We all know that when making up a new historical costume we need to start with a mockup. Yeah, yeah…. But sometimes we get lazy. We skip them (inconceivable!). Or we try our darnedest to make them just as the final garment will be and spend so much time doing so that the event deadline is Read More...
Tag: Mockups
Working with Mockups
If you’ve been around garment sewing, and especially historical sewing, for any length of time you’ve probably heard of mockups, aka toile (pronounced twal), muslin, run-through, or fitting test garment. The purpose is to do a test run of the pattern for sewing errors and also to fine-tune the fit to a body. Mockups are Read More...
Progress on the *Orange* 1838 Persimmon Puff Dress
Ok, so orange was probably the last color I would have expected to sew with. Well… at least make an entire dress out of. But then I came across THIS DRESS over at the Met Museum’s website. O.M.G. I was (and still am) in love!!! So of course I have to reproduce it…. Read More...
Pearls of Wisdom for Lone Seamstresses
“I need to know how to help MYSELF when I don’t have someone around who can pin me and let me out of my muslin time and again. I’d like to be able to drape a bodice… and actually get it to fit ME! I am so frustrated about making skirts that fit spot on, Read More...
The 1905 Bodice Mockup in Real Fabric
I loved this pattern the first time I laid eyes on it. How could you not?! It’s an original McCall’s #9322 that I picked up from the Vintage Pattern Lending Library years ago at one Costume College. Of course, it’s only a copy of the original that I’m sure the VPLL handled quite carefully to Read More...
Tips & Tools to Reduce Stress During Fittings
My arms were growing tired as they twisted up and over my shoulder. I was trying to pin in a new shoulder seam with the bodice front & back sections draped over my shoulder. It’s not easy, though, when that shoulder seam angles from the neckline down to the back of the arm. Sheesh! Of Read More...
Fabric Choices for 19th C. Costumes – Part 3 – Cotton
Do you have a type of fabric that just calls to you? You know, the type that even though you’re looking for something completely different in the fabric store you just can’t help walking over to it and reveling in its deliciousness. Yeah, me too. It’s called cotton. Read More...