Switching Over

Hey all! Thanks to the wonderful people over at A Small Orange, you may notice that things around here are slightly different--the blog is now the main page!

I'll be going through to change internal links by hand, so you may notice some interesting things happening with the navigation links up top and center until I get everything switched over*, but for now (and moving foward) the blog is now the best-foot-forward of KatieJacobs.com.

*aka, troubleshoot with A Small Orange, because they are wonderful people and much more knowledgeable than I.

Stays: the Cording Conundrum

Indecision--the bane of a seamstress' existence.

Actually I'm pretty sure that would be fabric scissors touching paper, but that's not why I'm having issues with these %$#&@* stays. It's not the sewing that's the problem, or even the patterning. I'm pretty much ready to go as far as those things are concerned. All my pieces are even cut out and basted appropriately.

The issue is that I now have to make a design decision. You see, stays of the type I'm making were often corded, embroidered, trapunto-ed, and otherwise embellished--for both aesthetic and structural purposes. All of them serve to stiffen and stabilize the fabric, and in some cases that's all that's used, taking the place of boning completely. I happen to have more "topography" to maintain, so I'll be partially boning mine--but I now have to decide on a layout for the boning and cording that I want to do.

So, because I had no idea what I wanted, I turned to the World Wide Web for assistance. Except, I then had the opposite problem. Too many options! For those of you who haven't already followed me on Pinterest, you're welcome to. I have a 1812 inspiration board for stuff like this, and I've been obsessively pinning stays examples. It seems like varying levels of cording are acceptable, embroidery too, and there's everything from diamond grids to swirls and crop circles. I've narrowed it down, though, so here are a few of the images I'll be using for inspiration. And then I'll be spending some quality time with gridded paper and No. 2 pencil to plot my own layout!


1820s; Pemberley.com

A lot of these are dated in very general terms. You'll see things like "1800-1820" or "1810s" or even "Early 19th century." So, rather than try and reproduce a specific pair or design, I'm taking a sampling of various pairs of roughly the same style as I want. Normally I wouldn't really recommend decade-hopping, but I've looked at dozens of pairs and as far as I can tell, there was no right or wrong way to cord or embellish them. There are trends, certainly, but they're not specific to decade, and the main differences moving from 1800 to 1820 are in silhouette and shape, rather than in embellishment.

The pair above is pretty heavily corded, as far as the examples I saw. The underbust looks nice and sturdy, and there's cording in the bust gores. There's no boning visible in the front, though there's no telling what the back looks like. The horizontal lines of cording running 'round the stays at waist level are pretty common, as are the diagonal lines angling up from the bottom of the corset up towards the busk pocket over the lower abdomen.


1810; Live Auctioneers

Another example with corded bust gores; these would have been stiffer than the pair above them, with multiple rows of cording laid side by side like that. I love the embroidery on these! Here is a full view; you can see that the body isn't very heavily corded at all, and those over-the-belly diagonal lines are clearly in evidence.


1825; Victoria & Albert Museum

Thanks to the V&A, I have several super huge, high-resolution images of this pair, and they are gorgeous. There's light boning in the torso, and it's a great example of trapunto. The first couple examples are most likely cording, but all the latice-like diamonds in this one are made by stitching the pattern and then using a stiletto or other pointy object to separate the threads in the back of the piece and shove wee tiny bits of stuffing or fluff between the layers to make a raised pattern.

I'm still debating whether or not I'm crazy enough to do this. I'm leaning towards "not," because it sounds like a lot of work and I like one-way diagonal lines just fine!

Also, it's a little hard to tell in the smaller size picture here, but the parallel lines over the lower front of the stays aren't corded or anything; they're just stitched in. Embroidery can also add structure to a garment, just by virtue of cramming more threads into a small space. And, the stitching on these is so fine it looks like machine work. Like I said--they're gorgeous!


