I'm continually proven wrong

I wrote that I was not fond of Edwardian clothes.

I'm not fond of the general Edwardian silhouette. I'm not very fond of the blouses and that stuff.

But dresses? Aww.




In a proper Dreamstress Rate the Dress fashion, this dress gets a full 10 from me, and deserves nothing less.

(Dress courtesy of the Rijksmuseum.)

Also, the loveliest of the wedding dresses in the UPM is Edwardian, but you'll still have to wait for photos of it. I haven't gotten around to properly editing them yet.

It's giveaway time at Sense & Sensibility

Jennie Chancey of Sense & Sensibility is giving away interesting books... this time it's a book about the dresses of Grace Kelly by V&A museum.

She asks that we write a blog post about our favourite pattern from her collection for a chance to win it. So this is the post, and also a post to make you aware of the giveaways if you are not. The prizes are great!

So: My favourite pattern - one I don't own - is the Elegant Lady's Closet pattern. Do I have to explain why? I guess I do: Regency! Different necklines! Grande aissettes assiettes (or at least an indication thereof)! Aww.

(For new readers who don't know my obsession with grande aissettes and have no idea what I'm talking about: look at the way the sleeves are set in in the back. The big armholes. I think the correct term for that is grande aissette.)


P.S. I won the book. I feel unreal. I promise I'll share (as far as that is possible with copyrights, you know).

The current state of the blue-grey medieval workdress

I feel like I should post something and prove that I'm alive, so here's the current state of the blue-grey medieval workdress. With one panel still not fully sewn in, and waiting for two more godets in the back (at the sides; I cut the original back side pattern pieces into two for them to better fit on the fabric - they were tapering out too sharply). But, and that makes me happy, with all the finished seams really finished. I knew that I'd be bored to death if I were to finish them after the whole thing was sewn, so I carefully folded and sewed down the seam allowances individually at each seam when I sewed it. I strongly recommend this practice for handsewing. It makes life easier (finishing the seams when the pattern pieces are freshly sewn in, without the bulk of fabric getting in the way) and the sewing more varied.

It hangs weird in the photos, but that's because I just quickly pinned it on with six pins, three at each side, over my full pleated houseskirt. So it's very likely to look much better when it is truly finished.

I also somehow - as a result of bad pattern marking, I think - managed to cut the back side pieces longer than necessary. Good that I did not cut them short!

I already have the upper sleeves. Including the tape for tying on the lower sleeves.

Anything else to say about it? Yes. As you can clearly see, I did not manage to finish it in time for the Historical Costume Inspiration Festival. The Greenland Gown site (which, mind you, I did not really follow as to the fitting technique) claims you can sew it in about 7 hours. I knew that could not be true. I forgot that the site also calculated all the finishing tasks, though. That seems much more realistic than I thought. Except that I am finishing the seams throughout, so all that calculation does not really apply to me. I don't know how long it took me so far, as I sewed every now and then...

Polonez - Pan Tadeusz

I love this film.
This scene, the stork, always gives me a lump in my throat. I can't help it. I've been to Lithuania. I've seen the storks.

"Certain things are incommunicable, especially in certain places"

Said a man about to go to a pub.
We had, along with some other people from our congregation, been through a presentation on old Arameic, Hebrew and Phoenician writings - that is, old legal agreements, inscriptions on the Samaritan temple (did you know there still are Samaritans today?) and something written on a sherd of a Phoenician jug found in Egypt. We had listened to the man who reads them, compares them, dates them in accordance with other texts from the eras, based on the writing and the language. We had leafed through a thick book he wrote on the subject, in French, and the yet unpublished book he wrote on the subject, in English. We had learned that one of the legal documents had apparently belonged to a son of a person in the book of Nehemiah. We had learned that the man had got a medal for his achievements (I forgot / did not quite get what kind of medal it was, and whether it was French or Czech or what). And while we walked home - or, as it turned out, me home and my temporary companion to the pub - we both agreed that, wow, that man must be really good at languages.
So I asked my companion something along the lines of whether he was now going to the pub to share the experience, and he said what became the title of this post.

And it made me wonder.

Because, sure, certain things are hard to communicate, especially in certain places.
But I know of a certain minister and of a certain pub, where certain things are being communicated on regular basis. And the place is often crowded.
So, maybe... it's possible.
But I don't know how to do it.
So I'm at least posting about it on my blog, where I originally did not want to post about it because it's a sewing blog. But I guess the fact that this is a sewing blog should not mean it should only be dedicated to sewing, just like a pub does not necessarily have to be dedicated only to drinking.
And I'm free to say "God gave that man amazing gifts."
There you go.


(If you're wondering what's going on in the Blu-grey Medieval Workdress land - well, it could be summed up into "I sewed".)

More glass

I didn't show you all the glass in the last post about UPM.

There were these modern beaded metal figures of uncertain purpose:


There was also this presentation of beads and marbles made with different techniques:


(Look at the ladybug in left bottom bowl!)


And these fun crazy animals:

Two sleeves and a tape

I've made two sleeves in two days. Not bad, especially considering I also managed to go to IKEA and buy myself a DVD shelf and five bowls for baking, and putting some of my DVDs into the shelf, and some other things...
Maybe I managed it because I took the sewing with me and sewed on train and metro.
They're not completely finished yet, actually, because I want to sew twill tape along the hems (already started), for tying on the optional undersleeves. I do not have enough of this blue-grey fabric, so the side panels and the undersleeves will be made out of the light blue one, but I might be able to squeeze a pair out of the remnants of the blue-grey fabric as well. So, the sleeves are not completely finished, and can't be, because I do not have enough of the narrow white tape I'm using for it. I'll have to buy more. Much more, it's a useful thing to have around.
But in the stash, I also found tape (not twill) in EXACTLY the same colour as the blue-grey fabric. As if they were made in the same factory, the same day.
I'm going to bind the armscyes with this tape. If I have some left (which is uncertain), I'll also reinforce the shoulder seams with it. For other reinforcing and binding and finishing, there are the selvedges.


Also, I love the medieval method of sewing with running stitches - even with making a backstitch every once in a while and turning the edges under for more non-ravelling safety, it goes so quick! Much better than the handstitched garments I've made so far... Most probably also because this fabric - satin weave, not very tightly woven - is very easy to sew.



I'm already in love with this dress. I hope it will live up to its promises.