I'm teaching at Costume College - Winter Wear - Hooded Cape workshop

Guess what?! I'm teaching at Costume College this year! I'm pretty excited about it, a workshop class to make a late 18th century hooded cape, called "Winter Wear - Hooded Cape workshop.' I submitted a class to teach and they accepted! I've taught classes (Late 18th century muff workshop & Regency Dress Detailing) at a small convention called Dress U and Dress U the second in 2012-2013, but teaching at CoCo is new for me: I've only attended one other year years ago, and this year I'm attending again and teaching a class, yay!

It's a 2 1/2 hour workshop, and the class size is fairly small (limited, since it's so hands on). Students will bring their fabric and pre-made binding, and then will get a pattern I created for a late 18th century cape with optional hood and trim options. Students can choose to make a high fashion hooded cape/muff, a more subdued mourning cape, a more practical winter garment & much more: I'm also going to do a brief talk on history of outerwear. I've been so obsessed with outerwear lately, I'm super excited to share the knowledge I've learned about the shapes, history, and how to.

It's going to super fun, I can't wait!!

Here's the first late 18th century hooded cape I did: it's pink silk taffeta lined with pink linen and trimmed in white marabou.

Here's a link to my blog entries on capes and related outerwear:
-Late 18th century Pink silk & white marabou feather hooded cape & muff
-Late 18th century Black silk marabou feather hooded cape
-Late 18th century Black silk mourning cape

-Early 19th century Regency cream silk & white marabou feather pelerine
-Early 19th century Regency 'fichu' in Rusty red burgundy silk & black marabou
-Early 19th century Regency 'fichu' in Yellow silk w/ black trim

I'm really looking forward to CoCo and hanging out with everyone, and I'm about to start my Gala outfit and will share my plans on that soon!

Regency 'fichu' mustard yellow silk w/ black silk trim - March HSM 'Protection' Challenge

For March's Protection challenge, I decided to create a piece that protects from the cold, in this case a small 'fichu' to go with my Regency mustard cotton cross-over gown. These fichus were meant to cover the neck, shoulders and decolette in order to provide coverage and warmth, in essence 'protecting' one from the cold!

The finished early 19th century silk 'fichu':

Silk Regency 'fichu' - mustard yellow w/ black trim

 I went to PureSilks in India in order to find a mustard yellow silk taffeta. Once it came, I used the draped pattern that I created late last year while making this version, to cut out the fichu (all one piece on the fold) and then cut out a lining in a yellow silk or silk/cotton blend I picked up recently. I had some black silk taffeta bias binding already made for another project that was not used, so this was a quick project to put together and hand sew.

The back of the 'fichu' which protects the shoulders, neck and upper back from the cold

Historical Sew Monthly MARCH challenge:

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

The Challenge: Protection - make something to protect yourself (from weather or injury) or your clothes (from soiling, etc.).

Material: Mustard yellow silk taffeta from PureSilks. Black silk taffeta from the stash (L.A. Fashion District purchase a few years ago). Lining is a silk or silk/cotton blend picked up last year.

Pattern: TheLadyDetalle (drafted my own pattern based on a Regency fashion plate)

Year: early 19th century

Notions: N/A

How historically accurate is it? Very: the pattern is based on a Regency fashion plate you can see if you follow the link to my previous version (link above) (although you don't see as many of these types of outerwear fichus made out of solid fabric versus lace or organza, they do exist) and the garment is hand sewn.

Hours to complete: 2 hours to prep fabric, iron, cut it out and create bias binding, 4 hours to pin and sew it all together.

First worn: Not yet. Planned for wear at CoCo 2016 in July!

Total cost: $18 a yard for the mustard yellow silk, bought 2 yards but only used 1 and 1/4 yards. Black silk taffeta trim used for bias binding is from the stash, but used less than 3/8 yard bias cut at $16/yd).

