tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88124470145747407292024-03-12T21:18:03.910-05:00red silk threadredsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-36795237418434321162012-03-12T18:08:00.009-05:002012-04-01T16:44:59.152-05:00Baby Cthulu<div><div><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzAMYptAJFQMRjZfi6h9uvd4fXrIs7nS9Ku8_YVHOVupqm8ef6KG4My3NZBRJZH8bRsRjvkWg5sJBp3VBLfE5ISslk7-NpPASMT14OQ1itJ4Tinliwf__f2IBItNN7Lyb-uQVc3TiVkdV/s1600/Photo_031212_001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 256px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726550633698977330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQzAMYptAJFQMRjZfi6h9uvd4fXrIs7nS9Ku8_YVHOVupqm8ef6KG4My3NZBRJZH8bRsRjvkWg5sJBp3VBLfE5ISslk7-NpPASMT14OQ1itJ4Tinliwf__f2IBItNN7Lyb-uQVc3TiVkdV/s320/Photo_031212_001.jpg" /></a>So after I did some collar extenders for the Children's Choir, I decided to do something for a friend of mine. She got married a few years ago, and she and her husband had a son this past summer. This is generally a Good Thing. I made a little sailor outfit for him at the time, which is about all I could think of making for him (I can think of tons of ideas for little girl outfits). This past December, a different friend of mine had a daughter. She and her husband are gamers, so I figured I'd try making a little Cthulu outfit in pink fleece. I figure that babies are generally mind-alteringly cute, tend to ooze slime, and make lots of noise and mess. Kinda like Cthulu, only Cthulu's not terribly cute. So I thought, hey, I could do another one of those in green fleece for a boy...<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 256px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726548852930999714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZsFIDLNDQyNRQVK5XvgmS4XoqkQYGBYRkwPWA-_hj_Vm2LAAo0-XwTvTnv3pv5HFZkhlMjeVn9xNBV9Wk_2iByx8VN-SQt9tWiOqnCYQhtWf3B2cv9QdDi_yuvWj-ppTiSpQwr9nDV4Y/s320/Photo_031112_001.jpg" /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 256px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726550638164117634" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTxBH8cv6OR90kJbC36QKVpu9KYDJMYqWGqO-ddp764kQXS5En8HNCuxX8yOZaaJDVGJmZABFJPjopeNUvbBQ2u2CmsV7p6N91KhtYf5ARqdiz61sWApPn23NJXex0KRTu_RiQjYsmWUCt/s320/Photo_031212_005.jpg" /></div><div>I used two different patterns, modifying them a little as I went along.<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 256px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726548870951447858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-b1Km2bPDDMVszHx8MlYSV8DiQ21LITTVdqcYn6TMp0AMt1dPOjSsw-xOVoSnt9_4tY909f_K8IQDhauUevDRWXdCkFWiCzSBXL4ck-4g4Vm-ETsh4SRBUbnfXsJJb4TCLQqLSTAwiWm/s320/Photo_031112_005.jpg" /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 256px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726549134204543890" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDzcqMGJA3jc3Gg7f19J5cfrPm9jlzSaVzujRIU_l03HIlnC3eMuHkC_uFyT5zMsmKXr5gEbX5_8YKueIDkjW9cQEyFx6HTpS9Q1tsQi4JLiRMkLHUdMH0vg6gWU-7Wlf91tWW19qSOMN/s320/Photo_031112_006.jpg" /> </div><div> </div><div> I made the bonnet without a brim, but I made a ruched overlay in sparkle organza for the top of the head, and sewed it down in a sort of ribbed pattern with trim. I painted red catseyes on the brim with some shiny fabric paint. </div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 256px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726548858056828898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirWnTsw5T2VRjVgBjxjfi55DcPvwqI6FEHURm1zTE9BALvD-__EVZWF1ev72tqxV70NYr9ETDUFpaDfPIW7L1i2Ti1X98HU5L4t8-SLfU4B2kyUOQ0OIIdw8X0Yrz_rUak7v447TdPQV19/s320/Photo_031112_002.jpg" /></div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 256px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726548861007448162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyHSVodn5lHaYDeNYoNtW4Fp6eHPIJ5d72AuRGztjGjBgjkoagtPYuFNNVRer4oojI7Tt5UQh18-NxV9nCjrIK1bD2U5k8K0XG3XPzolKl43WeQfzYfGlPllIKn4LVW3ZR7hfnDwd5o6-T/s320/Photo_031112_003.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div>The bodysuit is pretty much to the pattern, but the cuffs, collar, tab and soles of the feet are in a slightly lighter color green than the body. I made little claws out of a slinky gold knit fabric. I cut a long narrow strip, turned down one edge, then folded it in thirds lengthwise. I then folded little triangles out of this and basted them to the soles of the feet before I sewed them in. I did the claws on the mittens in the same manner.</div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 256px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726548867168487442" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6km49uD7iPt0idzb7uh9MH-Qtdcq36x3f5kYkKZWAZSNuIbxpt-ylFnzA12Ps3kP5Z1wfMCi6_ngOZpg5gDUPi5xfsfKdWobZDfmH6YJQmE20E10VyHo_nGMjovoBG_yi_sKK2c35rF6b/s320/Photo_031112_004.jpg" /></div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 256px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726549138852985138" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52lRMs0zG8qBlddPo4vsLcNwDt8qwO6TV5AjVR6VOLD48qFb2stAkLIxJ573H9ACdVeii70SW3FELHYfeEgdG7-H8UmmMn5evnA65J9vIItHMmM3Qq4_nBdKvgiYeuwp-KDOao64rGQ6O/s320/Photo_031112_007.jpg" /></div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 256px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726550643698460626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib8uOmY2YmSxnnY9NAW3bsfEBlTKOF2TeZcG98nrgXZSKUbcXaZI650nLtJ1GNk_mmAONDgzlRr29iY8jKc2aLHAF053USPbezhU5joPdrLjOssdD5Fj2U22ejon9ttjF96RPwMHqhuAJd/s320/Photo_031212_006.jpg" /></div><div>I made the wing form out of heavy craft-weight interfacing, stiffened at the top with sew-thru plastic boning, with a bit of the same for ribs. I covered it with the fleece and attached it to the back of the bodysuit with velcro, to keep it a bit more manageable. I put the loop side on the body and the hook side on the wings.</div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 256px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726550647465550802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_wppxYPTf8-kcLqKGzEiiIyBnQI_MW5ZjzBg8g_Hsmfco3rXV70ohOlcVBRkMkYNxyY_20YaMNvMov0MIipoY4ebn9JAi3SULwMzf7VAXtMkmSuYENbTtY5KH2XYzaJUF1bLlXSkO5bhZ/s320/Photo_031312_001.jpg" /></div><div>I wanted tentacles, but again, wanted them manageable. So, I sewed fleece tubes to a bib. Hopefully, this will help them clean the individual components when they get slimey. :)</div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 256px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726550845284287346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1DFqJnhAhUWWRat5D2L69tXLRia6AUrEu_L6dek4L1tDFnf8xgAnws-8X9PoFg6G9G8GtG6CICl_toYvOSIo2HNyqPI3JV2FUHgaeQeoBufEZkA55aEnj9Lhs_80kkZlcs2Uur0R-bEMn/s320/Photo_031312_002.jpg" /></div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-67476346310746702442012-02-10T23:04:00.011-06:002012-02-16T21:43:38.035-06:001912 Project Challenge Pattern: Princess Slip<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyHeRpUc43U4EinaVGOlzgKYiyRVNo0mL_cphn7Ys92N_7QfMftSKP1MJ_PNazxg4HlZC68T-9375dOF42qpnMxCMVYPc72nqR0X3hIagdiT-czx4zDQhMZvXHMleXIuvrf1GHOYHDwGwZ/s1600/DSC00622s.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 142px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709942272857534226" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyHeRpUc43U4EinaVGOlzgKYiyRVNo0mL_cphn7Ys92N_7QfMftSKP1MJ_PNazxg4HlZC68T-9375dOF42qpnMxCMVYPc72nqR0X3hIagdiT-czx4zDQhMZvXHMleXIuvrf1GHOYHDwGwZ/s320/DSC00622s.jpg" /></a>I was so excited to get my first pattern for the 1912 project. I had been waiting a month for the first one to come, so when I got word that we could do the challenge pattern, I jumped at the chance. I printed out the instructions, read them, and then promptly skipped the part where it says to print out the scale box page first and make sure the printer is printing it at the right size. I got right down to printing out the whole pattern and then spent upwards of 2 hours taping and cutting out pattern pieces. Then I measured the scale box:<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 234px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709941252918162034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNkkPgt77TN0XZGJDMPhIw7HvJPv5zLApu8CUf8dZU7NHqmH34U3tg5EecPEDEfxOqH7BdnuX9QyoGic4CIrO14WozKa5jk65JkReVsU5s8fK2cO9dZBfxpCg-_MiY9Vu_rKyfDuz-QMyy/s320/DSC00610s.jpg" /></div><div>It was 5 5/8 inches on a side. If it's supposed to be 6 inches on a side, this is not good. The printer had rescaled the pattern so that I lost 1/16 " for every inch shown. While this may not sound like much by itself, it adds up. I calculated that I was missing about 2 3/4 inches in height and almost 3 inches from the girth, measured at the bottom of the hem. So, I spent another 2 hours trying to split out the pattern and add to it without having to reprint the whole thing. Lesson: do the practice thing first. Yes, I could have simply reprinted the entire thing after checking to see if it was the right scale, but since I had already used so much paper, I figured that I should just suck it up and do the split-and-tape thing. And I know that the scale won't be quite right after I've finished, but I'd have had to scale it up to fit me anyway.<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 298px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709941258649201730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnBQMZM06-GRihUmoEELgj12QTIU1oMgNvi3H2mO5lU1cFQg5JAv_7da7458rSimgnRWvNoWa7FUuC3kHZ4gBBWnzcmmdoSnWoL3bpLQfhvQPwrIdD9zkpu55iHh4QdC-f5_AI1S7Sv38n/s320/DSC00612s.jpg" /></div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 200px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709941260951624386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfO1nZ2Pn2907DDlkMzQ0Kqa_Xaj4Uq-DcZMI5NjbuGwVndrgfebHwTyg06ClbvKhfYG2FjMa69uZbLh1RgaH6B3YJlPlidBB5HSzP6JXA25WhRMsKFfauikkXSDJdEW-zEKfUVqTjJqZY/s320/DSC00613s.jpg" /></div><div>I'll need some time to make the actual one, which I don't have. I do want to do this in the future, and I have a little over 3 yards of 100% cotton Italian batiste that was quite expensive but will make a lovely slip, and I still have some lovely Thai silk for the ruffle, and I don't want to mess them up. So, I will content myself with making a mockup of the main body and focus on finishing the neck and armholes nicely, and figure out how I want to pleat the ruffle. I bought some white muslin for $.99/yd the other day, which will do nicely. I also want some time to find a nice insertion lace I like, preferably vintage, but it could be simply vintage-looking.