2011 Costume Year in Review

I started 2011 by making a resolution- something that I haven't done in years- to produce at least one piece of costume every month.  In addition to that broad goal, I also had a list of things I wanted to accomplish:

A regency corset-  DONE!

1810 working day dress- DONE x 2

1810 something fancier dress- DONE!

1750s linen gown with robings- Errr..nope!

1750s wool gown with robings- DONE!

1770s campfollower wool gown- Nope, again!

1770s silk bonnet-  Check.  Big time.

Regency bonnet- Check again, big time, again!

In January I completed two projects- a set of Regency short stays which I don't have a picture of- and my very first Regency gown from printed cotton:

At Gennessee Country Village in June

In February I made my first bonnets- one 18th Century and two Regency.

In March I made...more bonnets!  And struggled with a Regency bib-front that was a disaster and is still in a pile in the corner of my sewing room.

In April I made what is sorta a 1750s gown.  It is made of green wool and has robings, which are evil things that I had a great deal of trouble with.  This was one of my classic OMG THE EVENT IS TOMORROW gowns that I made before Ft. Fred Market Faire, and it was only when I got to the event that I realized I hadn't brought shorter petticoats, so I had my friend Julie puff up the skirts for me (and no, that doesn't make it a Polonaise), which is NOT a 1750s style!  So the picture is a bit strange:

In May I made another Regency gown, this one long sleeved and with a wonderful stripey cotton print that my friend Julie gave me (the same Julie that pinned my dress up in the previous picture!).  Ridiculously, I only have a tiny number of pictures, none of which show the whole thing.  This will have to do:

I love this gown!

In June I made my favorite gown of the year, my Laure Bro Voile gown:

And the epic hat of epicness:

And then there was August.  And September, and the rest.  While my bonnet-making continued into November, that was it for my dressmaking.  I guess that means that technically I failed my resolution, but I also made TWENTY EIGHT bonnets and 4 hats, including the one above.  Holy crap.  Here are some of them!

(P.S.  Several of these are for sale in my Etsy shop and I do take commissions!)

So, overall I think I'm pretty pleased with my 2011 output!