So I finally got around to making something from my list of costumes. I knocked one of the accessories off the list.
I have to make two new 18th century costumes before the end of February. One day I'll get to talk about the dresses but for now the only thing I have made is an 18th century Fur Muff. Seen in a a lot of paintings and fashion plates and even seen in movies. Fur muffs were in fashion during the 18th century.
It will be winter so why not throw in some winter accessories. I knew I could make the muff now and not have to worry about my body changing in the coming months. Anyway after doing some research and reading other costume bloggers such as
American Duchess and
The Fashionable Past tutorial, I decided to give it a go.
I had no idea how I wanted the muff to look all I knew I want it to be fur and I wanted it to be fox. I kept going in between wanting to use faux fur or find a vintage fur and work with that. After two months of searching for a vintage fur I decided to just go with a faux. My two inspirations for my muff were one of my favorite paintings and one of my favorite movie costumes.
A portrait of a well known actress by a female painter. The painting is on display at the Louvre.
After settling on what size I wanted the muff to be I was ready to start. Gathered my supplies and was ready to work.
I had picked out a red satin for my muff. In my mind at the time I just needed red.
The way I was going to do this was to make the muff base then make a fur cover. So I started to make my red muff base.
Cutting a the fabric in a 21x26 rectangle. I then folded the fabric right sides together lengthwise(hotdog) and just straight stitched along the edge. After that I turned the fabric right side out.
The next step was to take one end and pull it trough the casing until both edges met
I was ready to start stuffing. I was using some stash poly fil I already had here at home. I was the soft cluster type. After a couple of minutes stuffing and hand stitching the opening closed, I had my first muff.
Well I wasn't pleased with the muff. It wasn't bad for my first try but it wasn't as big as I wanted and it was to soft. After giving it some thought I didn't like the idea of doing a base then making a cover. I decided to take tip from one of the bloggers and make the fur on the outside and the inside lining the satin. I also needed to get more poly fil and one with a firmer feel. I had time since I was still waiting on my fur to arrive.
While I was waiting on the UPS man to arrive I went on and tried out the new way I had seen. I grabbed some stash fur and a bit of scrap fabric for the lining. I added a few inches to the length of the rectangle, I needed just a bit more muff. I followed all the steps I had before except I split the rectangle in half into two 21x16 pieces, the fur one the satin the other. I then attached those to pieces, folded my rectangle lengthwise, continuing the steps I did for the red muff. I didn't stuff this test muff, all I need to know was if I could do it. And to work out any bugs before I cut into my actual fabrics. I'll stuff it later on.
Well my fur finally came on Tuesday. I let it air out over night and got to work on Wednesday
Along with the changes I made to the muff I decided to change the lining color as well. I went from red to black, I went neutral, I also like the way the black looked with the golden fur. I will make a muff with red lining next time.
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| I even added a small little pocket for my cellphone, chapstick and maybe some cash. It's a crappy little pocket but it will do since it won't be seen. |
Following the new steps I pieced my fur and lining together and continued on making my muff using the steps I used to make the red muff base.
I stuffed the muff but before I closed the end up I added a gold cord to that end, so I can carry the muff on my wrist making my hands free. My pocket opening is also towards that end so when I do carry it that way none of my things will fall out.
NOW for a few pictures to compare the muffs
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