Regency silk 'fichu' by TheLadyDetalle

5th Annual Francaise Dinner

Whew, well, the 5th Annual Francaise Dinner has come and gone (last weekend) and by all accounts it was another success! Thanks so much to my fellow co-hostesses, Maggie and Gloria!

Initial group picture by Beth of BWPW photography with edits by Gloria:

Group picture at 5th Annual Francaise Dinner

We had 33 people this year and again rented a private room in historic Gadsby's Tavern for this event: everyone brought their A game and looked fantastic! We had so many beautiful dresses, new and not new, including lovely ladies from the Fabulousity Club and also quite a few new faces! The food was delicious and the company such fun. I spent much of the evening fulfilling hostess duties and doing some vending towards the end (it's always so rewarding to share my love of 18th/19th century muffs and tea!), which was fun but meant that I didn't get to talk to everyone as much as I wanted to. I had such a wonderful time still though!

Here's a pic of my outfit (courtesy Maggie).

What I'm wearing: my Red & white striped silk Robe a la Anglaise, cranberry faux silk petticoat, dupioni cream silk under petticoat over pocket hoops, red 'Kensington's shoes from American Duchess, hair by me, clear rhinestone earrings & black fan from InTheLongRun Designs, necklace from Charming Charlie's and black sparkly eye swirls, courtesy scrapbooking supplies from Michaels! I wore by black silk mourning cape for warmth on the way in, with black vintage gloves.

My striped Robe a la Francaise is still in a pile of cut silk with my pink lining together (work has been intense lately), so I opted to re-wear my red & white striped silk Robe a la Anglaise, worn for the first time over pocket hoops with a cranberry faux silk petticoat and a golden silk sash.

I built big hair for the evening using various hair pieces, but not ahead of time on a wig/half wig, I did my hair 2 hours before the event: first I left down a good portion of my front hair and put the rest up in a tight bun up high on the top of my head towards the back. Then I pinned on top a half wig with clips removed folded in half to create height. After that I teased my front hair and pinned it up over the half wig. Then I added two more hair pieces to add small braids, a little curl and some more body/height. Finished it off with a few feathers, a lovely bee pin from a friend (a thank you hostess gift from Angela the evening before: thank you, I love, love it!!!) and a few little faux flower stickers and voila!

I also finally got buttons and buttonholes on my honey's waistcoat, with machine buttonhole help from my mom on 90% of the buttonholes (thanks Mom! we missed you at the dinner this year, but maybe next year?!). My honey wore his late 18th century blue jacket, blue waistcoat, blue pants (recently bought in Williamsburg) and red clocked stockings, with black shoes and black wool tricorn. He looked great! (Photo below of my honey and I, courtesy kaesha_nikovana)

My honey and I

I took very few pictures, just a few general shots of the room, but seriously everyone looked so fantastic! It was awesome to meet a few of you I've not met before in person (Beth, Bethany), and also find a new friend to recommend to LJ so there is no need to costume alone (Ashley)...Oh wow, Angela, you & Bethany looked FANTASTIC, and just getting to spend some time with friends, new and old, was wonderful. Isabella, it was great to meet your sister-in-law, and wow, such fun evening!

There was delicious food, wonderful company, a fun raffle to raise money for future Francaise Dinners, and even vending by TheLadyDetalle on Etsy, Bulldog & Baum, and InTheLongRun Designs. (Photo courtesy kaesha_nikovana)

TheLadyDetalle on Etsy vending at 5th Francaise Dinner

Everyone looked fabulous! Seriously amazing, there were so many beautiful and amazing and gorgeous dresses to look at, it was really fun to admire all the lovelies!!! 

It was a wonderful evening, both my honey and I were pretty exhausted though, so while I really enjoyed the evening, was happy to have a quiet day on Sunday to recover. Thanks again to my co-hostesses, to our husbands for their huge help and support, to Beth for coming and taking fabulous photos again, to everyone who came, wore dresses new or old, looked fabulous and make this event possible, and to the founders of this event, Kat and Judy, who made all this possible in the first place: we missed you this year, but hey, we know 'life' happens and hopefully next year. Next year the three of us are stepping back to let others take a turn at hosting, so the location and venue are likely to change again, but a huge big THANK YOU to all our attendees, who make this event worthwhile! 