</div><div> </div><div>Sew the front panel to the side front panels, and the back panels to the side back panels. Sew the side seams together. The shoulder seams will need to be clean finished on the inside: this means sewing some sort of french or flat-fell seam, or otherwise binding over the raw edges. Not going to bother with that now.</div><div> </div><div>Stay stitch corner 34 on both back pieces I had been thinking of how to work the back closure. I cut the placket off the body right side, leaving a 3/8 inch seam allowance. I then traced out facings for each side, a total of 2 inches wide (which includes seam allowance). Fold under the seam allowance that will point toward the side seams, stitch the facings onto the back pieces (right sides together), then edgestitch the other edge of the plackets down. </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 240px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709941269066098034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH4kmmIqmz214uvdRY75HZLVMCgGiTj6AVOjC1HgjY090g_ao3pZUpKTGIbrWbI0Kd6UqKu3zd9qiYI9K2ainJjaoJuyZbHyc8l8iaD-Dcbxvwo-4Xe66HUmONr_0icbkEpJN1SGBqV1KQ/s320/DSC00614s.jpg" /></div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 214px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709942014180118594" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlLkuj1mBpZhOMAbJG0CyIIav-JoXzakmn_MkL3Dn04vyEe153eKQC3YZJoyqpvkSKxJPExGO_fuFXzneZ6mS91xcMOnBCeAgUocF63Dw31oz4v1aBQAreRdf_pM3GYOnL1xdC4BRAWKzi/s320/DSC00616s.jpg" /></div><div>Stitch the back seam from point 34 to point 35, then lap the right side over the left side and topstitch the bottom edge of the placket to the underside of the body. Not sure whether to use hooks-and-eyes or buttons on the placket. Buttonholes can be done on the machine at the moment, so I will do that, about every 2.5 inches. Buttons are also slightly more secure in my book.</div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 220px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709942019122815442" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQDKFV9yPJKc7nL9I_z1kuPeYfkdaqVU6CQtm3IW2gE7kfEze1yPXZV-u5XTJcv0XvtOPSyT6QpuO-jnTYJ-QqofsnByKsoxX7I0IdLiLdjk_misZj5PWBkZ6I0rzDTKKtwO5FlZDWOkUF/s320/DSC00617s.jpg" /></div><div>I used commercial bias binding in a hideous color that came from an estate sale to bind the neck and armhole edges, before sewing the side seams. For the actual garment I will cut bias from the body material and stretch-and-press before I apply it. <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 211px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709942021355209730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdvNzzFqg_Y_eGOlMSHYCpFiXx0VtrLYFUa9O7rTCP6u_Qvpt59s3nYj4n0lgzWv16EVnDWguAFwBePfhGOd6WZJCLG0oF9_IpUXztCHg40puaxWNnBBCpZ6Q_uTOpi83BsYOIkwyRYaHr/s320/DSC00618s.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div>I've tried it on for a picture. I'm wearing an old sports bra under the chemise, then some bloomers I made for a civil war era dress. Over that I have the corset I made for use in the project. My wonderful husband has laced me in and buttoned up the back, and took some pictures.</div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 155px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709942028395959346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHsCMrmum-U19HAXAd9EnAHCqprOSnbh7l2fd9Jt7JbuF7fpGiIVGDGXNnVfA4a8gy91Ym03EkBvxJRrgnDMTugWaUW9CwkwLV-hrxTsHUf1HFrVjBPu6IIovBxMGwf8u7AuTSQzlVZqh/s320/DSC00620s.jpg" /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 149px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709942274298966690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk-jEH89cAUJ8gUPNbtNtPQtXzOrBmiV21y7fft9lZ6vvzJ6yARr5-z877flhBk7LFCZycf_91zHdNPR-snEyj7KeWtldO467J81FtCK00k_79T7_zhrE2aWPsEdR8jssGLkHN47owI6Pk/s320/DSC00621s.jpg" /></div><div>I'm sure I made it too big, as it gapes at the neck and falls off my shoulders. I'll probably end up taking 1.5 inches out of the front, and the same out of the center back. I'm not sure I like the idea of the side-front seams moving so far out, though. I think I want the seams to fall over the points of my hip bones, so I have marked them on the slip. I may just want to live with it for a few weeks and see how I feel. I may end up doing nothing at all.</div><div> </div><div>The size of the armscye was a little close, but not uncomfortable, therefore I don't want to take the shoulders up. When I'm wearing the slip, it is about 14 inches from the stitch line at the bottom to 1" above the floor, where I would want the hem of the pleats to sit, depending on the intended finished length of the dress over it. If I take out the proposed amount from the width of the slip, it should take up enough of the excess ease in the body to keep the slip from being bulky. Let's face it: the corset keeps you from moving naturally anyway, so having lots of ease in the slip is not necessary, and could look very bulky under the finished dress, depending on what it is. The slip would still have some ease, just less than it has now. The instructions call for making the accordian-pleated ruffle out of strips of fabric, and specifies size the strips should be. When I make the actual slip I will measure the hem and then put in an accordian pleat (or maybe a box pleat?) in something like a 3:1 ratio. I don't like the idea of simply cutting strips without measuring my hemline first. I might end up short, and then where would I be?</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-66716400814587869272012-01-27T07:22:00.007-06:002012-02-10T23:03:12.600-06:00Pre-1912 project corset<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCdyAncFe7SgAjzZ8TlsBbXoN6luqbOtkMix43-PQTieT4S-74M6GaI7IfEy6ubzFhF-dKPGoBhmcLAcZwGy1lt6o-hXnQ6EupPlxQmuNNII-rAA0LYBaa3unVuj7IDZ2gjpJNMAXkr4Dx/s1600/DSC00607s.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 251px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5707737854048340306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCdyAncFe7SgAjzZ8TlsBbXoN6luqbOtkMix43-PQTieT4S-74M6GaI7IfEy6ubzFhF-dKPGoBhmcLAcZwGy1lt6o-hXnQ6EupPlxQmuNNII-rAA0LYBaa3unVuj7IDZ2gjpJNMAXkr4Dx/s320/DSC00607s.jpg" /></a>Well, I've signed up for the 1912 project. Read about it here <a href="http://www.vpll1912project.org">www.vpll1912project.org</a> if you don't know what I'm talking about. We're still in the process of digitizing patterns and assigning groups, so I don't have a pattern to work on yet, but since it's me and I'm just like that, I figured that if a pattern does come my way that particularly interests me and needs to be turned into something for my regular wardrobe, I should have the proper undergarments to go with, especially since the proper shoes are on order (<a href="http://www.american-duchess.com">www.american-duchess.com</a>). This is all hypothetical at this point, but apparently some little part of my brain wants me to make another corset because it wants to get me into trouble. Ok. <div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div> </div><div>So, several people in the 1912 project group are working on making this corset: <a href="http://festiveattyre.com/research/1910scorset/1910scorset.htm">http://festiveattyre.com/research/1910scorset/1910scorset.htm</a> which is based on an existing garment from around that time, and downloading a pdf of the pattern is free. Thank you to the kind soul who did such a wonderful job transcribing it and writing clear directions. Also, free is excellent. When I made my last corset, I ordered an extra yard of coutil and cut carefully, so I had plenty leftover for another project. I also had some 1/4" steel boning leftover from when I thought it would be great for boning the farthingale and wasn't. I went down to the local fabric store for some cotton twill tape and some pretty lace, and ordered a busk, four 1/2" bones and a 00 grommet setting kit as listed in the corset instructions' site. I also had some extra-wide double fold bias tape on hand to bind the top and bottom edges of the corset, and I have hooks-and-eyes and thread. </div><div> </div><div>I printed out the pdf and enlarged it as advised, and then reduced the waist size by 1.5" for lacing in. I figured I was going to be a bit short on twill tape, which I was, but used what I had to make the waist stay and channels for the wider bones before I ran out. For the rest of the boning channels I used the covering that comes with plastic boning, since I had several long pieces of that laying around. Then it was time to cut bones.</div><div> </div><div>There was pain. And blood.</div><div> </div><div>I couldn't find my bolt cutters. The best I could do was score a line on the bone, snap it off, and then nip around the corners with another tool. As you can imagine, when I snapped one of the bones to length it got away from me and bit my finger. Not too bad, but it makes me wish I had worn gloves. Also, trying to squeeze the nippers really hard hurt my hand after a while. Again, not too bad, but let that be a lesson to us all: use the right tools, and wear protective equipment. To add insult to injury, I didn't have enough bone. After I was done measuring and marking twice, I figured out I was going to end up with two leftover pieces about 4 inches each and short one 10.5" bone. And, of course, the other bones and busk had already shown up. Had I figured this out beforehand, I would of course have simply ordered the missing bone and been done with it. Ah well. </div><div> </div><div>I had run out of Plasti-dip after my last boning project and had to find some more. My husband had a spray-on version of the same stuff in the garage, but I found it unsuitable for this project. I needed a fairly thick, not too drippy substance that would leave a good coating on the end of the bones to protect the raw edge from moisture, and protect me from the raw edge. The spray-on version has to be very thin to be able to come out of the can. It probably needs at least 4 coats to get to the thickness I need, and the thinners make it unnervingly smelly. Since it's cold and I can't spray this outside without wondering if it will freeze before it sets, I decided a trip to the hardware store was in order. The hardware store only had Plasti-dip in black (I wanted white), but they did have a small bottle of white vinyl coating used to repair cracks on the finish of dishwasher racks. It comes in a bottle about the size of a bottle of white-out, costs about $7, has a brush on tip, comes in white and stinks like crazy, but if it's good enough for the inside of a dishwasher it's probably good enough for corset bones. I dipped the ends of the bones strait into the open bottle and went back the next morning to touch up any rough ends. Overall, this seemed to work well.