Georgian Straw Hat

I made a Georgian ensemble about a year ago. It was complete with corset, petticoats and all, minus a hat. So about 5 months ago I finally made a hat to go with it. I took two straw hats and taking the crown from one and the brim from the other combined them into one.

I then took the spare crown and sewed it inside the other crown so that the hat would sit with the right angle.

Then came time to steam and shape the hat.

I basically just reshaped the brim so that it went up in the back instead of down.

I then took scrapes from my dress, some random flowers and feathers I had laying around and trimmed it.

Overall I like what came out. It looks quite pretty when I pile my hair up and perch it cockily on top.

1950's tilt topper

So I made a 1950's tilt hat today using an old vinyl record. I used boiling water to heat and shape the hat.

But before I share the hat I want to exclaim over some great patterns and vintage notions that I got for really cheap at an estate sale. I was got several boxes of patterns and a box of belt buckles and a bunch of hat buckram. 

So many patterns!

There were so many patterns from the 80's and 90's that I am not sure what I will do with, but there was a number of patterns from the 50's and 60's that I really love.

It shall take me quite a while to sort through and organize these patterns.

There were massive belts buckles and small belt buckles.

 I am looking forwards to using these and making belts. Belts and hats are two of my favorite accessories.

So, on to the hat. I made it with from a vinyl record as the base.

 I boiled hot water and dumped that over it to soften it up. I then shaped the hat with my fingers. I covered the record title with a giant flower and gave it a finishing touch with some greenery and netting.

Overall I like the effect and want to wear this with a little 1950's looking black dress. I shall try to take pictures when I get the outfit around.

That's all for now.

1920's Swimsuit

So why bother writing a how-to blog post about something when someone else has already done a wonderful job on one?

Here is a wonderful costume blogger who has written a post about how to make a 1920's swimsuit.

I have now added this to my forever growing list of things to sew. I love vintage looking swimwear and have sworn to never again buy a modern suit. We shall see if I can keep to that promise. I think vintage swimwear is so much classier than the modern swimsuit. I have several new design sketches of swimsuits that I would love to wear. I just have to find material that I can use to make these suits. Sigh, the search continues...

That's all for now. I will try to post more here as the summer comes to a close and things get less busy.

Ahoy There Sailor!!!

Here I am, sitting in a hot and humid Missouri home that happens to not have air conditioning. While you sit around and sweat it is only natural that one would dream of swimming and thus swimming suits.

Ahh... the fear and trepidation that strikes us as some think about swimsuit season.

The battle to get into (what most see as) swimsuit shape as they try to get rid of a few extra pounds that crept up over the winter.

The endless search for the perfect swimsuit, when we all know that it doesn't exist.

Either there is not enough swimsuit there (who's great idea was it to invent the bikini anyhow?), or there is too much that is not constructed to be flattering.

That pretty much sums it up for me. I will not wear a bikini because of the lack of cloth, and most swimsuits meant to be more modest do not exactly appeal to a young adult with fashion sense.

I have been looking for the perfect swimsuit just as everyone else has.

I made a list of all the characteristics that I would love to see in a suit and then spent time shopping online.

I wanted something with a vintage look.

I really like the nautical look.

I wanted modest, and yet cute.

I looked, and looked on all of the sites I could think of.

What I found wasn't what I was wanting.

So I finally decided to look no more and just design something myself.

I was able to incorporate all of the elements that I wanted.

I have now drawn up the design for the perfect swimsuit. (In my humble opinion at least.)

It has a vintage touch and appeal.

It is definitely nautical.

Finally, no doubt about it, it is modest.

I now have my new swimsuit. At least the design.

I shall just have to keep an eye out for the perfect swimwear fabrics to make it with.

I want to make the shorts out of a navy blue with six buttons and an attached white belt. I want to make the top with Americana red and white striped fabric and trimmed with white with the blue accents. The whole swimsuit will be lined and ideally have built in bra cups. We shall see.

I cannot wait till I find the right fabrics and actually make this suit.

It shall be an adventure to make my own swimsuit.

Well, what do you think of the design? Would you wear a vintage inspired nautical swimsuit like this?

