A Dedicated Follower of Fashion

I noticed my FFC refund had gone through to my account this morning, right around the same time as I read Jen Thompson's blog post enouraging a "curtain-along" with the indienne print curtains from Loews.

And then I went shopping! Which I think you saw coming.


I went in with an idea of having to decide between the cream and the black backgrounds, but when I got to the store, they didn't have any cream left, so the black it is!

I also had a vague idea of making a polonaise out of it (a proper polonaise, not just a gown with a poloniased skirt) because my 18thc wardrobe is sadly lacking in poloniases, but since taking it out of the packages and spreading it everywhere, I think it wants to be more a plain 1780s petticoat and gown. Like this KCI gown, which has trim I quite like. I think I want long sleeves though.

And I can wear the new American Duchess stockings with it when I get them! Think they'll bring out the red in the fabric very nicely.

Oh, right, I'm supposed to be focusing on the early 1870s, not the 1780s. Right...

Got my package of ice-skating dress fabric from FFC today...the remnant of brown cotton sateen I couldn't resist buying as well is perfectly acceptable, and will make a very nice lining for the paletot and/or bodice.

The actual fabric, though, is probably the most incredibly ugly stuff I've seen in a very long time! I don't know what color-blind person decided it ought to be listed as "brick red", because that's no shade of red I've ever seen! More like a very disagreeable shade of brownish-orange.

And the texture's crap, too, or for what I paid I'd consider trying to dye it - but it's a nasty coarse weave and doesn't even feel like 100% wool! Don't care enough to do a burn test, haha. It's going back tomorrow!

Ah well, I'm not too put out; this is why I buy fabric well ahead of time, right? Back to fabric shopping (but not buying until I get this refunded...)

Oh, and the fabric I ended up getting for the chemise gown...ordered it yesterday, because it really did take me all weekend to decide whether to get striped voile or not! Finally decided against it, because not everything has to be striped.

...And then promptly went and got a yard of this silk for a sash. Because, yeah, everything does have to be striped!

And some light blue silk for the hat. I also ordered some silk ribbon to lace the stays and use for drawstrings in the gown, which means I should be pretty well set, don't think I have anything else to buy. Except maybe shoes, because it would just bother me to wear my heavy black Fuggerwuggers with a chemise gown... (but that's why I have ebay and glue!)

Oh, and now I remember why I haven't ordered from Renaissance Fabrics in ages - their shipping! Good lord. I love everything I've bought from them, but I almost fell out of my chair when I saw the shipping cost for 8 yards of voile and 2 yards of taffeta. If I hadn't decided I was very attached to that particular shade of blue in a striped fabric, I'd have gone somewhere else.

I think, of necessity, it's going to be Boring Sewing this weekend...I was feeling industrious at some point last week, and cut out a simple black 1950s skirt (for work), and stopped feeling industrious when I got to the closures and hem. It's a full circle skirt, which I do like the look of, but I always run out of steam hemming about a quarter of the way around. So I have to get that done, or it'll end up being shuffled around my room, as it continues to get in my way. Did about another foot of the hem on that before I got super-bored.

Then there was the pile of white linen on my floor that had half an 18thc shift (or maybe Regency, if I need that first) cut out of it, so I cut the other half of the shift out of it, and the pieces for a new 16thc smock, to get that out of the way. (I finally threw away a couple old shift-type things when I unpacked from CosCon...I hate making them, so I let them get pretty grotty before making new ones!) Which means the pieces of those garments have shifted from the floor to the back of my sewing chair.

...That's so helpful. So I'm going to try to get those done as well, hand-sewn and all. I love how hand-sewing things seems like a great plan until I've actually been doing it for an hour or so, and then I say to myself, Why did I do this, again? (No, I really do like hand-sewing things! Or I wouldn't do it, I promise.) Finished one sleeve of the 16thc smock, then got bored and decided to get myself a drink and waste my life on the internet, which brings us up to speed here!

Well, okay. I did upload the pics of my new bustle, so there's that: ( Pictures and sewing ramblings... )

Again. I was in Jo-ann's, just wandering around -- I went in for a spool of thread. Well, I did get that...

And a bunch of things that appealed to my inner magpie in the red tag section: "OOO SHIIINY!" It was bad, especially as I was on an "I can use that for this pattern I just ordered! I can never have too many vintage-style dresses!"

Actually, the first thing that completely derailed the I WILL BE GOOD train was this fleece...

New blankie for my bed? Don't mind if I do! I think I saw it and actually made an excited high-pitched squeaky sound out loud. Hey, I can always use another blanket in this damn cold house.

Proudly showed it off to my family, and my mom made this face..."I liked your old blanket better." Oh my GAWD, mom, I madly love the Beatles, GET OVER IT, 's'not gonna change!

The other damages, for the record, were some red/gold/black brocade, grey linen blend, green linen blend (BRIGHT), teal linen (also very BRIGHT), and black not-too-cheap-and-polyester-ey taffeta. (That's going to be a new dress for work, from one of the VV patterns I ordered. I am sick to death of all my black clothes!)

(I did get money for Christmas, what?)

