Weekly SO (about the "deadly" Zara pants)

There are articles (and tiktoks, youtubeshorts and whatnot) about these pants (and wide legged pants in general). I've already seen mentions of them this week, but this article popped up in my feed. I know it is in Hungarian, so here are some similars in English (Here and here).

Anyhow, they are all about how dangerous these wide legged pants are, and how many people suffered injuries while wearing them....

Now, I've been wearing wide legged pants for decades, I always loved them, and always preferred them, even when very thight trousers were in the height of fashion. 

Never ever did I fall in them, I've only caught my feel in their leg once or twice (and that was decades ago). They are not more dangerous than -let's say- a long skirt, and like with long skirts, you have to learn how to wear them. 

In fashion history every period, every time has its excesses, people doing things in excess. Its not the fashion that is the proplem, but overdoing it.

Its not the corset, but when you overthighten it. Its not the high heels, but when they are way too high, way too thing, way too... Its not the wide legged pants, but when they are too filmsy, when they are too long. 

These commercial, ready to wear clothes (especially in fast fashion) usually designed to at least 180 cm tall, 50 kg twentysomething girls, no wonder, that they are way too long for an average (160-170 cm) tall women, and their feet get caught in them. However, we do not know/practice getting these clothes fitted to our body. 

I never wore high heels, nor do I wear (much) manmade fibers), and my problem with commercial wide legged trousers, that they are not wide enough. 

Weekly patternmuster (knitting)

 This week, I am bringing you...

Johanna... 

I like that it is a "simple" top down yoke sweater, with minimal sewing, but the different directions of the stripes gives it a lot of interest.

Playing with yarns, yarncolors, maybe the use of self-striping yarns can make the sweater utterly unique.

Like a cartoon caracter (Red Ripple Jacket)

The last step in recreating the outfit of the rubber-factory / bike wheel advertisment was a red jacket. Because I wanted to use the jacket in other sets as well I made some compromises between copying the drawing exactly, and making something suitable for something else as well. 

For the fabric I went to the first place I usually go- to I Love Textil, where I asked the sales-guy, Csaba, if he has some red wool... "I'll see, what I can do for you" he answered, then in three days I received a message from him, saying he found one few meters long piece in their warehouse, do I want it... YESS, please, of course. As always, I was ever so glad for his fast help.

Because of the size of the SLEEVES, 

I decised I use the Truly Victorian pattern for the Ripple jacket. As with the other items in this ensemble I used a pattern that I already knew, and fitted to my body, at the beginning of the year, with the black striped, HA Steampunk set. Back then I modified the pattern and used a smaller collar, and added some bits to the front to be able to close it directly with buttons. 

This time, while I left the smaller collar, I went back to the original closure, mostly because on the ad and on the other fasion plate I want to recreate with it has a non-closing jacket. 

I already started practicing some tayloring techniques with the srtiped jacket and the technicolor coat, now continued the practice. Added horsehair, used pad-stitching. 

As with the striped jacket, I added a small pocket to store my pocket watch. 

Also added boning to enhance the body skimming shape.

You know, I love fun linings to my stuff, back then for the black-and white set I used red striped lining, for this red jacket I added a wite lining with dark gray stripes.

Now, I can use it opened, or close it with the narrow button-straps.

The fabric-covered buttons are self made, with the help of a set I bought off from Temu.

For the first time I wore this ensemble, I used it with a black straw hat, but later I got a red one, but we had a chance to photograph it with the red one yet, though it also has its own story.

I desparately searched Vinted (and e-bay and Vatera) for a red girardi-type of hat, but I was not succesful, until I looked at the austrian Vinted site... The only problem was that Vinted is divided to zones, and while from Hungary I can buy from Poland and Greece, I cannot shop at the site of the country's direct neighbour - go figure. But then , I remembered, I have an ex-collegaue of mine living in Vienna, who do comes to Hungary time-to time. I sent her a message asking for help, to which she replied, she does not do Vinted, but her partner does. I did ask a second time, and though I only met them once or twice, the answer was yes. They ordered it for me, and we've met, she handed it to me, and I owe them one :-)

On the event itself there was a club, whose profile is old bicycles, including a few real, big wheeled pannyfarthing as well, and we asked to use one of theirs to our first try to reproduce the advertisement. 

Maybe because of the striped split-skirt, maybe because of the high contrast, bright red, or the graphic effect of the two, all day I felt like a cartoon-figure, and looking back at the picture, I see myself in them as one. 

I wrote about the split skirt here, about the shirt and the waistcoat here.

All the fabric for the jacket (including the horsehair canvas and the lining) came from: I Love Textil

(in fact all the fabric for the whole ensemble - underwear,shirtwaist, waistcoat-, except for the split skirts striped cotton, came from them).

Jacket pattern is from Truly Victorian. 

work pictures came from my phone, modelled pictures were shot by Norber Varga @Bodeszphoto.

Short Comment

 Why do I have not only thread, but also embroidery floss, decoration, (and other stuff), in my stash that goes perfectly with the most impossible shade of pink fabric? 

Weekly SO

We went to the Derby las week, and in the program there was one item "musical-theatre on horseback".

Now, I like horses, and I LOVE theatre, and I ADORE musicals. I wholeheartedly agree to the meme:

But singing some (umm, three) musical songs (badly), while doing less than mediocre stunts on horses..

Is NOT theatre, NOT musical either. 

Horses and songs did not add anything to each other, they did not strengthen each other.

Just the opposite. It was so bad, I felt secunder shame. 

Hello Rococo

 Now, you've seen (and will see) an ample amount of late victorian sewing (I've still have a bunch of things to show you), but we arrived to the point when rococo is coming with a force. 

The first thing is a pair of panniers, for a teammate. 

I've already talked much about the fact that historical clothes are all about silhuette, and achieving the proper one for each period is hugely dependent on the appropriate underwear. 

The wide skirts of the 18th century achieved with panniers (the name means little basket, and references the basket on the neck of pack donkeys.

As earlier, I used the tutorial I found on Leimomi's website (I was about to link the first time we made mine (and Anna's), but it seems I only posted the pictures on Instagram and Facebook back then.

I used everything from my stash, though I can tell from each thing where I got it, and for what price. 

My friend was happy, and she also tried it on with the under-petticoat I use for the Maria Theresa gown. 

To be continued... 

Weekly patternmuster (Sewing)

 In search for the perfect barrel leg pants... I bumped into the

Madrone pants. Its fun, it looks complicated and easy at the same time, and made by Sew Liberated. 

It is well worth to look all the projects on Instagram, it looks very versatile.