2020 Year in Review

 Like most of the planet, 2020 has not been the most stellar year. It has been particularly hard for me to stay positive and motivated with no events to attend. I'm someone how sews exclusively for events. This year I had to make do with some photo shoots with friends or tiny, socially distanced picnics. I'm going to show photos of the majority of what I made throughout the year. There are a few projects that haven't been photographed yet.

I also moved the majority of my costume posts over to Instagram, so feel free to check those pictures out under my handle @janefoxcostumes .

1510s Cranach or Saxon style gown, made from wool/silk blend for the main fabric and black damask velvet for the guards. Worn twice this year, for Atlantia 12th Night in January and again in October for a photo shoot. The brustfleck is silk with applique. I also made the belt!

 

This is a 1520s Saxon style gown in purple silk velvet with gold silk taffeta guards. I made the partlet from fine linen and pre-made embroidered panels.

 A 1780s gown heavily inspired by the 2008 movie "Marie Antoinette". Made from silk taffeta.

One of my favorites from this year; a 1490s gown based on the portrait of Catarina Sforza. Made from blue silk taffeta for the gown, green silk for the stomacher, red silk belt with tassels, and a new fine linen camicia.

This is an early 1790s style "robe en chemise" or more modernly known as a "chemise a la reine". Made from embroidered cotton, it gathers on three drawstrings in the front. Belt is silk and was a gift from a friend. Hat was a huge straw base I decorated with silk and feathers. It makes another appearance a few dresses down! This dress was also worn twice- once in spring for this photo shoot and again in October for a picnic.

A dress circa 1800 and based on one worn by the character of Elinor Dashwood in 1995's "Sense and Sensibility". Made from windowpane linen with a gathered bust and buttons up the back with Dorset buttons.

This was one of a few remakes this year. It started as an 1878 Natural Form Era gown completed in May 2019 for a friends birthday. I removed the black lace, changed the neckline, tightened the sleeves. attached white lace and self fabric ruffled trim, and made a cotton organdy balayeuse (hem ruffle).

Here's that hat again on a 1909 Edwardian dress! It's made from blue linen and trimmed in English lace, with cotton neck fill-in and under sleeves. Princess line cut.

This is an 1805 cotton dress that was actually finished in February of 2018! But never worn as I didn't attend the event I made it for. So I whipped up a black wool spencer to go over the dress for a fall picnic. Bib-front construction.

This is another remade gown! If you scroll back a few years, you'll see that I made an Elizabethan gown out of this blue silk taffeta. It never fit great and I knew I'd never wear it again. So it was remade into another 1520s German-style gown, with black silk velvet guards.

This purple wool Redingote from about 1790 hasn't been worn yet, so here's a lousy pic of it. I look forward to wearing it!

 

 

Another favorite of the year is this 1909 checked silk dress. I made it in three days right before the photo shoot at Swannanoa Palace in November. Cotton gauze neck yoke and under sleeves, silk trim and belt, tambour lace bodice accent. Started as a princess seam dress but I hacked it up as it wasn't laying right.

This is a gown based off an original from 1906 held in the Cincinnati Art Museum. It's rayon/cotton velvet for the skirt and suspenders, silk habotai for the shirtwaist with antique tambour lace on the sleeves and embroidered net for the yoke. Silk trims the suspenders and belt.