Sewing Through the Years

 finished March 31, 2021 Qi'ra is a character from "Solo: A Star Wars Story" her wardrobe is sort of based on/has elements of 1940s fashion. I based this off of stills from the movie and pictures of the exhibit of clothing from the movie.  I used a black peachskin fabric (via fabric mart online). I drafted this myself, based on my measurements, except for the sleeves which I originally got from Butterick B6563 size 22 and then widened further (for maximum poof!). It has a (decorative) button at the back neck.  I like how slinky and silky the fabric is. This is definitely a fun top, but paired with the right things could definitely be dressed up as well. 

 Finished December 2, 2020 I came across the pdf schematic of this pattern and really liked the details.  After drafting the pattern out to my measurements, I stitched the yokes (front and back) to the top of the shirt, then stitched the straps on, then finished the side seams, and finally finished the hem. This was made out of the same poly blue bedsheet as the 18th century skirt I made previously . I really like how this looks and fits! It is a good summer top despite being 100% polyester. 

 finished July 3, 2021 Medium-weight white cotton muslin I mostly just used the pattern from my previous 18th-century style (men's pirate) shirt. The changes I made were: -shorter body: ~ waist height in back, ~top of hips in front - 4"x4" arm gussets, ~7 1/2: armhole height. This results in an armhole that feels just a touch high - not uncomfortably but definitely noticeable -arms cut to ~20" long -shorter collar ~4" tall total -rouleaux loops for wrist buttons -front completely open -back gathered to waist ties which wrap and tie around front no ruffles at wrists or down front

 made May 2-5, 2021 based on Sharon Ann Burnston's pattern from an extant held by Atwater Kent Museum Friends Historical Association Collection (https://web.archive.org/web/20161105102340/http://www.sharonburnston.com/quiltedwaistcoat.html#winning) my changes: did not do peplum, added about an inch of seam allowance, eyelets and a cord instead of ties, diamond quilting pattern, reversible 2 fabrics: 2 layers of leaf-print cotton flannel sheet (last used on knife pleated petticoat back in early 2020 https://sewingthroughtheyears.blogspot.com/2020/01/2-pleated-skirts.html), and 1 layer of gray geometric print cotton flannel leftovers from the two corsets I made in the corset class in 2018 (https://sewingthroughtheyears.blogspot.com/2019/09/corsets-via-class.html) 7 eyelets on one side and 8 on the other (so i can spiral lace)

finished March 6, 2020 fabric given to me This has the same construction method as all of my skirts, though I gather-pleated the skirt to the waistband instead of just pleating it in knife pleats (or box + knife pleats). For pockets, I used the same fabric as the pockets for the aspen skirt.

Finished January 20, 2020 I used a tan/ecru colored cotton muslin for this shirt.  The source I used seems to have gotten the pattern from "Tidings from the 18th Century" by Beth Gilgun.  I made the body a bit smaller, shortened the sleeves, and made the cuffs less around too.  First I cut the horizontal neck cut and the vertical front slit. Then finished the edges of the slit area (with a small rolled hem) and stitched a small vaguely triangular patch to the bottom of the slit to reinforce that area.  Next I added the neck gussets to the ends of the horizontal neck cut. I kept the gussets as squares and simply folded them in half (which formed the edge closest to the center of the shirt), and stitched the two non-fold sides (folding the raw edges inside the side-shirt-side pile) to the shirt. This was a rather fiddly step, and I did have to pin and re-pin and double check both sides to make sure everything was where it needed to be.  I stitched the shoulder str...