Costume post catch-up

I didn't get to post about the hat before I left for CoCo (which was awesome, but that is another post entirely) - I think I already posted about shaping the brim, and most of the decor, so I'll just spam y'all with some pictures.  If anyone is interested as to *how* it is actually structured, let me know and I'll do a better post.  ;)
As a refresher, these are the feathers that I used, and my brim

First run of the entire outfit - at this point I was trying to decide if I wanted the sash or not.  I decided yes.  :)

Some hair tests....

Getting down to crunch time.

I finished the petticoat last night, and I was able to put on the whole shebang on this morning. I'm not terribly happy about how it's all fitting and going together. I'm forging ahead, however. I'll find out on the day whether I feel like wearing it or not. I really wish my stays fit better, I think that would solve a lot of my angsting. :(

Anyway, I went on to the less angsty stuff:

Here's the false front.


I decided at the last second to change hat plans, and go for something along the lines of some sort of combination of these, (only with a poufy cloth top)


Here's the hat all trussed up for shaping.....(It's 102 degrees outside, so I'm hoping it won't take too long for it to dry and I can get going on the rest of it.


I went round to every craft store I could think of to try to find another straw hat for a backup in case I ruin the ONE I have. (Seriously, I used to have at least five!! Where did they all go?!)

I found some pretty awesome feathers, tho...

Make-your-own buckle....the cheapskate way! (Or, "making the best of what you have!")

I decided I wanted a buckle for my hat, and all I had on hand was some silver ones. I really wanted gold, since silver would look quite out of place on my outfit, so I ransacked my sewing room to see if I could find anything that would work in a pinch.

I had this large oval cabachon pendant lying around, and decided it was the perfect shape


I snipped off the pendant-y part with a pair of clippers. (I could have filed down the nubs a bit, but since it would be in my hat, I decided it wouldn't be that noticable.


I dug around some more, and found some gold-toned craft wire....


I wrapped the wire vertically, going through the conveniently spaced holes, and then wrapped around again to give a bit more bulk and stability. Not the prettiest thing in the world, but since it'd be covered by ribbon anyway, I wasn't that worried about making it beautiful.


Ta-da! Buckle!


And here it is on the hat....

Feeling better about the fitting...

I was so bummed this morning when I put everything on - nothing seemed to fit right! (I'm sure my mood didn't help out too much, but still. I wasn't happy.)

Anyway, on a whim, I decided to try on my other set of stays, and OMG. I feel SO. MUCH. BETTER. It's flatter in the front than my other pair, so the silhouette isn't quite right, but the overall fit is better. Huh. Odd. Anyway, without further ado.....here are some quick shots! (The polonais-ing was done quickly, and I'll actually get something better worked out than a couple of pins shoved into my bum!)


I still am unsure about the need for a petticoat. I think I'll survive without one, but it would probably be nice to have one. Tomorrow after work, I'm going to go to the local beauty supply store to see if I can get something to help beef up my hair. I think my budget is $15.00 or less. Oh how I wish I had a wig to go with this gown....I really don't want to have to futz around with my hair on the day!

here are the shoes that I'm going to try to deck out to look more 18th c. They're not quite the right shape, but they're closer than anything else I've got on hand.


So. Left to do:
-figure out hair
-gussy up shoes
-find/purchase stockings
-figure out polonaise tapes

Shoes, shoes, shoes!

Remember these guys?

I did the same process for the hat  buckle for these shoe buckles.  I decided to do a bow instead of a latchet, I don't feel like I have enough skillz (or patience) to go through the process of covering the entire shoe.  Anyway, back to the 'buckles'....

I messed around a whole bunch trying out different styles and fabrics.  The gold silk looked kinda silly with the gold buckle, and the ivory silk would get lost in the petticoats, so stripes is was.  I like the double-bow look that I ended up with!  It's actually one bow that is gathered and tucked under.

Yeah, they're not the best thing in the world, but they're better than tennis shoes!  ;)  Check out those sexxay jammies....heh.

Bum is mostly done

Minimal 'research', and embarassingly poor quality sewing, but it's done. I wasn't too worried about it, since I was half-way expecting this to be v1, but it gives such a good shape, I don't feel the need to make another.....at least until I get too embarassed of the poor sewing. ;)

Here's what I did:

I started with a big "U", and sewed four 'pockets', and stuffed each with a pillaged pillow -


After messing around with it for a while, I decided it needed a curve, so I chopped off the top and hemmed the opening -


Getting closer! I decided it needed a bit more of a dramatic curve around the waist, so I decided I'd do some pleats across the top -


I have achieved bum!

