A Dedicated Follower of Fashion

I guess it's going to be all 1860s, all the time around here from now on...at least til I get tired of it. ;) Today I:

- Ran out of matching thread for the short hoop, and managed to leave my card at home when I went to work tonight, so I couldn't pick up a new spool. Oops. Off tomorrow so I won't be able to get said spool til Monday night. Oops. Oh well, got plenty of other stuff to do! (Although the spool to match the rational dress is getting low too, so it probably won't be that either...)

- I think I've decided on a theme for my fancy dress outfit; I've been mulling over Gypsy vs Starry Night vs Titania for the past couple of days. Gypsy would definitely be the cheapest as I could use almost all stash stuff, but Robin pointed out that makes her think of the Ren Faire, and not in a good way, haha. Titania could be fun as I would wear my hair down with those extensions I bought for the pre-Raphaelite outfit a couple years ago, but I'm less excited about the actual outfit when compared with the hair, LOL. Starry Night would require buying fabric, but I still have a bunch of spangles in silver and gold hanging around somewhere, and that would be the main embellishment. And I think I have the clearest idea of what exactly I'd make for that! So I think it'll be Starry Night.

- In an attempt to clear off my workspace a bit (ha ha ha), I put the fastenings on the two rational dress skirts, and started sewing the frogs on my bathrobe, aka 1860s wrapper. The original intent was to trim the edges of the quilted panels with narrow cord, use wider cord and tassel for the belt, and put frogs on for closures, none of which happened for G'burg 2015!

(Plaid skirts on top of each other. Very exciting.)
I couldn't find the perfect combination of qualities in frogs that I wanted - the right color, not horribly polyester-y, and cheap because I needed around 15 of them - before Gettysburg last time, so I went without; this year I was determined to have some kind of fastening! So I compromised on the frogs: these were 4.50 for a lot of 10, so I bought 2 sets, they're not really the color I wanted but white is better than black and at this price point there isn't much selection, and they're pretty damn polyester-y but I'll live. When you only need two or three frogs, a couple bucks apiece is doable, but not when you need a dozen. :P
 
(I could have bought some rayon cord and made my own, but...come on, it's a bathrobe! I might consider it for a gown but not a bathrobe.)

I got them mostly sewn on before work; just the second half of six left to do. I still want to find some narrow cord for trim, but I'm not sure which color to do now, since the frogs are screamingly white, and the quilted silk is...not. But fastenings were most important, so (almost) check that off the list. Woo!

To borrow from koshka_the_cat, I am not a Muggle! At least, not today.

Although I am 90% sure I managed to put the sleeves in backwards. Have already trimmed the seam allowance, but may take them off again anyway. This is what happens when you cut things out in February and decide to sew them together in September. And completely lose track of the pattern pieces in the meantime.

It's not finished, but I'm sitting here wearing it as I type anyway, since it's in one piece and I'm very pleased with that development! Backwards sleeves and all. I started today with the blue wool pieces and the bodice lining cut out, so I consider all this a good day's work. Even if I have to go back and fix things!


This is one of the few things I've made that I think looks dumber on the dressform than on the floor in pictures...


My original inspiration has frog closures and a cord trim along the edges of the quilted bit - if I can find some that don't look too cheesy I'll put them on...if not, the raw edge is turned under, and I can always fake a button closure. We'll see.

I cut out the pieces for the wrapper today, out of the light blue flannel and the cotton for lining. I'm only lining the bodice because I think it's going to be heavy enough without being fully lined! (Also I am out of my big bolt of muslin and only have small pieces left...)

And then I put it aside, because the what-are-you-going-to-wear-to-the-francaise-dinner question wouldn't stop niggling in the back of my mind. I still have over a month, but getting it out of the way would probably be good. So I solved the question of the fraying trim on the striped dress by deciding not to wear it to the FD. Simple yet effective. Instead I'm pulling out something completely random!

