A quick sewing project to post - quick garment cover

I recently took some thin, lightweight cotton from the stash and made a quick garment bag cover for my Napoleonic bees court ensemble: it was quick to throw together, just sewed both sides together, then cut and sewed a hole in the top to go over the hangar (and left the bottom open to fit over the court robe). A quick useful sewing project:

Quick cotton garment bag/cover

I'm happy that now I have something protecting the court robe a bit!

Regency Napoleonic Open Court Robe - April (Late) 'Gender-Bender' HSM challenge

For April's 'Gender-Bender' challenge, I made a Napoleonic bee open court robe, which reflects the heavy influence of men and the politics of the day on women's dress. During this part of the Regency era, Napoleon used the bee as a symbol of his strength, reign and power. Thus 'Napoleonic' bees became a part of ladies court wear: it was worn by Empress Josephine, a fashion leader of the day, the Emperor Napoleon himself, the royal family and a few favored members of his court. I made the bee open court robe in April, but trimmed it in June. 

Below the lovely red silk brocade splurge in order to make this fun outfit!

Red silk brocade with embroidered gold bees

Napoleonic bees open court robe - in progress

Historical Sew Monthly APRIL challenge:

http://thedreamstress.com/the-historical-sew-monthly-2016/

The Challenge: Gender-Bender – make an item for the opposite gender, or make an item with elements inspired by the fashions of the opposite gender. 

Material: Red silk brocade with gold Napoleonic bees, a narrow 30" wide

Pattern: Butterick 4890

Year: Napoleonic era court robe about 1804-1807

Notions: Matching belt of same fabric. Bronze gold metal trim on both the open court robe and the belt.

How historically accurate is it? It's patterned after the shape and seam placement of the court robes of the era as far as I can tell (I am not an expert, not having seen extant garments in person, but have looked at them online and fashion plates of the time). The trains can be very wide to very narrow, and medium to extremely long. The fabric I believe is as close to period appropriate as possible. I machine sewed the long seams and hand finished and did hand sewn trim.

Hours to complete: I was about half a day in cutting it out, since I was super careful in cutting with wasting the least amount of fabric, in order to save the most possible of what was remaining. The fabric was only 30" wide, so it was quite difficult to cut out, and I had to piece on the two side train pieces. Also took a long time to sew together, sew in a lining, hem and create the belt, add the bronze gold metal trim. I lost track, but I'd say this was probably about 30 hours altogether.

First worn: Worn to the Gala this year at Costume College in July 2016, with an embroidered court gown underneath!

Total cost: Er, um, this fabric cost waaaaaay too much. I searched for silk bee fabric for a court ensemble for years: I was looking for black with gold bees or purple or royal blue with gold bees, but burgundy with gold bees is what I could find finally, so red it was! It was $33/yard. Lining fabric was stash, and trim inexpensive. Totally worth it, I'm so happy with the finished court robe!

Napoleonic era 'bees' open court robe by TheLadyDetalle

'Bees, Bees, Bees'

'Bees, Bees, Bees' - Napoleonic Open Court Robe and Gown

TADA!!  My new Napoleonic open robe & court gown ensemble titled 'Bees, Bees, Bees'

"Bees, Bees, Bees" a Napoleonic silk bee
open robe & court gown by TheLadyDetalle

'Bees, Bees, Bees' made from red burgundy with embroidered gold Napoleonic bees silk brocade, cream silk taffeta embroidered with tiny red & cream flowers, golden bee pin on belt & gold bee hair pins (gift from my friend Angela), vintage cotton gloves, vintage fan, tiara from Ali Express (found by my friend Kat), feathers and hair by me, jewelry by Dames a la Mode, with hidden American Duchess cream 'Hartfield' Regency boots! First worn at the Saturday night Gala of Costume College 2016! This was a dream to wear, it flowed, it was fun, and it made me feel very regal and queenly! 

Here's a bit about the construction: I had been searching for the right Napoleonic bee fabric for an open robe for years: I was aiming for either gold with black bees, or royal blue or deep purple with gold bees, but burgundy with gold bees in a lovely luxurious silk brocade was what I could find on Ebay finally that was marginally affordable (after a few years of looking, er, but still more than I like to pay by far), so red & gold bees it was for the court robe! 

Burgundy & gold Napoleonic
bees silk brocade

Cream embroidered silk taffeta
w/ tiny red & cream flowers

Regency court robe in progress

Once I had the bee fabric for the court robe, I went to my stash to figure out what to pair it with for the gown underneath, and came up with a 4 yard piece of embroidered silk taffeta (cream with tiny red & cream embroidered flowers in the middle photo above) I picked this fabric up in the L.A. Fashion District a few years ago, originally intended for a Regency ball gown. I loved the combination of the two fabrics, so went with it! 

For the Regency court open robe, I used Butterick #4890 (upon my friend Kat's advice and with inspiration from this gorgeous version she made last year!) and also a modified early Butterick/Simplicity pattern for the court gown. 

I used this extant garment and this extant garment and fashion plate for inspiration. Also here's a link to my Pinterest board for Napoleonic bees and also for court wear, where I did a lot of research on the styles of the period. Many original court trains were often longer than my train, and I just didn't want to waste my super narrow 30" width fabric on TOO long of a train, since I wanted to use less fabric and use the remaining yardage for a spencer, muff, reticule and bonnet (if I'm lucky!). So I made it the length of the pattern, which still used 9 total yards of bee fabric!

The finished outfit - I love the way the
sun glistens off the open robe train!

A tiara from Ali Express (found by my
friend Kat), and gold bee pins gifted 
from my friend Angela in my hair!

The open robe court train from the back!

Having a bit of fun during photo time - I
loved the belt that went with the open robe

Close up of the front belt and bee pin
(pin gifted by my friend Angela)

So this court outfit had its first wearing at Costume College 2016 last Saturday: it was super fun to wear and move around in. I felt very regal with my long train, tiara and luxurious fabric. This is my first ensemble that included any silk brocade, and wow, did I love this fabric. I truly felt as if I could have graced the royal courts of the day in this outfit (er, I 'felt' I could, but in reality, I'm too much of an independent modern woman to have pulled that off, LOL): I'm looking forward to wearing again sometime in future!

A Regency court ensemble by TheLadyDetalle

Costume College Preview

I had a wonderful and amazing time at Costume College! The Gala was definitely an evening to remember, with so many gorgeous and amazing outfits by all the talented costumers who attended!
 I plan to blog about CoCo here shortly (including how my Winter Wear Hooded Cape workshop went, and post photos my outfits with construction info).

In the meantime, I'll leave you with a preview of my Gala gown, a Regency open court robe and gown of the Napoleonic era entitled, 'Bees, Bees, Bees':

'Bees, Bees, Bees' Napoleonic court robe
and gown by TheLadyDetalle

I'll post more on CoCo soon! Here is a link with a few more pics on FB!