I had a chance to wear my 1899 Elusive Blue Dress at the end of last year plus the opportunity to take some wintery-feeling photos in it. This dress is so fun to wear–elegant and swooshy! Plus, the big hair of this period is just what my hair loves to do. So in the spirit of my post in 2016 sharing a more summery turn of the century ensemble, enjoy this Winter Gibson Girl Vignette!
It’s that time of year: to reflect on last year and think ahead about this year. It’s helpful to look back and see my accomplishments as a group. I seem to always make more things than I remember having worked on in that year!
Projects I completed in 2017:
January: 19th Century Brown Silk Petticoat (HSM #1)
January: My Favorite Winter Things Skirt
February: 1927 Blush Sparkle Dress
April: Orange Boven Hat (HSM #4)
May: 1814 Orange Boven Pelisse
June: 1817 Gold Regency Duchess Dress
September: 1943 Mauve Print Dress
October: 1850s Chenille Headdress
November: 1933 Dress & Hat In Green & Gold (HSM #10)
November: 1830s Sleeve Puffs (HSM #11)
In February I was honored to be awarded the Liebster Blog Award by Plaid Petticoats! In August, I was excited to be able to take a fantastic trip to Denmark focused on learning 19th century dancing and including multiple balls. I haven’t posted about that trip yet… but I hope to early in 2018!
I participated in my fifth year of the Historical Sew Monthly. This year I completed 5 challenges. It was a busy year in other ways, so I feel happy about my completion of those 5 challenges.
In terms of events this year, I attended 11 balls, 10 other events (teas, picnics, outings etc.), and 2 vintage dance performances, for a total of 23 events (plus all that dance practice I had in Denmark!). Not quite as busy as other years, but respectable when I consider all the other life things that happened this year as well!
Looking at last year’s ‘definitely do’ list, I’m pleased to report that I exceeded my goals by not only making all the things on the list but actually exceeding it by altering two Regency dresses instead of just one. There were 8 things on the ‘maybe’ list and I completed 4 of them, though not all of those have had pictures taken yet.
For 2018, my ‘definitely do’ list is unusually short:
On the other hand, the ‘maybe’ list feels extensive, probably due to the lack of projects on the ‘definitely do’ list:
I’m looking forward to another year of research, sewing, spending time with old friends, and hopefully making some new friends, too! I hope for sunshine for all of us in 2018.
Why make sleeve puffs, you ask? In order to keep the large sleeves of 1830s dresses from deflating, of course! Here’s an example of my 1832 dress without puffs (on the left) and with puffs (on the right). They make such a difference!
I chose to use a sewing machine for much of the assembly of my puffs, but you could easily hand sew all of these steps instead.
To make these sleeve puffs you will need the following materials:
To begin, you’ll need to cut out your pieces:
Next, you’ll assemble your puffs:
Step 1: Lay your end caps on each end of the shaped base. Sew around the three exterior sides, leaving the side towards the center unstitched.
Step 2: Trim your seam allowances, corners, and clip through seam allowance close to the end of your stitch line on the shaped base.
Step 3: Turn each end cap so the right sides face out–the clip through the seam allowance allows the end caps to sit nice and flat on the shaped base.
Step 4: Run gathering stitches along each individual side of the four sides of each rectangle (not one long gathering line that turns the corners).
Step 5: Pull up your gathering stitches on the long sides and pin to the curved edges of the shaped base. You want to pin the rectangle to the side of the shaped based that does not have the end caps on it.
Step 6: Sew the gathered rectangle to the shaped base and turn it right side out.
Step 7: Now pull up the gathering threads on one short side of each rectangle. Turn the raw edge under and pin the gathers in place. Hand sew these gathers through all the layers, making sure to take small stitches and catch the gathers in many places. Leave the other side open for now.
Step 8: Stuff those puffs!
Step 9: Now pull up the gathering threads on the remaining short side of each rectangle. Turn the raw edge under and pin the gathers in place. Hand sew these gathers through all the layers as well, making sure to take small stitches and catch the gathers in many places. (This is the same as step 7.)
Step 10: Overlap the end caps about ¼” and sew them together.
Ta da! Now you have some sleeve puffs of your very own!
Extra tips:
I strongly suggest taking a look at extant puffs. As a starting point, I suggest this pair at the MFA and this pair at the V and A.
If you’re worried about keeping your puffs in place, ties can be added to the puffs which would be secured to additional ties in the armholes of dresses. Take another look at the those two pairs of extant puffs and you’ll see ties.
I also suggest looking at the puffs other people have made. It never hurts to see more methods of construction. I referenced Fresh Frippery and Stepping Into History when creating my puffs. Have you come across other 1830s puff making resources? If so, please share!
The Quintessential Clothes Pen 
