Regency Ball 2...

I stayed up late last night and made quite a bit of progress on the Waistcoat.  The shell is complete, as well as the pocket.  I did not fully understand the pocket instructions in the pattern and probably didn't make it quite right.  For now however, it seems to work.  Today I hope to complete the waistcoat.  I have to add the lining/interlining combo and the collar.  Then it should be mostly finished and I can move on to the frockcoat mock-up.  I'm not sure what buttons to use just yet.  Hmmm... I should probably pre-wash the wool for that, as it takes a while to air-dry.  Here's a photo of the waistcoat so far.  It looks better on my fella than on the floor.

Here is a photo of the almost finished undershirt.  The collar and hem need to be finished.

*SIGH*  I just read up a bit.  It seems the waistcoats generally have self-fabric buttons.  It looks like I'll be sewing a few buttons today as well.  Not my favorite, but I've done them before and will survive.

Regency Ball

Hmmm... considering my last post was just over a year ago; I am certainly not the most active blogger.  But I have a new project to post about.  My fella and I are attending a Regency Ball later this month and need appropriate clothing.  His intended garb, from the skin out, is as follows...
White linen shirt
White linen under trousers
Red silk double-breasted waistcoat with black linen lining
Brown Trousers
Black Frockcoat

The linen shirt is almost finished.  I did not take pictures of the process, but will add a photo of the finished product, later.  The only part lacking is the collar.  The collar from the pattern was a little too small for him.  Then I need to hem the bottom and it's finished.

I made a mock-up of the waistcoat and it fit like a charm.  So tonight I cut the silk and linen fabrics.  I will take photos of the pieces shortly and post them.  Then on to the sewing.  I'm using Reconstructing History patterns for my fella's clothes and will state which pattern for each piece I post.

As for my outfit, I'm going with a reconstruction of a dress from Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion.  The mock-up I made following a 1-1 scale (1 grid in the book equaled one, 1 inch grid on my grid fabric) made a bodice just a tad too small.  It fits my 6 year old daughter.  Which lets me know I can whip her up a dress no problem and I already have the pattern. :-)  I need to scale up the pattern and will do that shortly.  I have a thin, gauzy cotton for the dress.  While I would love to embroider it before the Ball, there is not enough time.  So the future holds tambour work for me.  I am also taking my old American Revolution underdress and adjusting it to be used as a Regency underdress.

The hardest part has been the shoes.  We might have to fudge it due to lack of time.  But for the future at least, we were informed of a wonderful site that does custom historical shoes.  Harr Shoes, here in Germany.  We've taken measurements and this week we'll see if shoes will be possible by the 24th.  Now on to sewing.