I have a 1780s dress of striped silk that I made for the Bad Costume Con, and I've only worn it that once. For one, the sleeves sucked. For another, how often do I get to wear 1780s (that doesn't involve a chemise gown)? So the original thought was to maybe just fix up the sleeves...but when I took it out today I realized it really needs a whole reworking. The bodice fit isn't great and is awkwardly high-waisted, like I couldn't commit to either 1780s or 1790s and ended up somewhere in the middle. It's hand sewn, with my only-halfway-correct guess at 18thc construction, and is lined in seriously wimpy muslin rather than linen. (If the fit wasn't so crappy I woudn't mind that, but...) And it closes with a million tiny hooks and eyes, which gapped and were the Worst Idea Ever.

But it's pretty fabulous fabric! And it still wants to be a 1780s dress...just a slightly improved one. So...this afternoon I took it almost completely apart. I had cut petticoat panels (and never gotten to making the petticoat, what a surprise) so I'll have a matching petti, which was always the intent. And I still have some scraps which should be enough to recut the bodice, though there might be some piecing. The sleeves should be salvageable (again, possibly with some piecing, because the curve of that sleeve head is entirely made of WTF).

Once I was finished destroying it, I started putting it back together: I resewed the CB seam of the gown skirt first (because it was machine sewn and while I'm taking the whole thing apart, what's one more seam?). I also discovered that I cut the petticoat panels WILDLY crookedly, so it's a good thing I also cut them approximately 12" too long. Did I not own a straight edge at this point in time? Daaaaamn. So the petticoat panels are sewn together and hemmed. I won't pleat it to the ties til after I futz with my 80s rump; it really needs some side width added on. I should probably do that tomorrow...

And I'm sure my decision to put The Duchess on while I was cutting out the wrapper pieces had nothing to do with this decision to go 1780s... Nothing whatsoever.

It looks very much like a skirt now. Waistband and pocket and all. No hem yet, though.

No word yet on the ribbon lot; I can only assume it's still buried under a mountain of snow. I admit I'm getting antsy already...which is silly, as I don't need this outfit for three weeks yet. Just in case, though, I find myself making alternate bodice plans. (I am Very Attached to my trim scheme on this particular bodice.) I made the skirt separate already, just in case I want a ballgown bodice to go with it as well; certainly have the fabric for it! So a third bodice would not be completely out of the realm of possibility. There was a lot of fabric on that roll, yes...

I've completely given up in digust on those Trenton colonial ball people. Are they EVER going to update their info so I can buy a ticket??? Not saying I won't go (I fully plan to, whenever they get around to selling tickets!), but I think they're not getting a new dress from me. I'm sure they would be very broken up to hear that. Unless I feel really super-motivated in between Pennypacker's Victorian Christmas and Actual Christmas, I'll make do with the old pink sacque.

Because there are other things I want to sew! I haven't forgotten about the Winterfell dress, for instance. It being Really Cold lately has reminded me that that was a thing I wanted to make. I have fabric for the under- and over-dress, still need wool for a cloak and linen(ish) for a shift. Think I'm going to get a wool blend suiting that's on sale currently from FFC (I have nice woolens in the Stash, but they may be, um, a little too nice for this project that has no real reason to exist other than I wanna) because it's stupid cheap right now.

I also bought a wool flannel blend for my Gettysburg Remembrance Day wrapper from FFC...somehow I got it into my head that my wrapper must be wool flannel (we're going to be in a cabin again, and those things are not terribly well-heated, as we have learned, so I think this is valid), so I had to buy it when I saw it. Light blue for the body, dark blue for the quilted contrast panel...and enough pink for a dress just in case it's nice enough for a dress?

Yes, Remembrance Day is fully a year away. Yes, I'm planning for it now.

I still want to make an ice skating outfit, too! 1860s is my backup, because I want to do late 1890s, and I've got to start from the absolute beginning with that. Got a corset pattern all picked out...

And there is a tiny project brewing with dragoneyes19 and hiraimi, also 1890s-related, and also thanks to FFC. That probably won't be done til summer, as it's summer-weight fabric, and there's no deadline for it...but I have promised to make the hats for it. :D