2026 costume plans

 So it is time again to think about what I want to make this year, some of it will happen, and some won't. Nowadays I do tend to make more general plans, and not so many specific garments. The thing is I realized last year that I can wring out a costume, either cosplay or historical, fairly easily these days, but I do miss some of the excitement of making something that is really challenging. Last year the most challenging thing I did were the Toad hats, but that whole project was more of a "fun" project so I didn't care if they didn't end up perfect, which they didn't since I don't work that well with foam. They were good enough and I am happy with them though. 

This year I want to dive into a project where "good enough" isn't good enough, I want to make it really good, and I want to challenge myself again as well. So I have decided that my main project this year will be to recreate Mon Mothma's senatorial outfit from season 2 of Andor. 

To make things a bit more complicated is that she is wearing two different versions, one with with trousers and flat shoes and one with a skirt and high heels. Should I do both?  I have started with buying a pair of trousers and I have the material for the inner pleated shirt. I have also found a good match for the coat fabric, but that will be many meters, and a cost that I need to plan when I can take. I will also need to learn how to style the short wig to get it right. The coat and undergarments will also need quite some time for patterndrafting to make them correct. Still my goal is to make the costume in time for Stockholm ComicCon in early November. 

The first event coming up is that I want to go to a 1620s event in late April. I do have a basic outfit that works for early 17th century, but I want to add accessories in the form of a partlet, better apron and some kind of coif/headwear that is more simple compared to the laced veil I did last year. I would also like to add a skirt in a darker fabric. The jacket wasn't really finished when I wore it in August, so the first thing I am going to do is to finish the sleeves and fix the fit over the bust.

When it comes to 16th century things I will focus on accessories. In 2027 there will be a big event, and I want to have a new outfit for that, and I think that it will be best to start with the accessories, which would include and embroidered partlet, possibly a new shift and the most important thing will be to see if I can make a nice hairnet or two, both for me and my husband.

So those are my general plans, but who knows what other things I might get inspired to do in 2026.

2025 a recap part 3 - the historical costuming

 As I said in my last post, my historical costuming projects tend to be smaller but I do more of them, since they are usually more about adding pieces to my wardrobe, rathern than creating a new wardrobe. Going into 2025 my main project when it came to historical projects was to make a Lengberg bra/supportive kirtle and a schaube for my husband. Well I did neither.

I started drafting a lengberg bra, but while doing that I realised that wearing a bra, a shift and two wool kirtles/gowns would simply be too bulky. The Lengberg bra also is more correct for the late 15th century silhouette, and after all I do mostly early 16th century. Instead I started focusing on making a supportive wool kirtle, that wouldn't need a bra under it. I did make the kirtle using Matthew Gnagy's barra system, which was a new thing for me, but something that I really enjoyed and that I think I will really be able to use in the future. It was a bit stupid to make an underkirtle in cream, since I had to be really careful when wearing only the kirtle in the camp kitchen when cooking. The full post on the kirtle is here.

In the spring I got invited to a 17th century event, a time period that I had eyed a bit but never seriously considered. At Medieval Week I also found this gorgous raspberry red wool, and I bought enough to make a jacket. I made the jacket into a very generic shape that works from the 16th to the 18th century though. The post about the jacket is here. The event also ginally gave me a reason to make one of these long, flowing headpieces that were used, but are not very common among recreators of the 17th century. The post about that is here.

Then in the autumn I felt that what I really wanted was a 16th century hairnet, and I decided that instead of buying it, I should learn how to do them myself. And thus started my adventures in sprang. This is the first craft with yarn as a base that I have enjoyed. When I also got tablets for tablet weaving in an advent calendar I also set up to learn tablet weaving. I feel that I can now make a wearable net and I see this hairnet as a proof of concept, now I need to learn to work with finer yarns, and decide if I want to make my own tablet band as a decoration, or if I should simply buy one.

And with that I have summarized my crafting year 2025, and now it's time to look into what I want to do in 2026.

2025 recap part 2 - the cosplay projects

 I am not as productive when it comes to cosplay, but that is also because when I make a cosplay project just one project involves everything from top to toe, so it's hard to make just small and quick cosplay projects. For 2025 my plan was to finish my female tusken raider and to make a Toadette cosplay from Supermario. 

The tusken female had been an on and off project for more than a decade, so it was really time to finish it. I got it done in early spring and had it approved in both legions by the summer, so that I could use it for trooping for the first time at Stockholm Comiccon. I really like the costume and it is quite comfortable for being a masked costume. There are quite a lot of posts about the projects here.

