Vintage & Modern Sewing Patterns
THE GOOSE MOTHER BLOG
A CLOSET FULL OF COSTUMES & A CUPBOARD FULL OF TEA:
MEET VALARIE LABORE
continued / Part VI
THE GOOSE MOTHER BLOG
FOUR TOPPERS, THE BIG BOPPER & CHANTILLY LACE
COMPARISONS V
How do you turn a simple evening gown into something a bit more stunning? Something with a bit of panache. The best example is Vogue 2065 (recently out-of-print and out-of-stock at Vogue patterns). As you will note, you see the gown with and without the topper. The simple gown is attractive on its own, but the topper does add the panache. There are no other accessories needed to complete this presentation. Also notice that this particular topper has a slimming effect, affording the model the illusion of being taller and appearing more willowy. The effect achieved here is more subtle than using a bold contrast in colors. It is this subtlety that creates a more elegant and sophisticated style. Notice the lines or spokes in the material of the topper. At the base of the neckline where the spokes draw closer together it creates the illusion of a longer neck. Great finesse to be admired!! Hats off to Mr. Mischka.
THE GOOSE MOTHER BLOG
A CLOSET FULL OF COSTUMES & A CUPBOARD FULL OF TEA:
MEET VALARIE LABORE
Continued / Part V
When Valarie and I talk of costumes and sewing or tea, it’s easy to get her going. She’s willing to share all she’s learned about costuming and sewing, but when it comes to discussing her accomplishments, she tends to laugh them off. Generally, she assumes the posture that she just stumble-bumbled her way. From her perspective, she sees them mostly as things she’s learned through her own mistakes and she easily laughs at those as well. Obviously, mistakes are merely lessons. Valarie doesn’t shy away from challenges either. She may step away from them and contemplate them, but she comes back and tackles the challenge. It’s not a matter of winning with Valarie, it’s a matter of learning and gaining knowledge. Then she takes the knowledge and is willing and eager to share what she’s learned. Valarie has done that within the costume community with seminars and also through her wonderful blog!
Today, Valarie allows us a peek inside her sewing room. Like many of you, I enjoy learning how someone else has set up their sewing room or allotted sewing space. I’m always seeking new insight on ways to create a better working space and streamline organization. Most sewing rooms always have a bit of clutter it seems. Usually it’s what is in progress at present. If the sewing area is picture perfect, I become suspicious.
Goose Mother: We’ve had a brief delay as you were on a vacation of sorts. I trust it all went well.
Valarie LaBore: Yes, it did. I just got back from a two week trip to Washington State visiting with my Mom and attending a Victorian Festival where I modeled in the fashion show again.
The Festival is a series of events showcasing Victorian history and dress in the town, all to benefit the historical society. You may want to visit the Victorian Festival site and Victoriana Events. This was my second year in the fashion show and all donations go directly to the historical society’s scholarship fund. Some of my friends from the Seattle costume guild, Someplace in Time, Unlimited, were in it too. It gives me a chance to wear more of my costumes for an audience that hasn’t seen them. I just finished my blog covering the event, and my photos plus some photos taken by my friend are now published in my online pbase album. (Valarie’s Album)
You expressed an interest about how I organize my costume collection, and my sewing room…Hahaha, looking around me right now, I have costumes and hats and things that I just unpacked from my trip and I’ll be trying to work around that for a few days until it all finally gets put away.
Goose Mother: Yes. You have so many beautiful costumes! And you seem to be so organized and I was curious as to how you achieve that. You make it appear so easy!!
Valarie LaBore: At some point my completed costumes and accessories have taken over my sewing room since this is also where they have to be stored. I have a fairly large and long closet in this room and years ago my neighbor helped me turn half of it into shelving to hold all my wood and painting supplies when I used to do folkart. Now it holds stacks of fabrics. Each shelf averages two rows of eight bolts, so with five shelves full, that adds up to eighty different fabrics. That doesn’t mean eighty costumes because some fabrics get combined into one costume. I store my fabrics on the cardboard bolts that fabric is sold on. Our JoAnn’s Fabric store throws them away so they’re happy to have us recycle them. Just ask at any fabric store’s cutting table to see if they have any. I can usually get about five or six at a time.
