Short comment

 There is something surreal to look for info on living history / live historical interpretation, and museums, and find yourself staring a picture on screen... of you. 

HERE

I think this is the closest I will ever get to being a cover girl.

Weekly SO

 My strong opinion this week is, that I did definetly overestimated my time and abilities, and on order to finish the work I need to, I need to concentrate on them (instead of writing blogposts). 

Sorry everyone, I'll try to bring some posts, even if they are only the short comment type, meaning a picture and a few words... (are you interested in about 6 meters of very pink ruffles I made the other day?).

On the other hand, if you like what you see around here, and feel like to keep me company, just comment. Not for the algorythm (as it really does not work with these blogs), just for the fun of it. I do miss those days, when serious discussions and long comments happened under some blogposts. 

Weekly patternmuster (sewing)

 While doing these posts I often wonder, what is what you might be interested in, because it could be easily something totally different from what is a bee in my bonnet at the moment... Like I am still obsessed with bubble/barrell leg pants, but would you be annoyed, if I'd post yet another one of those patterns?

Or, like a few days ago, absolutely by chance (or the algorythm) I've seen a jester pants on Vinted, that would've been lovely for a cosplay or a larp /while, I still do not exactly understand how a larp works, and it is still one of my heataches, that we do not have those american type of Renessaince Fairs. Anyhow, I've put it in my favorites, just out of pure curiosity. Like I was curious, just how fast will it be sold (it was gone practically in no time)...

And now, once again, out of pure curiosity, I searched Etsy for a "jester pants sewing pattern", and the results included some cool jester pants... but then, who needs jester pants in the middle of the summer? 

And then the results included bubbly, ruffly (etc) underpants, drawers, bloomers which could be cool in themselves, or as part in either historybounding or lagenlook or boho chic dressing... 

Which one would you prefer to see? 

For now, I am showing one of those jester pants, and next time, I will show some bloomers, okay? 

It is fun, it could be cool for a costume, a cosplay... and the pattern for the bolero IS included.

You can find the pattern on Etsy, HERE.

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. 

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.