I got the chance to work on the bustle more on Tuesday night. I worked on it for 3 hours more or less. I cut the back piece out of a white sateen and then figured out where I should cut the patterned fabric for the back part that isn't under ruffles. This may sound confusing, but I will take pictures of what I mean. Then I put all the boning channels on.
I ordered buckram covered hoopsteel from Greenberg & Hammer on Monday, and I would be suprised if it wasn't waiting for me when I got home today! I'm excited to see how this 2D stuff is going to morph into 3D! I got all the homework I had due tomorrow and Saturday done today, though I didn't like score I received on my assignment and don't know why I got the answer wrong...so I had to email my teacher and now I'm waiting for him to reply. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't hear back from him, but I will keep following up if I have to. Anyway, because I got my homework done, I should be able to work on the bustle tonight, though I think I have several more hours of work to do, and won't get it all done tonight. *wonders where I can buy a ruffle foot and if I might already have one* I have alot of ruffles to gather by hand if I don't use a foot...hmmm... appoximate work time: 3 hours (also listed above)
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I started cutting the fabric for the front of my TV Grand Bustle yesterday. The fabric is a sateen with a pattern and a border, so I tried to match the pattern where I could...but it was a challenge. If I had more experience matching patterns it may not have been as difficult...the fabric I used was one I had in the stash (I have been hellbent on using stash fabrics where I can so I can buy more stash fabrics) and I liked the pattern & the border, so I'm happy with my fabric choice, though it did take more time than a solid would have.
That took most of the night, fiddling with matching patterns, then realizing for the side front pieces it wasn't going to work out exactly right, so I accepted it and frenched seamed the two side front pieces. (There are 4 front pieces to this pattern). Since I don't have very much of the above mentioned fabric (only 2.25 yards) and since the pattern would be wasted even if I did because it would be covered with ruffles, I am using a different fabric on the back side (I will be piecing the top part of the back with the patterned fabric so it won't look different. I pressed the back fabric and thats when I quit for the night. So far this pattern looks very simple and I don't think it should take me very long to finish it up. That's only partially true because I'm adding lace to the ruffles and doing things that most people in a hurry wouldn't probably take time to do. Yet, if I want lace on my ruffles I gotta do it now because it will be too late once it's all put together. Also, I need to order hoopsteel and I hope I can remember to do that today. I also need the ends, maybe some connectors in case I need them in the future, and grommets. estimated work time (way longer than it would have taken if I hadn't futzed with matching patterns): approximately 4 hours cross posted from LiveJournal
I met accidentallarue today, not for the first time, but the first time we had time to talk. I don't think we even had enough time to talk because it seems like we had so much more to say! Afterwards I ran to Mill End in Burnsville hoping to find more robins egg blue silk for a project. I found a little...it's not exactly the same, but I think it would work for trim, I also need to pick up the pieces I found at the ME in New Hope tomorrow if no one bought it up today. Silk remnants are 4.99, and I've been lucky enough to find a few 2 yard pieces, but running around town for this 1 yard stuff is a pain...I'm afraid I will end up needing it for trim though, so I'm happy to get whatever I can find. AND after talking with Laura I am very motivated to start working on my Grand Bustle. I heard the TV Pattern is better than the Laughing Moon 1870's bustle pattern. I don't know if that's true or not, but I didn't want the train supporter on the LM pattern because I will not be wearing a train more often than I would, so I needed a bustle without it. I hope the fabric I picked to use for it works out, as I only have a little of it and have to try to match the pattern, but its the color scheme I wanted so I'm gonna try it. And I swore accidentallarue to sekricy, but I spilled the beans on the concept for my upcoming Victorian. Finally, Laura invited me to join her group of friends to a Steampunk Mystery party and I think I'm gonna take her up on the offer. I have a few weeks to put together an outfit, and because I would like to flirt with Steampunk fashion more than I have I think it's a great idea to get in the scene to see if I like it or not. I'm off to take an Economics exam...ugh. If my score isn't acceptable I should study before my 2nd attempt (it's an online class and an online test), but I would really rather start cutting my bustle pieces... cross posted from my LiveJournal:
Does it count as sekrit if you know what time period it is? Anyway, I'm super excited about making a new Victorian for Twelfth Night, the only thing is...I don't know if I have enough time. I mentioned before, I'd like to make a new corset before I make a new Victorian because the corset I made at CosCol 2006 isn't in great shape anymore. I haven't even it worn it very much. So, I'm toying with two possibilities 1) making a new corset as I do have the pattern from that class I took in 2006 OR 2) should I just replace the boning in my old one. Beyond that, I got the patterns for my Truly Victorian Grand Bustle today...as I've been wanting a 1870's dress for almost as long as I've been in the VSA. I should get started on that then decide what to do with the corset. Here are a few pictures from the Danse Macabre...and pictures of Brad and I, of course! These pictures were taken by my friend, Deborah Lundberg & Kit Cusick, Ball Chairman
This ALWAYS happens to me when it comes to costume, most of the time events like birthday parties, travel, and family gatherings we have the foresight to think..."Ay! We might need batteries for the camera!"
