A Most Beguiling Accomplishment

One: I've started working on my cap, and it's a bit ... problematic.  I probably should have bought the pattern from Kannik's Korner, but the Ks, the Ks!  It's like Comic Sans.  What I've got going fits, but I've been doing it evenly pleated all the way around to the brim and I don't think it's right.  Well, I'll finish sewing it and then put it on and see how it is. Two: I found this fashion plate in the MFA collection. Femme de Qualite en Deshabillé, se promenant le matin à la Campagne cet habit est blanc, garni de bandes de toile peinte, et consiste en une juppe et un corsage avec queue troussée par derriere.  Lady of Quality in deshabille, walking in the country in the morning.  This dress is white, trimmed with bands of painted cloth, and consists of a petticoat and a bodice with a tail tied up in the back. I'd put it in a post, but I'm not sure where.  Maybe one on the retroussé anglaise, and how that's the proper term?

I decided to continue my series on Staring at Fashion Plates to Learn Vocabulary when I found some polonaise caracos, and I realized that I'm not entirely sure what constitutes a caraco in-period.  I feel like I usually see it used for something that's between a jacket and a gown in length, but I'm not at all sure that that's how it was used in the late eighteenth century.

I don't think I've posted about this before.  A local re-enactor and photographer who's also a family friend has asked me to make him a pair of woolen breeches for his impression of a slave at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany.  He gave me three hand-woven (they have real selvages ) black-and-white striped wool blankets to use, and said he'd like it all machine-sewn.  I was kind of afraid to start because who would want to screw up cutting into hand-woven wool blankets?  But I have.  Started, I mean. I decided to use the breeches pattern from Everyday Dress of Rural America , as the shape of the pieces seemed the most similar to the Jas. Townsend breeches Cliff lent me to take measurements from, and looked simpler than the patterns in Costume Close-up .  I worked out the measurements of the scaled-up version of the pattern a few days ago - fortunately, the pattern is very, very close to the measurements of the Townsend breeches - and last night I finally mad...

Second part of Elegance of Fashion's survey!

So, I still need to make a stomacher and a cap, but at last the jacket is finished enough that I can put it on with everything else and see how it fits.  I won't be wearing it this weekend at Fort Ticonderoga, but the Old Stone Fort Museum in Schoharie is having a re-enactment weekend, and they told me that I could sign in as a volunteer and even get in free!

This time, posted during the right week.  *thumbs up*  The first half of Elegance of Fashion's Period Drama Week questions.  (Updated with pictures!)

It turns out that the event at Fort Ti is for people registered with units only, so we can't go in costume and my "lovely" jacket won't be seen for a while.  I've contacted one unit about joining up for later events, and it seems like most of the events they do (and they do quite a few) are soldiers-only, which is ... not what I'm looking for.  So I'm possibly going to write to several reasonably local groups to ask them about their female civilians - how many of them are there, are any of them unattached to any soldiers, do they have their own meetings?  I could probably ask on the 18th Century Women list, but I get hives at the thought of posting.  :/  That, or mom and I will work on what we can do as sutlers/miniaturists, and then we can basically go wherever we want>

I keep posting today, but - my Fugawee Annas just came in the mail!  I've tried them on and they fit perfectly (although I need some kind of protection for the back of my heel).

I hope that I was helpful to you, people who googled "what are sleeves that go from tight to large called?" and "candace wheeler accomplishments"!

Really, I should be sewing.  But I went all the way to the museum only to find out I wasn't needed, so I need to do something more relaxing for a bit (also I'm not really sure how I'm going to attach the skirt to the jacket).  I was looking at the Augusta Auctions site earlier, and saw some interesting listings of old sales.