</div><div> </div><div>A friend from my summer job at the local theater had some spare corset bones. She says she orders them in long lengths a gross at a time and cuts them as needed. Anyway, I traded her a chocolate covered strawberry for a pair of bones, cut one down and retipped it, then stuck it in the corset.</div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 195px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5707736779520914946" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPtBriBf7oBQmBHQi6hxjVY-sdtvO9Z-B67Isa59UE1pHjvxOmo6l3UN6IZaIDtaorTbYwOdhPpw1YL_Z6XWFDvjeB4za4EVlXU0LJgb0_eQguNKEXhm8xYpdvOuDg2HBInd8yQJDi7d2t/s320/DSC00606s.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div>I bound the top and bottom edges of the corset with wide double fold bias tape, since I had a lot of it hanging around. I then sewed some lace trim to the top (got a yard at the local fabric store--nothing particularly special about it).</div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 274px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5707736783674378978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbpd9yXpAsje_r2Dfqkgf3KNzqKFPuxGSjF4LnTwRZH3sD22xQYlAk6VvdxXPL63P-w0ReptITIvXHITpST_A7h6-B6RIHKG5B1S2Obpdeuj0IJtsOxiEx3g1dqowTz8xoROORsTX5m8o/s320/DSC00608s.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div>I need a longer pair of laces; I had a pair of 63" laces in white, and a pair of shorter ones in black. I had to use one pair on top, and one on bottom. I need to scope out the local sports stores for skate laces. In the mean time, this solution seems to work, though the black ones might look funny under a white dress.</div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 298px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5707736785427496898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeFX-HpPnijVU4LO5cEAMMYZhsX6xr2rJs8ilCUVr4CBT7CWxZgl0LSGoq3C5RMkUlzf1bJM4awWZ3QHLoNBZLadC2J1ltPIAbMawDvDlyqGs1hp24ISO1PlQzC6u5yjDOeZUbdZm9K-tj/s320/DSC00609s.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div>I have two pairs of garters that were in my great aunt's sewing basket. They should do the trick, except the ball tab on one pair is very fragile. Trying to decide what to do about that. I have not attached them, nor have I put on the hooks and eyes as specified in the instructions, but these are not huge details, and I do not even have an event or a dress in mind yet. Overall I'm happy with how it turned out, though if I made myself another one, I might consider taking out a bit more, as I can almost get the laces to touch in the back, as well as the possibility of putting a lacing next to the busk so I can get in and out of it more easily.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-82135876163339094932012-01-11T18:15:00.003-06:002012-01-17T17:10:09.873-06:00Another halter dress...<div><div><div><div><div>Well, it's finished. Just waiting on an address to send it to...</div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 186px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5696533480936387202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONAxy-A_kPy57unIc9gypraCkC0GJzilXMHiU-Qvkab6CuH0hMQDgTYDxeSb0Oi8qNgN7alc49RGWHBwe-bZuMoRXJb-BvmMKDXbg1U3K0uPnyWv4gIkFO5CENjnnlwWkTspdrSSkvmP2/s320/DSC00591a.jpg" /></div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 182px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5696533487358189874" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ-nQrmgGqOejL3xZmFIE5OXCeKQuvb_yxnIZvkew7_yh-mxwmOQ2WCWuZTY1AtlrkehCl0ghm-Gfvz8EwWUZ4Exa5ofl9yVgFXsJCEjRvYQlqK8IYEys8CEsLILFsnxEK-2HM3SzraeaV/s320/DSC00594a.jpg" /></div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 270px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5696533482867447618" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVVAyH06_m-iQvdHvwfrCoYSjTh9-_jvTEKCgO-g4ZIYJzTLFQIk9Mk7P7rCfOaZa8ywh5BPbg3ll7IPKSWUOck60XDADTZA5pIDA1oFSNYvRN2a_poS1nwPeFUdYnAz2oEkul5JbX2yOH/s320/DSC00592a.jpg" /></div><div>I think it came out quite well. The waist measurement I was given was on the short side, and I was hesitant about shortening the bodice, but I think in the end it will fit her better, and it looks good. I also shortened the skirt about 2 inches from the original pattern to keep it proportional.</div><div> </div><div>I took these photos at about 2 in the afternoon, so the colors are much better than the other pics I got.</div><div> </div><div>Great, now I want to do the wedding version of this I've had stuck in my head for years. Well, at least I've got fabric for that lying around. One of these days...</div><div> </div><div>1/18/12 update: Well, she's gotten it and apparently likes it. It's always such a relief to get a good comment after making something for someone, sight unseen. I learned while working at the high school to trust the tape measure, but there's always an uncertain element when someone else is handling it. Kinda like buying clothes online... you've got the pics, the numbers, the factual data, but there's nothing like seeing the item in person. Or the person in the item. :) </div></div></div></div></div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-6993059635847463412012-01-09T20:36:00.004-06:002012-01-09T22:04:24.219-06:00Stuff so far this year.<div><div><div><div><div><div>Ok, so I haven't been working solely on Leslie's dress since Christmas. I had a couple of things in my head since the summer, and some new ones, and I just had to get them out. </div><div> </div><div>This one is actually a Etsy order. Not quite finished yet; I'm not happy with how low the waist sits, I need to put in the hem and the zipper, I need to remake the belt, and then make the jacket. The color is off in these pics. I took them at night, in my dining room, which tends to make things look yellow-ish. Be assured, the dress is a medium dusty blue with a white cherry blossom print:</div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 170px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695829798094175506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLMFsnShHUiJ8NPSGWxY5LTIvwhwnbEQROXJa-WNRUVpkQJyqaCbBUWmVubADEst_pPlUMczLGLX0OtM4dmTSnffImy8hmJX0suTL6ot_2QI4-n9zYZK7RUAbvoHuaDDIVitevJjGeWuOZ/s320/DSC00583a.jpg" /></div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 184px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695829799058630146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdwBCTfWRoYPrKB-xlRJfUPt5k_vbQT0hYqu7bZcNIO9LW54JSiVhNHea2PUzO2aRnkHCPJM6H2GMqk6U6spmVYuKa0DbQvO64olif1ItQ6cYGv5-UjFTZU2gdJEOLYeD74MuQU1v2pYfe/s320/DSC00584a.jpg" /></div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 181px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695829803206938626" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPMfDMrCNDChRN7t29AWd1A5a-CPc9WuvYJTd-4p_3nYB6jtNAvN8xYa8lfilQT87Z4-dwp5PClWMjGXaNomuoF04RGHgUO6quvPlGW_dGfLuBLhfdVhDeN1wM21wVMPnsn25zR_WyXbyN/s320/DSC00585a.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div>This is a shirt for Froggi, if I can ever get it to her. I found two little remnants from a dress I made her a while back, and decided it would make a nice little shirt.</div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 240px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695829810302409906" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6mRNFczXoeIjtfPajoKwk2XJdjfAnk4iJ3XMTRaveI4MfzqYBEdWp7-VJPbY5w9CNG3FNhWKLGRsRV8RM8it4XttGem6C9tGOOLZ4vww36lv8N1KUOBuatnmb9aYYMb3235Q6EYJjCtP/s320/DSC00586a.jpg" /></div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 193px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695829813777332562" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6B-ZiGUizZ4-1a7nx7NvIjiokChmWqAfjalulHhaOZxvafZBFvh5IpuME82cl7oRYEit1jgOU47t8Psp7qUeYnhqAYgCdd54eQAzBSkdCygH5CawYgO6IxjDB9FUAaApQCyfVGOiavPzE/s320/DSC00587a.jpg" /></div><div> This little dress was made from a $2 remnant I found in the fabric store. I sewed it in a fit of pink for a friend who just had a baby. Now if I can get in contact with her I can get it to her. Also, this badly positioned retro apron out of the same remnant:</div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 240px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695830004202069698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqwFgRx9It84kpinqtVUjaZKpoam13BxFXW0HAjYElov3YwtrrlwVXImT2aKPWyhxlw2YaEE67DdyHxM6N4wad80qrRe-0Bmc5sLo1EfujRKzTgsJlt9StTWlZJFOSdNrkYUf97TdcG1p/s320/DSC00588a.jpg" /></div><div>I also knitted a pair of socks this past week for a different friend who gave me 6 balls of sock yarn, and made myself a blue-with-white-polka-dot skirt I had meant to make myself this summer. These are all fairly quick little projects, and I felt I had to get them out of my system. Especially that pink dress. Honestly, I'm not sure what came over me there.</div><div> </div><div>Upcoming: Leslie's dress. I want it wearable by the time she comes back in early April, maybe to the point where I can just sew up the side seams and put the zipper in. She also wants a jacket to go with it. She likes the one Elizabeth wears toward the end of <em>Pride and Predjudice (wi</em>th Colin Firth)<em>,</em> when Elizabeth and Lady Catherine are having a heated row in the garden. It's a lovely simple green velvet thing with a little stand-up collar. Go watch it. Now.