Friday, April 26, 2013

Permit me to make an introduction...

Friends of the blogging world, there's someone I'd like you to meet.  

No, I don't have a suitor.
Was that what popped into your head when you read the post title?
:D

Nope, this someone is of the female variety.  She's a bit hard to talk to, but quite accommodating once you get to know her.  I can't exactly say that she has a good head on her shoulders, but she's dependable.  She's rather stiff, but is willing to adjust when you have other plans for her-- in short, she is quite the nicest dressmaker's form anyone could ever want, and I think she and I are going to be great friends.



Her name is one I chose myself, and after much deliberation and consideration of many literary characters' names, I decided to bestow upon her the all-encompassing title of Mademoiselle.  Mademoiselle, meet the Readers.  Gentle Readers, this is Mademoiselle.

Mademoiselle has proved most useful and helpful over the last few weeks (she was a birthday gift in celebration of my first eighteen years on this earth, and I've had her for nearly a month now) as I scurry around like a distracted mouse getting ready for a Big Event.  You see, in two weeks I shall be advertising Miss Dashwood's Historical Costuming in the Young Entrepreneurs' section at the Christian Homeschool Association of Pennsylvania's (CHAP) annual conference.   (Mentioning all this because if you're going to be at the convention, do please stop by my booth!!  I would so love to meet you!)

So I've been very much occupied of late in getting as many sample items ready as possible.  And Mademoiselle's been a dear in putting up with it all.

She has modeled...


...and helped with fitting (though she's not built on the exact same proportions as I am, so a closely fitted bodice is not the easiest thing in the world)...


I call this dress the Donwell Strawberry dress-- not because it's printed with actual strawberries (they are in fact wee rosebuds) but because it rather reminds me of the dress Emma wears to Donwell Abbey during the strawberry outing when everyone is being horrid to Jane Fairfax (click image to enlarge).


I had some pictures of her modeling some petticoats I've made, but I seem to have somehow deleted them, so I'll have to take them again another time.  Sigh.

Anyways, I shall close this short but rambly post with a few more pictures of the dress above-- in that picture, the buttonholes are still in progress and the dress is pinned onto Mademoiselle so that it will lay (lie?) properly.  It's an 1850's style, a design I've dubbed the Esther Summerson, and it appears to maximum advantage when the model is wearing a corset.  Now, Mlle. is capable of wearing a corset, but since she's a bit unyielding, the corset doesn't perform its functions as well as it ought to.   So here's the dress on me (and there's a corset on me, too, but I'm not posting pictures of THAT.)


Forgive the "down" hair.  I was in a hurry and hadn't had time or inclination to put it up.  But as we all know, properly styled hair is totally not necessary to achieve the historically accurate look, right?  Right?  Perhaps I should just get myself a job in a Michael Landon Jr. movie...

11 comments:

Melody said...

You naughty girl, you! Making me wait for a post for all to see before I get a view of the 1850s dress that I heard about oh-so-long-ago! *tsk, tsk* (By the way, you promised ME pictures of the corset. Don't forget. :D Aaaand, I love the way that dress looks with a corset. IT IS SO PERIOD DRAMA. I've always wanted to try on a corset, you know. *envious sniff*)

Gentle Readers... haha, no one would be able to guess what you are reading at present. :)

You can't say she has a good head on her shoulders... bahahahahaha. Cough.

I do hope CHAP goes well! 'Twas fun to see you on that list. :D (Very shocking that you let everybody know the general area in which you live, though. :P Well, you did before too. But anyways.) You must and shall tell me all about it. Actually, you should tell me what you are planning beforehand, too. :D But that is not quite as requisite. Heehee.

And of course that is not what popped into my head when I first read the title. (I should hope I'd already know if THAT was the case.) Actually, I saw the first picture and knew immediately, hahaha.

Kathleen Wentworth said...

It DOES look like a dress worn by Esther Summerton! I should ask her opinion of it... I have a feeling that she would approve.

My, my... all those dresses are sooo prretty! Mademoiselle is very fortunate to be modeling them ;)

God Bless,

Kathleen

AddyLovesWolves said...

Love the dresses! I am working on a few, but these are marvelous! :) I LOVE sewing, and we do have an old Mademoiselle (actually we haven't given her a name) but I don't exactly know where she is at present :P Anyway, love the dresses (as I said before) keep sewing! :)

-Belle

Hamlette (Rachel) said...

Wow! I am in awe of your dressmaking abilities. I have been learning to sew for the past... twenty-plus years. And I will never be that good at it. You have talent, obviously!

Anyway, I love your new blog header! Especially the shot of Gretl handing Maria some flowers. Too cute!

Anonymous said...

The last line of this post... THAT LAST LINE. OHHH, MY GOODNESS. It's really pathetic how hard I laughed. Oh, the things that amuse me. I guess I was just recollecting our conversation on the topic. ;)

You've done such a great job on these dresses, Chauvie dear! And I'm sure Mademoiselle will serve you very well indeed. :)

Hayden said...

The dresses are lovely, and they really do look so period-ish (not like some you see that just look like Halloween costumes, a la Bonanza...involving the *other* Michael Landon, haha.)

I always wanted to try to wear a corset :)

Jessica said...

Good job on the dresses! Sewing is great fun.
I'm very glad you changed your Winter blog header, too. ;-)

Livia Rachelle said...

I like your jab at Michael Landon Jr. movies...and senior wasn't the best either...

Lily said...

Amy, your dresses are monstrous pretty! I just finished sewing my graduation dress from a Vogue 1950's pattern that a relative gave to me, but without doubt, it would have been an epic failure without the help of my mamma... That is such an amazing talent of yours to be able to sew costumes like that! If I weren't so very many miles away, I would certainly stop by your booth and gaze longingly at your dresses. ; ) But thanks for sharing them on your blog!

Margaret Hale said...

The dresses are all beautiful! And I love your new blog banner, by the way.

Marie said...

Haha, that was a clever way to start the post. :) I absolutely LOVE that you named her Mademoiselle...you had told me about her before but this reminded me. :)