I re-pleated one of my sleeves on Tuesday afternoon, added velvet ribbon over the pleats, and even managed to attach it to the bodice. So at this point, that sleeve just needs a hem (or a band, I haven't decided yet), and then it's done. I'm hoping to fix the pleats on the other sleeve today, though I also still need to pleat the lining of the ( Read more... )

I finished pleating the silk for the sleeves yesterday before rehearsal, and went to go try on the sleeves to see how they looked, and the pleated section was HUGE. Like, way too big for my arms. I think I somehow need to pleat it down to get at least 2" or more out of the lowest pleats (before it balloons out to the puffy sleeve. Which probably ( Read more... )

I didn't get nearly as much sewing done this weekend as I wanted to. Mostly because I decided to line the skirt for the 1830s dress, and that took FOREVER. I ripped all my organdy lining panels, so I know they were on grain, and it is very easy to see the grain of the plaid, but the organdy did not want to play nice. Why is organdy so moody?! So ( Read more... )

I got a tiny bit done on the 1830s dress yesterday between work and rehearsal. I cut out the other sleeve lining, and then started on making the piping. I cut about 7 yards worth of bias strips, and got maybe .5 yds actually sewn before I ran out of time. Usually I use a cotton yarn for making piping, but it always looks so tiny that it almost ( Read more... )

I guess I was too overeager about assembling the 1830s bodice. I forgot the piping in the side-back seams. Whoops! Luckily, those are the only bodice seams that are being piped, so I just have to redo those two.

I didn't wind up going to see a movie yesterday, so I mocked up a sleeve, and tried on the bodice. The sleeve was close, which is good, ( Read more... )

I actually managed a little bit of time for sewing yesterday! I had just enough time to assemble the 1830s bodice, and to sew two of the three skirt seams. I'm waiting to sew the last skirt seam until after I cut out the sleeves, because then I'll know if I need to eat any more into that panel or not. Right now, it's a full panel minus 7" of width ( Read more... )

I've decided to go with a slightly later timeline for my 1830s dress - I've already done early 1830s a couple times, so for this one, I'm aiming for about 1837-38. Which basically just means slightly fuller skirt, and I'm going to pleat down the top few inches of the sleeves. I'm still trying to decide whether I want a two piece sleeve like in my ( Read more... )

After posting a couple days ago that I'm switching gears to the 1830s dress, I went to go start it yesterday, and realized I had coat pieces all over my sewing table. And then my brain said, if you don't put these coat pieces together, then you'll lose them (probably true ( Read more... )

Slight change of plans to my timeline. It turns out that the plaid 1830s dress fits pretty well with the costumer's vision for me as Widow Corney in Oliver. So I'm bumping that up to now. Then I'll finish my coat, then work on everything else. Because I need this one by about January 29th! And of course, naturally, I can't find my 1830s draft ( Read more... )

It almost feels silly to post my sewing goals when I've only accomplished one since I wrote them out in August! But anyway, this is what I'm hoping to make and when:

Winter coat - started, and will hopefully be done by the end of this weekend. I finished the puzzle, so other than work and rehearsal, I can focus on this now. It needs to be finished ( Read more... )