Corset

Victorian Corset, purple silk

For this corset i used a period pattern, adapted to my models measurements. It is a single layer corset with coutil backing. I loved making the corset, for any corset commissions email roxanne-major@live.co.uk

Male Victorian Costume

Victorian Suit for Preston Park's Victorian Street

Victorian Street Life!

I created a shirt waistcoat and trousers for a costume as part of a work related module. 

The trousers were tailor made, with linen stays and a button fly fastening. I made Button braces to go with the trousers, i made them from leather and cotton webbing.
The shirt was finished off with placket openings and a collar stand. I added to it by making a starched collar piece that was detachable. 
The waistcoat was made from wool and satin with a buckle fastening at the back to tighten the fit. It had welt pockets and was lined With a cotton sateen.


This is the finished Suit on the catwalk of the Degree show at Cleveland College of Art and Design.
Costume degree show runs from the 7th-15th june in the Church, Church Square Hartlepool.

The suit is pictured here; the shirt waistcoat and trousers, with the another street costume (made by fellow student Ashleigh fisher)

Personal Project for second year Fda Costume Construction

For my personal project I wanted to focus on victorian period costume. I chose a dress pattern from the Janet Arnold book Patterns of Fashion.
I finished this dress mostly by hand, which took many many hours to complete.
I entered it into the Patterns of Fashion competition with the costume society.

The dress was made from silver and dark grey silk, with a lining of haboutai silk and muslin.
I made a corset and crinoline which are worn beneath the bodice and skirt.

Millinery!

Millinery is something i have enjoyed from the start. I love making hats!

My university module was millinery. The theme I chose for the range of hats were hats that appear in the Harry Potter films.

 This is a blue felt hat with a wired brim.
To get the shape in the top of the crown which was quite pointed, I could not use an ordinary block. 
I carved my own hat block from polystyrene first, then used this to block the hat into shape.







This hat was more complicated!

The lion headdress was started by creating the shape of the lions head. this was made from a material called buckram. The head structure was attached to a blocked hat on the inside, so it could be worn. A yellow felt covers the headdress. 
The face I stitched on by hand, creating straps to attach under the chin.
The mane was done by adding strips of fabric and yarns to the back.

This hat was based on the hat worn by the Harry Potter character Luna Lovegood.

The Sorting hat!

I picked up a new skill for this one, leather moulding!

The pattern was cut from the natural leather, hand punched with an awl and hand stitched. I moulded the leather, putting in the face and then dyed the whole hat using leather dye.

This has to be one of my favourite hats!

Tailoring! A CC41 Utility Jacket

In the style of 1940s utility wear, the jacket has the typical button fastening and shoulder pads!

It is made of a wool fabric, with two double jetted flap pockets, bound button holes and is lined.

I used methods of tailoring to shape the jacket fronts, collar and lapels, involving a lot of hand stitching.
I used a horsehair canvas to strengthen the inside of the jacket.

I loved making this tailored jacket, I liked the process of it and the detail put into the shaping, for a custom fit!

These images show the finished jacket kindly modelled by my friend and model Ashleigh Fisher.

Visit to Bowes Museum

 Costumes at the Bowes!

Recently I visited the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle to the the costume exhibition.

This dress is a recreation of a dress worn by Josephine Bowes in a painting. It was created by Luca Costigliolo. The dress was amazingly put together and the whole size and scale was worked out from only a belt and a waist measurement

Other costumes there ranged from 1700's up to the 1950s/60s. Out of all the costumes I most enjoyed seeing the Victorian period clothing. These Costumes were all donated in to the museum and so they are original clothing!

This green victorian dress is so pretty. I like looking into the Victorian era and I am thinking about it as a personal project for my next module. Coming to the Bowes has been quite inspiring!