Robes de Coeur
  • Blog
  • Quilting
  • Clothing
    • Menswear
    • Womenswear >
      • Self-Made Patterns
      • Commercial Patterns
    • Hats
    • Miscellany
  • About
  • Blog
  • Quilting
  • Clothing
    • Menswear
    • Womenswear >
      • Self-Made Patterns
      • Commercial Patterns
    • Hats
    • Miscellany
  • About

Purging MORE Stash Stuff

11/29/2018

3 Comments

 
Stuff is never just stuff.  Stuff is, as my brother put it, ideas.  Every item I own is an idea I've had, about who I am or want to be, what I want to do, what I value, fear, or need.  No wonder I've found that getting rid of items clears my head marvelously!  My room is slowly but surely becoming an oasis of Karen in a world of not-Karen, which is a relief.  My true desires and priorities are coming into focus, and my to-do list is shorter and more imperative.  I hope to have this process done by the end of the year so I can start 2019 with a clean slate! 

Today I'll post about two harder, sewing-related purges: my pattern collection and my historical costumes. 

Read More
3 Comments

A Muff for My Niece

11/26/2018

4 Comments

 
Picture
materials for the muff
My niece has requested a muff for Christmas.  (I'm guessing this has something to do with her long-standing love of Frozen.)  For color, she wants pink.  Then--because her mom doesn't like velvet--she requests velvet.  I consider it my bounden duty to help her tease her mother, so I consent to the velvet!  But I don't have pink velvet in my stash, so coral-red is what she'll get.  ;)  I also have some pink charmeuse for the lining, and brown faux fur (a knit) from an old hat that I disassembled. 

Read More
4 Comments

1920's Advertising!

11/22/2018

2 Comments

 
Today, let's have some more 1920's ephemera!  Catherine DeVore collected ads if she liked the pictures. 

Advertising is so ubiquitous in our world that we're generally blind to its tropes and skewed priorities, because we aren't consciously processing it.  But several times in my life I've taken long breaks from media (lived without a TV, moved to a wilderness area with only one radio station and no internet, traveled abroad), and when I came back, even my "own" culture felt foreign and the ads obnoxiously stupid.  I noticed all kinds of implied messages beyond the simple message to buy. 

When we look at the ads of a former time, those implied messages are screams rather than whispers.  This Thanksgiving, I am thankful that I don't live in the twenties, and here are a few reasons why.  For each ad, try to bear in mind that the people who made it and the people who saw it each thought it was normal, and its messages unobjectionable. 

Read More
2 Comments

The Great Fire - All the Lace!

11/19/2018

4 Comments

 
In September of 1666, the Great Fire of London burned for five days, reaching temperatures hot enough to melt pottery and completely cremate victims, destroying thousands of buildings, and leaving seven eighths of Londoners homeless.  In addition to devastating the city, the disaster ignited religious and ethnic hatreds, stirring mobs to violence and politicians to a blame game, and threatening the newly restored monarchy.  London had been a medieval town, outgrowing its own streets and buildings, but after the fire it was rebuilt, with much the same street plan, but wider streets, better sewage disposal, and fire lanes to the Thames. 

In 2014, PBS released a four-part miniseries dramatizing the Great Fire, which is compelling as history, drama, and costume-feast-for-the-eyes.  And I... I love those things! 

Read More
4 Comments

1923 Ephemera - Wool Information Booklet

11/15/2018

2 Comments

 

How about I post some more 1920's ephemera!  Today, a little 15-page booklet of information about wool, published and distributed in 1923 by a made-to-order clothier: J. B. Simpson, Inc., "Tailored to Order Clothes", of Chicago, Illinois.  The text within is part informative, part promotional.  It's clear from the tone of the writing that the "informed consumer" of 1923 was expected to be a lot more informed than modern consumers! 
Picture
Tiny little booklet!

Read More
2 Comments

Corticelli Silk Pamphlet, circa 1923

11/12/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
I promised that I would, over time, show you some of the fascinating ephemera enclosed in Catherine DeVore's fashion and art portfolio from the 1920's... so today I showcase an advertising pamphlet put out by The Corticelli Silk Company in 1923.  This short, stapled booklet has full color pictures of the famous dancer Irene Castle wearing Corticelli Silk!

WHO WAS IRENE CASTLE?

Irene Castle was a fascinating lady... a paragon of class and respectability in the early Teens, who also ran nightclubs, introduced the bob, influenced fashion, acted in films, supported animal rights, and wrote books.  With her husband Vernon Castle, she is one of the founders of modern partner dancing.  

Read More
1 Comment

If You Can't Be Productive...

11/5/2018

1 Comment

 
. . . at least be purgative! 

You may recall my sew-from-stash resolution at the beginning of this year.  You may also recall that I did a bit of stash busting since then, but not early as much as I wanted.  And all year I've held off on buying new fabrics (with one exception) because I still had stash to bust!  Then, midway through October, my pile of fabric (as well as mental clutter, disorganization, and personal stuff) reached paralyzing point: I could neither move forward nor back until I cleared something out.  I felt overwhelmed by my to-do list, the guilt-trips attached to my things, a feeling of paralysis and creative inertia, et cetera. 

Talking with a counselor helped bring me to this point.  Until I started looking at and naming my emotions instead of avoiding them, I didn't realize how much I was motivated by guilt, and usually needless guilt.  (This isn't fabric-related... the fabric was just a symptom.)  Even my perfectionism breeds guilt: when my imagined standard is perfection, then I can hardly start working, and un-finished projects lie around the place, reminding me of "failure".  Thankfully, I have wonderful friends who mustered to support me with prayer, phone calls, and ideas.

Read More
1 Comment

Goodbye, Fabric Depot

11/1/2018

3 Comments

 
Fabric Depot went out of business and closed its doors on Sunday, October 21st, 2018.  This was a sad loss.  My housemate and I used to shop there and use it as a bit of retail therapy.  "FabDep?" she'd ask after a trying day at work, and off we'd go.  Usually we'd grab a bite to eat nearby and make an evening of it.  Fabric Depot was a quilter's dreamland.  They had a smaller but still respectable selection of garment fabrics, and I always found something in their remnants section.  Their staff members were friendly and cheerful in their handmade and fanciful aprons.  Moreover, they were a hub of other resources: Palmer Pletsch held fitting classes there; I took my serger class there; and Montavilla sold and maintained machines there. 

Read More
3 Comments

    Karen Roy

    Quilting, dressmaking, and history plied with the needle...

    Categories

    All
    1910's
    Alteration
    Antique
    Dyeing
    Embroidery
    General
    Hand Sewing
    History
    Lacemaking
    Mending
    Menswear
    Millinery
    Modern Elizabethan
    Musing
    Other Sewing
    Philippians 4:8
    Project Diary
    Quilting
    Regency
    Retro
    Self Made Pattern
    Self-made Pattern
    Terminology
    Victorian
    Vintage

    Blogs I Read

    The Dreamstress
    Male Pattern Boldness
    ​
    Lilacs & Lace
    Tom of Holland
    Fit for a Queen
    Line of Selvage
    Mainely Menswear
    Bernadette Banner

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    RSS Feed

Blog

Quilting

Clothing

About

Copyright Karen Roy
​© 2017-2022