The other half of my closet is hanging space, with two shelves above them. I store my wigs and miscellaneous things up there. Outside of my closet on one wall I have a hanging rack that holds current projects and most of my petticoats. There’s usually an ironing board in front of it at all times. I have two large clear boxes that hold the rest of my underpinnings and corsets stacked next to them.
I mainly keep my hats in hat boxes, and usually three or four in one box, depending on their sizes. Each box has a small photo of the hats inside taped to them so I can quickly find ones I’m looking for. I started stacking them on top of my computer cabinet but they are up to the ceiling at this point and are now are getting stacked anywhere I can find a spot.
My patterns are stored in large clear boxes too, stored under my sewing table, and each box is labeled which pattern company is included in it. At some point I saved photos of each pattern in my computer and printed them out in groups on a sheet of paper to keep in a notebook for quick reference. I have a large notebook at my desk, then a smaller hand-size one I carry with me when shopping.
Goose Mother: That’s an idea I like. Computers and copiers have made this very easy to do.
Valarie LaBore: It used to take me about a year to make a gown since I was working full time and didn’t have as much time or knowledge to make them. When I retired almost six years ago that has increased to an average of four a year. That’s not a lot when I look at what some of my friends can make in a month but I’m a slow sewer and only work a couple hours each day, if that. But it does accumulate, and after those six years I had about twenty three costumes, and I was running out of space in my closet. I couldn’t even get a piece of paper in between them. So I needed another solution for storing ones that don’t get used much. It was only recently that I remembered Space Bags. Now I have four of them on the floor in my closet with those. Further, in keeping with my OCD (obsessive/compulsive disorder), I labeled each bag with a number, and in my computer I have a file with those in it, and each number has a list of what’s in it. It really helped when I needed a gown but didn’t see it hanging in my closet, and didn’t want to unseal each bag to find it.
And just so you don’t think it’s all neat and clean, this is generally what my sewing table looks like, with stuff stacked around and piles growing. It’s a 3×5 foot banquet table.
Goose Mother: I spy a kitty cat. She looks quite comfy there.
Valarie LaBore: Yes, my black & white cat, Chloe, is in her basket on top of my plastic boxes. Both my cats like to lay on my fabric when I am trying to cut it, and Chloe likes to pull out the pins that she thinks shouldn’t be there. Rudy, my grey cat, would hold the fabric so I wouldn’t lose it. It seems cats and sewing go well together according to all my costume Facebook friends. We share our photos and stories of how our cats help us when we’re sewing. (laughter)
Goose Mother: Is that what they’re doing? I thought my cats were just claiming my sewing things as their own; they just allow me to borrow the stuff! (more laughter)
Valarie LaBore: Getting back to my organizing; when you have large amounts of fabric and patterns you need to have some kind of reference file or a system that allows you to quickly find what you have and how much fabric you have or the pattern needs. I’ve purchased the same pattern twice!! This is why I started keeping a record of what I owned. Also, I’d forget what it was that I bought some of my fabrics for. And if you wonder how can that happen, you haven’t met a costumer yet.
I began saving the little picture the pattern companies have on their websites in my computer after I’d purchased them. I also save photos of the patterns I intend to purchase in the I WANT category to help me remember those. I like the ease of reference on my computer, but I’ve also learned you need to back-up everything in hard copy just-in-case. So I place the photos in a Word document in their prospective company names and include that in a regular notebook. I also made a smaller handheld version that I could carry with me and I include the fabric amounts when I’m shopping for MORE FABRIC.
I carry a small baggie with my fabric swatches for shopping too, but at home I have another notebook that I have a second swatch so that I can record what pattern it was purchased for and how much yardage I have. I keep thinking I should enter in how much it cost me, but that’s never been an issue, although it is fun to share when you find a great fabric for $1.99 per yard.
Goose Mother: As I said earlier, a picture perfect sewing room makes me suspect it’s not used often. Thank you, Valarie, for allowing us a peek inside your sewing room and sharing your organization tips.
Valarie Labore: It was my pleasure and delight! And Rudy’s and Chloe’s!!
To be continued …
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If you are interested in learning more details, please visit Valarie’s blog; Time Traveling In Costume. She shares more tips on organization: Storing & Identifying Hat Collection and My Sewing Room. And, do view Valarie’s photo album on pbase. (see link above) If you weren’t able to attend this event, Valarie’s photo collection is the next best thing to being there!
Honk, Honk
THE GOOSE MOTHER BLOG
A CLOSET FULL OF COSTUMES & A CUPBOARD FULL OF TEA:
MEET VALARIE LABORE
Continued / Part IV
THE GOOSE MOTHER BLOG
A CLOSET FULL OF COSTUMES & A CUPBOARD FULL OF TEA:
MEET VALARIE LABORE
Continued / Part III
THE GOOSE MOTHER BLOG
A CLOSET FULL OF COSTUMES & A CUPBOARD FULL OF TEA:
MEET VALARIE LABORE
CONTINUED / PART II
THE GOOSE MOTHER BLOG
A CLOSET FULL OF COSTUMES & A CUPBOARD FULL OF TEA:
MEET VALARIE LABORE
PART I
Goose Mother: I’d like to introduce Valarie LaBore. She is a member and past President of the San Diego Costume Guild, Costumers Guild West in Los Angeles, and considers herself a historical costume interpreter. She also dabbles in reenactment. Valarie, also a skilled amateur photographer, shares an online photo chronicle of many costume events. Even if you are not a costumer, you will enjoy seeing the lovely and sometimes strange and inventive costumes the artful have composed. (link provided below)
Valarie, please tell us how you became involved in sewing and costuming and precisely what was it that caught your interest in costuming?
Valarie LaBore: Like most children, I loved dressing up and not just at Halloween, or so my mother tells me. One Halloween, she made a gorilla suit for me when I was about five or six years of age. I won First Place in a costume competition in my gorilla costume, or more correctly, my mother did; she should be credited as she made the costume. However, I do remember a pilgrim costume I liked and my favorite one was an “I Dream of Jeannie” costume.
A little over ten years ago, a friend of mine and I started going to afternoon tea rooms. We decided we wanted to dress up in Victorian attire; gowns, long skirts, white blouses, big hats. We had fun doing this as we wandered through antique malls searching for hats and antique clothing. I recall one rather “froo-fy” pink hat I purchased. This particular hat piqued my interest in researching what era it actually came from. It turned out it belonged to the 1950s era. Obviously, not Victorian. However, the owner of the Rose Tree Cottage tea room, Edmund Fry, was delighted by our attendance in costume.
I was just starting to get comfortable using a computer and I learned more about the clothing of the real Victorian time period. Thinking back now, my vision was actually Edwardian. I was horrible at history in school. I found a couple Yahoo Groups specifically for historical costuming and there began my search.
I had basic sewing skills that I learned in high school, and some from my mom. I recall being frustrated that it took me so long to make something that my mother could make in one day. Mind you, my mother drafted her own patterns and often sewed for others. I was also a stick figure so I’d pick a pattern closest to my size and make that. If it fit, great.
Now, as an adult and quite a bit curvier, I discovered I had no idea how to make a pattern fit me outside of taking in a few inches on a seam. I hadn’t been taught how to do this. I also hadn’t sewn any clothes in over 20 years. At about the same time, I also began catering afternoon teas in people’s homes as a side business and I wanted to wear something Victorian. My first actual costume was Simplicity’s 9723. It’s really a cute pattern but I didn’t understand the pigeon breast blouse that was attached to the skirt, and just made the jacket and skirt as separates. (she laughs) I’m looking at that photo now and see I’m wearing a Victorian hat with an Edwardian gown.
Goose Mother: Yes, I think these are common mistakes by new costume enthusiasts and that’s how we all learn.
Valarie LaBore: Through the Yahoo groups, I learned of a Dickens Festival that was to be held in Riverside, California. This was not too far from me, so my same friend and I decided to make costumes and attend the Festival. Once again I fell back on my comfortable pattern company, Simplicity, and made their simple Dickens costume of a cape and full skirt. (Simplicity 8910) Another friend of mine made me a wonderful black bonnet to go with it. While walking around the Dickens Festival I saw so many gorgeous costumes and it lit a fire under me. I’d never seen anything like this before. All the ladies looked so pretty. I think once you see some really good costumes, it inspires you to want to do better.
Goose Mother: What is the best advice you can offer to someone who is interested in costuming and just starting out?
Valarie La Bore: I firmly believe in looking at as many historical gowns as you can in order to educate your eye, whether it’s the style, or the accessories or hairstyles. Really examine them; study them.
Goose Mother: Where have you found the best information for learning about period costumes?
Valarie La Bore: My favorite research tool is the internet. Costuming is a very social activity and we all like to share what we find on the internet. All the costuming friends and connections I’ve made over the years tend to share wildly amongst each other. You can spend hours searching museum collections online, but with a connection to hundreds of other costumers, we all manage to find some great objects and it snowballs. I’ve been saving photos for years on my computer for learning how certain pieces should look, what accessories go with each era and, in the last few years, more attention to the details on the trims. I’ve often been worried that my poor computer will again crash and I’ll lose all those precious photos. So I was happy to discover Pinterest and am using that as a storage area for them. And I don’t mind sharing them with others. Pinterest-TimeTravels
I’m not discounting using costume books for research either. My favorites are ones showing real clothes and photos of ladies wearing them. In fact some of us recently started up Pinterest albums listing all our costume books. Pinterest-TimeTravelsLibrary
I have a lot of books but playing on the computer is more fun. In the past 10 years since I started in this hobby, the world of costuming changed dramatically with more people having access to the internet. Our own small costume guild tripled in size in just a few years after more people found out about us with the chatter going on. I still remember discovering that there were hundreds of costumers out there just as crazy as I am!
Goose Mother: Should one focus on just one period or era when first starting out?
Valarie LaBore: (she lets out a hearty laugh) I’m the last person you should ask that of! We have something we call C.A.D.D.; Costume Attention Deficit Disorder, which means you can’t pay attention to one particular time period at one time. I get distracted by new pretties, and soon I’m working on an 1880s bustle dress, an 1860s new pattern, and a 1910 corset. My favorite time periods run from mid 1770s to 1918, and I love the big butts of the 1880s bustle period. So, if you find yourself easily distracted by different time periods, join the club. We are all a little crazy here. But, to answer your question, there’s no real yes or no answer to that. It’s very personal to each person what they like. They may like the narrower silouette of Regency, which are much easier to make and requires less fabric, or they may want to jump in right away with a very complicated gown. My best recommendation would be to find out what kind of events are in your area, whether its a Civil War reenactments or Victorian bustle or Regency teas. I’ve made a few gowns I really don’t have anywhere to wear them because we don’t have that time period event here. But they’re great to add in fashion shows. So a little planning is required.
Goose Mother: Does period costuming require learning more and/or different sewing skills?
Valarie LaBore: It does. Unless you just want to make generic-styled costumes using modern techniques, closures, and all in one piece. Period clothing had layers, and underpinnings that created the shape of each era. And, they’re very fitted, almost to the individual person, so sometimes it’s hard to even share your gown with someone else unless they’re the same size. I still use my modern sewing skills but differently, and things didn’t go together the same way they do today. However, I am famous for “fudging” and if I can’t figure out how it’s supposed to go together, I figure out my own way to make it work.
Goose Mother: In your opinion, what is the most difficult part of sewing a costume?
Valarie LaBore: For me personally, it’s understanding the directions of how to construct something different, or the correct way to alter and fit the garment to you. This goes back to my early sewing classes that lacked that teaching. If I have a piece in front of me, such as a completed bodice, I can see how it was pieced together. But you can write directions and tell me verbally till your face turns red, and I just don’t get it. Granted, I’ve improved over the years with practice but whenever it’s a new era or different kind of construction, I’m back to Square One again. I know I’m not the only one like this, while others have no problem with understanding the directions.
Goose Mother: Where should one seek help or assistance regarding this endeavor?
Valarie LaBore: What helped me the most was finding other costumers to learn from. In the beginning it was very hard because I didn’t know there was anyone out there. It was suggested to me that I take sewing classes, but those involved modern clothes. As the costuming world opened up to me, I found others who could help, and lots of sewing forums specific to the time periods I was interested in. The Truly Victorian pattern company, which specializes in 1830-1905 styles, has its own forum where either the sisters running it will answer your questions and are very helpful, or there’s always other costumers on there that have made it, or had the same problems. Its nice to know we all are in this together.
To Be Continued …..
Link to Valarie’s photo albums: General Photo Album
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