Going fantasy

Still exhausted, and the stress about the COVID-19 virus of course isn't helping. Though my self isolation because of my compromised immune system is also helping me to get better. I walk in nature and I don't feel any pressure to meet people outside the family.

I have gradually got a little of my creative energy back. And it has made me want to make fantasy costumes, of all things.

It started when the local burlesque club, which I haven't attended for ten years, was going to have a party themed "Spring awakening". For the first time for ages I got really enthusiastic. To avoid getting burnt out by a costume project I decided to use my 1560s Venetian gown , but to make a shift in a green sheer fabric.
I did have a look in the local fabric stores, but didn't find any fabric that really spoke to me. Then I remembered that I had a cotton voile scarf that I had bought second hand. It was a litte bluer in colour than I liked, so I tried some tea dyieng. If that is what made the colour better, or if it's the fact that it bled like whoa, I don't know, but it was sufficient.
So I made a simple shift from my peasant blouse pattern, except that I slit the sleeves to make hanging sleeves.
Since several years I also had this Indian lace with white flowers, that I bought just because it was so pretty. I cut it into smaller pieces to shape it and zigzagged along the stems, and in the centre of the flowers. Then I put seed beads in green, yellow, white or bronze, in the middle of the flowers.
When I wear it, whenever that may be I will also have added fabric flowers and various greenery from fabric to the gown, bu stitching them on by hand, but since most of the ones that I ordered haven't arrived yet, and I'm not in a hurry this is not a problem. Because the event just got cancelled. I will still make the costume though and take photos of me in it.

I have also bought a artificial ivy wine with led lights in it, to make a wreath. I am going to paint the lights green, to give a sort of eerie light, because I am going to be a not-quite-safe faerie queen. But not yet, because I am trying very hard not to overdo things.
Enough talking, some photos from when I tried it on:

However, this got me so inspired that I decided to make another fantasy costume. Or, I decided to make a coprset and wear it with a skirt that I bought last month.

It was also an opportunity to try and get a pattern for a 16th century corset/supportive bodice that fits my current size and shape. It's basically an effigy corset with lots of painted felt leaves glued on.

The pattern needs some tweaking: It needs to be a little higher at the top and smaller at the waist, but other than that I am happy with it. Which means that whenever I feel the inspiration to make a new supportive kirtle from my lovely linsey-wolsey fabric I have a working pattern.

But currently I am more inspired to put on fantasy costumes and drag Rickard to the forest to take photos of me. And that's what we did yesterday. We also walked in the forest just to enjoy it of course. This time we took the car, but I can actually walk to that forest, it's about 3,5 kilometres to the forest and then the same distance to my favourite part of the forest. So it's definitely doable, I did it on Thursday. But I prefer not doing it in corset and make-up :)

Anyway, here are some of the photos that we took. I wish I knew photoshop so I could make some cool effects, but I think they work fine as they are, without filters.

Re-visting the 12th century

At least I was, but it was in no way mandatory, as you will se on the photos.

Last weekend was St.Egon's Feast, one of the SCA barony Gotvik's annual events. Every other year it is also the event where the new baron and baroness are invested, and this was such a year. They had chisen to wear 12th century clothign fro their invesrtiture, which I took as a good reason to dig out my own old 12th cetnruy clothing. At least some of it, it was once one of my signature periods. But much of it has been given away, or sold, and that is good, I have more than enough garb as it is.

Since I haven't actually made any new costumes this post is mainly a collection of photos of me and others in medieval and renaissance clothes, but I hope that you enjoy it.

The new baron and baroness: Sigvald från Gudhem and Astridh Torkilsdotter

Me:

On Friday night and before court I wore two wool gowns in a style that is very commonly seen in German manuscripts from the 12th century: with a tight shorter overgown and a wider, longer undergown.

Indoors photo at night, so the colours aren't very good.

 Outdoors. Better for colour, but the double belt is actually not usually worn with this style.

The cloak is my first cloak ever, from 1993 and made from a blanket I bought a thrift store.
And as a bonus: The same clothes worn in 2006:

For court I changed into my green silk bliaut made in 2005 (it has its own page with more info here). For teh first photos I forgot my belt,but I think it looks really nice anyway. The coronet is ca 150 years too modern in style and made for me by EvaJohanna Studios.

Me being all dramatic:

Photos taken after court, when I had out on the belt. I am a fairy tale princess. Or at least baroness.

Leaving the 12th century I took these photos of some other friends:

Court baroness Katarina Krognos af Ystad, the baroness who stepped down at this event, in Iron Age Finnish clothing.

My friend and neighbour Ingeborg with her son Tom. Early 14th century (her) and 10th-12th century (him)

And Amanda in her Italianoutfit from the second half of the 15th century. This is the first costume that she made, I am very proud of her. Necklace from By Hand and Paw. 

Watching the new Emma movie in costume

While we didn't have high hopes for the movie (but it was better than we feared, and some of the costumes were really good), we still thought that it would be nice to go and see it in period costume. We were four ladies to start with, but one didn't finish her costume in time. But we liked having her there anyway ;)

Since it is winter (sort of) and daytime my best choice of dress was my grey cotton day gown. I could have worn the teal embroidered gown too I guess, but it was raining a lot, and the storm "Dennis" trying to blow us away, so I wasn't keen on a gown with a train.