1815-1825; Manchester Galleries

These look fairly similar design-wise to the V&A pair, but they really are a different pair. The back is really interesting; it's not uncommon to see bone eyelets, or "pulleys" (like on this pair at the Met) for lacing. I also found an example of the bone eyelets here on Etsy, which I thought was really fascinating. Good luck finding them now, though. A Google search for "bone eyelets" gets you a lot of results for body jewelry.

I didn't include a lot of pictures of backs of stays because, to be honest, they're usually not very exciting. A lot of the examples I saw had light cording across the shoulders, and then nothing over the lower back. Some of them had cording and some of them had boning in the center back, but for the most part they weren't very exciting! There are a couple on my Pinterest, though, so by all means go take a look.

So, for me, the next step is to decide what I actually want and to plot a layout for my own stays. After that, we get to talk about busks! I'm so excited...either because of or in spite of the fact that Katie + woodworking tools usually = "Adventure." An by "adventure", I mean "bleeding."

At Long Last

So, happy 2012, everyone. I'm a bit late to the party, but it's not because I haven't been working on things! For me, 2012 is shaping up to be all about the Bicentennial--of 1812, of course. I'm starting from the inside out with big plans for an 1812 wardrobe, one which I hope will carry me through the next few years as the 1812 Bicentennial really gets off the ground.

Over the years (six-ish), I've made and worn several types of stays in the style of the 1790s-1810s. After six years, you'd think I'd have this down to a science, but I have yet to find a perfect regency support garment. One of the first historical garments I ever made was a pair of regency long stays, based on a diagram from Jean Hunnisett's Period Costumes for Stage and Screen. I was an extreme novice, and let's just say the result wasn't ideal. I made two versions--one was too long, and it dug into my thighs when I sat down. One was too short and it gouged my hips. The short stays I've tried were better, but none of the three pairs I made had quite the support I was looking for. They've lasted me a good long time, but this year I want to find The Perfect Pair. What it boils down to is that my criteria for my newest stays effort is:

1. Ample bust support
   
2. Smooths out belly
   
3. No leg gouging
   
4. No digging in anywhere, if possible

As my friend Ginger pointed out, ladies back then had the same issues I do. Some of them had large busts. Others had solid thighs. Most likely, none of them wanted their underwear to make them look like a domestic abuse victim. So what did they do? Quickly, Robin: To the primary sources!!

German Copy of a James Gillray cartoon, c. 1810

This is the first one I found. The original Gillray image was a satire of the long corsets that women wore, showing a stay coming down past a woman's buttocks and obviously being quite restrictive. This one interested me though because of the line over the hip--and, tabs. This is the only example I've seen of a tabbed long corset in this period, and seeing as it's a reprint of a satirical cartoon, I think it should be taken with a grain of salt. However, as commented on my previous entry, there were women back then who had these same issues, and they had to figure out something that would work for them. This at least shows that in someone's head, the over-the-hip curve and tabs to spread over the hip fullness made sense, even in 1810 when long tabbed corsets had gone out of style.

La Fureur des Corsets, c. 1809

So this made me really excited, because here are four women wearing long stays, easily recognizable as your somewhat-typical style, and yet--check out the bottom edge. Every single one of them cuts up above the fullness of the hip and rear, while still coming down far enough in the front to smooth out the whole line of the torso.

Le Fureur des Corsets, c. 1809, closeup

In the closeup image, you can see the woman on the left a bit better; her stays don't even come down over her hips in the back. On the right, hers come down a bit farther, but they still have that intriguing front point, while clearly still showing the busk like you see on all those straight-across-the-bottom styles.

From Side Saddle

Credit for this find goes entirely to Samantha who first suggested the idea of a riding corset, and then turned up this extant example within 10 minutes of first mention. I don't know that I want to do a full-on riding corset, but it does show that there were definitely examples of stays that cut up over the hip, and still had a busk. Frankly, I wouldn't be caught dead riding sidesaddle, but the extra mobility would be great for doing other activities, too.

