Wherein Dove is knocked out by a suitcase to the back of the head (ouch!)

By the end of the two hours every participant had a simple, but they all thought- chic new skirt to wear to the Costume ball that night. While I waited for my next class to start I was gathering my supplies and packing them into the box to ship back to my studio in Florida. I looked up to see Bash and two of his “wives” standing in the doorway.

Willow the younger of the two women spoke up first. “Dove, can we talk to you about something?”

“Sure," I replied, “What do you need?”

The second of the two women, chimed in with a fuller explanation. “We need to locate an artifact, and it’s in your area of expertise.” I laughed and replied, “Ah, then it’s something, old made of fabric and weird by our standards, very weird by mundane standards.”

All three of the self-professed vampires nodded their heads.

“Exactly,” said Willow. Bash still had not spoken at all. It occurred to me that since I had not heard him speak more than one or two softly mumbled words in well over five years.

The next group had begun to enter the room and Bash motioned for the three of us to move into the hall. Willow grabbed Rosemary and Bash’s hands and pulled them into a little alcove on the right, motioning me to follow. What, I wondered,was such a big secret? What I do is challenging and time consuming but it isn't brain science and it’s hardly ever cause for secrets in halls?

“You know about the bra,” hissed Willow.

Oh crap, not the bra again.

“No, I don’t, what the heck is this thing?”

Just then I was hit really hard in the back of the head from behind with a rollie suitcase. When I came to my class was standing over me and the vampires were gone.

From a far distance I heard some girl ask, “If she’s not going to get up and teach the class do you think we can get our money back?”


PS Dove's adventures began here:
http://automatadove.blogspot.com/2013/12/doves-adventure-begins-with-how-to-make.html

How to make a new Cosplay skirt in ten easy steps.

“How to make a new Cosplay skirt in ten easy steps.”

This week’s Project

Level - Very Easy

New Skills - adapting a previous pattern in a new way

Which of the Four Basic Patterns - Simple Skirt

Our story continues

I made my way through the throngs in the convention center searching for my mother’s author booth. Normally, it would amuse and delight me to see so many generations in so many costumes, custom, handmade and store bought but today it was just annoying that I couldn't get through the mad crush. Mom had texted me twenty minutes ago while I was in the middle of moderating a panel on the importance of authenticity in Cosplay. Mom had texted 911. Mom texting,yikes, would wonders never cease?

I wasn't being a very good daughter seeing as how I’d gotten the 911 text over twenty minutes ago, but I knew Mom and knew it was likely to be a Mom emergency and not a medical emergency. Besides if it were medical I would have seen the EMS response team by now.

A very skinny man in a green indeterminate superhero costume bumped into me and did not excuse himself, he also somehow managed to brush my butt with his left hand. I gave him my angry glare and he jumped back, I swore he was tearing up from freight. How was it possible that a skin-tight Lycra costume was hanging on him all loose and baggy? Poor thing this was probably the only place in the world he felt even a little safe. Who was I kidding that was true of me too. Like it or not, these were my people and they always had been.

As I contemplated this fact, I walked right past Bash Woodruff. He stopped in front of me and lifted his gray top hot and inclined his head in my direction. Today he had a Gary Oldman in Dracula thing going on and, of course, it looked perfect on him. I tilted my head in return and gave him a straight-on almost confrontational look back. He bowed in half at the waist then stood up and continued on his way.

I turned slightly to watch him as he passed behind and to the left of me and he turned at the same moment to look back,he gave me a slightly triumphant, slightly fiendish smile before turning again and disappearing into the crowd. I stood frozen to my spot in that half turned pose. That, I told myself was not somewhere I needed to go. I did not need to be a plural wife in a polygamous Vampire sect.

I spotted a throng of wispy goth children in dark wings gathered around a booth to my left, and muttered, “finally” under my breath.

Even though I couldn't see my mother behind the crowd,I would know her fans anywhere.

“Excuse me”, I muttered as I pushed myself more aggressively through the crowd.

