Productive day, take 2!

I have the front, back, and one sleeve done!

Yaay!



Still to do:
-1 sleeve
-2 cuffs
-2 ruffle (for cuff??)
-neckline
-2 gores
-2 gussets

I kind of wish I had made it just a *smidge* longer, but I think it will be OK.

Feeling mighty productive yesterday!

I ended up leaving work around noon yesterday since there wasn't much of anything going on. (*sigh* They said that I couldn't have my scheduled 3-day PTO because they couldn't do without me, now I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs. *sigh*)

I was able to completely finish up the christening gown!

Fiddly little yoke bits were measured, clipped and pressed into shape:



The finished bodice piece:


The finished yoke and shoulder pieces



And the whole dress after a nice steaming:


Since I have a day or two before it goes home, I'm probably going to make a padded hanger for it - even though it needs to not be stored hanging up! (The reason it came to me in the first place was the cheap plastic hanger had chewed through the delicate lawn and more or less destroyed the shoulders)

Hurrah!

Jane posted a picture of her in her drool-worthy silk dress she allowed me to help make. She's gonna looks so fabulous! I am so jealous of that fabric, I can barely contain myself! I can't wait to see the whole thing completed.

I started on the gutchies for the Italian for Solstice. Yeah....I need new stuff! I'm hoping I can get the eyelets done for the corset as well, because it would be wonderful to have a completely new set of clothes. We'll see how that all pans out, though.

So far, for the even that is in exactly 31 days, I have done one panel for a camacia. That's it. I really need to get cracking! Patterning the high-collared jacket is really freaking me out, though! I'm such a wuss! I'm procrastinating terribly. I just need to buckle down and do it.


Also on my must-do list....I really need to finish the restoration on the christening gown. Last week, I got the bodice embroidery stabilized by applying a cotton backing pressed and clipped to shape behind the embroidery and whipping the edges to the seams (which are really strong and not deteriorating at all). Then I took running stitches through the gown to the lining following the lines of embroidery to give a bit more stability.



I have one tiny piece of the yoke done, three more itty bitty pieces to go. After those are done, a nice steaming and it'll be ready to go back home! I'll be sad to see such a pretty piece go out the door! I just hope that it doesn't get destroyed while the baby is being passed around!

Want.....WANT!!!!

Internet window-shopping is so dangerous! I shouldn't be allowed!


(Silk blend brocade)

And it comes in a multitude of colors, too!

Halloween 2009!

My costume! I went as an Absinthe Fairly! It's a little hard to see in the pictures, but my hair is green, and I have sparklies all over my hair and face.



A little later in the night, the Fairy is a little worse off!



And the next morning..... (Kao took a picture of Cozmo and I recovering after a full night of friends and fun)

Vic Hattery Updates, or, Adventures in Millinery

I am an absolute beginner when it comes to millinery, so this step-by-step may only end up being a warning to others - don't make my mistakes!

I tried reading the instructions, but they were not very helpful or clear. (mostly due to the strange layout of instructions for different views.)

I very quickly learned that pushing the felt up is *not* the way to go. (see the wrinkles on the buckram and the felt? Yah. That's not good.) I salvaged what I could and moved on to the other side...


Haha! Success! Besides looking much like a Lovett pastry, all the wrinkles are worked out to the edge of the hat, leaving the crown nice and smooth. This is what I was aiming for!


I guess I'm supposed to trim the edge??? I turned the bottom over the edge, but it doesn't seem right to do it again for the other side. Hm. We'll see how it goes, I guess.


Okiedokie - The lining and fashion fabric (which just so happen to be the *same* fabric) have been stretched over the buckram + felt base. Not too shabby for my first attempt! (Now looking less like a sickly Lovett pastry, and more like a lovely Elizabeths Bakery pastry!)


Ok, this is where I got *really* confused! I just ended up ziq-zag stitching around the brim, because I didn't quite know what to do at this point! It'll all be covered up by trim, so I'm not too worried about it.


At first I loved the idea of the gold brush fringe on the underside, but now I'm not so sure. I am, however LOVING the box-pleated trim! Nothing is sewn down yet, but this is the basic idea. I need to figure out how I'm going to cover the stitching running down the middle of the trim. *Ponder*


Ok, I admit, it's still looking pretty lame at this point, but it will get better! Getting the tilt and oval shape to the crown and brim will do wonders for making this hat look more like a hat and less like a giant gold bowl.

Tonight I'll work on finishing up the box pleats and the standing ribbons. It'll look more like a hat then, I hope! yah, not liking the brush fringe so much. I think it's coming off tonight.


I'm on the hunt for birds/bird wings/feathers to frolic upon mah chapeau like these ladies have.....





And bonus! Pleated collar precedent!

After the Snowstorm and Hattery Update

So, this is the same view the other day, after the snowstorm. yay snow.


Work has been so completely hellacious that this is all I have to show for myself. I made 1 ribbon. boo. I'll hopefully start cutting and make the second tonight. And make more pleats as well......I bought some gold netting to do poufs, so I might start on those tonight if I finish with all the ribboning.

