Next project (maybe)
Nov. 1st, 2020 10:32 pmDefinitely the next one up on the "mental costuming" docket! I should reallyreally finish up at least one of the smaller projects that's been hanging around pathetically for way too long (orange plaid wool skirt, I'm looking at you) before starting another Big Thing, but none of those UFOs are good mental occupation when I have the time and mental capacity to mentally sew but not actually sew!
(See: every day after school before dinner. I technically have an hour or so of down time before dinner that I could be using to sew...but I really can't use it to sew. Half the time I take a nap!)
So, I mentioned that the Usual Suspects and I were all inspired to maybe-hopefully plan for more outdoor events this winter.![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
robinsnest and I figured that a winter walk at Longwood Gardens in their post-busy-Christmas-season (I love their Christmas display but I'm going to forego it this year for...obvious reasons! I think they're being good about limiting people, but still, PEOPLE) might be just the ticket, as we both luuuurve costume outerwear.
Naturally this will automatically ensure it's 70 degrees on the day we pick, but oh well. I will swelter to be cute, thanks.
I posted something about it on IG for the Fall For Costume "Future" day so you can get An Idea...the plum-colored wool refuses to photograph anything like the color it actually is; it does have that redder tinge but about 5 shades darker than that photo. Also after having decided on a (probable) dress design I want a darker fur than the one I happened to pick up for a picture. (Pip the Ever Helpful found the box of scraps and pulled every single one of them out. Thanks dude. I gave him a piece to murder just so he'd leave the rest of it alone, with mixed success.) I do also have a wool blend twill in pale blue that I was considering, but the general consensus in the FB chat was that I should use the plum wool - mainly as it's a cashmere blend and Robin wants to pet me. (I warned her it's a very low percentage of cashmere...consensus was still plum.)
After a lot of wiffle-waffling, I finally decided to buy this pattern on etsy, as it saves me from having to figure out my own trim scheme, along with deciding the age-old question, Very Smart Jacket With High Collar, or Fur Capelet? (It's a dress with a high collar, so I can still make a capelet! With an even higher collar! Winning.) Adrienne's heard bad things about the seller, but all the recent reviews are decent apart from the "took forever to ship" aspect, and I ordered it about a week ago, so as long as it shows up before my Christmas break starts...I'm fine with that.
(Actually, if it turns out to be a decent purchase, I'll buy more of her patterns and make an entire damn turn-of-the-century wardrobe; there are a TON of 1898-1900 patterns in her shop that I would love to have dresses of!)
What else? Oh, I discovered to my mild annoyance that acetate taffeta is much more difficult to find than it was ten years ago. Fear not, I found an acceptable selection on ebay with a bit of digging, but I remember Back In The Day, we used to carry it in the costume fabrics section at Joann. No longer! And it's also nonexistent on my usual fabric websites, too. Guess everyone prefers to wear plastic these days. Why do I specifically want acetate? Well, first off, because fuck polyester, but also because cellulose acetate is almost period-correct, if you squint a bit? (1924 is the date I'm mostly seeing for that, and 1894 is the date for the earliest commercial production of rayon/artificial silk.) I want an internal dust ruffle inside the skirt, specifically one that will go swishy-swishy like I've seen in some extants (there's one in a PoF2 dress)...but I'm not quite willing to pay $25/yd for the pleasure of having something go swishy-swishy that will get covered in dirt. And that's why artificial silk is a thing! $4.25 a yard seemed more acceptable...
ALSO a new hat! Out of my bazillions of silk scraps I don't think I have anything I like to coordinate (or clash magnificently) with the plum wool, so I'm going to be extravagant and order a couple of yards from Silk Baron and use whichever one I end up liking better. An extra yard of silk never goes amiss around here...
Also-also - if I can manage it I'd really like an actual proper c1898-1900 corset. I've been wearing my 1860s corset for all my late 1890s stuff up til now, and while it's worked...over quarantine I've gotten fat in places I didn't have when I made the corset in 2014 so it's not wildly comfortable any more! Plus having made it in 2014, it's about time for an 1860s corset upgrade anyway! 1898-1900 is a little tricky for corset patterns, actually, as I want to be fashionable but not so fashion-forward as to get into the S-bend shape. I also am lazy and don't want to have to scale something up from a book if I don't have to! Currently browsing AetelierSylphe patterns on etsy, which seems the most promising option at the moment - some adjusting and mocking up, but not so much as it would be from a book.
