to call the paramedics to wake you from a diabetic coma. I happen to be sitting on the perfect yellow shirting. Well, I wish I was sitting on it, then I could provide you with a picture. Instead, it's upstairs or in a box or something. The point it I have it. I also have the perfect pattern. 

I bought both this version and the ladies' counterpart from Sense and Sensibility patterns a few years ago and never did anything with them. I'd like to think they were waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect moment being right now. So yay for kind of free!

Now these patterns are geared towards an earlier impression, 1805ish vs 1820 when the Davenport House was completed but the changes are slight and will be detailed in a later post. 

The dress itself will be rather easy. Not much fitting involved, four buttons on the back, some sleeves and a pretty hem. But one can't dress regency without the proper underpinnings, even when one is a slight nine year old with long legs. So in addition to the dress itself, I'll need to make the child a chemise, at least one petticoat, and a pair of stays. Yes, stays. Tiny baby corsets. But before you report me to CPS, you should know that we're talking about a garment that's little more than a glorified sports bra, the perfect thing for a hot mess in training who has been begging for a bra since she sprouted stage 2 boobies. (Talk to her American Girls All About Me body book for introducing her to the boob stages of life.)

See? Nothing to be scared of there. Those channels you see are not the hard boning you think of when you hear the word corset. It's cording, aka yarn. She'll even thank me for it, trust. Btw, if you think those are cute, you can read all about them and peruse the website of the really talented woman who made them by clicking here.

After we finish the underthings and the dress, we'll do up the accessories. Pinky is dying for a bonnet. I think we've settled on a purple velveteen bonnet that won't look at all like something Prince was wearing while grinding on Apollonia circa 1987, I swear.

So that's it.

What do you think? Please tell me it won't end up looking like everything that was awesomely bad came down and took up residence on my poor baby's head.

One down, 26 to go

Well, it's a good start. I was only a few hours late, which for me, is right on time but here she is, the opening salvo in my regency wardrobe attempt. It's considered a bonus challenge, thus the #0. I thought about passing but why not get this party started off right, yes? It helped that I just happened to find a free and easy pattern. As suggested, here's the proper run down.

The Challenge: Starting Simple

Fabric: I used leftover fabric from a dress I made pinky two years ago. White silk taffeta from Joann's with a rose silk batiste from Baltazor. It's also interlined with plain cotton muslin as both the taffeta and batiste are wispy as hell.

Pattern: As I mentioned earlier, free and easy and here. The embroidery pattern can be found here.

Year: No idea but the style itself is readily seen when one googles little bags of the period.

Notions: I finished it off with some (not)silk cording and tassels from Joann's.

How historically accurate is it? Let's get something straight here. There is no way on God's green earth that I will be turning out ANYTHING completely historically accurate for this challenge. I don't even like to whipstitch or finish my hand so you best believe I will not be handsewing complete garments together. But aside from that, well, it's a little handbag. I guess it's accurate enough, machine stitching notwithstanding. I think the embroidery might not be the thing for Regency sewing but meh.

Hours to complete: I traced off the embroidery the day after Christmas and finished up everything around 3 am this morning.

First worn: I'm saving it for tea.

Total cost: Uhm, let me think. About five bucks, I suppose, including the $1.19 I spent on beading needles that I broke within minutes of getting home as my thread was too thick for the eye. Boo on me. The fabrics came from my stash. The beads are the half of those previously purchased for the advent scarf (yes, I'll update soon, gosh!). The embroidery floss is also from my stash.

And here are a few more pictures. First, of the back. The two other panels are plain.

And a peek inside at the pretty lining.

If you'd like to follow along with all my plans and attempts, you can check out my Sew Fortnightly Pinterest board.

Next up, little girl regency stays. 

I think.

They'll be good practice for my stays and I get to figure out how to size an adult pattern down for a rambunctious little girl.

I'm thrilled already.

No, really.

Kind of.

Hold me.

More than I can chew

I'm not sure how it happened, but I was puttering around the interwebs as one does when they are avoiding housework and came upon the website for a local museum, The Davenport House. How I've lived here for five years and never heard of the place, I can't quite explain but that's neither here nor there. The point is they have tea, regency era tea or whatever you refer to that period of time as here in the states when we clearly could no longer give two hoots about Georgie's craziness or the other Georgie's hot mess secret marriage or whatever it was he was doing. 

As it also happens, pinky is slightly obsessed with American Girl books. We ordered her the catalog and every time it arrives, she is breathless with excitement, skittering around the house with passive aggressive comments about possibly getting a new one or new outfits for the ones she has, or a bonnet, mommy, I can't have a bonnet, can I? Because I know I can't get the new dolls, right, mommy? Like that. And what about this newest doll?

Her name is Caroline and she is perfection in miss Pinky's little starstruck eyes and really, who can blame her when the little thing comes decked out in full 1812 awesomeness, amiright?

There might have been some Caroline books under the Christmas tree this year and it might have renewed her desperate need for a bonnet. But where on earth does one wear a bonnet circa 2013 (can you believe it's that already? ugh?)

Why, to tea, of course. At a house built in the era and later converted to a museum for the era.

Eureka!!

And so, as I do, I have committed to turning out period appropriate garb and escorting our whole wonderful ensemble down to the Davenport House sometime in March, me, the pinkster, Kirsten, and Samantha, resplendent in little empire waisted beauties.

Just when I was thinking of wavering, wondering what in the hell I'd gotten into, what should my eyes come across but that wonderful challenge from The Dreamstress I mentioned yesterday. Here's a refresher. There's a lovely little facebook group to pepper with all my questions since I've never sewn historical before. I'll try to make as many of the early challenges in regency garb as possible for well, obvious reasons. But after that, I'm considering attempting the Federal era.

Corsets for everyone!

Ahem, I mean stays, of course. They were called stays before circa 1840 or so. I'm not quite sure when it changed to corset but it was after both the Federal and the Regency eras.

So again, pray for me.