Bascha & I Lost Our Minds Somewhere In the 18th Century

My dears, I'm afraid Bascha and I have lost our sanity, never to have it returned. And as you might have guessed by the title, we've lost it in the 18th Century. Particularly that period between the late 1760's and the 1780's. I lost it first, in the 1760's and Bascha lost it in the 1780's :P. And you wanna know something? We really aren't bothered that much about it!

Here's what happened. Every year, Jessica (our friend that teaches ECD on Thursday nights) throws what is called the Homeschool Historical Ball. Now last year you may remember that the theme was the 40's and 50's (blogged) , and the year before was Regency (un-blogged). Well this years theme was "George Washington" and it was set in the 18th century. And Bascha and I had said this was the year we were going all out, and so we did. And we went all out and it was insane.  :D So there you have it! And 18th century ball we got to costume ourselves up for! And yes, I do have a ship in my hair, all the details will be in upcoming blog posts. :)

If you want to read the post full of exclamation points, it's on my personal blog, Tmarie. It has all the same pictures as in this post, and I think this blog will end up with waaaay more pictures but still ya know, there's the link if you want it :).

I'm still soooo tickled that we did this :D. And so tickled that I can FINALLY share pictures with ya'll, I know there has been a long silence on the blog but now you know why :D And now that we all have evening clothes I think it's about time we plan a 3rd trip to Williamsburg and meet Miss F and Samantha.........:D

And one more thing before I get on the the photos, I've got to link to Ruth. :D She's quite a seamstress and did a fantastic job on her dress and on her younger brother's costume. They both looked soooo good and it was fantastic to see them again :D. Thank you so much Ruthie for coming down to see us!!!!!! You are amazing!

L to R: Ann Marie, Caroline, myself, BASCHA, and Ruth

L to R: Grandma, mama, AM, Care, myself, Bascha :D, Ruth, and Mrs. Jacques

The "squad" L to R: Ben, Grandma, Dad, Mama, Caroline, Ann Marie, Joshua, myself, Joel, Bascha :D, Stephen, Ruth, Mrs. Jacques, Abe. Is it just me or does this photo remind you of a painting? Not any particular painting, just a painting in general.

my fam :) So blessed to have parents and siblings who will be crazy enough to do this with me :D 

Bascha, the blushing beauty that fell out of a portrait from the late 18th century, her dashing brother and her Mum :) 

Ruth and Ben looking all snazzed up :D

My mama looking gorgeous as ever :D She did the hair and wig styling for all of us :) Hair is her forte

my darling Ann Marie and her brother Joel. She looked so beautiful and I love her so much! :D

besties

Again, biggest thanks to my parents who allowed us to be crazy and went crazy with us :D :D :D 

All the young gentlemen. 

Now there will be more photos to come. A blog on my new stays, a blog on our dresses probably individually, and the originals they were copied from, pictures from the ball photographer and of us getting ready, etc. But I hope this is enough to tide ya'll over with :D 

And in closing all I can say is Bascha, Bascha, Bascha.  She is probably the most talented individual I could name for you that I know. I could NEVER have done any my part of the costuming had it not been for her, and did you see her costumes?????!!!! Out of this world! Or rather century :P I love you Bascha! You're absolutely amazing and I still can't get over how good ya'll looked! :D

HIP HIP HOORAY for the #HHB2015 !!!!!!! :D :D :D 

~Theresa, a most excited seamstress

Hand sewn, Pink Taffeta Plaid and Chocolate Brown Wool Polonaise

Life has just been so busy for me these past days, I haven't had time to post it till now. :P  Here (finally) is my Revolutionary War Polonaise dress that I made for the Rev War weekend at Latta in September!   I have always wanted a polonaise, so when I finally made one I was overjoyed when I finished sewing it. <3

 The chocolate brown wool I first bought around two years ago for Regency trousers for Abe. After I found the 2 1/2 yards of pink plaid taffeta at Hancocks I decided I would like to use the wool for my polonaise. :D  I used J.P. Ryans polonaise pattern and this was the first time I truly custom fitted a pattern. I absolutely love to fit patterns now!!!  I had so much fun with it and it was so easy!

