Maid Marian Progress

My Maid Marian dress is finally coming together! I attached the collar today while watching an episode of Robin Hood for inspiration. But I realized I left the beads to finish the beading at my parents house in storage...so I may have to wait a little while before I finish that part, but it can be added after the dress is completed so it wont hold me up!  

 I did much more simple beading than on Marian's dress since for this particular project I didn't want to invest that much time in it. But I think it still looks okay.

 Pinned down:

 All done being stitched on:

 Also yesterday I attached the sleeves, yay! It's getting so close! Just need to do some seam finishing on the inside, eyelets down the back and hem it and I think it's nearly done! Unless I decide to make a beaded belt....still not sure about that yet.

Alright....off to watch more Robin Hood and do some more stitching!
♥ Anna Kristine

Maid Marian Progress: Sleeve Lining

Lately I've been trying to be good about using up what I have and not buying any fabric unless I absolutely have to. So, when I got to the point of lining the sleeves on my Maid Marian dress I was stuck. None of the fabrics I had looked good with it. If you look at this photo you can see her sleeve lining is a light brown, looks almost tea dyed...right? ;) So I decided to make an adventure out of it and decided to make some of my fabric work.

I took some white fabric I had in my stash (I think it used to be a sheet) and cut out the pieces for the lining...but I thought white was a little boring so I decided to add something pretty to it.

 I played around with some of the different stitches on my sewing machine until I found a couple I liked.

 Then I started sewing lines.

 And more lines...

 Until the whole piece was transformed into a much more interesting piece of fabric.

 And then I did the same to the other sleeve.

 Next, I took about 10 Trader Joe's Irish Breakfast tea bags and put them in a non metal bowl.

 I added boiling water and let the tea steep for a few minutes:

 And made myself a cup of tea with the extra water. ;)

 Then I added my fabric. Here is where I made a mistake...I left the tea bags in thinking it would help the fabric darken but it ended up making some dark spots in odd places...so if you ever do this you may want to take the tea bags out first! But hey...you live and learn.

 I let that 'brew' for about 6 hours (you can go longer if you want a darker brown) and I flipped the fabric over every now and then to make sure it was all getting colored evenly. Then rinsed them and soaked them in cold water for a few minutes, then wrung them out and hung them up to dry.

The end result:

I am pretty pleased with it overall! I think it looks quite Medieval, don't you? I'm excited to sew the sleeves together next and see how it all looks!

Elizabeth Swann Fabric

Once I finish my Elizabeth Swann stays and also make some panniers I wanted to one day make this dress. I always thought it would have to be way into the future when I had $100 or more to spend on fabric.

Well, this weekend I found some fabric! It's not a perfect match, not as gold as hers...it's more cream and buttery. But it's close enough for me and I got all of it for just $22.50!

So...now I just have to keep my eyes open for fabric for the underskirt.
Don't you just love it when you find things like that? :)

Queen of Hearts Project

I found this pattern which I think will work great for the bodice of the Red Queen costume for my sister. She's decided not to go full on with authentic undergarments to keep the cost down so I think this pattern would work great with just a little tweaking. :)
I'm hoping to grab it during the next JoAnn's pattern sale and then start fabric hunting.

Her friend has also decided to be the Mad Hatter so I'll need to start researching his costume soon! These are going to be fun projects!

I've been collecting pattern options for some of Alice's dresses which I will try and get a post done this week.
Hope your all having a lovely weekend!

Elizabeth Swann Corset Progress

Alright...I've finally taken pictures of the progress of my corset...I'm almost there!
Here is the first half pinned on my dress form. The front:

Side and back:

For awhile I was joking that I should just tie the one half corset on myself and say it's for a Mad Hatter party. haha But I have prevailed and I'm almost done with the second half!

I finished the boning in the second half yesterday while watching Little Dorrit. Yay! But that sad part is I'm out of binding...so I'll have to wait to finish it until I can get to the fabric store.

I'm so excited to be so close to done!

Vintage Buttons from Belle

Every week my mum and I go over to our friend Belle's house to crochet. She's the loveliest lady who's lived through ever so many adventures, she's traveled on a covered wagon, lived through The Depression, and that's just the beginning.
Last week she pulled out her button box and gave me a jar to fill with as many buttons as I wanted.

I feel as happy as a pirate. :)

Once I got them home I sorted them into little baggies so they're with their matches. Not as pretty as being in jars I suppose, but this way none of the matches get lost! The buttons I only have one of I can still put in jars so I can admire them. :)

Now...what to make to but all these lovely buttons on? :) I'm sure I'll think of something!

