You remember the silk bloomers I made yesterday?
This is what happened when we went outside to take some photos of them.
I’m sure the local dog-walkers thought we were bonkers!
Thanks to Fairysteps for the gold boots and leather top, and of course to Paul for patiently taking dozens of photos, most of which I pulled a face at. (Or in.) I am not confident having my photo taken, or trying to climb a tree!
Still on a bloomer-making kick, these beauties are made from a silk skirt that I haven’t been able to fit into for years. The leather top is a very rare item of clothing from Fairysteps.
As part of the Unravelling course, I’ve been thinking about the various roles I play, and about alter-ego characters. I’ve still got the Angel Islington’s long white wig, from Progress Theatre’s production of Neverwhere (yes, I know I still haven’t shown you the photos of the costumes!), and I was brushing it out the other day whilst thinking about fairies and other mythical creatures. I’ve recently made white bloomers and a white linen dress, so I could have put together a beautifully ethereal white outfit really easily, and gone down to the woods to take some photos. But my first thought was “but white will just get really dirty”.
Then it struck me that not all mythical creatures are ethereal and fairylike. Some of them are tied to the earth, and fascinated by its processes, and invariably a little bit grubby if not completely covered in mud! So along came a leather top, and a not entirely practical pair of silk bloomers.
What this outfit needs, I think (apart from a good iron), is a little bag or tie-on pocket of some description. I mean, there’s no point going out investigating in the woods if you’ve got nowhere to stash your treasures, is there?
Hopefully I’ll be able to convince Paul to take some photos of me mucking about in the woods in this outfit later in the week. We’ll see.
Today I have been mostly making bloomers. I made a pair on Tuesday afternoon, from some deep purple cotton lawn, which I wore to work on Wednesday. They were so comfortable in this heatwave we’re having, that I got up today (my day off) and made four more pairs!
Please excuse the creases on the black ones – I tried them on when they were finished, and they were so comfy I wore them for most of the day! They’re cotton lawn, trimmed with broderie anglais trim that I salvaged from a skirt that wore out years ago. The red ones… I’m not quite sure about. I love the trim – it’s vintage white nylon lace, with a little row of red machine-embroidered roses running through the middle. Worn with the right dress over the top they might look great, but at the moment all I can think of is Christmas!
This pair’s better – a slightly different shade of red, trimmed with inch-wide nylon lace. I want to stand on an embankment and wave these at a train, though I suspect I might get into trouble! And yes, I know that Jenny Agutter waved a red flannel petticoat, not a pair of bloomers, but wouldn’t it be a fantastic image to recreate? Both red pairs are polycotton, left over from my Steampunk costumes. I’m not sure why I had so much left, or why I decided to make two pairs of bloomers given that I have no other red clothes to wear them with, but I like them anyway.
The white ones though, they’re my absolute favourites.
I pulled the fabric out of a box thinking it was going to be the slightly stiffer polycotton, and was thrilled to discover that it was actually a piece of cotton lawn, just big enough for a pair of bloomers! But look at this trim, isn’t it absolutely adorable? Little pears, for goodness’ sake! I have no recollection of where I found it. It could have been a random Fabric Land bargain, it could have turned up in one of my vintage haberdashery boxes. I only had a small piece, so I’ve been waiting for the perfect project to use it on – and here it is!
(Sorry about the terrible picture, trying to take photos of black lace is a nightmare.)
Today I have finally finished all the hand-sewing on this Regency-ish dress based on Simplicity 4055. Some of it was of my own making – I had to bind the edges of the armholes to stop the seams of the net sleeves from being scratchy. Originally I’d put poppers at the back, but it turned out to be a bit tight and every time I moved they’d pop open. Not good for dancing. So I unpicked the poppers, put in eyelets, and now it laces up. Not very Regency. Ah well. The length’s hardly period – and it’s even shorter than I’d intended, hence the definitely not-Regency bloomers to go underneath.
The bloomers started life as Simplicity 2777, view E. I left off the waist casing, and finished the top edge with picot edged lingerie elastic. I also left off the leg bands and ruffles, because I found a piece of very extravagant garter elastic in my stash. It was much too stretchy to use as an actual garter, but absolutely perfect for trimming these little shorts.
I’m still trying to get used to the shape of the dress. It’s pretty and I know it’s basically the same shape as me, but I’m so conditioned to believe that every woman should have a neat little waist that I feel as though it looks a bit frumpy. Hopefully that’ll wear off when I put it on and discover that it’s actually comfortable rather than digging into the waist that I haven’t got, which is what happens with most of my other dresses. Which is why I never wear them.
I’m wearing the outfit on Friday evening, so hopefully I’ll be able to ask someone to take a better photo for me!
