What did I make in 2017 - a summary

January

I made a veil with beads as a gift for the King and Queen of Drachenwald to distribute at Estrella wars in the US.

I made a 14th century mi-parti wool gown lined in silk for Maja. Which she promptly outgrew in a few months, without ever wearing to an event.

February
In February I shared quite a lot of images of Swedish fashions from the 1910s.
I also started on Valeria's Eleonora di Toledo gown, which now is finished, just waiting to be photographed.

I also made a 16th century waffenrock in red and yellow cotton for Baron Måns.

And the kirtle from my mint green ca 1340 silk satin Italian ensemble.

Of course I hade to remake that one, when I lost weight.

March

Much time was spent taking in gowns:

And I knitted two flat caps from Marion McNealy's Gagiana pattern.

One for me:

And one for my friend Alfhild, though she didn't get it until her birthday in May.

Hubby and I went to Florence and Bologna, and one morning we sneaked out to take photos of Italian late 13th-early 14th century style clothing outside a 13th century palace :)

April

In april I wrote a quite long blog post about pleated fillets and various ways of making them: I have a few more versions that I want to try.

I also continued sewing on Valeria's Eleonora gown, and started new outfits for me and Måns. They weren't finished until May though.

May

I took in the green silk satin kirtle.

And my viking outfit, based on the Köstrup find.

And my mi-parti ca 1300 Italian wool gown

I also finished matching mi-parti silk brocade gowns for me and Måns, based on a 13th century Sicilian manuscript.

Photo of the baron by Daniel Styringheim

June 

June also involved re-making costumes. Since I needed to take them in so much it was really more like making them from scratch - I unpicked them and cut out new pieces from the old ones.

Green 15th century Florentine gown.

And my folk costume, though here I only took in the bodice and moved a couple of hooks on the skirt.

I got around to document this gown, from late 13th-early 14th century Italy.

July

In June  not only took in, but completely turned and remade another 15th century Italian gown.

I also made a hand sewn working class 15th century Italian gown from thin wool.

And wrote along post about caps from this period.

I finshed my mint green silk satin ca 1340 gown based on a painting by Bernardo Daddi.

I finished one of my painted chests with courtly motifs from the early 14th century.

All my watching of Jane Austen series led to me taking up making costumes from the directoire/empire era again.

I took in my old stays, made a new bonnet and started embroidering a new gown.

August

In august I lined the bonnet from July, made another one and made a very image heavy blog post on Regency bonnets. 

I took in my regency petticoat, and I started on a pair of late 18th century transitional stays.

I also finished my embrodiered gown from ca 1800.

September

In September we had our empire picnic and I  had made chemisette, a velvet spencer, and new bonnets for me and my friend Anna.

I took in a green brocade 15th century Italian overgown.

And I made a white muslin directoire (late 18th century) gown. And wrote lots of documentation.

October

October was spent embroidering a 16th century camicia for Valeria.

November

I finished the skirt of Valerias Elonora di Toledo gown, and sewed it together with the bodice. The emboridery of the camicia also got finished enough to be worn.

I made a muslin day dress from c. 1805-1815.

December

In December I researched winter bonnets (1800-1809 and 1810-1819)and made one. I also made a wool redingote from the first decade of the 19th century.

Combining my obsession with cotton  in the Middle Ages with my enthusiasm for the  weird high waisted Italain late 13th early 14th century gowns in one I made a working class gown from hand spun and hand woven cotton, all hand sewn of course.

I re-made an old 1920s dress.

I also started making historical clothes for dolls.

And in teh very last week of the year I made a hair net from metal braid and faux pearls for Valeria's Eleonora outfit, and before midnight the matching partlet will be finished. So maybe I will be able to photograph Valeria's 16th century Florentine costume this year - or tomorrow.

Re-making the 1920s

Yesterday was spent re-making too big stuff. First a 1940s skirt for everyday use (the cocoa brown and mint skirt with matching waistcoat, which I will re-make too of course) and then, while watching Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries I remade a 1920s one hour dress that I made for a theme party some years ago (that I didn't go to in the end, since my arthritis flared up).

I actually like the accidental walking photo best :)

Have a Merry Yule!

Or Jul, as it's called in Swedish.With lost of sewing and research - if that's your thing. It's at least how I plan to spend my free days.

In Sweden we celebrate on the eve before the actual christmas day - so I have just returned from my sister's place stuffed full with lots of yummy food and two books (one history, one sci-fi) and a magnetic pin holder richer.

I wore this stretch velour dress that I have made, but not ice skates - those were for my tradition yule pin-up photo shoot (10th time this year).

A visit to the Textile Museum

Today I took my students to the Textile Museum in a nearby town called Borås. Textilmuseet, as it's called in Swedish, is a truly amazing museum. We had booked a tour of the machines and got to see some really cool cotton carding and spinnign machines as well as knitting, lace making, and of course sewing machines.

Lace making machine from the 1930s:

Corset sewing machine from 1919:

Overlock from 1940:

It was a very good tour, which tied together history and the present in a discussion about working comditions, the environmental impact of cotton, and of mass consumptionof textiles. Very recommended.

But the museum is really big, and has lots of different exhibitions and also an area where you can try on vintage clothing. This is clothign that has been given to the museum, but which hasn't a specific provenance and if it's not too fragile the public can study the clothes and try them on. Students at the department of fashion at the unviersity, which is in the same building, of course have even better opportunites to use the collections as research objects and inspiration.

This one was a bit special, a lovely 1920s silk evening gown. It has a slip inside which is only attached at the shoulders, from the same silk.

I love that perwinkle blue, and the dress was a dream to wear. My boobs are in teh worng position of course, since I'm wearing a modern bra, and you don't see my sensible wool tights an navy patent shoes. I would love to own a dress like this.