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

Fun Updates

9/8/2021

1 Comment

 
In no particular order, nor any particular relevance to this blog...

Read More
1 Comment

Menstruation and Cloth Menstrual Pads

7/19/2021

3 Comments

 
Picture
Menstruation has been a taboo subject in various times and places.  In the US in the 1950's, you might buy your menstrual pads from a pharmacist, in hushed tones, and bring them home in discreet bags.  You might call your period "a visit from Aunt Flo".  Thankfully, in 21st Century America, it's not as taboo of a subject... nowadays, they advertise pads on television.  But despite the fact that people talk about it, sometimes they still talk nonsense.


Read More
3 Comments

Refurbishing a Shackman Doll (1)

6/15/2021

2 Comments

 
Picture
The life cycle of a porcelain doll looks like this: a little girl wants one, because porcelain dolls seem more special than regular dolls, with their ravishing clothes and their hair dressed in banana curls.  Maybe she read about a little girl having a porcelain doll in A Little Princess.  Finally her mom buys one, admonishing her to keep it in the box because it's breakable.  So the doll sits in the box, looking pretty, or is mounted on a dollstand on a high shelf, until the little girl is a big girl, too big for dolls.  Even if the girl keeps one doll for sentiment, it won't be the porcelain doll, because she never played with that one, anyway.  The porcelain doll is given to a charity shop, and there finds her many sisters, each on her own dollstand or in her own box, perfectly coiffed and un-played-with. 
My local Goodwill has a whole corner shelf filled with these breakable little treasures, set high above the questing hands of juvenile browsers, looking out at the world that only ever looks back. 

Read More
2 Comments

Salvaging Selvedges

5/21/2020

2 Comments

 
Picture
The selvedge of fabric is the edge which is finished during the weaving.  Here's a diagram of a basic weaving: the black threads, which run up and down in the loom, are the warp threads.  The red thread, running back and forth, over and under the black threads, is the weft thread or woof thread. 

If you've ever tried your hand at weaving, then you know that if you pull the weft threads too tight, that makes the warp threads clench in the center, and your weaving turns out more like an hour glass than a rectangular strip!  This is how I remember the names for the threads... the up and down threads are the warp because they're the ones that'll get warped if you weave too tight.  The weft threads are the ones you weave through the others, so they get woven, or get weft. 

Now, since the weft thread turns and retraces its steps at the end of every row, that creates a clean-finished edge called a selvedge, which is a contraction of "self edge".  The selvedge is tidy and strong.  It's also useful! 

Read More
2 Comments

Swishy Skirt!  (McCall's 4971)

5/7/2020

3 Comments

 
Picture
pattern (c) 2005
An A-line skirt--even a delightful, swishy one--is really just a vertical seam or two, zipper, waistband, and hem.  Rather than show every step in detail, I will focus today on two interesting aspects of this project: drafting a skirt pocket for a pattern that doesn't have pockets; and doing the waistband with a Hong Kong finish.  A few other details of interest will be briefly touched, but not lingered, on. 

I use two fabrics in this project: a khaki-colored polyester gabardine and a lightweight polyester lining with a red, sort-of Japanese print. 

The pattern calls for only two panels (front and back), with a side closure.  I choose to add a Center Back seam because I prefer back zippers to side ones, and I want to put pockets in the sides. 

Read More
3 Comments

Making Cotton Face Masks

4/6/2020

2 Comments

 
CONTENT NOTICE:
If you are exhausted or stressed from reading/hearing/seeing COVID-19 stuff, don't click on this post.  Do something life-giving instead.  Take care of yourself and your mental health. 


On February 29th, 2020, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams made an interesting Tweet:
Picture

Read More
2 Comments

Yes Ma'am, I Made Sterps.

9/30/2019

2 Comments

 
For the cost of two dollars and ten minutes, I have made a set of clip-on stirrups to keep my pant legs in my boots.  This will make my winter easier!  Here goes:
  1. I buy four little grippy clips designed to bite and hold whatever cloth you pinch them to.  They cost $0.49 each.
  2. I sew them to stash woven elastic: two elastic straps, each with a clip on each end. 
  3. I clip them to the bottoms of my pants legs and under my heel, like stirrups. 
  4. I put my boots on, and the pant legs stay tucked where they belong! 
Picture
stirrups in progress
Picture
stirrups in use
In the picture below, my left leg does not have the stirrup, and the pant leg is riding up, not staying in the boot.  Bad pant leg!  Down!  My right leg is in its stirrup, and the pant leg stays tucked. 
Picture
2 Comments

Linen Pillowcases

8/1/2019

1 Comment

 
Let's talk about the properties of linen, since I've been sewing with it lately! 

LINEN PROS

  • Great tensile strength
  • Irons like a dream
  • Resists stains
  • Gets softer with each washing
  • Doesn't pill
  • Conducts heat well... so it always feels cool
  • Less water used in production
  • Less pesticide used in production

LINEN CONS

  • Wrinkles like crazy
  • Seriously: you look at it, it wrinkles!
  • Resists dye; fades with each washing

Read More
1 Comment

Have a Green Christmas!

12/23/2018

1 Comment

 
Like most frugal people, my family was green before it was cool.  Every Christmas, we re-used wrapping paper from previous Christmases (no ripping or tearing allowed!) or used the colorful Sunday comics from the newspaper.  This year, as everyone seems to be ordering from Amazon, I see lots of the Amazon gift bags under the tree, which are some sort of outerwear-type chemical fabric covered with sparkly polyester organza.  Naturally, I'm saving them for next year, too! 
Picture
Amazon bags
Meanwhile, finding in my stash a bit of printed cotton with wise men on it (a Christmas print I actually like), I decide to make my own re-usable Christmas wrapping! 

Read More
1 Comment

Something Blue (McCall's 9133)

7/30/2018

1 Comment

 
A seamstress friend from my Steampunk days referred this bride to me back in November 2017, when she found her own plate too full.  G. came with dress pattern, her chosen fabric, and even a muslin made up by my friend.  I finished the dress for her by the new year, but am only posting now, after the wedding! 

The pattern is McCall's 9133, and it's view A that she wanted.  She chose electric blue satin for the dress, and white lace for the overdress with sleeves.  In particular, because she's a practical woman, she requested that the two layers be made entirely separate, so she could shorten the blue dress later and wear it to other events.  For notions, I bought a blue invisible zipper, white loops & buttons, and horsehair brain for the hem. 
Picture

Read More
1 Comment
<<Previous

    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