Holiday Tea at Gore Place

I only seem to have attended two costume events this year, the 1830s picnic, and the holiday tea, which we again "held" at Gore Place. And by "held," I mean, we just sort of show up at their tea in period dress!

The only unfortunate thing was that we got a ton of snow over night and into the morning of the tea. Of course! This meant I couldn't wear my festive red canvas boots, but I'm just happy the snow ended and was cleared in time for the tea to still carry on! I'm also happy that I've lost enough weight to fit into some of my things so I didn't need to scramble around and make something new. In fact, I had options. I laid them out and of course, a cat happened!



In fact, I had so much time to spare, not having any last-minute sewing to do, that I actually curled my hair and tried to do something with it! I never have time to bother about hair! I ended up doing a curly, glorified ponytail with the ends pinned to hide the fact that it was a pony tail, and added some vintage millinery trimmings I had in my stash. Sorry for the lousy bathroom picture, but this was apparently the only picture I got in which you can come close to seeing the back of my hair.



I still haven't managed to get my husband pumped for dressing in historic costume, but I love that he's willing to go along to this event anyhow! So off we went. . .



How beautiful is this?!? I am seriously in love with Gore Place. If you've never been, it's totally worth it.



I braved the cold for a snowy picture outside. I have yet to make period-appropriate outerwear for this era, which is a fact I only recall once per year, on the day of the Gore Place tea! I really must make it one of my 2017 costume goals. . .



My handsome fella and I!



We were among the first to arrive, and waited in what was once the Gores' laundry area, but is now a little gift shop. It faces the driveway so was a good place to watch other guests arrive!



I took no pictures of the actual tea part of the day! You'll have to take my word for it that all the food was delicious and beautiful, and the setting, perfection!



Afterwards, we snapped a few pictures in front of the Christmas tree, which, while not something the Gores would have had, does add a festive feel!



Look how big a group we had this year! A few established friends, plus a few folks I'd not yet had the chance to meet. I think this is our largest group at a tea yet. Don't forget to add one, since Glenn was too busy taking the picture to be in it!



And then it was time to go and return to modern life! I am already looking forward to next year, and maybe by then, I'll be able to convince my husband that period clothing is the best. I think it helped that he got to see a gentleman in period dress at this tea, which backed up my promise to him that this era can be done without tights or lace. I think I'm just going to make an ensemble and see if the whole "if you build it. . ." philosophy applies to period costume!

1830s and the Crazy Sleeve Day!

When I first started making historic costumes, I swore I'd never want to do 1830s. I just thought, who would ever want to make that? The crazy hair! The odd waist placement! The sleeves! But somewhere along the line, I just developed a huge fascination and love for it, and finally, there came along an event that gave me an excuse to make an 1830s something. As it turns out, this is probably one of my favorite things I've yet made! It's a very silly era, and it definitely brought out my silly side. . .



I found a printed cotton fabric that I thought looked the part, with its serpentine and floral pattern, and a silk that brought out the pink flowers to use as a sash at the waist. I had a rake around in my stash and found this antique mother of pearl buckle/slide that was just the thing. For a pattern, I picked out Past Patterns 003 (the "Full High Gown") because I felt like it would pair nicely with my fabric.



I agonized a bit over when to start this project. It seems like it would make sense to start as early as possible, but because I was actively losing weight, I was afraid to get the fitting done and then have it be baggy by the time the event rolled around. So I procrastinated until late August, when I decided I simply couldn't wait any longer. Unfortunately, I didn't quite fit into my old stays yet, so I had to squeeze in the making of new stays before moving on to the dress! (I used the Laughing Moon stays pattern, which is a fantastic pattern that I'll be posting about as soon as I finish binding them so they are presentable!) So that ate a chunk of my time, and then there was drama when it came around to fitting the PP003 bodice, which burned even more of my time.



The really long story short is that the day was saved by my friend reminding me that there are 1830s bodices in Hunnisett's reliable Period Costume for Stage & Screen. Of course! I quickly scaled up the "B" bodice from the 1830s section, and made a test of it. With just a few pins, I had a fitted bodice lining! Hooray! However, I was still totally married to the idea of the PP003 design. So what I ended up doing is using my fitted Hunnisett bodice pattern for the lining, and then altering the very same pattern pieces to be just like PP003, using the PP003 pattern pieces as a guide. For the sleeves, I used the PP003 sleeves as is. By some miracle, I pulled this off!



So this was all very good news, except for one thing: The above picture was taken the evening of 9/29, and the event was to be on 10/1. Oh yes, you read that right! And, I had to work on 9/30! Yikes! But after all, I'd once sewn an entire 18th century jacket - lined and everything - by hand - in only a day. So I thought, if I do this one by machine (except for any visible stitching), I should totally be able to do it in a day!