Itty Bitty Update

I barely got any sewing in over the weekend, and that which got done, I'm none to pleased about. (Uber-crabby mood is not condusive to sewing magic.) My sleeves, that only felt slightly constricting on Friday felt like death grips on Sunday, I messed up some stuff on the cut-away (but is fixable - the lining just shifted and made dumb puckers.) Intermittent fevers made fiddling, fitting, ironing and corsetting a touch-and-go operation.

The only other thing I got done is the beginnings of the false front thingy. I made a faux opening (just with a little flappy bit), and I'll be permanently sewing on some buttons to complete the effect. I used a thing fusible batting to give it a bit of body, and to camoflauge the ridges of my bodies.

I'm still not perfectly convinced that a seperate front is the way to go, and I've not gone so far down that road that I can't change my mind if I decide to do so.

Anyway, here's where I'm at, with some swaths of fabric pretending to be a petticoat:


(Huh - now I'm looking at this picture, it's looking a bit crooked....I hope that's just because I was in a rush and standing awkwardly to get the picture done. Ugh.)

Speaking of petticoats - there is no way I'm going to get away with only one - the silk is far too see-thru! So, here's the question.....do I flat-line the silk, or make a seperate petticoat? Hmmmmm.

Tonight, I am going to make some fabric buttons for the faux closure and see how I feel about it remaining a seperate piece. I may or may not move on to getting the bum worked out - I think that's next on the list so I can hem my gown and know where to go for length on the petticoat.





I almost forgot the bonus goggie!!! Momo helping me with my hand sewing....

Update - Sleeve Edition (and more)

Because I wasn't very careful, My center fronts didn't match up. (I think it's a combination of my stays stretching out, doing my toile up in an extremely stretchy linen, not paying attention to the fraying allowances, and not giving myself extra 'fudge' room.)

So, without starting completely over (again) or making another, more slightly snug pair of bodies (which I actually need - this pair is so comfy, but the 'gals' keep sliding down!), I decided to do a zone front. I have no clue if it's accurate to have an en ferrou with a zone front, but I'm going to pretend that I'm making an older gown handed down to me to be more fashionable by creating a zone front. Or something.

Oh yeah, I also got the sleeves set in. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination (especially the little puckers at the back), but at this point, I'm starting to care less and less! (Many thanks to Mom who stopped by and helped me get them pinned in correctly! For once, I didn't set the arm too far back! Hurrah!) I tried super hard to get a couple of small pleats in the cap, but it just didn't work out that way. I've lost a bit of range-of-movement, but since I plan to only wear this for a few hours, I think I'll survive! ;)

Here's where I am right now:



I really like the long sleeves (thank you, sarahbellem for the suggestion!), especially from the front! (Excuse the hair, it's a bit....wild - as usual)

Now to decide the plastron-y piece (whatever that bit is called?!) I think I want to do buttons, but do I make them functional, and set the piece into the bodice, or have a seperate, pinned in piece? Hmmm. Hopefully I have a brainstorm before tomorrow morning, since I think that's next on the docket.

Ok, still to do:
-bodice front (and sundry figuring-outed-ness)
-petticoat
-bum
-hat (I found just a bit of the gold silk I used in the vic - I'm thinking some of it will have to cover my hat. Also need to figure out hat styles!)

Other:
-repair mules (I have a pair that I think will work smashingly - just need to repair the heel)
-find white or cream stockings (I have about a gazillion pair, but never two of the same at one time! Aaargh!)
-figure out hair situation







On a side-note, this dress is feeling decidedly non-summery, what with the color palatte and long sleeves, but meh. (I just realized this just now, shows you how aware I am.....sigh.

Fitting Stuff

On a whim, I decided to try a different pair of bodies with the gown. It's only slightly different than my handsewn linen pair (though not as comfortable)

This pair of bodies does different things to mah bewbies, so it's a bit more *strained* at the top. Overall, I think it's OK, but I will most likely to back to my other pair. This pair shows the 'ridge' at the top of the bodice more than my other pair do. This may be covered with some sort of trimming if for some reason I go with this pair instead. Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the front, though I wish I had cut about 1" more on the center fronts - I have very limited room to play with, and the silk is fraying like mad, taking up valuable seam allowance real estate. I zig-zagged the edges to make sure there is no further retreat.