Some little Goth Lolita pushed me back at which point, I was forced to give the actual “evil eye” as opposed to the metaphoric one and the poor girl fell off her platform Doc Martins and onto her ass. I decided I’d wait until later to feel badly about my moment of bad girl weakness. Usually, my Presenter’s badge accorded me a little more respect in the crush but not with Nightingale’s fans.

I pushed around to the side of the booth and nodded at my Mom’s security guard, supplied by contract by her publisher, “Hi, Doug, how are you today?” He smiled back and let me through without answering my question though it was pretty obvious how he was doing. Two other guards came up as the line for autographs became even more chaotic. I went up to Mom and kissed her on the cheek.

Mom looked up distracted and smiled at me waiving me into a chair that had somehow automatically appeared behind me.

Mom smiled at the young person of indeterminate gender who was standing in front of her, “Who should I make it out to dear?” Asked my Mom about the autograph?

“Peeler” replied the young person in return.

Mom scribbled something quickly and handed him/her back their now autographed copy of Fiendish Fey Frenzie.

No sooner had that young fan stepped away than another stepped up. “I’m your biggest fan, Ms. Nightingale, I've read all your books and can’t wait for the next to come out.”

“Thank you dear. Who’s your favorite character?”

This made everyone laugh because the young woman was obviously dressed as the lead female faery princess from Mom’s books. She was in a purchased high-end,but not custom, costume.

Next,the the young lady in question startled me by turning and asking me to sign the hem of the costume. It was from my line of costumes created to match the characters in my mother’s book series. No one ever paid attention to me when Nightingale was around, a fact that I really liked. I loved seeing my Mom come into her own later in life and while Nightingale loved the attention, I did not like it very much at all. It cramped my style, made me feel self-conscious and awkward and it made Nightingale a little jealous and snarky sometimes. But not today. My Mom nudged me and handed me a Sharpie as the young woman lifted the hem for me to sign. I went to sign on the wrong side of the hem so no one could see it, but the young lady corrected me. “And could you make it really big so everyone sees the signature?”

“Sure” I said, “my pleasure.” She smiled but was not too pleased because now everyone was staring at me too. For the next two hours, I signed autographs and costumes sitting next to my Mom in Nightingale’s author’s booth that was put together by her publisher as an homage to Nightingale’s own special author’s universe.

I stole a side-long glance at Mom. At the age of 65 my mother a fifth generation witch and die hard eccentric had retired from the job at the Post Office that she had held for forty-five years, and begun to write. Something that had never occurred to her to try before she had all that free time and energy. The fictional world she created, which bore a startling resemblance to the one in which she had raised her four children, was an instant hit with young adult readers.

I heard the alarm on my cell phone, which was tucked neatly into a beaded Victorian drawstring purse, go off. That meant I had ten minutes to make it to my workshop upstairs. I jumped up, gave my Mom a quick peck on the cheek, waved good-bye to the Fiendish Fey Frenzie fans and dove head-long into the crowd in a hurry to get upstairs to my, workshop on “How to make an easy Cosplay skirt in ten easy steps.”

After I was half-way to my destination it occurred to me that I never did find out what was so urgent that Mom had texted 911.

This Week’s Workshop

This week we’re adapting what you learned in last week’s workshop http://automatadove.blogspot.com/2013/12/doves-adventure-begins-with-how-to-make.html to a new length and new waistband casing method to create something different for your Cosplay costume closet. This week we’ll make a shorter skirt with an elastic waistband and we’ll do it in ten easy steps. This skirt shouldn't take more than a few hours, at most, to complete.

Step One: You begin by measuring from your natural waist to the length you want for your skirt add four inches to this total and cut two panels that length.

Step Two: Next measure your hips at the widest point.

You now have two panels that are the length you want your finished skirt plus four inches more - 2 inches for the waistband casing and 2 inches for the hem.

Step Three: Then make sure your panels are the width of your hips dived by two then times 1.5 or times 2 depending on how full you want your skirt.

So to make this easy, say your hips are 40" across. Divide 40 by 2 you get twenty. Times twenty by 1.5 and each panel should be 30 inches across. If you want a fuller skirt you would make each panel 40 inches wide. Since the skirt is already so full we are not going to add additional seam allowance. So the finished skirt will actually be 59 or 79 inches across, since we will take a half each seam allowance on each side of the skirt. If you want a skirt that is medium full times the width by 1.75 instead of 1.5 or 2, and if you want it even less full times by 1.25.