</div><div> </div><div> I have recently gotten involved with The 1912 Project with the Vintage Pattern Library <a href="http://vpll.wordpress.com/">http://vpll.wordpress.com/</a> Sounds like fun; I can only hope I will have the time every month to dedicate to at least making a mockup of the patterns I get. </div><div> </div><div>Depending if they send me a nifty dress pattern I'd like to make up for myself, I may also have to make an appropriate corset. There's a pdf here that some kind, generous and industrious soul has taken a lot of time to prepare: <a href="http://festiveattyre.com/research/1910scorset/corsetdiagram.jpg">http://festiveattyre.com/research/1910scorset/corsetdiagram.jpg</a> </div><div> </div><div>And if my husband reads my blog, if he buys himself the wide-angle camera lense, he might consider getting me the Astoria shoes from <a href="http://www.american-duchess.com">www.american-duchess.com</a> to go with everything, when they become available. Size 8 dear. </div><div> </div><div>And yes, I ordered his kilt fabric, so I will make him his kilt, using the kilt instructions in <em>The Art of Kiltmaking,</em> Tewksbury/Stuemeyer, put out by Celtic Dragon Press. </div><div> </div><div>Steph also mentioned that one or two of the girls in her Highland dance class need kilts, jackets, vests or other bits, so I may have my work cut out for me. </div><div> </div><div>I have wool enough for 3 or 4 Kinsale cloaks and enough lining for 2 or 3, so I'd like to make a few more of those this year. </div><div> </div><div>Then there's Ren Faire to think about. I have my big green dress, of course, but it's Elizabethan rather than Tudor, so if I wanted to be a noble I'd have to at least remake the bodice. I may be able to get away with the same skirt if I end up doing it, as well as the French hood, but I'd leave the ruffs at home and redo the partelette. </div><div> </div><div>I need to come up with a solution for the skinny shirt collars for St. Louis Children's Choir (I've been sewing vests for them for the past two years: <a href="http://www.slccsing.org">www.slccsing.org</a> ) We've tried the metal extender buttons available at local fabric shops, but the kids tell us the springs are too hard and unforgiving on them. It must be simple and quick, so the parents and choir directors can put them in when needed. The solution probably involves a wide poplin covered elastic and several buttons. Also, as children seem to keep growing, I'm probably going to make them some more vests. Vests are easy, as long as I don't run out of interfacing.</div><div> </div><div>In the back of my head I think about making a Dr. Who costume of some sort, but I can never settle on just one, so that's not a likelyhood.</div><div> </div><div>Right. So that's the bucket list for this year, subject to change at any time for no apparent reason.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-19485514323323639842012-01-02T16:54:00.004-06:002012-01-10T07:00:32.870-06:00Leslie's dress, continued...I have seen Leslie twice now, and have a pretty good idea of what I need to do. There were several problems with the mockup that were evident the first time she tried it on; The bodice front as draped may have looked good on the padded dummy, but not so good in person. On person. Whatever. Also, she has been going to the gym; in general this is good (less fabric needed to go around a smaller person, better lines, etc), but it does mean that the old measurements and the padding on the dressform are moot. I had put in side bust darts, as well as two underbust darts at each side, which had worked on the dressform, but looked very strange indeed when we put the mockup on her. The mock was longer-waisted than it needed to be, and I had added so much for hem allowance that it was weighing the dress down and being generally distracting. So, I took the muslin home, pulled the zipper and side seams out, pulled the bodice off and picked out the bust darts. I interfaced one layer of the bodice front to help keep it from stretching. I put one of the underbust darts in on each side, and then reattached the bodice to the skirt along the appropriate lines, front and back. I pinned in the other underbust dart and carried it along into the skirt. I left the side seams open to help with fitting. I also cut off about 3 extra inches of hem allowance.<br /><br />In general I was able to move the pins around enough to make the mock fit. The only other thing I need to do is raise the back neckline about 1 inch; I thought when I made the muslin that it would hit just at the base of the back of the neck, but it seems to ride low. The front of the skirt is also a bit wide, so I need to narrow it to make it look a bit sleeker. We're not going to do the apron, or the pleated waistline trim; she suggested a line of piping there instead. I also need to take a look at the 6 hour <em>Pride and Predjudice</em> so I can drape a spencer. I think the waist on this dress is lower than the ones in the movie, but I think it might be adaptable with a little finagling.redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-58199843797834640812011-12-20T18:50:00.013-06:002011-12-31T16:04:45.962-06:00A dress for LeslieHope Leslie's friend doesn't mind me showing these pics; they are the only shots I have of the original dress in detail. Wherever you are, thanks!<br /><div><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMzUqiDXXgBcj7WVQeujRYaMXh5wsr0A7mmx1Zkb85pxkSWb4aaZ2Ft2qES26J6ENwMKNOhu9I89suwlvrl9TW9Cl3F1MmaCsNA4S_vEJtLvoopRsG4YXfUPagT8m_Oni1HkoNlw3HiAL4/s1600/photo+1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 240px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692412753919452642" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMzUqiDXXgBcj7WVQeujRYaMXh5wsr0A7mmx1Zkb85pxkSWb4aaZ2Ft2qES26J6ENwMKNOhu9I89suwlvrl9TW9Cl3F1MmaCsNA4S_vEJtLvoopRsG4YXfUPagT8m_Oni1HkoNlw3HiAL4/s320/photo+1.JPG" /></a>My friend Leslie is getting married. This is generally a good thing. I like to see people happy, especially friends. She wants me to make her wedding dress. I am generally ok with this. She's got one picked out that she likes, modeled after a traditional German dirndl (hope I'm spelling that right). The lines are good, a basic simple design. The bodice is fitted with straps over the shoulders that go up to a high neckline in back. The skirt is a fairly simple A-line, with a long godet inserted into the back seam. The thing that makes it especially charming is all the trim on the bodice, straps and around the back of the neck. It kinda looks like frosting at first glance. When you take a good look at it, it seems to be several lines of pleated or manipulated china silk, or possibly organza, with a few other pieces interspersed.<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div> </div><div>Good points: the dress is a simple design, only requiring a simply draped skirt and some strategicly placed darts in the bodice.</div><div>We don't have to replicate the original in every perfect detail; I want it to be clean and elegant like the original, but I have some leeway.</div><div>Challenges: Leslie is in Germany, which makes fittings difficult. I have taken measurements and altered my dress form appropriately. I hope that's enough.</div><div>The chosen fabric is a silk dupioni with only a little texture, in a slight winter-white color. It should look lovely on her, but it is proving slightly difficult to obtain in this area. She brought me a swatch from one local store that looked good, but she was told that if she wanted to purchase any of the plain silk fabric, she would have to purchase at least half a yard of an embellished dupioni which retails at about $100/ yard. We both though this a bit silly, since neither of us would have use for it, and I don't want to purchase something that expensive on speculation.</div><div>Some of the trims look easy to fabricate, some of them I can't figure out just yet. I have some ideas and some leftover scraps of poly-organza to practice with. Let's hope I get it right.</div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 256px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692414295203616530" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmMMudwkAwmFZbK1ihHDDMLy1d3aJAL7yGEsedPkMBM_RLhzQS7AF0IVNEB7Am9zeIJnIEGVXbQgFy1fxeVvldhQAB07zv98CaZyAaQpyhZynwcxqQTxXKYfliVmbvIHGhUrchqMDEepxK/s320/Photo_112811_003.jpg" /></div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 256px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692414289004488690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr91ssMATZs1p2nuyEwRgMtTKtHefIIxODAWjQeu3W7EW7c1RNrdE08lBcNnWhOTMKUXnbEbJne1BRWFBe0rCti65Z8Pk1YEEoGTNefoeFYtCxFJRt1aBZF6mP9Wmm1lyqgth8Uoq2_Oap/s320/Photo_112811_002.jpg" /></div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 256px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692414285890736882" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ox0DCVIF3YPmFqBEIZmyYi1YAcT8TKCwtTWPEO6DR72v-Ap-DqoOIuWJmkR7HQ9iiKRfYq-KXxzLzXGSaKgMVYfdwrJ_tQPjjXiZmeRSf8ZffHG0MTNJB-DpCZ3qrCxdhCPl8T9DUkF7/s320/Photo_112811_001.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div>I have constructed a muslin mock-up of the basic dress. The bodice is fully lined in muslin, the back has piping inserted in the fiddle-back seams, the straps are attached at the front with safety pins, the hem is pinned up, and I even put a zipper in so it will be easy to try on. I'm mostly looking to see if I got the size right, and that the style is basically what she wants. I know there are a few things I want to change: I made the straps a little too wide; I want to reposition the bust darts toward the center so they run in more or less a strait line down to the waist seam, making the darts slightly more separated at their bases; I want to reposition the front skirt darts so they start where the outside bust darts end, but the end of the dart will be in the same place; I want to respace the back darts so they are centered in the back panels; and I want to remove some of the back fullness, probably out of the godet side of the back panels. I had originally draped that seam at an angle, but I cut the mockup on the strait, so it ended up a bit full. I think it would make the back a little cleaner.</div><div> </div><div>The original dress fabric is a bridal dupioni silk. From the picture, I can see it is mostly smooth with just a few little slubs that give it a slight texture. It is almost as smooth as a taffeta, but not quite. This texture is harder to come by in this area. I found some dupioni silk at Joann fabrics, originally priced at almost $25/yard. Fortunately, I had a coupon. I got 5.875 yards, and it is 60" wide, so I'll have plenty. The mockup only took 5 yards of 45" wide muslin, but I'd like some extra just in case. The only drawback is that it is paler white than the swatch Leslie found. The texture is right, though. I bought it anyway, and have kept it in its plastic bag. If I don't mess the fabric up and she doesn't end up liking it, I can take it back.