A Little Photoshop Entertainment

 We went on a castle adventure, so there had to be magic.

In high school I took photoshop (I'm not sure if this counted as an art class, or a technology class?), and loved learning effects that let me zhoosh photos into something a little more otherworldly. I don't play with it often, but I still really enjoy photography and the editing process.

Do I really need to hone my patronus-conjuring skills? No. But adding to or drastically altering photographs pushes me to consider the composition, light, and color balance because all of those come into play. So I think it helps keep my eye sharp for future photoshoots even if they don't require magic!

Since I'm still in a non-sewing, too-drained-to-finish-that-dance-research-post transition, I thought I would share a few of my attempts. 

In addition to the patronus above, I gave myself a wand...

...and an owl.

It's a different kind of creativity, but it's nice to mix it up every once in a while!

The Return of Witch Winter: A Journey to Bancroft's Castle

At the moment I'm sitting on the floor of a hotel room trying to coax my cat to come out from under the radiator...so I figured I would entertain myself (and hopefully all of you) with a sequel to a 2019 undertaking. (Thus the very extra title. I am amused at least!)

A pact, some magically perfect weather, and the ruins of a stone castle hunting lodge - definitely the tagline to a movie right? 

Not a movie, but a very good adventure, which is better I think.

The prologue:

Several years ago, a friend made a Hufflepuff bustle ballgown, and as I was doing research to make my own 1870s ballgown I started noticing green dresses with gray trim popping up quite frequently in fashion plates. As a Slytherin I'm partial to this combo anyways, and with Emma's dress on the brain I decided I wanted my own house bustle dress. But I also got my heart stuck on doing a velvet and fur ensemble, which....doesn't really lend itself to a ballgown. So instead I abandoned the ballgown idea, and decided that I would make a winter dress at a later time. 

That time became winter 2019, (aka "witch winter" because I was also on a bit of a witch-based novel kick at the time). I finished the project in March, which was too late to go skating or have enough snow for good photos. Then late 2019 into early 2020 was insanely busy and I was travelling, and I didn't have time to do a photoshoot. And by the time I was grounded, the snow was gone again.

Cue the pact. Quinn at The Quintessential Clothes Pen had also recently completed a wintery bustle ensemble, and needed photos as well. So with lockdown keeping our weekends very free, we vowed that the next weekend when there was good snow for photos, we would do a photoshoot. We actually scouted locations in advance (it was nice to get out and do some hiking), so we knew exactly where we wanted to go: Bancroft's Castle, a 20th century estate-turned sanitarium-turned hunting lodge that burned down in 1932 and is now public land. (And an off-topic fun fact: if you hike up to the castle and look out over Gibbet Hill, it may look familiar...because it was one of the filming locations in the 2019 Little Women movie.)

The Adventure:

During the week it snowed, and Saturday dawned crisp and clear. It was a perfect New England winter day, with bright sun and low temperatures, and I was totally warm! Between the cotton velvet, flannel interlining, and silk lining, I was plenty toasty. The only cold part of me was my hands, but I have notoriously bad circulation and that happens in modern clothing too.

(I did cheat and wear modern snow boots, because we were hiking up a hill and I honestly didn't want to get my historical shoes dirty.)

This was essentially the first outing for this outfit, and it was so fun to get to finally wear it!

We had a lot of fun playing with the angles of the archways and the modern wrought iron railings. With the weather so cold, we had the place to ourselves which was lucky but perhaps not surprising.

I also got to put the pockets in the underskirt to good use - they were great places to stash a cell phone, lens cap, and mask.

My hair was a bit of an undertaking, but I'm happy with the way it came out! Since my hair is naturally very curly, I can usually tuck the ends around false braids to make them blend in. But I dyed my hair purple this year! From the front, you can't tell and everything blends - from the back it's a little more obvious what's actually my hair and what's not. Oops. 

The hat is a very old purchase from a sutler at a reenactment when I was in high school or just after. Since it doesn't work for most of the periods I do, it's been languishing in my closet and I was pleased it fit so well with this project!

Now I just need to finish the cape I was making to go with this...I suppose that's an excuse for a trilogy. Maybe by next winter!

Goodbye 2019, Hello 2020s!

January is often a time of year for reflections on the past year and making plans for the year to come. January also happens to be the time I attend our local sci-fi convention, and this year that means I've already completed my first project of 2020! I'd like to take this as a sign of productive things to come.

