Upcoming projects!

So i’ve been working on the wearable mock-up for my husbands 18th century waistcoat these past couple of days. It’s the JP Ryan pattern here:

It’s coming along well. My husband already picked out the color of the silk taffeta that he wants for it, and that is the color Sultan from Silk Baron. I don’t know if I am going to attempt to make functional pockets, just the pocket flap, or no pocket at all, but I do need to decide. After I do the mock up of course comes the real version. And then after that, he needs two new 18th century shirts.

As for me, I have my next projects lined up. The first being an Edwardian-era capelet for a stroll that I am going on with friends in January, along with a nice, big, fur muff. After that, I want to tackle view B of the Amalia Jacket from Scroop Patterns:

For this jacket, I plan on making it from yet more silk taffeta from Silk Baron (I seriously love that company), but this color is a gorgeous pink with greenish and blue tint, called Aurora. I got the sample in the other day, and it’s even more gorgeous in person.

I absolutely adore the zone front and peplum of the bodice! For the petticoat, I plan on going with the color Magnolia from Silk Baron. My friend said the colors are like frosted strawberry lemonade, and I am here for it!

Of course I need to make some new pieces for my kids, but they grow like weeds! My daughter when from wearing a 14-16 in girls at the beginning of the school year to a womens small/medium now. How am I supposed to keep up with that? Plus I need to actually find a decent and quick pattern for some 18th century jackets/bodices for her, since the petticoats are super easy to make. I may know how to sew, but I have no clue how to scale or alter patterns to make them kid/teenage size.

So that’s it for now. After I am done cleaning and getting things done around the house, I am going to pin the lining and fashion fabric of the waist coat and see how to go about sewing that. I’m kind of confused because I have literally skipped doing lining in any projects for years! I told yall that I am a chaotic goblin when it comes to sewing! So I’ve never properly done lining until my regency gowns and angelica gowns, but attaching the lining to those were different. This pattern calls for the fabrics to be pinned together all the way around right side out (which I can follow), and then it says flip it inside out through the armholes….WHAT???

Wish me luck!

Autumnal Bonfire Party: The debut of The Angelica Gown & the black Chemise a la reine

This past weekend was just amazing. On Saturday I headed down to Virginia to attend my friend Jennys autumnal bonfire party. This was an all day into the evening party in which we donned our finest frocks, and the theme was dark & spooky autumn. There was no set time period to come in, so it was lovely to see the array of historical era’s displayed. As you all know, I have been working crazy hard since October to make an 18th century Italian gown, The Angelica gown from scroop patterns, and I had already made a black chemise a la reine for the event. And they both made their debut! I put the chemise a la reine on for the first half of the day, with the angelica gown for the second. Let me tell you, the way the angelica gown looks and moves is EVERYTHING! Believe it or not, I was originally going to go with a color named Hex from the Silk Baron, but by the time I went to buy it, it was sold out. So the color of the gown, Bruja, was a color they had just released and I knew it was perfect for me. The petticoat is a shot silk petticoat in a sapphire blue that I already had. But enough babbling, let’s go to the pictures!

Finished! The purple Angelica gown

She. Is. DONE!!!! Yes yes yes yes yes yes!!! 🙌🏾 I literally got done sewing the lace tucked on maybe an hour ago, and then I hastily threw her on the dress form for pictures, but y’all! SHES FINALLY DONE! And tomorrow, she will make her debut!

So a couple of things about making this gown. 1- The silk taffeta is a color called Bruja from @silkbaron (and I’m already eyeing other colors from them for future projects). 2- I was going to make a black petticoat to go with this, but I really like the way the blue petticoat pops, jewel tones for everyone! 3-this is the second version of this gown that I made, and the 2nd time around went much smoother. The pattern is the #angelicagown from @scrooppatterns. For the sake of time since I started working on this just under two weeks ago, the bodice/sleeves/and hems are machine sewn, everything else is hand sewn. 4-the gorgeous brooch that’s pinned on the waist sash is from @dames_a_la_mode . 5-not pictured are the shoes from @americanduchess .

And with that, I am DONE with making 18th century gowns for a while, next projects up are for my husband who has been a saint in waiting. If I say that I want to do another Angelica gown in the next 12 months, slap me!!!

