A Dedicated Follower of Fashion

So I admit it's maybe not the MOST THRILLING PLACE in winter, but it's my birthday I do what I want. *shifty eyes* I love a good garden, even in winter. When I have my estate it will have to have a well-maintained park. Heh.

And we discovered that "it's her birthday" is apparently a totally valid explanation to the public when you're dressed up. That it's just for fun is totally weird, but a birthday makes it not weird at all. The More You Know. It's going to be someone's birthday all the time from now on...

I did not wear The Pimp Coat, though I did bring it. But I'd have roasted in it...walking and a scarf kept me quite warm! Too warm at times actually.


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Sewing! Yesterday I made a chemisette-thing that I am not entirely enamoured with and will probably remake. I thought I wanted a pleated ruff-type-collar-thing but it appears that maybe I don't.

And then today I did the skirt facing. You may notice I've left the sleeves til last...

(This is me updating, and therefore not being at work. Amusingly, it seems like we won't get much, if any, snow at all, but thanks for canceling my shift!) So...slow! I think it's going to be nice when it's done, and I'm very much looking forward to wearing it, but I would also very much like if it would finish itself.

All I did today was tack the facing down, which sounds very pathetic, but the polished cotton lining's very tightly woven, so it was difficult to just stitch through the lining and not catch the wool. Annoying. So! Tomorrow I need to cut and sew in the rest of the boning, and then either do the sleeves or the skirt facing, whichever seems less terrible when I get to it. Also hooks and eyes for the front, whenever I feel inspired to corset up (so maybe not tomorrow).

World's most unimpressive picture of the dress so far. Turnbacks are unironed and untacked, and I didn't put it over the skirt. But, proof I haven't just been napping!


Though let's be honest, naps are awesome.

I also mostly decided on the fabric to use for the coat to go over this, and so ordered the feathers to trim it with. I think I've decided on the light pink mostly-wool flannel that I bought without a purpose (because it was $5/yd), so I don't keep second-guessing myself, going, "But should I save it to use for this Thing I wanted to make when I bought it??" It's a pink-and-ivory herringbone weave; as far as I can tell with my very limited research (aka poking the internet a bit), herringbone's maybe not correct for a lady's coat for the time period, but whoops, I have it and I don't care that much. And it's cozy!

So I bought some white turkey marabou fluff for trim. I have a bit in the stash (reserved for Other Purposes), so while I was digging though my feathers, I pulled it out and said, aha! Originally I thought I'd get marabou boas for the trim, as they'd have been about 2/3 of the price, but it wasn't quite the look I wanted, so I kept looking. Payoff! The strung fluff's much fatter. I wore the piece I already have around my neck for a few minutes, and it was very toasty warm! So, fluff it is. Definitely worth the extra money.

Jeez, those darts took for-EV-er to fit. I didn't have a ton of sewing time the past two days (there was, among many other things, a duck waiting to be made into soup), so it was all taken up by darts. Seriously. Easy to fit, but every little tweak meant I had to take the whole thing off, re-pin, put back on and button up...et cetera, et cetera. The joys of fitting on oneself!

Tonight I want to get the top bit of the collar pad stitched (it's small, so this seems reasonable), then tomorrow I'm off so I can get a good chunk of it sewn. We hope.

I'm done basting the pieces...at least, I think so. I hope so! I've started pad stitching the collar and skirt turnbacks (stupidly exciting) and can probably get the one side done tonight. After the other side's done I think I can sew the fronts to the back, which then means I can try it on and fiddle with darts. Yay.

So I finished the hat - trimmed and everything. Hooray I have a hat...okay, now let's get back to the dress so I have something to wear with said hat! It's kinda smart, though, I think. I was going to get some light pink feathers to go on it, but I tried out the white ones I had and liked it just fine, so, white feather it is. Save money where we can, right? Heh.

Crappy pictures, but whatever. Get better ones when I wear it, right? Proof it's done anyway!

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Apparently I was too productive the other day, so yesterday I felt entitled to lay on the couch and read in my free time. Don't want to, like, wear myself out or anything.

*shifty eyes*

Anyway, today I got the hat pieces wired and bound, sewed the backs of the dress together, and decided which buttons to put on the waistcoat (the ones from my striped bustle dress...well, I wasn't going to wear it again, anyway!). It counts!

I finished the underskirt yesterday, but had another overnight shift (ugh) and then forgot to take pictures of it today until about an hour ago. And they're bad, as usual. You don't get decent pictures til I finish the outfit, heh. :P


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I cut out the buckram pieces for the hat to go with this outfit, and after careful consideration, decided I don't have anything in-stash that's sufficiently non-matchy but not horribly clashy to cover the hat. So I spent waaaay too much time fabric-shopping online, and I think I'm going to be good and resist spending for silk, as I've got a source for decent rayon-blend failles on ebay. Won't buy today, though. Must ponder!

Full speed ahead on the underskirt for the Gainsborough princesse dress! I cut out the basic panels out of pink polished cotton - I started with the TV tie-back skirt pattern and tweaked it a little.

I put a panel of taffeta on the back piece that goes up to about the knees. There's a line of flounces at the hem, but as I'm making the underskirt separate, so I can wear it with something else if I want...I figure any other overskirt I make would be at least that long.

The front's covered in a gathered panel of taffeta, which I gathered (by hand, as the machine stitches are smaller that I wanted) in the middle, and sewed that down. I think I can probably finish the underskirt tomorrow, as long as I can get myself motivated to sew before dinner-time! Flounces, oh joy.