My Secret Addiction: Antique Parasols

I recently acquired yet another antique parasol (and saw Rebecca's post about her new acquisitions), and I really wanted to share it with you all. That made me realize I had never really talked about the three other antique parasols I already own! You've actually seen them in my pictures, but I don't think I pointed them out.

Here are the ones I already have:

• Two 1850s parasols with baleen (yep) spokes/ribs, ivory finials, and folding handles. One of them has the most beautiful silk fringe too! Their covers were in pretty good condition when I bought them, but after a couple of events, they are starting to crack. I plan to recover these, along with my new baby. 

  

• A 1900-1920 parasol with wood handle and metal spokes/ribs and mechanism. The cover was a beige cotton which was in pretty good condition except that it was stained and really icky. I rushed the covering job since I needed the parasol for an event the next day, so I didn't have time to do a proper mock up, etc. This one also had a broken spoke/rib that Michael and I fixed by making a "splint" for it out of a metal tube. It has its original tassel, although it's a little worn.

And now, my new baby! She is my favorite out of all of them, with her sage green watered silk and silk fringe, but especially her ivory handle. She also has baleen spokes and from the 1850s. There is polished cotton at the center of the mechanism and on each rib, where the hinge is. She has the remnants of the cord that was used to keep her closed when not in use. The cord would have had a little knob of ivory at the end that caught in the metal bit sewn onto the cover (see picture. I don't know how else to describe it! My other fringed parasol has this closure.) The thing I find most interesting about her is that the stitches are HUGE. But that would help with not putting too many holes in the nice silk and possibly causing some kind of damage. It is entirely sewn by hand. It looks like the selvedge was used for the edge of the cover (the selvedge is incredibly fine and almost invisible).

I took a lot of pictures so that I could reference them when recovering this, and you can see them all in the Flickr album.

    

I look forward to recovering all my babies in the future. I will probably re-recover my 20th c parasol first, and then do my first two 1850s, before moving on to my newest one. However, if I get to overwhelmed the wonderful Marta Vincent  recovers 19th century parasols professionally. :)

The Dita Dress

I've loved this toile Vivienne Westwood dress worn by Dita von Teese for aaaaaages. When I stumbled upon this amazing toile quilting fabric called "Midnight Pastoral" by Alexander Henry (yes, those are skeletons in the print!!) I knew I had to make it! I originally planned to wear this to Comic Con in July, but I decided to make it in time for my bridal shower this past Saturday. 

The bodice was taken right off of my 18th century stays, but with straps added and very little waist reduction. There are tiny hip pads, which of course I can leave off for "every day" wear. But the skirt is balanced to be even when worn with the hip pads. The back laces up and the straps attach at the front of the bodice. It is boned with cable ties.

(I wish I had better pictures, but my camera is awful... It is SO old and junky...)








    

18th Century Black Silk Bonnet for Sale!!

Need a black silk 18th century bonnet for Under the Redcoat or other 18th century events this summer? Bonnets are great for shading your face! And they are an awesome, underrepresented headwear choice for the 18th century. They were super common in the period, especially with lower and middle sorts (although very fashionable bonnets abound as well!).

I am making myself a black silk bonnet, and would be happy to make one for you to use up my materials and make the cost a bit more economical.

Hand sewn black silk taffeta bonnet with pasteboard brim for $80. Untrimmed for you to decorate as you like!

Here is the mock-up for the bonnets. Actual bonnet will be black. :)

Eighteenth Century Essentials

Can you believe I haven't had a proper pocket all this time? I mean, I had a pocket, but it was machine sewn out of pink linen... Not worthy to see the light of day at any event! I do want to make an embroidered pocket some day, but not until the embroidered gown is done (which yes, I am still working on!). So I set about finding a period pocket that would be both accurate and simple.

In my search, I kept coming across linen dimity pockets, and I knew that was my answer. Colonial Williamsburg has one, the MFA has one, and apparently even Abigail Adams had one. Burnley and Trowbridge happens to be selling the perfect off white linen dimity that was a really close match to the dimities used in these original pockets. Perfect! 

It's entirely hand sewn, lined with plain white linen, and bound with linen tape. I still have enough fabric left over to make at least 2 more pockets, and I only bought a half yard of each fabric!







I also made a new cap, which I desperately needed since I only have my silk gauze one. The linen one I made last year is no longer an accurate representation of my skills, so I'd rather not wear it...





Inside of the cap:

A Regency Pelisse

I had all but given up on ever actually making this garment, since so many other things had gotten in the way. But then I was unexpectedly able to go to the 200th anniversary of the siege of Ft. Meigs, and the cold, wet spring we had been having prompted me to make something warm for the weekend.

Materials:

• green wool "kersey" from Burnley and Trowbridge
• black mohair braid from Needle and Thread
• real black lamb fur (aka astrakhan, or "dead fetal lamb") from a vintage cape I got for $24 (it was falling apart and completely unwearable--but perfect for my purposes!)
• so many buttons...
• black cotton velveteen for the hat
• vintage plume

Inspiration:

• All those original lovely original "hussar" style redingotes/pelisses out there (like the red KCI one)
• the 95th Rifles

The braid was the most time-consuming part, and I did the right side at least 5 times until it looked as good as the left side! I think the hat is my favorite part. It is a Polish military style, which I heard called a "tchapka" by many of my male-soldiery friends.

The entire garment was pretty much made in a week. I did scale up the bodice from Janet Arnold the week before, but that was about it... I was able to scale it up exactly and then actually had to take it in.

It was a complete blast to wear this garment. I felt really elegant and regal. Underneath is my lace insertion gown and chemisette, and I completed the look with gloves and a dainty lady's walking/riding stick.

"For the blog" documentary pics:





Fun! pics:

A Correct Cap

I've made quite a few gauze caps... but none of them were for me! I needed something to wear with my white silk gown, so I whipped this puppy up in about 5 days. Phew!

This cap is made of single layers of silk gauze, with all the edges finished (rolled hems in this case) and whipped together. This is the way that the vast majority of caps I've seen were made--not using two layers for the brim and then sandwiching the ruffles or pleats and caul in between the two layers. The single layer method is a bit more difficult, because hemming anything curved is the biggest pain in the neck, but it's what's correct and I think it looks lovely.

Also, I will be open for commissions of caps, kerchiefs, aprons... you name it, millinery-wise (which in the 18th century means all manner of fashionable accessory) once school is over. I haven't yet figured out how many to take at one time, but it looks like I have a few friends interested in caps, 1860s undersleeves and collar, and possible a (correctly made) ruff. Can you tell I need money? :-/

An Addendum

First of all, thank you to everyone who has been commenting on my latest post! I love to hear what you guys have to say, and I think everyone is raising excellent points. Keep it going!

I would like to point out something which has come up a lot in people's comments: many of you have said how difficult it is to track down the right info on an image.

This is totally true! But just think how much easier things would be if everyone had taken the initiative to properly cite sources from the beginning, instead of just pinning or putting things on Tumblr willy-nilly without links to the original museum or website it came from. All we can do now is cite things when we know the correct information, and try to correct the false information as best we can.

I've been awarded the "Very Inspiring Blogger" award by two awesome bloggers, so I will do a post on that soon!