MLS Designs

I've been trying to share my progress for the last 2 weeks or so! Things kept conspiring against me :( First, last week was taken up with Clare coming home for a visit at the weekend so we could all go to a family holiday down near the south coast, and my aunt who lives in Canada came home with us for a visit. The day she left I came down with a cold, and it morphed into a chest infection by the weekend, so this week I've been completely knackered from all the sleepless nights brought on by the cough!
None of this really stopped me from posting though, that is due to photobucket crashing every single time I tried to upload a photo! It's finally working now though, so here is my new frock!


You have to imagine it with a tuck at the hem (I'm so glad it was too long, I do like tucks on regency dresses!) and it now has sleeve bands and buttons in back (only at the neck and waist at the moment, I need to try it on to see if it gapes) it also needs a crazy ruffly thingy at the neck! I don't want to wear a chemisette underneath, so I'm going to make the detachable frill from Costume in Detail :)
I've decided not to make the pelise this time after all, because I don't want to cover up the glorious frumpiness :D I'mm thinking instead, of making a purple spencer with military style trimmings to go with my purple military hat from last year. Hopefully it'll be too hot to wear my fur trimmed purple wool pelise, and I really want to wear that hat again, but have nothing else to wear with it.
I've made mummy a new dress, and yesterday I cut out a new spencer for her too. It's conker brown wool with dark red taffeta trimmings. So, not too bad considering how poorly I've been feeling all week!

I haven't forgotten I promised you pics from Dyrham Park, but I've been busy in the sewing room, so thought I ought to keep at it while I have the motivation!
I'm working on my Elizabethan kirtle, deadline for its first wearing is May 7th, a week after the Easter holidays finish, and we're going to Scotland in a week, so I'm planning to have things ready for handsewing while we're away.
So far I have patterned my bodice, using my 18thC stays as a guideline for the shape. The fitting went well, so now I have an interlining of 2 layers of collar canvas machined together with cable ties for boning in the front. Mummy and I spent several hours last night and this morning working out how to cut the skirt using only 2 drops of 58" wide linen. We came up with a (hopefully!) cunning plan for goring the skirt so I have a 140" ish hem, and a flat front with plenty of fullness at the back waist. I'll have to photograph our planning, it's so funny! Luckily, with some careful piecing of the shoulder straps I was able to cut the bodice out in the linen too, having been worrying that I didn't have enough linen for the bodice. So the interlining is now wrapped in the wool with the linen lining pinned in place ready for me to sew them together and then whip stitch the bodice together while we're away. I've done an extra boning chanel each side at the centre front in case the extra layers make the kirtle too small, so I will baste on my lacing strips for a fitting after the bodice is whipped together, before I finish the fronts completely.
I've cut my 4 skirt panels (2 wool, 2 linen) and now just have to complete the scary part, cutting each panel into 2 gores! Eek! Then I will machin the fronts to the backs, and the centre back seams, then sew the linen to the wool up the centre fronts and along the top, so I have a finished edge to pleat to the finished edge of the bodice. I'm binding the hem ( didn't have enough linen for a hem and a bodice, I chose a bodice!) so will do that when we get home and I can let it hang on Meg for a while. Not sure yet what I'll do the binding with, probably some dark brown silk (dupion) that I'm going to make the petticoat from, should look good with the brown sleeves, and I might guard the pink wool bodice with the silk too...
I need to get Mummy's kirtle to the same stage as well, but I naw finally have a plan, so as soon as my skirt is done I'll mock up a pattern for a fitting for her.
I'm hoping that I'll be able to get both kirtles to the 'hand sewing in Scotland' stage in the next few days, because I'm ITCHING to do some Regency sewing!!! I have wonderful plans and I want to get started!!!! Imagine palest yellow musiln printed with tiny green and blue flowers, a VERY silly fluffy chemisette and forest green velvet, golden yellow spotted silk and yellow and green striped ribbons and you'll have an idea of what's been tempting me so cruelly!