FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Rosie’s Morning
(click images to to enlarge)
Other Credits
My dad, the photographer
Outline the story …
"The Lord of the Rings" it is well known as the beginning of the fantasy novel for its tales of dragons, elfes (the correct spelling!), dwarves and most importantly hobbits. While the main story focuses on the Fellowship of the Ring, it does have a wonderful preface lovingly called: Concerning Hobbits. Through this you learn about hobbits love of the simple things in life, chief among them eating and drinking as well as their skill at sneaking.
Rosie Cotton is a hobbit who marries Samwise at the end of the series. Tolkien does mention Hobbits wear lots of greens and yellows but that is all. We are never provided a clear description of Rosie besides that she is "as pretty as a maidchild" so most of my design decisions were influenced by her character in the movies. This interpretation of hobbits is based heavily on 18th century farmers. I did want to be more true to the books in terms of pallet however vs the earth tones of the movie.
Based on all this, I went with hardworking fabric, mostly linens, however keeping the items themselves simple and practical. A simple shift, with short sleeves, strapless stays, to be less intrusive to work, and a checked yellow petticoat. This is look is to be simple, practical everyday wear; the patterns on both the stays and petticoat simple and fun showing more of her personality, yet enough to easily hide stray dirt.
Outline the construction…
The biggest undertaking was the stays, my first, these were made using the JP Ryan pattern, made up of 3 layers: upholstery linen (fussy cut), canvas duck (strength layer), and a linen/cotton lining, unintentionally needing to be "laid in"/recut due to panels warping. These stays are mostly machine sewn except for the bias binding which is "whipped" on trapping the edges of the lining and thus attaching it. These are fully boned with "sew-through-boning"; the forever that took to complete was annoying but not as bad as binding(btw coffee clips make great "pins" for this). The biggest challenge of the binding was hand sewing it on; because all of my bones went right to the edges and since it was a "sew-through-boning" I sewed through it, in a mock whip/running stich going through either the stays or ALL of the layers of the stays and binding I actually put this project down for 1.5 years because of that having only attached the top and half of the bottom edge, however determined to have a wearable garment I'd spent so long making, I finished them
The shift was made using my own "pattern". All of the pieces are squares made by pulling threads. A drawstring is in the neckline gathering it; the shoulder straps are made similar to 18thc tops, enclosing the gathers within the strap.
The petticoat is the simplest garment I made, I followed the B&T sew-along as well as using the waistband from the apron sew-along, handsewn on.
This is so beautiful, instantly caught my eye! Love your reasonings behind the design and the fabrics
So fun! I am loving all the Hobbit clothes. The petticoat is such a good Middle Earth color.
The stays look so good on you! That fabric is stunning and the whole look is just wonderful. Nice work on the details too ❤
I especially like the stays and petticoat. Lovely fabrics! Well constructed!
What lovely outfit for Rosie! I really like the skirt colour, and it all looks nicely finished! The stays came out beautifully, so well done for persevering with them! Good work!
I love this! It’s really very well done! Thank you!
This is so wonderful! Love the floral pattern and color choices here. Way to envision an entire look from what little was in the text.