Monthly Archives: February 2021

A week in Review

I sit here and watch the birds tease my cat as she sits in the chair by the window and advises me of their presence. Can you find the birds?

This past week went by faster than I had anticipated, and my planning was a little fleeting at best. My intentions on Friday mornings are to lay out my plan for the following week. Last week, well, I wanted to do anything but sit at the desk any more than was absolutely necessary. Fortunately for y’all I knew some of what I wanted to post this week.

I have been working on a customers’ Historic Recreation shirt and dress. Here is the video from where I dyed the fabric to obtain the perfect color. (And even the swatches to get to the final). Kitters thought she was helping once or twice. Here are a few other photos.

I have been writing the transcript for the video that will post next Friday – patternmaking. And it will provide a sneak peek into the Fall/Winter 2021 collection that will be virtually showing in May.

Next Wednesday, February 24, I will be live on my YouTube channel for anyone with questions. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAJ5-WFNIL1vGqJKQELMN_Q If you won’t be able to attend, email your questions to Jennifer.adams@lucky-7-studios.com prior to Feb 24 and I will answer them live.

The renovations of the studio continue. I have to wait till its finished before I can add more photos.

This was the last week of the Introduction to Mantua-making: An 18th Century English Gown in Miniature by Burnley and Trowbridge https://burnleyandtrowbridge.com. There is much I have learned and hopefully have made a few friends.

I am looking forward for the weather to break. I need to get outside on the trail again. Here are a few photos from last year.

Be sure to follow us on all our socials. You may find a surprise, as we post throughout the week.

Fashion Era Series: Sumerian (#3)

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The Sumerians are the earliest known civilization in the historic region of southern Mesopotamia. Believed to have lived from c. 4100 – 1750 BCE. This part of the world can get very hot during the year, so some of the statues with few garments would not be out of line with the climate.

In researching Sumerian culture, the images that are presented provide an account of the types of costume they would have worn during that period of time. It appears men wore what looks to be some type of robe maybe that they pulled over their heads – shoulder straps that connected to the back that was lower than the front. Most representations of men appear to wear a costume that is wrapped and tied about the waist.

The Smithsonian has a statue “Rim-Sin Carrying Clay” – this is a statue of the King of that time. He appears to be rounded at the bottom half as if he were wearing what we would call a “skirt”. However, there does not appear to be a costume on his upper half. ^[1]

In the book Development of Sumerian Art by Wooley C Leonard^[2], there are a handful of complete statues that definitively separate the male and female. The male continues to wear a costume on the lower half – in a circular shape (as such we would call it a “skirt”) and the women appear to have what appears to be a “strap” of same material as the rest of the costume – it goes around her one shoulder – it most likely connects the front and back parts of the costume.

In much the same way we study existing extant garments from before the 17^th Century and thereafter, we can study the art, carvings, and symbols from a long-ago culture/society/people. Studying these items, provides much detail to their lives, and allows us to look in for ourselves. I have included several images below. These I clipped from the book that is referenced.

Leave a thought in the comments. What do you see in the images?

^[1] https://www.si.edu/object/rim-sin-carrying-clay-foundation-deposit-figure:nmnhanthropology_8503940?edan_q=sumerian&destination=/search/collection-images&searchResults=1&id=nmnhanthropology_8503940

^[2] https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.33972/page/n77/mode/2up

Week in Review and Year of the Ox

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Well, here I am again, on Friday morning writing this post. I had this whole thing sort of wrote in my head or how I wanted to write it.

It has been a very busy week around here: from outlines for marketing plans and policy and procedure templates to PayPal accounts and setting systems for new clients. This is the part of owning a small business that I find tedious but necessary.)

In the historic gown class I am taking we started on the sewing this week. I was working on that some yesterday, I needed a small break from the “busy” and hand stitching allows my brain to sort of slow down and relax some. (Right now as I am typing this there was a beautiful Blue Jay right outside my office window – he flew away, now there is a sparrow). There went the hawk, he was on the roof of my house. So graceful.

