History + books = one happy me.

I love history. My love of historical fashion is just the start of it, really! I love the everyday things. The daily rituals and routines. Learning how items we still use today first came about, why and how they were created. How, even though these inhabitants of the past were people just like us with the same emotions, their attitudes could be so very different. The more I learn, the more I know, the more I love.

Up until recently, my knowledge has been based around the eras of my interest as a child. Mainly Victorian and Regency, with a bit of Edwardian, which is probably due to films such as Little Women, Sense and Sensibility, and many classic movie musicals that I grew up enjoying. I was always fixated with the costumes, and the scenes that stuck in my head would so often be the ones with the most interesting dresses! All the more if there was a corset involved. However, I've always had an interest in earlier eras, particularly Medieval and Tudor, but the facts have always been a bit of a blur. Knowing little things here and there (like which of Henry VIII's wives were beheaded, or why women didn't wear their hair down) lend themselves well to certain things, but I'm curious about the bigger picture.

Today, I wanted to quickly share with you a couple of books.

The first book of the two, is this...

Tudor: The Family Story by Leanda De Lisle, is basically Tudor history told as the historical drama that it is. And it's very good. Inside the covers are two family trees, entitled The Past: The House of Lancaster and York and The Family: Descendants of Henry VII, which I find myself referring to constantly throughout. It paints a picture of one of the most famous dynasties in British history that's easy to understand. Who's descended from who, the reasons for the many battles (I'm only on Margaret Beaufort, and Henry VI's second reign, and I've already encountered a good few), and finding the little things on these historical characters that really brings them to life. For me, reading a book about people who actually existed is just as good as reading a book about fictional characters you only wished existed!

The second of the two is one I just found today in a charity shop (good ol' charity shops) and is The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England.

I was having what was intended to be a flick through on the way home, when I found myself reading entire chapters. It's one of those books where you can just flip to a page and start reading, and it's so engaging that you're in no hurry to stop. As the title suggests, it's written in the form of a time traveller's handbook to everyday life in Medieval England, covering what you need to know for all types of person. What you would be allowed to wear, how different their sense of humour is to our own, how you would travel, where you would stay. It's amusing at the same time as being informative, and I think it's fantastic. Here's a snippet from the opening paragraph, to give you an idea: "Imagine yourself in a dusty London street on a summer morning. A servant opens an upstairs shutter and starts beating a blanket. A dog guarding a traveller's packhorses starts barking. Nearby traders call out from their market stalls while two women stand chatting, one shielding her eyes from the sun, the other with a basket in her arms. The wooden beams of houses project out over the street. Painted signs above the doors show what is for sale in the shops beneath. Suddenly a thief grabs a merchant's purse near the traders' stalls, and the merchant runs after him, shouting. Everyone turns to watch. And you, in the middle of all this, where are you going to stay tonight? What are you wearing? What are you going to eat? 

"As soon as you start to think of the past happening (as opposed to it having happened), a new way of conceiving history becomes possible."

I personally think that sounds rather inviting.

Edwardian catalogues.

 I was browsing through my bookshelves the other day, and rediscovered this book that had been given to me by my Grandmother a year or so ago. Edwardian Shopping; A Selection of Army & Navy Stores Catalogues. 1898-1913. 

I thought I'd show you some of my personal highlights.

It has an array of items, from corsets and collars, to typewriters and trunks. And bicycles. And revolvers. And wedding cakes. Y'know. The usual.

Styles changed a fair bit in the time period this book covers, and it gives a little insight to the everyday of the Edwardian being.

Of course, the gentlemen aren't forgotten.

An entire page, for collars!

Spotted Jane Austen in the Novels section. I must give Lady Susan a read...

POCKET WATCHES.

More corsets... This is getting into the early 1900s, and you can see the silhouette has changed a little.

Typewriters. Lovely.

I believe I have a thing for trunks.

Corsets, this time from 1913. The silhouette has changed quite drastically now.

I shall be making good use of this book, now that I'm aware of its existence, and I'm sure it shall prove to be useful! Or just to look at. I don't mind.

Bags, bows, cards, and sock monsters.

Today, I had the opportunity to make a few little things to sell, and given that I had a matter of days to do so, a few little things it was.

Bags, bows, cards, and sock monsters, to be precise.

Look at them, the lil' gang. As for the design, I got the idea from Blue Peter many years ago, and over time it has evolved into what you see.

I quite liked this bag, actually. Out of everything, this is something I'd have wanted to keep, but alas, it sold.

I've always been a bit of a card maker, but only recently started trying out this 'style' of cards - pen and ink drawings.

And lastly, hair bows. These are very handy things to make for when you need emergency presents and the such. Here's the tutorial I based mine on.

Do let me know if you'd like some quick tutorials for anything! Everything here is fairly easy to make, and creating your own sock creature is actually rather fun.

A Christmas catch up.

I hope you had a merry little Christmas!

I myself had a rather pretty little Christmas, with fairy lights strung about the place, the smell of mulled cider drifting through the air and 'White Christmas' playing its way through the house.

