Etsy Shop update - portrait muffs for warm hands this cold winter!

Update: Well, I've been spending a lot of my sewing time lately working on things for my Etsy shop, TheLadyDetalle: I'm having a lot of fun designing and sewing these fabric portrait muffs. They are fun to create and be creative with, and require such a small amount of fabric. I've been able to pick up some really lovely designer silk sample remnants that I can sometimes get enough to make a muff!

Etsy shop muffs

More muffs for the shop - Marie Antoinette
Bee muffs and Duchess of Devonshire

I use this muff pattern, and/or this muff tutorial to create these muffs, and then add trim design, painted design, fabric portraits or some of each to create the finished muffs!

When it gets COLD out like it is now in much of the world, I start dreaming of more outerwear, more muffs to keep hands warm, more capes or cloaks, more fluffy marabou, more hoods.

My next project is this, a late 18th century pelisse!

I'm using Tiffany blue silk taffeta and some lovely vintage fur - there's no pattern for this garment available, so I'll be drafting this myself, wish me luck!

Here's my Pinterest board on muffs. And here are some images of some extant portrait version!

Burgundy Red Bee Lady Worsley silk muff - November 'Red' HSM Challenge

For November's 'Red' challenge I made a burgundy red embroidered bee silk muff with Lady Worsley fabric portrait and silk ribbon embellishment & silk ties!

Burgundy 'red' Bee Lady Worsley silk muff

I adore bee fabric, so this was a lot of fun to make and embellish and relatively quick to hand sew together! :). I was targeting 1798-1802 with this design, but really this is appropriate for anytime from 1775-1820, and could even go much later.

In progress burgundy bee muff - pleating the
silk ribbon along the two sides

            Historical Sew Monthly 
           NOVEMBER challenge:

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

The Challenge: Red - Make something in any shade of red. 

Material: embroidered bee burgundy red silk dupioni designer fabric

Pattern: TheLadyDetalle muff pattern

Year: 1798-1802, really any late 18th to late 19th century+, but I was targeting those 4 years

Notions: fabric portrait of Lady Worsley (in a riding habit) & silk ribbon for embellishment

How historically accurate is it? It is an appropriate size, shape, style and embellishment for one of the time, and is all hand sewn.

Hours to complete: Approximately 5-6 hours of hand sewing and finishing.

First worn: Not worn yet - I had planned this for use in the new year and decided instead to sell it to my friend Judy ;). I also added a custom 'made to order' version in my Etsy shop.

Total cost: The fabric was designer and high price per yard and also silk ribbon for pleated trim around the portrait, along both sides and for the silk ties.

A few more pics!

The golden tones of the fabric and ribbon

'Lady Worsley' in a late 18th century riding habit

Side view of the silk, down-filled muff

Lady Worsley riding habit bee silk muff by TheLadyDetalle

Napoleonic Bee Muff and Sewing Kit 'Housewife' - September 'Historicism' HSM Challenge

Double entry: Late 18th or early 19th century Napoloenic Bee silk muff and sewing kit 'housewife' - posted late but finished both in September! 

For September's 'Historicism' challenge I made a late 18th or early 19th century Napoleonic Bee muff and a 'housewife' (sewing kit) in a deep burgundy red with embroidered gold bees, finished with gold silk ribbon ties, out of leftover fabric from my earlier 'Bees, Bees, Bees' Napoleonic Bee Regency court robe:

Napoleonic Bee muff in deep burgundy red with
embroidered gold bees & gold silk ribbon ties

Napoleonic Bee silk sewing kit 'housewife'

            Historical Sew Monthly 
           SEPTEMBER challenge:

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

The Challenge: Historicism – Make a historical garment that was itself inspired by the fashions of another historical period.

The bee has been around for centuries, and was used in decoration and fashion going all the way back to ancient Egypt. During the Regency era, Napoleon chose the bee as a symbol of royalty, his reign as emperor and of his power. But Napoleon himself borrowed this symbol from earlier use, inspired by the fashions of earlier historical periods. 

Material: Muff and 'housewife': Burgundy silk brocade embroidered with gold bees, mustard yellow silk taffeta (lining of bee muff and binding on 'housewife' sewing kit), gold yellow quilted silk (sewing kit), and sewing kit scraps: coutil, quilted silk, silk taffeta binding, silk taffeta pocket, and more.

Pattern: TheLadyDetalle muff pattern and TheLadyDetalle housewife pattern

Year: late 18th century to early 19th century

Notions: antique gold silk satin ribbon ties (muff) and gold silk ribbon ties (sewing kit)

How historically accurate is it? Very. Both items are 100% hand sewn, fabrics are period appropriate, and muff is an appropriate size, shape and material for the time. Sewing kit 'housewife' is period appropriate to ones from the late 18th century.

Hours to complete: Muff: a few hours to sew finished edges, binding and finish. 'Housewife' Sewing kit: a few hours to cut everything out and make binding then sew binding onto fashion and lining, then sew the needle holder, pin holder, thread holder, and pockets inside, probably 6-8 hours total.

First worn: Neither have been used yet, muff is planned for use this winter.

Total cost: Minimal. Remnants and leftover silk scraps used to put this together, other than the 100% white goose down muff pillow inside and the silk ribbon ties. Probably about $15 in material total plus the cost of the luxury high end down.

Finished Napoleonic Bee muff

Finished Napoleonic Bee Sewing Kit 'Housewife'

Etsy shop update - TheLadyDetalle on Etsy (and a coupon)

Recently I did a big de-stash of fabric and antique/vintage things, and thus have been adding lots of listings to my Etsy store, TheLadyDetalle!

Hooded cape PATTERN
by TheLadyDetalle

I have way, way too much fabric in my stash (and opps! I continue to buy more when I find gorgeous fabric at great prices, thus you all can benefit from this too!), so it's time for me to share all the things, so I recently posted: silk fabric, my new hooded cape pattern, a few sari's/saree's, silk cotton blend fabric, crystal candlesticks, a Marie Antoinette embroidered silk muff, embroidered purple muff, and other fun things!

I'm really enjoying the Etsy shop, and being able to share things through the store with others. It's exciting when people purchase supplies in my shop like fabric and then share what they made with it: it's very inspiring!

Please check these new things, just recently made (embroidered muffs) or listed:


Please use this coupon: "COCO16PEB" for 20% off your next purchase through 9/30. Enjoy!

Dark and medium brown SILK sari

Marie Antoinette Embroidered Muffs:Medium Lavender Embroidered silk &Cream Embroidered silk w/ black silk ribbon

Cream Embroidered flower silk w/ black silk ribbon withMarie Antoinette portrait - Muff by TheLadyDetalle

Daguerreotype Victorian Lady

Medium blue silk dupioni

Green chandelier earring pair vintage

Also please visit my other Etsy shop, Regency Tea, for customer favorites: Sticky Toffee Pudding, Cream Earl Grey & Chocolate Vanilla Mint!