</div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 240px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692411076032143042" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJV7T58MONCnMf_k9nrQ6DnG7KmdaPSesYA89V8Vxz5AMkNL-uiaeUvwgqSdYlqQcXWMDZ9hpDoKHZkDtjdIGL4Ipp0vpT0V98TUHRD10ZpIkw7TceHLGlGbImvSk1cFoD3pms_V1MgSmc/s320/photo+8.JPG" /></div><div> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 240px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692414948649650034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGOl7pWz5EoQYAqJEkh-jhK2maDdNBKNidjhQAVGcfJg9ZOTsOr30QJ1UbmSPbXg5e4hZ7vdw1i30obbFUfuN5SruMV3fFJX-FKz0iV6qIe7Sc0jZ-PNnkKL6vQ8LbnHnmtJTL7kGWSYdt/s320/photo+3.JPG" /></div><div>The trims have been the latest challenge. The bodice has 8 lines of trim, 5 of which are created from pleated or manipulated tubes of fabric. I have figured out the first one, I think. I made a china silk tube, flattened out to one inch wide, and marked its length with one inch intervals. I drew the line of application on the bodice, marking it with .25 inch intervals. I then stiched the tube down to the bodice, inch by inch, forming soft knife pleats at a 4:1 pleat ratio. To stitch the pleats together, sew the center points of 4 adjacent pleats together. Then circle-sew the corners of pleats 4 and 1 together to form the clover shape.</div><div> </div><div>The third trim from the bottom is a 1" wide tube that has been box pleated and tacked down to the bodice, then the centers of the box pleats are tacked together. I saw this done in a Vogue pattern I have, so this was easy to figure out.</div><div> </div><div>We will not be using the traditional apron with this dress, so the waistline trim that hides its attachment will not be necessary.</div><div> </div><div>More updates after I talk with Leslie...</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-43215201969843209702011-09-27T09:57:00.010-05:002011-09-29T23:17:48.473-05:00The Problem with Handmade ItemsAfter a lot of deliberation, I decided to stop making children's clothes for my etsy store, liquidate what was left, and afterward only make kids' stuff for friends with kids. The problem is that these things just don't sell for any amount of money that reflects the time and effort I put into them. For example:<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 256px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5657603422227032994" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHuMY9FSOh4KvGBKtAKGOlAmXc0xYW20LsVUJjPguYuQQVhjOv52b4ESzWbugwI4mQz1yyem_xMOhFBmygUCY4JIYmZXGPYVHxZOu6TPAd8icMJVEf3gHr2tg846juhm3SrE9ooOsnh1U/s320/Photo_092711_002.jpg" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 256px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5657603416381789026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUElX207vmaro_Y8w76EeWHrhmoUfeIOGC3uaERVUxD7McgljtrUTzeGPlI47eYyvgSLFuMTA8o-dS3VwE4w-LNGX_qjEr1CwYJkSyDT_yYRE1KiLXo4uBXVee8BWEQYZuWU9eEpY9fNeZ/s320/Photo_092711_001.jpg" /><br /><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div>I made two of these little dress-and-hat sets recently, one each for two different friends who are expecting in November and December. The dresses are about a 6 month size, and the hats are about a medium for a baby. I enjoyed making them. The pattern is one I've used variations of before (Simplicity #4711, size "S"), so it wasn't terribly difficult. I was shopping at the fabric store for a different project when I found the red gingham fabric on sale, and figured I could do something with it. So I got it and some other bits and bobs, washed it, and cut and made the two sets in a batch. The materials cost: $6 for the fabric, $0.35 for the ribbon, and $1.60 for each of three cards of buttons, which amounts to $4.80 for buttons for both. Add on about $2 for thread, some interfacing, a machine needle and a little bit of Stitch Witchery; these are supplies I already had on hand and use small quantities of or can use on several projects (like the machine needle, if I'm careful), and should only account for a small fraction of the cost of any one thing. So: for two sets of dress-and-hat combo, $13.15 should cover the cost of materials (minus tax, which is about 8% here), with very little material left over.</div><br /><br /><br /><div>To save myself some time, I made these sets in batch mode, starting with the hats, and working one step at a time on both items. I got the hats done and had made the bodices of the dresses when I decided to finish off one of the dresses that evening, because I would need to give it the next day, then finished the skirt of the other dress early the next week. Luckily, the skirts are very simple, gathered into the bodice and machine hemmed with lines of trim over the hem stitching. The only difference in the two dresses is that the first dress had two lines of trim at the hem, and the second dress only had one, since I ran out of trim. The labor from the beginning of cutting to stitching on the last button of the second dress took 8 hours. </div><br /><br /><br /><div>The breakdown: I have been charging $10 per hour for stitching jobs, which I have been told is pathetically cheap, and I should be charging at least twice that. Anyway, $10 X 8 hours is $80 + $13.15 for materials = $93.15 for two sets. That's $46.58 per dress-and-hat set. </div><br /><br /><br /><div>Who pays that kind of money for baby clothes?</div><br /><br /><br /><div>Honestly, folks. These things are put together well, with decent materials and all the care you'd expect an independant seamstress to put into her work. They will last through the first kid, and probably on through the second and third as well. But when the kid grows out of the thing so fast, why on earth would a new parent pay upwards of $50 for one outfit? They're probably so tired from midnight feedings and scared stiff of future college payments that that pricetag would render them a gibbering wreck for a full 10 minutes. But when they can go to Walmart and get an outfit for $10 that will do the same job (and what does a baby care about where it's clothes come from anyway), why would you bother with handmade, especially when you don't have a personal connection with the maker, and if you did have a personal connection to the seamstress, why wouldn't she just give it to the new parents? </div><br /><br /><br /><div>This is a bit different with adult clothes; adults don't change size nearly as quickly as little kids are expected to (most of the time), so a special, custom made outfit for an adult could be allowed to cost more if you couldn't find what you were looking for in the average shop.</div><br /><br /><br /><div>Here's another example: Last Christmas I knitted my husband a hat:<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 336px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 256px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5657606595788757682" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2-gWfyBy1ObVxqwKYjXUiK0TrVs_JQ2uv9U3r5ZfZZ7LeN0Cc7rpl4wc-MP4Se2gqdlG4zqKOhB6WtGOq_Tu732Y5Ylx1DH9_-AVMtWifaSh6Uayi4_fwvqGR-ySoTqxJyBpjzkDth3bS/s320/Photo_011511_003.jpg" /></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>I wanted it to be blue, because it goes with his eyes. I wanted it to be very soft, so it wouldn't irritate him at all. I wanted it to fold up very small so he could fit it in his coat pocket to bring along everywhere, in case the weather turned cold unexpectedly. And I wanted to use a quiviut blend because I love knitting with the stuff. The yarn is a blend of 40% quiviut/40% merino wool/ 10% silk. It is $60 a ball. Yup, $60. I knitted it on #5 needles, so it took about 24 working hours to knit it. The pattern is very simple; a variation on the hat pattern in the book <em>Last-Minute Knitted Gifts</em> by Joelle Hoverson. Using the same $10/hour charge, if someone were to ask me to knit one exactly like it for them, I'd have to charge $300 for it to be worth my time. Yes, I could have gotten a ball of soft fingering weight yarn for about $5, but I'd still have to spend three days knitting the thing. And yes, the average person would have spent about $5 for a simple, functional hat and left it at that.</div><br /><br /><br /><div>A word about spare time: My spare time is still <strong>MY TIME, </strong>and I want to use it to do the things that I love doing. One hour of spare time is not worth any less to me than an hour spent working my day job; in fact, it is often worth more to me because I can spend it learning new things, and not just doing the things I'm already good at. </div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>So, long story short; I don't feel that the average person is willing to pay the kind of money I would have to charge for the kids' stuff I make for it to be worth while for me to do it any more. I had high hopes for these dresses when I made them, but now they just make me feel sad and underappreciated for the work I put into them. Sometimes I contemplate just dropping them off at Goodwill, or waiting for the next disaster relief collection so I won't have to look at them again (I would have dropped them off at the local Starbucks for them to bring to Joplin, MO after the tornado, but they said they had already gotten enough clothing donations at that point). For now, they make me heartsick.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-66529870931479592802011-06-13T22:00:00.004-05:002011-06-13T22:34:54.095-05:00One singular sensationLately I've been working for a local theater company. I work in a cave and they give me projects to do. It's been great. These are some of the pretty things I've been helping to create:<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617906362321146338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBZm-2PPiLHOCXNUuU3XFI2Gmbx0AF4BZshtoS6LdhWS_YXu5x-L8pXVd9qRXQHm4B40YTX_xHFuccY3f33I1NSQJ_Fs9gSrj4t9o7UALQerVHRY8AKhoiNjcN00OtSSJUzkPyvoWhWuy5/s320/DSC00512.JPG" border="0" /> <br /><div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617906374393183106" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7UwUjrRr7nFxZRAR-u9lXEDUwUH_JHtc_xZG28cXTqlpMuEMx3SnDpTswC4i1DqxRy9XlbKhwv_8ydBUs-PVvCfrZr863WLOcT8-r_HroZZoEO8Th1WJzwixQRgc2EVIvYRUCf7LAVmmq/s320/DSC00507.