Karen Roy's Sewing - Robes de Coeur

Belgium in WWI: Flour Sacks and Lace

10/22/2018

Photo courtesy of Jorie, of EmbroiderElaine blog. Click to see her site!

As a child, I attended Herbert Hoover Elementary school, yet never knew who Herbert Hoover was. For years, I had him confused with J. Edgar Hoover (not the same guy at all, it turns out), which is a shame, as I now find he was really an extraordinary man. His greatest and, I think, most lastingly significant work was done when he was a private citizen during the Great War. For his actions on behalf of starving Belgians, he received grateful tributes of needlework and lace which are are far more compelling and beautiful than my elementary school. So today: WWI, Herbert Hoover, Belgium, and lace!

Brief Hiatus

10/14/2018

When I am avoiding a task, I'll often procrastinate by doing other, easier tasks, to give myself a false sense of accomplishment. It doesn't work, as I still know I'm avoiding the thing that needs to get done. Recently, I sat down and wrote two lists of sewing projects, my "Hafta List" and my "Wanna List". My Hafta List is neither long nor difficult, yet it's been keeping me from my Wanna List for too long, and in the meantime, I've been blogging, because writing a blog post is a pleasant distraction and an easy "accomplishment". (This was, in fact, one of the reasons I resisted the idea of blogging for many years... I knew I could become addicted to doing it, and use it to avoid my life instead of living it.)

I desire to break this pattern of procrastination, and to be able to blog again as a pleasant side project. So I'm taking the month of October to power through my Hafta list, and in the meantime am not allowing myself to blog. I'm also barring myself from other time-wasting activities that I use in the same way. When I'm done my Hafta List, I can do my Wanna List, and that'll give me fresh things to blog about!

So for the next little while, there will be no posts here. You can expect a post to go live on October 22nd, but I wrote that ages ago and it's simply in the queue. I'll be back to posting regularly sometime in November!

1920s Portfolio: Catherine DeVore's Fashion Sketches

10/8/2018

Last Thursday, I opened up Catherine DeVore's 1920's portfolio and gave an overview of it and what collaborating history I could find. Today, in an image-heavy post, I'm going to show you Catherine's artsy drawings of the clothes she wanted to make! In future posts, I'll show some of her more interesting ephemera.

I'm not kidding about the number of images in this... if you have a slow internet connection, click "read more" and then go make some tea or do a few chores while the post loads.

1920s Portfolio: Catherine DeVore & the Wolfe School

10/4/2018

Today we get an unexpected peek into the past--a large portfolio of the fashion sketches and pattern drafts of a woman named Catherine Emma DeVore, who graduated from the Wolfe School of Costume Designing in Los Angeles in 1923. In addition, there are two envelopes full of ephemera: newspaper clippings, her doodles, ads, notes, photographs, envelopes....

Whence this bounty of delight? From a man I know who, having acquired this trove, was kind enough let me borrow it to take pictures! In turn, I did my best to return it as a tidy package, putting the pictures in order. I got so many photos, and uncovered enough interesting info, to make several posts, so I'll do this in installments:

Today I will introduce the portfolio and its maker. Text-heavy post.
On Monday, I'll share the fashion illustrations. Image-heavy post.
After that, I'll share the ephemera, as I have time to make the posts. Those posts will be more about fashion and culture in the 1920's.

Tineke Stoffels' "Little White Collars"

10/1/2018

As an amateur lacemaker, I was delighted recently to find some beautiful and unique old laces displayed in an art exhibit online. Little White Collars is a collection of photographs by Dutch artist Tineke Stoffels, each showing a young woman wearing an antique collar. Their other clothes are all black, which sets the collars off to perfection, as well as referencing the Calvinist dress code of Holland in the 1600's. The photographs are also finished in a painterly way, so that they look like works of Old Masters.

I reached out to Ms. Stoffels, and she agreed to answer my questions, and even to provide some close-up lace pictures so I can see how the pieces were made! What a marvelous lady!

Girl with lace collar II/Gros point de Venise (cropped). © Tineke Stoffels 2018

Most pictures in this post are the property of Tineke Stoffels of the Netherlands. Please do check out her website! The other images are credited and linked to their Wikimedia Commons source-pages.

Regency Ball Gown (October 2015)

9/27/2018

I made this ball gown for the Portland Country Dance Community's English Country Ball in 2015. I had already made the stays and chemise and pantaloons, and had made a day dress as well, so this was a breeze. Also, since I was making it on a deadline for the ball, I used a borrowed sewing machine instead of hand-sewing, which made it come together nice and fast!

After that, I wore it to the Time Travelers' Ball in Hillsboro, to church once, and to a recent wedding.

Regency Short Stays (2015)

9/24/2018

The occasion of a costume-party wedding finally gives me an opportunity to wear and photograph the short stays I made to wear under my Regency dresses. So prepare yourself for awkward self-photography in historical underwear!

This project is from 2015. I was working on a Regency wardrobe because I wanted to participate in Oregon Regency Society events.

Embroidery on the back of the stays.

Bed Jacket: From the Fifties to the Seventies

9/20/2018

Here's how I typically layer up when I'm cold!

Remember this picture? Besides my nightcap, I'm wearing a yellow quilted bed jacket given to me by a friend. Bed jackets used to be a thing, before central heating became the norm, and they are really useful for lounging around if, like me, you're chronically chilly! Mine is probably from the fifties or sixties. It's made of some sort of loud synthetic (loud as in it scratches and rustles against itself like taffeta or cheap acetate). It being older than me to start with, it didn't stand up to more than two years of my use and occasional washing; the batting went flat and various spots wore away and shredded.

So I decide to take a pattern from it and make new!

NAME THAT LACE: Amber Butchart's Stitch In Time

9/17/2018

The BBC's miniseries A Stitch in Time is a treat for anyone interested in historical costuming. Fashion historian Amber Butchart "explores the lives of historical figures through the clothes they wore," aided by historical costumer Ninya Mikhaila. Amber selects a work of art with an interesting garment, and Ninya and her team recreate it using authentic methods, while Amber studies the person, the era, et cetera. In the end, Amber (lucky girl!) gets to wear the newly made clothing!

BBC screen cap from Episode 2: Arnolfini

What is Raw Silk?

9/10/2018

When people go to a fabric store and ask for "raw silk", or tell you their wedding dress was made of "raw silk"... what do they mean? What is raw silk?

There is plenty of confusion about the topic, with common use of the term being very different from technical use in sericulture. I'll start with the technical definition, because it's most precise, then move on to the more popular conceptions and give you better terms for them, so you can find what you want at fabric stores or online!