sewing weekend

[anotheranon]

Given that this was a 3 day weekend and next weekend is Dress U, I decided to use the time filling in some gaps in my costume wardrobe, specifically accessories for my as yet unworn white Regency gown.

I was partially successful in my efforts.

I needed headwear - in almost every historical period women covered their head with something, and to hide my anachronistic hair. My initial plan was to create one "casual", one dressy, out of sari fabric I picked up last weekend. This worked out partially.

I am so enamored of the green that I decided my test run would be on the red, using Lynn McMaster's directions for creating a wrapped turban (alas, site is down, this link is Google's cache).

Um, no.

Wrapping a turban turns out to be too much like doing hair - managing a long strip of fabric is difficult when I can't see what I'm doing. I couldn't wrap it even once that tucked in everything as I liked, so creating a sewn together version wasn't possible either. I like the idea, so maybe I'll try it again when I have more time/patience/help, but on to plan B.

The cap turban/beret (scroll down). It's not my favorite look because to my modern eyes it looks excessively fluffy and chef hat-ty, but it was blessedly easy to make. I used the same pattern I used back in '04 for Think Pink (damn, has it been that long?) and lined it with plain muslin.

Ideally I'd be able to get a wonderful ostrich feather plume as trim, but I can't find any from my usual sources and my creativity is maxed out enough that I'm not coming up with any other ideas.

I used another 3 yards to make a matching shawl, which still leaves me with plenty left over to make a Miyake tunic I've been sitting on for awhile.

The punch line: I may not even be able to wear the gown unless I can find someone to help me dress. This is one of my grievances with historical clothing: it's damn near impossible to dress oneself, which offends my modern sense of sartorial autonomy. But, I do have a back up outfit and if not next weekend I've got the accessories now.

Comments

[jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com]

Those sari fabrics are lovely. Looking forward to seeing your finished headgear.

And you're right; turban wrapping, like putting long hair up into a French twist, should be practiced when you don't have a "deadline" looming ... doing it when you're relaxed and pressure-free and it doesn't matter if you mess it up the first hundred times makes it a lot easier to master. ;-)

[danabren.livejournal.com]

Come knock on my door, my roomie and I can help you dress.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) Round of drinks on me!