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617906369720154722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR4O6TMvGYCEtgmBrwKiT_VJ5I-TRN8L-1IfVuT0RS8fqNiw5UKdJ52cVJQrUpM7J0I-JQLIGV1kVumCq88I_FkP1fZg33W2pF1dIODnp-GDkNgHTHR0RTJTeRAmjIk2xNq_6F-tIed_z0/s320/DSC00515.JPG" border="0" />I made all the men's vests, six pairs of their pants and two jackets (that's minus the rows of rhinestones, but I did help put a lot of those on). No, I am not the designer-- Brad has done a great job with that. There were about 8 or 10 other people directly involved in cutting out pieces of costumes and putting them together in the right order and putting rhinestones on them to make them look pretty. I'm just the minion who put together a pile of vests. I also did some alterations. See the guy in the blue shirt on the left? I took his shirt in;<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617906385670935762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKCD28DHfMcQpgD57roC9aFxekRVlWNYrS2Y7VfgL3HZMmTOuS3_vzl5iCDeCvEO21gNBJux6qTGO7kpWvJwbN96z5nvuTxG98R62n7IsB1C_EuEUs9-pj6jAvOgLMigaviE6BS7QvEqu9/s320/DSC00504.JPG" border="0" />Pretty good, huh? Especially since me and the flatlock machine aren't best buds or anything.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>This has been all-consuming work. Well, that and all the dalmatian fur. I've made a couple of skirts and dog tails and such, but mostly I haven't been working on that one. I'll put up pics when I get them. Of course this means I haven't been doing much else, though I did finish my kilt and actually wear it once. <br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-76564504073558215492011-02-03T12:56:00.018-06:002011-05-17T19:12:35.437-05:00KiltingWell, the steampunkery has been put on hold. Since it's a project solely for me to use up scraps and maybe make something cool to wear to a con I may or may not end up going to, I've kind-of gotten into some other things. For one, I had some brainworm projects that just wouldn't get out of my head unless I sat down for a few days watching Pride and Predjudice (again) and stitched things. Here's one: <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569540409710304962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 286px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLQfq0up6POioXOL0rs4vXH-MyuZ181AydMmW8aCHA7w3rbjJls0wrtfXB-agWhd_aPN_aG5qbtJqe_fbgU6iz98hCbLT_nmeIZ2Jy3-q35lJ4hkUNQwYZFwCvqRBoYQraOnfIxkjdsNiH/s320/DSC00449s.jpg" border="0" />Here's another: <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569540414863343042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 186px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSl0Rv3V9-gYCefJ6F9qUN1ESK5NEyNn9vjLoigTzfIkT4hzzIAcWm5tJC6p6eIpPjNrv5qdope5hhdiBuR4fAopcZ6tHCDuZNsOlibkPmMZ1QOKDe_Fv7UHj6dPL_ekGLs2A948UdkTE4/s320/DSC00451s.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><div><br /><div><br /><div>The ideas for these have been wandering through the back of my mind for months, and since work is rather slow, I thought I'd get on them and get the stuff out of my fabric cabinet. That green bodice was particularly persistant and wouldn't let me go for a good 12 hours, not until I finished the hand embroidered knotwork on the front. The strawberry dress was also planning to usurp my sanity at one point, and I couldn't stop humming "Strawberry Fields". Fortunately, that one was a relatively quick project, and the final result is pretty, so the brainworm ideas have abated, for now.</div><br /><br /><div>Anywho...</div><br /><br /><div>I may have gotten myself into something. For Christmas this past year, I made my friend's son a kilt. He's seven, and he takes a highland dancing class. He's been in classes for a few months now, and has learned enough to perform little dances in school performances. I had never made a kilt before, but I had found some very lightweight wool tartan fabric on a recent trip to New Hampshire that was only $4.50 a yard and 60 inches wide. I figured that I could make him one with a deep hem so it could be let down (his current attire for dance class being a sport kilt his grandmother found, from a polyester blend that velcros in the front with an almost non-existant hem; good for practice, easy to wash, but more a utilitarian uniform than a heritage garment). I figured that I might make some mistakes and that the wool I would use was extremely lightweight for the purpose, but also knew that he'll grow out of it in a few years and need a new one anyway in his proper tartan, so I might as well make him one out of this cheap (really cheap! in a good way!) stuff, just for practice.<br /></div><br /><div>He loves it.</div><br /><br /><div>Every time I see him now, he's wearing his kilt and vaulting over the livingroom couch. Sometimes also in his pirate shirt. It's terribly amusing.</div><br /><br /><div>Apparently, he wears it around enough for friends-of-friends-of-friends to see it, and word gets around. A couple of people have asked me if I can make them a kilt, and how much do I charge? To which I have to reply that I'm open to the idea, but I'm not sure what I'd charge for work, fabric is expensive, though. To which they say, "Well, think about it."</div><br /><br /><div>So this is what I'm thinking: Work has been slow since the week after Christmas, so the cash flow has been pretty depressing. I need to do something to bring in extra cash; another part-time job right now is not an option, because I'm holding out for a seasonal job in a costume shop, starting beginning of April. I don't want to get into something just in time to bail out when I've got the hang of it. Sewing work is good, if the jobs can come through on a regular basis. I don't need too many to keep me occupied, or to pay the bills, but I need to keep them coming. One kilt would keep me occupied for a week or two (this last one took spare time from 3 weeks before Christmas). I charge $10 an hour for sewing work (really cheap, I know), but how many hours does it take me to sew a kilt? I made this as a gift, so I wasn't really keeping track. I only know it was a freakin' long time. I figured I'd probably make a few more for friends and family, including one for myself, but I didn't think anyone around here would want to pay me to make one. Professional companies in Scotland charge upwards of $500 for a kilt, and who do I know who has that kind of money to spend on one garment? </div><br /><br /><div>Apparently, there are a few people around here who are very proud of their Scots ancestry (and who isn't) enough to want a kilt to show it off. One of them told me they'd rather pay someone they know than send away to a company overseas. Well, maybe that local phone number is my selling point. But if I don't know the hours involved, how can I tell someone a typical price?</div><br /><br /><div>So: how long does it take for me to make a kilt? The only way to find out is to make one and keep track of time. So that's what I'm going to do. I'll keep track on this blog post, so I know where my timesheet is, so this post will change a bit over the coming weeks. I'll be using the instructions from Tewksbury/Stuehmeyer's book <em>The Art of Kiltmaking</em>. Since this will be considered a practice run, I won't be using nice expensive tartan fabric. I'll be using a black-and-white mini houndstooth weave fabric I picked up for about $8 a yard. I know, it won't be a real kilt, but I'll use the same construction method. This is mostly just for time purposes anyway (with a winter wardrobe staple as a happy biproduct).</div><br /><br /><div>Feb. 5, 2011: It has taken 2 hours and thirty-five minutes to rip the fabric to the right proportions, mark it, record what all the measurements are supposed to be and fold the fabric in preparation for sewing. I am doing my marks with lines of hand basting in blue, because I know from the last one that my chalk wears off through much handling, and I don't want to have to go back and guess where I marked out the front apron. I now have a neat little folded bundle of houdstooth cloth. </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570356543376266706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUVTwknRh36KsJc6IcXa-qKa-396hKeHPgJRl_Y_UJUS0CxWi6ARsxw58ymdbl14_9ChDpQQJ5MRl2WmnfFc4dQS-fAGwD3UirEyTLqxHiYFqR4lk_VnkOifQvD5nAyimh46or4s6s-vUQ/s320/Photo_020511_002.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570356550350186274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMSVqB-VTwEdS37scLmJstH-LBg1hiajvvDl4RWjX6ZTOSmwan7Ses4S1snzYvWEyIEa_k1GBTeOUY_LFR0Bjr6n3D32JPj1z2S121PBm-_Kv05vylVHVLUQxzR33OhOQYT73TfPfcW6Wd/s320/Photo_020511_003.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><div>I have thread, needles and pins. I think it might behoove me to make a template for the pleats before I stitch them. They taper from 17/32 inch at the waist to 27/32 inch at the bottom of the 8 5/8 inch fell. I'm thinking a template is good.</div><br /><br /><div>Later that evening: 2 hours and 10 minutes later, I have basted the edges of the apron, sewn it down and done 4 pleats, taking into account the buttonhole for the waist strap. The template didn't work out too well; I had to pin-baste it to the center stripe of each pleat, making sure the center lines matched up, and then I had to measure the pleat anyway to make sure I got it right. So I'm not going to use the template. I'm going to put this down for the night. The houndstooth is making me go blind.</div><br /><br /><div>Feb. 8, 2011: Spent 45 minutes stitching 2 pleats. Very tired. Hands are cold and stiff.</div><br /><br /><div>Feb. 10, 2011: Spend about 2 hours sewing in pleats before going to bed early. Have to get up early to dip strawberries.</div><br /><br /><div>Feb. 11, 2011: Spent about 30 minutes sewing in pleats. Got beyond the halfway point and found I had forgotten a pleat about 7 pleats back. *sigh*. Pulled apart pleats 5 and 7, sewed the missing pleat in. Now I have to figure out if I can sew pleats 6 and 7 together properly without pulling out pleats 8-14. </div><br /><br /><div>On another note, today I met with Steph's highland dance instructor, who had expressed an interest in knowing someone who could make kilts for students. She seems quite nice, no nonsense, with a lovely Scots accent. She has a closet full of bits and pieces of various costumes, including some skirts and a few kilts. She showed me two kilts in particular, same tartan. One of them was made by Elsie Stuehmeyer--it has her label in it, and the teacher says she knows Elsie, which is rather fun. I'm not sure what I was expecting from seeing a kilt made by someone who has made enough of them to actually teach classes in kiltmaking. I suppose from all the mass-produced clothes we wear, I was expecting something that looked so precise it could have been mass produced. When the teacher first brought the kilt out, it did look very precise, and the teacher has kept it in very nice shape. When you get up close to it, you can see the work she put into it. The stitches are very even, the pleats are all of a uniform size, the tartan on the buckle tabs match the fabric underneath, and the sett is accurately reproduced in the pleats. But it still looks handmade, in that it has a character. Handstitches vary a certain amount from person to person, and even in what one person does on varying days. The label inside is one of the type that you can order by mail or online to be made for you, one of those "Made for you" types. It was quite a lovely piece. I suppose all of us, including myself, have a picture or an ideal in mind of how clothes should be because of all the mass-produced items out there. "Handmade" or "homemade" does not equate with imperfection. It means individual, made by a real person; and because of that, every item they make is unique no matter how much that maker tries to produce two of the same thing.