Summer 2015 Costume Finds

Well, summer has finally closed out here. As I compose this post, it's steadily raining outside and I'm swathed in sweaters already despite the fact that it's only in the mid-40s.

I've found a lot of stuff this summer, but it's mostly patterns and books. No fabric since I'm supposed to be cleaning out the stash bin-ahem. I did get my scarves for my Regency shawl and I bought a small amount of cotton lawn yardage for some undergarments I'm doing.

The first little bit comes from my friend Audrey. She was cleaning out her costume stash and while I don't exactly fit into her costumes, she had a bunch of patterns and I grabbed a small handful. All of these are out of print (still available on etsy or ebay) and do not match my sizing, but it's great to have on hand because I can scale up or do pattern mashups.

• Butterick 3640 - 1750s-1760s(?) dresses and polonaises
• Butterick 3012 - Natural Form Victorian evening dresses
• Simplicity 5726 - Civil War/Crinoline period undergarments
• Simplicity 4510 - Civil War/Crinoline period day dress
• Simplicity 3627 - Marie Antoinette court style dress
• Simplicity 9761 - Civil War/Crinoline period day dress

I also nabbed a little bit of sewing supplies, fabric scraps, and a feather fan for the accessory bin.

Other patterns that I purchased throughout the summer include:

• Butterick B5748 - Retro 1960 dress
• Butterick B5603 - Retro 1956 dress
• Butterick B6108 - Retro 1912 suited outfits
• Simplicity 4900 - Early Crinoline period dresses/Cold Mountain (out of print)
• Simplicity 7215 - Civil War/Crinoline period corsets (out of print)

Yeah, needless to say I've been pattern bingeing.

I went to my favorite discount book store as well and picked up a couple of additions. The Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century I'm rather excited about. Although I do have the condensed version, this is a paperback version of the 2-volume set that I managed to snag for $8! Yes, a lot of the pictures are the same, but there's so many that my condensed version doesn't have. I have already used it several times for my Regency drop front dress project.

I've seen the hardback version of this same set and if you're a little put off by the price, get the paperback version. It's the same thing at a cheaper price and the books are a little smaller too, making storage easier.

And then another Victorian lifestyle reference book. I loved Judith Flanders' Inside the Victorian Home, so I'm rather excited for when I'll be able to sit down and start going through The Victorian City. This was another steal for only $7, and yes, I do love books by the way.

The Victorian City by Judith Flanders

More additions were several Tom Tierney paper doll books. These are great for costume  reference materials because most of the dresses are taken from actual fashion plates, both black and white or color ones. Most are easy to snag in a used copy format on Amazon.

• American Family of 1900-1920
• Great Fashion Designs of the Belle Epoque
• Early Victorian Costumes
• Worth Fashion Review

Then I also got a couple of little goodies at the Hale Farm Reenactment.

Hair pins and earrings

And let's not forget my tiara of course!

The best part was the addition to my costume porn movie collection. While I do love Daniel Deronda, I'm a particular fan of the George Eliot movies in general. I found the BBC movie collection together for a steal on ebay and snapped it up.

• The Mill on the Floss (1978)
• Middlemarch (1994)
• Adam Bede (1991)
• Silas Marner (1985)
• Daniel Deronda (2002)

Winter Shopping Finds

I've had a slow accumulation of costume goodies since the beginning of the year and figured now would be a good time to show off some of the lovelies.

First up is a couple of costume books bought with giftcards from Christmas. Fashions of the Gilded Age by Frances Grimble is one I've been eyeing for a long time and cracked down and bought since I want to do a Natural Form dress at some point this year. English Women's Clothing I kept seeing on a lot of the recommended research/reading lists but was unable to acquire through the library. So I figured "what the heck" and bought it. And now I'm never letting it go!

Shopping at Allyns

So I took a quick trip to Denver over the weekend for a family wedding. While I was in town, my mom and I popped over to Allyns Fabric & Bridal Store. I first heard about this store via the costume community and after looking at some of the photos on their Website, decided to make a visit.

