The Fabric of Time

Last month, I wrote about researching an upcoming shirt project. Well, I made the shirt a few weeks ago, and I am so happy with it! I used Garsault's instructions from L'art du tailleur , which La Couturiere Parisienne graciously shared on http://www.marquise.de/en/1700/howto/maenner/18hemd.shtml. I followed these instructions pretty closely since I am not yet familiar enough to sew on the fly, but I would really like to study several original shirts. La Couturiere Parisienne made the instructions very easy to follow, but there is a feature of Garsault's approach that I and my customer both disliked. The neck gusset is set into the shoulder strap instead of the shoulder strap. I'll illustrate with pictures below. It's fine for now, but next time I'll do it differently.  Narrow rolled hem edge on the neck slit, plus the reinforcement heart as per Garsault's version The neckline is stroke gathered to the collar, while the neck gusset and shoul...

Here are some derp-face baby slippers that I crocheted a while back and gave to one of my cousins. Bunny slippers with gigantic ears :) A couple years ago, I made some animal slippers for new babies in my family. I was inspired by patterns that I found on the Internet, but I wanted to perfect my own pattern because I made some changes. I also created my own animal face designs for these. I've made several different slippers--bunnies, lions, bears, and sheep. I don't have pictures of all of them. The final product was a simple oval shaped crocheted slipper made from DK weight yarn. I can make basic slippers in any color and then embellish them with embroidery and other crocheted pieces. The bunny ears are simple crocheted ovals sewn onto the slippers, and the sheep ears and hair are free form, crocheted directly onto the slippers. I made these two pairs mainly to experiment with my pattern, but I've already given them away. They're so cute and qui...

I made this cap sometime earl ier this year , and finally have pictures to share! It' s a copy of an original that is pictured in the Confederate Echoes of Glory. I designed the pattern myself, just by looking at the picture. I could see that the original was crocheted in back loop only, so I simply started crocheting in the round and increasing evenly to form a circle. I had to unravel a few times as I was experimenting. I'm really happy with this hat , though it looks a little big . Perhaps it could be crocheted with a smaller hook, or I could change the pattern so that I do one more decrease row before the hat band and thus the band would be tighter. I started doing that at first, but it looked too small. Here's the pattern that I wrote, which I am sharing openly with the caveat that anyone who shares the pattern or makes the hat acknowledges the original source. Personal u se o nly, please; this h at may not be sold. IMPORTANT NOTE: I just real ized that all of th...

I've come a long way over the past several years in my sewing ability. One of my current projects is an 18th century man's shirt, so I'm looking back at other shirts that I've made and researching how to do a better job. This post is to review what I've done before for my own benefit as I prepare to make a new shirt and to organize the information that I want to consult while I sew, so it might be really boring unless you plan to make your own shirt. For my first shirt endeavor, I helped work on shirts for Old Economy Village , a 19th century site in Western Pennsylvania, when I used to volunteer in their costuming department. Then, I made two shirts for my friend's and my St. Kateri costumes: http://fabricoftime.blogspot.com/2013/10/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html and http://fabricoftime.blogspot.com/2013/10/17th-century-trade-shirt-more-details_25.html . Those are really quite embarrassing, but we all have to start somewhere. I have since disas...

I actually have been quite busy sewing and otherwise being crafty, but I haven't been disciplined about documenting my projects. In June, I made my first project on my tape loom: some linen tape for apron strings for a friend. It was based on th e tape on an ap ron in the Sch wenkfelder Library and Heri tage Center: http://schwenkfelder.pastperfect-online.com/33016cgi/mweb.exe?request=record;id=83534E81-6AF2-4CAE-ADE0-332276277360;type=101 . The original i s red, blue, and white, but I made my copy using only blue and white as my friend wanted those colors to go with her blue and white checked apron. It too k me a while to cut the threads and set up the loom, but weaving goes super fast. Do you know ho w fast? Warp speed! :D Where's my dilithium crystals? I think it only took me an hour to weave this piece. This is the image in the Schwenkfelder museum (see hyperlink above). Here is my copy, though it's not as neat :(   Weaving my first tape on my beautif...

Back in the winter, I made this18th century coat. I think I finished it in February or March. A friend of mine had started the coat years ago in a workshop. It was draped specifically for him. He had cut it out and started sewing it, then set it aside for a while. He needed it for a recent event and asked me if I could finish sewing it for him. It is completely hand sewn--a first for me! I used linen and silk sewing thread and silk buttonhole twist. I don't remember how long it took me to make it; maybe around 20 hours. I actually enjoyed the hand sewing, though I certainly need to get faster at it. I had some really great pictures of this coat being modeled by my dress form, but then my USB quit working and I lost years of photos D': (sobbing emoticon). It's time to quit being a Luddite and embrace online photo storage. Deciding where to place the pocket flaps The cats were jealous that I was spending excessive time petting an inanimate hunk ...