18th century Robe a la Francaise - progress

My latest project is to finally tackle a style of gown from the 18th century that I haven't attempted yet: a Francaise gown or Robe a la Francaise. I'm super excited about this project because it's been a long time coming.

My fabric is a lovely smooth striped brown with pink and yellow striped silk (leftover scraps that I'll use for trim pictured above) that I picked up in the L.A. Fashion District a few years ago: $8 a yard bolt end, and I have 7 1/2 yards. My mom also picked up another 3+ yard piece of the same fabric from another source around the same time, so we swapped fabrics (she scored an 8 yard piece of a lovely burgundy striped silk from me in exchange) so I would have enough to SQUEEZE out a Francaise! Ideally for this type of gown with a matching petticoat and self trim, you want 14-15 yards of 54-60 wide fabric if you're around my height. I have 10 1/2 yards of 54 wide, so a matching petticoat is out (instead I'm making a coordinating one out of gold silk taffeta) and my self trim will be franken-stiened together: we'll see how crazy this drives me!

I'm lining this in a bright coral pink linen I got from puresilks ages ago. So far the dress is all cut out, and I've sewn all the lining together, minus setting the lining sleeves. I was so hoping to get this done in time for the 5th Annual Francaise Dinner last weekend, but work/life got in the way, so instead I'm hoping to get it done by CC! But I definitely lost some steam since the planned event just happened last weekend and now I won't need this until end of July. So I may work on some other inspiring projects in the meantime, we'll see.

2nd Annual Costume Budget Spa Weekend

A small group of friends and I went to Colonial Williamsburg last past weekend for the second installment of the 'Costume Budget Spa Weekend.' Thanks so much to those who joined me again this year. Had a lovely time! I wore my favorite pink linen gown matched with my pink silk white marabou hooded cape and muff:

2nd Costume Budget Spa Weekend - Late 18th century
Dinner at Shield's Tavern in CW (Photo courtesy Gloria)

So, the trip:
Friday we met up at the Williamsburg antique mall and did some antiquing and had tea lunch together. That night we ate at the Blue Talon Bistro (so yum), one of my favorite restaurants in Williamsburg: so yummy and so full in this photo.

Dinner at the Blue Talon Bistro in CW (Photo courtesy Gloria)

Saturday was spa day, so breakfast and then to the spa for whirlpool, steam room and spa services. So very, very relaxing. We did a light spa lunch of cinnamon raisin scones, lemon curd, fruit/veggies and cheese/crackers and had a delightful time. Here's the four of us post spa:

The four of us relaxed post CW spa day

Saturday evening was late 18th century costumed tavern dinner at Shield's Tavern in CW: Samantha (the couturecourtesan) and Emma (friends from CW) joined us, and we had a lovely evening eating, drinking and talking about costumes, events, travel, fabric and life! It was super fun to catch up and get to know these lovely ladies a little better: thanks so much for joining us and hope to see you again soon!

Emma and Jess at CW's Shield Tavern

Jess in her new lovely rose silk gown!

TheLadyDetalle - pink striped linen with pink silk
white marabou hooded cape & muff

Gloria in her lovely yellow silk gown & new necklace

Sunday we had a leisurely tea leftovers breakfast, and then we did some historic shopping, including a trip to Tarpley's, Prentis, Post Office, Mary Dickinson, and Greenhowe. They even had a small ice rink set up on one end of historic CW: so cool, maybe next year, eh?! Then a quick visit to The Williamsburg shop, the Cheese Shop, then on to Aroma's for lunch before heading home. Isabella and I also made a stop at Yankee Candle factory outlet (her favorite) before heading out of town.

Current fabrics for sale at historic CW Mary Dickinson shop!