Step Four: Zig-zag over all raw edges so they don’t fray and unravel as you work.

Step Five: Next face the two right sides of the panels together and pin one half inch from the edge. Sew two straight seams on either side.

Step Six: Now turn your waistband one half inch over and press.

Step Seven: Then fold over an inch so that the casing is on the wrong side of the skirt. Stitch that seam. Remember to leave an end open to insert your elastic.

Step Eight: Measure your waist and cut a length of waistband elastic just slightly smaller than your waist, too tight and the skirt will be too snug and won't fit over your head and shoulders, too loose and it will fall down. Using the safety-pin method thread the elastic through the casing. Be sure not to lose the end in the skirt or it’ll be extra work to retrieve and start again. Make sure you sew the ends of the elastic together securely so it doesn't come apart with wear.  Close the opening you left to thread the elastic.

Step Nine: Next we’ll make our hem. Remember we left two inches at the bottom beyond how long we wanted the skirt. So fold one inch towards the wrong side and press this down, then to make this really easy just fold over another inch so that you have a clean finished hem that won’t fray.

Step Ten: Now sew the hem. You have a finished skirt!

Now, it’s your turn.

Dove's adventure begins with How to Make a Long Skirt for the Costume Closet!

"Today, we’re going to make my favorite long skirt pattern, I love this pattern because it’s simple and versatile and easy to sew. By the end of this class you’ll have a long skirt suitable for many events and time periods depending on what materials you use for the garment. It’s a great asset to the costume closet."

This week’s Project

Level - Very Easy

New Skills - pattern-less costume

Waistband casing

Which of the Four Basic Patterns - Simple Skirt

Our Story Begins

Don’t get me wrong, I love teaching but there are days when I just get the most awful stage fright and today turns out to be one of those days. First, I’m teaching a new workshop I haven’t taught before, my mother’s on a book tour leaving me caring for her menagerie of cats and dogs, including her Bernese Mountain dog who has the biggest poops I've ever seen making pooper scooping a very unpleasant task, especially since he gets a bad stomach whenever she’s away. So I’m just back from taking Behemoth for walkies and setting up the stations for the class and feeling stressed when the bell in the front of the store rings letting me know there’s a customer out front. My store manager is out to lunch and so I absently set down some ribbon I’m contemplating using as embellishment in a future wings workshop and head to the front of the store to greet the customers.

I see two ethereal looking creature of indeterminate gender, wafting, for lack of a better word, around the displays of merchandise.

“Hi” I say in my best chirpy happy sales voice. “Can I help you find anything?”

As a premier company catering to historic and fantasy reenacters and Cosplay enthusiasts of all genres this wasn’t someplace you came to browse. Our customers came with a mission and a specific lifestyle they were looking to cloth and furnish. Looking quickly at my previously unknown guests I’d peg them as fairies or maybe Vampire Brides, but it was hard to tell. Both stood at about 5’6” both were dressed all in white, unusual, but not unheard of in my world(s). Both looked like they smelled something bad. (I hoped I didn’t have Behemoth poop on my shoes – I have no sense of smell – long story.)

“Where is it?” asks the first person, who is the more, but only slightly more, masculine looking of the two.

“Where is what?” I return logically.

“THE Bra.” Says the second, by now I had begun to think of them as Fallen Angels.

Now I’m actually getting mad and a little creeped out. “What bra?” Seriously, neither of them was wearing a bra, or, I would guess, had ever, worn a bra, so why were they looking for a bra, and why were they looking for a bra in my store?

“You know what bra.”

“No, no I do not know what bra. Nor, do I care, I think it’s time you both leave.”

That’s when the first one came at me with some sort of crazy Kung Fu move, which I managed to block with a mannequin arm I had yanked off one of the Jane Austin style displays.

“Ok,” I’m yelling, as they both lunge at me, “you both need to leave right now or I am calling the police”. What I would tell the police I had no idea.

