My sleeves are going to be huge!
No, seriously. These are the biggest sleeves I've ever made. They are 30" tall, and 36" across. All of that fabric will be from my elbow to my shoulder. Right now, all I've done is cut them out, but they are going to be ginormous. Just in case you don't believe me, here's a picture of the piece, with my 18" ruler for scale:
The upper sleeve will consist of the outer layer, which is a tea-dyed embroidered stripe cotton, organdy interlining, a gathered strip of crinoline that has been doubled over in order to be 6" wide, and a fitted muslin lining. Somehow I'm going to have to gather the 55" sleeve head into my 18.5" armseye. I hope this works!
I took a look at my 1890s extant bodice to see how those crazy sleeves are constructed. It is a later bodice, I think, since while it does have large sleeves, they're nothing like this. It has a smaller lining and a larger outer sleeve (the outer having weird squared corners that are tacked down to the body of the sleeve), but the crinoline in the sleeve is not between the two layers. It's below the liner layer, which seems like it would be very itchy and uncomfortable!
Anyway, I had to run all sort of errands yesterday, so all I had time for was cutting out. I'm hoping tonight to at least make the whole upper sleeves, and I think I may be able to finish the entire sleeve. Then it's just filling in the neckline/collar and making the belt!
I realized, too, that I will have at least one event coming up that I can actually wear this to! Port Gamble, the cute little Victorian factory town across the water, is having a Steampunk faire in a couple weeks. I think this will be perfect to wear for that. I also may go to Steamposium, which is a Steampunk con in Seattle in late Sept. Not sure on that one yet, though, since it's quite expensive and they haven't released any scheduling details yet.
On the moth front, I vacuumed the top of the bookshelf this morning. Lots more moth poop underneath where the carriage boots were. I moved all the other boots up there to clean the whole thing, and I found a live moth hiding between the ivory Funtasmas and my vintage Mickey marionette (who I had already checked for moths on Sunday). Naturally, the Funtasmas became a weapon of death, but it was disconcerting to see a live one. I hope they're not hiding out anywhere else. Do they eat books? I still have to vacuum the floor by the bookshelf, but that will have to happen tonight. The boots are still in the freezer.
The upper sleeve will consist of the outer layer, which is a tea-dyed embroidered stripe cotton, organdy interlining, a gathered strip of crinoline that has been doubled over in order to be 6" wide, and a fitted muslin lining. Somehow I'm going to have to gather the 55" sleeve head into my 18.5" armseye. I hope this works!
I took a look at my 1890s extant bodice to see how those crazy sleeves are constructed. It is a later bodice, I think, since while it does have large sleeves, they're nothing like this. It has a smaller lining and a larger outer sleeve (the outer having weird squared corners that are tacked down to the body of the sleeve), but the crinoline in the sleeve is not between the two layers. It's below the liner layer, which seems like it would be very itchy and uncomfortable!
Anyway, I had to run all sort of errands yesterday, so all I had time for was cutting out. I'm hoping tonight to at least make the whole upper sleeves, and I think I may be able to finish the entire sleeve. Then it's just filling in the neckline/collar and making the belt!
I realized, too, that I will have at least one event coming up that I can actually wear this to! Port Gamble, the cute little Victorian factory town across the water, is having a Steampunk faire in a couple weeks. I think this will be perfect to wear for that. I also may go to Steamposium, which is a Steampunk con in Seattle in late Sept. Not sure on that one yet, though, since it's quite expensive and they haven't released any scheduling details yet.
On the moth front, I vacuumed the top of the bookshelf this morning. Lots more moth poop underneath where the carriage boots were. I moved all the other boots up there to clean the whole thing, and I found a live moth hiding between the ivory Funtasmas and my vintage Mickey marionette (who I had already checked for moths on Sunday). Naturally, the Funtasmas became a weapon of death, but it was disconcerting to see a live one. I hope they're not hiding out anywhere else. Do they eat books? I still have to vacuum the floor by the bookshelf, but that will have to happen tonight. The boots are still in the freezer.