Saturday, November 7, 2009

Regency Riding Habit

It's been a while, but I finally have a bit of the costuming bug again. I have to say that having some inspiration and motivation to make something pretty feels absolutely wonderful! It's been too long since I've wanted to make something and the construction hasn't been some source of stress. But this project is attached to an event that I may or may not attend with the DFWCG. And it marks a step in a new period direction. This costume is also the first new outfit I will construct after my weightloss, so it could possibly be the only thing I have in my costume closet, other than Rennie Garb, that actually fits without the need of alterations. And even better, this costume will be made entirely from stash fabrics and book patterns, so in essence, this dress is FREE!!!!!! I really like free.

When I got this inspiration to make a new dress, I had three dresses in mind. All three were from Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 1. My first option was the c. 1795-1800 Showshill Manor dress with the half robe. I love that dress. I've always wanted to make it. I had two fabrics that would have looked amazing for the project, but unfortunately I didn't have enough of the fabric that was perfect for the half robe. So that one was out.

My second option was the c. 1795-1803 dress from The Victoria and Albert Museum. It's on the same page as the previous dress. Then that dress was ousted because I didn't have any fabrics with the right yardage in the stash that actually went together well.

So then I realized that I had a very large amount of this dull golden-ish fabric for a dress and that the royal blue velveteen I had in the stash just might have enough for a Spencer coat. So I finally opted to go with the c. 1795-1810 Salisbury Museum Riding Habit. I love riding habits. There is little more beautiful than a perfectly put together riding costume, in my humble opinion. Ok, except for a ball gown, but seriously what on earth can compete with a ball gown?

Back to my riding habit...

I know I have plenty of fabric for the dress, and I should have enough fabric for the jacket, but if it turns out that I don't have enough for the jacket, blue velveteen should be easy to obtain and it won't be very expensive at all to pick up what is needed.

Here's the fabrics draped together on my dressform. This is when I knew the riding habit was the one.


I'm not sure if I'm gonna finish it all by next weekend, but it sure feels good to work on it. While my fabrics are hanging dry in the bathroom, I'm working on my shift. I'm using the instructions from Marquise de. I've needed a new shift of this kind for a while, so it will get multi-period use. That makes me very happy.

1 comments:

Jay said...

It's looking great!! I do hope you can make it to the guild meet - I have some white cotton voile and ivory cotton batiste I'm giving away. ^_~ I'd love you to have some, especially since you're interested in Regency!