Tiger Lily's Threads

This is a relatively short post (mostly because I'm still sewing). Originally, I wanted to make this gown for the upcoming George Washington Birthnight Ball that's occurring next weekend at the Gadsby's Tavern in Virginia, and needed to make a 1799 era evening gown. Looking at different examples, I settled on gown that I felt would be easy to make....  Putting my best foot forward I won't lie when I say that this wasn't a tough project. I felt that I might have gone just a little in over my head and won't be able to wear the gown in time for the ball (thankfully, I have a backup). Reason being, is mainly because of the materials. For starters, the fabric is one of a kind; meaning if I made any mistakes in cutting the Sari fabric, immediately the project is over. I had to be EXTRA careful. I also had to utilize an 1809 pattern from Period Impressions. This wasn't necessarily challenging; I just had to fit the 1799 look by raising the waistband a bit ...

!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 2017 has come to a close (...good riddance) and now to welcome in the new year with boxing gloves, prepared and ready for anything 2018 has in store. I'm much wiser and ready.  That being said, 2017 has been a year of good challenges and opportunities. I was introduced to many wonderful people who work in the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation during my Spring internship, .I participated in some really cool reenactments in Yorktown and Londontowne, and I had the opportunity to of course challenge myself at new patterns that I've always dreamed of working with. And let me tell you, now that it's the new year, I am already setting up goals to reach and tackle. So without further delay here's the highlights of 2017.  SPRING  SUMMER FALL  WINTER

!!!HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Last year was a very busy but fun and eventful year. While I'm anticipating on ringing in the new year with new projects, here's my year 2016 in review. January ·       Holiday Victorian Tea ·       Victorian Lobster tail bustle ·       1812 Regency House Party February ·       Katsucon 2016 (the year the fire nation attacked) March ·       Francaise Dinner 2016 ·       Spring Break at Colonial Williamsburg April ·       Coral Caraco Jacket 2.0 May ·       Mount Vernon (A Call to Arms battle Reenactment) 1  1812 Black Waverly jacket June ·       British Invasion at Monticello (reenactment) August ·        Battle of Bladensburg reenactment ·  ...

This past weekend, my unit the Royal Marines and I participated in the Battle of Bladensburg in Riverdale, Maryland. The last couple of times we've attended it was either pouring down rain or your typical July Summer. This year was different; it was ...a bit warm….did I say warm? I meant hot as an oven at 450 degrees!!!  This past weekend, all of Maryland was HOT with a heat index of 110. Too hot to be outside and too dangerous to be outside to be doing events like this. But we trudged on anyway. We packed everything we could think of for this event: water, water, ice packs, water, more ice, First Aid Kit, Food, even more ice, fans, umbrellas, 100 SPF sunblock, hats, Gatorade, and of course…6 crates of water thanks to the Museum. It seemed we were all ready for whatever the temperature had to throw at us. And surprisingly, we did hold up pretty well. We even selected the perfect shade for all 3 British Units to stay under, while the American Units stayed in the equally large...

Been on a bit of a reticule kick lately. Not only because I did not have a fabric version at the time, but also because I wanted to make something for the Francaise Dinner coming up in 2 weeks.  Anyway, both items were made with the upholstery fabric I purchased when I attended the Holiday Tea back in January. I added matching tassels and lace to make the bag on the left stand out, and make the one on the right just simple, as the designer fabric already had something going on.  To make your own, here is the free pattern by Aylwen Historical Costuming.  Happy Sewing 

This past weekend, was absolutely amazing! On saturday, my husband and I joined several of our reenacting friends for a Regency house party hosted by the Bartgis-Knight house. The event was very low key, but the ambiance was a bit on the romantic side and perfect for what was being portrayed (early 19th century games, dinner by candle-light, etc.) In addition to that, this was also my husband's first time at an event, and in kit (thanks to my good friends Lawrence and Katie Bopp for lending him the clothes), so the experience was not only new to him, but it was new to me (my reaction was priceless). He looked like Mr. Bingley from the BBC Pride & Prejudice. After dinner, there were tons of games and other fun activities. For example, I versed my husband in a game of Farro (and lost) and chatted away with friends we haven't seen since June. As the party reached 10pm and was coming to a close, the hosts of the party (along with Jon, myself, and the housemates of t...

                Last month, I decided to try something a little different to challenge my sewing skills; boy was I right on the money. I've never made a spencer jacket before and while I've often considered making one in the past, I'd end up not going through with it. So, this time I decided to challenge myself by jumping in and doing it. Besides, with all of the other things I've made in the past, this couldn't be hard to do right? Aside from that, I just love the silhouette it gives when it's put over the day or evening dress.                  The fabric I chose for this project was the black Waverly print from Lowe's  for $27. When I paired the fabric together with a 2 of my regency dresses, it matched wonderfully. The colors absolutely popped when I paired it with the brown empire gown, and the Chemise La Reine I made back in September; it just gives it a great fall/winter fes...

