tweaks

Darling sadievale came over last night for what is turning out to be a weekly sewing date. Neither one of us was particularly keen on sewing last night, being tired from our costuming weekends. Since we were together though we actually worked, making me think this is a very good idea - accountability! Hey we might actually get our coaching day attire done on time this way!

We spent most of our evening chatting about the Poe event and the Jane Austen Evening, and concocting evil plans for 2008 & 2009. I decided to work on my Poe dress, on some of those tweaks, starting with the sleeve. I actually had cut out two of the same sleeve, meaning one was technically backwards. The sleeve head being fairly flat because of the drop sleeves I decided to just deal with it because of my time restraints last week but it was a bit of a pain to wear. I'll bet you didn't even notice huh?! Anyway I wanted to fix that so I took the old one apart, cut a new sleeve and started to put it back together.

Only problem was that I sewed the top together with the lining, not the bottom. I also managed to cut the new sleeve with a fabric flaw right on the bottom third of the sleeve. I think I'm going to leave that and just make those biased ruffles no longer optional, they should cover the flaw...

So not a great deal of progress last night but progress none the less.

an outfit for coaching days

I'm so excited, it's finally time to turn my attention to my Coaching Days outfit! It took me a few months to figure out what I wanted to do for this project: there were so many fun options! A riding habit, a Brunswick, a traveling gown etc...


I've decided to throw caution to the wind and make a Redingote. It's really a little late in style for RCHS but I'm doing it anyway. I'll just tone down my hair and accessories to the late 1770s and no one will know. :>

My inspiration comes from a fashion plate from the Galerie des Modes, a portrait of Marie Antoinette and a dove grey redingote from the film L’Anglaise et le Duc. I'm not sure what is being worn under the film version but Antoinette’s sure looks like a chemise á la Reine to me. In fact almost all of the redingotes I've seen seem to have a lightweight white/pale petticoat underneath that could be a chemise á la Reine. Anyway that is how I'm interpreting it.

The Redingote will be made out of a dress-weight navy blue wool. The cuffs and collars will be faced in pale blue or pale pink silk (I haven't decided yet) and trimmed with period correct pewter buttons. There are so many great hat options that I'm going to get the garment made and see what strikes my fancy. A cane would be fun too.

My chemise á la Reine from the Great CC Chemise Day last year is currently in pieces. Once I saw koshka_the_cat's & demode_kvc's I liked how they constructed theirs better so I’m revamping mine. Also I decided I didn’t care for the stark white on me. White has never been my color but I thought I could live with it in this case. I can’t. So I’m going to dye my fabric, I’m thinking a pale peach or champagne color.