</div><br /><br /><div>Feb. 12, 2011: Sewed pleat 6 to pleat 7. Was able to do it without ripping the rest of the pleats apart, since I could just about fit my hand between the two pleats in the back. This only works because I am essentially pleating to the stripe. If I was pleating to the sett, and if I had pleated everything to look correct while still dropping a random pleat, I would indeed have had to pull out pleats 8-14 to get to the dropped pleat and then put the tartan back in right. Took about 20 minutes.</div><br /><br /><div>Feb. 17, 2011: Spent 3 hours sewing pleats, approximately (measured by a couple of Dilbert episodes and two episodes of Dr. Who, Tennant's first season). Only 3 pleats left!!!</div><br /><br /><div>Feb. 18, 2011: Spent about 2 hours stitching the last 3 pleats and stitching the last pleat to the underapron: <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575062667034035746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXGXAbbVYqujBwxmHLnngC_P8ltWnbubcvHCUbp6e2ANhkN5OYZtIRuG8ANFR38oMu76IfWkK674lo8uZsNBajpdUo19thMp16wIs0fp1zJT8IX6fYwrMh3-HNNTtaQDKGBfUhiqKBamu/s320/Photo_021811_001.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575062675175079218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRx6t_WhKO4e9rz5UhVbnUhyphenhyphenwh_uK5TcdnFmR1WHj_c1UqPsAWcGrS8XU0wMZWmnzw-Y0_5OE10dkKcQrMLS6gsCwN20kqsdLbqNBToteLtwPj7J1ugY83R2kG4_pPWcf882GejqJ9z6UP/s320/Photo_021811_002.jpg" border="0" /><br /></p><br /><p>It's still incomplete, obviously. Now we get to stitching the join between the two pieces, hemming all 7 yards of it, then doing all the fiddly basting and shaping bits, interlining and lining. So far, it has taken 10 hours 20 minutes (approximately) to ready the cloth and stitch the 24 pleats. I hope I am at least 1/3 of the way through this.<br /></p><br /><br /><p>Later, the same day: It has taken an hour and a half to trim and sew the join and fell it down. I've also spent half an hour basting up the hem, but I haven't gotten very far with it. Hemming is going to take a while.<br /></p><br /><br /><p>Even later that same day: I've spent an hour basting up the hem. I've gotten near the first pleat, and there's a little bit of hem shaping there that I want to do when I'm fully awake, so I'll stop for the night.<br /></p><br /><p>Feb. 27, 2011: After a relatively bad week dealing with insurance adjusters, car rental agency and car fix-it shop, I have finally come back to the kilt. Spent 3 hours basting up the last little bit of the apron, then hemming it to slightly past the halfway point. At this rate I'm estimating that a hemmed kilt takes about 1 hour per yard of kilt to hem. I'm trying to figure out if there are some general steps in this process that take a predictable amount of time, like sewing each pleat or hemming. For instance, if it takes about 20 minutes to sew one pleat and an hour to put up each yard of hem I may be able to create a simple formula to estimate the total time it takes me. I know some things will just take their own time and I can't prepare for them, but if this gives me a better idea of the time commitment or some step I need to streamline, it'll be good for my work in the long run. Hopefully I'll be basting the pleats in place before I go on vacation.<br /></p><br /><p>Feb. 28, 2011: Spent another 3 hours hemming. Still have a little left.<br /></p><br /><br /><p>Mar. 20, 2011: Spent half an hour hemming up the last of the kilt, then took about an hour to baste the darts in the inside of the inverted pleat and get the last little bit ready to baste the pleats down.<br /></p><br /><br /><p>Mar. 23, 2011: It's taking a long time to baste these pleats in place. I started it out wrong at first and had to take a few out before I finally got it right. I've done 4 lines of basting and need to do two more. Four hours. This is taking forever. The thinness and monotonous uniformity of the pattern is slowing things down, I think. With a tartan, I can at least see visually where a stripe runs all the way down the length of the kilt. With this fabric I have to follow the stripe down with my finger, all the way, or else I lose it.<br /></p><br /><p>May 9, 2011: Two jackets, 6 pairs of slacks, 14 shirts, 10 vests, and a pair of curtains later (and several alterations)... I finished basting the pleats down, including the deep pleat and inverted pleat, cut out the backs of the pleats and did the steeking. This took about 4.5 hours. I had to stop when I got to the bit about the stablizer, and realized I didn't have any in my bag (I was out of the house at the time).<br /></p><br /><p>May 12, 2011: Spent about 3 hours stitching the canvas interfacings to the apron and underapron backs (as well as other miscellaneous basting). Had to stop when I ran out of hair canvas to back the pleats.<br /></p><br /><p>May 13, 2011: Spent about 2 hours sewing in the canvas in the back of the pleats, then moved on to finishing the edges of the apron and underapron. I've pulled the piece of fabric for the apron fringe and basted it into place, now I just need to sew it in.<br /></p><br /><p>May 14, 2011: It took about 45 minutes to sew the fringe edge of the apron down permenantly. This took me longer than expected, as sewing with a headache is not as productive a time as when one is feelin' fine.<br /></p><br /><p>Later that day: I've spent 4 or so hours stitching on the waistband, detailing and basting the buttonhole and pressing the kilt, and then cutting and punching the holes in the straps. I need 3 buckles.<br /></p><br /><p><strong>Some observations:</strong> I've been wrapping the kilt around me from time to time. I was a little dismayed at first to see that the apron edges in the front didn't line up. I feared I had gained some weight since the time when I measured myself for it. When I pressed it, though, the edges seem to come together fine.<br /></p><br /><p>Wool is quite wonderful. When I basted down the inverted pleat I was getting lots of rippling and bubbling, but careful pressing has seemed to solve this. </p><br /><br /><p>Using a presscloth is good: I got a lot of buildup and rust out of my iron when I was pressing, and I'm glad it went onto my muslin scrap instead of the wool. </p><br /><br /><p>Using a micro-houndstooth weave is perhaps harder than using a boldly striped fabric with a nice polite repeat. Whenever the instructions say to stretch the fabric and line up the stripes I have to keep track of the woven line very carefully or things don't tend to line up right. If I had to do this again with a non-tartan fabric I'd probably hand-baste in several stripes at different intervals in order to match up to important points. I know this would mean a lot of hand basting and take hours to do, but it might result in less fiddling around later. </p><br /><br /><p>I think I put the waistband on with the weave going in the wrong direction. If I was making this for someone else I'd be more concerned and probably pull the thing off to reset it. As it is, it's such a small band, and this is for me anyway. I'm just going to leave it.</p><br /><p>May 15, 2011: Spent three hours sewing on buckles and one of the straps. Actually, I sewed on the strap the right way, thought it was the wrong way and pulled it off. I sewed it back on, but the wrong way this time. Discovered I had done it right the first time and had to redo it. Bother.</p>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-82039317746889055552011-01-07T12:34:00.004-06:002011-01-07T13:06:09.287-06:00Etsy sale on Kinsale Cloaks<div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6TIVSzcKpGzZF4NieDquUD0uOmGhy6fALBFeVb6lGRhs4Jwip52rbzopwP-ucEu9I60omzGEJIeCUDaBGFVnHopzOp9B2LbVpcsT-WFxe2fq_FQ-Nh1zuWs0fRxVjFS-4wIzEjkpc6Uu8/s1600/DSC00251s.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559517231598208178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 262px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6TIVSzcKpGzZF4NieDquUD0uOmGhy6fALBFeVb6lGRhs4Jwip52rbzopwP-ucEu9I60omzGEJIeCUDaBGFVnHopzOp9B2LbVpcsT-WFxe2fq_FQ-Nh1zuWs0fRxVjFS-4wIzEjkpc6Uu8/s320/DSC00251s.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><br /><div>Ok folks, here's the deal. I have several Kinsale cloaks listed at my Etsy store, The Blue Silk Rose. I'm currently storing them in my hall closet. I'd like to make a few new cloaks this year, but I need the current ones out before I get into that. So, to give you guys and gals some incentive, I've made a coupon code to give you 20% off any Kinsale cloak in my store, from now till Feb. 1, 2011. Just type KINSALE into the coupon code box at checkout. I know there are a lot of people out there who like the look of these, and I hope it encourages you to get one and find out how wonderful and dramatic they are. </div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559517234318271986" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 220px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaC6jJ7qtjTGa-h8Lz2rbVqnx8jqVNI0QLsZyIkbGg38EoextxIHRr2Z8XtOOBdq8_6M3mcZgQkoD8jsCKezBjGCFfhvBYKlnf94zUDXM-ZIXVFBofDST_NlqTzGHwXMiPxD4afd3fP4I5/s320/DSC00257s.jpg" border="0" /><br /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559517242172650434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 265px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmto1V-0-3o_ATPaByBgSJtRBxg-jYbRcGlvEPrvmr_VK1d5wAF6A8BOBRxFQScLNJp6ygXGEyYeYDJW29YwnOHgOLcZPaUxFGARDXF_9DwiMdIGLA5HA4OJpKLseOvqbtKZjvGhA3eauB/s320/IMG_5501s.jpg" border="0" /></div><div> </div><div>How it works:</div><div>Go to <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/thebluesilkrose">www.etsy.com/shop/thebluesilkrose</a></div><div>Choose one of the Kinsale cloaks listed.</div><div>At checkout, type KINSALE into the coupon code box to get 20% off your cloak.