Was poking around Fabric.com, because I haven't done that in a while, and I've got a bit of Christmas money that wants to be spent! (Yes, I decided to spend it. I'M HELPING THE ECONOMY.) Somewhat surprisingly, I didn't find much that grabbed my attention and said BUY ME, but I did notice their tropical weight wool suitings are $3.49/yd. Okay, only the boring and kind of ugly neutral browns are left (I got the last of the taupe), but with a coupon, I got eleven yards of wool for $32, and that's not something I'm complaining about! I'm sure I can find something to do with taupe wool! Hmm, maybe the Poe dress does want to be brown instead of black... *ponders*

(You're welcome.)

Also, snow. I very very much doubt I'm going to be able to get to work tomorrow, if they're even open. I fully anticipate another day off...which would be nice because then maybe I would actually SEW SOMETHING instead of buying more fabric I need like I need a hole in the head!

Stupid fabric.com, sending me coupons and stuff. All I was going to do was check my email before I went to bed. "Ooo, coupon on clearance stuff! Well, it couldn't hurt to look..."

No, it could. It really could. I definitely just spent a decent chunk of my first paycheck from this job (that I get on Friday) on fabric. As per usual. But I definitely got almost $25 off from that coupon, so there! (That resolution not to buy fabric? We're going to pretend it never happened. I have a job. It's all good.)

White linen (I really do always need that!), a striped ivory linen/cotton blend, and a checked dupioni silk. Depending on if the stupid people at one of the local historical houses ever get back to me, I may be using one or both of them for that. They do "19th century" stuff; whether that means Regency or Civil War or what, I don't know yet (IF THAT LADY WOULD EMAIL ME BACK IT MIGHT HELP). Either way, I don't yet have much of anything 19thc, but I'd be more than happy to make some! Of course.

Where I think I'm going to PUT any of this, I don't know. The Stash Bin is full. Over-full. This is going to call for some serious re-organization...

So, remember that resolution of mine not to buy more fabric?

I think we all know where this is going.

Well, TECHNICALLY I didn't buy it, so it's okay, right? I just...acquired it. I went out with my aunt for the day in Philly; she's into crafts and things and knows how I have this thing for fabric, so she took me to some fun places she thought I'd like. Which I did -- in reverse order, an amazing jewelry store in Old City, a cool vintage/costume shop in Germantown, and a fabric store, also in Germantown, Gaffney Fabrics.

Really, really impressive selection of Stuff at Gaffney's! If I were predominantly a theatrical costumer, I'd have thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Not to say I didn't have an excellent time there, but the historical costumer in me (which squelches the theatrical, if you couldn't tell) was like, "There's an incredible amount of fabric here...but why is it all polyester?" The bargain basement was full of fabric (and it smelled like the cellar of the built-in-the-1890s house I used to live in. That cellar creeped me the hell out when I was very small, by the way...there were all these weird sections with no lightbulbs in them...anyway!), and besides the cotton quilt fabrics, there was not one single natural fiber down there!

Oh, that's right, except for the one remnant I dug out. I'm good. (Usually the fabric-finding mojo works; occasionally it doesn't, but I'll never stop being proud of myself for digging out that $2/yd dupioni silk at Jo-ann's that one time...) It's 3/4 yd of beige-ish dupioni. Beige sounds like such a terrible color, but it's pretty fabric! No really, I'm not just in fabric-hoarding withdrawal. Maybe. $3. Not bad.

And then we went upstairs to the store proper, and there was even more polyester fabric! There were a few bolts of silk fabric, but it was all that limp stuff, nothing I was interested in; plus there was definitely some abuse of the word "silk." "Linen" was also shamelessly abused; really, quotation marks would have helped those signs out! However, among the eight or ten bolts of "linen," I did find two bolts of actual linen. One in a medium weight natural/oatmeal color, and one in white with brown and black thin woven stripes.

...Got three yards of the oatmeal, and one of the striped. It was $3.99/yd OKAY... If I ever need plainer, working-class stuff for 18thc (which I am thinking of needing, so there), I'll use the plain for an under-petticoat and the striped for an apron or some such. Partly because it's got a couple marks anyway. I was going to pay for it myself, but my aunt's an enabler, so she insisted on paying for it. And, well, I haven't got all that much money, so I wasn't going to argue too much.



So...you know, it's all okay because I didn't buy it. Me, personally. We'll disregard the unfortunate fact that it will NOT fit in my fabric bin, which is crammed as full as it will go. Nor will it fit in the other bin, which is half Crap, half Fabric. Or in the bag of fabric sitting next to my drawers of sewing/crafty supplies. Or under my sewing desk, because that's been taken over by bags of half-finished projects.

PLZ SEND HALP NAO. Ahem. So...I'll have to break my resolution not to sew any more costume pieces at the moment, because I don't have room for them either? If only I wasn't ashamed to sell off some of my old costumes...but they're too crappy.

Hmm, I want dinner. Panzarottis! A strange, apparently local thing that nobody else knows what it is. Well, my friend from the other side of the state thinks it's hilarious that we call water ice, water ice..."It's ITALIAN ICE!" "Whatever, man, it's water ice here." And...now I'm babbling.

Uh oh, fabric.com is having a sale on retro and mod fabrics.

Craaap...temptation!

See, there's this silk...it's striped...and it's $3.84 a yard...and I had a coupon...and it really wanted to come and live in my stash until it magically turns into a 1780s frock. And, well, who am I to deny striped silk? So, you know, oops.

Also, I did finish the 1960 skirt over the weekend, and I'd really like to wear it and take a picture because it pleases me, if it would stop raining. Silk dupioni + rain = not the best idea. Eventually, I promise.