The Harried Hen
  • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact Us!
  • Calendar
  • Creative Projects
    • Blog
  • Online Store

The Blue Bees First Flight

4/16/2019

0 Comments

 
Debuting new garb at a festival is always frought with what-ifs. Is the length ok? Will the bodice ride up or down? What about the weight of the garment? After repeatedly stressing over how hot we were going to be in our new multi-layer linen dresses, the weather turned out cool enough to warrant extra layers. And the fit of the dress turned out just fine.
Picture
What you can't see is the long underwear on my legs.
Picture
I wanted to match the blue the princess was wearing. She's on the far left.
But, everyone agreed we turned out looking awesome!

(Kate here) I was actually a little sorry we ended up wearing the full outfit all day. I hope in following years, we get to show off the dresses underneath more. And, while the dresses were great, I have to add that we seemed to have found the limit of our cheap hoop skirts. Both of us were popping hoops by the end. 

For Ryan's new doublet, I literally traced over his most recent one - the green and brown doublet from the fall before - and added a few inches where necessary. The diagonal design comes from a costumed festival goer we had encountered in KC the season before, but the pants are being re used from another outfit.
Picture
Forget trying to bow before the Queen - we're still working on standing upright.
Picture
Can you see the zipper hiding at the neckline? I'm never turning back - zippers for all kid's garb!
I know, I know. I should have taken progress pictures of Ryan's doublet and the baby outfit. I ran out of time/inspiration.

Ryan's sleeves were from an earlier pattern as well, and I just replaced the centers with strips of ribbon. The underarm is still out of blue linen. The whole doublet is lined in the same stuff as the frock coat. And I ordered buttons to cover with blue linen, which Ryan thought was very close to magic.

The baby shift is secretly traced from a button up shirt I had for Easter, which will be in a few weeks. Almost every other baby shirt I could have traced was knit, which wouldn't do well if there was a sudden growth spurt. And in learning a lesson from my last baby outfit, I made knit side vents, which turned out to be unnecessary in this case.
Picture
(Kate again) We always seem to add things to our garb from the faire. This time, I found blue leather rabbit-trimmed fingerless gloves, and Rachel found tan velvet pouches that we strung from our bodice lacing. Perfect for hiding those modern things that you want to keep hidden but close to you, like a cell phone and wallet. Most importantly for tired feet, we added walking sticks. You'll have to imagine all these things until we can get a good picture up that includes these!

As a whole, the ensemble was a hit at the Festival! We ended up wearing the costumes both days, instead of switching out like we planned. I truly do not have any new outfits for myself planned for the Wichita Ren Fest this fall, but if time opens up this summer I may finish some costumes that have portions that have literally been in the making for around for 15 years.
0 Comments

Blue Bee 8

1/17/2019

0 Comments

 
And now we finally come to what inspired the creation of this whole costume: the coat. Or, as Kate has dubbed it, the frock.

For a previous project I sourced a copy of Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 3, and was quite taken with her illustration of a loose kirtle. It looked comfortable. And I hadn't ventured into the English style in years.

I had a bolt of fabric picked out in a blue and light grey color - it was a polyester brocade and I found it on clearance years before and saved it for a special project. The first fabric I ordered to go with it was the blue linen that would become the base dress. But I was having problems matching the silvery color, plus the tan background wasn't khaki, or sand, or really tan, but a lighter version of taupe. It was worse than trying to match a red tone.
Picture
It a fit of desperation I actually went through the tubs and stacks of fabric and found the stuff pictured above. It was linen! It was already embroidered!

Kate had a small issue with the actual fabric design, and she was right. As it was the embroidered design would lend an Italian flair to the dresses. After browsing English fabric styles of the day we agreed that putting a geometric pattern on top would tone down the Italian feel. 
​
It took longer than one might think to mark everything with a yardstick.
Picture
We were limited on the fabric available, and it was already cut into two pieces. At the time of purchase I had gotten several yards, and Kate separately purchased what was left on the bolt.

Good thing I was drafting my own pattern, right? That sounds impressive, but I was using a shirt yoke pattern to start with, and from there it was an angled line to the floor. Sleeve openings were taken from the mirror of the sleeves I'd already made. The neckline would be turned out to help form the collar. The back and sides would have pleats.

I was used to working in miniature, so drafting wasn't that bad. I wasn't concerned with down-to-the-inch accuracy.  Matching the pattern and direction of fabric was the hard part. But, in the end I had a little extra to use for Ryan and Xander's outfit!
Picture
Pinning the pieces together was so satisfying! I added side slits at the bottom to allow the coat more flexibility.
Picture
The bottom circumference ended up being slightly smaller than the hoop skirt, but that was ok.
You'll notice above the ribbon embroidery isn't in place yet. I got a little excited to see if my pattern would work. Kate and I agreed we were using Ina Garten as inspiration for the collar.

The lining of the coat was done all in a low quality Dupioni silk I found at a retailer online. I ordered the general off white color, which turned out very nice.
Picture
Here it is lined, pressed, and put on Kachel to check for the closure placement.
Picture
And here's the temporary addition of a shoulder cap and waist chain. Kate and I liked the cinched look in the end.
After I got the ribbon sewn on, but before I ironed the garment Kate saw it and said it looked like a quilted bedspread. She wasn't wrong. I'm glad the iron helped. Construction of a fully lined coat isn't too much different than a lined vest, and as a sewist who started in the '90s I was familiar with those!

Stay tuned for posts about the coif, hat, and finally everything all together!
0 Comments

    Authors

    Twins each with half a brain in reality; the other half displayed here!

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    Categories

    All
    1/144th Scale
    1/24 Scale
    Alison Jr.
    Art Silk
    Assisi Needlework
    Baby Clothes
    Baby Renaissance
    Baron
    Baronness
    Blackwork
    Blouse
    Bodice
    Books
    Bootstrap Fashions
    Bum Roll
    Carpet
    Chemise
    Children's Clothing
    City Pop
    Coat Of Arms
    Coif
    Commission
    Cookies
    Cross Stitch
    D&D
    Dollhouse
    Doublet
    English Inspired
    Face Masks
    Fitting
    Food And Cooking
    Frock Coat
    Georgette
    German Inspired
    German-inspired
    Great Plains Renaissance Festival
    Harried Hen
    Hat
    Hats
    Hemd
    Hemp Twine
    Hoop Skirt
    Italian Inspired
    Janome
    Kate
    KC Ren Fest
    Linen
    Necklace
    Other Projects
    Paint
    Painting
    Pants
    Partlet
    Patterns
    Pennant
    Photos
    Pirate
    Queen's Tea
    Quilting
    Rachel
    Recipes
    Remodel
    Renaissance Dress
    Resources
    Ribbon Sleeves
    Robes
    Ruff
    Sequins
    Sewing Machine
    Sewing Room
    Shirt
    Silk
    Singer
    Skirt
    Sleeves
    Smocking
    Steuchlein
    Storefront
    Street Clothes
    Subfloor
    Tea Party
    Teddy Bear
    Tellerbrettbarett
    Tudor
    Underskirt
    Vendors
    Vest
    Viking
    Welcome
    Wulsthaube

    RSS Feed

We Would Love to Have You Visit Soon!
Appointments are Encouraged.
Contact us using the information below or on social media using the links to the side.

Location

123 N. Mill,
​PO Box 35

​Beloit, KS 67420

Hours

Tues. & Thurs.
6:30 - 9:30 PM
Appointments encouraged.

Phone & Email

785-534-1656
harriedhens@gmail.com
  • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact Us!
  • Calendar
  • Creative Projects
    • Blog
  • Online Store