Storybounding

Georgian embroidery patterns!

It's one of the first things I ever made, and it was part of a Hobbit kit I don't really wear anymore. It's not super well made, but I could really use an orange wool skirt so I figured I redo some of it and incorporate it into my regular wardrobe.

The most important thing will be to redo the waistband and that weird closing situation. I don't really like how bulky the drawstring waist looks, so I'm going to unpick it and replace it with a fitted waistband and a button closure. I don't remember how I ended up with this weird lacing situation, but it doesn't look great, so it's gonna go and I'll open the side seam down to the pocket to put more buttons. I have a piece of linen that I figure will be fine to make plaquettes and line the waistband (I want it bigger, and while I still have some of this fabric left, it is itchy and I don't want it on the inside here.

While I'm at it, I'll also redo the hem, which is also not great. Turning the hem and doing the ribbon thing will look better that the bulky double turned hem I have now.

I was also pretty careless about how I stored this skirt, and the orange has faded on several places, very likely because of the sun. I'm thinking about making it less noticeable by putting embroidery on top. I haven't decided yet what motifs to use, or what colors (either a 3 to 4 autumnal colors, or just a similar orange to get a textured effect). I'll be doing the sewing first anyway, so I have time to make up my mind.

(If you haven't seen Elvira's Haunted Hills, it's a pretty fun movie that plays on old school mystery/horror movies. It takes place in 1851, and no, Elvira did not travel back in time. She's just dressed like that among the vaguely-historically-dressed cast for the entire movie. It's full of silly things like that.)

I got the linen for the waistband and the ribbon for the hem out while I was at it. I really need to replenish my ribbon stash, that's nearly all I have left.

Today I got the waistband cut and sewn.

Last minute, I decided to box pleat the skirt instead of gathering it (because why not). I quartered and roughly pleated the skirt, and then attached it to the orange part of the waistband with clips and basting stitches. I was catching on re:dracula and took no picture whatsoever. And then everything went under the sewing machine.

Pretty ✨

I got the closure done as well: instead of buttons, I finally opted for a hook and bar set I forgot I had, and some snaps to keep the under part secure. The overlap is big enough that I'm not worried about the opening in the skirt itself gaping, so I just finished the edges. Look how much better it looks:

I then spent a large chunk of Halloween day redoing the hem. The ribbon I have ended up being too small to be used without a ridiculous amount of fiddling, so I just overcast the raw edge with light fingering yarn and set it up with steam in an attempt to felt it a little. It looks fine and feels secure so I'm good with my choice.

The structural stuff is now done! Next up is the embroidery, which I plan to do with the yarn from my now-frogged westknit MKAL. At least I'll be able to do something with all the little balls I ended up with (this is far from all of them):

Learned this crazy shit today.

Put the lace away to do a toy commission for a patron and when that was done I entered some kind of colourwork fuge state.

I am improving, I figure the only way to get better is to do more so a ridiculous sweater that only comes in two sizes and has massive charts was the obvious answer. Not that i followed any of it to the letter, love a project where i can say fuck ill wing it here. At one point M told me I needed to finish it because he hadn't seen me obsessively knitting something for a while and it was unsettling.

It fits tho, and I'm happy with it.

It's one of the first things I ever made, and it was part of a Hobbit kit I don't really wear anymore. It's not super well made, but I could really use an orange wool skirt so I figured I redo some of it and incorporate it into my regular wardrobe.

The most important thing will be to redo the waistband and that weird closing situation. I don't really like how bulky the drawstring waist looks, so I'm going to unpick it and replace it with a fitted waistband and a button closure. I don't remember how I ended up with this weird lacing situation, but it doesn't look great, so it's gonna go and I'll open the side seam down to the pocket to put more buttons. I have a piece of linen that I figure will be fine to make plaquettes and line the waistband (I want it bigger, and while I still have some of this fabric left, it is itchy and I don't want it on the inside here.

While I'm at it, I'll also redo the hem, which is also not great. Turning the hem and doing the ribbon thing will look better that the bulky double turned hem I have now.