On a rainy day like today, I've decided to do some sewing (preferably finishing projects that I've kept in the queue). So, I pulled out the blue 1809 day dress I was working on back in March, and got busy. I've also decided to add it to the Historical Sewing Monthly Challenge. The Challenge: #4 War & Peace Fabric: Cotton quilting fabric  Pattern: Period Impressions' Regency day dress Year: 1809 Notions: Buttons & clasp How historically accurate is it?:  Historically speaking, a lot of women wore day dresses like this during the War of 1812. As far as sewing construction goes, I want to say that it's pretty much half/half. On the inside of the bodice, most of it is hand-sewn, but as soon as I got to the skirt construction, I decided to use the sewing machine. The pattern itself, is as close to historically accurate as possible considering it's from Period Impressions.  Hours to complete: 120+ hours, and 2 months; I got started on i...

So, I'm a little behind on my sewing and knitting mostly due to work however, I do have a few things on my "to do" list that I'd like to knock off before the month is over. 1. Get my sewing corner established. A couple of days ago, I spoke with my mom about using the spare room she keeps her things in as a sewing room mostly because I just don't have the space like I used to back at my old apartment. 2. To finally finish my 1809 Regency Day dress. It's been on my short mannequin for a while now mostly because I've left my regular dress maker's dummy in storage. All I have to do now, is just add the skirt, and the buttons and voila! It'll be ready for the spring/summer Regency event(s). 3. Get started and finish my Historical Sew Monthly project for April. The French Revolution Cockade 4. Redo my husband's 18th century waistcoat. Right now, it's a hodgepodge of different fabrics with very different prints. I don't' know what...

I'm excited to say that I'm at the halfway point of finishing my day dress. Right now, the bodice is finished and fits perfectly. Aside from machine sewing the muslin lining to the dress, the sleeves, waistband, and arm bands are hand-sewn. Even though the challenge calls for stash-busthing, I resorted to buying a button mold from JoAnn Fabrics, and made a few buttons out of the remaining fabric I had left over from the bodice scraps. For the skirt, I have 3 yards of broadcloth fabric remaining, and sometime by the end of the weekend I'll have it ready for the Historical Sew Monthly challenge: Stash-busting.   full view The back view before the buttons hand sewn muslin to the fashion fabric Button, Button, who's got the button?

For the Historical Sew Monthly's March challenge, I've decided to pull out one of my most recent patterns that I bought last year from the Market Fair back in 2014. The 1809 day dress pattern from  Period Impressions.   This was my very first time using the pattern to make an entire dress (I had used it to only make an open robe jacket), so I had to really look at a lot of examples via Pinterest, and other costume blogs.  Anyway, using several yards of muslin lining and broadcloth fabric, I've cut out the mock and fashion patterns and pinned together the entire bodice of the dress. I had to make several adjustments to the bust and to the sleeves to make sure that they were set correctly as well as not fitting to the dress maker's dummy (since the dummy is from a clothing store and cannot be adjusted).  Over the next couple of days, I'll more than likely be doing a lot of hand sewing, in order to make sure that it looks as close to being a...

The Challenge: Blue The Fabric: 100% Wool yarn Pattern: Hand Knit Garters Pattern by Gloria Sheu Year: 17th-19th century Notions : none How Historically accurate is it: Knitted garters were very common in Europe and Colonial America during the late 17th century and well into the early 19th century. They were a form of fashion and practicality; they were also sometimes woven on a loom. I'd say that this pattern is very accurate. The only inaccurate thing about my project was that the finished project was dyed with blue food dye, but then again, what wasn't dyed with food dye back then? Hours to complete: I'm going to figure at least 4 hours each garter First Worn: Only to try on for this picture. I may wear it later for reenactments in the near future. Total Cost : Since I already had both materials in my stash, it's really hard to pinpoint how much I paid for both. I'm going to figure that it was $3.99 for the un-dyed 100% wool yarn, and $5.20...

After 2 years of reenacting the War of 1812, it's safe to say that the Bicentennial is finally over!  So, In honor of the Ratification of the Treaty of Ghent by Congress on February 18, 1815, the Federal Era Society, hosted an afternoon Tea party on Sunday to celebrate. It was a lively "Big Wrap Party" with lots of surprises.  It started at 11:15 AM at St. Anne's Episcopal Church in Annapolis, MD. Sadly, I was very late arriving to the historical church for Mass, so I went to the Knight-Bartgis house where the reception was being held, to wait for the rest of the congregation. The house was very charming and dated back to what I believe were the early 1900's. The hosts laid out sandwiches, chicken salad, carrot soup, cookies, homemade breads, and 2 kinds of punch. One alcoholic and the other nonalcoholic. I can't recall what was in the alcoholic punch, but the nonalcoholic punch consisted of pineapple juice, ginger extract, and lots of ginger soda. Hist...