Making Progress
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend! Mine was very relaxing, in fact, a little too much at the beginning because I didn't even get started sewing until Saturday! So I didn't get as much done as I wanted, but I still made considerable progress.
First off, I finished my brown spencer, which consisted of putting the second sleeve in, redoing the back peplum and then finishing the bottom/lining. Now all that's left is covering the million buttons I'm going to put on it, attaching those (making three button holes - I'm still debating whether to hand sew them or not... guess it depends on how much time I have) and then finishing the sleeve lining. I'm really happy with how it's turned out!
Pictures:
And then what I'm really happy I got done (because it's a load off my mind), I finished my dress. This was definitely a learning process as I used no pattern whatsoever, but draped the pattern entirely on my dressform. I'm mostly happy with how it turned out, it fits well, and I figured things out, but I'm not super happy about the neckline, I wanted a few more gathers in the front, and the skirt is laying a bit funny across the front right now (as you can see on my dressform, which is much worse than when I'm wearing it). I'm also not 100% happy with the sleeves, but I was worried about having enough fabric, since I did them before the skirt, so I made them short, which isn't very practical for the winter, and they are also a little pouffier than I wanted, but they worked on my first try, so they are staying. I might find a way to make them a little less poufy and a little more interesting a la some of the sleeves in the Gweneth Paltrow version of Emma. I also think I can fix the skirt issues pretty easily, but I'm going to think about it for a bit. The only thing left to do is hem it and attach the hooks/buttons for the closure. What I'm happy about is that I can dress myself entirely in this outfit since my corset is also front lacing! Hooray for not needing help!
Here it is on the dressform. Remember it looks better in real life. Really.
See the pulling of the skirt in the front? What did I do wrong? Hummm.
You can see the side opening here a little bit. And the poufy sleeves.
I'm thinking about taking out some of the fullness in the side back. I got as much as I could concentrated between the two back seams, but it might still be too much...
And a blurry pic of me in it.
Once again, not the best pictures, but you get the idea.
What I also did this weekend (which is one reason I didn't start sewing on Friday) was watch the new BBC Emma on YouTube! It was really good and I highly recommend watching it! I got a good idea about my muff from it as well as there is one scene where she uses one. It's not as huge as some that I've seen in early Regency Fashion Plates which is good because I was worried about looking ridiculous with a giant muff. It will still be big, just not gargantuan.
So other than finishing little details all I have left to do to be ready for the Tea is to make the muff and the bonnet. That sounds easy, but I think I'll run into problems with the bonnet. Especially since I'm not going to use a pattern with that either. But I haven't found one that I really love the shape of. And I've never made a bonnet before, but I've been playing around with paper models to get the right shape and I think I can figure it out. I guess we will see! I can always use a straw one if it doesn't turn out!
Oh and that reminds me. I'm realizing that my fabric, which I thought was pretty purple, is actually when viewed far away more a pink-y-magenta. Which is actually a good thing because it means I have the perfect shoes to wear with it! But might be a problem because of the ribbons I got to trim my bonnet... they might not match. We shall see!
First off, I finished my brown spencer, which consisted of putting the second sleeve in, redoing the back peplum and then finishing the bottom/lining. Now all that's left is covering the million buttons I'm going to put on it, attaching those (making three button holes - I'm still debating whether to hand sew them or not... guess it depends on how much time I have) and then finishing the sleeve lining. I'm really happy with how it's turned out!
Pictures:
And then what I'm really happy I got done (because it's a load off my mind), I finished my dress. This was definitely a learning process as I used no pattern whatsoever, but draped the pattern entirely on my dressform. I'm mostly happy with how it turned out, it fits well, and I figured things out, but I'm not super happy about the neckline, I wanted a few more gathers in the front, and the skirt is laying a bit funny across the front right now (as you can see on my dressform, which is much worse than when I'm wearing it). I'm also not 100% happy with the sleeves, but I was worried about having enough fabric, since I did them before the skirt, so I made them short, which isn't very practical for the winter, and they are also a little pouffier than I wanted, but they worked on my first try, so they are staying. I might find a way to make them a little less poufy and a little more interesting a la some of the sleeves in the Gweneth Paltrow version of Emma. I also think I can fix the skirt issues pretty easily, but I'm going to think about it for a bit. The only thing left to do is hem it and attach the hooks/buttons for the closure. What I'm happy about is that I can dress myself entirely in this outfit since my corset is also front lacing! Hooray for not needing help!
Here it is on the dressform. Remember it looks better in real life. Really.
See the pulling of the skirt in the front? What did I do wrong? Hummm.
You can see the side opening here a little bit. And the poufy sleeves.
I'm thinking about taking out some of the fullness in the side back. I got as much as I could concentrated between the two back seams, but it might still be too much...
And a blurry pic of me in it.
Once again, not the best pictures, but you get the idea.
What I also did this weekend (which is one reason I didn't start sewing on Friday) was watch the new BBC Emma on YouTube! It was really good and I highly recommend watching it! I got a good idea about my muff from it as well as there is one scene where she uses one. It's not as huge as some that I've seen in early Regency Fashion Plates which is good because I was worried about looking ridiculous with a giant muff. It will still be big, just not gargantuan.
So other than finishing little details all I have left to do to be ready for the Tea is to make the muff and the bonnet. That sounds easy, but I think I'll run into problems with the bonnet. Especially since I'm not going to use a pattern with that either. But I haven't found one that I really love the shape of. And I've never made a bonnet before, but I've been playing around with paper models to get the right shape and I think I can figure it out. I guess we will see! I can always use a straw one if it doesn't turn out!
Oh and that reminds me. I'm realizing that my fabric, which I thought was pretty purple, is actually when viewed far away more a pink-y-magenta. Which is actually a good thing because it means I have the perfect shoes to wear with it! But might be a problem because of the ribbons I got to trim my bonnet... they might not match. We shall see!