It was a "Breakfast movie" with breakfast included, which started at 10 am, so this is me at 9-ish, having a cup of tea in shift, stays and petticoat. And cap of course. Note my two cute cats.

This photo is from inside the cinema. Alfhild, me and Anna.

Naturally this is not all that I wore outdoors in February. I had planned to wear my red redingote if I could fit into it, but as I suspected it was too small. I will see if I can find some scraps of the fabric to make the bodice bigger, because I'm not going to be that skinny again.

My next option was a red wool spencer that I made in 2006, but apparently I had taken it in when I was at my skinniest, without remembering it. For a while it appeared that I would have to go with just a shawl. That really hadn't been much of a problem, it is not far, and because of the rain Anna and I were taking the bus anyway. And I was after all wearing a linen shift, linen stays, a cotton petticoat, a linen chemisette and a cotton gown and over knee cotton stockings, and a shawl. Plus hot flushes ;).

But then I remembered the spencer jacket for my soon-to-be-finished regency riding habit from black wool. I am not that keen on black, but I think it looked nice with the shawl. It also would have been nice if I hade checked the collar so it wasnt' standing up before taking photos.

These are taken after we got home agin, with my curls unmade by dampness and storm winds.

New year's dress à la 1919/1920

Like everyone else I have seen all the posts of: "next year the 1920s starts again" or something similar. And they are all of them illustrated with imgaes of women in dress from ca 1925/26, when the dresses were at their shortest.
And that didn't really sit right with me, so when I decided to make a 1920s outfit for my New years eve with the family I looked at images from 1919 and 1920,even if they were harder to find on the internet. I think that I may be a little more 1921 than 1920, but I was also limited to using fabric that I already had: a remnant of velvet and a second hand table cloth which was made from embroidered tulle.

 

Here you can hopefully see the velvet roses at the hips.

I am very happy with how my hair turned out.

Some of my inspiration images:

For the general shape, with the tunic on top:

Tea dress pattern from Butterick 1919:

A photo of Tyra Eriksson from Vänersborg (which is rather close to my home village) from 1919. From Vänersborg's museum, via the Digitalt museum website.

New Ideas Quarterly from 1918

Vogue fashion plate June 1919

Les modes de la femmes de France 1919

1920s day dress from Butterick, for the waistline and the focus on width over the hips

A lovely evening gown from 1920. The waist is below the natural waist, but not yet at the hips.

French fashion drawings, February 1920:

 

Les modes de la femmes de France, 1920

I really, really wanted to make a robe de style, but unfortunately they are from later in the 1920s. But there will be more opportunities - maybe even to wear a 1920s gown outside the home ;)

Merry Yule!

I prefer the older word, mainly because it's the same in Swedish (Jul) - but whatever you celebrate, I hope that you're having a good celebration.

Those of you who follow this blog on facebook know that I am currently on sick leave from exhaustion, and that my best friend since 40 years id undergoing treatment for cancer in the throat.

So I don't have much energy for sewing, or really anything. But I made a new dress for yule, from some eyelt fabric that I bought at a second hand store. I wanted to keep as much fo the original shape as possible, sinne the eyelet pattern had direction, so it's made from one ractangle as skirt, another one as most of the bodice, shaped with darts, to the waist, and then straps in front and a yoke in back, plus sleeves. it is no particular period, but with this hair it looks very 1940s-early 50s.

I am alos working, very slowly on a 1919-1920 dress for New Years. Maybe it will be finished. I'm usign a remnant of velvet and a piece of embroidered tulle that was a second hand table cloth that I got from my best friend as birthday present. But I need lining fabric, so tomorrow I am braving the hordes down town to get that.

An empire era tea party

It doesn't have be more complicated than this:
My friend Anna invited us over for tea, with mostly period cakes and biscuits provided by us all. We had lots of tea and a good chat, as well as an attempt to read "The Mysteries of Udolpho" aloud. I say attempt, because it is very slow reading.

The setting was modern, but not jarringly so, and in candlelight it was easy to get into the mood.

First we took lots of ohotos of course, and I finally got around to having proper photos of the grey day dress that I made when I had my foot surgery in August 2018. If you look at the old photos you can see that I was quite a bit thinner then, so I had to start with making a new pair of stays. I chose front lacing stays so that I can put them on myself.

My stays is the only not hand sewn garment in my empire wardrobe. mainly because I needed to try out the pattern before making all that work. I have plans to make a back laced one with cords and quilting later though.

I also had to put in extra pieces in my petticoat/underdress), because I took it in when I was really skinny.

So, here's some photos from the tea party:

Most of the gang, some came after this photo was taken:

Alfhild

Anna and Alfhild conversing.

Anna. The cap was my birthday present to her last year. It is very silly, they tend to be that in the 1790s.

Amanda, who had borrowed my muslin gown. And Gunilla.

 Gaby in her brand new hand sewn gown.

Anna knitting

Amanda and me together

And finally, two phots of me in the grey gown.