But before I post about that, I thought I would take a look back and see how I did in 2019.

January-March

1870s winter ensemble

April

gold spangled sleeveless Regency ballgown and under-dress

May-October

tartan silk 1860s ballgown

So I completed 3 whole projects. My goals for the year were:

Early 1870s winter ensemble yup!

Regency pelisse  I swapped this out for a Regency ballgown, but I'm counting it.

Tartan 1860s re-make yup!

Chemises and petticoats I ended up getting help from a friend here. So while I can't really count this as done, I am giving myself partial credit because I have updated my period undergarments so I no longer have only one chemise from 2007 ;)

Bonus Round: something new for Fezziwig's next year nope.

Additionally, I wanted to blog more and focus on having accessories for all ensembles. I definitely succeeded on both counts. I posted 11 times in 2019: 4 research posts, 2 construction posts, 3 completed project posts, and 2 miscellaneous posts. That is a large improvement over 2018, when I posted 3 times total! And on the accessories front: I wore jewelry, hair ornaments/hats, and gloves with every outfit...not just the ones I blogged about.

My blog output (and sewing output) increased a lot towards the end of the year, which makes sense given the busy life events that happened. In May and June I was out of the country for work for about 6 weeks, conducting research in Japan, France, Germany, and England. And then in October I got married!

My goals for this year are:

-1920s "tweed" ensemble
-1860s day dress
-1830s dress in cotton
Bonus round: regency dress with long-sleeved chemise (so I can wear it for day and evening!)

Again, this is a small list of goals. But I can't really expect to slow down a whole lot this year (that said, not planning a wedding is already going a long way towards my mental energy for sewing), and I want to set goals I can accomplish without stressing myself to do things without enough time. And speaking of time--though it requires a lot of time, I've really enjoyed my return to research posts over the last few months. So my extra goal this year is more research-focused posts, including some food experiments!

So thanks for sticking with me, thanks for reading, and here's to an optimistic 2020 :)

Completed Project: 1870s Winter Ensemble

I could really use a time turner right now.

As the winter wore on but the ice skating ponds closed, my desire to abandon my Slytherin-inspired 1870s winter ensemble grew stronger. But I was so close, and I knew if I moved on to something else I wouldn't ever finish, or I'd take a shortcut after being so good and doing all the things (it has closures!).

Friday night I finally put in the finishing stitch...just in time for the weather to warm up everything to turn to freezing slush and there to be no good outings planned until next winter. I really wanted to wear the darn thing at least once though, and so The Boy and I took a stroll through our urban neighborhood while he did his best to get some decent photos.

Real photos will follow next winter, but for now: evidence of a completed project I am quite proud of!

The underskirt is unlined and faced with green upholstery velvet (it's quite stiff and I had it in the stash...I have a limited color range it appears). Most importantly, it has a pocket! The overskirt is partially lined with the same silk I used inside the bodice to keep it from sticking to the other layers. The bodice, which I previously showed in progress, now has closures and a collar in addition to sleeves (which I drafted using the TV402 pattern as a guide--I decided I didn't want giant trumpet sleeves for this particular outfit).

the inside of the overskirt: the front apron is entirely lined in silk, the back is only lined on the sides.

Both the overskirt and bodice are trimmed with faux fur. I had a really hard time finding fur I liked for this project, which ended up eating a week and half in February. I wanted gray, and something that looked and felt like real fur (rather than soft, baby blanket "fur" that doesn't look remotely like a natural thing). Getting that combination turned out to be really tricky, as most furs that had the right feel were brown or black, and pretty much everything I found in gray wasn't what I was looking for.

the three faux furs I ended up with while trying to find the right stuff: my final choice (left), my first online order which reminds me of c.1990s shag rugs (center), and my second online order-which I like in this photo but think looks super fake in person (right).

I tried ordering online, which went terribly as you might expect. In the end I took an early-morning trip to a store near my office and spent a long time waffling in the fur aisle. I ended up with a dense, long-piled option that is white with gray tips. I worried it read as too white, but I liked it so much better than any of the "gray" furs I found that I decided I would rather be fluffy...and in the end I think the mix of colors looks more natural than anything solidly gray anyways. I do want to give a shoutout to the McCall's blog, which had some really handy tips for working with faux fur without causing it to shed everywhere or clog my machine. That was really helpful!

a bit of cut fur from the side, so you can see how ridiculously fluffy it is

In the end it fits well, it is entirely finished, and it was a lot of fun to wear (even if this time that wearing was just a hike through the very modern urban jungle). Now I can say goodbye for the season, knowing that whenever I have the opportunity to bustle it up next year I can pull this out and throw it on, no assembly required.