They even had an nice rink in historic CW this year, so fun!

Here's a link to all my pictures:

I missed those of you who couldn't join us this year, and definitely plan to do this again next year! Jan-Mar are the slowest (and COLD-est) time of year in Colonial Williamsburg, and so they have quite good deals, so we'll plan on going again for the 3rd Annual around this time next year!

A wonderful and relaxing weekend with friends!

Recent events - Holiday Tea and Riversdale Twelfth Night Ball

Here are two events that I recently attended that I wanted to share:

First, the first weekend in January, I attended a yearly Holiday Tea - each year the theme or time period is different, and the hostess/s try to keep it relaxed and inviting since it's usually the last event just after Christmas or the first event of the new year. This year the theme Isabella chose was a really loose Victorian period, stretching all the way from 1830-1920.

Turn of the century outfit -
Holiday Tea Jan 2016

I decided to wear my early turn of the century (Edwardian) day outfit that I wore to Winterthur two years ago, with a revamped skirt, my recently finished black silk mourning cape and a new hat! First, I did some fixes on the skirt and added snaps, ties and some other finishes. Then I took a vintage hat that was probably from 1940's-1950's (could be earlier), and covered it with antique feathers, a bit of marabou, some black silk ribbon, and (I think this is hilarious), one of my Anne of Green Gables black 'pouf' sleeves from my homemade (mom made) sophomore prom dress. The vintage hat straw was not in fantastic condition, so other than a few stitches to secure the band in again, I just pinned this hat together and wore it that way.

We met for tea at a tearoom in a little town by the water south of Baltimore, and this was the first time I'd been to the tea room, and likely also the town (unless I went as a little girl and don't recall). The town was busy, with all these cute little shops (no time to check them out) and it was cold and parking was a pain, but the tea room was run by a staff who was welcoming and gracious, had a lovely big table for us in the upstairs, and we were served absolutely delicious tea food, including a cinnamon 'scone' (more bread cake then scone) but absolutely yummy and I'm still dreaming about it! I sat in the back corner with Isabella, so no possible way to move about or get up, so I only took a few iPhone photos, and I missed having conversations with folks on the end, but I did have a wonderful time, chatted with friends and met 2 new costumers, and chatted with a few friends more outside and in the parking lot after, so all in all, a very successful and fun day!

Here's the full outfit:

Edwardian outfit with black silk
mourning cape, antique muff and hat

Here's one of the group (photo courtesy InTheLongRun:

2016 Annual Holiday Tea

Thanks so much, Isabella, for planning such a fun and well attended event: seriously loved it!

Second, my honey and I got tickets for the Riversdale Twelfth Night Ball and Supper which was the following weekend, and it was a Regency ball. My honey wore his cobbled together gentleman's outfit (a quick vest, some thrift store finds, a walking stick and an antique top hat to finish it off) and looked very dapper. I wore a drawstring dress I made for Regency pumpkin tea about 7 or 8 years ago from $2 a yard sale 98% cotton 2% metallic silver thread from JoAnn's. I also wore my recently finished Regency 'fichu' out of burgundy silk and black marabou, securing it around my waist with ties.

Riversdale were wonderful hosting again, with a delicious light supper including gluten free and dairy free options for their guests, with much of the delicious vegetables and fruits grown in their garden, including most of the berries from the berry compote desert. It was delicious, and they were gracious in their welcome to their guests and in the way they served the food and drink. It was lovely to wonder the halls a bit, dance with my honey and with my friends, and also partake in the yummy repast they provide that evening. Definitely a place to come back to many more future balls!

Here is my honey and I (courtesy Maggie):

TheLadyDetalle and her honey

Here's one of the group (courtesy InTheLongRun):

2016 Riversdale 12th Night Regency ball

Regency wedgie shot

And the wedgie picture for Jen (courtesy InTheLongRun):












All my pictures can be found here.

My honey and I dancing (courtesy InTheLongRun): it was such a fun night.