So let me just admit, that I have a little attention problem today. It is Friday after all. So where was I again? Ah, yes, the busy of the week. The client’s historic recreation shirt and dress is moving along nicely. The pattern pieces have been completed and all materials and supplies have been delivered (Thank you Burnley & Trowbridge for being on the ball with your orders.) In fact, I cut out the pieces for the shirt last evening. I also began working with the dyes to get the right color for the dress. More tries today, the color had a little too much red. This is the fun part – I get to play with colors.

I think that catches ya’ll up with happenings here…. Oh no wait, we have begun the face lift, or office destruction/construction, whatever ye shall choose to call it. This means that we (by we, I mean the cats and I) have moved out of the studio and into the large part of the basement temporarily. This is an adjustment for me, Anna and the cats take it all in stride.

So today marks the New Year for the Chinese – they get a new animal every year (has to do with the transition of zodiac signs). So cool. This year is the year of the Ox. Their celebration can last up to 16 days, however, only the first 7 are considered public holiday. Their celebration culminates with the Lantern Festival. If you follow the link, you will find more information. I just thought it was interesting. Here in the states, our New Year’s celebration is well, one evening and culminates with the annual drop of the ball right before Midnight. Short, simple, not steeped in tradition, as we are a people of many cultures.

Welcome to February!

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Hello all you wonderful people,

Here we are Feb 5^th, 2021. It seems as if time is moving faster than ever here at Lucky 7 Studios. We have a lot planned for this month. Regular Blog Posts on Fridays. Social posts during the week (you might want to watch the socials, there may be a surprise in there). This month’s video will be about patternmaking. And we are going live on February 24^th on our YouTube for a Q & A and general discussion. Be sure to mark your calendars.

Current projects include… well ok, I had to stop and make something for myself this past week. I made Seamwork Beckett Member Hack (it’s a denim jumper/bibs/skirt). Yes, occasionally I like to do something quick. So moving on… I have a customer that wants Elizabeth Bennet’s dress and shirt from the 2005 Pride & Prejudice – so that pattern making is in process.

I am taking Introduction to Mantua-making: An 18th Century English Gown in Miniature through Burnley & Trowbridge Co. This has me very exciting, I am learning so many new things. So this week we cut out the pattern, fabric, and lining.

I have decided for the Victorian Era costume, I will be making an 1890 day dress. I have yet to start on the pattern work, but that is coming soon. Oh, maybe I will use that for the patternmaking video – what do you think?

As I sat here and wrote that, I realized I did have a productive week and that may be why it flew by so fast…..

Until next time, unless you follow on Lucky 7’s socials… stay warm…

~Jennifer

Fashion Era Series: Ancient World – Prehistoric

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First we should decide on a definition of Prehistoric, to help put things in perspective.

“of, relating to, or existing in times antedating written history” – so any historical record would be articles of clothing etc… found by archeologists or images that represent their history (so not necessarily letters and words as we know them today)

To this day, scientists are still investigating and debating on exactly when people began to wear clothes (costume).

Much evidence of the prehistoric time period is based on Archaeological and Anthropologic analysis of found items. Examples include a piece of art, material remains at a dig, figurines wearing costume or textile impressions left in clay. This leaves the classification of these items to clothing historians that are experts. “The rules underlying their dating procedures demand total mastery of historic costume”.

The classification is often complex and time consuming because the following characteristics must be discriminated:

Fabric
Embroidery
Details in stitching
Trimming
Cut & construction methods
Silhouette or shape

However, we know that the earliest garments were a variation of animal pelts from domesticated sheep and goats. These garments were created to protect the wearer from the elements. We also know through anthropologic research that clothing – development of fashion and attire – are features of most human societies and often dictate class (or caste) status – much like today.

Here is a quick link to what a search for prehistoric figures produces: https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=prehistoric%20figurines#

Here is a quick link to a search for prehistoric clothing: https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=prehistoric%20clothing

What are your thoughts? What have you found?

#lucky7studios #fashionera #prehistoric #customclothing #historicrecreation #historiccostume

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