Anyway. See the weird wrinkles at the side back? Well, I think those are mostly caused by the overly small armscye biting into my armpit, and finding nowhere to go. Now that I see this picture, I'm pretty convinced that those big wrinkles will go away once I start hacking out the arm holes a bit.

The center back is so weird! I swear, IRL, those teeny horizontal wrinkles don't show up nearly as much. There's something to do with flash or something that's making them look worse than they really are. The back is fairly beaten up from hours of hand sewing - it does look much better after a fresh pressing.

As far as the neckline in the back - it is for sure overly high. I'll be ripping off the shoulder straps and seeing if I can lower everything by making the straps a smoodge longer (check the picture above - I have a freakishly long waist, and there is plenty of room to move the whole bodice down a touch), or if I need to hack at the neckline itself. It may be a combination of the two.


Arm chub. EEEW. (Look past my disgusting arms....I'm sorry y'all had to see that!)

Waist and Shoulders - done!

I'm not 100% happy about the fitting. Linen, I believe, is the prime suspect. My brand new linen stays are s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g. (I know I'm not shrinking!) Also, I did my toile up in linen, which also stretches. The end result is the non-stretchy silk isn't as smooth as I'd like it to be. I also think that my shoulder straps are too short, pulling the back up much higher than it should be. I need to put everything on again with a clear head and take a good long critical look at everything. It may be OK enough for me to say "meh, it's my first attempt, so bite me".

I am also loathe to rip out hand stitching...it's much more painful than ripping out machine stitching! I've only sewn the lining and the center back of the gown by machine, everything else is all by hand. I back-stitched the waist to give it a bit more substance, since part of the side back is on the bias, I didn't want it stretching all wonky.

At any rate, here's the waist all done up: (I've pinned a pillow to Bertha's butt to give a bit more poof....)


Here's the shoulders: (I cut the strap extra, extra wide so I would have plenty of room to play around with the sleeves. It will end up about half as wide as it is now, I think)



Yeah, the arm hole is extremely wonky, I know. But that just means I have plenty of extra fabric to play with to get the sleeves right.....


Also, while I had the gown on Bertha, I had a bit of an idea.......how 'bout a zone bodice? Yes? No? Were zone gowns ever en ferrou'd? Hm. Something to think about, anyway.


Next up: Sleeves. Argh. Sleeves.

:(

I hate my arms SO much, they're the worst part about sewing for myself. I think most striped gowns of the period have the stripes running around the width of the arm, rather than down the length - how much do I care about period accuracy versus personal vanity? I don't need my tubby arms looking any more tubby than they already are. It'll take me a day or two to angst through drafting up an acceptable sleeve pattern, so I don't have to decide straight away.






And bonus: TWO comfy goggies!

(How do I ever get out of bed in the morning with so much comfy snuggles to be had?!)

Moar 18th c stuff

I didn't get anything done last night, other than pleating the skirt (only pinned, not sewn), because mah baby took me out for a date night. :) I remembered to snap some pictures before I went to bed, though.....

To start off, here is a pic of one of the stains from the tea after cleaning - I knew it wouldn't be pretty.....



I've already shared the first pic with you, but this second one is a little zoomed in on the stitching. It's very much not perfect, but the stripes distract a lot! (This is also pre-ironing - the little wubbles towards the bottom steamed out with a good pressing)



Here's the facing I was talking about yesterday. I'm kind of *meh* about it, but it's on there for good now. Long story short, my glue gun (unbeknownst to me) dripped a gob of glue on my pressing board.....I ironed the facing over that gob, and then ironed the facing after it was attached to my dress, sooooo....yeah. I kinda am stuck (quite literally). I think it's time to recover my pressing board before I really ruin something!



Bertha is decidedly not me-shaped, so there are some crazy @$$ wrinkles going on at the waist. I promise, it is not so on me!


I forgot to take some 'before' pictures of the straw hat, but it was one of those ubiquitous 'rennie' straw hats with the high rounded crown. I raided my kitchen until I found a lid that was just about the right size and shape for the new crown, and I stretched and squished and molded wet straw until I got something sorta what I was looking for. I loaded it down with bottles and jugs to dry overnight. As you can see, it is very far from perfect (especially when viewed from the side!) but it'll do in a pinch. I don't have the heart to rip off all the beautiful decor on my purchased 18th c hats, so this will have to suffice - if I end up doing a hat at all, that is.



Bit of a test with some ruching around the crown. Too big! I still haven't decided if I'm going to cover it, and what shape it will eventually take, but that's all stuff for after I finish up the sewing bits!