Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Regency

Regency Era: the years from the 1790s to the 1820s, mainly in Europe. To me, "Regency" means beautiful dresses and hairstyles, social classes, Pemberly, Hartfield, Norland, and, well, in short, Jane Austen! :-)

I love everything Regency! Mainly my love for it is inspired by the excellent books by Jane Austen, and some of the delightful movie renditions of them...



Lately I have taken up sewing (or attempting to sew) my own Regency wardrobe. :-) But you kind of have to work from the inside out, so I started with the chemise, which is like a slip, and is also called a shift... I learned so many new skills while sewing it, such as sewing gussets in sleeves, making a bias, and sewing flat felled seams! (Thank you, Mrs. Smith! :-) )

Then the short stays... which are a mild form of a corset, basically-- softer and shorter. It was a big project, and lots of fun, especially applying the boning. :-) I finished that on Monday, but haven't gotten a picture of them. Unfortunately, they were a little big on me, but fit Amanda, so either I am going to have to make a new pair or try some other option. At least, it only took me a week to make, but still... that was all afternoon every day but Sunday! :-P

Below is the basic look of the stays, only these aren't the ones I made. The pattern is from Sense and Sensibility.

Well, once I find a solution to the stays problem, I will, Lord willing, make the dress. The pattern I have is from Simplicity, but the same pattern can be gotten from Sense and Sensibility (link above.) In cutting out the pattern pieces for this dress, I have decided I like working with the Sensibility much better than Simplicity-- I say that in case you decide to buy the pattern yourself. Of course, your taste in may vary from mine. :-)

I've also tried a hairstyle inspired from the films, particularly Elinor in the new "Sense and Sensibility" (BBC). Here's Elinor:


And here's me:

Hmm... needs some improvement in the back where it wraps around. How do some people manage to make their hair (or others') so nice?

Well, I don't know whether or not to say this post was totally pointless... but it's fun for me and thought you might like to know what's going on over here in between Sundays. :-)
I hope you are all enjoying the beauty of God's creation and the joy of a blooming spring, inside and out. May the Lord "grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being..."

12 comments:

Lilly said...

O, how fun and pretty! I too very much enjoy that era and it might also have something to do with a few movies.

Your Mama said...

What a blessing it is that the Lord has given you a desire to sew now. I rejoice in seeing you apply yourself to hours of concentrating on how to do a good job... and I know you desire to do it all to the Glory of God.

Pure Little Ladies Ministry said...

How lovely!!! Simply beautiful!! I recently bought a regency-style nightgown pattern and was all ready to start cutting when...realized that even though it said "XS, S, M, L, XL" on the front it REALLY was the "L, XL" sizes....not the small one that I needed. =S Ack!

You know what would go really pretty with that?? Go check out my blog (HSB, not Blogspot)!! ^_^ I'm trying to make a sale for Mrs. Brown's buisness, "Bundled in Prayer" and the thought of nightgowns made me think of...*shhh*!! You'll have to read my post to find out. ^_^

Lotsa Love!!
Toria
P.S. Tell Amanda that her post about the judge/April Fools was AWESOME!! I tried to comment but wasn't sure it went through...
P.S.S. Tell Bethy I LOVED all the pics up at D.b.D. as well. ^_^ Thanks...

juli said...

That looks so good Melanie!

Teddy said...

Melanie! That is so cool! I especially love your hair-you'll have to show me how you do it sometime. I keep trying to do something like that with my own hair, but my hair is so heavy everything always falls out. Keep up the good work!

Amanda said...

Fun! =)

Ana said...

How beautiful!! :) I love Jane Austen and regency outfits!

Leah said...

I love the regency era! :) Hurray for your sewing projects! :) I made a regency dress once. I was quite happy with it, except for the fact that it cuts off the blood circulation on my arms! Hm... maybe it's a bit small....

I LOVE YOUR HAIR!! It is so beautiful...

Melanie said...

Toria,
That is funny about the pattern! ;-) I looked at the shawls... those would go really well! :-)

Teddy,
Let's get together sometime and I'll do your hair! It helped for me to curl it at the end so I didn't have all these little sticks sticking out of the bun. :-) Your hair is a different consistency than mine though... but we can but try! We'll do each other's hair while we watch Cranford. ;-)

Leah,
What pattern did you use for the dress? I'm going to be doing the Simplicity version...

Teddy said...

Ooo! I like your thinking Melanie-jolly good show!

Leah said...

I used the Easy stitch n' save by McCall's #M5563 view b. It's not labeled regency but it looks pretty close to me! :)

Amanda said...

Thanks for the stays, Melanie! ;-)