The Closet Historian

Well, I'm late turning in my paper...again. Here is my first attempt at using my fresh new torso block to make something! Except the stretch in the fabric really did betray me a little bit in the end, and I think I might need one of those fancy locked-and-loaded midcentury girdle things to really ro

I thought some folks might want access to the torso block tutorial-ish bit of the upcoming Drafting Dangerous video without the other 10 page rant. So if for some reason you still want to make a torso block after all of my sass, this video has my process isolated from the rest! (also: Hello Patrons!

Same as it ever was. Do we think I should have like a truly radical mid-life crisis instead or something similar for the plot? Let me know. The oil painting grapes tutorial I tried: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3-isaorYvA The hydrangea I have added: https://www.provenwinners.com/plants/hydrangea

Sometimes I fear my choices might have migrated outside those befitting an entirely sane creature, but most art exists outside of one boundary or another right? So, naturally I chose to paint the ceiling mural for the sewing parlor next. Why? Because I already owned all the paint, so in many ways it

As you can see, I am facing the usual sort of delays around here: Picking something too ambitious to create in one week, and cats. Some of you may have seen the actress Zendaya wore a 1940's dress for one of the press events for the new Spider Man film. Now I have never seen a live action spider man

Because let's face it, the long sleeve one is for September days with a hint of fall's crispness emerging instead... Goodness am I running behind as ever! Thank you for your support and endless patience ❤️ An /actually/ summer goth Gunny Sax dress... (YouTube)

I am working on another proper project for this month as we speak(type), but Sophia has really been delaying the process with her antics. Mostly stealing my chair every time I get up to iron a seam! Still I'll be right back here all week with more... Carmine Cotton Skirt (from last month's ensemble)

Once again the edit took longer than I had hoped and a video got pushed from Thursday to Monday...cest la vie. Inside baseball: I ended up re-filming the drafting clips for the front bodice of this dress and re-editing it during the making of this video because I wanted to redo things using a better

Well, that took me longer than I expected it to! Who could have guessed... I have decided it just makes more sense to put this up on the chanel on Thursday at this point, but here is the Drafting Dangerous episode all about princess seams and style lines. So sorry for the wait! ✨ Drafting Princess S

Well I was hoping to have a video about making the pelmet/lambrequin/valance thingies for the sewing room up last Thursday, but as soon as I measured the first of my paper mock ups this last week, I realized that three yards of the upholstery velvet was not going to cut it! Sure it would have if I p

I know I maybe didn't choose the most popular style to start with over on the channel...but here is another! These Gunne Sax designs are just so straight forward to draft from the basic blocks, I can't help but demo them when the prices for the vintage patterns and dresses have gone so bonkers sky h

I managed to (finally, this took me days!) get the next volume of Drafting Dangerous finished up for publication this week! So here is a first look at the amount of snark questions about curved darts can stir up in me... Thank you for your patience, as I am super duper behind on answering comments a

I actually had a really good and productive week, and yet the next video won't be out until Monday 😅 Maybe good things take time!?! Let's hope so... Links to things mentioned: The Clark institute: https://www.clarkart.edu/? The Sarah Bernhardt inkwell: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/260045/self-por

Inspired by McCalls 5778: https://vintagepatterns.fandom.com/wiki/McCall_5778 Music and Sound Effects from Epidemic Sound. Does anyone own this pattern and can show me a picture of the back 😅 I made it up! I'll be back with an updates podcast episode soon I promise! Thank you for your patience and

Here is the finished beaded and sequined version of the Armani style handbag I was prototyping last month! I'm going to be pattern testing a new very fun 1940's bodice design tonight, so hopefully I'll have that up here for you soon as well... Decovil: https://www.wawak.com/bag-making/bag-interfacin

Helllllooo there! I am still getting my routine back into some semblance of order after my mom's recent visit, and yes we even made it out to Brimfield for a day of adventures, but I couldn't quite finish this video up in time for last Thursday. Instead it will be going out this next week, but I tho

