FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Minerva’s wardrobe
(click images to to enlarge)
Outline the story …
Entry inspired by Minerva McGonagall, from the Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling. Straight after Minerva McGonagall finished her education at Hogwarts in 1919 she moved from her beloved Scotland to work for the Ministry of Magic in London.
As she had to travel through the Muggleworld to get to work, she acquired some (maybe a bit out of date) Muggle clothing to fit in. She missed her home so she decided on a woollen plaid fabric. Simple and easy to wear clothes as well, she is a practical person after all. The earthen colours also help to make the clothes look neat, easy to clean (although magic helps here as well) and all in all fit with her down to earth and no-nonsense character.
Even though Minerva has a strong moral sense and greatly cares about rules (she was working for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement after all!) she couldn't just hide all her witchy inheritance. So she decided on a cape which had a robe like feeling she knew from Hogwarts and also a pointy hat. The hat had a double function in her first few weeks as well. Minerva had experimented with a colour-changing spell which turned her hair pink. So even inside she wouldn't put her hat down the first few weeks and later just kept in on because she got so used to it by then.
Outline the construction…
The whole outfit was handsewn with the fitting of the corset, skirt and blouse as the most challenging parts.
The lace I knitted myself from patterns found on the mentioned websites.
First try in pattern matching for the skirt, pin tucks and sewing a one layer corset with the boning channels inside, which took the longest.
Drafting the princess slip pattern from the American System of Dressmaking was unsuccessful, but I reused a pattern I took from one of my summer dresses.
This is the first time I made an whole outfit to go together and not just one piece of clothing. Matching colours, prints and cuts was new to me.
Combinations made with Truly Victorian pattern TV 105, and knit lace from https://tinyurl.com/c899s9ax
Cotton fabric, cotton lace and embroidery yarn, fabric buttons
1910s Era Corset
cotton coutil, synthetic whalebone, metal busk and grommets
Princess Slip pattern drafted from existing summer dress, with knit insertion and edging lace patterns from
https://tinyurl.com/fawy5xzp
and
https://tinyurl.com/uzv36y9v
Cotton fabric, lace yarn
1908 Countryside Blouse made with Truly Victorian pattern TVE 47
Linen Fabric, mother of pearl buttons
1911 Narrow Panel Skirt made with Truly Victorian pattern TVE 30
plaied wool fabric, polyester lining, fabric-covered buttons, hooks and eyes
Witches Hat
drafted by me, inspired by this YouTube video: https://tinyurl.com/4cp5tpw9
plaid wool fabric, polyester lining, satin ribbon
1910s Cape from American Duchess' Patreon https://tinyurl.com/b7een86w
wool-blend, cotton lining
I love your choice of tartan.
I still can’t get over the fact you hand seen everything and that you knitted your own lace… Such lovely work
Love the fabric choice for the corset. Can see McGonagall having that one 😉
So many different pieces for this look! You did a great job, they all look so good❤
A fun interpretation! The addition of hand knit lace is really special.
Well done! I love this tartan!
I love your fabric choices. It seems natural that both her regional and magical heritage would show in her wardrobe. The video was fun too.
I love this! It’s really very well done! I like that corset too! Thank you!