Partially anyway. I started this dress back in late May for a picnic that got rained out, so it went on the UFO pile. A small group of us are hitting up a tea house this weekend, and I don't feel like wearing my red cotton gown. So I decided, rather than just fix/recut the left sleeve on my windowpane green silk gown, which was my first idea, that ( Read more... )

What better to use for an 1860s dress than very bright lemon yellow faile? It's a cotton/rayon blend, and a little shiny, but I really don't care. I'll be visible for a mile. It'll be awesome and hilarious. I might even glow in the dark. I'm not sure yet. I've got a whole bunch of vintage navy petersham ribbon to trim it with, but I don't think ( Read more... )

"Let there be sleeves."


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As much as I really wanted to dive headfirst into all my sewing, I was good and did what really needed doing: new stays. My yellow stays, as wonderfully comfy as they are, are too big. I can lace them fully shut, and still pinch a good inch and a half out of the front while wearing them. So for my new pair (which accidentally matched HSF#3) all I ( Read more... )

And so I start my next big project, with 18 days on the clock, to see if it can be done for the Française Dinner on March 1st. A gown I've been planning to make for years. Five and a half years, to be specific. I first made a post(private) about this gown in October of 2008, and it's finally happening.

Robe à la Piémontaise
(Yes, that was ( Read more... )

With my dress 99% done, and only a buttonhole left to be made, I started on my pelisse today. I'm basing it on the striped redingote in the KCI collection. The bodice is all assembled now, and I need to dig out some scrap silk to line the sleeves so I can put those in tonight, then probably tomorrow I'll put the skirts on.


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Because the francaise dinner is only two weeks away and I really do need something better than a chemise gown to wear. >_>

I actually bought this fabric to make this mantua two years ago, but I kept putting off because hey, cutting into expensive silk brocade is a bit scary. Plus to get the mantua length right I wouldn't have enough for a matching ( Read more... )