I actually have a video ready a few days early for the first time in...years? I hope you enjoy this early bird peek at my pantry transformation and current china collection. I'm busy adventuring and working on little house/garden projects with my mom this week, but I promise I'll be back to sewing s

Not a bubble on the tide of empire so much as a bit of ash on the crest of the collapse, am I right? But for real, as soon as my PMDD gives me some serotonin back I'm going to crush it next month I just know it 🥲 Now I'm going to dash to get groceries before I run out of time, because ice cream is

The under circle connector piece: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/460563499415668582 meant to be used with 8" diameter circles and a 12.5" by 8 inch pattern for the inner liner drawstring bag. Ohhhh goodness, will I ever catch up and feel truly at ease again? You know better than most that the answer

Whew, thank goodness for moon joy this last week am I right?!? I got a nasty little cold and it stole my voice, making finishing up my foyer decor video impossible because my voice is sort of an important component of the situation. So disappointed but determined, I tried to at least install the "ne

I have found a slightly more appropriate sconce for the foyer! It's still a reproduction, but at least it /looks/ like a gas fixture, even if it's technically even more modern than the little sconce it will be replacing. I drove out to a specialty vintage lighting shop and the couple running it were

The one where I'm maybe still a little tired from painting a floor, but also, the one where the burgundy floor is finally gone! Thank you again for your kind words and encouragement this last month. I'll admit I'm a little embarrassed now that I couldn't have just gone for the aloof and glamorously

In reality, I am in the middle of chipping old brittle plywood off of the floor in front of my front door, so sewing sounds a lot nicer right about now! I can't wait to have the woodchips and dust all properly cleared away, the floors finally painted, and the furniture back in it's place soon 😩 The

Look, at my lowest I operate from a place of fear. That is where the anxiety, shame, guilt, indulgence, reassurance seeking, and overreacting stem from. Fear. Being a person is scary. Because with any amount of kindness, success, attention, stability, comes the question: What could I possibly provid

That's right, it's me....again. Ever full of surprises eh? I remain a highly predictable creature. Am I slowing down due to age? Is it the general worldwide darkness outside my door seeping into my brain like mold spores full of dread hanging in the miasma? Are the cats conspiring against us, and wi

I'll admit it, it hasn't been the most fun of months around here, but at least I have the best job, and the best cats, and a lot of sequins, and the only way forward is through. Thank you so much for your support! ❤️

And yes, you can get another sneak peek at the faux paneling on my foyer walls in this reveal footage 😅 I've been chipping away at the foyer painting but it has been slooow going finding time to finish it all! This month I've pulled out another of my fancy fabrics in my ongoing effort to source fro

Well it's been far too many phone calls, appointments, and random strange men in my house for my very introverted liking these last ten days, I'll tell you that much! The photos are unrelated to this update, I just wanted to show you a peek of how the stenciling/painting in the foyer is coming along

I recently received a request to discuss this style in relation to how to add in the additional external darts that radiate as part of the design without having buckets of fit fullness to work with. Yet another sneaky vintage design that seems to have darts or fit fullness coming from nowhere, but i

Literally I'm afraid! I was working on editing this week's video for tomorrow (ironically it was supposed to be 'everything I accomplished in the house/decor in the first year recap'...cute), I went downstairs to grab my usual afternoon cup of coffee, noticed that the cats must have spilled their wa

Hello from within the snowstorm, where flakes are gently falling outside atop last night's accumulation and it's a bright partly sunny 17 degrees (that's -8 for you Celsius folks). Luckily I've got snacks and the cats to keep me cozy, but if you are snowed in bored somewhere, or not, may I recommend

I've got a relatively quick but rather high impact skirt project for you today that just may look a little familiar. This is a slightly more asymmetric take on the side sash Dior inspired skirts I made a few years ago. I'll be making another of that first circle cut style on the channel this next we

Happy New Year!! Just a quick update this time, as I'm knee deep in my little fiction work break and eager to dive back in...Thank you for your support! The iridescent taffeta I mentioned: https://www.topfabric.co.uk/all-fabrics/metal-metallic-fabrics/iridescent-black-silk-lurex-taffeta.html Some Di

