Kristen: Jane Austen's Birthday Party!

Let me preface this post with the following statement: I need sleep. If at times my text is confusing, I apologize! Within the past week I've participated in a Civil War Christmas "party," Jane Austen's birthday party complete with Regency dress and underpinnings, wrote /edited a 15 page paper, and finished a website for class (http://18thcenturyclothing.weebly.com/). Yet it was all worth it! You've already read my post here about my Civil War party...now for Jane Austen's birthday!

 I am a proud member of JASNA, the Jane Austen Society of North America. This fall I went to a tea party/book discussion that I mentioned in a previous post. I was ecstatic to be invited to a birthday celebration for Ms. Austen with such a lovely group of women, and at the Inn at St. John's, a former seminary!

The chapel itself was gorgeous! I was one of only a few women who dressed in Regency attire, so there was a *gasp* when I walked into the room! After a short blessing we headed down to the banquet room, where a party was set to honor Jane Austen's birthday!

We first started with a toast...and since I didn't have my license (left in the car) they wouldn't serve me champagne! My 26th birthday in one week, and I toasted with sparkling grape juice! Everyone at the table had a good laugh at that one...After our meal, we sang "Happy Birthday" and ate some cake.

Our host had little prizes for the tables if we could answer enough trivia about Pride and Prejudice without the use of modern devices. One of the women at my table could nearly quote the book! We didn't win, but I did learn A LOT about the text itself, and that I truly was in a room of Austenites! They also had a little lending library and games that we could admire. Did you know Jane Austen has an action figure????

Did I mention that everyone kept snapping pictures of me? I was quite a novelty; one women even commented that I looked like dear Jane herself! I take pride in the time/research that I invested in this ensemble. 

Finally, I had to return home. Along the way I stopped at my Aunt's house to hem my cousin's choir dress. I made her take a few pictures, since the lighting at the party was difficult. I'm reminded of how well everything fell together. Seven yards of light yellow cotton voile fabric, several feet of embroidered leaves, a set of short stays, a sleeveless chemise, white stockings, dainty black slippers, perfectly curled hair with grecian hair band, my own teardrop pearl earrings, reproduction ring, and a silk/wool shawl imported from India...so many pieces had to fall together *just so* in order to make this work. I'm glad it did! As my first Regency wardrobe, it certainly displays the advancement of my sewing skills.

It has finally happened...I am an Austenite! It's not enough to read her writing...I needed to spend some time in "her clothing" to truly understand her. 

Now I shall SLEEP! That is, until I start sewing for The Historical Sew Fortnightly...more on that later, you nosy reader you...

~Kristen

Regency Exhibition Ball 2014- Becky

Its that time again! Although we are looking towards the short-term future of snow and ice... and maybe hot coco with peppermint sticks, spring is right around the corner! This is the time to put on soundtracks of Pride and Prejudice (2005), Jane Eyre (2011), and Marie Antoinette (2006) and sew like a mad man!

First event of the "season" is really not part of a group event. None the less, the Regency Exhibition Ball has been growing and growing! I feel the need to let you all know it's coming up! You better get started on that short stay that has been half finished for a while now!!

 The 2014 Regency Exhibition Ball.

The ball committee extends an invitation to you and your party to join them for 

the 8th annual Regency Exhibition Ball. It is to be held on Saturday, March 22, 2014,

 at the Central United Methodist Church in downtown Lansing, Michigan. 

The doors open to our guests at 6:30 with the dancing to commence at 7 pm until 10 pm.

Dance instruction will be provided by Mr. Glen Morningstar. 

Music will be by The Old Michigan Ruff Water String Band. 

Refreshments will be catered "Sweet Confections". 

Tickets will go on sale beginning December 1, 2013 until February 28, 2014 at $25. 

Student (ages 10-18) tickets are $20 each.

For ticket sales go to www.thedressmakersshop.com

The price for all tickets will go up March 1 - March 15 to $35 each. 

No tickets sales at the door. 

Period attire for 1790-1828 is highly appropriate. 

We look forward to seeing you at the Ball.

 Most Kind regards, The Regency Exhibition Ball Committee, 

Mr. and Mrs. James Lynch, Miss Deborah Bates, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Lynch.

Buy the tickets and all your Regency needs HERE!