These are all beaded trims and embroidered fabrics with beads.

There is fabric literally stacked in every corner of this place. Even in corners and on ledges.

Costume fabrics stacked floor to ceiling - literally.

This place was costume heaven! They have a little bit of everything - bridal laces and fabrics, beaded trims and fabrics, millinery fabric and supplies, buttons, ribbons, and loads more. We spent about two hours there and a lot of it was spent just looking around at everything and taking it in.

Part of the reason I went was because I was looking for supplies for my Ophelia bonnet and they carried millinery supplies. I found that most of their millinery supplies is better suited for modern day derby hats and fascinators, but I found plenty of other things to take home.

Beaded trim and silk for a small handbag

Two inch wide trim with sequins and bullion work. It's much prettier in person!

Sheer embroidered mauve.

I bought a bunch of ribbon for various projects. Underneath is a pink cotton broadcloth that I found for $3 a yard.

I bought these materials to go together for a 1910s dress.

Hat base that I'll use for an 1860s leghorn.

So many goodies! The stuff I'm most excited about is the ribbon because I've been looking for ribbons for various projects, but hate shopping online because I can't feel or see the final product and of course the craft stores never have a good selection.

My mom helped me pick out the fabric, trim, and velvet ribbon combo that's above for a 1910s dress. I've always wanted to make one at some point, but if I did, I wanted to go all out and make sure it's something extravagant. Still need a lining fabric, but figured that is something that's easy to pick from online or a specialty store.

Price wise, things are a higher cost than what you find at the craft store. It's worth it however if you're looking for specialty or unique items. The employees told us the Denver Arts Council and the Denver Ballet shop there regularly for their costume supplies and they have all kinds of photos everywhere of customer projects and some of them are amazing!

If you're in Denver, make sure to visit!

September and October Shopping Finds

It's been a "busy" shopping period, and I'm not just talking about the one we've been having at work. A lot of little things have sort of popped up and I just couldn't resist getting them as well as starting to stockpile a few things for the next costume projects (since I apparently don't have enough already).

To begin I had purchased one of the Windham reproduction fabrics a couple years ago with the intention of making it into a late 1850s/early 1860s dress. When I looked up the pattern requirements, I found 7 yards was - surprisingly - not enough. It has taken almost two years, but I finally found a vendor that I can purchase a few extra yards from and then maybe get cracking on the project next year sometime.

My hope is to have this made to fit my circular hoop skirt, for which I have my own pattern that lives in my brain. The top I want to make into a pagoda sleeve style bodice that was popular during the late 1850s. Right now I'm debating whether or not to use the pattern I already have, the Simplicty costume from the Wisconsin Historical Society (#3727), or Heather's version from Truly Victorian (TV440). I would definitely have to do a few mockups, but right now I'm leaning for the Simplicty pattern.

Simplicity 3727

Truly Victorian TV440

Also added to the fabric stash is a lovely steel gray/blue dupioni silk that my wonderful mom picked up for me at Mood Fabrics in Los Angeles. The fabric actually has more blue in it and looks much better in person.

I already know that I want to use this for an 1890s evening dress, similar to this beautiful specimen designed by Worth.

I already have the patterns for this costume, 1892 Ballgown Bodice (TV490) and 1893 Bell Skirt (TV292), from the Truly Victorian pattern stash. When I pulled the bodice pattern out a few months ago, I started drafting a few changes to the pattern I wanted to make right away, but that's as far as things have gotten.

Onto book finds. I made a couple of trips to some of the local Half Price Books stores in the areas and found some greats books!

The one I'm most excited about is the American Victorian Costume in Early Photographs. This has been on my wish list, but I could never find a copy for a decent price. This one was only $5 and in great condition. Altogether my book haul was only about $35. If you aren't shy about getting used books, I definitely recommend seeing if there is a store near you or buying online. They always have great deals on some hard to find books.