Oh, and I'm having a Sale in the SHOP! Do stop by! :)

Organizing Ribbon :)

I've decided to try and take one thing a day in my sewing room to organize rather than keep trying to tackle to entire room at once and so today I decided to organize all our bits of ribbon. We had about 3 boxes and two bags of jumbled mess which I was basically able to fit into one box. Don't you love that? :)

I made cards to wind the ribbon that wasn't on spools. I got the idea from THIS awesome and inspiring post.
I put some of the random spools and little pieces too small to wind around a card in a little box that fit nicely into the bigger box with the cards of ribbon:

And all the spools in another box:

Which fits just right into the bigger box. :)

It may not be the best organizing plan, but it works great for now. Feel so good to have that jumbled mess gone. Now I just might have to make something with ribbon trim on it. :)

Regency Embroidery

My Regency dress is almost done! I finished embroidering the hem so now all that's left is the buttonholes and buttons and contrasting fabric for the hem.
Hopefully I can get the fabric and embroidery thread tomorrow. :)

Ahhh....it feels so good to be almost done with a project. Especially this one, as it has taken me ages! Oh well, it's been fun. :)

A Satisfying Day :)

I've been busy busy sewing all day and feel quite satisfied. :) I've got a few lovely things to put in my Etsy Shop tomorrow, so check back to see what they are! I've taken a little break from historic costumes and I've been making a bit more useful things for today...but still pretty, I think. ;)

I've also got "hooked" on crocheting again. I haven't crocheted much in years, except the fingerless gloves I made this winter, but now we've started crocheting every week with the lady who taught us how and now I can't stop. I'm on my second doily and now I've started this cardigan:
Oh well...it's fun! :)

Here's a sneak peek at one of the things I was up to today....

The best thing to do while sewing all day is to drink lots of tea and listen to Roald Dahl books on CD. I listened to most of James and the Giant Peach today...brilliant. :) He's one of the most clever authors.

Well, I'm off to bed...home all day tomorrow, hopefully I'll get heaps of more sewing done! And more lovely sewing time with friends on Friday! Whoo hoo...it shall be a fantastical week! :)

(Alright...perhaps I've had a wee bit of too much tea?) ;)

Pincushions in the Shop :)

Bright and cheery to inspire you to sew. :) Check them out.

Costume Sketches

Every great costume designer, after researching the era and character their designing for, starts with a sketch.

I love keeping a small idea book full of sketches that I later will end up using in my concept sketches. It's nice to have a small sketch book that can fit in your hand bag but there have been times I scribbled on any old thing just to remember the idea until I got home. :)

Here are a few Costume/Fashion sketches that I love:

Fashion Sketch by Kat Macleod:

Costume Design by Deborah L. Scott for the film 'Titanic':

Fashion Sketch by Laura Laine:

Costume Design by Catherine Martin for the film 'Australia'

Costume Design by Jacqueline Durran for the film 'Atonement':

It's interesting to see different people's styles and mediums. I love trying different techiques.

Some of my favorite Art supplies:

-Pencils: Derwent and Prismacolor
-Watercolors: nothing special, bought at Trago Mills in Falmouth, UK

-Rubber kneaded eraser (these are the best!)

-Pencil Sharpener

-Pencil Case made by Genevieve of Pretty Wit

My stack of sketchbooks:

These are just a few of my sketchboooks. I have so many! But I think that's a good thing? ;)

From top to bottom:

-Spiral bound sketchbook (not sure where it's from, reject of Matt Parker photography I love being at the Parker house when they clean out their closets!)

-Hardbound square Sketchbook by Winsor and Newton (bought in Truro, England)

-Moleskine softcover notebook. (the thin ones that come in a 3-pack)

-Leather Bound Sketchbook from Barnes and Noble

Want to turn your scribbles and ideas into art? Check out this amazing book:

Are you inspired yet? :)

Jane Bennet Short Jacket

I've been busy working on a custom order for a Jane Bennet jacket only shorter so it can be worn nicely as modern wear.
I got the top stitching done last week and sewed the rest of the bodice together today.
I'm loving the 100% linen. :)
It lays so nicely. In these pictures it's all pressed, but I think I love it when it's fresh out of the dryer and has a wavy wrinkle to it. (I'm just weird that way)

Alright...I'm off to sew some more. Just wanted to show you all I am indeed still sewing. Just not blogging as much this week. :)

Dreaming in the 1860's

I'm in such a mood to make a dress for myself. I haven't made a dress for myself in such a long time. I always sell all my dresses. *sigh* But I truly want to make something to keep.

So....I'm thinking of starting with a Civil War dress as I've sold all of mine and will need one if I go to a reenactment this summer. I'm going to start with the underpinnings, because this is wise. ;)

First step will be a chemise. I'm researching at the moment to see if cotton or linen is more accurate. I'm sort of hoping linen as it's so soft and lovely. :) But...it is more expensive. I just need to decide between these two chemises: (maybe I will just do both!)

Someday I hope to order the Silverado Corset Pattern. But for now I'm just going to use my Simplicity patterns.

Also...I read something about sewing in the Civil War and that there were sewing machines but that they were not used in household's until later. Thus, I'm thinking about sewing my chemise by hand. Because I'm just crazy like that. But I like hand sewing anyway. :)
In the past I've never put a ton of though into my wardrobe...I just put fabric and trims together I liked. But I'm going to take my time on this one. I think it would be fun to truly put together a character with this wardrobe. So, I'm thinking on that. :) I'm actually into being a farmer at the moment. I really love work dresses and aprons...much better than silks and taffeta's. Although they are very pretty. :) Maybe one day I'll do a fancier wardrobe.
Alright...I'm off to dream and will update when I have more plans. :)