The Beginning of the Blue Bustle

I just finished cutting out the pattern for my bustle. I am using the Laughing Moon Mercantile pattern #112 Hoops and Bustles pattern, View E. I am making the bustle as part of a steampunk outfit that I have planned. The bustle will also be able to be worn with a bustle Victorian costume in the future.

I am using a blue sateen cotton for the bustle. The fabric is from my stash and I decided to use it even though I originally bought this fabric for a different costume that has not come to fruition yet. I will take some pictures and post as I actually get some progress made. Hopefully that will be soon as I plan on wearing this costume to the SF Dickens Fair.

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The Dewey Decimal System

If there is one thing as a little girl that I wanted more than anything from a Disney movie was the library from the Beast's castle. The sight of all those books and the information that was just waiting for me to open the cover is still with me to this day. To put things into perspective here, I typically read a book a day... sometimes more if it is on the weekend. Even as a technophile, I still love my books and collect books for my hobbies. Maybe someday if I can have a table sized screen where I can do multiple tasks at once while working on a costume, I might change my mind. For now, I do research online but most still comes from books that I either purchase or get from the library. I wanted to share some of the books that I am using currently for historic costuming and general sewing references. As a friend recently pointed out to me, there are people who would like to take up sewing but don't know where to start. I'm lucky in that I was taught sewing at a young ...

Elizabethan High Necked Smock Test Samples

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...

Progress On The Handmade Smock

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...

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