Last but not least - TIARAS! We've had a couple pretty ones come in at work for homecoming season and the upcoming holidays. I took advantage of my employee discount and purchased this one.

Along with a headband that is designed to look like the one Michelle Williams wore in The Great Gatsby. For $10, I don't think it looks too bad. I may head to the fabric store though to see about replacing the elastic band with some satin ribbon so that it ties on.

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With payday this week, I finally got around to ordering some corset/boning supplies, so hopefully I'll be able to finish up my new 1870s bustle soon.

Gettysburg Battle at Hale Farm, Pt. 2

Here at last, the long overdue Part 2 of my battle Hale Farm weekend. Now for the costuming end of things.

As mentioned in my last post, there were plenty of beautiful ladies there in costume as well and I ran into Sarah Koby from Sarah's Clothespress. A lovely little chance meeting since we used to go to school together and she also does costuming and reenactment.

There were a number of vendors at the event including Amazon Drygoods, a great place for costuming needs. I got to talking with Samantha Hickle, one of the owners about corded petticoats (something I've been looking at on the side for a long time). They sell corded petticoats for a great price and when the time comes, I may look into just buying one from them instead suffering through the headache of making one.

Corded Petticoat from Amazon Drygoods

While at the store, I also picked up a few sewing supplies including this wonderful little book. This is a reproduction of the original and I'm looking forward to reading it.

And last but not least in my little goodie collection is a beautiful embroidered white parasol. I've been wanting a white one for forever, but could never bring myself to buy a battenburg parasol because I'm picky. I found this beauty hiding in a corner of the Artillery Antiques and Collectibles booth and snatched it up.

Unfortunately, I did have a wardrobe malfunction at the event which has lead to my new project, or rather the completion of an old one.

The issue I have with projects is sometimes I stop short of actual completion (time constraints, plan changes, or the common factor - feeling lazy). While I can sometimes get away with it (I have an elliptical hoop with eight pins in it that have been there for 2 years) other times I can't. Because I never finished the casings for my round walking hoop, they kept popping out of place throughout the weekend and required me to constantly rifle through the petticoat layers to fix the issue. 

Culprits of my Civil War wardrobe malfunction

I'm hoping to sit down sometime in the next couple of weeks and the close the casings off so I don't have this issue again. I figure this can be added to that whole Underthings for Every Period project I've been slowly working through.

Shopping Finds

I've been finding all sorts of fun costume goodies lately and I just had to share.

The first find is something I've had for a little while now, but I just had to show them off. In anticipation of my new Victorian style Tavistock shoes coming from American Duchess toward the end of the month (hoping and praying they also fit), I purchased some button hooks off of ebay. And for such a great deal too! Three Bakelite hooks for $12, and then when they were shipped I found a fourth in the package as well! Hopefully these will work for my shoes, if not, they'll be great for my teaching collection.

My next shopping find also came off of ebay. While perusing for some trim for my next set of underfrillies, I found some lovely lace. After stalk bidding until the final second, I won much to my excitement. Not only is the lace beautiful, but there's a ton of it! A whopping 7 yards of the Greek key/floral pattern and 3.5 yards of the grape leaf pattern and for only $25 altogether. My original plan had been for underthings, but it's too pretty to hide so the lace has been relegated to the Future Project stash for now.

Greek key/floral lace

Grape leaf lace

And last but not least. Thanks to a tip-off from Jen Thompson at Festive Attyre about some Regency look alike shoes from Rocket Dog, I went in search of my own pair. I found a pair of the Water Chamay Silk shoes at my local DSW for a little bit more ($40), but when you need a size 11 shoe, you can't argue. I sometimes have issues with the fit of ballet style flats, but these fit well and are very comfy. I haven't delved too far, but I'm going to see about attaching laces to the inside, similar to the Highbury Regency shoes also from American Duchess (which I also have on order but there's been a delay).

Next week is payday so I'm looking forward to getting some cotton lawn fabric and getting started on my Edwardian and 1910s undergarments.