Progress on the Angelica Gown V.2


So I am back from the wedding in CT, and from visiting friends in MA. For the first time in 18 years I did NOT do anything for Halloween since we were driving back home Monday afternoon through the evening. But that means that today I started attaching the skirts to the bodice. Well first I had to readjust the pleating so it can fit within the 28 inch mark line , but that was relatively easy.(taffeta is a DREAM to pleat honestly!!!
And once the pleats were adjusted and pinned, it was time to actually attach the skirts. Using silk thread for the very first time made a world of difference! I also learned that you should typically sew with the type of thread that your fabric is: so cotton to cotton, linen to linen, silk to silk, etc. This is news to me 😂
I have until Friday evening to get this finished. I still have to sew the rest 50% of the half of the skirt to the bodice, cut the sleeves and sew them, sew the straps, and hem this gown, and my black chemise a la reine. For the sake of time and my sanity, I will be using my sewing machine to hem it.
Tomorrow I plan in running by JoAnn fabrics for items for product photography for a couple of small businesses, but also to see if I can find a lightweight sheer cotton that would work as a fichu. I got the white fabric that I’m wearing for this one pictures below .

Oh! And I still have to make two petticoats to wear each gown! I have faith!!!
After all this sewing for myself, I’m going to start working on a couple of projects for my husband. Including an 18th century waistcoat, a sleeved waistcoat, and a new shirt.
Oh! November letters for my $10 tier patrons will be going out VERY soon!

It’s Done!: The Angelica Gown (Mockup Version)

So it took just under three weeks, but the Angelica gown is done. HOORAY! (I repeat, HOORAY!). Even though I’ve been sewing and doing historical costuming for years, this gown was the first truly historical pattern I attempted, and boy did it kick me in the butt. I tend to take a lot of shortcuts and do what I want to do when it comes to sewing and using patterns, but this one has shown me that I can’t do that all the time UNLESS I already know what I’m doing. For example, I can knock a regency gown out with a sewing machine in under 2 days.

A couple of things I have learned from making this gown:

1-Historical patterns are VASTLY different from modern commercial patterns.

2-Some things just NEED to be hand stitched. I’m used to taking shortcuts and machine-sewing everything. NOT with this gown!

3-Hand sewing is not all that bad. I used to hate it but found out that I’m quite quick with it once I get a good rhythm going and focus

4-PRESS. OPEN. SEAMS. Trust me on this.

Now, the dress still needs to be hemmed, which I can do at any time since it’s a wearable mock-up, but other than that it is done! Here are some pictures:



Also, can we get a round of applause for these pictures taken by my 11 year old? Looks like she is following in my footsteps as a wedding photographer!

Now that the mock-up is done, I feel way more confident in starting the real version, and cutting into my silk baron tafetta! I have an event to go to on the 5th, and the theme is dark and moody. So although I already have a black chemise a la reine (which still needs to be hemmed), I am EXTRA, so I want a second gown to change into. But if it doesn’t get done, then I’ll be changing into edwardian.

Wish me luck and happy sewing!

Work in progress: The Angelica Gown

What can I say about this gown? For one, it’s the first actual historical pattern that I have ever worked on, and if you know me, you know that patterns and I never work out. Secondly, this thing has different techniques that I have never heard off PLUS there’s a ton of hand sewing.

So I started the mock up for this gown by Scroops Patterns and Virgil’s Fine Goods two weeks ago. It is being made out of a honey colored linen with a white Muslim lining for the bodice. Haven’t quite decided on the color of the petticoat yet, but I’m thinking of a black one since I kind of need one anyway, and maybe one with a gorgeous African print.

Here are parts 1 and 2 of the progress:

@themarisazimmerman1

♬ In My Blood – Vitamin String Quartet
@themarisazimmerman1

I will admit, the beginning of this project had me STRESSED, but it’s nice to see everything starting to come together. More handstitching on the bodice before I move onto the skirts!