(See: every day after school before dinner. I technically have an hour or so of down time before dinner that I could be using to sew...but I really can't use it to sew. Half the time I take a nap!)
So, I mentioned that the Usual Suspects and I were all inspired to maybe-hopefully plan for more outdoor events this winter.
robinsnest and I figured that a winter walk at Longwood Gardens in their post-busy-Christmas-season (I love their Christmas display but I'm going to forego it this year for...obvious reasons! I think they're being good about limiting people, but still, PEOPLE) might be just the ticket, as we both luuuurve costume outerwear. Naturally this will automatically ensure it's 70 degrees on the day we pick, but oh well. I will swelter to be cute, thanks.
I posted something about it on IG for the Fall For Costume "Future" day so you can get An Idea...the plum-colored wool refuses to photograph anything like the color it actually is; it does have that redder tinge but about 5 shades darker than that photo. Also after having decided on a (probable) dress design I want a darker fur than the one I happened to pick up for a picture. (Pip the Ever Helpful found the box of scraps and pulled every single one of them out. Thanks dude. I gave him a piece to murder just so he'd leave the rest of it alone, with mixed success.) I do also have a wool blend twill in pale blue that I was considering, but the general consensus in the FB chat was that I should use the plum wool - mainly as it's a cashmere blend and Robin wants to pet me. (I warned her it's a very low percentage of cashmere...consensus was still plum.)
After a lot of wiffle-waffling, I finally decided to buy this pattern on etsy, as it saves me from having to figure out my own trim scheme, along with deciding the age-old question, Very Smart Jacket With High Collar, or Fur Capelet? (It's a dress with a high collar, so I can still make a capelet! With an even higher collar! Winning.) Adrienne's heard bad things about the seller, but all the recent reviews are decent apart from the "took forever to ship" aspect, and I ordered it about a week ago, so as long as it shows up before my Christmas break starts...I'm fine with that.
(Actually, if it turns out to be a decent purchase, I'll buy more of her patterns and make an entire damn turn-of-the-century wardrobe; there are a TON of 1898-1900 patterns in her shop that I would love to have dresses of!)
What else? Oh, I discovered to my mild annoyance that acetate taffeta is much more difficult to find than it was ten years ago. Fear not, I found an acceptable selection on ebay with a bit of digging, but I remember Back In The Day, we used to carry it in the costume fabrics section at Joann. No longer! And it's also nonexistent on my usual fabric websites, too. Guess everyone prefers to wear plastic these days. Why do I specifically want acetate? Well, first off, because fuck polyester, but also because cellulose acetate is almost period-correct, if you squint a bit? (1924 is the date I'm mostly seeing for that, and 1894 is the date for the earliest commercial production of rayon/artificial silk.) I want an internal dust ruffle inside the skirt, specifically one that will go swishy-swishy like I've seen in some extants (there's one in a PoF2 dress)...but I'm not quite willing to pay $25/yd for the pleasure of having something go swishy-swishy that will get covered in dirt. And that's why artificial silk is a thing! $4.25 a yard seemed more acceptable...
ALSO a new hat! Out of my bazillions of silk scraps I don't think I have anything I like to coordinate (or clash magnificently) with the plum wool, so I'm going to be extravagant and order a couple of yards from Silk Baron and use whichever one I end up liking better. An extra yard of silk never goes amiss around here...
Also-also - if I can manage it I'd really like an actual proper c1898-1900 corset. I've been wearing my 1860s corset for all my late 1890s stuff up til now, and while it's worked...over quarantine I've gotten fat in places I didn't have when I made the corset in 2014 so it's not wildly comfortable any more! Plus having made it in 2014, it's about time for an 1860s corset upgrade anyway! 1898-1900 is a little tricky for corset patterns, actually, as I want to be fashionable but not so fashion-forward as to get into the S-bend shape. I also am lazy and don't want to have to scale something up from a book if I don't have to! Currently browsing AetelierSylphe patterns on etsy, which seems the most promising option at the moment - some adjusting and mocking up, but not so much as it would be from a book.