Hmph. There were several pictures taken of us in costume at the Ball on Saturday night, but the one shot we got on our camera I am not smiling. This is strange because at the ball while dancing and talking I can't help but smile...so the picture must have caught me when I decided for one second, to take a break. Oops. If I don't have any other pictures up by tomorrow, I will put the nonsmiling one of me & Brad up. So...I didn't get everything I wanted to get done...but I wanted to get alot done. Work Dress to do: (still) Velvet guard at hem repleat back ? (I'm not sure I want to do this anymore, the pleats seemed to work on Saturday, so I'll have to reevaluate this) new front ties rebind parts underbodice trim underbodice straps attach bar and hook closure underskirt 2nd pair of sleeves apron restitch bone casing on bodice Overall, I had a good wearing of this costume on Saturday night. The front opening seems a little wide...but I have been expanding since the wedding and now that "costume season" is mostly over it's time to start working out again. I might wear this dress to Costume Con and if not then it will be almost 9 months (unless we attend the Midwinter feast!) until I get to wear it again so I have time to slim down without changing it. Oh, and my sequined shoe caught the thread in my hem, so I have a spot to fix, which will be more secure when I stitch that guard down. Then the sequined shoe (with leather soles) took the opportunity to bust my butt on the steps of our garage. Concrete steps. I fell then took a second to make sure I didn't actually hurt anything, then Brad helped me up. I didn't hurt anything majorly, but I'm sore, so I think that and the dancing both contributed to my aches and pains. I want to finish this dress soon while I still have it all fresh in my head...but at the same time I'd like to take some time away from sewing...a week or so. Also, I need to start making the bustle for my 1870's ensemble though I have to wait for the boning and the pattern so that is going to be my main priority once I have all the pieces to get started. I'm not good at working on two projects at one time, but maybe I can try to get the little things done while I "take a break". I want an updated list of costumes I want to make in the next year as it looks like it might be feasible for me to attend CosCol 2010, though I may be trading it in for our Italian Honeymoon (not because of Coscol, because of the economy). Anyway...not going to Italy means I'll have vacation time to go to CosCol, and that is a bonus. if you want to read the list, click "Read More" Fantastic! So yesterday, with all the stuff I have to do I was struck by the headache truck, and they gave me a whopper. I tried the drugs that normally help me and they didn't so by the afternoon I went home two hours early.
I took some Tylenol Sinus and that helped straight away...so that's when I got to work. I cut the fabric pieces for Brad's cloak collar, put that together and attached it to the neckline...I still need to finish the neckline off, but I can do the handsewing in the car on the way somewhere...probably tomorrow morning on the way to set-up. I found a trim in the stash that will work for the cloak, but after pressing it and attaching the collar, I think it looks pretty dapper as is...we will add the trim when we decide whether or not to switch out the lining. I got my sleeve pattern adjusted and I hope I like the way the sleeves fit when there done because they're almost to that point. I also painted my mask, which took several coats of paint, so it's a good thing I remembered to start that last night. I decided against the gold because one of the decorations I'd like to put on it for this wearing is gold and I didn't want to detract from that. So I went with pearlized white, which is another good "neutral" for masks. I guess that's all I got done besides running out to Party City to buy the last BIG Skull they had...:D I should take a picture of where it's sitting in the house right now because I'm amused. You see, I like to decorate our house in themes...even if they are subtle...themes (even costume themes) help me to come up with ideas and stay cohesive. Anyway, one theme I thought would be fun for our living room (which is in the lower level of our house) is the Dungeon. One, because it is in the lower level of our house...and two because Brad collects dragons, we have alot of dragon stuff, and we could use it down here...he also collects swords that would allow us to display them, and because I like Renaissance & Medieval decor it could all work...So I put the giant humanesque skull on our entertainment center, and it looks cool, but I don't think I could leave it up there all the time, dungeon or not! estimated work time: 4 hours Last night I didn't work on my dress very much. I did find the Margo Anderson pattern I have for "wide curved" upper & lower sleeves...because I was feeling lazy and because I do want BIG SLEEVES just cut the biggest size (instead of tracing my size) and decided I'd make changes if I I needed. Not sure how they're going to work because the big sleeves have big wrinkles...so I need to do some research (as these sleeves are big, I don't think they're big enough but I don't have the time to trial and error my own pattern for them) but I may just make them up and make changes later.