Now I’ve grabbed a second mannequin arm and I’m flailing mannequin arms about wildly trying to keep the creepy twins from going all martial arts on my ass and I’m wondering what the hell could possibly be happening here that would make any of this ever make any sense.

Displays are falling over and one of a kind merchandise is scattering and breaking and ripping. I take a round house kick to the stomach as I poke Fallen Angel One in the eye with a plaster finger and backhand Fallen Anger Two in the side of his head with the other synthetic arm. Still they are coming at me as if they did not know that Bruce Lee had passed away years ago. They are actually making those loud martial arts movie noises and there are legs and fists everywhere. I’m seeing thousands of dollars of profit falling on the ground and getting trampled. I can’t get to the phone and no one in the vicinity seems to realize that this isn’t one of the many fun activities we plan here for our customers to attend on a regular basis.

Crap, so much for retail as entertainment! Who the BLEEP were these people and why were they trying to beat me up over a bra of all the darn things?!

I took a solid kick to the top of my thigh and let out a yelp. That’s it, now I was MAD! I began pummeling creepy girl with an arm yelling that they should just get out of my workshop and leave me alone, when Miranda, the store manager pulls up in her Fiat. She was finally back from lunch. As she’s walking up to the door, I start yelling call the police, call the police. She obviously doesn't hear me, but the two Fallen Angels think she does and they scramble away and out the door, one of them has a bloody nose and blood is running down the front of his or her white outfit. The blood looks startlingly odd and out of place. I realize it has surprised me that they can bleed.

I hear Miranda come in and loudly announce, “I suppose I’m going to have to clean this up.” She does not seem happy about this at all. Odder still she doesn't seem the least concerned about how it happened.

She is glaring at me when the first of the students for the afternoon workshop start arriving. We both smile and say hello and as they make their way to the classroom space in the back I run to the bathroom to brush my hair and check my injuries. Nothing requires ice or stitches so I make my way to the front of the now full class.

This Week's Workshop

Today I say in my calmest voice, we’re going to make my favorite long skirt pattern, I love this pattern because it’s simple and versatile and easy to sew. By the end of this class you’ll have a long skirt suitable for many events and time periods depending on how long you make the skirt and what materials you use for the garment. It’s a great asset to the costume closet.

In the next room I can hear Miranda stomping around as she begins to clean up the mess.

You begin by measuring from your natural waist to the floor. This is known as your out-seam.

Next measure your hips at the widest point.

If like myself, you are re-purposing another item, in my case, a set of cotton brocade curtains, remove the previous features of the item so that you have two panels that are the length of your out-seam plus four inches long - 2 inches for the waistband casing and 2 inches for the hem. Of course if you are working from new yardage you simply cut the panels from your material.

Then make sure your panels are the width of your hips dived by two then times 1.5 or times 2 depending on how full you want your skirt.

So to make this easy, say your hips are 40" across. Divide 40 by 2 you get twenty. Times twenty by 1.5 and each panel should be 30 inches across. If you want a fuller skirt you would make each panel 40 inches wide. Since the skirt is already so full we are not going to add additional seam allowance. So the finished skirt will actually be 59 or 79 inches across, since we will take a half each seam allowance on each side of the skirt. If you want a skirt that is medium full times the width by 1.75 instead of 1.5 or 2, and if you want it even less full times by 1.25. You get the idea :)

Next face the two right sides of the panels together and pin one half inch from the edge. Sew two straight seams on either side. If you are working with a woven material you might want to zig-zag the outer edge (or serge if you use a serger) to keep the material from unraveling and fraying beyond the seam stitch line. In my case since I’m working with a previously made item I can leave the finished edge from the original curtains and it makes a really clean finished seam.

Next decide if you want to finish by hand or by sewing machine.

Also, will you make or purchase the drawstring for your skirt? If you have fabric left consider making a drawstring that is twice the length of your waist measurement. The width when finished should be narrow enough to fit through your waist casing which will be about and inch or an inch and a half wide. The casing should not be so narrow that it breaks easily. Lets cut the draw-string an inch and a half wide, so that when it's folded in half and given a half inch seam allowance it will be a half inch wide and will easily make it through your waist-band casing.

