Costume College - What I wore

Costume College always goes by in such a blur! I'm long overdue in posting but I wanted to say I really enjoyed my trip to CA this past summer, and the time spent with friends and meeting new friends! There's usually a few bumps along the road, in an otherwise fabulous trip.

Thursday was a trip to the L.A. Fashion District with a car-ful of costumer friends, to scout out some great deals. I went home with a er *cough*ridiculous*cough* amount of silk yardage to add to my stash. I'm making lots of dresses this year and next! If I wasn't before, I am now, LOL! Lots of great deals and fun was had, and I really enjoyed fabric shopping with friends and running into other friends in the fabric district!

All of my costumes at Costume College were re-wears: none had I worn to Costume College before, but they had all been worn before, made for various events. I love re-wearing and re-accessorizing outfits, you get different and better pictures often in new settings!

Friday I wore my "Strawberry Picking" Regency (JoAnn's quilted cotton print) with my Regency stays and shift, white apron and mustard and black silk fichu. Paired with my beloved American Duchess Hartfield boots, these boots are super comfy! Hair by me (my hair with half wig of brown curls pinned on the back) and jewelry is Dames a la Mode pearl earrings with a vintage blue stone necklace.

Fun with photos

Back view of my Regency 'Strawberry
Picking' dress

I taught on Friday, so I changed before class, so only wore this outfit for a little while, but it was enjoyable just the same - I really love Regency!

Friday evening I wore my white and black silk 1780's jacket, paired with my black silk ruffled petticoat, black sash with large rhinestone buckle, tiara from LadyDetalle, earrings and necklace by InTheLongRunDesigns. We had a non-rushed dinner at Corner Bakery before dressing for the Social, so we arrived quite late.

Late 1780's white & black silk jacket
w/ black silk ruffled petticoat (photo by Gloria)

View from the side back (photo by Gloria)

Saturday day I wore my late 1790's white sequin striped silk/cotton gown, with my Regency cream silk and white marabou pelerine, paired with a "B" and "bee" mustard and black silk reticule made by my friend Vanessa, a black shawl wrapped as a turban, mustard yellow feathers, pearl earrings by Dames a la Mode and my American Duchess 'Hartfields."

Back view with flowy train! (Photo by Gloria)

 

Late 1790's gown

Saturday evening for the Gala, I wore my Regency orange silk sari gown, paired with pearl earrings from Dames a la Mode, garnet tiara by Bohemian Belle, my hair with added bouncy brown curls in the back, my painted orange American Duchess 'Pemberlies', and a vintage mustard dupatta.

Orange silk sari gown w/ vintage dupatta
(photo by Gloria)

I combined three rows of gold metallic
edging to create the trim down the center front!
(photo by Gloria)

One of the best 'full length' shots of my gown

View from the back of my orange silk sari gown

Sunday I wore a modern sundress and white pullover and paired it with my mini tricorn with a huge, crazy amount of paper flowers on it, for 'wear crazy **** on your head" day at CoCo.

Crazy hat day! (Photo by Gloria)

Another fun Costume College experience!
-TheLady Detalle

Costume College - Classes I taught

Wow, I have to admit that Costume College always goes by in a quick blur. This is especially true whether teaching classes, taking classes or just enjoying the long weekend of costuming and costume friends, lol. And I'm quite delayed in getting my posts up!

I taught three classes this year, one on Friday and two on Sunday, all workshop kit classes, which ended up being a lot, but I had a great time teaching, and the students said they had a great time in the classes, so yay!

1) Winter Wear - Muff Workshop

This one was on Friday, it was a full class, and we made silk taffeta portrait muffs!
I brought the down pillows pre-done (you've seen some of the pictures of the mess that makes, right?!), and everyone got one, plus a kit that included silk taffeta, silk ribbon, a fabric portrait and pattern instructions. Everyone got right to work, some making it up by hand and some by machine, and quite a few of the students finished by class end, and we had a lot of fun!

Here's some of the students finished portrait muffs:

Katherine Adrian's lovely Marie and purple silk muff

Mother and daughter took the class together! 

Lovely bright aqua trim!

Beautiful and quickly finished!

2) Regency Detailing: Learn Reverse Applique

This one was Sunday, and a workshop/skills class, which was really fun. Everyone got a kit with silk taffeta squares, drew on an alphabet letter and design of their choice, and then cut away the inside of the top layer of their design, tucked under the seam allowance and did reverse applique: end result is the back fabric shows thru to the front. It was also a full class and a lot of fun!

Students hard at work!

Samples with Reverse Applique and Historical Detailing

3) Sewing Kit or "Housewife" Workshop

This one was also Sunday, and the only class that had a couple of spots open: since it was one of the final class times of the weekend, I wasn't surprised, lol. I had a great group of students, who each got a housewife kit of embroidered silk taffeta, cream silk taffeta and quilted silk, along with binding, pocket, pin and needle 'holder', silk ribbon for ties and more. It went by quickly with everyone sewing and learning together!

Finished student housewife:

Silk Housewife sewn by Pam Metsers

Yay, so I had a wonderful time at Costume College teaching classes again this year, and hope to teach again next year!

