Sense and Sewability

My fetish for Jane Austen and all things Regency…along with a great sale at Handcock Fabrics on patterns has caused me to pick up a dozen or so historical costume patterns. For a buck each, how could I go wrong?

I realize there are probably more historically accurate patterns out there…but considering I still haven’t finished sewing the Raksu I started nearly three years ago…from a lack of ability in sewing in whatever odd foldy-fold pin-pin seaming style favored by bald Japanese monks…I figured I’d do better with a commercial pattern.

(BTW…I’m sure Buddha would have been ALL FOR sewing machines if they were around when HE was around. *sigh* Can’t I just slap a mantra on my Kenmore Machine and have at it?)

Anyway…I figure I can spend the winter picking at costumes. There’s an English Country Dance group in Evanston that gives regular dances…and a group in Champaign-Urbana…and Tim and I have always wanted to learn some sort of dancing. We made a lame attempt at Ballroom Dance years ago…and sort of managed the Fox Trot. And we dropped by for a Caeli Dance lesson at the Irish American Heritage Center…and that’s when we realized we probably needed to start with something a little more basic. Unfortunately the Wiggleworms class at the Old Town School is only for pre-schoolers.

So…on a recent re-watching of Pride and Prejudice…I thought to myself…”Self. That doesn’t look too complicated.” And after poking around on “Ye Olden Interweb” found out that most of the dancing in the movie…would have probably been “called” like a square dance. But since historical accuracy was not the purpose of the movie…looking at Colin Firth in tight-fitting pants WAS…I learned something new. A few more googles…and there you have it. Lists of all the Country Dances…and Jane Austen balls in the area.

Next thing I new…I was sitting next to a toothless old black woman at the Handcock chatting away about bias tape. (Fascinating woman…she looked rather like a bag lady…had gnarled hands…but she sewed choir robes for local school groups and churches…and did a lot of volunteer sewing for children’s theater. She’d worked as a seamstress/tailor since she was a teenager. I wanted to take her home with me…she was that much fun to talk to. She decided that after all these years…she wanted to learn how to make her own shoes…and a conversation about house slippers started. Kwik Sew has a pattern…I digress…)

I’ve always done well with Renaissance sewing. I mean…the first thing wearable I ever managed to sew was the oddly shaped vest I made in Junior High sewing class. (Yes…I’m old enough to have had sewing in school. As did EVERYONE in the seventh and eighth grade in Oak Park, IL. Boo-yah!) The most complicated thing in Renaissance clothing is the women’s bodice…or the men’s doublet…which are both basically vests…so…a few patterns later and I saved myself a bundle on costuming…and now never get called up for the “audience participation” segment at faire.

I think the most complicated thing will be sewing clothing for Tim. I do NOT know how to tailor. But…I doubt he has to look “perfect.” I figure the more complicated things…like a frock coat…I can probably get help with from my Mother…who used to sew all of her own clothing…and still occasionally remembers how. And I’ve usually found that more complicated piecing is easier done by hand. And if I use a natural fabric…I can always use starch and my trusty iron to make up for any pooching or wrinkling around seams.

My current issue with the patterns I bought is the arms. I have abnormally fat arms for my size. And…Empire dresses tend to “pouf” at the top of the shoulder and are more of a cap sleeve sort of thing. On a fat armed woman…this sort of sleeve makes arms look like large cuts of ham. So…I’ve been poking around to see what styles of sleeve will suit a large-armed woman. *sigh* There isn’t much. I think I may just elongate the arms…or possibly hide a gusset in the armpit to give me more room.

I should be able to do a majority of my projects out of my current fabric stash. I know I have a bunch of thin wool I bought eons ago for a cloak that I never made…which is probably enough for a frock for Tim and a Spencer for me. And I have a bunch of green corduroy left over from doublet making.

Handcock has brocade on sale. That will help. I need it for a waistcoat for Tim. They also have muslin and velveteen on sale. I need muslin for my chemise…Tim’s shirt…an Ascot. I may make a Pelisse of velveteen for myself. They also have wool suiting on sale. So if I find a color I like better than the drab grey I own…I won’t go broke.

It’s rather like they’re having a “Regency Costume Fabric” sale as far as I’m concerned. If heavy cotton twill was on sale…I’d be all set.

A few of the commercial underthings patterns in the “Sense and Sensibility” line have managed to go out of print…so I did a search on them…and managed to pick them up for just a little over retail. I’d bought a rather historically ambiguous corset pattern…but knew that Simplicity had licensed a pattern for Regency Short-Stays from “Sense and Sensibility” when the last Austen movie craze was going on. I bought it in small and large…on the odd chance that I either get smaller…or maybe I convince a few other people to costume with me. Or just become a terrorist and make costumes for people I want to drag dancing with me.