Upcoming Historical Fashion Classes in Canberra

2013 Historical Fashion Classes in Canberra, Australia

Our facility is a private and self-contained environment in central Canberra. Some of the Workshops offered in the past have been Elizabethan, 18th century and Regency stays, Victorian corsets, Elizabethan gowns, 1780s gowns, regency gowns, victorian bustle gowns, regency tailcoats, bonnets and chemises from all eras. As always, your continued patronage and support have allowed us to bring you these workshops. Visit our 2013 Events page to find an event to wear your new outfit.

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Creating an 1890s wardrobe.

Fridays, 6.30pm - 9.00pm, Yarralumla (level 1)

26 July - 23 August 2013

Join Aylwen making a wardrobe for 1890s dancing. We will make undergarments and a gown with day and evening bodice options.

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5-6-7 October 2013 : announcement coming soon regarding a Historic Costume & Dance Weekend in Canberra over the public holiday long weekend.

Venue: All Saints Ainslie, 9-15 Cowper St, Ainslie ACT 2602

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How to choose a class appropriate to your sewing level

Level 1 
Beginner level. Participant should have basic hand sewing skills and some knowledge of historical clothing. You may or may not have made a costume using a commercial pattern. If using a sewing machine you should be familiar with your machine and have had it serviced recently.

Level 2
This is an intermediate level. Good hand and/or machine sewing skills are required. You should have produced an article of hstorical clothing using a pattern (or draping) and have fitted that piece of clothing. You should have some familiarity with historical attire of the era the class is focusing on. Ladies should own their own stays/corset and shift.

Level 3
This is an advanced class. Solid hand and/or machine sewing skills are required. It is best that you have taken an intermediate course with us.

Level 4
This is an advanced plus class. Participants in this course should have already taken more then one fitting class and be familiar thru observation with the garment being produced. Student should be very comfortable with the historical fashion style and should own all appropriate underpinnings, such as stays, hoops or rolls, shift etc. For men they should own a properly made shirt, breeches and waistcoat.

Earthly Delights Historic Costume & Dance Tour of England: Week 1

Week 1: Historic London, 1-8 September 2013

Tour the sights of London and attend an evening viewing of Midsummer Nights Dream at the Globe Theatre. See Kensington Palace, National Maritime Museum, Queen's House, the Old Royal Naval College, The Royal Observatory and the Greenwich Fan Museum. Spend time at special costume study tables in the Museum of London, the Queen's own embroiderers and the Chertsey Museum. Drink in the sights of more costumes than you can imagine at the Victoria and Albert Museum and enjoy a guided tour around Shakespeare's Globe Exhibition. Spend a few hours stepping back in time at Dennis Severs House and enjoy special guests, discussions and historical dancing throughout the tour.

(For the ‘Jane Austen’s England Tour’ that immediately follows this tour see Tour 2 and for a poster and overview relevant to all tours see Tours)

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DAY 1 Sunday

Tour members will arrive at our South Kensington hotel any time from 2pm. Early arrivals may store their luggage with the Hall Porter. The peace and quiet of Kensington Gardens is just a short stroll away so you can enjoy the sunshine. Join us for an early welcome dinner at a nearby restaurant.  

The Kensington House Hotel is an elegant, impeccably-appointed 19th century townhouse that integrates the contemporary with the historical, with particular attention to the privacy and comfort of its guests.

Bright and airy rooms include free wifi

Kensington House Hotel is a street away from Kensington Gardens

         

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DAY 2 Monday

After breakfast spend the morning strolling around Kensington Palace and enjoy morning tea in the tranquil splendour of Queen Anne's 18th Century Orangery. Historical costume enthusiasts are invited to accompany Aylwen to a private viewing of a selection of garments from the Olive Matthews Collection in the Chertsey Museum. Others may remain looking around Kensington Palace or have a free afternoon.

    

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DAY 3 Tuesday

After breakfast we leave for a guided tour of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre with a special dressing demonstration, have lunch together at the Museum of London after which the group will divide into two groups according to preference – one group will go with Aylwen to meet the Senior Curator of Fashion and Decorative Arts for a private costume study table and the other with John to see the Museum of London in general.

  

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DAY 4 Wednesday

After a leisurely breakfast we visit the Hand & Lock Embroidery Studio in London where we split into two groups for a 45 minute guided private tour. You will get to see specialised embroiderers working on actual projects using tambour beading, trapunto and cornely, be shown pieces supplied to the fashion industry and theatre, as well as examples of diplomatic and military dress, and get to look at their archives from the XVIII century.  In the afternoon we have been invited to see a privately owned historic textile collection.

    

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DAY 5 Thursday

Spend the day in Greenwich, a World Heritage Site and home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Meridian Line. Famous landmarks include Cutty Sark, the National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory, Queen's House, the Greenwich Fan Museum and Sir Christopher Wren’s Old Royal Naval College.

      

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DAY 6 Friday

After breakfast we spend the day at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Enjoy lunch together before a private guided tour of Dennis Severs House. In the evening we have purchased tickets to some of the best seats in the Globe Theatre - center front row of the middle gallery- to see A Midsummer Nights Dream.

   

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DAY 7 Saturday

Saturday is free to do as you please before dressing up in preparation for an evening Pride & Prejudice Ball. 

(Five lucky members of the tour are invited to join with Aylwen to attend a private fan-making workshop on Saturday afternoon.)

    

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DAY 8 Sunday
After an early breakfast you either stay on for week two of our English Tour and board our private coach to Winchester or depart from the tour.

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FOR THE JANE AUSTEN’S ENGLAND TOUR that follows this tour SEE Tour 2

Book now one of 13 places on this tour.

Regency Costume Challenge May 2012 - March 2013

Our Regency Costume Challenge starts tomorrow and its not too late to join us - international entries are welcome. 
Click on the photos to see who is entering on the information page at http://earthlydelights.com.au/janeaustenfestival/costume

Greetings all!

Its here at last! I've spent the last few weeks preparing for our Midsummer Nights Dream Ball - and its on this Saturday night 20 January 2007. The weather here is unbearably hot - so it's a night for cooler costumes - sprite-like ones! This morning the weatherman predicted 35 degrees C (95 degrees F). See what happens.

John has been teaching us new dances from his upcoming book focusing on new translations from Italian dance manuals. I'm finding all this very interesting but am glad to leave him to the research and teaching while I do the sewing.

I'm working on a set of Regency short stays this week. They're going together really fast. I really must recommend this pattern. I'll be selling the new stays pattern through Regency Reproductions from next week, along with some new patterns from Tailors Guide. I'm getting quite excited about the patterns - I'll be adding Regency-era patterns from Past Patterns and Wingeo in the next few months.