That might not really be magic, but it feels like it to me!

Witch Winter

Last May when I was preparing for an adventure in Bath, I started exploring the early 1870s in depth to inspire an early bustle gown to wear to the ball. While researching I started to notice a particular color trend--especially in winter ensembles--that spoke to me.

La Mode Illustree, 1871 (via)

La Gazette Rose, 1873 (via)

Illustrirte Frauen-Zeitung, 1874 (via)

La Toilette de Paris, 1870 (via)

The green and gray are an elegant combination on their own, but that particular pairing has a special place in my heart as my house colors. And after seeing Emma's amazing Hufflebustle, I knew a Slytherin ensemble needed to happen. 

(via)

I tried desperately to make this combination work for the Bath ball, but it turns out velvet and fur don't really work for May.

via GIPHY

I ended up leaning into Tissot, which did speak to me for May, and for dancing, and put my house dreams on hold. But then in November I saw The Cursed Child (the Potter series sequel, written as two plays, which is currently open in New York City, London, and coming soon to several other cities), and it was back to Slytherinspiration for me!

with my house crest outside the theater

via GIPHY

So I've thrown practicality to the wind and am putting my 1870s underpinnings to use again with a velvet and fur winter ensemble--short enough for skating, but dressy enough for future (less sporty) outings. And the timing couldn't have been better, because I've been in a rather witchy mood...and I don't mean that as a euphemism! Between Cursed Child and my other media consumption (I'm currently blazing through the second book in the All Souls Trilogy, and my sewing background show is Siempre Bruja/Always a Witch (English dub)) this winter, I'm having serious witch vibes.

I am immensely pleased with my progress on this so far, and I'm excited to share the finished version soon! In the meantime, I'll leave you with the insides...because really,  it doesn't get witchier than this.

bodice construction: you can see the gray argyll flannel lining on the pinned piece

pinning the facings: the neck and front opening are faced in textured acid green silk. I extended the bottom edge facing into a bag lining (over the cotton flannel that is flat lined with the velvet) to the waist. The flannel and velvet love to stick to each other, so the silk lets the long points of the bodice move over the skirts smoothly.

Pinning the bottom bag lining: an unintentional consequence of this approach is that the back pleats have serious body from the silk!

And with that I suppose I should get back to work so I can wear this before all the snow melts!

via GIPHY

The Fussbudget: 1873-4 Dress Details

While in the past I have thrown together bustled ensembles for steampunk events and college shenanigans, before April I had never attempted an actual 1870s gown. So when I started this project, I told myself I just needed to go slowly and focus on making something that fit well.

But then I got...fussy.

And by fussy, I mean I couldn't get Tissot and The Buccaneers out of my head, and so my simple plan somehow developed a lot more ruffles. The romancey cupcakey dresses I imagined in palaces were the only thing I wanted to make. 

"Too Early" by James Tissot, 1873

Then once I had an idea in my head, I didn't want to give it up--which made finding fabric a lot more difficult! As time ticked towards my flight and I got more desperate, I tried something crazy and ordered sheer cotton voile curtains on Amazon. They were available on Prime, they were a nice stripe, and they would have to do. Once they came, I took a quick trip to Homegoods with The Boy, who helped my sort through bedding options to find a suitable set of queen-sized cotton sateen sheets to use as an underlayer.

In the end, this ended up being a blessing in disguise because as I ruffled away I ran out of fabric...but it was easy to order more curtains from Amazon! Even so I don't think I would recommend the home furnishings approach to fabric shopping--everything I bought swore it was 100% cotton, and not a bit of it was. This was some dead Dino all the way.

I was also lucky in that several years ago I made my first 1870s dress, modifying a Truly Victorian pattern to work with a natural form silhouette. I still had the pattern pieces already fit to my body, so I was able to save a lot of time by being able to just cut things out and go! This time I used the original back pleats since I wanted the bustle silhouette. (I took a look at the TV website and I no longer see this particular pattern listed, unfortunately, so I couldn't figure out the number!)

The sleeves I cut just using a little math, and consist of a striped bias-cut overpuff with a fitted gold undersleeve. 