Happy Holidays! Thank you for your support and giving me my dream job ❤️ I'm off to go and attempt making some gingerbread cookies for the very first time... Noir Noël ✨ A 1940's Dolman Sleeve Dress (YouTube)

OOOO buddy...I am sure ready for some sewing after all the other projects I have been caught up in lately! I promise I have a fun 1940's dress coming up later in the month here on Patreon ✨ As I have finally got my dining area put back together, I decided to allow festive season to commence with a b

Okay, it turns out they didn't remove the subscription tab/button entirely, they moved it and now it's almost a secret? Instead of it being an option on the top left menu, it is in the next section below where it lists the channels you are subscribed to and if you click on the word subscriptions the

Well I have been a bity MIA haven't I? Thank you for your constant patience!! My parents were in town for a week earlier in November and we managed to replace the flooring in my kitchen and dining area!! Now I've got nice dark "luxury" laminate wood flooring, and the difference is nothing short of m

I feel like this video took me as long to put together as the dress had took to get going after the initial idea...which was ages ago! But most importantly, the new dining room/kitchen floor is IN AND SO NICE 😭 My hands still hurt from chiseling the old 70's laminate off of the layer of plywood und

Frantic foyer stenciling, frustrating velvet, fall, and little else let's face it. ❤️

Here is the dress I drafted in last month's patreon video sewn up! I will have another project video coming later in the month as well, but before then I had better get back to some more painting and stenciling... Thank you for your support! ❤️ Rusty Sateen Wrap Dress 🍂 (YouTube)

A peek at the mock ups I am starting to play around with for various bits of the ceiling stenciling I want to do eventually in the foyer...anyway, I need to go put make up on, but this was a very fun way to procrastinate that 😅 The bug border is from 1882 ✨

The next foyer progress video should be out tomorrow afternoon, but you get to see my test patch of wall first! The colors are looking a bit messed up from nighttime iphone lighting, but the general idea has been tested, and unfortunately, I love it. I say unfortunately because stenciling the foyer

With the paneling I want to add eventually? Did I miss my calling designing wallpaper for the Sims(tm) ? Maybe.

Okay, I'll admit it, I painted the foyer two shades lighter than the trim...and if the trim is black, then I'd say the walls are now uhhh off-black 🦇🤣 So much for charcoal gray, I think I've got anthracite instead. Do I love it? Yeah? Is it darker than I was planning to go while I save up for the

Ooooo buddy. I just dropped my brother off at the airport and have got back just in the nick of time to record an update for you all on what I have been up to! Now I'm off to get in a walk before sunset... My pinterest board for the dining room space: https://www.pinterest.com/bmesposito/interiors/d

Whew! I've been painting and prepping and ahhh no look at the time!! Now I'm dashing out to the airport to pick up my brother, who will be visiting my house for the first time. I certainly hope we will get up to some fall colored adventures over the next several days, and I'll try and share some sna

The hood had to be reined in pals 😂 I am surprised just /how/ shiny this particular fabric looks while being worn. This textile isn't even the fancy shmancy version of this stuff! I also kind of want to try this type of hood with my other favorite jacket pattern now...But first I've got to finish u

How to know it's not a re-run when she's essentially been saying the same thing since 2019? I don't know either pals. Thanks for hanging out with me anyway when I am such a broken little record. Links mentioned: Sleeping Around with Alayna Joy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkfTADSEqWs&list=PL3XNH

When I spotted the blue back of a playing card stuck behind the sad beige aluminum radiator cover I thought to myself "wouldn't it be funny if it was an ace?" And wouldn't you know it. I have been allowing myself to start working on the foyer bit by bit. I needed a break from painting after the salo

Hello there everyone! As a part of making Drafting Dangerous over on the channel, I scanned my personal bodice blocks for use if desired! These will fit a size Bianca: 42" bust, 30" waist, 36 DD. Or at least I like the way they fit me! The proportions otherwise are customized to my own body of cours