Costume Parisien, c. 1813

Courtesy of Nuranar's collection of fashion plates, which might be my favorite regency clothing reference ever, we have one more example of stays that are not straight across the bottom. These are cut a bit lower over the hips than the ones in Le Fureur des Corsets, and shaped with gores, but for sure higher in the back than in the front.

Still with me? Good! So with source material acquired, the next thing is patterning. Based on the images above, I'm going to try for a long stay with center front busk, bust gores, and a curved line across the bottom so that I get freedom of motion over the hip (aka, ability to sit, etc, without pokage) while still getting a smooth line down the front. That's for a new post, though!

Gratitude

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who commented on yesterday's post, be it here or elsewhere. When I posted it, I really was not sure at all what kind of response it would get, and obviously something like that is pretty personal. It was a little nerve-wracking! I've been really touched by the amazingly positive response, though, and I just wanted to express how deeply I appreciate it. I hope it brightened your day a bit, and thank you again. :)

Love the One You're With

I'm bored of sewing. Let's talk about hot-button topics instead. Today? Bodies!

"Love the one you're with" usually refers to another person, but in this case, I'm saying it in terms of loving your own body. The idea is this: Everyone has a body, and you only get one of them. It's the one you've got, for better or for worse. And, the human body is nothing to be ashamed of. You've got one, I've got one, that person over there has one, and we're all limited to the body we were born with.

I suppose talking about something like this is like ripping off a band-aid. You can pick at it slowly, beating around the bush, or you can rip it off in one go. I'm a fan of the grab-and-yank method, so I'm going to start by saying some very honest things.

How It's Made: Teal Ballgown

Sometimes when I'm lacking in inspiration, I'll go to Samantha and say, "Sami. I have a job for you." She says, "Uh...okay?" no doubt fearing that I'm about to ask her to do something crazy. To be fair, sometimes I do. But in most cases, I'll then continue, saying, "Find me some ideas for my next sewing project." When I went to her and said, "I need a new ballgown but I don't have any ideas," she came through!



I loved the lines of the red ballgown, and I had eight yards of teal silk taffeta just lying around in my stash after a once-in-a-lifetime sale at Fabric.com. I figured the hardest part would be finding a suitable lace. While I wasn't able to find a fine black lace of the type pictured in the plate, I stumbled upon a gorgeous wide scalloped Alençon lace at Etsy shop Uncommmonstuff.




Because of the type of lace, the best treatment was to apply it flat and trim the extra fabric from under it, like you would do for a camisole or lingerie piece. In fact, the instructions from this Threads article, Create Couture Lingerie details pretty much exactly what I did.

The bodice is mounted on a lining of cotton twill, with white silk organza over the bust and the teal taffeta for the faux swiss waist. The organza is wide strips cut on the bias and hand sewn around the neck, bust, and shoulders of the bodice. The waist was sewn separately, the top edge piped, and then mounted by hand over the organza. All the layers were then treated as one for piping the bottom and attaching sleeves. The sleeves are gathered silk organza over an organza undersleeve, to make sure they stay puffed high on the arm. The bodice itself has a deep v-neck, which is filled in with a cotton net tucker. The tucker is finished off with a tiny black silk ribbon, 2mm wide, from Silky-Way.

Photo by Samantha Bullat

What's left? Oh, the underskirt--it's just a simple white cotton underskirt with a layer of the silk organza mounted to it just above knee level. I'm not actually sure how correct that is, but it solved my two problems of, "How do I make an underskirt with minimal bulk at the waist and minimal use of expensive fabric," and "I don't have a petticoat long enough to wear under a skirt this length." Combine petticoat with underskirt, et voila! Problem(s) solved.

Gettysburg Remembrance Day 2011

So, Gettysburg. There's so much to say about it, but nothing tops the experience of being there. It's noise and glow and history and people people people. It's earthy and otherworldly all at once and time seems to have no real place in the whole experience.

