The Costume Maven

I recently started joining the local Society for Creative Anarchism (SCA) group to meet up with like-minded individuals interested in historic costumes and research. There is an upcoming event with a middle eastern theme and I have nothing to wear! So of course that meant frantic research into what middle eastern costume I wanted to make, draft the patterns and begin work. I finally settled on Ottoman Empire (Turkish) costume consisting of shalwar, gomlek, entari and caftan. I did quick and dirty research and The documentation that I found the most helpful are the following: https://serenesabiha.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/aripattern.pdf http://baronyofatenveldt.org/uploads/library/Ottoman%20Coat%20Handout%202011.pdf http://www.katjaorlova.com/FemaleTurkishGarb.pdf Linen gomlek before the added neckline facing. The first link has a great measurement chart that is helpful for keeping documentation of your measurements. I used the gomlek (or women's shirt) pattern and fo

In the past month or so, I have done a lot of ironing. Typically, I don't do a lot of ironing unless I am working on a sewing project or if I have to do a quick touch-up on a blouse after it has been through the wash. I have a new project in the works, so I currently am ironing yards of fabric. I lost count after approximately 30 yards. Don't ask me why I was trying to keeping track anyways. Yegads, what is that?! As I was ironing some washed canvas, I looked down and noticed what looked to be a rust stain on the fabric. I checked the iron and the iron also had a stain on it. I never had any build-up on my iron before so I didn't know what was going on. My first reaction was that, somehow, my brand new Rowenta was rusting! After that initial gut reaction, I calmed down and did my research. Turns out, build-up or stains can occur on your iron and that Rowenta makes a product to clean the faceplate. I went to Joann's the next day got the Rowenta ZD-110 (Joann

Ever since I read this post by Sue over at Sew Misunderstood, I knew I absolutely had  to make my own fitting pattern. This would solve all of my problems and would end my getting discouraged about how nothing ever fits my chest. It was late at night so I hurriedly ordered the pattern on Amazon and anxiously awaited it's arrival. And then it sat in my pattern collection, untouched because I still felt that I was missing some key information that would make the fitting process go smoothly. I should admit that at the time I bought the Butterick pattern B5628, I already owned at least 3 different books on fitting. Each time I purchased one of these books, I would devour the book. I read each one multiple times and then I would attempt to make a pattern. Let's just say that they did not go over too well. Then I would get discouraged and feel like I needed to avoid sewing until I could figure out what I was doing wrong. Then I found two Craftsy classes that gave me hope a

Making an entire garment by hand as a first project after I completed this last semester is definitely ambitious. I have the utmost respect for the men and women who made clothing by hand and those who still make a living making clothes for others. It takes lots of time and after a few hours there is not really a comfortable position to sit in and still do the work. As I stated in previous posts, I am learning new things by taking the time to do this by hand. I am learning how to work with linen which is a very slippery fabric! When I queried the Elizabethan Costuming group on Facebook, they quickly responded with many helpful suggestion for dealing with linen and keeping it still so that it could be cut straight. I am trying to work up to using the cut thread method. Something within me just cannot quite wrap my mind around cutting a thread in my fabric and drawing it out to make a straight line. I understand the process, I just need to practice it. I did end up pining the linen t

After I went to bed last night, I admit to being plagued by a few doubts on how my smock was going to turn out. Creating a pattern on your own, even with some direction in mind, can be a little daunting. What added to my doubts was that I have very little linen to work with. If I make a mistake, I will have to order some more and then wait to work on my project. So in order to give myself a little confidence boost, I decided some additional samples were in order. Test samples also appeal to my engineering brain so I made them with pleasure. The first thing I wanted to do was to try out a worked bar tack at the bottom of the neck slit for my high necked smock. Elizabethans used these to reinforce the neck slit against tearing. As anyone who has torn open a bag of chips part way and then later has had the bag continue to rip open from the wear of hands reaching inside to grab chips, knows that the interior of a crack is a weak spot. Tailors and seamstresses in the Renaissance were awar

I am starting a new smock to wear as the undergarments for a new Elizabethan outfit. I started with the Tudor Tailor 's pattern for the smock. I read through the directions and realized that I was going to need to make a muslin of the smock so that I could make sure it would fit. The Tudor Tailor pattern is drawn for a size 12-14. Here is a quick sketch of what I ended up doing. A mockup is needed for this garment if you are not really close to the measurements of TT. Here is a list of steps that I took to get a pretty awesome fitting garment. Measure your chest, waist, hips, the largest part of your bicep while you are flexing, the length of your arm from shoulder point to your wrist, neck, wrist, and the distance between your shoulders. Write all of these measurements down. I always say I'm going to do this... and I don't always. It's a good habit, I should do it more. Get a cheap fabric like cotton muslin, some rulers, some washable markers, and scissor