Silly Millie Blogs

While continuing to research images of Edwardian afternoon dresses specifically from the years 1910-1912, I realized I also needed to research what fabrics, colors, trims and decorations were popular at that time.  This activity included researching the fabrics themselves because honestly, without being able to see and touch them I had no idea what the differences are between one type of silk and another.  Or what serge actually is.  Or any number of other fabrics that I had never heard of:  Shepherds plaid?  Mousseline?  Marquisette?  Pongee?  You get the idea.   I was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad time selecting a look  - so I just kept researching. I understood I needed to develop a mental data base of period looks, I just didn't know how many images it would take for my brain to do this.  I also had to know what fabrics were out there in order to select a look, as well as what patterns exist.  So whil...

Several months ago, a friend invited me to join her at a tea April 14 to commemorate the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.  The catch was that everyone will be wearing 1912 garb.  In my continuing effort to stop overthinking everything, I said yes!  This friend of mine is an avid historical sewer and reenactor, and I asked her where one would find patterns.  And this is when I learned that there are two ways to approach dressing in the apparel of a different era.  One is to buy 21c patterns that are made to be worn over 21c undergarments, and the other is to use period patterns and wear them over period undergarments. Still basking in the rosy afterglow of making such a quick and bold decision, I chose the latter. This is the story of my subsequent descent into madness. I began looking online for patterns and was amazed by the wealth of historical sewing resources readily available.  I mean, really, who knew t...