♬ Bittersweet Symphony – Vitamin String Quartet

So now with the pleating on the skirts done, I need to baste them down to keep them in place, and then comes the exciting part aka stressful part: attaching the bodice to the skirts! I am so so nervous to do this. But I need to get it done, because I have to turn around and do this all over again with the main fabric. Let me show you! It’s called Bruja by The Silk Baron and it is seriously gorgeous! Perfect for my spooky themed costume meet up coming up in November (let’s hope I can get it done before then though!)

As far as the petticoat, I’m going to do with a simple black one so it can go with the mock up version and real version. May add some decorative ruffle trim, we shall see!

Other than that, I have to get the monthly rewards (wax sealed letters for my patrons done this weekend, along with a wedding tomorrow. Let’s hope the rain from this storm holds off so my couple can get some gorgeous sunset images.

So that’s it for now. Wish me luck in the finishing of this gown!

The Black Chemise A La Reine

I did it yall! After a long time of wanting to make my own chemise a la reine, I finally did it! Well, this is not my first one. My husband had one made for me in white as a Mothers Day gift like two years ago. Since one of my friends is doing a spooky/dark themed costumed meetup in November, right after Halloween, I definitely wanted a black one.

So to start with, I had to decide whether I wanted to do it from a pattern or from scratch. I headed to Instagram with a poll, and a majority of people suggested the Laughing Moon Chemise A La Reine Pattern. But then others suggested that it wouldn’t be too terribly hard being that at the base of it, it is just rectangular panels with straps and sleeves, so my chaotic goblin sewing brain decided to give that a try.

First, the fabric!!!! I knew that I wanted it black, but didn’t know exactly which fabric to choose. Apparently cotton voile is popular, but on a random trip to a JoAnn fabrics out of town I went the Linen Look Fabric Solid from JoAnn (the fabric content is 85% viscose and 15% linen, and drapes like a dream).

Let’s get in how I went about construction. After doing a lot of online searching, and getting input from friends, I came across the blog post about a simple chemise a la reine from Fresh Frippery’s blog, and decided to go with that. She used 3 panels of 55″ fabric (one back, and two sides). Since I am larger than her and wanted a lot of floor, I went with four panels of 52″ fabric. One back, two sides, and the third panel was cut in half length wise and each one added to the sides, like so:

After sewing the panels together, I then sewed a channel for the ribbon along the top. The squiqly bits shown are where the ribbon was incased, and be sure to leave a 12″ opening (do not put ribbon in the casing) on either side of the back panel for the arms. Then you run the ribbon through each of the channels, gather to high heaven, and sew down at the back two anchor points, and the two side anchor points of the channels. For the front, you don’t achor the ribbon down, as you will use those two ribbons to tie the front of the gown closed. And being that there is a lot of gathered fabric, it closes beautifully once done.

This is what it looks like with everything gathered, those two hanging bits on the sides are where the arms go.

I found that I had to gather the back A LOT for it to not hang, since the weight of the fabric makes it want to drape down naturally. So again, lots and lots of gathering. After gathering and placing on the dress form where it would ideally fall on me, I made the straps. Now these were straightforward, two straps that ended up being about 10 inches in length and three inches in width, with a slightly curved edge at one side. At first, I thought that these would be two short and then I made a second set that was slightly longer, but remember that drape I talked about? I ended up going with the shorter straps.

Now at this point, I flipped the gown inside out and put it back on the dressform, then took a ribbon (as you can see) to tie where the waist band would be. I then marked where that would go. But during the final fitting, I decided that I wouldn’t sew in a channel for a waistband because tying it with the wide ribbon was enough to keep it in place.

Moving forward to my favorite part: THE SLEEVES! I’m kidding! If you know me,you know I hate sleeves and they make me cry. My last two regency gowns, my friend Renee had to come over to help me, because my brain literally locks up when I think about doing sleeves. So of course, I wanted to go with something super simple for me to make. Now, with the chemise a la reine, there are so many paintings of this dress in various styles: fitted sleeves, fitted three quarter sleeves, poofy sleeves, etc. So I decided to go with a poof sleeve with one simple ruffle at the elbow. Definitely not hard. Cue, the panic.

Ribbn casing about to be sewn.