Once you've cut your drawstring you can fold in half and sew with the right sides together.

 Now you need to clip the seam allowance down to a quarter inch and turn the drawstring inside-out so that the right side of the fabric is on the outside and no seams show. One of the easiest ways to do this is by using a safety pin (make sure it's small enough to fit through the finished tube.) Pin the safety pin to the outside of the inside out fabric draw-string tube and then push through the open end and into the tube, carefully pushing it through little by little so that by the end of the process you've pulled the tube completely through and it's now showing the right side of the fabric. 

Once we're ready we do something very similar to get the draw-string through the waist band.

Now turn your drawstring casing one half inch under and press. Then fold over and inch so that the casing is on the wrong side of the skirt. Stitch that seam. Remember to leave an end open to insert your drawstring.

Using the safety-pin method thread the drawstring through the casing. Be sure not to lose the end in the skirt or it’ll be extra work to retrieve and start again.

A girl in the back raises her hand.

Yes, Morgana.

How come we don’t just use elastic?

“A couple of reason,”s I answer. “ Elastic is a fairly recent invention so It’s not time-period correct for most of the eras we are into, and secondly if you use a drawstring you can adjust the waist to different points between your natural waist and your hips depending on what era and what look you are creating. It makes the item more versatile.”

“I see, but there are some time-periods or situations where you can make this a really easy elastic waistband?”

“Yes”, I say,” there are, maybe some Manga situations and characters.”

“Next,” I continue, “we’ll make our hem. Remember we left two inches at the bottom beyond how long we wanted the skirt. So fold one inch towards the wrong side and press this down, then to make this really easy just fold over another inch so that you have a clean finished hem that won’t fray.”

Morgana raises her hand again.

"Do we sew this by hand or by machine?"

“Well, I answer, “it depends on how authentic you want it to look. The sewing machine wasn’t invented until the mid-1800s so machine stitching isn't right for a lot of eras. I usually try to do the internal seams by machine and the external by hand, but today we’ll do this by machine since we don’t all know how to hand sew yet. “

Now, it’s your turn. Let’s see those finished skirts!

Ancient Roman Fashion History Week

This week in class, in a logical progression, we are studying Ancient Roman fashion history and that's the theme, of course, for this trend board that juxtaposes ancient Roman primary sources that indicate the most common depictions of the art and fashion of the vast reaching, long standing empire with current clothing choices that show hints of what we think of today as Ancient Roman inspired clothing.

 

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/template?id=517262

The role of the epic fail in creativity

The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Evening dress (clipped to polyvore.com) by Callot Soeur  1918-19.

Yesterday I set out to create what has to be the easiest costume ever – really – the Greek Chiton.  I intended for this to be a re-purpose project and tried several different and interesting materials, none of which would do what I wanted.  Finally, I went to be last night in utter frustration and when I woke up this morning and began the business of my day, I realized I had actually draped a beautiful costume from a completely different era in time.  Instead of the simplistic Chiton I was trying to achieve I had somehow created a gown reminiscent of Callot Soeur in the mid-1920s. 

I’d been watching season three of Downton Abby and I think the time period was just stuck in my head and that anything I tried to create might have come out looking like something from season three of the show.  This experience has taught me something about the nature of inspiration and influence and that the “do-over” sometimes becomes the “do-instead”.

Nothing Ancient Greek about this drape, but it will be a beautiful prototype for a Downton Abby inspired tea party. 

So what is your favorite epic fail story that turned out OK for you as an artist or designer?

Ancient Greek Fashion History Week

We are following the Egyptians with the Greeks, this week, for Ancient Greek Fashion History Week.

For our research trend board we are once again juxtaposing primary source images of the era we are studying, in this case, Greek fashion history, with current images of fashion either blatantly, influenced by the ancient Greeks, as in the case of the white gown pictured, or subtlety influenced, as in the pink dress, or boldly inspired, as with the red one-shouldered dress.

