The Victorian Alaskan

Hello fellow stitching & non-stitching friends! This post is fairly simple and straightforward, but it's a very important step in historical costuming. Flat-felling is a technique for finished seam allowance inside a garment. It's especially helpful for lined garments, since the stitches won't show through to the outside of the garment. Before doing anything to the seams, be sure to press them flat. This helps them not wrinkle as you're sewing them, and also stiffens them a bit to make cutting them easier. Once your seams are ironed, cut one side down to a quarter of an inch. It doesn't matter which side, but if either side is smaller than the other, cut the smaller one down and leave the larger one intact. Once you've cut one side down to approximately a quarter inch, fold the uncut side in half. Then lay the folded side down over the cut side, encasing all the raw edges and leaving only the folded edge out. I like to pin my felled seams do...

Hello! As I mentioned in previous posts, I made a proper 1860's gored corset. However, I had already made a corset cover using a plain old modern corset. When I tried on my old corset cover with my new corset, sadness! It didn't fit! I had to go ahead and adjust my pattern piece, which I detailed in another post, and then remake my corset cover. I chose to use my Truly Victorian TV 107 corset cover pattern. The pattern is very easy to use, and it also details how to adjust the pattern for the best fit, which I found exceedingly helpful. The pattern requires almost two yards of forty four inch muslin, which I already had, some buttons, and some lace for trimming. I got these mother of pearl buttons, half inch lace, and beading lace from my local JoAnn fabrics. Since the beading lace originally came with a bland, white ribbon threaded it through it, I opted to purchase a very thin strip of ribbon through the threads instead. I chose this gorgeous deep purple ribb...

Hello stitching friends and non-stitching friends; I've been busily ignoring my ever growing list of chores and to-dos and instead scrolling through fashion plates on Pinterest, drooling at all the dresses. I am a person fond of lists. Shopping lists, to do lists, gift lists, they make me happy. I love the feeling of accomplishment I get when I not only create a list (because organised people create lists, thus I must also be the ever elusive Organised Person) and secondly, when I cross things off the list. The crowing jewel is finishing  a list, when it's all crossed off and there's nothing left, hallelujah! But there a downside, a dark side if you will, to lists: not completing them. What do you do when you can't finish a list? Sometimes it makes me not want to accomplish other tasks, or to throw out the list altogether. It's the same with our goals. Goals are, essentially, a really big to-do list. One we work towards and try to achieve. But because they...

Hello fellow historical enthusiasts! In this post, I want to take a pause from technical talk and just chat about dressing historically. How do you decide what you want to wear? What era? The sleeves in the 1890's are unrivaled, but the drape and deep pleats of the 1880's are calling to you. And who can forget the delicate bell shaped skirts of the 1840's? I could go on and on, showcasing each of the beautiful sewing techniques and styles seen in each decade of the nineteenth century. How do we decide which one we like best? Or if that doesn't help, which dress do you make? After all, you're only one person who can make one gown at a time. A good place to start is in your own, twenty-first century closet. Do you like bright, vibrant colours with bows and frills? Do you usually have ornate or complex hairdoes? Then definitely consider the tantalising gowns of the eighteenth century. Perhaps you prefer to dress more plains, in dark, rich colours. Then the eleg...

Hello friends! Today I'd like to go over some of the most basic, and important, garments a historical costumer can own/create. These are the unsung heroes of many historical costumes. Let's be honest, when someone says they are going to wear Victorian or Edwardian dress, plain, boring chemise and drawers aren't the first thing that pop into your head, are they? Instead, we like to dream about sumptuous gowns, glittering gems, yards of intricate, delicate fabrics. But underneath all that? Basic, boring chemise and drawers. Please ignore the messy petticoat underneath, that's what happens when you try and make two undergarments at once. I don't recommend it. The chemise isn't a 'sexy' garment, at least not by modern standards. It's a shapeless, squared off bag of fabric with arm and neck holes. But it lies underneath your corset, preventing your corset from pinching you as you wear it. Your chemise also protects your precious outer garments so y...

Hello stitching and non-stitching friends! The time is finally here, and I am pleased to reveal my newly finished galaxy corset! I know she isn't historically accurate, and heck, she may not even be accurate accurate, as in: a properly made corset. But she's here, and I love her! The corset is lined in the plain white cotton coutil that came with my Redthreaded kit (for more info, see my earlier blog about the mockup for this corset) and the fashion fabric is a gorgeous blue and purple galaxy print cotton I got from my local JoAnn Fabric store. Ultimately, it took just over three days to make. They were long days, but I definitely needed the finished measurements before I went too much farther in making the rest of my dress. In fact, I tried on my original corset cover just after I tried my corset on for the first time, and I'm definitely going to have to make a new one, but more about that later. All of the boning channels are stitched to the inside, so they are...

Hello stitching and non-stitching friends! As a plus size costumer, finding items, both premade and not, that fit me well and look correct is often difficult. Even if I go to buy a pattern, there's no guarantee that what I make from said pattern will fit, especially in the bust area. So what's a girl to do? If that's the largest pattern you can find, or if you've already spent good money on it and you don't want to throw it out, how do you make a pattern fit? Simple: you alter the pattern. I know the thought of cutting into your precious pattern can be scary, it was for me the first time I did! But really, a pattern is just that: a pattern. It's made to be cut and taped and reshaped to fit you. That's why you make clothing instead of buying it, right? A full bust adjustment, while terrifying looking, can be a huge help to the full chested costumer. And once you've done it once or twice, it really isn't that scary and you may even do one on all ...

Hello, stitching and non-stitching friends! I am currently attempting to recreate a late 1850's and early 1860's dress. I already have many of my undergarments sewn and fitted, which I will discuss in another post. For today, I am going to discuss making my corset, using a patter from Redthreaded corsets. Please note, this is not an affiliated or sponsored post, this is just my own opinions. I purchased this pattern in early December 2019. I also purchased their corresponding corset kit, which included everything I needed to make the corset, excepting some basic things I could purchase at a local fabric store (twill tape, thread, bias tape, et cetera). Pictured above is the kit as I received it (plus my sneakers, cause terrible angles). The kit included just over 1 yard of white cotton coutil, a steel busk, several yards of 1/4 inch boning casing, and 1/2 boning casing. It also came with small grommets, some satin ribbon for lacing, and the appropriate length straight a...