HSF 2017: challenge 1 First and Last

Well, this is a tad late!  Three and a half weeks late!  But as you know, December and January was totally messed up for me with stress at work, two car accidents (neither my fault), dealing with the devil (ie insurance company) and car shopping. My project for this month is a total cheat so, baring any disasters, should be done on time.

The Challenge: First and Last. This is a Victorian Chemise and this would be the first thing someone would put on.

Material: cotton (possibly a blend…it has been in my stash for ages, I don’t remember its content.)

Pattern: Laughing Moons Victorian undies.

Year: The package is listed as Victorian so I will go with 1836-1901.

Notions: lace (my stash only had poly stuff and this is a stash busting year) 2 buttons.

How historically accurate is it? So-so. The definite and possible synthetic fibers are bad. The pattern is okay I believe. I machine sewed which would be bad if the goal was for the earlier end of the Victorian era. As far as the persona I costume for (upper middle class older lady who is a bit on the conservative side) the style and amount of trim would be appropriate. So I give it a grade of 60%

Hours to complete: 10 which is more than it should. I just couldn’t do the mental aerobics required to attach the yoke so that the hand stitching that covers the seam was on the inside. I had to do it 3 times! I’ve made this pattern before! So annoyed with myself!

First worn: not yet

Total cost: Nothing. I used a pattern I had used before and I used material left over from a petticoat that I way over estimated the fabric needs. The lace and buttons were also stash, either given to me or salvaged from other sources.