Oh by the way, I hand sewed the entire dress and petticoat!!

Here is my mock-up:

Of course I had to shorten it, my waist is quite short. :P

I also had to take up some material on the side and the center back

And the shoulder straps

This is the material I used for my front, back and shoulder strap lining. For the sleeve lining I used muslin. The dress is from none other than VV!  I love the embroidery on the neck!

Pleating the polonaise skirt

The bottom point was a little odd but I think it still came out pretty good.

 The skirt attached, side.  I have a dart in the sleeve at the elbow.

Back before boning inserted

Attaching the lining. I did it the historical way, sewing the lining directly on top.

Now I had to sew the center back together to start the casing for the boning in the back.

I inserted the boning ( 1/4'' reed) and pined the material together then sewed close to the reed.

Sewing the boning in the center front.

I tried to make my own ruching from my pink taffeta and tried to hem both sides of my material. I will just say it didn't work to well. :P I ended up using pink ribbon from Hancocks. A nice old lady at Latta suggested  to cut it out on the bias. :D Next time I will definitely try to cut it on the bias!

I pleated my ribbon ruching as such: 1/4'' knife pleat to the right,

1/4'' knife pleat to the left to complete an inverted box pleat,

1/4'' knife pleat to the left,

1/4'' knife pleat to the right to complete a box pleat.

Then sewed the ruching down in the middle

I attached the ruching to the sleeves and center front. :) I really like ruching.

Me sewing my dress! I did not leave that chair very much. :P

And don't worry I am half way through!

The lovely hooks!

Now when I sew my hooks and eyes I sew it down in multiple places. So I thought I would show you all how I sew my hooks and eyes down, I have my needle pointing to each place:

Sewing them down in these key places helps to cement the hooks and eyes down.

There was a little bit of space showing in my center front so I sewed this rectangle together for a little flap on the back side.

Like so.

Preparing for the hem, I laid the dress down and then stretched the skirt out and took off as much as I needed. 

My brass buttons on the back to hold the skirt up.

Sewing the ribbon down in the same place as the buttons on the back side.

Oh lol I made this bum roll quite awhile ago, and I wore it under my polonaise.

My baby, Maple for some reason really likes it...... :P

This is a thin linen shirt I used for my petticoat waistband. Of course from VV. :)

waistbands

They were each 3/4 of inch wide by half my waist size.

This Measuring Gauge is my best friend in sewing. I use it quite a bit, especially when I am ironing hems down. If you are new to sewing I would suggest you get one of these!!

I really love this petticoat. The linen waistband is the perfect touch for it.

FINISHED!! 12:44:39 a.m.  I was going to wear it the next day. 

I always seem to finish garments the night before or the day of. : /  

Theresa and me <3

These were the only two photos we took that weekend. lol

My brother and I have a weekly class in this beautiful old neighborhood so we decided to take the rest of my photos in that neighborhood. It was so pretty with the leaves changing colors and falling ever so softly to the ground.  :)

Fall and Spring are my favorite seasons! 

The owner of this house was so nice! She came out as we were getting some photos and said we could use her porch and chairs for photos!!  She said she has had a lot of people come to this neighborhood to get wedding photos, she also thought Abe and I were getting married.............. Anyways I am very grateful to her for allowing us to use her house and yard. :D

Here you can see my polonaise (skirt lift in the back).

I love the pillars.

My loving brother Abe wearing his birthday present, a kilt. :)

The brooch I bought at an antique store located down the road from there.

I now have my favorite dress on the blog!!!   I had a great time taking these photos with my brother and my mom, love you guys.  

Well till next time my good friends! Enjoy the rest of Fall!!

Affectionately,

Bascha