Dancing with my best friend

Thanks Gloria, for letting us all know about the ball!

Hopefully we'll get to do more of these, what great events to start the year off!

A bunch of UFO's - January HSM 'Procrastination' Challenge

For January's UFO Challenge and to meet one of my sewing side goals of 2016, I decided it was time to knock out some of those UFO's that have been sitting around for awhile, waiting to get done.

First, I hemmed two sides on a golden super lightweight silk to create a SASH (#1), then finished the cotten silk blend Edwardian over-skirt (#2) from two years ago I never finished, then hemmed the three sides on an off-white organza triangle to create a FICHU (#3), then I made two more PILLOW COVERS (#4) using small pieces of 'designer' drapery fabric and blue silk dupioni from the stash, and then I hand-sewed an orange silk taffeta MUFF (#5) (I plan to decorate it more in future) which was just lying about with a few stitches started, and finally, I did my bodice fixes (#6) and add trim to the waistline of my mustard yellow cotton early 19th century crossover GOWN. I have more trim I was planning to add around the trim as edging but I may decide to leave it here. Either way, it's better fit & now wearable again!

Mustard yellow cotton with black cotton trim - early
19th century cross over gown by TheLadyDetalle

Golden silk sash - very thin

Cotton silk Edwardian over-skirt

Fichu - late 18th century

Orange silk taffeta mu

Set of 'designer' pillows with blue silk dupioni backs

Secondly, in the interest on further meeting the challenge, I started (but didn't finish) a project (#7)  I have been putting off for a very long time: a Robe a la Francaise. I used the J.P. Ryan pattern and created a muslin, then re-drew and created a second muslin for fitting, and now I've cut out the gown and ready to start sewing it together (finally), after many years of procrastination over doing this style of dress. I have been researching the drape, fit, style, fabrics, designs, and overall look of this style of gown for many months now.

There is so much about this silhoutte that is both different and shows how the back pleats down the center in a single length of fabric in the Robe a la Francaise and shorter Pet 'en lair, with loose pleats are later 're-purposed' into the 'en fourreau' pleats of the English gown en fourreau, which is pleats sewn down but a single length of fabric down to the floor. What a neat style and lots of fun to make and wear!

My aim is to have in done in time for the 5th Annual Francaise Dinner, so wish me luck!
I'm really happy to start off January meeting the Procrastination challenge by knocking out quite a few UFO's AND working on a dress that I have been procrastinating starting on for many years!

Historical Sew Monthly JANUARY challenge:

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

The Challenge: Procrastination - finish a garment you have been putting off finishing (a UFO or PHD) or make something you have been avoiding starting. 

Fabric: various fabrics from the UFO's.

Pattern: Sash - no pattern (long rectangle), fichu - no pattern (triangle), set of pillows - no pattern, traced out the prior cover, over skirt - one of the big three, muff - TheLadyDetalle muff pattern, cross over gown - a highly modified version of S&S's cross over gown, and JP Ryan for the Robe a la Francaise.

Year: various years from mid 18th to early 20th centuries.

Notions: various

How historically accurate is it? sash - very, fichu - very, pillows - I believe the fabric and print is appropriate, over skirt - by all accounts yes, muff - definitely, cross over gown - very accurate cut and fabric and fit - a bit high neckline, JP Ryan - will be very accurate.

Hours to complete: Sash - few hours, fichu - few hours, pillows - few hours, finish over skirt - few hours, muff - few hours, gown - a half day, and a few evenings muslins, planning and cutting on the Francaise.

First worn: None of them yet, will use most this year!

Total cost: Stash, stash, stash - Sash - fabric bought on super sale long ago, fichu - fabric free from a friend, pillows - bought for $20 each many years ago - the remnants I used were VERY cheap, over-skirt - from stash years ago, orange silk taffeta - sale remnant, and cross over gown - stash fix, and Francaise - the fabric was sale from Fashion District, I'll post about it later.