My birthday gift to myself

On a recent car trip to our nation's capital between Christmas and New Year, we stopped at historic Berrima in the Southern Highlands of NSW. Peppergreen's Antiques is one of those shops a true collector cannot pass by without going in to see what's new. My antique and vintage underwear collection has a few gaps which I hoped to fill from the Peppergreen's inventory. I wandered around for a while before spying a few likely containers of clothing, and since signs everywhere asked us to call an assistant, I did just that.

I sorted through a bin of salmon pink 1920's and 1930's bras and corsets just out of interest, after all they are a little later than my focus area of pre WW 1 back to the Victorian era. Then I asked for the bin labelled pantaloons, where most of the stock was cotton and similar to those already owned. Then in the bottom of another bin some interesting knitted combinations. 2 pairs, one with longer legs and very cute slit gussets for accomodating milady's bosom.







The other pair was shorter, with a lower neckline and the more traditional gussets let into the neckline. Both were in good condition, possibly unworn which is called "new old stock" in the trade. Not really sure of the exact age as they have some chained flatlocking type stitching on the gussets seams inside, but they are divided crotch. This says pre WW1 to me, so until I can prove otherwise with an old advertisement or such, I'm assuming this to be true.






Then in a display case I spied some stockings which were brought out for me to inspect. 3 pairs were mine by the end of the transaction. I'm really spoilt, aren't I? Photos of stockings will appear in my next post, please come back again?

PS Many thanks to House Model DD#3 Bron, I think she enjoyed modelling these more than Pooh, see previous post, LOL.

Is there a Pooh in the house?

Here is a last minute addition to the costumes for the Dancing Studio show which I was asked to make 1 week ago. My DD3 Bron is my fit model as usual, VBG. Don't know how I could manage without her, as my dress mannequin just didn't do this justice, having no legs and all that!!

The Principal of the studio was bidding for a suit on Ebay and was pipped at the post at the last second. He purchased the yellow toy fur and satin as I requested and this is the result. The tummy padding is seperate to the suit, as I find it sits better on different sized dancers that way. I made elastic "braces" crossed in the back to hold it up and left instructions to push it down before closing the front zipper on the suit. The dancer who wore it last night had 2 VERY quick changes, and I noticed she failed to push it down as far as Bron did in my photo. Anyway, it was a dance with 15 under 5 year olds, called the Tiny Tots, so all eyes were on the cute dancers, not the Pooh. I noticed though !!

I also made a Blue Genie from Aladdin, but was not able to put that on my "model" as the dancer was a 10 year old girl and miniscule !! I hope to get some photos when I see her next, for my own records. I copied from an image courtesy of Google as close as possible, and I was quite pleased with the result on stage.

"Narnia" Lion

This photo shows the before and after of a recent Lion's head project.

When I was training in Theatrical Costume at SIT East Sydney no-one told me I would be making historical repro costume one day and animals the next. Talk about variety being the spice of life! This week I turned a child's lion suit into a "Narnia" style lion for the Dancing Studio I frequently work with, using completely recycled or stash materials.

We canibalised a bear suit which I made several years ago, added some fur to the tummy area, and added paws taken from the too-small lion's outift. Next I tackled the too-cute head. It sits on top of the head, so the face needed a "curtain" and the face was far too baby looking. Aslan is an adult Asian lion. I used mr Google for some images, then decided to add patches around the eyes in felt, and some whiskers from 12 pound fishing line. I highlighted the mouth with some braid and felt, then after several unsuccessful shoppping expeditions for long haired fur in a suitable colour, the Studio found some fur vests in their store room. I ripped out the linings, cut through the shoulders and after making a toile in calico I cut a "hood" pattern to suggest a full mane. I made a padded "sausage" like a bum roll and stitched it to the head behind the ears to give some height. The "mane" is quite full and will cover the shoulders of the dancer. The Studio covered some long rods with beige fur fabric as the dancer will be leaning over like the animals in the stage version of the Lion King. The production number is part of the entertainment at a major banking conference, and about 30 dancers will be on stage. I hope to see the number later in the year, as I'd love a photo or two for my albums.

Working class day dress 1820's

It's long been a worry for me that we mostly make glamorous evening dress or court dress when we reconstruct period clothing, possibly with the exception of Viking or early Medieval. I guess we all aspire to being a Lady or a Princess etc. Even most blokes want to be a knight, or a king, or a dandy, or Luke Skywalker, not the lowly townspeople in the tavern in a Star Wars movie.

I'm researching Australian convict women's clothing at the moment, for an exhibition in August in Parramatta which will be touring around Australia. So I'm looking for images and drawings of everyday clothing worn by the working class.

On Saturday I volunteered at Hambledon Cottage Parramatta and wore a dress I sewed up on Friday. I had pulled out my Regency evening dress to wear on Thursday, but then had a change of heart. The temperature was predicted to be very warm and that dress is silk taffeta, so I thought it might be a bit warm to wear all day. I thought it was high time the working class was represented, so I graded up the pattern I made for Elizabeth Farm guides' costumes, changed a few details, pulled out some pre-washed 100% cotton fabric and started stitching!