Brad cut the fabric and I sewed it together for his Renaissance men's semicircular cloak (again using the Margo Anderson patterns), here's the backstory on why I thought this piece was necessary for the Ball. Brad picked a great leather mask at Ren Fest this year, specifically for this ball...but the striking color of the mask isn't found anywhere else in the costume he'll be wearing...I had an idea (while I was sleeping actually) that we could use a fabric in the same color fabric as the mask for a lining and make him a cloak. As luck would have it I have a silk that matched the color of Brad's mask, pretty much exactly the same, in my opinion. The outside is a chevron patterned brown on brown wool I bought to make Brad a Victorian cloak...there may still be enough for that leftover. The brown wool works nicely with the brown in the brocade of his doublet & breeches so I think after the ball I will replace the lining that something that coordinates with the outfit so he can wear it to fest if he wants to...unless he wants to keep the striking fabric to wear with his mask out at fest. Onto a few construction notes....the instructions say the cloak should hang for at least 24 hours after it's cut (I always forget to let this happen before I hem a skirt...I usually don't have the time either) before I add the collar, so if I didn't get it done last night it might not have gotten done at all. It will take a little more doing to get the rest finished. I need to add the collar, a clasp, hooks to the cloak and loops onto his doublet so it will hang properly...and if there's time, I'd like to find a nice trim. For the work dress, I need to add a bar and hook closure to the skirt and make sure it lays properly when shut...I'm working on the underbodice while at work today. Hopefully I can get the straps turned under, and I may just turn the neckline under as well instead of binding it...I didn't bring the binding from home, otherwise I'd be using that...I did bring Brad's doublet sleeves to place the buttons (for the hair elastics to hold the sleeves in place) so if I can do that and not waste any time, I'll try to wait until I get home or tomorrow to bind the neckline. I haven't gotten anything done in the way of decorations for the ball except spray painting branches. I hope that the Ball Chairman likes my idea because I totally dig it and would be disappointed if we don't use the arrangements. I did find two close to life size ravens to perch on the branches, which completes the effect. Okay, back to work! estimated work time: 4 hours I'd like to list my wants, outside of the Work Dress Wish List, for the ball on Saturday. Because Brad and I have to help with setup on Saturday, I won't have that extra time to get these things done.
I want to make a semi-circular cloak for Brad using Margo Anderson's Gentleman's Patterns. The pattern looks simple, but I bet I can manage to goof it up somehow. I need a mask! I have a mask, but I don't really think it goes with my dress, so I need to do something to have a mask to wear for the ball. Good thing I have ready-to-decorate masks in my pile of junk...though I don't know now I want it to look...Gold would go with the trim on my dress AND I'd be able to use it again with other dresses, so that sounds like a pretty good starting point, but what else? All the decor stuff I signed up for...two wreaths for the front doors, the branch arrangements (which are mostly done) and the flying skull I want to make. That doesn't sound too bad...though I do have some finshing up on Brad's doublet to get done too! Thing #1 Last week I did a very bad thing (bad because I want to use up fabrics in my stash before buying anymore) and decided I needed fabric for an underskirt for this dress. I went to a local fabric warehouse in search of a nice linen but found a stack of silk remnants, at $4.99 silk is hard to pass up and was probably less expensive than any linen I would have bought if they had any I liked. I picked gold for this underskirt and got enough so that I could also make a bodice and/or sleeves for this dress. I'm not sure I'll get to the underskirt in time to wear it to the ball, but I hope to have sleeves done in time. Thanks to Realm of Venus for this portrait. For the historic version of this gown (I believe the movie dress is based on historic garments, though Danielle's sleeves are earlier in period and/or fantasy based) I want to make a pair of full sleeves as in the above portrait (shh...I'm most excited to make the 2 part sleeves from the movie though). Looking at portraits from the period of similiar dresses, I've noticed the openings in the dresses are more commonly smaller than the opening on my dress, though the opening in the dress from the movie is larger than the opening in the picture I posted above. Thanks to everaftercostumes.com for the above image Thing #2 I hope that I can replace the ties at the front opening before Saturday as well. I used the velvet ribbon I trimmed the bodice with for ties but these aren't working out so well. They aren't really long enough and they are only one sided, so they have an ugly side. I want to make the ties from the dress fabric so it will take a little effort to sew it, turn it in, then finish the edges (if I don't have time to finish the edges I can knot the ends off and maybe add a bead? I don't know yet.
Thing #3 I really hope I have time to repleat the back of the dress. I used box pleats in the front, and it creates a little puffiness around my waist...I used stacked knife pleats because I have SO MUCH FABRIC in the back of the skirt...but the knife pleats lie too flat and the combination of flat in back and puffy in front looks kinda stupid. Thing #4 I don't NEED to add the guard at the botton of the dress for the ball...but I wanna! I pinned part of it in place and makes it look polished. Thing #5 And least importantly for the ball, the Underskirt. I have trim, I have fabric, I just need time and I don't have that! Thing #6 I don't need these until the next time I want to wear this dress as the Work Dress from Ever After, which might be at either The Midwinter Feast that is put on by the Fest Friends group, or maybe Costume Con? Anyway, I need the 2 part sleeves and an apron. In looking at Danielle's apron in the movie...the apron is a square or rectangular piece of fabic with a tie across the top. The square corners of the top of the apron are not included in the tie, and instead hang at angles from the waist (does that make sense?) |
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