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

Orange Silk Sari Regency gown - August Pattern HSM Challenge

For August's HSM PATTERN challenge I made a Regency silk sari (saree) gown!

My new Regency gown made from an orange silk sari!

The orange sari I used has an embroidered gold polka dot pattern, plus some fancy gold embroidery work in patterns done with gold thread all along the edges and the main fancy area (the pallu). I also created pattern by cutting up the sari pallu and the designed edges, and use them down the front (by combining three widths together to bring some interest to the front), across the bottom, across the bodice bottom, on the sleeves and neckline binding, along the bottom hem, and more! This created various patterns on the gown, using the sari fabric and bringing interest and detail overall to the gown. 

Historical Sew Monthly AUGUST challenge:

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

The Challenge: Pattern - make something in pattern, the bolder and wilder the better.

Material: A sari/saree from India - orange silk embroidered with gold thread - About 6 yards and 40" wide.

Pattern: La Mode Bagatelle cross over gown (I made mine open at the back so faux cross over)

Year: early 19th century

Notions: None

How historically accurate is it? It's up there, pattern is good. Also Regency women made dresses with fabric from India, which is what mine is. I mainly did it by machine and hand finished though.

Hours to complete: A few days worth of sewing: I did a lot of piecing and figuring in order to use up all the embroidered gold work in the pallu and edges, and for the neckline and sleeve binding, the bodice sash, the front hem, down the skirt front and more. I did the majority of the sewing in August, but ended up putting it aside for two months, and then finally finishing it at the end of October/beginning of November.

First worn: Worn for the first time this past Friday night at the 10th Annual Regency Pumpkin Tea Candlelight Dinner I hosted! I also was wearing a orange berry gold tiara headband from my lovely mother Linda, jewelry from Dames a la Mode, and painted American Duchess 'Pemberlies'.

Total cost: $25.99 for the pure silk sari online.

Here are a few in-progress pictures!

Choosing bottom trim

Inside Out View - showing piecing together
 three rows of gold trim in the middle front

And almost done!

I used all of the sari in this project, and ended up with a few small pieces of gold work and a handful of orange silk scraps remaining, that was it. I definitely enjoyed making a Regency gown from a sari, and will do so again in future!

Making a Regency gown from a sari

I finally started on my Regency gown made from a sari/saree today: I'm using the La Mode Bagatelle cross over dress pattern. I have everything cut out and I have the skirt mostly together: I just need to work on the bottom of the skirt, add some trim around the entire bottom. Also put the entire bodice together.

Progress on the sari Regency!

The fabric is a vintage orange silk sari with heavy gold metallic thread from India, bought through an Etsy seller - totally reasonable price. I am cutting up the more ornamental part to add along the bottom the whole way around the dress (rather than just making it part of the very front of the dress).

Cutting up the sari trim from the most
decorated part of the sari

The front is strips of the gold metallic design that were all along the sari edge: I did some piecing to get enough to add the three widths to the middle front.

Because the sari is 44' wide and about 5 3/4 yards long, and I'm cutting up all the design elements to use, I'm literally going to end up with a little pile of orange silk scraps at the end. Was hoping for enough left to get a reticule, but it's not looking good at this point. ;)

This gown is for the candlelight dinner at my 10th Annual Pumpkin Tea at the beginning of Nov. I need to get my dress done so I can tackle Mat's Regency coat, and then I have two events in October I'm trying to make things for.