Wearing history's 1917 combinations

 I have been intrigued by combinations, the one piece garment that combined the chemise with drawers to be the layer between the skin and the corset in the first decades of the 20th century. One reason for that is because my thighs are so big that I get chafing if I don't wear some fabric between them. In older periods I simply wear a pair of linen or cotton shorts under the clothes, unhistorical but comfortable. With the longline corsets of the 1910s I have had problems with that. If I have the shorts under the corset it is really complicated to go to the bathroom, and if I have them over the corset it's hard to pull them up because the corset is so long.

Wearing history has several combination patterns and I decided to go for the ca 1917 pattern.

It is based on this original pattern

It has just a crotch flap instead of full drawers, and I felt that if the crotch flap didn't work out it would be simple to just cut it off and have a nice and cute chemise.

As usual with the Wearing history patterns there are not a lot of instructions, but they are not needed either because it is really just two pieces that needs to be sewn together. Leimomi Oakes of The Dreamstress was a pattern tester for this and she has also made a good post about it, that I used for some further inspiration.

The pattern ended before my size, but looking at the measurements given I realized that the pattern is very roomy, and since I didn't want a lot of extra fabric under the corset I had no problem going down a size to the largest available on the pattern. It is still a roomy and comfortable garment.

I opted for the straight top, with just a pair of satin ribbons for shoulder straps. This was simply because I didn't have enough fabric to cut out both the shoulder straps and the crotch flap. I also felt that the straight top felt a bit more "modern" and forward looking to the 1920s. 

The seams are sewn with french seams, if you don't know how to do it there are a lot of tutorials out there for french seams. In the back the fabric needs to be pleated into a box pleat, I hid the raw edges of the fabric under a piece of cotton tape.

With inspiration from the Dreamstress I baglined the crotch flap. Unlike in the instructions I didn't make button holes, instead I just metallic snaps to fasten it.

There are no instructions on where the crotch flap should be fastened. At first I simply fastened it at the bottom of the front, but when I tried the combinations on the crotch flap hung so low that it didn't do anything to prevent my thighs rubbing each other. After some experimentation I raised the fastening quite a lot. 

Now I have tried the combinations on while just walking around at home and they feel really comfortable, I still haven't tried them under a corset. It will be then that I discover if the raised crotch flap will be a problem, and if they really will help against the chafing. 

A 16th century man's jacket

 I must say that I feel like this year I don't really stick to any plans when it comes to costuming, but I rather jump straight into projects. Over Easter me and David visited his parents and his mother gifted me some beautiful fabrics, including a wonderful camel-colored wool in a coat weight. I really felt like it wanted to be made into something historical, but I already have my mustard coloured kirtle in a similar colour. Since the fabric was from David's mother I then felt it was appropriate to make something for him, and since we had a guild feast coming up on Saturday I decided that I would make a jacket for him in four days. 

There was no time to really make a pattern for it, but I looked around and got really inspired by the early Tudor clothes of the Tudor tailor. From that I could see that it looked like they use a construction of two backpieces, two front pieces, a separate skirt and puffy sleeves. I took the same pattern as when I did his faux medieval jacket in the winter, but then I fitted the back a lot tighter and I raised the neck. I cut that pattern off at the waist and added a boxpleated skirt, made from two lengths of fabric. Looking at the patterns in "Drei Schnittbücher" it seems as if circle cut skirts were mostly used, but the box pleated skirt gives the same look, and it is also a lot easier to adjust and hem it. The sleeve pattern is my standard S-sleeve pattern, which I must start to remember is too tight at the cuffs for him. It is wide enough to give him a bit of puff, but it's not a big puff sleeve.

The bodice of the jacket is lined with linen, but not the sleeves or the skirt. Since this was a bit of a rush job I haven't hemmed the skirt or the sleeves yet, after all the wool doesn't unravel.

I didn't really know how to close the jacket. Looking at recreations and period sources I couldn't really see any visible fastenings. I tried first with some hook and eye, but since it's too big in the front there wasn't enough tension on them and they unfastened. So in the end I did a really quick fix in that I sewed on some tape that can be tied together. I might switch this for cloth buttons later, but it works for now.

With this jacket I feel as if he has a good start on an early 16th century outfit. At the guild I also picked up some wool that we had done a group order for and that should be enough to make him a pair of trousers/hose and a hat that actually fits him as well.

My Amalia Star Wars jacket

 My big plan for Star Wars Celebration 2022 was to make an 18th century ensemble out of a Knitorious Toile fabric. When I realized that I wouldn't be able to go to SWC I decided to make this outfit for my 40th birthday party instead. After some stress so I didn't have time to finish anything but the jacket at least it was done. I then went to the party, had a great time, and realized afterwards that I didn't have a single photo of me from the evening.

So here is the jacket instead on my dressform, which is totally the wrong shape to fill out an 18th century garment.

I used the Amalia jacket from Scroop patterns, but I didn't follow the instructions exactly. The instructions are for a very historically accurate, and I opted to use the sewing machine as much as possible. I also skipped the lining for the sleeves, I am not going to wear this jacket so much that I need to strengthen the sleeves, instead going for something with less layer to keep it cooler in the summer or at crowded conventions.

As usual Scroop Patterns have a lot of instructions on how to get a perfect fit. I found it hard to follow them all though, since they very much depend on draping the garment on your body. I can't drape on myself and my dressform is nowhere near my measurements when wearing stays. There were some fit issues due to that, and not because of the pattern.

One part where fitting on your body was necessary was the sleeves though. I have huge upper arms, and still the sleeves as made up straight from the pattern gave me a big puff sleeve.  I followed the instructions and smoothec and repinned the fabric over and over again though. In the end this is how much fabric I had to remove when the sleeve was attached to the bodice.

