Hello All,
I got this lovely picture off Pinterest and I hope to grow more hollyhocks around my windows, because it looks so beautiful. Wouldn't it be nice to look out a window and see these flowers from the inside?
I will tell you now while I think of it, about a lady who lived in a very run down neighborhood where a saw mill was. These days, there are stricter zoning laws, and houses and mills are not in the same area, but this was an older neighborhood.
She made the best of things and grew hollyhocks all around her house and by the windows, to block out the views she didn't like. It was quite charming to see it in the middle of the saw dust mounds and lumber stacks. As to what she did about the smell and the noise, I do not know, but her house was something people drove by deliberately to gawk at.
Today is Ladies Bible Class and Doctor's appointments for Mr. S., and I will not get much of anything in the home done at all, and there will not be any sewing report. After almost completing this green coat and wearing it for about a week, I halfway think the coats I have been looking at that are worn by royals and celebs are not really coats, but coat dresses.---dresses that are designed to look like coats, or else they wear very skinny clothing with the coat. I don't think they remove the coats in any social situation.
I have recently been admiring this coat, worn by one of the British royals, but as I said, it is probably a woolen dress:
I have some aqua cotton fabric that I could use, and I have been eagerly trying to find out how to do the button closures with that rope ribbon tab across the front, which looks Victorian. Going further into history it is very much like the Caucasion traditional dress, or Adyghe traditional costume from the Caucasus Mountains where all the castles and the knights on their handsome horses originated.
I believe the 19th Century Victorian artist, Edmund Blair Leighton used costumes like this with the big sleeves in his paintings, and am thinking in particular of the yellow dress in "Stitching the Standard" **and other dresses he painted in blue and red. At the time, the Victorians revered their own past very sentimentally, reading stories of knights, ladies and castles and such, as their era became more modern. So, the traditional dress of previous eras became the theme of many artists of the 19th century.
On these Caucasian or Adyghen costumes you can see those interesting buttons across the bodice that are joined with ribbon.
Here is a coat pattern I am interested in, (because I do still not have enough coat patterns. I am sure I will be saying that when they are spilling out of the pattern drawer.)
Above is a costume pattern from Butterick that I have seen, and today I am going to open the envelope when I'm in the fabric department and see what the technique is to make those ribbons and buttons look like that. When the Butterick patterns go on sale for $1.99 I will purchase this.
This is a screenshot of Lady Harriot's riding habit from Wives and Daughters. You can see that interesting ribbon and button design on the bodice.
This is another nice coat pattern picture:
After we return from the appointments, I have to do some housekeeping, so for now, these are just in my planning notebook. I may never get that coat or coat dress made, but it keeps my mind active thinking of how to make that coat worn by Laura Lopes (top picture).
**Stitching the Standard by Edmund B. Leighton. Many of the men and women's costumes in his paintings appear to be the historic traditional dress of the Caucasions who lived in chilly northern climes in Europe and Asia.
This is Simplicity 8262 which features those button toggles:
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When asked "When do you feel pain?" Mr. S. replied "Only when I breathe."
3 comments:
You're correct that the royals wear "coat-dresses" and do not remove them. I have several books about Princess Diana's clothing and that's what is said about them. They are mostly made of wool, or a silk/wool blend. They are usually couture and custom made to fit the individual. That's why they look so great! Polyester fleece will never give you the same look. I'm a long time seamstress and know how much work goes into custom fit and tailoring. There's a reason the clothing costs a bundle.
Rozy Lass, thanks for your comment. I remember you leaving a very informative comment on breast feeding a few months ago and I appreciated it.
In Australia in the 1960's when I lived there, the most common fabric was a wool-nylon blend, which was non wrinkle and very durable. Also there was a wool-crepe. The women's clothing looked very nice. Here we have many cottons and lots of acrylics, and cotton blends. I see more rayons, too. But I would sure like to get the look of the royal coat dresses in my sewing. However, for home-wearing, I do prefer cotton. When I sew I want to be able to wear it from house to travel to store, to everything, and not have to change clothes from casual to formal. That is why I chose cotton, because the dress is formal but the fabric is informal. I liked the Laura Ashley era because of the high quality cotton in the dresses. I haven't seen anything like it since then. Women were wearing her garments to church and weddings, because they were so dignified and the style, though it looked kind of prairee informal, was used as a high-end type of clothing. Mothers, daughters and grandmothers could wear the same print and it looked good on all generations. In the 1990's I read that LA was undermined by designers that wanted more immodest clothing to sell. It seemed like overnight her shops all closed. There were many immitations of her styles in other brands, but thankfully I was able to get some of the sewing patterns.
Your dresses are always so lovely and modest! Cotton (and linen) is a favorite of mine too. Right now I live in Minnesota and I'm longing for some wool dresses! Your green coat looks wonderful and is probably just right for where you live. Thank you for sharing such uplifting content on your blog. I enjoy visiting.
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