you know, stuff
i'm not sure i've done a whole lot lately besides buy endless skeins of yarn because my project lied to me and i don't have enough (ever.). i'm almost done with karla's birthday present but since it hasn't passed yet i can't very well post about it here.
my aunt gave me a beaded velvet overdress for christmas that i suspected was inspired by downton abbey, but since i've never seen the show and am not familiar with the period i didn't know. when mela came over for a cgw board meeting i asked her for advice and she suggested 1910-1915 for research. after several hours of my life eaten up by my brand new pinterest account, i came up with a sketch for the under dress and got started.
the pattern on the overdress is peacocks. the under dress is going to be a strapless, empire waist split hobble skirt made of silk charmeuse in a dark champagne color (provided i can still find the fabric. i bought it probably 7 or 8 years ago, so it may have been used by now.)
i started on the bandeau bodice last week. i didn't bother with a pattern; i just took my measurements and drew out a couple curvy rectangles in an annoyingly uncooperative unbleached duck, which i lined with off white cotton sateen scraps i had conveniently still sitting on my cutting table (remnants from my empire waist trousers which are still sitting zipper-less in a heap next to my machine). there are 6 bones on the sides (3 on either side of the side seams) and it closes up the left side with hook and eye. i'm going to attach elastic to the fashion fabric and sew it to the lining of the bodice and fold it over the top; this will (hopefully) create a soft line across the top that won't leave me yanking self-consciously on my boobs. i guess i'll gather the fashion fabric onto the bottom of the bodice and sew the waistband over it; my other (original) option is doing the same thing across the bottom that i do to the top.
i have no idea how to make a hobble skirt, but i've been looking at pictures almost non-stop this week and i think i'm starting to get a sense of where i should be putting in pleats and pulling up fabric in order to get it to do more or less what i want. i'm still not sure about the train, but i anticipate doing this almost entirely by draping anyway, so i'll be playing around with it. since it's still a ways away, especially with trying to get everything ready for the birthday on thursday, i haven't looked online for instructions on making a hobble skirt, but i'll get to that too.
i'm trying really hard to do only one thing at a time on this outfit, but i tend to spazz all over the place so i can't quite avoid trying to figure out my hair and shoes and jewelry and makeup and STUFF ETC all at once. apparently david's bridal has a line of downton abbey jewelry that i've been having fun looking through. i think with the color scheme on this dress i'm going to have to suck it up and go with gold instead of silver. there are a lot of really beautiful options, and it is a nice starting point for me since i'm not super good at finding things online. i also, partially to support a small craftsman in my field and partially to save my mother the clusterfuck that is me shoe shopping, have been thinking of splurging and going with american duchess edwardian shoes, like these, those these ones are dyeable. hairstyles are more legitimate to be looking at because the hair fashion plate pictures show up with the dresses. like this one!
i definitely like the look of the separated double headband. i'm thinking pearls! pearls are always fashionable...not sure pearls will match. (but i'm not supposed to be thinking about this yet anyway.)
so yeah.
here are my main inspiration photos:
my aunt gave me a beaded velvet overdress for christmas that i suspected was inspired by downton abbey, but since i've never seen the show and am not familiar with the period i didn't know. when mela came over for a cgw board meeting i asked her for advice and she suggested 1910-1915 for research. after several hours of my life eaten up by my brand new pinterest account, i came up with a sketch for the under dress and got started.
the pattern on the overdress is peacocks. the under dress is going to be a strapless, empire waist split hobble skirt made of silk charmeuse in a dark champagne color (provided i can still find the fabric. i bought it probably 7 or 8 years ago, so it may have been used by now.)
i started on the bandeau bodice last week. i didn't bother with a pattern; i just took my measurements and drew out a couple curvy rectangles in an annoyingly uncooperative unbleached duck, which i lined with off white cotton sateen scraps i had conveniently still sitting on my cutting table (remnants from my empire waist trousers which are still sitting zipper-less in a heap next to my machine). there are 6 bones on the sides (3 on either side of the side seams) and it closes up the left side with hook and eye. i'm going to attach elastic to the fashion fabric and sew it to the lining of the bodice and fold it over the top; this will (hopefully) create a soft line across the top that won't leave me yanking self-consciously on my boobs. i guess i'll gather the fashion fabric onto the bottom of the bodice and sew the waistband over it; my other (original) option is doing the same thing across the bottom that i do to the top.
i have no idea how to make a hobble skirt, but i've been looking at pictures almost non-stop this week and i think i'm starting to get a sense of where i should be putting in pleats and pulling up fabric in order to get it to do more or less what i want. i'm still not sure about the train, but i anticipate doing this almost entirely by draping anyway, so i'll be playing around with it. since it's still a ways away, especially with trying to get everything ready for the birthday on thursday, i haven't looked online for instructions on making a hobble skirt, but i'll get to that too.
i'm trying really hard to do only one thing at a time on this outfit, but i tend to spazz all over the place so i can't quite avoid trying to figure out my hair and shoes and jewelry and makeup and STUFF ETC all at once. apparently david's bridal has a line of downton abbey jewelry that i've been having fun looking through. i think with the color scheme on this dress i'm going to have to suck it up and go with gold instead of silver. there are a lot of really beautiful options, and it is a nice starting point for me since i'm not super good at finding things online. i also, partially to support a small craftsman in my field and partially to save my mother the clusterfuck that is me shoe shopping, have been thinking of splurging and going with american duchess edwardian shoes, like these, those these ones are dyeable. hairstyles are more legitimate to be looking at because the hair fashion plate pictures show up with the dresses. like this one!
i definitely like the look of the separated double headband. i'm thinking pearls! pearls are always fashionable...not sure pearls will match. (but i'm not supposed to be thinking about this yet anyway.)
so yeah.
here are my main inspiration photos: