Inspired by Emma

I watched Emma yesterday and fell in love all over again with her wardrobe. One of the things I love about this movie is the color pallet. All the pastels are so gorgeous. I love how pretty this movie is. 

 Now I'm quite in the mood for something Regency. (when am I not though?) I have a few plans as soon as I finish my Maid Marian costume!

 I'm also determined to figure out a lace fingerless glove pattern. I love these gloves Mrs and Miss Bates wear.

 I've always been in love with Emma's pink archery dress...oh if only I had pink in my fabric stash! Well, that's a good reason to use my fabric up...so I can buy some. ;)

 Isn't Jeremy Northam the perfect Mr. Knightly? I don't think anyone else could ever play him as well. He just IS Mr Knightly.

Well, I'm off to finish up a project for my grandma and clean house...then maybe I can squeeze in some work on my Maid Marian dress. I'm thinking it may not get finished this month either...but hey! The month isn't over yet! You never know...

Emma Fairfax

A few weeks ago my husband and I were watching Dr. Doolittle, which I hadn't seen since I was a kid, and I fell in love with these underpinnings worn by Emma Fairfax. They are so pretty!

I often forget how many wonderful costumes there are in these movies I enjoyed as a kid. I may need to re-watch more of them!

Today I'm over my head in fabric trying to sort out costume plans. I'm having a hard time...motivation doesn't come to me like it used to. But I know once I start it will be fun!

♥ Anna Kristine

Favorite Shirt

I have always been afraid of knit fabric, I'm not sure why. Maybe because the one time I tried to make something with knit it turned into a disaster. But recently I decided to take courage and plunge into my knit fabric stash, the worse thing that could happen is it wouldn't work out, and the alternative is that the fabric would never get used...so I did it. 

This is my favorite black shirt...it's been my favorite for years, it's so comfy and the yoke top adds just the right amount of drape to keep the shirt from fitting too tight but still not be baggy, and the sleeves have just the tiniest bit of puff to them. So I decided to try to replicate it, following a few different tutorials. (This one was really helpful)

 And the result...I now have a new favorite shirt...and I've fallen in love with knit fabric!

Now I can't wait to use up my stash and make some more shirts! I also never knew how nicely knit gathers...it's seriously amazing. I am now a fan. :)
How do you feel about knit fabric?
♥ Anna Kristine

White Dresses

I confess I wasn't a big fan of the movie Miss Austen Regrets, but I was noticing the other day how much I love this characters costumes. Especially these white dresses. I think a white dress will be in the makes in the future! I just need to make myself some Regency underpinnings first. I already have some white fabric waiting just for this!

♥ Anna Kristine

Tilly Trotter

I haven't seen this tv series and I really don't know anything about it but I just ran across a couple pictures and fell in love with this costume...

 So gorgeous! And I love her little knitted/crocheted purse...one of these days I am going to try making one.

Have any of you seen it?
♥ Anna Kristine

Elizabeth Swann Costume Studies Part 4 - Gold Gown

The first gown we see the grown up Elizabeth Swann in is a gorgeous gold gown given to her by her father. The details and fabrics are exquisite! I look forward to one day making this dress! I am not going to go into great detail of the dress here since there are already some great costume studies on this dress which I will refer you too, but let's take a look!

'Bring Me That Horizon, The Making of Pirates of the Caribbean' By Michael Singer, describes this gown as follows: "Reproduction eighteenth-century material, a silk taffeta that's so light that when its made it doesn't feel enormous. I think the overall effect is that while this is something that a father might wish for his daughter to wear, it's not necessarily what a daughter would particularly choose."

The stomacher is intricately beaded: There is a great diagram of the beading by Anna O. HERE.

The back of the bodice:

 Elizabeth's fan is decorated with little sequins (and yes sequins are historically accurate!) And a pretty lace trim.

 Earrings:

 Necklace:

 Shoes:

For in depth study notes I highly recommend visiting Costumer's Guide's page, there are notes from  the exhibit, pattern reviews and lots of great high resolution photos! I also recommend The Peacock Manor's page on her replica of the costume...she has some great pattern ideas and notes!

Maid Marian Progress: Sleeve Lining

Lately I've been trying to be good about using up what I have and not buying any fabric unless I absolutely have to. So, when I got to the point of lining the sleeves on my Maid Marian dress I was stuck. None of the fabrics I had looked good with it. If you look at this photo you can see her sleeve lining is a light brown, looks almost tea dyed...right? ;) So I decided to make an adventure out of it and decided to make some of my fabric work.

I took some white fabric I had in my stash (I think it used to be a sheet) and cut out the pieces for the lining...but I thought white was a little boring so I decided to add something pretty to it.

 I played around with some of the different stitches on my sewing machine until I found a couple I liked.

 Then I started sewing lines.

 And more lines...

 Until the whole piece was transformed into a much more interesting piece of fabric.

 And then I did the same to the other sleeve.

 Next, I took about 10 Trader Joe's Irish Breakfast tea bags and put them in a non metal bowl.

 I added boiling water and let the tea steep for a few minutes:

 And made myself a cup of tea with the extra water. ;)

 Then I added my fabric. Here is where I made a mistake...I left the tea bags in thinking it would help the fabric darken but it ended up making some dark spots in odd places...so if you ever do this you may want to take the tea bags out first! But hey...you live and learn.

 I let that 'brew' for about 6 hours (you can go longer if you want a darker brown) and I flipped the fabric over every now and then to make sure it was all getting colored evenly. Then rinsed them and soaked them in cold water for a few minutes, then wrung them out and hung them up to dry.

The end result:

I am pretty pleased with it overall! I think it looks quite Medieval, don't you? I'm excited to sew the sleeves together next and see how it all looks!

2012 Challenge: February, Share What You've Made!

I didn't get around to working on my Maid Marian dress last month, I had a lot of other things that needed done more urgently. But this month I've already started working on it and it's coming along quite nicely! I will share project photos soon! What about you? What did you get done in February? Participants for March:
 ~Marlene E. 
~Alisa Kester
 ~Marguerite

A Clever Yarn

My dear friend Kacie has just opened an Etsy shop called A Clever Yarn, you should definitely check it out! She designs and makes makes the cutest fox stoles as well as some hats and an awesome fabric purse. (And I'm sure many more things to come)

 Aren't they just too cute and cuddly?

She also has a wonderful blog called Kacie's Knitting Adventure where you can follow along on her many creative endeavors. She is also knitting her way through the Lord of the Rings characters, so far she has made Gandalf, Frodo and Sam. Aren't they incredible? I find her blog a constant source of inspiration. She is also making a 1904 wardrobe and 1863 undergarments as well as many other things.
So go visit her shop and blog and be inspired!
♥ Anna Kristine

Elizabeth Swann Costume Studies Part 3 - Underpinnings

The first layer of Elizabeth's underpinnings is her chemise, her appears to be made of a dotted swiss and is gathered up with draw string at the neck, underbust, and waist to keep in place under her corset.

Here are my sketches and pattern layout from my chemise replica. It's pretty basic.

Next layer is this camisole which goes over the chemise but under the corset. Simplicity 5582 works well with a little bit of altering. Simply make the panels and peplum one piece. Her camisole looks like it is trimmed with a very small bit of lace and some kind of stitch, maybe a feather stitch?

Her petticoat seems very simple, probably made of linen. It looks like there are three rows of stitching along the hem. Her panniers are probably made of linen or cotton and it appears they tie on each side of the waist. There are several different patterns out there for panniers, but there is a free tutorial here.

Elizabeth's corset is gorgeous, the cross lacing is very tricky to do, I don't have my corset here with me now, but when I do I will try and do a photo illustration of how to do it.

 I used Butterick 4252 for my corset. 

The eyelets are metal and the corset is machine sewn, so if you're making a movie replica these things are accurate! For a more historically accurate look (and if you're crazy like me) you can hand sew the eyelets and seams. But your corset most likely wont be seen as it is an undergarment so you can really get away with anything.