Upgrading old projects - Item 1

Well as I've reccently found myself in the situation where buying new material isn't an option. Its forced me to sew from my stash and go back and upgrade older items that I made when I first started sewing.
Item 1 - My first shift/chemise

 This was sewn before I had my dress form. So it was a lot of guesswork.

 And although it fitted me, the neckline was way too high for all my dresses.

Plus I'd turned oved the edge rather than using bias binding which had resulted in an ugly looking finish.
So...I unpicked the stitching. Removed the ribbon. Recut the neckline, low and square.

 Used bias binding to create casing for ribbon. Rethreaded the ribbon and finished the ends.

 And voila!

I now have a shift that can go under wider necklines.

HSF 2014 - Challenge #4 - Under it all (chemise/camisole)

Yes another double challenge....I finished my chemise faster than I expected...so I decided to make something else from the leftovers.


The Challenge: #4 Under it all
Fabric: White cotton
Pattern: None.
Year:1800 ->
Notions: insertion lace (broderie anglaise), ribbon
How historically accurate is it? Its all hand sewn. Made from 100% cotton. Only the ribbon is synthetic.
Hours to complete: Could have done it in a day on the machine but it got spread out doing it by hand so I lost track.
First worn: For fitting.
Total cost: £12

 I liked how the lace insertion looked. And I'd be inclined to use it in preference to bias binding for future projects of similar ilk.

Gussets

Apologies for the wrinkled fabric...its been stored away since I finished it and haven't had chance to iron it. lol!

The Challenge: #4 Under it all
Fabric: White cotton/polycotton
Pattern: None. I draped it using the camisole on page 55 of this book as inspiration.
Year: 1920-1930
Notions: insertion lace, ribbon.
How historically accurate is it? Its all hand sewn. I used a period sewing instruction book as my reference. So I think pretty close. My material looks close enough to nainsook recommended by the book. ;)
Hours to complete: Did it in one evening and a few hours all by hand.
First worn: N/A
Total cost: made from stash.

Seen here worn with the skirt I use as a petticoat under quite a few skirts/dresses. You can tighten the lower strip of lace insertion to raise the waistline and give more 'pouched' look.

A regency shift - HSF #11 - Squares, rectangles and triangles

The Challenge: 11 - squares, rectangles and triangles

Fabric: Cream Polycotton

Pattern: No pattern I just...stumbled through it from looking at other shifts and chemises online with a little help from the blogosphere.

Year: approx 1800 was my intention

Notions: ribbon, thread and embroidery floss

How historically accurate is it? As I copied a lot of images of accurate garments apart from the fabric choice and unique construction order I would think it was accurate.

Hours to complete: about 12 hours...but really it was 2 afternoons and an evenings sewing time including time taken for embroidery.

First worn: N/A

Total cost: I used leftover fabric from another project I think just over 2 metres and notions were from my stash. So it was free technically speaking but probably be under £10 in all.

Notes: Well I expected a shift to be simple and stright forward. But it wasn't...and least without a commercial pattern it wasn't. I understood the principal of the construction but certain elements bemused me.
Firstly the gussets for the sleeves. I took them apart and resewed them so many times (as you can see in the below image there was something not quite right).

Every explination I read got to the same point then became vague/confusing and quite frankly I was really annoyed. Thanks to helful suggestions from various avenues I realised what I'd been doing wrong. I blame all those instructions for sewing made for people who machine sew. Just makes it over complicated. I'll do a step by step tutorial of MY way one day. (As a handsewer I am a bit more dexterous than a machine sewer so can do things differently).

The neckline was a bit of a guess....and a bit of a mess. I didn't have enough fabric to make bias binding so I had to fold over the neckline. Which is why it was a bit messy.

I added some embroidery detail on the centre back where a thread had pulled in the fabric to cover it up and stop it laddering.

I also embroidered some simple detail on the 'sleeves'. As I thought it was a bit plain as is. 
I hope to make another longer one in another material as I can't afford proper linen at the moment. Next in my regency wardrobe will be a bodiced petticoat....and I have a special idea with that.