WLA Dungarees

As soon as I returned from my holiday, I had 5 days to hem the skirt of my Victorian dress and make a pair of Womens Land Army (WLA) dungarees. After a bit of panic, I did it!

Ok, so they're not completely authentic, but they were the best I could within the time frame I had. Original ones had the trousers and bib as one piece, whereas mine are two pieces joined, although the belt hides this.

For the trousers, I used the same pattern as I did for my 1940s trousers. The only difference being that I left out the front darts and the waistband, and I left a gap on both side seams for the fastening. To these I added a placket (to which a button is sewn) at both the side fastenings - otherwise I would end up bearing all! - and two front patch pockets which measured about 7"x5".

The bib pattern I made myself - the bottom of it was as wide as the trouser waist and then tapered to about 11" at my WLA jumper collar. Even when I had made it (and sewn it to the trouser waist) it needed some taking in at the sides to stop it being so flappy.

The straps were made as tubes (around 30" long) with a finished width of 1.5". After looking trough some WLA photos, some of the dungarees the girls were wearing looked as if their straps were sewn straight onto the trouser waistband (which is what I did) rather than having the trousers finishing half way up the back (if that makes sense?!). Buttons were sewn to the other ends of the straps and buttonholes sewn to the bib, with an extra piece of fabric for re-inforcement. I then hemmed the trousers, taking them up 1".

The (not so) Vile Victorians - the whole ensemble

Here are a couple of photos of my complete Victorian outfit. A back view to show off my lace and cartridge pleats and a full-length view :)

The Vile Victorians

Although probably not as vile as Terry Deary labels them to be - my dress is in no way vile at all!
Before I left for Kentwell Hall for the main event, I had made a good start on my Victorian dress. I used a commercial pattern as recommended by friends - Laughing Moon 1860s day dress. I too would wholly recommended this pattern aswell! It was absolutely brilliant - so easy to follow and the only adjustment I had to make was to take up a bit more on the bodice waist than it said.















The bodice was made first.

Then the sleeves were added.













And then the skirt!

Pike is finished

When I went away on holiday in July, I managed to finish off the Pike scarf I started in May.
So, here it is:

It's really long and looks nice and cosy...you know, I think I might keep this for myself...

Next on my knitting list, which I have started, is a Dutch style hat which was popular during the 1940s. It's blue with a little band of white along the bottom edge and will have white ties and probably a white pom pom! I'm looking forward to finishing it and wearing it when I do a WW2 this October :)

Tudor-y bits

I spent Saturday finishing off some Tudor clothing ready for Kentwell Hall's main event starting this Sunday (for 3 weeks). On Friday I made a start on a linen partlet. I hate partlets as I never seem to get them to fit properly - either too big or too small!

For the partlet, I followed the pattern in The Tudor Tailor - I would recommend making a toile first and I can guarentee that the pattern will need some alteration to fit properly. Before sewing it all together, I hemmed each piece individually, leaving the CF seam and neck un-hemmed. I then whip stitched the pieces together at the shoulders. After this I sewed in some millinary wire along the CF and around the neck as I wanted the collar to stand up. I then pleated up some tape and attached it to the collar. The partlet fits quite well, although I had to fold a pleat into the back, so it is a little baggy, but hopefully it's not too bad and I'll probably alter it at some point!


After I finished the partlet, I made and added the puffy bits to my second foresleeve and the the hem up a bit more on my forepart (as it was showing at the back!)

So, next on my list is the Victorian dress which I want to start before I disappear at the weekend!

Victorian petticoat

Since my last post, I've managed to get a few bits finished, yay! :)
On Friday I managed to get my Victorian petticoat finished. I made it in pretty much the same way as my C18th petticoat, except I hemmed the flounce rather than pinked it, had the opening at the back (and used cotton tape for a tied waistband) and machine sewed everything. I used an old flannelette bedsheet for this - should add a bit of bulk and it'll be warm when worn with a few more petticoats in the colder months.

So by the end of day one, I had this:










And by day three, I had this:



















I'm very happy with the results - I think I'll leave off the dress! What may not be clear from the photo, are the ribbon bows I added to the flounce for some decoration.

Don't Tell Him, Pike!

Something else I've been doing instead of sewing is knitting. I had decided that I wanted to pick it up when I had finished with uni as it is a useful skill to have. Now I have an excuse! A friend of mine from a reenactment group sometimes gets called Pike and someone else in the group suggested that I make the Pike scarf for him seeing as I can knit. So I jumped at the opportunity...
Here are the results so far: