Virginia Cloth Anglaise and Another Muff!

I wore my Virginia cloth dress to An Evening with the Redcoats at the Skirball Cultural Center this past weekend, so that of course means pictures! Since this wasn't a costume event, there aren't a lot. I made sure to get a few posed shots though!


Front and back views--and oops, my sleeves are pushed up a bit! I noticed this after, pictures, of course :)



A closer front and back view. You can see where the front is pinned under the robings.



With a few accessories--my new mitts and an apron. Oh, and with the sleeves more properly placed, even if my shift cuffs aren't buttoned.


And with my new green short cloak. I took pictures of making this--the whole hour and 20 minutes it took--and based it off this page on cloaks.


And my new muff. It seemed a little much to do a post for just this! And it really doesn't go with this dress! It's grey silk satin, green silk embroidery floss leftover from a pinball (not the more proper flat silk), seed pearls couched on, and another Spoonflower miniature!

Another Muff Cover--A Mini Tutorial!

I have a muff base, so of course, I needed more than one muff cover! Some of my favorite period muffs are those with miniatures. I didn't think I'd be able to have one though, as I don't draw, paint, or anything remotely like that.

Enter Spoonflower and public domain artwork :)


It was really quite simple--I found a painting I liked, in this case, The Wool Winder by Greuze, cropped it into an oval in Photoshop Elements, and uploaded it to Spoonflower. I chose a centered design, and just hit the smaller button until I liked the measurements--about 3 1/4 by 2 1/2 inches. Then, all that was left was to order a cotton/silk blend swatch. An 8x8 swatch is more than enough fabric--note the size of the design--and only $5.


And here's the swatch. The cotton silk is a nice, satiny fabric.


I cut the "miniature" out and clipped the edges so they could be tucked under.


Then pinned it on, and sewed into place with a whipstitch. Unlike my last muff, I sewed the trim on first this time.

I then made a frame and bow of some sequins I had on hand (yes, modern, but I had them on hand, and they are flat, not cupped. They should be round, but I was impatient and didn't want to spend a fortune on real metal spangles for this project).

I then finished the cover as in my last muff. I did make this one two inches shorter though, so it fits better. Important with no trim on the ends!

And now, of course, I need another. I uploaded a mezzotint to Spoonflower today during lunch at work. I didn't even crop it this time (silly impatient me) and will just cut it into an oval when it gets here. This will be a grey silk satin muff with a pearl frame and a green embroidered vine around that.


I think I might be addicted to muff covers. They're quick and so pretty!

An 18th Century Muff Cover--A Tutorial!

Part One of this tutorial describes how to make a muff base


First, measure the circumference of your muff. This will be measurement one for your cover. Mine measured 20 inches.


Next, measure the length of your muff, plus a little extra for overhang. My desired measurement was 15 inches, though next time I'll make it a little shorter.


Cut a piece of fabric that measures measurement one--with no seam allowance--by measurement two--with a one inch seam allowance on each side. My fabric therefore measured 20x17 inches. You don't want a seam allowance on the circumference so it's nice and tight. You want a larger than usual seam allowance on the length so you can make channels for the ribbon.


Iron the length ends under 1/2 inch, then turn and iron them 1/2 inch again. This will make sewing your channels much easier!


Unfold the seam allowances, fold the muff cover in half, and pin the top edge shut. Stop the pins about 1/2 inch from the fold for the channels. These are the vertical pins in the above picture. You're just going to sew between those two pins so the ribbon has room to escape. I used a small backstitch for that seam.


Once you've sewn the seam, refold the channels at the edges into place, and sew. I used a small whipstitch for this, and went over the opening twice.


Thread the ribbon through the channels.


Stuff the muff into the cover, and tie the ribbons. Make sure you can still fit your hands in :)


And decorate! You can decorate before sewing as well, of course, but my trim was so thick I didn't want it in the seam. I also wanted to play with placement.

And now I'm really looking forward to a second cover :)

An 18th Century Muff Base--A Tutorial

While visiting the Milliner's Shop in Williamsburg, I saw something rather brilliant--a muff base with removable covers. How wonderful is that? Only one largish thing to store, with lots of little fun covers? Well, with an upcoming trip to Williamsburg in March (please, don't be unseasonably warm), I decided that it was about time to make one. Which, of course, means a tutorial!

Though linen would probably be a more typical base, I used some wonderfully soft pink wool leftover from my pink and green wool Regency dress. I came across it when looking for linen and decided to use it. I used polyester fiberfill to stuff the muff. Yes, wool would be the accurate choice, but I didn't want to use up the last of my wool batting, and for this purpose, the synthetic does work. And sometimes being able to go out and buy something is just nice!

OK, so, onto the muff!


I started with a rectangle of fabric 21x26 inches. (Well, I started with two that size and then realized that the muff would be too big. Way too big. I liked the folded in half size!) I folded that in half to make a 21x13 inch rectangle and sewed the long seam shut using a small running stitch.

You can make the muff whatever size you want--look at fashion plates and originals for ideas. I say that a lot, don't I? But I only say it because it's true!


Next, I folded the muff in half, creating a tube. The bottom end of the muff is a fold, and you stuff the top end. You're basically starting to turn it right side out, and stopping half way.


This picture shows the tube a little more clearly. Stuff the tube! Use lots of stuffing. You want the muff to be nice and firm.


My stuffing came with a Stuffing Stix! Use it! It really helped. If you don't have one, it's really just a blunt chopstick :)


Once the muff is full, pin it shut. Continue adding stuffing around the top as you go.


Once you have it pinned, turn the edges in to each other. Trust me--it's much easier to do this in two steps instead of turning the edges in right away!


Whipstitch the top edge shut. And that's it! You're ready to make lots and lots of pretty muff covers!


Part two shows how to make a muff cover!

You can see my friend Aubry's muff here
And a description at A Fashionable Frolick