I got everything cut out and marked between the evening of 9/29 and my lunch break on 9/30. Also, I worked from home on 9/30, which was great, not only because I was able to put the lunch break to good use, but also because it meant I didn't have to waste three hours of the day commuting as I usually do, so I was done with work and ready to start sewing at 4:00!



4:18 pm. Under the watchful eyes of two of my cats, the sewing begins. . . And carries on until my friend Taylor arrives (my houseguest for the weekend!) and we take a dinner break, which involved going out to one of our favorite restaurants because even when there are things needing sewing, there is sometimes also a need for good queso. Ha ha ha!!!



11:19 pm. Taylor puts finishing touches on her dress. Of course, her kitties had to stay home, but Woody was all too happy to step in as kitty supervisor for her.



11:58 pm. This was my stopping point, because I knew if I stayed up all night, I'd be too exhausted to enjoy the event. So I decided to roll the dice and get a good night's sleep and hope I could finish the bodice and add skirts/waistband in the morning!



7:12 am. The tea kettle is warming up, and I'm getting under way again. Taffy is unsure of my ability to pull this one off, and keeps a watchful eye. . .



7:56 am. When I realized that you could see blue washable marker everywhere on the bodice! So into the sink it went, and then on to the dryer, while I switched gears and made the waistband and skirts. . .



10:08 am. The skirts are ready and set aside, the bodice is out of the dryer, and I'm sewing some piping on the neckline. Because a dress on this tight of a time crunch is the perfect time to do things like pipe the neckline and the armholes, right? HAHAHAHAHA. . .



11:51 am. A wearable dress!!!!! After this picture, there was a lot of scrambling to climb into undergarments, deal with hair, and somehow I made the pink belt as well. Then it was into the car and on our way to the pre-dinner tea and hanging out part of the day, where I multi-tasked and hand-sewed the hem of the skirts and sleeves. While wearing the dress. It is no easy thing to hem sleeves while you are wearing them, but now I know I'm capable of that!



And, I made it! This is actually the first of the Popeye-esque pictures I posed for, and I swiped it from Taylor (also known as Dames a la Mode, who incidentally made the necklace I am wearing with the dress!) I don't know. The dress is very silly, and also, I'd tippled a wee glass of champagne. ;)

I absolutely love this dress!!! The only thing that was disappointing was that I didn't have time to do big 1830s hair. Another time, I suppose! In attempt to not be completely boring, I pulled some pink flowers out of my stash of vintage millinery trims and arranged them in a fan shape sticking off my head. Because really, when else in life is it totally sensible to have all kinds of flowers sticking out of your head, right?

And now, here are a handful of pictures I took at the event, followed by a group shot that I swiped from Carrie (who organized this event and did an incredible job of it!)





















And a bonus picture of Woody's new 1830s tent. . . ;)

Croquet & Tea at Warner House in Portsmouth NH

I'm currently pulling together my ensemble for the holiday tea, I'm reminiscing about my last Regency-attired adventure, which was a tea and croquet event at the Warner House in Portsmouth, NH. I realized I have not yet posted pictures, so, here we go!



First off, I got it in my head that I wanted to make a sheer or semi-sheer bonnet. I saw one in a still from the movie Bright Star, and I simply adored it! After quite a bit of messing around with different sorts of glues and stiffeners, and a fair amount of patterning as well, I finally got a shape I was happy with. Just before popping in the car to head up to Portsmouth, I had my husband snap some pictures of my untrimmed bonnet. . . Here's one that I liked (except for the fact that the back of the dress is a bit unfinished, as I gained weight since the last time I wore it!)



Once in the car, I set to the task of trimming the bonnet. I had some really fabulous plaid silk ribbon that I'd been hoarding a while, and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to use it!



I also managed to make a quick reticule in the car. I'd cut the pieces out before I left just in case I could manage it. It's even lined. I just wouldn't be me if I weren't trying to overchieve at the last minute, ha ha ha!



I went with red because I'd recently bought some fabulous new red boots!



One of the main events of the day was the croquet game! I should mention from this point forward, all the pictures are shamelessly stolen from my friend, Sarah, who is in the pink dress. Apparently, I only took a few shots that day, but her husband was creeping us with the camera all day, and I'm really thankful for that!













We have some weird traditions, like this sort of thing. . .



But I promise, we really are good friends! ;)



And of course, there were some posed pictures as well. . .







There were actually quite a few ladies in Regency at this event! They were all so friendly, and very nicely dressed. It was nice to be in such good company!



All in all, this event was fabulous! Everybody was great, and the house is seriously amazing. If you're in the Portsmouth area, you should really check it out! The smalt-walled room is probably one of the most fantastic things I've ever seen in a period house.

I hope they'll have this event again because I would definitely attend!