This intent here is to show that the classics are called classic for a reason.  In this case, we literally mean, their inspirations are from the classic eras of Western European history. 

http://www.polyvore.com/ancient_greek_trend_board_fh1/template?id=510408

Simple Ancient Egyptian Woman's Sheath Dress

It was quite fun, trying to figure out how Ancient Egyptian women might have produced form fitting linen sheaths with the technology they had a the time.  Clothing that would be cool and comfortable and easy to move in, despite a body hugging fit.

I took a length of white plain weave one and a halt times the width of the body and put ties on each top end one vertical and one horizontal.

The end result, is simple, elegant and appropriate for the hot weather and active culture of the Ancient Egyptians.

Ancient Egyptian Necklace inspires a new generation of jewelry designers

(above) Eternal Egypt (clipped to polyvore.com)

Today while I was meandering the Aventura Mall looking for jewelry inspired by the jewels of ancient Egypt I found some great pieces at Claire's that hint of an artistic partnership between jewels of the past and accessories of today.

The necklace below appears inspired by the collar above and the decorative detail of India.  In, my humble opinion, this is a romantic and versatile piece to wear with everything from Egyptian costumes to modern jeans.

Egyptian Jewelry Resources

Here are two favorite books for research on Egyptian Jewelry.

This one is a particular favorite.

Ancient Egyptian Jewelry by Carol Andrews

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (February 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810926776
• ISBN-13: 978-0810926776 

Jewels of the Pharaohs: Egyptian Jewelry of the Dynastic Period by Cyril Aldred

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st Ballantine Books ed edition (1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345278194
• ISBN-13: 978-0345278197

As you can see from the publication dates of these books, we're due for an new book on the subject.

Welcome to Ancient Egyptian costume week!

Welcome to Ancient Egyptian costume week!

This week in my Fashion History I class, we are studying ancient Egyptian fashion.  One of our weekly assignments for this course is a trend board that visually illustrates how modern fashions have been influenced by previous eras.

Here I have used Polyvore to clip museum images and modern images creating a “user friendly” way for those of you who are not yet proficient with Photoshop (though you should learn to be competitive in the workplace) to be able to create boards for your own research and for class research.

What’s great about Polyvore is it keeps track of your source images and where they have come from, which is a big help for  researchers and students because it allows us to keep track of source citations and find the images and garments again when, and if, necessary.

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/template?id=502733

Can re-creating an 18th Century Stomacher help me lose weight?

I’ve had an issue I’m sure many of us have, I tend to wander around the kitchen and eat at night before bed.  I eat way too much at night before bed.  This is a weird habit that came on me when I was very stressed at work a few years ago.  I’d eat a big lunch then work late and not get home from my long commute until seven or eight at night.  I’d be starving, Id eat too much and then spend the rest of the night wired from stress and exhaustion aimlessly looking for something else to eat.  I’d flounder around changing stations too tired and with too much in my head to settle on any one show.  There I was too scattered be a good couch potato.  Eventually it got so that I couldn't sleep unless I felt overfull.  I've always been a terrible sleeper and I convinced myself the food, usually some form of fatty carbohydrate was helping me get to sleep. 

A few years ago I made some drastic changes in my life and work style and am now very happy and a lot less stressed but I found myself entrenched in the bad night eating food habit.  This past year I've been working with a health coach courtesy of my health benefits, a plus in the taking a lower paying job with a larger company sweepstakes.  My coach encouraged me to find something to do in the evening that occupied my concentration and kept me physically busy, but that wasn't too active to keep me from falling asleep.  That’s actually a pretty tall order, not many activities and hobbies fit that bill.  However, I was reminded that I had once been really fascinated with embroidery and while I had never practiced it fully it was something that I wanted to learn that would be perfect for the challenge presented by Cory, my health coach.

Of course, I didn't want to start with simple steps and work my way up I wanted to jump right in and create a costume inspired project and what came to mind was to create an 18^th Century Stomacher that I could finish and frame in a shadow box and possibly exhibit someday.  Not too ambitious … LOL

Actually, I want to do a whole series … but I guess I should just start with one, right?

This is why I posted the 18^th Century stomacher yesterday.  I wanted to show you the inspirations and concept for this ongoing project.  Today I’m posting how I’ve accomplished, so far.  This is a great way for me to follow my own progress in an objective way and to encourage myself to continue until this is completed.