As for presents, a factor of Christmas that has always been the cause of a fair amount of excitement, I asked for some new dressmaking scissors (lovely and sharp, that actually cut through the fabric!). I also got a book on historical corset patterns, by Jill Salen.

My great great grandmother received a singer sewing machine for her 18th birthday in around 1900, it was then well used by every generation until it reached me. I remember my mum using it to make pillows for my barbies, and things like that. Once we got an electric sewing machine, it got put under the stairs and has been there ever since. Recently, I've been meaning to get it out and have a look, but just haven't got round to it.
It's that typical combination of remembering to do something when you have the time to do it!
Anyway, Boxing day (I think it was), I finally pulled it out of it's hiding place, lifted off the lovely cover...

And found the well loved sewing machine, along with its original instructions, and a box of various tools.

It all works, but it does need a bit of a clean up.

Being a sucker for old packaging, the box that holds the various tools and bits and bobs, I found almost as exciting as the original instructions, or the machine itself! Almost. 

It looks to be an old shoe polish box, and on the inside of the lid are instructions on how one would go about using 'Black Nugget Polish'.

It reads, "Kindly use SMALLEST quantity of the Polish with corner of a clean Brush - really, only a smear is required - brush it well into the Leather with the whole of the Brush, and after getting a polish, finish off the a Pad." 

How polite.

Well, it's nice to be back on the blogging scene after having accidentally taken the summer and the autumn off, ahem. 

I wish you a Happy New Year!

I am still here, promise.

I was originally going to say that I took the summer off blogging, but then it turned out to be the autumn, too. My excuse?

I've been busy.

That's it, I'm afraid.

But, I've been busy with interesting things! More posts to come, but here's a few sneak previews.

Fox cushion cover.

So the other day, I was in a very creative mood, and almost couldn't stop. (or rather, I didn't want to)

One thing I came out with, was this fox cushion cover -

Sweet, is it not? I came across this tutorial from A Beautiful Mess, and had to give it a go. I didn't have enough stuffing to make a 'plush doll', so I decided to adapt it to make a cushion cover - which did mean it ended up square, and not as fox looking as the ones pictured in the tutorial, but hey ho!

I measured around the cushion, added a couple of inches to be safe, with one inch seam allowance, and drew a square on the main fabric. Added the ears, and cut it out. I then cut about a third from the bottom of one of the pieces, that then became the back, and filled the gap with the contrasting fabric.

Stitched on a triangle of contrasting fabric, a circle of patterned, three buttons - one for the nose, two for the eyes - and I was ready to start constructing the cushion cover!

I hemmed the two back pieces, I thought having the hem on the outside added a bit of detail.I then laid one just over the other, pinned them to the front piece, making sure to keep the right sides together so I could turn it the right way around. Stitched it all up, clipped the corners, turned it inside out and voila! All I then had to do was sew a button and a bit of cord on the back to keep it closed, and I was done. 

Making cushion covers can be really simple, but you can make them so interesting just by adding a few scraps of fabric, or changing the shape, or even covering them with sequins. This only took me a few hours and a bit of improvisation, but the world is your oyster when it comes to cushion covers.

Patch pocket skirt.

My sister has been asking me to make her a skirt for ages; she even went so far as to send me an email entitled 'Pleeeaase' and attached was a link with a quick tutorial for one. So with that link and some basic alterations in mind, I set to work, and was done in a day. This is what I came up with! Along with a little info on how I went about it...

This is my first lined skirt, as well as my first attempt at patch pockets. Not bad, if I do say so myself! And I do love the fabric... Anyway.

So, I started with two rectangles of fabric - the patterned and the lining - long enough to allow for the hem and the bit for the elastic to go through, I wasn't so fussed about the width as the elastic would see to that.

I folded the top of the patterned fabric down twice, making sure to leave enough room for the elastic to pass through, and sort of stuck the lining fabric underneath the fold, and then stitched along. You can kind of see it in this photo -

Now, I was kind of making this up as I went along, so it was at this point I thread the elastic through, just to see how it looked, and to decide where the pockets should go, as my sister decided she wanted some! The pockets are just two rough semi circles pleated in the middle and sewn, at the top, to a strip of the lining fabric.

I sewed the pockets on, then folded the skirt right sides together and stitched only the elastic, as I wanted to finish off the lining as best as I could. Then I sewed up the lining and the outer skirt separately. However, I didn't like just having the top of the seam on show (raw edges, no thank you) so I covered it up like so -

By simply hand stitching a little piece of the lining fabric over the top.

I sewed the hem by machine -

And got my sister to try it on. It didn't quite look the right shape, it was too poofy at the front. Easily fixed by pulling gently on the fabric at the waistband at the front until it was pulled straight, and then add a row or two of stitches either side. You can more or less see what I mean in this photo -

And that's basically it! Obviously the end result would differ should I make another one with a heavier fabric, or thinner elastic, all that jazz. But I shall get experimenting, and shall have a go at making one for myself! I really should get to make more everyday clothes, because as much as a medieval dress may come in handy, ahem, it's not incredibly practical. I mean, have you seen those sleeves? But yes, summer 2013 wardrobe, here I come!