I could probably have removed even more, but I was in a hurry to finish it. Still it was great to follow the instructions, even if it felt wrong to remove so much fabric, and the upper arm still didn't get too small for me.

HSM22: Challenge 11 - fitting. The 1780s stays

 It took a lot longer than planned, and in the end I hurried them, but I did finish the 1780s stays.

One thing that stalled me was when I couldn't find eyelets with washers in the right side, so I had to handsew the lacing holes instead. Now here I should say that I deviated fromt he instructions and instead followed the instructions from Scroop Patterns Augusta stays, which have instructions for making historically accurate stays. It gave me the confidence to make the lacing holes and that they would be strong enough to hold for the lacing. The stays were then boned with synthetic whalebone, I was lucky to have a roll of it at home and it was just enough to get the stays and the stomacher boned.

I wore the stays at party on Saturday, where I managed to get from the party without a single photo of me in costume. While wearing them it was obvious that they were too long for me, they kept poking me in my armpit. 

It is possible to see the foldlines. Before wearing them again I need to cut the stays down to the foldline and rebind them. One good thing with the plastic boning is at least that it's easy to shorten them.

Here you can see that one of the bones even poked through the fabric.

Overall I am happy with the pattern, even if I need to adjust them. There were some instructions that were really helpful, like how to bind the tabs by machine, while others were a bit unclear. I did also use the Augusta stays instructions when I felt that I didn't quite understand or had the ability to use the pattern. I'm hoping that with some tweaking at the armpit they will become a pair of comfortable stays.

What the item is: A pair of 1780s stays
How it fits the challenge: Stays need to fit well, and they are necessary for the clothes on the outside to fit as well. This pair of stays show that a small miss in fit can be really bad. I tried them a lot when making them, but when I finally wore them for real they were too long and poked me in the armpit, so in the end I didn't wear them for the whole party I had made them for. So fit is important, and this is a reminder to not rush in the end, or think that "it won't be too bad, I will be able to wear them and then go back and fix it". 
Material: 1 m cotton twill, 1 m coutil, 1 m floral patterned cotton
Pattern: Redthreadeds front lacing 1780s stays
Year: 1780s
Notions: plastic boning, cotton bias tape for binding, sewing thread
How historically accurate is it? 50% 
Hours to complete: 1,5 months
First worn: at a party on March 19
Total cost: around $120

A short visit to 1922

 I've started to learn myself to take more and more chances to dress up in historical dress. Yesterday there was the 100th anniversary of the Vasaloppet ski race, and to celebrate it the organizers had decided to make an anniversary race where the participants had to do the race in the same conditions and equipment as in 1922. Since the Swedish covid restrictions were lifted on Wednesday the organizers were very happy to invite the audience to cheer on the race, and to come in old fashioned clothes.

I wore my one hour dress, my handmaiden velvet cloche and a furcoat that I have inherited from my grandmother.

Here is a video of the winner, who finished the 90 km in around 7 hours.

Overall it was a nice little daytrip, and it is always fun to dress up.

Back to the 18th century

 It is time for me to return to the 18th century. I haven't done anything since the Lady Poe gown, and already when doing that I realised that I needed a shift and a new pair of stays. Now my pair of stays works for the mid 18th century, but I have always loved the later 18th century silhouette, and the only stays I had for that was my Desert Rose stays. And they were done when I was at my tiniest, so I was able to wear them twice before I started gaining back my weight again.

This is my start. The mound of fabric in the lower right is a new chemise. I have sewn it together and is working on felling the seams before hemming  everything. This is a project that I will bring with me to our cosplay meets on Tuesdays since it's a simple thing to just sit and handsew and talk.

Then it's on to the stays. Together with my weight gain I have also had a lot of issues with my shoulders the last few year, and now it is impossible for me to lace up a corset or stays in the back. I need a pair of frontlacing stays. I decided to buy the Redthreaded 1780s front lacing stays instead of fiddling with drafting my own pattern.

For the stays I'm doing more of a theatrical than historical constructions. I'm using coutil as the strength layer. My original plan was to use linen or cotton canvas, but I couldn't find any in my stash. Since I had to order fabric and the place that I ordered from had a sale on coutil if you bought more than 3 meters I decided to use coutil, and buy enough of it so I can make the 1910s corset that I will need to make later in the year. Here is a big difference from the last time I made corsets or stays, brexit has made it hard to order from my favorite supply site, so I now have to go back to Swedish sites. The good thing is that there are now several options selling boning and corset fabrics in Sweden as well, which really wasn't the case when I started making corsets.

For the inner layer I'm using a sand/grey cotton twill from the stash, and since I want my stays to look good I found that floral cotton in the stash as well. It's not 18th century, but I go for cute rather than accurate with the stays.

Sten Stures ben - 16th century guild feast

 On the 22nd of January it was time for the annual Sten Stures ben celebration. It's where you commemorate the anniversary of the battle of Åsunden in 1520 where the regent Sten Sture got his leg shot off by a canon. Sten Stures ben is celebrated by snowballfights and eating chocolate balls, and our 16th century guild has taken it as a good reason to have a guild feast every January. For a long time we hoped to be able to keep it inside, but with new covid restrictions it was moved to our outside gathering location.

We got at least one photo of me and my fiancé inside in good light

I had made my own chocolate balls, but the main thing was the giant chocolate ball that one of our members had found in a store.

Since it was outside and we wanted to keep warm I had made Tyrolean knödel that we heated in a broth. They were delicious.

When it was time to get into the chocolate ball we actually had to use an axe, after having tried with a dagger and knife first.

Kål-Henrik was victorious against the chocolate ball.

Even if it was -6 we kept quite warm around the fire, and in the end we stayed outside for almost 6 hours. The fact that I used my stash to make our clothes means that we are actually quite matching in pink and red.