Kristen: Regency Stays Part II

So I've learned quite a bit in the past few weeks. Gussets, binding, corsetry; I am really stepping up my knowledge with each project. However, I forgot probably the most important thing of all: I've lost weight.

It's not just a few pounds weight either. I'm sweating 6 days a week, battling through coed soccer and weightlifting. In the space of 6 weeks I've lost over 10 pounds (I swear I'm eating healthy! Just not heavy on the sugar anymore...) I'm delighted, but I've lost a feel for how my clothing fits.

Where was I? Oh yes-my Regency short stays. They're finished, boned and all. Here are the shots that I could get, whenever I wasn't hemorrhaging from sticking my finger under the needle. After basting together my layers, I added boning (4) and sewed together the gussets. Most of the rest was eyelets and binding.

At some point ink found its way onto the linen, and I'm surprised it's not dripping in tears and blood. The gussets turned out okay, though I had to go back and resew a few times. Overall, not a bad first set of Regency stays.

They are of course slightly too big. I am underestimating my weight loss when measuring myself, and a part of me is afraid to cut too small. What if I gain all that back? I like my healthier self and would like to stay this way!

Well, now that my dear reader has seen my in my skivvies, I suppose I can retire my scandal for the moment. That is, until I put up another blog post for my master's class about 18th century rakes...

~Kristen

Kristen: Regency Short Stays Part I

I've recently had a quick moment (between family, reading, working, and exercising) to work on my new Regency short stays! I am using the Sense and Sensibility pattern, which you can buy here. I recommend this pattern very highly, though it did run a bit large on me.

Also, you need two adorable cuddling dogs

I am by no means an advanced seamstress; those of you with experience would laugh at my feeble attempts (and sometimes bleeding fingers!). Yet I am proud of this project so far, even if I've made a few mistakes.

Cut pattern (I'm size 8ish)

Cut gussets

Iron down edges

Prepare to attach gussets

Pin them down

Make sure they're pinned!

Sew them down

...and then attach everything else!

So I may have skipped a few steps in here, though if you buy the pattern it will be very clear. The goal is to create a "shelf" of a bosom, and I noticed that immediately when trying it on (with a chemise underneath). So far the process has not been terribly difficult, and all I have left is to bone and bind. Ideally this would be done in the next week, because I would like to start my Regency dress for the Jane Austen tea on  December 8th! Here's just a peek, you nosy neighbor you!

By the way, I think I'll watch Pride and Prejudice at some point this week. I need a little Elizabeth Bennet to liven up these dreary fall nights...

~Kristen

Kristen: My First JASNA Meeting

As if my time wasn't so precious; between work, master's classes, reenacting, sewing, soccer, and sleeping, I decided to join JASNA. You are probably wondering what JASNA is, and I'm going to give you a hint...

I want

JASNA stands for Jane Austen Society of America, a proud organization of Austen-lovers and pursuers of early 19th century everything. Needless to say, I was psyched to attend my first meeting!

We met at the home of one of the members, and it was obvious she loved Austen! I noted several designs that decorated her space, ones that I envied quite a bit...

We began by discussing Pride and Prejudice in multimedia forms, which included the three movie interpretations. My favorite is still the one with Keira Knightly, though that might be because I watched the movie religiously on weekends during my trek through high school. 

She seemed most like me!

Our facilitator asked very thoughtful questions, and I truly bonded with the lovely women who are kindred spirits! Our conversation continued, covering our favorite English television shows, and of course my opinions of Regency style!

I already bought the kashmir shawl...

We adjourned to tea and snacks. I ate my fill and then some; the tea cups were quaint and the table setting gorgeous! I tried a tea I can't remember, but it was quite delicious. The quality of the conversation surpassed all expectations! 

After eating too much and conversing quite freely, I left...already feeling Austen-withdrawals. My next meeting is coming up on October 27th already! If you are interested in knowing more about JASNA, email barbJA@comcast.net. You have to first join the national organization, which can be found at http://www.jasna.org/. As for me, I need to get sewing! On my agenda first, a pair of Regency short stays!

My sewing list this week:

1. Finish short stays

2. Finish 1 thing for Becky's baby shower

3. Finish another surprise thing for baby shower 

(Aren't you so curious Becky?)

~Kristen