Sunday, December 15, 2013

Joining in the Shenanigans!

When the Historical Sew Fortnightly was announced for 2013, I thought it was a cool idea, but I was so filled with sewing ennui that I didn't partake. Well, screw a whole bunch of that, I wanna play!



The first challenge for the year is Make Do and Mend. The idea is to fix something that's been on the to-do list, like attaching some buttons you've been putting off, or altering something that you've grown/shrunk out of. I definitely have plenty of those sorts of projects around, and one that I want to finish for this is the Purple Plaid Regency gown. The other is the Duvet Polonaise, which I may have mentioned before, but never made a post for. Basically, I have a duvet cover from Ikea that I loved for many years, and the seams finally became so weak that it was beyond repair. The fabric will need reinforcement, so there's a distinct possibility that it's going to be a much larger project than I anticipate, but I feel good about it. (Did I just doom myself?)

The Second Challenge, Innovation, really stumped me for a while. I had no idea what to do for this challenge. You're supposed to do something that was inspired by a new fashion innovation in your time period, stuff like chlorine bleach for whitest whites, aniline dyes, zippers, etc. I think what I'm going to do is take a cue from the prompt about foreign influence in fashion as an excuse to make the Dream Dress for this challenge. Indian textiles were highly sought after, especially chintz and paisley, because of the East India Company being at their height during the period. The influence of Indian textiles and styles is also one of the reasons turbans enjoyed such popularity during the period (though, they'd been around for quite some time already, just not in such great abundance). So, that justifies my indigo turban! Haha!

Challenge Three is Pink. No question here what I'm going to do - a pink plaid pet en l'air that's been on the drawing board for a while now. Trust me, it will be awesome.

Challenge Four is Under it All, which means it's time to make some undies. I don't know yet what I'll make for this, but there are plenty of options. I could make some Regency short stays, or work on the 1760s stays, make some new shifts, finish that bustle petticoat, and all sorts of other things. This will definitely help whittle down that in-progress pile, too, since I have a lot of abandoned undies projects.

I'm looking forward to getting started, or rather finished, with the first project, and getting something off of my in-progress list! I've also wanted to make that duvet polonaise for a while, so it's about time I got around to it. I'll actually be house/pet-sitting during the time of the first challenge, so without a sewing machine, I'll be doing my sewing by hand. Eep! At least that makes it more historically accurate, right?

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