Please, give me some input.

Oh, and final note. The "inventor" of the bikini as we know it today was a French engineer named Louis Reard. I suppose it is only fitting...

More Shakespearean Stuff

Some of you may or may not remember my previous post on Twelfth Night. The post was on my costume that I developed to wear as Viola/Cesario. I made a remark at the end about how I was trying to choose the next Shakespearean female that I wanted to do.

Well, as a follow up to that post I wish to fill you in with what took place a week ago.

I participated in a Shakespeare drama camp. We meet five times over two weeks and rehearsed and then preformed one-act versions of some of the Bard's plays. The group I was in did Much Ado About Nothing.

Thus what Shakespearean female I would do next was chosen for me. I was Beatrice.

I enjoyed it. The biggest problem I had was that I had memorized Beatrice's entire part when I was in 10th grade. However, we were doing a shortened and slightly more modern adaption. So for some of my lines I had a bit of a challenge not reverting back to the old English and the iambic pentameter. But I got it under control.

I never saw myself as an actress. I still don't. I really prefer being backstage and doing the tech stuff. However, I could potentially be persuaded to go onstage again for a Shakespeare.

Here as a few pictures of me. We really did not do anything much for costuming. Just found what we could in closets and from old costume supplies. I am afraid that there were not many good pictures of me. I do not photograph well.

Beatrice easedropping

Beatrice and Benedick

So I could not help but share this one last photo. Here is Dogberry with the darling watch.

It was fun acting Shakespeare, but I still think I prefer watching others do the acting and just studying it myself. As I said before, I am no actress.

Attempts at Scrapping

For the last few years I have had the honour of organizing a wonderful group of young ladies in a literature discussion group. The first year we read and studied Pride and Prejudice, the next year we did The Scarlet Pimpernel, and last year we studied The Tale Of Two Cities. We would always close our study off at the end of the year with a Christmas party. As a part of the party we would do a gift exchange. Last year I tried my hand at scrapping and made a set of greeting cards. I did it all free hand with my calligraphy set, scissors, and a paper cutter. I had collected and printed the fashion drawings from the computer and lightly coloured them with pencils. You cannot really see the colouring in the pictures because it is so light. I enjoyed it, and would enjoy taking up scrapping, but don't think I really have time to take on one more craft.

Here they are.

Bunnies

We have bunnies.

We got them a little less then a year ago. They are really cute and adorable.

There really isn't that much I can tell you about them.

They are New Zealand Whites. We have two of them and their names are Cotton and Cloud. I do not know which one is which in any of these pictures. They look too much alike. Then live in hutches outside and we pet them and feed them. We have them for breeding for meat. We shall probably never eat the mother and father, just the progeny.

Well, here the two adorable bunnies are.

What's that?

Look, I have pink eyes.

I like strawberries!!!

My ears are transparent!

I can't help it that I am this cute.

Yes, we are good friend.

Aren't they absolutely adorable?

Seussical!!!

I shall start this week of overdue posts with a collection of pictures from Seussical. This was the latest theatrical production that I assisted with. I was a seamstress and the wardrobe supervisor.

Seussical is a musical based on a collection of the books by Dr. Seuss. It chronicles the adventures of Horton the elephant and his struggle to protect the Whos and the egg. It also follows Jojo the son of the Major of Whoville and his adventures at the Butter Battle and with the Hunches.

For a complete synopsis check out Wikipedia.

The entire amazing cast!

 The saucy jungle ensemble

Kanga the Sour Kangaroo and her baby

The dashing Wickersham brothers

The adorable Gertrude

Gertrude has her tail at last

Amazing Mazie and the darling Bird Girls

Sensible Horton and irresponsible Mazie

The talented Circus ensemble

The cheerful town of Whoville

The enigmatic Cat in the Hat and Jojo

The Beach singers and Fish dancers conjured up from Jojo's imagination

The fierce Cadets with their General

The most helpful Hunches

All is happy in the end as Gertrude and Horton welcome the darling elephant bird into their new family.

It was an amazing production and I was very honored to be able to work with all of these wonderful people.

I miss you all!!!