Now, I realize part of that is because we left home at midnight and got in to Gettysburg at 11 a.m. on Friday, so of course my internal clock is all weirded out, but still. Gettysburg is an amazing trip and I wouldn't miss it for the world.

As I said, my mom, Matt, and myself left Grand Rapids at midnight on Friday and we drove through the night to Gettysburg. Besides avoiding any major traffic, this meant we got to Gettysburg in plenty of time to sleep and dress for the Remembrance Day Military Ball on Friday night.



New ballgown!


Not new, but well-altered




With our gracious escort

I really enjoyed myself at the ball, and the calling was superb. They had floor managers to help teach the dances, and it really made everything run very smoothly, as did the fact that the caller would demonstrate the dance before having everyone line up, pair off, and try to muddle through. The music was also wonderful, with a gorgeous big brass band. Nothing beats live music!

Saturday is, of course, the main event. The parade started at 1:30, so thanks to my mother's foresight we were able to park near the end of the route, and eat lunch before going to the parade, which would later prove to be a lifesaving idea. As it turns out, the restaurant we were going to go to after the parade was closed, as was the second choice in eateries. Those who were in more pressing need of sustenance headed into the main area of town to find food, but Matt, my mom, and I split off to visit the Soldiers' National Cemetery and eat a late lunch of our own.

The Cemetery was beautiful. The Soldiers' National Monument towers at the center of concentric circles of curbstones, each marking the names of the fallen and each grave marked with a flag. There's a hush over the place, and even with knots of people wandering through the site, it's quiet enough to hear just the flutter of flags for acres and acres.








And of course, because half the fun is dressing up, we took some clothing pictures, too. I wore the pink silk, and it afforded the opportunity to carry that fabulous lace shawl I got on a steal earlier this year. Matt was kitted out in a new pair of trousers and a waistcoat & necktie courtesy of yours truly, and a shirt, collar, and coat from Mike's closet. Mom wore the plaid, as it is her favorite, and also a bonnet that I made back last year but never finished. She sewed the ties on last week and wore it with pride this weekend.









As always, there are many more photos at my Flickr!

Somewhat distractable, aka the Scarlet Macaw

Despite the fact that I've been sewing my own costumes and historical clothing for years now, it's very rare that I'll actually put effort into a proper costume for Halloween. I usually end up throwing on whatever comes to hand and saying "yes," when people ask me "Are you Laura Ingalls? Jane Eyre? Jane Austen? Lizzie Bennet? A princess? A pirate?" etc etc.

This year, got invited to a friend's party and didn't want to spend all evening in a corset, which turns out was a good idea because I'm pretty sure I ate like four cupcakes and half a tub of hummus on my own. Anyway, here's the look:

The wings are made from a bent wire coat hanger, covered with fun foam and newspaper. I had to dye the blue feathers with watered-down acrylic craft paint, but the red and yellow I bought as-is at Michaels. I used masking tape and a hot glue gun, and I only ended up with one blister from the crazy-hot glue, which means I did really well on the accidental injury front.

Anyway, The wings took one evening and a few hours in the morning before the party, and the makeup I just dug out of my theatrical stash the day before. The shirt is one that I already owned. Overall, it was really easy to wear, and it was fun to do something so different from my usual projects!

St. Crispin's Day

I make no secret of my love of Shakespeare. I have a short list of my favorites, categorized by genre--Twelfth Night is my favorite comedy, for example, and Hamlet my favorite tragedy. My favorite historical piece is, without a doubt, Henry V. I ready it for the first time in high school, when my entire Rhetoric class was required to memorize and present the famous St. Crispin's Day speech that Henry delivers to his men before the Battle of Agincourt. He prefaces his speech by releasing any man who doesn't wish to fight, and then goes on to paint a picture of the future, where the men who stand beside him that day will look back and remember their bravery and brotherhood.

