Two Federalist Era Dresses

I've made two dresses from the Federalist Era, as it was known here in the United States. The pattern I used is Past Pattern's Circa 1796-1806 Lewis & Clark Era Front Closing Gown. I modified the pattern for the second dress to make it an "apron front" closing gown.

Federalist Era Underpinnings

I made a set of underpinnings to go with my two front closing gowns, which will be featured in my next post.

This chemise works well for most time periods. It's constructed with simple geometric shapes. The neckline is adjustable since there is a ribbon encased in the hem.

The underarm gusset

Edwardian Ensemble is Finished!

Yay! I finally finished my Edwardian ensemble! I finished the skirt this afternoon and just had to put everything on and try it out. I like the overall look very much. Just some fair warning, I was taking the pictures that are to follow using my laptop, so they aren't great, but will give you the general idea.

Edwardian Skirt

I finally received the fabric I ordered to make my 1905 circular skirt. It's such a pretty shade of purple! I decided to bite the bullet and go with a color other than black, brown or gray. It's a mid weight, subtly striped twill described on the website I ordered from as "Mulberry". I do think it could be mulberry-colored, but it reminds me more of a slightly underripe blueberry! It's a rich, beautiful shade of purple no matter what it's named.

See? Isn't it such a pretty color? It's a bit darker in real life

Button-front Shirt Refashion #3

This refashion uses three shirts, technically. I made a dress with the upper portion of a white shirt, the lower portion of a red silk shirt, and a strip of fabric from the lower portion of a black shirt.
I took inspiration from pictures of color-block dresses, which are quite trendy right now, I suppose.

Button-front Shirt Refashion #2

For my second refashion, I took a soft, purple, short-sleeved, rayon button-up shirt and turned it into a racer-back tank top. I traced the neckline and shoulder lines of an existing tank top while I had the shirt on my dressform. I took the side seams in a little bit right beneath the arms but left the fit pretty loose. I couldn't make enough bias strips to finish the neck and arms with the short sleeves, so I found a bit of black knit fabric to use instead. The armholes gaped strangely, so I ran yarn through the bias trim on the armholes and used them like drawstring casings to make things look better. And voilà, a cute, light and breezy summer top.

Sewing Galore: Button-front Shirt Refashion #1

I have been sewing a good bit since I got done with finals on Friday. I suppose I'll start with the first thing I sewed this week.
A while back, my mom gave me some button up shirts that she never really wore, and they have been sitting in my closet staring at me ever since. Most of them are/ were too big and boxy for my slender frame, although I found one I like to wear under one of my vests... But I digress. Long story short, I decided to refashion some of the shirts into something I would actually wear.