Tiger Lily's Threads

What the item is: 1779 Jacket The Challenge: #8 Heirlooms and Heritage Fabric: Waverly Curtain collection Cotton Fabric, muslin fabric (lining), interfacing Pattern: J.P. Ryan 18th century wome's Jacket Year: 1779 Notions: none How historically accurate is it?: The pattern is pretty accurate, but as for the print itself, it's possible; large floral prints like this, were popular back during that time. Hours to complete: 2 days for the muslin construction, and once I got the Waverly fabric, it took me 3 days to cut out the pattern, sew the whole thing together, and make all of the trim by using a loose running stitch and gathering it up tight enough for that ruched effect. First worn: I will be wearing this to the Battle of Red Bank reenactment in NJ Total cost: $20 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONSTRUCTION PHOTOS!  Working on the stomacher Before the final result, this was what it was originally going to look like. The trim was on the stomacher only as a resu...

What the item is: Small bum roll The Challenge : #9 Brown Fabric: 100% cotton plaid fabric, cotton stuffing Pattern: improvised Year: 1700-1780's Notions : Binding tape How historically accurate is it?:  Bum rolls have been around since the Renaissance period all the way up to the late 18th century. As far as this particular project goes, I want to say this is as close to historically accurate (the majority was machine sewn to make sure it would't fall apart, while some of it was hand sewn when I had it closed by using a whipstitch). As far as the fabric print, plaid was used a lot during the 18th century as well as cotton (granted cotton was more expensive than linen at the time since this was before invention of the Cotton Gin).  Hours to complete: 2 hours First worn:  Plan to wear it with my Chemise La Reine and jackets Total cost : Around $10

               This is related to my earlier post, but heck why not turn it into a challenge piece?   The challenge: Out of your comfort zone Fabric: 100% Cotton voile (gown), bleached cotton muslin (sleeves), and sheer curtain fabric (collar) Pattern:  A modified pattern made by Fresh Frippery; the sleeves were used from the 1809 day dress pattern. Year: 1790 Notions: Ribbon for the sash and drawstring, lace for the sleeves How historically accurate is it?:  Despite using the sewing machine to beat the deadline, I'd say that this is pretty accurate for the time. Hours to complete: 72 hours (3 days) First worn: Only to try it on a few times. Total cost: $27.15 For a 1st attempt, I'd say I did pretty well. I plan to make another one in the near future with more lace, more frills, and probably make them with long slender sleeves.

The Chemise a La Reine ("Chemise for the Queen" in French) is a garment or chemise made popular by the Queen Marie Antoinette of France in the mid 1780's. The fabric consisted of a very lightweight cotton or muslin that was fitted around the neckline, sleeves, and cinched at the waist with a colored sash. It's a very simple but elegant gown even to this day. With that in mind, I wanted to make one myself. Over the years, I've seen a lot of historical costume makers do it and make it look so easy. This was a perfect time to challenge myself with working on new fabrics and techniques.  To start off, I ordered 3 yards of cotton voile from ebay for $2.99 a yard. I figured that if I make a mistake, I wouldn't feel too bad considering it was much cheaper than the finer quality which would be $14.99 a yard or higher.  Next I did used a diagram made by Fresh Frippery . I found this to be very easy to work with and to understand especially since it...

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...

Going back a little further here on the movies that I feel are now 90's classics, I definitely want to review this movie that I felt had good acting, really good special effects, perfect actors that matched the characters in the novel, and of course the beautiful costumes that surprisingly carried cultural and religious symbolism. I'll also talk about the comparisons between the movie and the novel itself. While the movie is tightly based on the novel, there are some contrasts that I'm sure you will find just as surprising. (Spoiler: This is a synopsis) The movie opens up with Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker, a solicitor, embarking on a long and arduous journey into the Carpathian mountains of Transylvania to meet the elusive and mysterious Count Dracula. . . . I'm sorry, that's not how it began. That was in the book. The movie actually opens up with a viscous war going on in 15th century Transylvania, with Prince Vlad Tepes (played by Gary Oldman), killin...

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...

Well readers it's the first week of February, and for the Historical Monthly Challenge and I've been making a list of what to make for the second challenge (mostly because I couldn't make up my mind). Ideas such as petticoats, a long sleeved regency-style dress, a 40's style dress were conceived, but due to the lack of resources and money (bills, rent, groceries), I settled on just knitting a pair of garters out of some blue yarn that I hand-dyed a few years ago; I've considered re-dying the finished project royal blue so it would match most of my colonial/regency outfits. 100% wool yarn soaked in distilled white vinegar, and then dyed with 1-2 packs of ice blue Kool-Aid The pattern I used for my  18th century garters , were from my friend Gloria's website, "In The Long Run". I absolutely love the outcome of the garters because they were easy to follow and quick to knit up. This time, I used McCormick food coloring to dye my garters a da...

Alright! My first Project of the year!  Here's just a little bit of info on my finished work for the challenge. I also incorporated this into what I was working on last year and didn't finish until now aka, a UFO (un-finished object).  Fabric: Duck Canvas, linen fabric (for the lining) Pattern:  J.P. Ryan's Strapless Stays Year: 18th century Notions : metal rivots, binding tape, corset string, metal boning How historically accurate is it? I'd say it's pretty spot on, with the exception of the metal rivets in the back. The pattern is historically accurate, and is used by a lot of reenactors and costumers, and the print of the fabric is accurate since I managed to get my hands on it at the Colonial Market Fair last year. Hours to complete: It took me several months to complete. I started on it back in May of 2014, and while I had other projects to do, I put it down, and pick it up again whenever I'd come across it aga...