Silk Mitts

A couple of weeks ago I finished off these C18th/Regency silk mitts.  I've been collecting pictures of late eighteenth century mitts on Pinterest for a while so I decided to make some up before this year's Jane Austen Festival in April.  They were mostly finished for the event so I wore them but I didn't get around to doing the embroidery until the end of May.

I love my mitts! They're much prettier and more practical than gloves - good for sewing workshops when you want to be able to use your fingers.  Most mitts in museums are dated late eighteenth century so they go with my Ikea dress but apparently they continued to be worn in the Regency period, so that suits me well! I think there will be more mitts in my future.

I used this pattern. I found it on Pinterest, I'm not sure where it's from but I just printed it out full size (cut in half on two A4 sheets). I was going to use the one in Costume Close Up but printing this one seemed easier than scanning, resizing, etc. I just made them the original size from the image. The calico one I did to test the pattern fit me really well but the silk I used for the real ones was stiffer so they're a little bit snug - the side seam on the right hand one is almost pulling through, so next time I need to use a bigger seam allowance.

I used some silk dupion from my stash. The main fabric is an odd blue/yellow-green shot mix that I've never known what to do with but the colour looks nice in this. I lined the points with gold silk dupion. I think I'll make a matching reticule at some point. Silk taffeta or satin would be more accurate but this was the first pair I tried and I wanted to use something I already had. I think I'll make another pair in satin or taffeta soon, with a bigger seam allowance so they don't break! A lot of extant mitts also seem to be lined (often with leather) so maybe I'll add a lining in the future. I thought I could add it to these ones at some point but not if they're already tight!


I stitched the side seam and the point by machine but everything else is done by hand. For the hems I used a tiny spaced backstitch and used threads pulled from the leftover fabric, which I'm quite proud of. I embroidered the lines on the back of the hand with blue silk thread, using herringbone stitch and chain stitch. Many mitts also have herringbone stitch around the thumb and point so I may do that at some point but I shouldn't be doing more embroidery than I have to at the moment, with my hands/arms still being sore. Sigh.

Regency Plans

This post was originally published on 30 August 2012.

I've been really busy with uni so, as usual, I've been procrastinating by making costuming plans without actually doing anything constructive.  Since my 18th century plans are basically made and waiting on me finding time to carry them out, I've mainly been thinking about Regency.

I've got a couple of fabrics put away that I bought because I thought they might make good Regency things. The first is a printed quilting cotton in green and blue.  I think the print is technically Civil War era and I know quilting cotton's a bit heavy, but I think it'll be good for a more practical day dress. I've been thinking that a drop-front gown could be a fun thing to try and it'll make it more practical, so that's the plan.  I like this dress as a fairly plain drop-front with a gathered front and this one has really cool braided trim around the neckline, although it may not look as cool without stripes.

I also bought some white silk chiffon with little woven dots, which I think would make a fantastic evening dress but I'm having trouble coming up with something interesting to do with it.  I'm not really into the super-decorated flouncy things from the later period, but it want it to be more exciting than just a white dress. So I have to think about that, but at least I know that I need to make a petticoat to go under the chiffon (which I could use for some of my other dresses).

Then, I don't remember why, but I was looking through a book I bought in Denmark about Louise Auguste, published by Rosenborg palace, which happens to have some very lovely extant regency-era costumes in it.  In particular, it has two amazing silk velvet dresses. It also has a pattern diagram for one, though sadly it's for the one that I like less, but I'm thinking I could do something that uses the bodice and skirt of the one I like more and the sleeves of the one that has the pattern. It seems like the collection isn't online anywhere so I can't find any pictures except what's in the book... Anyway, I think it would be a really cool project, so we'll see how that goes.

And finally, since it looks like I'll be starting on a reasonable number of Regency projects, I think I might be weakening on the stays front.  I've always been a bit worried about the 'regency stays will make you look like you have no bust' thing, but I'm feeling better after looking at lots of pictures of European royalty looking for pictures of those dresses. And short stays should be reasonably quick to make. And they can't be as slow and painful as the 1780s stays.

Queen Luise Dress

This post was first published 28 September 2011

For JAFA2011 I made the  Queen Luise dress from  Nehelenia Patterns (NP403).  It came together pretty quickly and I'm really happy with it.

I had to alter the pattern a bit by lowering the waistline by 1 inch - this might be because I wasn't wearing period undergarments, or because I'm tall.  Not sure.  I also had a bit of trouble with the sleeves as there wasn't much guidance on how to put them in.  I lined up the sleeve seam with the approximate point where the bodice 'side seam' would be if there was one and put the gathering between the shoulder seam and the top of the shoulder.

I made the dress from a lovely soft cotton voile (Swiss, I think) with cotton/linen for the bodice lining, and a strip of silk satin for the waistband.  I found some nice lace in the cupboard for the bodice insert which decorates it a bit and I made a sash from pink silk satin.  I've retained the short train so it's not a dance dress, but it's actually not as impractical as I thought it might be.  I added an underskirt from a more substantial polycotton (ugh, but I was in a hurry) because it seemed easier than making a proper petticoat (I really need to get around to making one eventually).

The only downside: I had a go of doing handsewn buttonholes and I think they look ugly : (