School School School and Costumes Crew

So it's winter break (at last) and I haven't posted since October. I have a good excuse, I promise! I've had ridiculous amounts of work at school, plus sports every day, I've costumed an entire school play, I turned 16, went to the opera in New York, had an amazing birthday party, got my drivers permit, and am now working on a second school play. I do have some projects I have been working on that are near completion though, which I hope to share photos of within the next few days. After Christmas I bet I'll be ready to start some fun new projects! 

For now here are some pictures from the sewing workshop I hosted yesterday for my school costumes crew to get started on our new show. The play is an adaptation of Shakespeare's 12th Night set on long island in the 1920s! Just up my alley! So we started off by making four evening gowns and it took most of Saturday, but we made tremendous headway! Thanks again to Morgan, Maddie, Alex, and Fenian or their awesome work!

My own 20s dresses for inspiration and patterns

Maddie and Alex hard at work

Morgan and I are the heads and partners in crime

I'm making a weird face

Alex had no sewing background but now she is an expert cutter and even patterned one of the dresses!

I love my costumes crew because everyone is a sweetheart with whom I love spending time

Viola's party dress is supposed to emphasize her femininity because she has just revealed that she is in fact not a boy! This is probably my favorite of the dresses we made because it is so sweet and delicate and it reminds me of the fashion shift in late 1910s/early 1920s.

This is the slip for Viola's dress, but it's pretty cute on it's own!

This is Zelda Fitzgerald's party dress

This is Aunt Tobee's dress, she is a female version of Sir Tobee Belch from the original play (I go to a girls school so we try to get as many girl's parts out of a script as possible). She is supposed to be more mature/elderly but elegant and fashionable. In real life the fabric is semi metallic and is really pretty. There is also a scooped neckline in the back and the scarf hangs down.

British Tea 2013

I had a tea party last week and the pictures are adorable so I thought I would post a few!

These lovely ladies on my left and right are my co-conspirators in the costumes club I head at my school. Xx

Thanks to my wonderful friends who made it such a lovely afternoon and we missed those we couldn't make it!

Finished Classical 1912 Dress

So I finished my 1910s classical dress for my Downton Abbey project. But then school started and I had field hockey and no extra time! Hence no pictures or news. So here are a few snaps of the dress, I'll post better photos when I've done a real photo shoot.

This was before I sewed on the skirt or waist band or lace.

I also received the corset materials for my 1912 corset, now I just have to size up the pattern from festive attyre. 

Tea Time!

I love hosting tea parties. They are so traditional, so feminine, and so British! It's an excuse to dress up a bit and eat lots of sweets and drink many cups of tea. So basically what's not to love. Here are some party inspiration photos and some pictures from a tea party I held last year. (blogger is not working and won't allow me to add links to text so I'll just paste them in bellow the caption)

from http://newenglandvintageblog.com/

Rifle Paper company Botanical alphabet  Garlands
http://www.paper-source.com/cgi-bin/paper/item/Rifle-Botanicals-Garlands/2710_029/9781452109619.html

British flag bunting

scones from BBC food recipes
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4622/classic-scones-with-jam-and-clotted-cream

My favorite jam recipe from the food network
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/mixed-berry-and-thyme-jam-recipe/index.html

last year's tea party

setting up in advance

homemade jam and clotted cream

1913 Parisian dress

So I finally finished the red and white "throw it together" dress for my Downton Abbey Project. When I say finished I mean it still has unfinished insides, needs skirt lining, needs to be shortened, and  is currently closed by snaps which pop open whenever you bend over.

  Hmmm.... I'll just stick to "It's done!"



So once again, here is the inspiration image from la Bibliothèque des Arts décoratifs from the lovely blog Diary of a Mantua Maker.

The one on the left is my inspiration dress.   

So here are some photos I took of it last night. (let me just warn you that it was nearly 11 o' clock and I haven't slept well in a week so I was pretty sleepy and I look it! So basically ignore my face.)

Working on the new dress!

In case you couldn't see, the top and straps are embellished with little round garnet beads.

Classical 1913 Evening Gown

I'm in the mood to sew again!

I have drafted, cut, and started sewing a new dress as part of my Downton Abbey project. This one is a jade green with a hint of turquoise silk chiffon. The design is very much inspired by this dress worn by Lady Mary in series one.

By the way I love the back of her hair, it reminds me of a Psyche knot.

Then I used this lovely original pattern from 1912 as inspiration for the design and it gave me an idea for how to draw up the pattern.

 

So first I drafted and sewed up a pattern for the lining (which is black china silk). That seemed to be going well but now I'm not so sure. Anyway, I then drafted a pattern using the synthetic red chiffon left over from my last dress  (which I have yet to properly post about!). Here's what the pattern looked like on my form.

The Front

The Back

The Side

 And here it is in the real fabric.

 Since then I have joined an hemmed the bodice. Next I will put the lining in order and then anchor the chiffon to the lining. In the back I will have the chiffon cross over and snap or hook into place. Underneath buttons on the lining will provide the real closure. So that's my progress so far. 

I plan on styling this with the black jet hair comb I got in Prague and maybe a jet necklace as well.

 

 I think I will gather up the skirt on one side and sew a wide panel of black lace to the underskirt so that will peep out. I will probably use one of these vintage laces from Etsy.