The plan to make Toadette for NärCon turned out to be a bigger project than I had planned when my husband agreed to come with me to NärCon and to wear cosplay for the first time. The whole project ballooned, literally when it came to our hats, and in the end it wasn't such a small and easy project, but it was fun and my husband loved it and wore his Toadbert costume more than I wore Toadette. The project posts are here

My husband even got so hooked on cosplay that for comiccon he wanted to go in cosplay, even if I couldn't fit the Toadbert hats in our luggage. The answer was for him to grab his bathrobe, a towel and a tea mug and go as Arthur Dent from Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. And yes he proved more popular and people recognized him more in his 5 minute closet cosplay than my painstakingly researched and quite expensive Tusken.

2025 recap part 1 - a year of 1930s and yarn

 2025 took a strange turn for my costuming and crafting. Before going into this year the 1930s was a decade that I considered had a lot of elegant clothes, but not a style that would suit my body type. I also was still firm in my opinion that I really disliked working with yarn. Now looking back this is the year when I started bying yarn and most of my projects were 1930s related. I will split this recap into three parts, everday wear, cosplay projects and historical costuming. Since as usual it felt like I didn't do much, but when starting to summarize the post turned out to be too long.

My costume plans for 2025 were 

• more cuff warmers
• one or two tops or blouses for everyday wear
• Toadette from Supermario
• A lengberg bra/supportive kirtle
• Female tusken raider
• and for my husband a 16th century shaube

I also went into 2025 with a challenge to myself to see if I could go a year without buying any new clothes, with the exception for clothes that I can't make myself. I didn't really make this public, since I didn't want to make it into a big thing, and also to not be too disappointed if I didn't succeed. Now I can say though that the only pieces of clothings that I bought this year were a pair of jeans (I can't make them) and sports wear. I did make quite a few pieces or my self to wear for everyday wear, and that is definitely a new category of sewing for me.

I started out the year with a gothrough of my stash and UFO pile. Before my weight started to fluctuate I had cut out the pattern pieces for this dress. Today it would probably not have been a fabric that I had chosen and the pattern included very large ruffled sleeves. I used the sleeves to cut out some narrower sleeve and a waistband to make it longer in the bodice, and this turned out to be one of my favorite pieces of clothing of the whole year. - The post about the dress

When summer came along I really wanted a new summer dress, so I made this. I still think it's very cute, but the fabric was a bit too prone to wrinkling and wasn't as comfy as I thought, so this became more of a special occasion dress than the carefree summer dress that I had planned. I am still happy with the result. The post about the dress.

I wanted to find an easy, but still a bit special, top/blouse pattern that I could make a lot of variations from, and still look more unique than if I had bought. The Ngaio blouse pattern from Scroop Patterns turned out to be like that and in the end I made four different tops, that I used a lot the whole year from it. the favorite being the long sleeved version. I made a post about the first blouse, but not the others.

The pattern also led me into 1930s fashion, and I also added a 1930s black skirt, that turned out to be the year I used all summer long at work. The post about the skirt.

I finished the year with a festive 1930s blouse from a vintage pattern. The post about the blouse

As for the cuff warmers that were also on my list, well I did make a pair of cuff warmers, but not the embroidered ones that I had planned, but rather a pair using sprang technique.

I can also add this sprang cap/hat to the list of items that I did for everyday wear. The post about the hat

As I sad I would never have thought that I would do this much 1930s clothing and then add some pieces in sprang, meaning that I who have always hated knitting and crocheting all of a sudden found myself enjoying working with yarn.

The HSM 2025 recap

This year I didn't think I would finish many challenges for the Historical Sew Monthly challenge, but with my end of year projects I realised that I had actually made 8 out of 13 challenges, so here they are in one post. IT definitely helped that I got interested in 1930s fashion, which just made them eligible for the cut off year of 1938.

The theme for this year were challenges from the past that had been the most popular challenges with the most entries.

January: Tops and Toes (2014, 12th most popular): Create an accessory that goes on your head or on your feet. - link to my post about my Christmas hat

 February: Under It All (2013 & 2014, 11th and 3rd most popular respectively): Make something that goes under your outer garments, to protect them from sweat/grime or provide the right shape/support. - link to post about my 16th century kirtle

March: Black and White (2014, 10th most popular): Draw on the opposite ends of the shade spectrum to create something in black, white, or both. Link to post about my 1930s skirt

 April: Procrastination (2016, 9th most popular): Complete a garment you have been putting off finishing. Or make something you have been avoiding starting. Link to my post about my 17th century headwear.

 May: Pink (2014, 8th most popular): Make something in the colour pink. Or make a garment that involves pinking/slashing as an ornamental feature. 

June: Accessorize (2013, 7th most popular): Accessories add polish to your outfits, helping to create the perfect historical look. Create the perfect period accessory for yourself. - link to post about my 16th century hairnet

 July: Stashbusting (2015, 6th most popular): Make something using only fabric, patterns, trims and notions that you already have in stash.

August: Make Do and Mend (2014, 5th most popular): Get your historical wardrobe in order by fixing/mending something that has worn out or gone wrong. Alternatively, you could focus on the historical precedent of making-do by re-making an old garment or remaking something into a historical garment (ex: a chemise from old bedsheets). Link to post about mending my favorite shift

September: Blue (2015, 4rd most popular): Make an item that features blue, in any shade from azure to zaffre. 

