Ruffly Panniers Progress
I am almost done with my ruffly hoops, which is good cause I want to get cracking on this gown! I really should buy more ribbon to put ruffles down the the vertical tapes, but that would mean going to the fabric store again, which I just don't have time for. Maybe it will happen someday, but for now, they are good enough. All I have left to do is decide on whether I want to sew each tape permanently to the waist tie or not. They pretty fun though, and I think the color will look good with my yellow stays! :) I seem to have a trend now for turquoise foundation garments... my bustle is turquoise too. :P
Also, here is a pretty crappy picture of my fabric for the dress.
It's not exact to the movie, I kind of think of it as a combo of the two dresses, but I like the print and think it will look nice. I bought some silk organza at Osgood's a couple weeks ago for the sleeve flounces and I have a couple options of trim from the stash. When I got this out I realized that I might not have enough fabric since it's only 44in wide, I only have 5 yards I think (I was too lazy to actually measure it) and I knew they didn't have it any more at Sewfisticated, the store where I bought it, so I went online and found another 5 yards on eBay and bought it just to be safe. And so now I will have a matching petticoat! Which is good, because a cream silk or red quilted silk petticoat just didn't sound too promising to me to work with cotton fabric. And, at only $3 a yard (which is what I paid for what I have already as well) I couldn't say no! I bought all the lady had left.
Other fun things. Today I took a personal day from work so I could go to the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, MA. I have to write a big paper about an exhibit by next week and so I chose to do textiles! :) This museum was awesome. Even better than I expected because I didn't think they'd have a lot of costumes on display, but they totally did! I took tons of pictures so I'll try to upload them soon, but for now, here's one of the first dresses I saw. My quilted petticoat is almost exactly like this! :) Now I need some striped silk... *evil grin*
Oh, and I did some weaving:
Sorry it's flipped... Now of course, I want a loom. :P
Also, I ordered a ton of corset supplies today for another project I'm working on... hopefully it won't take too long to get here, I have a tight deadline for this one! And I can't really say too much about it until next month. But it's exciting!
I am feeling a bit stressed with all I have to do in the next couple months. But I think I can do it all if I stay focused (and if I get some help on at least one of them). On top of taking this class where I have tests and paper, not to mention class that eats up my time, here's a list of other things I have to do before Costume Con:
1. Floral Francaise
2. Make at least one 1840's "Pioneer" Dress - I have recently been asked to head the Clothing Committee for my church's pioneer trek re-enactment this summer, which means directing/helping ~100 kids get appropriate clothing for the 1840's westward trail (no it is not all going to be historically accurate, but mine will of course, well, except for the handsewing part...).
3. Make a bonnet, apron, and drawers for same event and
4. put together packets of information and patterns for how the Youth Leaders can help the kids get ready, by the beginning of April (this is where I'm hoping for help, I'm supposed to have a committee of at least 4 other people to help me but they haven't been asked yet as far as I know, someone else has to do it).
5. Finish drop front Regency dress
6. Hopefully make some fun accessories to wear to CosCon, hats! bonnets! shoes! wigs!!
7. Make some alterations to the Tudor dress for CosCon and make sure it still fits (I've lost a bit of weight lately unfortunately).
Anyway, I feel like it's a ton to do on top of a full-time job! Oh! And move! Well, luckily just upstairs. And this is something I'm really excited about because I won't have my sewing stuff in my room anymore. It will have it's own space!! My bedroom will be just that! My BED room! :) So excited. But yeah, not to go through all my stuff and get it all organized.... We'll see how that goes.
OK, I should go do something...
Also, here is a pretty crappy picture of my fabric for the dress.
It's not exact to the movie, I kind of think of it as a combo of the two dresses, but I like the print and think it will look nice. I bought some silk organza at Osgood's a couple weeks ago for the sleeve flounces and I have a couple options of trim from the stash. When I got this out I realized that I might not have enough fabric since it's only 44in wide, I only have 5 yards I think (I was too lazy to actually measure it) and I knew they didn't have it any more at Sewfisticated, the store where I bought it, so I went online and found another 5 yards on eBay and bought it just to be safe. And so now I will have a matching petticoat! Which is good, because a cream silk or red quilted silk petticoat just didn't sound too promising to me to work with cotton fabric. And, at only $3 a yard (which is what I paid for what I have already as well) I couldn't say no! I bought all the lady had left.
Other fun things. Today I took a personal day from work so I could go to the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, MA. I have to write a big paper about an exhibit by next week and so I chose to do textiles! :) This museum was awesome. Even better than I expected because I didn't think they'd have a lot of costumes on display, but they totally did! I took tons of pictures so I'll try to upload them soon, but for now, here's one of the first dresses I saw. My quilted petticoat is almost exactly like this! :) Now I need some striped silk... *evil grin*
Oh, and I did some weaving:
Sorry it's flipped... Now of course, I want a loom. :P
Also, I ordered a ton of corset supplies today for another project I'm working on... hopefully it won't take too long to get here, I have a tight deadline for this one! And I can't really say too much about it until next month. But it's exciting!
I am feeling a bit stressed with all I have to do in the next couple months. But I think I can do it all if I stay focused (and if I get some help on at least one of them). On top of taking this class where I have tests and paper, not to mention class that eats up my time, here's a list of other things I have to do before Costume Con:
1. Floral Francaise
2. Make at least one 1840's "Pioneer" Dress - I have recently been asked to head the Clothing Committee for my church's pioneer trek re-enactment this summer, which means directing/helping ~100 kids get appropriate clothing for the 1840's westward trail (no it is not all going to be historically accurate, but mine will of course, well, except for the handsewing part...).
3. Make a bonnet, apron, and drawers for same event and
4. put together packets of information and patterns for how the Youth Leaders can help the kids get ready, by the beginning of April (this is where I'm hoping for help, I'm supposed to have a committee of at least 4 other people to help me but they haven't been asked yet as far as I know, someone else has to do it).
5. Finish drop front Regency dress
6. Hopefully make some fun accessories to wear to CosCon, hats! bonnets! shoes! wigs!!
7. Make some alterations to the Tudor dress for CosCon and make sure it still fits (I've lost a bit of weight lately unfortunately).
Anyway, I feel like it's a ton to do on top of a full-time job! Oh! And move! Well, luckily just upstairs. And this is something I'm really excited about because I won't have my sewing stuff in my room anymore. It will have it's own space!! My bedroom will be just that! My BED room! :) So excited. But yeah, not to go through all my stuff and get it all organized.... We'll see how that goes.
OK, I should go do something...