One of the main topics on my blog is the repurposing, upcycling and reusing of old clothes. If clothes no longer fit or I no longer like them 😉 I refashion them instead of throwing them away. Like almost everyone I have old jeans in my house that I’ve turned into new clothes over the years or reused for other projects. Here’s a list of all my jeans upcyling projects. Continue reading 18 Incredible Ways To Repurpose Your Old Jeans
How to make a graffiti denim skirt from a pair of jeans – easy sewing tutorial! And what’s best: the finished skirt looks like a denim skirt and not like a refashioned jeans!
There are a lot of jeans-to-skirt refashions out there. But this jeans-to-skirt refashion tutorial is different! Most denim skirts that are refashioned from jeans look like they were a jeans before. Because most refashion tutorials tell you to rip the seams and just sew the fabric pieces together again! What was the crotch of the jeans before makes a strange pattern piece at the front and back of most refashioned denim skirts.
But your new denim skirt doesn’t have to look like it’s refashioned from a jeans: Because there’s another (easier!) way to make a denim skirt from jeans: Simply treat the old jeans as a piece of fabric! Jeans legs are perfect to cut them into A-line panels or gores. Then sew these panels into a skirt. You can even use jeans that are too small like I did here. You get 8 panels out of a pair of jeans with almost no waste of fabric! You can even reuse the belt loops, pockets, labels and buttons for your refashioned skirt. Continue reading How To Refashion Jeans Into A Panel Skirt
My modern Edwardian bra has a button closure, adjustable shoulder straps, elastic lacing at the back and is boned like a corset.
I made another historybounding garment! My modern Edwardian-style bra is inspired by antique Edwardian brassieres. But I’m wearing the bra as everyday bra because my DIY bra turned out so comfortable. Continue reading Modern Edwardian Bra – Historybounding
Do you need to invisibly join lace trim for your next sewing project? Learn how to sew an invisible lace seam by hand. This method to join lace is from the Edwardian era! Use this invisible lace join instead of a bulky seam for your next historical costuming or heirloom sewing project!
Currently I‘m making an Edwardian lace chemise for which I use lace scraps from my stash. And the Edwardians knew a method to invisibly sew lace together. This invisible seam works particularly well with lace that doesn’t fray badly: like cotton Valenciennes lace which I use here. Continue reading How To Join Lace – Invisible Seam
If you’re looking for an easy Edwardian hairstyle for short hair, you’ve come to the right place! Do you admire Edwardian Gibson girl hair but you have short hair: This is an easy tutorial to create authentic Gibson Girl hair with short hair.
Gibson Girls were the it-girls of the late Victorian and Edwardian era. And their favorite hairstyle was the pompadour hairstyle. The Edwardian gibson girl hairstyle is a bouffant updo that softens the contours of the face. It’s a very feminine hairstyle with waves and curls. Continue reading How To Make A Gibson Girl Updo With Short Hair
Do you want to make a bouffant Gibson Girl updo but you have thin hair? Don’t despair! Here are two ways to make an authentic Edwardian hairstyle with thin hair. No hair rat needed!
Not all women in the Edwardian era had luxuriant, long and thick hair. Like today, there were women with thin or short hair who struggled to create a fashionable bouffant pompadour hairstyle. Continue reading 2 Ways To Make An Edwardian Hairstyle With Thin Hair
Flat steel boning, spiral steel boning, German plastic boning (aka synthetic whalebone) – what is best for historical corsets?
Historically, corsets were stiffened with whalebone (baleen), whalebone substitutes – such as horn and featherbone – and later flat steel boning. Continue reading 10 Types Of Corset Boning For Historical Corsetry
In the past, glue was usually homemade and natural. There are so many alternatives to store-bought synthetic glues. You can make homemade natural glue with various natural ingredients like flour, gelatin, egg white, milk and tree resin. Continue reading 20 Ways To Make Homemade Natural Glue
I made another Victorian corded petticoat because I didn’t like the first one that I made a couple of years ago. Corded petticoats were mainly worn before the invention of the steel cage crinoline in 1856. Skirts were already very wide in the 1840s and especially the 1850s. And to support these heavy skirts some kind of foundation was necessary.
Cording was often used in the Victorian era to reinforce underwear like corsets and petticoats. In the past, I’ve already made a Victorian corded corset, a late Victorian or early Edwardian corded corset and a Victorian corded petticoat even though corded garments aren’t my favorite: They always wrinkle and are never stiff enough in my opinion. 😉 The cording adds stiffness to the petticoat but it still collapses in on itself unlike a hoop skirt. Continue reading DIY Victorian Corded Petticoat
Learn how to make an authentic medieval coil candle from scratch with beeswax and DIY candle wicks!
A medieval coil candle – also known as courting candle or candle by the hour – looks like a ball of yarn. And it basically is nothing else than a cotton string dipped in beeswax and wound into a ball of yarn. So all you need to make your own DIY medieval coil candle from scratch is beeswax and cotton string!
By the way, if you’re wondering why people in the Middle Ages made this unusual kind of candle: A medieval coil candle could be used as a kind of clock because it always took the same amount of time until a winding of the coil candle was burned. So a medieval coil candle was a timer and light in one! Continue reading How To Make A Medieval Coil Candle – Tutorial