Aqua silk taffeta circular Reticule - Costume College limited class UFO

I just finished my Costume College Limited class UFO:
Aqua silk taffeta circular reticule with Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire fabric portrait and "B", with champagne silk ribbon trim and champagne silk satin ties!

It was sewn mostly by hand, with machine sewing on the long seams only. I added trim, fabric portrait and "B" to pretty it up. Thanks Catherine & Bunny for a great class, lots of fun!

Here's what I've been up to...

Hey everyone, sorry for the delay in posting!

Here's what I've been up to lately:

#1 - I've been working on my Etsy shop and sourcing vintage SARI's and dupatta's from India and lovely sparkly, shiny TIARA's from overseas, which has been loads of fun! What's better than silk and shinies! ;)

Vintage SARI's and Dupatta's on Etsy


Sparkly TIARA sale on FB





#2 - I threw together a late 18th century jacket (1780's) for the Francaise Dinner this year in Anapolis, but I'm not yet happy with the fit, so I'll be doing some fixes and adding more trim before a re-wear.

#3 - I took part in Learning to Costume's Fabulousity Club Flea Market last weekend in Philly, which was super fun! I spent most of my modest earnings on more silk and tiara's for my personal stash, but hey, can ya blame a gal?!? LOL

Next up is a late 18th century jacket for my hb that I need to finish in the next few weeks for Williamsburg, and then I need to start working on my Costume College class prep in earnest! 3 class workshops means a LOT of kit preparation, wish me luck!

With Love,
TheLadyDetalle

...So...I'm teaching THREE classes at Costume College!!!! What did I get myself into?!

LOL, I proposed 3 classes for Costume College 2017 and said I'd teach 2, which I thought would be a lot over the long weekend and then they asked me to teach all 3 and I said YES. One on Friday and two on Sunday! I'm excited, but it means less time to take classes or hang out during CoCo, plus lots of prep work ahead and a lot less CoCo sewing time, and being super exhausted on Sunday. Super excited though!

Here's my 3 classes I'm teaching!

1) Winter Wear - Muff Workshop

Want to be warm at your next historical event? Come work on a versatile muff, a hand warmer, popular throughout much of history! We'll make a fashionable 18th to 19th century silk portrait muff, to slip over provided muff insides made of 100% white goose down (or down alternative if requested), trimmed in silk ribbon with silk ties. A brief overview of muff history and extant examples discussed. Students may complete their muff in class or outside of class, depending on how quickly you sew!

Friday: 2:30 PM - 5:00 PM
2.5hrs -- Limited -- Workshop
Level: All
Fee (if applicable): 40
Teacher Provides: Handouts, muff pattern instructions, silk taffeta for the muff, silk ribbon for trim, silk ribbon for ties, muff insides containing 100% white goose down (or down alternative if requested), thread, fabric portrait

Student Provides: Basic sewing kit: scissors, pins, hand sewing needles or sewing machine, measuring tape

2) Regency Detailing: Learn Reverse Applique

Reproducing fashion plates is all about the details. Come learn reverse applique, a technique of taking two fabrics, one on top of the other, cutting back the top into a desired shape and sewing it down, to reveal the bottom fabric. This skill can take your dress to the next level: the added detail in your gown or outfit will change the finished look of your gown! The focus of this skills class will be on reverse applique, and how it can be applied to your early 19th century Regency wardrobe, but the skill can be applied to many eras!

Sunday: 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
1.5hrs -- Limited -- Workshop
Level: Intermediate
Fee (if applicable): 10
Teacher Provides: Instructions handout. Kit prepared ahead for students to practice reverse applique with, including two pieces of fabric, thread, needle.

Student Provides: Basic sewing supplies: pins, hand sewing needle, thimble, scissors.

3) Sewing Kit or "Housewife" Workshop

In the 18th and through the 19th centuries, a sewing kit known as a ‘housewife’, was used to store       and carry around sewing supplies of the day, including scissors, thread, needles, and also jewelry         and money. Come join us to make your very own fashionable 18th or 19th century 'housewife'         
sewing kit, and see how small scraps of beautiful fabric can be turned into useful things! These housewives can be used not only as a small sewing kit, but can be tweaked to take jewelry with you   on the go!

Sunday: 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
2hrs -- Limited -- Workshop
Level: Intermediate
Fee (if applicable): 30
Teacher Provides: Handouts, housewife pattern, housewife kit to include two pieces of fabric for the outside and inside (designer fabrics, silks, etc.), silk ribbon for the outside ties, binding to finish the edges, small pieces of fabric for pin holder, needle holder, thread holder, scissors holder, and matching thread..

Student Provides: Basic sewing supplies: scissors, pins, hand sewing needles (highly recommend hand sewing rather than machine for this project), thimble, measuring tape.

Should be lots of fun! I taught a non-portrait muff class at Dress U and Dress U the 2nd, as well as a similar Regency Detailing class. The muff class is for a portrait muff and the Regency detailing class is re-vamped, and Housewife/Huswif class is brand new!

Whoohoo! ;)