Never, and I mean never mess with my ‘special scissors’!!!

 

Trapunto–I may have found the perfect project!

I’ve been itching to put my newly-found trapunto skillz to work, but was hesitant to start on a full-size quilt.  (quite daunting for the beginner!)

I eventually had a brain flash; “Hey, wait, I think I remember seeing quilted stomachers at some point or another…..I wonder if there are any that use that technique?”

Lo and behold, I found the perfect project!  Not too big to be overwhelming, actually useful, and just complicated enough to be slightly amazing!

Stomacher, V&A Museum

The description mentions that there is also “drawn-thread-and-pulled-fabric work” (which I also happen to be able to do!), although I’m not sure exactly what’s going on with the design. 

From the Victoria and Albert Museum:

“A stomacher is a decorative panel of fabric, usually triangular in shape, worn to fill the space between the front edges of a woman’s open gown. The stomacher formed part of the ensemble of fashionable women’s dress from the 1680s to the 1780s. This example incorporates whitework embroidery, quilting and cording. In the latter technique, parallel lines of stitching have been filled with short lengths of linen cord, inserted from the back of the fabric. The bold design includes flowers, leaves, pomegranates and shells. As quilting and cording were popular techniques for petticoats and informal jackets, this stomacher may well have been part of a matching ensemble.”

It would be nice to have the option of making a fully matching ensemble, although I don’t think that would happen for quite some time!

This is all very preliminary, and I’ll be researching some further design options before I begin, but I’m so excited I don’t want to wait to tell you all!

NOLA preliminary post

Which means I’ll be torturing y’all with more pictures!  The fabulous thing about this is there was a lot more textile/costuming related material to come….but this post is mostly about the touristy stuff; I have to create at least a little suspense, right?  (I’m actually kind of surprised at how many costuming things I can post about – hooray for topical posts!)

Well, to start off, our first night was so miserably muggy, I was getting worried about how I would possibly survive the rest of the week – but lo and behold, after that first night, it was beautiful 24/7.

I didn’t keep a diary religiously as I did the last time I went, and I’m afraid I don’t have a whole lot of insight to add to the minute details, so on to the pictures!

One of my besties, Sherece and I on Bourbon Street (being touristy, of course!)…….

View of Jackson Square from Café du Monde (which I ate at nearly every day…..)

Streetcar not named “Desire”….

Sherece and I being uber touristy on a carriage ride…..

Massively impressive architecture…..

And before you grow weary of my post waxing too long, last but certainly not least, gardenia bushes every few steps.  I was in heaven!……..

Fear not!  I have many exiting costuming things to share with you (when I recover) I just need to make sure I can do it proper justice fully rested and haul properly photographed.  (Did I say haul?  Why yes I did…….muahahaha…………)

Well, there’s my flight, so I’m signing off!!!

Also awesome:

Black and white and/or blue and white stripes!  (I know I’m pushing it with the black and white photos and drawings, but still…)

 

Bobbins always turn on you when you least expect….

 

You know what’s awesome?

Pink and purple striped gowns, that’s what is awesome.

 

Seamstresses form weird attachments….

 

Shuffling onto a sewing needle in the middle of the night

 

Bear with me, guys!

I apologize I’ve been lax in posting about actual projects!  It’s been a crazy few weeks, and right now I’m posting from beautiful New Orleans!  When I get back (and have recovered a bit), I’ll be getting back to posting my actual sewing projects, honest.

Here is a sneak-peek of what has happened over the last few days….I, of course, was awful at remembering to take pictures.

I can’t post….I’m in New Orleans having café au lait and beignets at Café du Monde.  I know, you all feel sorry for me.

News

-I have a lot of projects (both SCA and otherwise) on the horizon, so I’ll certainly be posting about those.  (Except for one element of the gown for CoCo, which I’m thinking I’m going to keep a surprise….I’m really excited about it though, and if it works out as I intend, should be really awesome!  Mysterious-O, no?!)

-I also am really enjoying the sewing cartoons, so I’ll be keeping up on those as well, though probably on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.  (Both to avoid reader fatigue, and to make sure I can consistently come up with content!)  Also, please let me know how you’re liking them, and if you have any ideas for our little gal.

-I’ll also continue to go through my antique textiles collection and post pictures, patterns etc.  (Probably about once a month)

-I’ve had some requests for specific content, specifically; roll pinning and boning comparison.  Both of which I intend to get to as soon as I can get home and my sewing room into a photographable state!  Which leads me to, if there are any other requests out there for specific content (and I am at all capable), I would love to hear from you!

You know you’re a costumer when….