So my good friend Shasta (ScifiCheerGirl on IG) came over to help me! So what she did was make a simple rectangle, and draped it from my shoulders to where the ruffle was. I then sewed a ribbon for the casing on the inside, and finished the top and the bottom of the sleeve. We had to do a little gather along the top of the sleeve to fit it, we then set it, and it worked!

And with all that said, here is the semi-final product! I just got in a wide, deep-purple ribbon for the waist, and of course I still have to hem this beast (205″ of hemming to do!). Introducing…her:

Now all I need is an epic hat like this one!

Now all in all, it took roughly 5-6 hours of work. I would have probably been able to do it all in one day, but again…sleeves, so it took two days. Also, the robe makes for a FANTASTIC vintage looking night robe to flounce around the house in with pretty undergarments.

Tutorial: Kimono Sleeve Cardigan/Wrap

If you know me, you know that I love to wear a good open cardigan or wrap with a lot of my ensembles. Especially my vintage ensembles. So when I saw this fabric at JoAnn Fabrics, I KNEW it had to come home with me!

2 yards of a lovely buronon cotton velvet in a floral design

So with this fabric, I knew that I could whip up a little open front cardigan within an hour, and that’s what I set to do yesterday! Here is the tutorial from my TikTok Page:

@themarisazimmerman1

Here’s like one of my first full length tutorials. I’ll have the blog post that goes over this pattern in more detail soon! I hope you like it! #sewing #sewingtiktok #seamstress #makingmyownclothes #tutorial #sewingtutorial

♬ original sound – ✨Marisa Z.✨

I hope its easy to follow along with, and if you do make your own, I would love to see it! In other news, I woke up today to a new patron supporting my account, so yay for that! Any and all supports means the world, so what does your support go to financially? Well first, remember that this is all a hobby, and nobody is obliged to support. But your support goes into me deep diving into the historical costuming community of the periods that I am obsessed with, it goes to learning materials and patterns, fabrics, and offsets the cost from taking out of my home budget. Hopefully, it can help with some historical themed trips so I can film lost of content for you. So again, thank you from but bottom of my heart that is literted in fabric remnants and pins.

With all that said, I have get into mom mode and get the house cleaned up with the kids are out of school, get some business stuff sorted away, and then start working a new project! A velvet 1950’s swing dress. Stay tuned!

A day at the MDRF!

Yesterday we ventured out to the Maryland renaissance ren faire, and while it was hot, we still had a great time…with some bumps in the road.

So to begin, here’s my getting ready video, it’s on my Instagram, but you check check it out below here.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRPnqJYP/

One of the first things I did was head to One Elven pottery to get one of her gorgeous mugs since I forgot mine at home, and within a few short hours of moving within the crowd and having it tied to my side, it broke 😅. I was devastated


we had some yummy food, ran into friends, watched a great rendition of The Little Slippers. And I was even picked to be a participant in a show. In which I immediately panicked when I was told that I would be throwing a shot knife to a man balancing on a ball while he juggles. TALK ABOUT PRESSURE, HUH!!!

We do plan on going again once the weather is a bit cooler, but it was still a fun day. In the meantime, I’m starting another challenge: Vintage October. In which I will wear a vintage ensemble from the 1920s-1950s everyday during the month of October (save for when I’m working or camping). I also have an Amazon wishlist for that to help build up the wardrobe a couple of pieces that can be changed and mixed-matched together: https://a.co/671b5FP So that shall be fun! And no worries, I will still be doing my 28 days of historical dress this February. This time with more Edwardian and 18th century I think!

Trip to JoAnn Fabrics

@themarisazimmerman1

Found fabric for my black chemise a la reine and a really cool pillow!!!

♬ original sound – ✨Marisa Z.✨

Today I stopped by the JoAnn Fabrics in Frederick, MD after visiting a friend for her birthday and getting my daughters ears pierced. I fell in love with the zodiac velvet fabric but didn’t get it. I did, however, get some black linen for my upcoming chemise a la reine. I am using the blog post from Fresh Frippery’s blog to make it. Wish me luck!

I’m also in the process of re-launching my Patreon to focus on my historical costuming and such. Some of the tiers will include monthly wax-sealed letters, zoom calls and more. So if you have it in you to contribute, you can do so here.