Descriptions and pictures of clothes from the 16th and 17th century #1

This post and the next two are a revised re-post from my Livejournal in 2005. As it seems much more likely that if I give anything up it will be LJ and not Blogger, I have decided to re-post some of the more interesting things I have written. Here are the descriptions and pictures of clothes from the Swedish royal family in the 16th and 17th century found in the book Vasagraven (1956), edited by Martin Olsson.

18th century hair tutorial

I did this hair on a friend a couple of years ago. It's a rather easy way to get a 1770-1780's hair. The model's hair was thick and long, somewhere between BSL and waist and a dream to work with. She had curled the front hair and then I teased it quite a lot, adding extra strength hairspray.

Banyans and masked balls and straw hats, oh my

I have been a bit quiet here, but not for lack of sewing. I just haven’t much to show yet. I have finally cut out the banyan for my darling. I’m sure it will be very nice- steely blue-grey taffeta with pale grey charmeuse for lining, but charmeuse is truly hell to cut in. First time I work with it a slippery is just the beginning. There will be a matching cap and hopefully I can get a waistcoat out of the remnant fabric too.

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.