Of course, I have to point out that this project is inspired by an 18th Century Stomacher, but that the fabric, and content and colors of floss are modern and not historically correct.  Just saying ...

What about you, what activities have you tried or do you want to try to keep the evening munchies at bay?

Stomacher Italian, early 18th century | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Stomacher Italian, early 18th century | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (clipped to polyvore.com)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Armor Garniture of George Clifford,...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Armor Garniture of George Clifford,... (clipped to polyvore.com)

One of the most stunning examples of 16th century armor available to view in the United States is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) in New York. Made in approximately 1585 for George Clifford, Third Earl of Cumberland, it’s of steel, etched, blued and gilded and according to the MMA website “ is the best preserved, most extensive armor garniture from the Royal Workshops at Greenwich,”. (Koehly, Examiner)

Why I Love Costume Construction

When I was eighteen years old, I was in a used bookstore in Los Angeles when I came across my first book of costume patterns made to scale designed to be used to create historic costumes.  The name of the book was Costume Design and Making: A Practical Handbook and was originally written by Mary Fernald & E. Shenton in 1937 the version I was holding was printed in 1967 by Theatre Art Books in New York.  It was quite old, but still in great shape. 

I had learned to sew as a little girl and was very familiar with commercial patterns but for some reason until this moment it had not occurred to me that I could make my own patterns to create costumes and it had not occurred to me that I could analyze a painting or a drawing or photograph and create what I wanted to make without altering an existing commercial modern fashion pattern.  I bought that book that day and I still have it on my bookshelf.  In fact, it spurred a life-long obsession with collecting books on costume design and construction.  I can open the book and still see the pencil lines and calculations from scaling up the patterns from the 1/8 inch scale.  I still have photos of some of the costumes I created this way. 

Two years after I purchased this book I took pattern drafting and draping classes which cemented my love of construction and how costumes are made.  Eventually, I would pursue a graduate degree in Costume and Textile Conservation and in the course of those studies I confess I paid little attention to anything other than how historic fashion was constructed.  I don’t know what it is about clothing construction past and present that so captivates my mind since in actuality no other construction enthralls me in the same way.  I do know that I've spent hours and hours thinking about, analyzing and drawing how costumes and fashions are made and I will spend countless more doing so. 

Lately, I've been amazingly lucky to be spending my professional time teaching fashion history and construction and though I've taken detours good and bad in my career I always come back to this one true love. 

Below are some pages from my Costume Journal showing an analysis of an Early Middle Ages (460-1065) woman’s costume. 

Italian Renaissance Costume Research using Polyvore

This week in my Fashion History class we’re studying the Italian Renaissance and I've reviewed some projects with some perplexing information included.  For example, several students seem to believe that the Italian Renaissance took place in 1968.  Not a typo a genuine answer repeated several time over the last several semesters. I believe this has to do with the Franco Zeferelli film of Romeo and Juliet produced in 1968.  For those of you joining the story late, the Italian Renaissance is generally dated between 1420 and 1600.  So for today’s project I wanted to explore some resources that might help my students to gather information and submit their reports.  Specifically, I wanted to know if the online clipping and shopping tool, Polyvore, would work for historic image research projects.

What I did to test Polyvore for research viability was to reference the Metropolitan Museum of Art website to gather painting resources of women’s costumes from the Italian Renaissance period.  I downloaded the Polyvore clipping tool and I made a collage of painting images.  Not liking the original outcome – it was missing an appropriate background for the time period - I added a search for Italian Renaissance textiles and used a period proper textile image to set as the foundation on which to build the collage.  Though, not as robust as Photoshop the speed and ease of use make this a great informational gathering and display tool.

The Polyvore site keeps the proper attribution of where the pictures were found online, however, I lost those when I downloaded the collage to save on my computer.  Anyone using the collages for class research will have to find a way to print the attributions separately to hand in with collage projects.

Overall, though, I found this a great way to gather images for inspiration and illustrating research.  

