Steps - shirtwaist and waistcoat for the new biking set

In order to make the red jacketed, striped skirted set from the bike-wheel adwertisement (see, my bee in the bonnet post here) 

I needed a shirt to wear under the jacket, but while I was there, thinking about the overall idea (including the black taffeta skirted fashion plate, where there is obviously a white waistcoat under the jacket),

I decided to make the waistcoat as well. I was thinking o trying another pattern, but as the saying says you should not leave a well known road for an unknown one (oh, well, okay, thats not always a sound advice, as you can have many fun adventures at unknown roads), and save some time, I turned back to my tried and true, favorite pattern, the Black Snail late Victorian waistcoat.

As for fabric, I have a piece of white on white, graphic damask I got for this purpouse... but it is such a white that is neither off-white, nor optic white (you know my obsession with optic white, lol), and looked strange with the white shirt...

I have seen some damasque in one of the I love textil stores (in fact I bought a big piece of it to sew a petticoat for a completely different time period). I've run in there asking, if they have it... but the roll was nowhere to be seen.

I asked the girl there, who remembered that they sold almost all of it, but maybe have a small piece left over, somewhere. She spent a considerable time to find it, under their cutting table, but there I had it, it was waiting for me, just the right length for a waistcoat. It is still a bit off white, but looks much better than the original one, és a small flower pattern in the damasque is so cute.

Of course, once again, I forgot to photograph the whole process, but I have one, after adding the back, the lining, but before turning it out:

 For the shirtwaist, I used the same Truly Victorian pattern that I cut out for my stripy shirt, though this time I used the version without the shoulder piece (yoke). The white on white stripy fabric was from my stash, but originally I bought it from - of course- one of the I Love Textil Shops.

I could not help myself, so I used up a piece of leftover lace, adding it to the cuffs and the buttonband:

Fabric: I love Textil

Shirtwaits pattern: Truly Victorian

Waistcoat pattern: Black Snail

Photos: Norbert Varga @Bodeszphoto

Weekend Program suggestion

 Its the middle of July and it means, we are going to Visegrád.

It is the renaissance palace of Matthias rex, and there will be the palace-games, with knights and fights.

There will be a general fair below the palace grounds.

However, all the while there will be a Historical Fair at the palace-grounds, where you can get those historically accurate pieces you miss from your set (especially if you reenact periods before the 16th century)...

And in the palace there will be crafters and the ladies in waiting of Queen Beatrix of Aragon (the wife of Matthias Rex.

You can talk with us about the beauty tricks, and fibercrafts (spinning, lacemaking, embroidery, etc) of the period, and play with games.

Come see us. 

Facebook event is HERE.

Weekly SO

It is one thing that an interface made originally to share pictures, Instagram does everything to forget the original intent (share pictures), and tries to force us put up videos ("reels"), but what is really annoying that none of the pictures made with a tool capable of making digital pictures (mobile/cell-phones, digital cameras) is suitable to be uploaded as it is. They are either too wide, too tall or too narrow, they needed to be editet, cut, and it is still up to a chance (at least to those non-photographer philologists like me, whose head does not wok well with pixels, picture measurements, etc) what can be seen, and what not on the uploaded pictures at the end.

Short comment

 The landscape after battle... What happens, when I have 5 minutes to change from a full late Victorian outfit to a modern, summery concert-going one.

P.s: Our weekend was very busy, I sweated, dirtied, make-uped, dirtied a few all white outfit, but all of them is washed and drying, and the rest of the historical outfit is put away. (Which is an exception to the way things usually go around here, LOL).

Weekly Patternmuster (knitting)

 While searching for *that* pattern, I saved an incredible amount of fair isle/stranded patterns, that will eventually show up here :-)

One of them is the Black Wolf pattern from Linka Neuman.

If you look through the projects, there are many finished objects in a lot of different color-variations, like a very graphic black-and-white, or a more wood-sy, fall colored palletts, and the pattern is unisex, suits men, children as well as women, and it can also be a fun little reference for Game of Thrones fans.

Also, somebody made a lovely wrap cardigan out of it, which is well worth checking out. 

Striped Split Skirt

There was one thing behind building many sets from the same few items, that made it easier: I did not plan to use new patterns, but tried and true ones.

Ones I already used with succes, I don't have to buy them now, I don't even have to print and glue/tape them together, because I've kept what I used before. However, almost all of them needed some modification, either to resize them, or change something in them.

I considered for a while the striped bottom on the advertisement drawing I showed yesterday, trying to figure out, whether it is a skirt, a pair of bloomers, or what? At the end, I decided on a split skirt, because a), on the drawing there isn't much that would point toward it being some kind of pants/trousers/breeches... however b) it is a bycycle garment, it should be bifurbicated, besides, then I can talk about the changes sports (and biking) brought into the fashion. 

I knew where to go for the fabric (this time not to I Love Textil), because I've already made a pair of prisoner's striped pants (for a Xmas funny scene), and all I needed to check if the store still has some. It is somewhat thicker, more massive than a plain cotton, it has twill weave, but still soft enough for a skirt. It was not cheap, so I had to be very careful and creative with cutting it.

My problem with the first one I made was that it did not have any pockets, and though I thought about it a lot since, I could not really figure out how/where to include them. 

The split skirt is closing on its two sides with a buttoned panel, that made it impossible to put those pockets into the side seam. I though about making a sewn on (patch) pocket, but I thought it would ruin the lines of the striped fabric. At the end, I desided to make a welt-pocket, that runs paralell with the buttonband. 

With bycycling getting popular from the 1890-ies, women needed clothes that adapted better to the more active lifestyle. Of course, these attempts constantly met with strong opposition, like many place (restaurants, cafes, etc) did not let in women, if not "properly" dressed (ie: not in proper skirts). That is why they started to figure out clothes that looked like tranditional clothes (skirts), but still allowed more movements.

The pattern is the Reconstructing History pattern, from which I wrote longer when I first used it. 

A bee in my bonnet (starting with a new set of bicycle clothing)

I started this post about five times, but either because of the intense heat, or simply being tired, I cannot properly phrase my thoughts...LOL.

Then I decided to put this into the "Bee in my bonnet" column, just to see, how my brain works, how it comes up with things, and how it combines those thoughts.

There was a sentence about how I love(d) the white linen biker set, but it is kind of hanging on me now. Another was about no matter how much I love the set, still getting bored wearing the same thing for more than two years, even if it is only for a couple of times, yet another start was about researching the late Victorian / early Edwardian sports and sportswear, and bumping into some adwertisements and thinking, how fun it would be to bring those ads into life.

The thing is, that all of those thing had a part in my decision to make a new set for this year. 

But then, since my adhd brain started rolling, there was no stopping there, and the (possible) combinations started to pile up: 

Like... If I'll make the red jacket, and then I make a taffeta or velvet skirt, and a white waistcoat and shirt, I can bring life to another fashion plate. 

Then, if I make another bodice to that skirt, I can make a ballgown... 

All the while, if I'll make another jacket, there could be another bycycle ad brought to life... 

Now, you can understand, why Norbert, or my friends get pale, when I say... "I had and idea, and I was thinking..."

However, all seemed like a good combo, and plan, so I decided to make it step by step... which, of course, does not mean, that I make it slowly, and comfortably, not rushing to meet deadlines - even if I am the one who sets those deadines. 

Let's start with the first item, and see, what can I build up from this tetris until the end of the year.