Thursday, September 1, 2016

Hobbit Sewing

Whee, it's September! This has long been one of my favorite months and I am so excited for fall and all the wonderful things it brings - cool misty mornings, crisp days, the colorful riot of foliage in the hills and Halloween (although the local shops have been hawking Halloween wares on their storefront sidewalks since July so, it lessens the enthusiasm somewhat).

Renn Faire season is soooon and as I really wanted to make new hobbit costumes for at least some of us, we are going as hobbits to the faire. At least the girls and I!

I started Anne's costume first since I haven't made anything for her for a while. I wanted to try a different style than the dresses I made for her when she was a baby. Watching the LoTR again it appears most hobbit girls wear very simple outfits, mainly a sleeveless dress/jumper with a blouse underneath. The waistlines are rather high, reminiscent of regency-era styles. So for Anne we decided to make a long chemise to serve as a sort of combined blouse/petticoat and a jumper.

The first thing to make was Anne's under-dress, or chemise. I made it just like my own hobbit chemise from several years ago. It is all square construction with a squared neck. The neck and sleeves are gathered with elastic so its easy for her to get on and off by herself. We pinned a little bow at the neckline to simulate the look of a drawstring, but its just attached with a safety pin so we can take it off as needed or replace it for a different look.

Her over dress, or jumper, will be made of a green and pink striped fabric. We plan to make a little apron to finish it off. We've been trying to decide on a jumper style. Anne keeps changing her mind as to what she wants.

Rose will have a very similar outfit (blue themed, I think. ..) but I think I will try a raglan sleeved chemise for her instead of a square cut one. From what I have read about the costumes made for the LoTR movies some of the shirts/chemises worn by the hobbit women were indeed cut with raglan sleeves. Her jumper will be similar to Anne's but since she is still quite little I will make it a yoked style with the fullness starting just above the chest.

Hopefully I'll have enough time to make mine after the girls outfits are done. These are the fabrics I want to use:

Love,
Sarah






3 comments:

  1. Oh, those girl's dresses are looking very promising, and I can't wait to see what you make for yourself, those materials look gorgeous! Hurrah for hobbit dresses!

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  2. Oh what fun! I love seeing your Hobbit creations!! What fun to have those little babies to dress!
    Blessings!
    g

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  3. That embroidered panel of fabric is gorgeous! Did you embroider it? How do you plan to incorporate it into the Hobbit dresses?

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Thank you for your lovely thoughts!