A sewing friend gifted me a pair of sheer voile curtains. She’d intended sew a robe chemise but there wasn’t enough fabric, so she reckoned she’d see what I could make with them instead. One became a ruffled 1780s apron and the other became a white muslin summer mantelet!
I enjoy turning pretty things into other pretty things. In this tutorial, I turn a glass-and-brass necklace into a DIY Georgian parure.
One of my favorite 18th Century costume references is a portrait by Sir Nathanial Dance-Tolland. I love the puffy blue stomacher bows. I love the enormous pearls worn high on her neck. I love her pet squirrel. But mostly I love the lace mantelet that she is wearing over the top of all of it. While less heavily textured, this embroidered silk gauze from FabricGuru has such a similar scale and vibe to the fabric in the portrait that I reckoned it was MEANT. I would make the blonde silk gauze mantelet from the portrait!
Last spring at a workshop, I came across a silk sultana hanging on a peg. I tried it on – and I wanted it. I didn’t NEED one, so of course I immediately went fabric shopping and found a piece of suitable-enough silk shantung – just enough of it for a midnight purple silk sultana.
Remember when I made a rhinestone 18th Century Stomacher Brooch? Here is a tutorial for making a pair of 18th Century Girandole Earrings to match!
In the collection of the Victoria & Albert museum in London, there is a stunning antique Portuguese brooch. Thanks to an aliexpress seller who likes the piece as much as I do, today we’re going to make our very own 18th Century Stomacher Brooch!
Winters in the Pacific Northwest are very wet. I needed a cloak to keep me warm. Here’s a tutorial for your own 18th Century Cardinal Cloak!
It’s a bergere, and it’s got pleated trim, and puffs of silk, and loops of ribbon all OVER the place.
Here’s a tutorial for an 18th Century Brain Hat!
A pair of white Regency slippers and a bottle of Angelus Leather Paint – Here is my tutorial for 1790s painted shoes: part 2
A pair of white Regency slippers and a bottle of Angelus Leather Paint – Here is my tutorial for 1790s painted shoes: part 1