I was also pretty careless about how I stored this skirt, and the orange has faded on several places, very likely because of the sun. I'm thinking about making it less noticeable by putting embroidery on top. I haven't decided yet what motifs to use, or what colors (either a 3 to 4 autumnal colors, or just a similar orange to get a textured effect). I'll be doing the sewing first anyway, so I have time to make up my mind.

(If you haven't seen Elvira's Haunted Hills, it's a pretty fun movie that plays on old school mystery/horror movies. It takes place in 1851, and no, Elvira did not travel back in time. She's just dressed like that among the vaguely-historically-dressed cast for the entire movie. It's full of silly things like that.)

I got the linen for the waistband and the ribbon for the hem out while I was at it. I really need to replenish my ribbon stash, that's nearly all I have left.

Today I got the waistband cut and sewn.

Last minute, I decided to box pleat the skirt instead of gathering it (because why not). I quartered and roughly pleated the skirt, and then attached it to the orange part of the waistband with clips and basting stitches. I was catching on re:dracula and took no picture whatsoever. And then everything went under the sewing machine.

I had such fun last year with this what would you wear game, that I wanted to play a similar game and I invite anyone with costumes languishing in their closet to play along and show off a little!

Send me a number and I’ll improvise an outfit to go with the prompt from what’s already in my closet!

What would you wear…?

To spectate a duel held for your honour

To the banquet where you intend to poison a king

To usurp the crown

To bargain with Death

To greet the Private Investigator investigating your fourth husband’s untimely demise

To your first secret rendez-vous with the princess

To wander distractedly across the moors

To welcome your arch enemy into your evil lair

To have a teaparty with Mary Poppins

To sneak into Marie-Antoinnette’s parties

To attend a dinner party hosted by the Addams family

To tend to your garden of poisonous plants

To steal a priceless piece of art from unworthy hands

To read loveletters in your private boudoir

To dance the night away in a speakeasy

To play the merry widow

To infiltrate a debutante ball

To a Shire birthday party

To serve on Titania’s court

Let's make a romper!

Everything's here!

The previous owner made the longer version, so no hunting for the extra leg pieces \o/ though they altered the torso length by cutting and taping the pieces, so I'll definitely have to make a mock up.

made a tank!! I used the motif from this cardi, sewed em together and added straps. It came out super super cute and three rows of eight motifs worked out to be the perfect size. the yarn is a cotton/linen blend that I've had for no joke probably ten years that was originally a sweater I thrifted and unravelled.

Let's make a romper!

Everything's here!

The previous owner made the longer version, so no hunting for the extra leg pieces \o/ though they altered the torso length by cutting and taping the pieces, so I'll definitely have to make a mock up.

• Woman's Evening Dress.

Date: 1957

Designer: James Galanos (UnitedStates, 1924–2016); Embroidered by: D. Getson, Eastern Embroidery, Los Angeles

this is actually better than embroidered given the goal of costuming as 'communicating a lot of info about a character without exposition'. Banyan robes like this would have been worn as fashionable 'undress' at home by gentlemen - so not really appropriate to be traipsing around doing naturalist things. But, from this production's standpoint it is serving to show Maturin as softer, more 'natural' and more casual in contrast to the more stiff/traditional naval characters.

by the early 19th c. embroidery was already largely relegated to formal wear for men, until it basically disappeared from menswear almost entirely later in the century (aside from occasional exceptions like livery or a subtle design on a waistcoat or an emblem or something).

Cottons printed in India - like chintz and calico (both words derive from Hindi) - and later, fabrics printed in Europe which basically copied Indian design & aesthetics wholesale, were very popular for more informal clothing in the west starting in the later part of the 18th century. Here's a dress with a quite similar pattern from a similar period:

The wiki lists banyans as being inspired by kimono, but considering the relatively limited exposure the west had to Japanese material goods prior to the mid 19th c. and the fact that 'banyan' has sanskrit origins, I think it's far more likely that the style of garment was inspired by the many open-robe style overgarments worn throughout the near east and through southeast Asia.

Many banyans were imported garments with minimal modification, (or even could be made directly for export to the European market - a similar thing happened in the late 19th century with Western women snapping up and wearing kimono as dishabille at the height of late 19th c. Japonisme)