In the interest of this blog not being all-Scroop-all-the-time, here’s one of my favourite random things about the Czech Republic: all the pretty pastel building! Everywhere we went the buildings were painted to the most delicious colours. From big apartment buildings in cities: To whole town squares of delicious ice-cream hues. I also really like the way each building just built its own roof and paid no attention to the one next door! To modern apartment buildings: And every single one of them delighted me! (although I am disappointed that Banána isn’t a yellow building!) These we ..read more

What time is it?  Time for the most exciting part of mock-ups: fitting them!  Follow along with me for tips on analysing the fit so you get it perfect for you. Previously on The Cassandra Stays Sew Along: Choosing Material for the Cassandra Stays Making Linen Buckram Making your Mock-Up  It’s totally possible to do a Cassandra Stays fitting on yourself (especially if you’re making View B, the front-lacing version), but it’s much easier to have someone help you.  Even if they don’t know anything about fitting they can at least take photographs of the bits you can’t see you ..read more

You’ve chosen your materials, made buckram, now it’s time to make a mock-up of the Cassandra Stays to make sure that you get the perfect fit with your final pair! Previously on The Cassandra Stays Sew Along: Choosing Material for the Cassandra Stays Making Linen Buckram Why Make a Mock Up? It seems like a lot of effort, but making a full mock-up is so important for getting a good fit with your final stays.  To be a successful mock up it needs to be as complete as possible: fully boned, in fabric that behaves as much as possible like your final fabric. The good news is that making a mock ..read more

The re-launch of Rate the Dress came at the same time as the launch of the Cassandra Stays, and this week’s Rate the Dress is interrupting the Cassandra Stays Sew-Along, so I think it’s only fitting that I do a Rate the Dress featuring a garment that could be worn over the Cassandra Stays! Last week: a 1910s dress in white and orchid purple. Ooof, a very mixed bag of reactions to last week’s Rate the Dress!  Everything from a perfect 10 to a devastatingly low 3!  Most of you liked the dress…except, that is, for the back collar.  But others felt that there were too many discordan ..read more

It’s time for an update to my 18th century buckram making adventures!  Back in 2019 (how did the time go so fast!?!) I posted about experiments in making buckram from both historically accurate gum tragacanth, and modern xanthan gum. Both worked, but I wasn’t 100% happy with either – tragacanth was only available in pre-mixed form in NZ at the time, and thus prohibitively expensive.  It also smelled to high heaven.  Xanthan gum, whilst cheap, wasn’t accurate and doesn’t have the fabric-nibbling-creepy-crawly-retardant qualities of tragacanth. So I read every source I could find ..read more

Join me for a Cassandra Stays Sew-Along! Starting Monday the 1st of April I’ll be covering every step of making the Cassandra Stays, from choosing your fabric, to some pattern hacks, to all the finishing details. I’ll be making View B, with a lot of techniques borrowed from View A, and demonstrating a hack to make View B without back lacing.  But you can make any view and combination of techniques you want as you sew along with me. Detailed posts will be here on thedreamstress.com at on Scroop Pattern’s FB and Instagram pages. You can share your own sew-along progress by leaving comments ..read more

Today’s post is all about your questions about the Cassandra Stays. Can you use different types and widths of boning? Are stays or corsets more comfortable?  Why five panels instead of four? Can you tell us more about tab width and shape? Do the Augustas or the Cassandra Stays work better with a short torso?  And can the theatrical version be made without back lacing?   The Cassandra Stays Sew-Along is coming up in April!  Watch out for more info about that in just a few days.  For now, let’s answer your questions about the Cassandra Stays: The Cassandra Stays ca ..read more

It’s been a while since I managed to do a Rate the Dress.  Not since October! Last Rate the Dress:  a 1770s dress from 1708-10 bizarre silk lampas How much you liked this dress depended very much on how much you liked the very distinctive yellow-greens and bold ‘bizarre’ patterns of the silk.  Some of you loved them, some of you loved its distinctiveness even if the style wouldn’t usually be your taste, and some weren’t quite so sure about those hues and patterns.  However, even those of you not fond of the colours could still see the merit of the remake and the lustre of t ..read more

Every couple of years this blog skips off on a little tangent, and I publish a recipe.  Back in 2022 I transcribed Roach’s famous 40 Orange Cake from Our Flag Means Death, and in previous years I’ve shared recipes for vegetarian ‘Kate Sheppard’s’ pie, and a gluten-free Plum Cake. I also share lots of posts with links to recipes which people tell me they have used. Today’s recipe is my most-requested recipe ever: ratafia biscuits.  It’s easy, it’s delicious, and it’s gluten and dairy free, so it fits a lot of dietary requirements.  Plus, it’s historical!  Ratafia biscuits we ..read more

Perfectly timed as a follow-up to my post about pretty pink Schloss Benrath, here’s what I did after touring the palace! I was interviewed as a guest on Ripeka’s wonderful podcast about New Zealand! The first few minutes are in German, and then it switches to English* and me meandering through how I met Ripeka, how I ended up doing what I do, WWI from a New Zealand perspective, STDs, the Fortnight in 1916 experience, bad moustaches, the cultural universality of socks and sandals, where to shop in Wellington, and things I loved in Germany… So kind-of everything! Here’s the dress we tal ..read more