I've not been completely idle all this time though: I completed my striped polonaise, which I think I've been hinting about in posts past, and wore it with pride one wonderful day in the beginning of May, together with a straw hat made from no less than three place mats:
This is the only full-figure photo of me in the gown so you'll have to imagine the en forreau-back and the overall polonaise-fluffyness of the skirt. The bodice was a bit too long to fit perfectly but it worked very well besides that. And, God, it's so pink!I've learnt a couple of things since we last met as well, and most importantly:
Things I've learnt #1. Sewing a plastic headband into your wig with the purpose of making it stay better on your head may result in a) making the wig stay better on top of your head; and b) hair loss.
Seriously!
I thought it felt a bit uncomfortable, even painful at times, when I wore the wig, but I never imagined a pouf hairstyle would be very pleasant at all ('fashion before ease' etc.) so I didn't mind much. Until the morning after, when I saw this:
I'm partially bald. Great.Things I've learnt #2. Being an embroidery novice and insisting on doing your embroidery while on public transport will not make for a very agreeable result:
But those are going to be a pair of hanging pockets which no one will ever see anyway, so I don't care too much really...Things I've learnt #3. Spending a day at thrift stores and flea markets with your sister and aunt is a great thing (but I already knew that).
Today's finds, piled up in front of the general mess that is our living room:
A bobbin lace... thing, that I never, ever will learn how to master I'm sure, but it will make a good prop and it was practically free.
Even the former owner got tired of it; it came with a tiny unfinished lace so that people can believe I'm some sort of domestic goddess....fabric, or curtains really. But I'm thinking about turning it into a polonaise that can be used for summer activities in the green grass and all sorts of wear-and-tear. Yay for cheap cotton!
...a pair of shoes that I'll try to recover using the method Bauhausfrau describes here. If I don't suceed, I've only lost a pair of cheap granny shoes that no one cared about anyway.
...Thackeray's Vanity Fair that I've been wanting to read for some time now, in three volumes from 1876. Oh, so fragile. Not the kind of book I can carry around in my purse all day, unfortunately.
...and a biography on a Swedish 18th century artist and architect that I know very little about, which I'm sure will change any day soon.
A day (and money) well spent, if I'm to say so myself!
Now I'm not sure what I'm going to attend to next: shoes, or summer polonaise? Stay tuned.
love the lace pillow, me jealous :-)
ReplyDeleteAh, you can have it, if you care to come to Stockholm, Sweden to pick it up :P It will never come to use in my home unless I become an invalid (which I don't really wish for).
ReplyDeleteOuch! Hope your own hair grow back soon!
ReplyDeleteYes, Beatelund was really something! Are you coming to Skansen in july?
Anna
The Vanity Fair would be lovely to read, but take good care of it!
ReplyDeleteAnna: I suppose it will grow back, but how the h*** will it look? XD I hope I'll make it to Skansen at least on one of the days, depending on my work schedule. Bleh.
ReplyDeleteViola: It IS lovely to read, but unfortunately I haven't taken very good care of it... I couldn't help but bring it with me to work, it's such a page-turner.
What a haul! Clearly Swedish flea markets are far superior to Canadian ones. And major ouch about the hair, poor you! I'm sure it will grow back quickly...
ReplyDeleteOh, but the lace pillow thing is beautiful, I would buy it too - it makes a great decoration! =D And the embroidery doesn't look too terrible at all! But did you use a frame? It makes it all so much easier!
ReplyDeleteFuchsia: alas, no! One main goal with yesterday's flea market safari was actually to buy a nice old frame and I thought there would be dozens to chose from. But no such luck, so I must get one from a REAL shop since I now know it's a pain to try and sew without one :P
ReplyDeleteMs. VG: I'm sure it will grow back quickly, but I'm afraid it will be a lot shorter than rest of the hair. Ergo: I'll have strange, short, not quite centered bangs randomly placed on my forehead! I'm determined to like it! :D
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ReplyDeleteVery nice dress, really! Just like a polonaise should be =)
ReplyDeleteI like to sew me a polonaise gown. Is it hard? Maybe difficult question to answer... but I will be glad to get any information I can.
Lady A F: No, a polonaise is quite an easy project to start with, I think, as long as you get help with the fitting of the bodice (would you need it). Otherwise it is quite straightforward: a bodice, the sleeves and the skirt. If you have or could borrow a copy of Janet Arnold's 'Pattern's of Fashion' and have a little experience of pattern-making I think you could make something wonderful :) I'm not very experienced myself but I would be glad to help.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the information, I really appreciates it!
ReplyDeleteI've found a pattern here: http://www.handelsgillet.se/monster.htm#171800-tal . Do you think it can serve as pattern for a nice polonaise? (I saw that they got patterns for stays too, I guess I'm going to need them too).
Anyway, I'm in the "thinking stage" of the project so the only things I've done, so far, is drawing the model on paper and putting on some different colours. As seen in my blog: http://augustafredrika.blogspot.com/2009/06/drommen-om-en-robe-la-polonaise.html
Again, many thanks to you!