maid costume research

Some formal maid costumes have been requested for some time now. I have started one and am facing the reality that I will have to make three. These images I printed from Downton Abbey have me a bit nutty, they are so lovely. This head piece is killing me. I am using Simplicity 2843 for the black maid dress. It's a simplified version of view B.

I love doing this so much. Well, I love swing the first one, but the second and third versions get a bit tedious, especially when they are so similar. I will have to mix it up a bit. As much as maid costumes can vary, anyway. I try to get thrills where I can.

They want the 5-year old to be  "tweenie" and I was laughing that they even knew what that was, but they do, from a book about Victorian servants I got them a bit back. I had to look it up. They love every book in this series.The illustration style is not what they usually are into, but there is something about these books that they can't get enough of. Maybe because they are filled with very interesting and gruesome facts.