Those of you who follow along on my blog have seen photos of our “Pemberly Ball.” My son is Presidents of the Pemberly Society – the Jane Austen Club at Seattle Pacific University. He organized a Regency Era Ball this month. Since posting about the ball, many people have written to me asking where the girls got their lovely gowns. Being the mother of boys, I must say that I don’t have a clue! But I do know where to find the answers – the Vice Chair of the Pemberly Society. Sandra gave us some suggestions earlier about where to BUY these gowns, but recently she shared with me how to MAKE the gowns. So if you are itching to do some Home Economics, let me share what Sandra gave me:
The best online resource I’ve found for making dresses is Jessamyn’s Regency Costume Companion at http://www.songsmyth.com/costumerscompanion.html . From there you can find links to everything you would need including patterns and textiles. The best shop in the Puget Sound area to go for supplies is Nancy’s Sewing Basket in Queen Anne. One of the ladies who works there is the official costumer for the Jane Austen Society of Puget Sound, and she not only has some of the best dress patterns for Regency gowns, but she also carries the kind of Indian muslin fabric popular during that era (this is different from the modern fabric known as muslin. It’s much more sheer).
Although don’t know much about gowns and sewing muslin, I do know a LOT about Facebook. When I saw the “Austenbook” version of Facebook, I knew I had to share it with you. If you haven’t read Pride and Prejudice, this is the Cliff’s notes version in Facebook. Hilarious!
Here is on the Pemberly Ball, here they are for your convenience. Just think of this as a unit study of Jane Austen. You have history, literature, home economics (with includes math, of course). Have fun!
http://www.thehomescholar.com/blog/homeschool-pemberly-ball-gowns/1013/
http://www.thehomescholar.com/blog/the-down-side-of-literature-based-education/997/
http://www.thehomescholar.com/blog/i-hate-literary-analysis-part-4/322/
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J W says:
Oh, that facebook on Pride & Prejudice is really funny! I’d like to see one on Mannesfield Manor.
By the way, my Mom and your son managed to convince this die-hard sci fi/fantasy fan to try Austen…
I also have a habit of reading contraversial books so I can decide at what ages (if at all) to read & discuss them with my girls…
And I am now actually finding myself saying that I have enjoyed Austen’s novels far better than _Twilight_ (romance/fantasy). Which surprises me – as a teen, I wouldn’t have made it through the first chapters of any of Austen’s novels, but I would have absolutely loved _Twilight_ had it been written 20 some-odd years ago
Kudos to you (the teacher) and your son for his understanding Austen’s world better than I would have as a young person, and better than I do as a *ahem* older person (I have to do research and re-read passages a lot).
February 27th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
J W says:
Oh, and by the way, we spell home economics “occupational education.” If the Washington state lists “occupational education” as one of our required subjects, and if “home maker” is regarded as an occupation on surveys, insurance forms, applications for licenses, etc. then by golly, we can count it as “occupational education.” Aside from which, there are tons of careers that stem directly from what used to be domestic arts. To name a few:
home ec teacher
chef
baker
fashion designer
tailor
March 1st, 2009 at 7:06 am
J W says:
Ooooooooooo, off on a bunny trail here, but I’ll bet Threadbangers would like to know about the “prom dress remakes” that the Jane Austen fan club gals do…
http://www.threadbanger.com/
This is a great home-ec site, by the way. I have seen a couple of mildly immodest pictures, though, so keep that in mind.
March 1st, 2009 at 10:09 am