Like many women traveling to Bath before me throughout the 19th century, I bought some accessories at the indoor market (friends are a great and terrible influence). So I also dressed the bodice with a new metalwork brooch and my hair with a gold and pearl comb, which worked well with the earrings and necklace I had already planned to wear, and I think the brooch especially finishes the bodice nicely. I would have been rather plain without it!

back pleats in the bodice

can you see my secret plaid on the overskirt? when the sheer layers of stripes overlap magic happens!

For the skirts I started with TV208 (trained skirt ensemble), which includes both under and overskirts in the pattern. For the underskirt I actually made two skirts: a cotton sheet base layer and a sheer curtain with vertical stripes. I also included a pocket for the first time! Oh my goodness, I want to put pockets in everything now. It was way easier than I expected and so useful. The skirts are assembled separately (the pocket is in the base layer and the sheer stripes have a pocket slit in the side seam), but attached as one to the waistband.

I cut both skirts without a train, as this ensemble was purpose-made for dancing. (PSA: never drag your train on the dance floor!!!)

For the overskirt I used apron front B and a draped/improvised back based on the little fabric I had left. Both are cut with the stripes going horizontally. I plan to order more fabric to improve the back in the future! I also added a butt bow based on some fashion plates from 1873-1874 made out of a pillow case from sheet set.

Finally, everything is trimmed with bias ruffles (2 ruffle layers on the underskirt, 1 on the apron) and pleated satin ribbon trim. I couldn't find multiple widths of the same cream ribbon, so I folded it to create proportional ribbon sizes for each layer: the underskirt is the full width (2" I think?), the apron is 3/4 width, and the bodice is 1/2 width. (Many many thanks to Peryn and Emma for help slamming the last bits of trim and hooks and eyes onto the bodice the day of the ball!)

While there are a few things I plan to adjust before I wear this again (if I ever wear this again...I don't typically do 70s!), overall I am quite pleased with the way this turned out. Being fussy (and working with incredibly fussy fabric) had a happy ending!

yes yes, I'm a ballerina.

The Buccaneers Take Bath

At the beginning of May I found myself drinking Prosecco at 1 in the morning with a very dear friend, debating dance history technicalities over onion tarts. We had just attended the Bath Victorian Ball, and we were savoring the moment. Given that she lives across the ocean from me now, our chances to dance together are few...it was such a treat to get to see her!

Whenever I am lucky enough to attend a historic dance event abroad, I am reminded of Wharton's unfinished novel (and the 1990s mini-series) The Buccaneers. I am usually in a pod of friends--also all American ladies--and while we are quite well trained in the dancing, we never quite fit in with the unique historic dance culture of the place we're visiting. We change partners too frequently, we swap spots in the set between dances, we don't know the "customs of the country" (as Wharton would put it).

But if I do say so myself, we clean up rather well.

At events like this I always feel a bit like Nan and company, shipped off to England to make matches in old society (well, without the pressure to marry a Duke, that is). And I think that pushed The Buccaneers to the front of my mind when I started working on an early bustle period dress for this event (to match Emma's fabulous Huffle-bustle!). The result is a fussy, ruffly, ribbony, shimmery thing, which I promise to discuss in detail soon.

But first, I wanted to share my favorite pictures of the evening: our Buccaneers moment gossiping by a fireplace in the Assembly Rooms. Now all we need is a proposal and a scandal! (Just kidding, we managed to have a lovely evening without either.)

And of course, butt bow posing commenced!

It was an incredible evening, and I had so much fun dancing in the AMAZING Bath Assembly Rooms! What elegant surroundings! Even if I am ever a fish out of water, it's practically worth the flight for the chandeliers alone. 

THAT CEILING THOUGH.

As always, my favorite part of the evening was getting to dance with friends old and new. It is social dancing, after all! A particularly brilliant moment was Mr. Hart's Lancers, as Emma and I spent a week last summer studying Lancers quadrilles in Denmark. It was awesome to stretch the brain muscles, and to so immediately slide back into being a well-oiled machine. I suppose quadrilles are growing on me after all ;)

I think this was the moment we realized the arrangement for the dance was selections from The Mikado, which we both know well!

such satisfying swoop!

I have to admit, in the States we do our balls on modern time, and attending a more "realistic" ball (with a supper break at almost 10pm) was exhausting! Flopping after the ball was all the more satisfying for it.

Cheers to friendship, dancing, bustles, and intrigue!