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/template?id=495180

A former handbag and an old pair of jeans become a pirate style corset

Today the last part of the hobo handbag and an old pair of black jeans become an 18^th century inspired pirate style corset top.

Starting with this ....

Using a best as the basis of a pattern ....

Trimming with strips cut from this fabric ...

I enjoy the way this turned out and this project was a satisfying end to a very busy day, but looking at this objectively I would like to finish the edges of the front section and add some detail and interest in the front.

What do you suggest?

Make a Victorian Steampunk corselette from an old handbag

This was one of those days that surprise you, one of those days when you set off to create one thing and wind up with something entirely different.

It started like this …

I had the other half, well, more like three quarters, of the handbag made into a Renaissance change purse on Saturday January 26, 2013.   I thought it would be great to make a medieval/renaissance wench corset.  The way this piece is patched together from smaller pieces and the way it curves up at the top edge, there just had to be a prime corset in the bones of this particular remnant.

So I cut the old hobo bag apart by separating the front, sides and bottom of the remainder of the bag.  I was shifting the front section this way and that when I actually saw the bottom for the first time.

What I saw wan’t the bottom of an old handbag.  What I saw was a no sew/ low sew Victorian/Steampunk corselette!

The shape was perfect and already reinforced, originally for the bottom of the bag but now for the front of the corselette. 

Every thing was there… I even had a button at one end that could be looped or tied for the closure. 

What could I make into a belt loop?

I tried part of the handle but it was just too thick to sit right with the button.

I dug through the scrap ribbon and found the perfect length of black grosgrain.

The only sewing I did on this project was a single small row of stitches that attached the ribbon to the seam of the corselette.

To put it on all I did was tie the ribbon around the button and finish with a little bow.

At this point, I have a little confession to make. .. there were some raw white edges from where the bottom section by the button was cut from the original handbag, and I, … well, I …. OK.  I covered the raw edges by drawing over the white with a black sharpie. 

This was really so much fun and I’m delighted with this “green” project! 

Medieval countrywoman costume

As a costume designer and historian, I find I get a lot of questions about Renaissance costume history. Since color trending is so prominent in current fashion magazines and articles it’s often one of the first questions I hear. What colors were popular during this time in history? (Approximately 1450-1550.)

According to Lucy Barton in Historic Costume for the Stage this was a time of “strong, often dark colors,” reds, deep blues, wines and gold brocades accented by white linen and black velvet. This was also a point in time when foreign trade and travel increased, and with the expansion of the know world, Europe gained new knowledge in the areas of fabric production and the creation and use of dyes. Patterns with color combinations rose in popularity with woven patterns and embroidered cloth at the higher price points and applied dye combinations more accessibly priced. It has been noted that black and gold was a particular favorite color combination of Lucrezia Borgia. Politics also played a part in fashion, for example, the trend for applied woven braiding and embellishment arose as a way around sumptuary laws that forbid the use of silver and gold embroideries. Synthetic dyes were a long way in the future and all colors had to be produced from natural resources.

This was a time of historic upheaval, violently partisan politics and economic hardship due to huge long-term military expenditures. Then, as now, people looked to fashion and entertainment as a way beyond the hard times as they waited for the economy to improve and the new globalization to bring new opportunities and tends.   (Koehly, Examiner.com)

Today’s costume is inspired by an illustration of medieval French countrywomen in the medieval tailor’sassistant: making common garments 1200 – 1500 by Sarah Thursfeld.

Make a Renaissance Fair change purse from an old hobo handbag

Accessory Day

A Re-purpose Project

One old “hobo” handbag with a broken handle that’s a little beat up around the edges.

Plus, one large dinner plate to use as a pattern for a perfect circle.

Cut out a circle, using the plate - or a similar perfectly round pattern - from the beat up old handbag.

Clip an even series of slits to thread cord through.  (Here I cut two lines close together and then left half  an inch then cut two more.  I did this all around the circumference of the circle.)  Next reinforce the edges of the slits with clear nail polish on the inside.  When the nail polish is dry proceed to thread the cord through the incisions.

Pull the cord tight and behold, a small leather coin pouch suitable for Medieval and Renaissance Fair garb.