Years later, the rallying words still never fail to make my skin prickle and often there's a suspicious tightness in my throat. The cadence of the speech itself is so familiar as to have worn grooves in my mind, and I find myself mouthing the words as I read, or breathing them softly to myself whenever I hear them spoken. And since my own limited eloquence can never hope to convey all that these words make me feel, I'll bow to the Bard and let them speak for themselves:

This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

You, Me, We

For the most part, this blog is about playing pretend. Which is all well and good, but real life is out there no matter how far and fast you run. So let's talk about something real for a minute. Hi, my name is Katie...and I struggle with depression.

Things started going downhill in May of 2009, but it wasn't until August of the same year that I realized I had a real problem. That was the first time impulsively I attempted suicide. Over the ensuing eight months, I kept a journal that, in hindsight, chronicles my deteriorating mental health in terrible clarity. I experienced everything from euphoria to panic attacks to cutting and at least one other suicidal episode before I finally got myself in to see a doctor.

My friends and family did everything right. They supported and cared for me, and encouraged me to get help. In the end, though, the decision had to be my own. You see, depression is a horrible, insidious, isolating monster. Not only does it tear you down from the inside, it also convinces you that it's all in your head. I don't feel bad all the time, so maybe it's not real, or What if I'm just doing it for attention?

It's not all in your head. It's not your fault. You are not alone. And, there is help.

Depression and anxiety are real disorders, and they are frighteningly common. It took my doctor about 30 seconds to tell me on no uncertain terms that I was depressed, and she put me on a low-dose antidepressant to pull me out of the danger zone. And you know what? It worked. Within three days, my coworkers were commenting on how happy I seemed. My parents could tell the difference almost immediately. It was wonderful.

Unfortunately, despite so many wonderful advances in modern medicine, there's still a secrecy and shame about mental health--in some cases, an actual stigma. I had a run-in with a coworker once, about a month after I first saw my doctor, where he decided it would be a good idea to lecture me about how he's "really anti-drug on things like that." I ended up telling him where to shove it, but if he had come at me like that prior to being put on medication? Dis. As. Ter. My friend Jackie put it best when she said:

Mental illness is not a stigma. Depression in particular is not a stigma. As I tell my patients with depression (especially those with Dysthymia) you have to think about it like you would diabetes. Diabetes is chronic. There are days when things will be really good and your blood sugar will be within the perfect range. And then there are days where it will be like riding a rollercoaster without a harness. Most diabetes is due to your body not processing a chemical correctly, in this case insulin. Most depression is caused by your body not processing a chemical correctly, in that case serotonin. Now diabetics aren't shunned away from like Quasimodo...why should people with depression be treated poorly? The answer is they shouldn't.

Having depression or anxiety does not make you less of a person, and asking for help is nothing to be ashamed of. Don't let your own mind or anyone else tell you otherwise. It's hard. The one thing you need to do--take responsibility for your own mental health--is the one thing you feel least equipped to do, and it can seem impossible at times. And unfortunately, it's not an instantaneous fix. There is no magic pill that will solve all your problems. I'm one of the lucky ones in that the first thing my doctor tried did work, and worked well, but I've had to change things over time to get back to where I was before I got sick. My doctor and I have worked together for over a year now to perfect a combination of things that works for me, so that I can manage my mental health and function as a whole, content person. There are still issues--I feel wonderful, but I'm struggling with weight gain as a side effect of my medication, for example. But every step is progress, and it's always worth it.

On the whole, I suppose I'm sharing this for several reasons. Me? I'm nothing special. But I made it, and if I can, so can you. And when it was worst for me, it really helped to know that I wasn't the only one. And because every time I say something about my own experience with depression, it seems like someone else comes out of the woodwork--either they struggle with it as well, or they know someone who does...and it helps to be able to talk about it. And so I talk about it, because we are not alone.