October: UFO (2013, 2nd most popular): We all have an UnFinished Object or two (or ten!) Now’s the time to complete one of your unfinished historical costuming projects. 

November: Foundations (2015, most popular challenge ever!): Make something that is the foundation of a period outfit. This can be a literal foundation (ex: a shirt, stockings or stays) or an item that is a “foundation piece” in your wardrobe (ex: a garment or accessory that can be styled in many different ways). Get creative with your interpretation! 

December: The Final Touch: Make an accessory or garment that is the finishing touch to an outfit.  - Link to my post about a 1930s belt

**Bonus Challenge** Since the HSM is celebrating thirteen years, we have an optional thirteenth challenge for 2025. Let’s show some love to the “Worst of All Time”, the challenge with the fewest ever entries—a mere five! The WOAT: As Seen on Screen (2022): Make something inspired by something you’ve seen on screen, whether it’s film, television, or YouTube. - link to post about my 1930s Christmas blouse

Looking back I think it's strange that I didn't do anything for the "pink" or "stashbusting" challenges, since my stash is quite full of small pieces of pink fabric. Well still 8 out of 13 challenges in a year when I didn't think I would finish almost any isn't too bad.

HSM 25 - The final touch - a belt

 As a final post about the historical sew monthly challenges it's quite fitting to have the "final touch" challenge

The Final Touch: Make an accessory or garment that is the finishing touch to an outfit.

The Christmas blouse that I made had a pattern piece for a belt, and belt were important in the 1930s, both for evening wear and everyday wear. I hadn't bought enough fabric to be able to get the belt out, and I was also out of time to find a belt buckle for it, so I skipped the belt when I cut out the blouse. After having finished the blouse, and realised that it was big enough that I could pull it over the head I really felt that it needed a belt to not feel too baggy. I took out the scraps of fabrics left and realised that I could get half the belt out, it just wasn't wide enough to double up. But I had a thick poly satin in my stash so I cut out half the belt in the green viscose satin and half of it in the in the poly satin. I added a fusible interfacing to the viscose satin, sewed the fabrics into a tube and turned them right. I added topstitching, a belt buckle that I found in my stash and added some eyelets to be able to adjust the width of the belt.

And here I am wearing it on Christmas Eve, with my mother beside me. To bling it up I added a small festive brooch to it, but that's hardly visible in the photo.

What the item is: An evening belt to go with a 1930s blouse
How it fits the challenge: The belt is needed to give the final silhouette of the blouse
Material: 10 x 150 cm of green viscose satin and 10x150 cm of heavy poly satin
Pattern: Lady Marlowe 8380
Year: 1930s
Notions: a belt buckle, eyelets with washers, fusible interfacing
How historically accurate is it? Pattern is correct, hard to say about the rest of the materials, so 50%
Hours to complete: 1 hour
First worn: On Christmas eve
Total cost: $20

And with that I have finished up posting about all the HSM challenges and projects for the year, so it's time to summarize the project year 2025 and look forward to 2026.

A quick hairpiece under the hainet

 When trying out my 16th century hairnet I realised that my own hair wouldn't be enough to fill it out. I have quite long and thick hair, but each hairstrand is so thin that when I braid it the braids ends up as tiny stumps. Good when you are wearing a full wig, bad when you want to a hairnet without just a lot of air inside it. I decided to make a hairpiece that I can easily put on and wear under the hair net. Since this is a piece that's supposed to go under the net I also felt that I didn't have to be too picky about it, loose strands and uneveness would be hidden anyway. This is also good because since I switch haircolour from time to time, even if it's within the red spectra, I didn't have to worry about an exact colour match, this is just for volume.

Back in 2016, for Star Wars Celebration in London, I made this Tudor version of princess Leia, and I still had those red hairpieces that I had used for the buns.

For the hairpiece I used the two old hairpieces and a long piece of cotton tape.

I combined the two hairpieces into one and braided them together with the cotton tape. I started in the middle and braided outwards from that.

Then it was just playing around with the shape of the braids until had a bun that I was happy with.

The bun was sewn into shape with some thick thread. I also found a some extra hair tuffs that I twisted together and added to the middle of the bun.

The finished piece was dosed with a generous amound of hairspray. When wearing it I tie the tape around my hair, and then I do my usual braiding of my own hair, which is also braided with some tape, and then my own braids are laid around the fake bun. 

This is a quick test of the bun, when wearing it properly I will make sure that I use black tape for my own hair as well. I'm also thinking that if I want to make the bun wider I can add the hairpiece and then use my own hair to make two buns on the side of the hairpiece. All in all it took me around 30 minutes to make this hairpiece, it's not the most tidy and perfect, but for volume under a hairnet it will do.