Sewing Room Update

Muahaha...it's ALIVE!!!

Holly, there's an armchair and a blankie in the corner for you (and dogs) to lounge in! Demitri is so very thoughtfully keeping your spot warm. (the goggies are very pleased that they have somewhere to be in the room with me. Since the Great Sewing Room Update, they've been very displeased that they no longer had 'their' space in my room.) I purchased a $90 rug at a yard sale for $10, and it's now the "must be clean" zone. It helps me to have a defined area that must be kept free from clutter at all times! And it's just big enough to be a great staging area for Bertha.

I've also found a short-ish bookcase that fits under the window in which I've stashed most of my trimmings baskets. There's 6 there, and I can't remember what each one is devoted to and where it is! I had memorized everything, but since I moved everything around (again) I'm drawing a blank! I know I have two more baskets that fit into the genre that don't fit, and they're currently residing under the cutting table.

On top of the bookcase is my huge basket of "to be finished" projects. I'm hoping if I keep them out in the open so they can continue to taunt and make me feel guilty, one day they'll actually be finished!

The long-term plan is to find a floor-to-ceiling bookcase to go in the corner opposite the door to store trimmings and supplies, and the bookcase under the window will become a bookcase for...ya know, books. But that's down the road, since I haven't found an appropriate bookcase for a reasonable price. (yet)



Next on the list of wants is a TV and a cable box so I have something to listen while I'm puttering around in my room alone. All alone. :( I hate sewing by myself.

Sewing Update (Late weekend edition)

Well, it actually looks much the same as it did the last time I posted, but honestly, I did a LOT of stuff, and turned my fingers to hamburger in the process. I felt very unproductive - these are the finishing not-so-fun parts that take forever. Well, that and I went to bed before 8 every night. Man, I needed that.

Ok, so here's what I did:
-Attached lining at sleeve cuffs
-Made and attached standing collar (inside ruffled collar)
-Tacked bias ribbons between ruffles
-Closed bag lining opening
-Tacked inverted pleats
-Made and attached 3 rosette-y things to bustle area



My inverted pleats are looking a wee bit sad. After some steaming and spreading out over a bustle, I have faith they'll look more presentable. Right now they just look wonky and sad. I'm trying to decide about the rosettes. Take away the gold and leave the buttons? Leave it alone completely? I dunno. It's an easy fix, whatever I end up doing.


Yesterday I started on the hat, since all I have left on the bodice is the button holes. And button holes scare me TO DEATH. I hate 'em. With a passion. So I'm going to go on to something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT....YAY! Hats of cuteness!



Uh. Ok. So it's pretty lame right now, I admit....but when it's done, it'll be cute.....I hope! So far all I have is the buckram base and the millinery wire attached.

I have wild fantasies about being able to get home before 7:30 pm so I can get some quality time in the sewing room before I pass out. We'll see how that works out. *yeah right*

Pictures - of another sort

I went to a little antique shop down the street from my office building today, and found some pictures I thought were interesting. At a couple of bucks a pop, I couldn't resist!

Front:


Front:


Back: "To Grandma Hunt from Bessie and Will McCormick"


Front: ("T.W. Wark/Main Street Studio/Lake Linden, Mich.")


Back: ("Art Studio of T.W. Wark/Portraits/Lake Linden Mich./The Negative of this Photograph is preserved and can be Enlarged or reduced to any desired size and finished in Oil, Crayon, Ink or Water Colors.")

The state of things...

I was SO worried that I had made the waist too small, but it actually turned out that the waist is a smidge too big, and the bust a smidge too tight! Nothing that I can't change with creative corset lacing, (besides, I'm making a new corset for this outfit, and the 'girls' can stand to be a mite more contained than they are in this corset)

The sleeves. *sigh* the sleeves! After all my careful pinning and marking, I still set the gathers too far forward!!! Argh! Sleeves! Why do you vex me so?! I'm not sure it's bad enough to go through the hassle of re-setting them, especially since I didn't find out until after I had clipped the allowances, but it will bug me.



Oh, I just noticed something....JUST NOW! My corset busk has always had the tendancy to to this wonky "/" thing..where the top pulls to the right, and the bottom pulls to the left. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the heck was going on! But seeing pictures without massive skirts in the way completely put the situation in a new light! I think I must have at some point put in one of my panels upside down or something....notice how in the second picture, my hips are wider on the left than on the right?

Oooh, I wonder! Hm. If the next corset doesn't do the same wonky pulling thing, I'll know my answer! :)

So, left to do:
-tack sleeve lining at cuff
-set bum pleats
-add inner standing collar
-tack ruffles down the front
-add bias ribbon between ruffles
-buttons/button holes
-random tidying of threads and handstitching

I can has sleeves! (and lining...)

I love this stripey fabric, but it curls like mad after it's been cut! *sigh*


Luckily, the lining silk behaves itself much better.


Lookin' fine on Bertha...


Pretenting I'm wearing a corset, and avoiding the mass of pins holding the sleeve on, but it looks OK!