The photos show the front bodice in detail, and the back bodice and sleeves. The seams are piped and there are small imitation mother of pearl buttons down the back. I may change the buttons and work over the buttonholes by hand in the future, but you understand that this dress was produced on a strict timetable, LOL. I tried to keep the visible machine stitching to a minimum, but the seams are overlocked internally. I wore my 1825 chemisette with collar (from Jean Hunisett's excellent Theatrical Costume for Stage and Screen) under the dress, a calico petticoat with a long frill on the bottom, and an 1820's cotton cap. I did cheat with the cap a little, since I have short straight hair. I slicked back my fringe with hair spray and sewed a small plastic comb at the top of the band to hold the cap on my head at the required place. It didn't move all day, and I got quite a few compliments on the outfit. The photo at the house was taken by a visitor, sorry about the quality, LOL.

Australian Costumers Guild "picnic"

We planned a lovely picnic in Parramatta park but as rain and storms were on the forecast for the weekend, we moved the picnic to Linnwood, see link on sidebar. We had 9 guests for a "tour" and indoor picnic lunch and it was very nice to put faces to forum names at last. I chose to wear (carefully) a vintage Victorian/Edwardian nightgown and made a broderie anglaise sleep bonnet to go with it. I carried a vintage china candlestick (think wee willie winkie!) to complete the look. Here is a photo taken on the day, I must comment on how tired I look, must have been those 2am sessions finishing the Springtime for Hitler costumes, see below, catching up.

One project finished

Now I can show you the costume I've just completed using the plate of sausages, see post below. Not real ones of course, phew, but dog toy sausages. These 4 "show girls" will be on stage next Monday evening at the regional theatre in Parramatta where the Performing Arts Studio is staging their huge end-of-year show. These costumes are made on a limited budget, but I'm fairly happy with them. The Sausage Lady was a real challenge since the hula hoops needed to be completely covered in a fabric before I could work with them, and they were full of water (I guess for balance?) which of course I had to drain out so I could balance my sausages. The skirt must weigh about 5 kg (that's more than 10 pounds for non-metric readers) because the waistband just kept on stretching with the weight. I should have realised earlier and made a buckram belt or such, but with deadline looming (that's the joy of theatre work!) I had to make do with tucks in the elastic all around. The fully hand sequined leotards under the costumes were made in Thailand I believe while the Principal was on holidays there, and are used frequently. Therefore all the costumes had to be built independent of the leotard. That explains the waistbands and neckbands on the model, my very slim daughter B. She's moved out from home by choice, but I think she needs to visit more often for a hearty meal by the look of these photos.

The second photo shows the Pretzel Lady, and comprises a frilly apron and large net bow with tails mounted on a waistband, separate elasticated puff sleeves, a pretzel on a neckband and of course the pretzel headpiece.

Next comes the German Opera singer. A gold lurex stretch fabric short tunic with an elastic waist also defined by a wooden beaded belt, a sword tucked into it, a neckband with a wooden bead on the front and a horned helmet. I heavily decorated the helmet with braid and ribbon, and paint. The long plaits on the tinsel wig were a Christmas tree tinsel fringe which I sewed into the wig and then plaited and tied with red bows. The red drape follows the colour scheme.

Finally the Beer Stein lady. A quick and dirty underbust corset with ribbon lacing on the back and poppers through the left side seam for quick change. A "table top" skirt in red and white checked fabric on a single hula hoop "crinoline" style, a couple of beer steins on the corset front in metallic stretch vinyl fused to vilene and then padded with wadding. Wadding "foam" over the busom, and a 3D beer stein in the same materials on a red and white checked buckram 1/2 cap.

The challenge was to make these costumes with a shoestring budget, as faithful to the movie and stage show as I could, but also practical for wearing in a show with lots of kids running around, so no lovely floaty trains or feather boas. Every item is "quick change" so poppers on left side seams, elastics, and bows pre-tied and sewn etc. I also had no measurments to work with, just a suggestion that the ladies are all size 8 - 10 (32 to 34 inch chest) so fingers crossed for no "wardrobe malfunctions" on Monday night next.

Vintage and antique caps

This is a very relevant topic at the moment. My interpretation of a design from The Workwoman's Guide has been accepted as the kit design for the Transported Women project, now I just have to complete the pattern and instruction sheet. There was also a question on one of my Y. groups about a "duster cap" suitable for embroidery. My research has been quite extensive, but I've not heard this expression before. I can only imagine that it would be a late Edwardian term since the term was used by a members' great-aunt. I'm assuming this cap was worn by servants, or by the lady of the house while she did house cleaning, bearing in mind that this was probably pre-vacuum cleaner days and dusting was done via a feather duster and cloth. I wouldn't want to get dust and cobwebs in MY hair, so we can imagine a simple cap being developed to wear over the hairdo. We can only guess at the style of this, since most of the photos which have survived only show "Sunday best" clothing at the least, I certainly wouldn't want my own house dresses preserved for posterity in photos.!

I found the first cap on my Y. group where enthusiasts of Victorian ladies clothing show their collections. This looks like a lady's house cap to me, not really covering the back of the neck as is usually the case with this type of headwear, but would definately protect the hairstyle from dust and cobwebs. The second two caps are 1830's to 1850's are the type of cap worn for everyday wear at that time. Perhaps one of these might be adapated for embroidery.

Here are some places to look for suggestions:
"The Workwoman's Guide" by A Lady , 1838, 1840 Look at Google books, then scroll down to page 142-144 on the page counter on the top left side, and then through to plate 15 for full patterns. By the way, the measurements referred to are not inches but nails, which is equivalent to 2 1/4 inches. I made a little "ruler" in nails to make the patternmaking easier.

The Costumers Manifesto
"www.costumes.org/ a mega site, look in "Costume by history period" then click on period you are interested in to get lots of useful links.

Hope you have as much fun as I do with your research !