Need 18th century shoes?

American Duchess is launching this pretty 18th century shoes in silk. Pre-orders start on April 1 and will get a nice discount. Look here for more information.

Airing the faux fur jacket

I hope you don't mind more photos, but they are vastly better than the first ones. I still maintain that it isn't the most flattering cut for my body type, but if was very warm and cosy and fun to wear.



And if anyone wonder, this is how a middy cut looks when the hair is airdryed and brushed and nothing else.

Vast tracts of land

Last Friday I had the opportunity to break in my new stays. The pros are that they are really comfortable and, if I may say it myself, very pretty. The cons are that they are, in their brand new and un-stretched state exactly the right size. Which means they will become too big soon, even is I stay the same weight. How I managed to make something that will be too large is a mystery, if I err in size when I make garments too small. Oh well. It's not that I mind making stays exactly. I also need a little more boning in the front, even if the back and sides worked very well with few bones.

My darling took a few pictures of me, which perhaps wasn't the best of ideas. I have the distinct feeling that his focus wasn't exactly on the stays...

A 1950's faux fur jacket

I have just finished my first ever project in faux fur. I had anticipated that it would be difficult, but it was actually not hard at all. I followed the suggestions here. My faux fur was a pretty generic short-haired black one and the quality is OK- I bought it really cheap a couple of years ago. I did cut the fur with small snips with scissors, but if I would use a fur with longer hair, then I would cut it with a razor knife. I didn't have any problem with the fabric slipping, but I did pin madly. Again, with longer hair I would baste too.

The very very late blogaround

I must confess, last week I totally and completely forgot about the blogaround. And somehow I didn't get around to do it this monday either, so you may spank me with a wet noodle.

I'm actually having an awful february, which began with a nasty cold that developed into an even nastier nasty bout of laryngitis. This is the third week I'm on sickleave and I'm climbing the walls. I'm forbidden to speak and it really makes you feel isolated! So if you have some lonk you think I would be interested in, please, give it to me! I'm in sore need of entertainment and cheering.

And I do have some links for you too:

Couture Allure writes about the fashion company Lilli Ann, which at least I had managed to miss before.

Diary of A Mantua Maker gives us a overview of the 18th century polonaise.

A tutorial in making a pair of Regency shoes.

The Lady's Resource Site is a blog that links to various articles and blogs regarding fashion history.

Deriana gives the cutest overview over the history of the Tudors you'll ever see.

And Casey of Elegans Musings has made the cutests 30's underwear.

Almost finished 1790's stays

All my plans of finishing the stays soon after my last post about them got a bit delayed due to a nasty cold, but here are some progress.

After attaching the shoulder straps I needed to try them on to be able to determine how longs straps I needed. I used some old boning left over from an old pair of stays, which is why it sticks out so. Trying them on made me realise two things. First; they were actually not too small, which I had feared, but too large! So if I don’t grow larger I won’t be needing that stomacher I made. The second thing, which I already suspected, was that I needed more boning in the front, as you can see here:

Monday blogaround

I managed to contract yet another bad cold over a week ago that kindly developed into laryngitis. So I'm eyeing all my sewing projects with longing and spend my days reading blogs and watching old movies. I'm beginning to get bored out of my skull... But here are some nice links for you.

Aclisto isn't the only one I seen pointing at theGoogle's Museum Project, but I saw her post first.

The Dreamstress talks about the infallabilities of museums.

3 Hours Past the Edge of the World has tested a gizmo that makes patterns drafting a dance. I was really interested until I saw the price... Worth checking out though and let's hope the price will become affordable one day.

Katie Jacobs point at an archive for Regency fashion.


Gertie of Gertie's New Blog For Better Sewing has read an article abour repro vintage clothes.


Frualeydis dissertation on Medival clothes in Sweden and Norway are now online. Only in Swedish, but there is an English summary.