</div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559517229680382370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 169px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgupxP3oF2YOGBaqEV41SlcmCwJXRcc8-D_5ORibqTmLp1PdHfb6aj7f0KMODUmz1G07ZZJkYViEmCMWp5D4Gu_HVW76ucKsaryeSunufEu7fZHawlM8mMY_B1sxNYD2sqwJzOuZ0dGyKrH/s320/DSC00240s.jpg" border="0" /></div><div>The rules:</div><div>This offer is good until February 1, 2011, at which point this coupon code will become inactive.</div><div> </div><div>This offer is only good on Kinsale cloaks listed at The Blue Silk Rose; no other shop will honor this coupon.</div><div> </div><div>This coupon code will not be honored on any other item in my shop; just the Kinsale Cloaks.</div><div> </div><div>This offer is not valid on custom orders, just the cloaks currently listed.</div><div> </div><div>When the cloak ships it will be insured, with delivery confirmation, signature required. It will be insured at the regular purchase price of the cloak, not the coupon price.</div><div> </div><div>Questions? Leave me a comment here, convo me on Etsy, or drop me an e-mail: redsilkthread@gmail.com</div><div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559517450203145378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 215px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih5GnNT8r7qQCNO40QsOrTtiI9oO8a0kMCkGUr5gV7u9ZBC08_zTPxravOFqsCO0mFUacWe5KQ8u1vCNtEwHFAhOZKwlzGrha2BGq893iweXBjPv5kdlnXRdEULuGIvkG6LcOQxtQQk5Ev/s320/DSC00256s.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-30890004812999944162011-01-04T22:58:00.003-06:002011-01-04T23:34:08.580-06:00Mosaic jacketI cleaned out my fabric cabinet yesterday. The doors actually close! All the way!! So I decided this evening I would start some work figuring out the jacket for my steampunk outfit.<br /><br />I decided to start out with a fairly generic looking pattern and see what comes of it. This one happens to be Butterick #4154. It's a close-fitting bodice with princess seams, with a couple of simple sleeve options. I kind of like the shape of the bodice, because princess seams tend to fit me well. I'm not sure about the sleeves just yet. The sleeves are fitted, with a dart at the elbow for shaping. Fitted sleeves can be hit or miss with me; my upper arms are slightly large and when I put in a fitted sleeve I have to make sure I can get my arm into the thing, let alone have room for wearing ease. Usually, though, if I sew into the seam allowance, tapering it to 3/8 inch near the underarm, I do ok.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558562791857851970" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNpkKhkCWjS2x_KGCnbixlGG3i4VgUMuq9dB2g80nKMipPofX4xvhplXwwvyRKjeBYenMH99UR42e5g9iAdE0-IjzBNtEbjv0z_dqoMyF9vzZ51-FP3hC4CkjkI9gqnhkP5D5u-v3eGSfG/s320/Photo_010411_004.jpg" border="0" /><br />I'm taking a chance and making it strait off in my fashion fabric. Usually this is a no-no. However, my fashion fabric is comprised of little pieces I'm going to sew together, and I'm not above a little 'whittling' to get what I'm looking for. What I have is a big bag full of scraps left over from making my friend's Christmas dress last year, and then the skirt for me just a month ago. Some scraps are large, some are small, some are long and skinny, some have rounded edges. By themselves I don't think I could get a whole jacket out of them. What I like to do, though, is serge the pieces together along any strait line in any scrap I can find. Since serging cuts and sews in one motion, I can quickly get larger pieces. All I have to do is press the small seam allowance down to one side. If a piece of fabric I'm working with is too small in one corner, I just serge a little piece down to that spot. The finished product has grainlines going in every direction, if I've used little pieces. This can look very pretty with the light shining on it, but it does mean the finished product has no definate grain line to make the pieces hang right. Also, with dupioni especially it means that the resulting pieces have lots of weak points. For this reason, I use the resulting pieces on more structured garments, and mount them on fusible interfacing or muslin. This is the back before I've mounted it on muslin.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558562775139886162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCXe-SCqKcxlf4dbMVRCjlsKKR5JkeVrNVhsfGhyBCp-7zHCJcNPqQFW-anvYMAeQRdkRrcPTmxh-OijiA5-dsZCFxTGbLbA1rUKVxnchZE6SBbVe9-Z4AZTbk6e6EMJDR-_cXO9Mq30Sv/s320/Photo_010411_001.jpg" border="0" /><br />Here it is after mounting.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558562778448634802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_f9QGr0PSicZaDjJX0fCtfTQBuDSW8IP8pZAaI5KvBHugRpBzT7jVkdLDs3ZFBy9_LZZFA53-iNqEX4K9Ecn_DXG5Uk9K8Qkv_drSZfDZT3pUBYfpZpjnGJcwB7kKVDROKEjy7wlqKj_k/s320/Photo_010411_002.jpg" border="0" /><br />Knowing that my hips can be a little bigger than some patterns, I cut the back piece about 2 inches short. Instead of extending the back pieces all the way down, I'm going to end with a box pleat ruffle that scoops down a little from the base of the jacket. It will be one of the last things to go on, because I haven't quite figured out its particulars yet. It will, however, allow me some extra hip room. I've sewn the side back to the back almost all the way to the end of the back piece, just left a little loose for a seam allowance.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558562782087301570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqAb-RAE5SjRQXbZY6rLeaAZXbainNbGNxqjvynXXUzSag0HSlg1wMhTvFPaaqf70CwYj7BaEjGoMWjmsRWcHsrmrTOki4_sujPCtsXZrvq-2koOzukXBZNJD-2uoFKV5xNvELtLUbgIR2/s320/Photo_010411_003.jpg" border="0" /> As it turns out, most of the body pieces were cut from larger pieces, so there aren't a lot of unpatterned seamlines; most pieces have one off to the side, but it's not the drastic mosaic effect that I had first pictured. This is ok though.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558562796233611842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAUgTlIk75fXvt5pSs2X8psP5F6PbxeSxCWv1ptiZIzc2orHI-2LNRf8LjnfIbTK4o5FCsfGMn00Il5Sp3glLbtysLCIqZq7bF8Xnio1IX3CYrkQEaNknwrXetRx8-SNMykTZlT6ttH_Yq/s320/Photo_010411_005.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div>You can see a little bit of the cabbage effect in the sleeves, the lower one especially.</div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558563004302104530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCkd9v80NWuRXFZvExIMarXoaz006zMfF-pINlwM_nhVWFfBf1aM0cfeICDEaIz5QyKzkDu4HFZ_TeB5MJFeKOTJ1aVBgT9bWFtaP_lJioCfSiOtCP39NAP2SyO3MfYOXTPbEc5EX3cl9/s320/Photo_010411_007.jpg" border="0" /></div><div>The front looks quite plain at the moment. Not too many extranious seams. The neck is quite high, but that might work itself out once the lining is installed. The sleeves are indeed tight. I'm also not sure if they will fit over my Gibson girl blouse. I'm not opposed to cutting the top third of the sleeve off, though, and installing a puff. Maybe that will be the place for the mosaic tile look. It may also give me greater freedom of movement, as the rest of the bodice is a little tight.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558563003779804386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vGSI7IHaFPSABgt9WNS9sjROHEgYpUEOAEY-G1VirQddT4romv16mDVR5iZ7CW27Yr5HYzkt7O42iESS6oVBqfAZRt2XN14YamOHwxS-o73506uBkRDf7W0UcVK6IL5FyYKxuwcZaFkH/s320/Photo_010411_006.jpg" border="0" /></div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-62380635488179666642010-12-30T10:45:00.003-06:002010-12-30T11:18:11.582-06:00steampunkery II<div><div><div>Well, it's been a while since I last posted, and I haven't gotten everything done yet (but I did knit 4 hats, 2 neck muffs, a scarf and a pair of mitts for Christmas, made 3 pleated valances for a friend, made a kilt for a 7-year-old, a baptism dress for an etsy order, a pair of pants for my mother-in-law, a dress and a baby bonnet to use up scraps, and a vest for a friend), but I did get the skirt and blouse done, so here are some pictures before I have to embroil myself in some serious alterations for another friend and then fix a box of cloth diapers. *sigh* When your friends know you sew, your work is never done.</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556518487741107810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlXt4UMkuZcQ6JrDRDh4gd7mp6Ambg4OH3tWp9Pgfi5hNpP6yYA_hhLpzrd2cnAq57rQ4JuJQ_LCOOuK1KquoqGf2QdTY5a8dlsYSwTH98XD-17LqJdIicqyay6y1hVI3IjCeKGKBPFcFJ/s320/DSC00369.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556518488802947010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4TVrobGdkOJwwV2pD87V1SmtcgXYtN-Wt3tjjnb3GEye0Depsg2u4PlULP68QPpGJQdbUhlyM12oyrOByvf3ZWyclcB8JERqZbCf7dwGqSWNigSvX1G7rVLjzXpUwlSCaaq464OYosZvG/s320/DSC00370.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556518501705352226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv0npSkHOEI4mlJ7Vrh4Xe8fFLwzH9DvOxAFkDPnjK6wn4q8aHR7Kg_unI7g8CQarew0i_vdFV2kHqtXAJpI5WT3Lyvq9a_a-tEO8kpTIcLUhn24oNz-guMXru88TizBdN2kyS54JmDE6l/s320/DSC00372s.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5556518501049395714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWBymSzrD7mwURRoVTu5N_mUnV20vFQTqr7CdRC66X8jpiWszphJM6EEZxK57foTvmoPvWNRMvTrNJuyhBLppjwpPiRBwxQZ_iqkLF9o0F9_A4RelQsBWTLu2DOILmzlu_xvqFK99o47T_/s320/DSC00371.JPG" border="0" /><br />Both of these are from Folkswear patterns; the blouse is their Gibson Girl blouse, done very simply with black handkerchief linen and a little Cluny lace for trim around the blouse yoke, the bottom of the cuffs and top of the collar. The skirt is their Walking skirt done in dupioni silk I found on eBay from Fabricfreak (I think). The skirt has a shell button at the waist and a few hooks and eyes in the fly to keep it shut. The blouse closes at the back with hooks and eyes. </div><div> </div><div>I had very little trouble with these patterns. The most trouble I had was understanding which way to fold the fly and facings on the skirt, and once I had ironed them down and looked at them I figured out what they wanted me to do and just pressed them the opposite way to get it right. The blouse sleeves are below the elbow, and I used the bias cuff option to make sleeve construction easy. I used the short-backed version. When it's laundry day and none of my regular work things are clean I can use this blouse as a work shirt with a pair of high-waisted pants. They have to be high-waisted, otherwise a good portion of my lower back shows, especially when I bend over. I also like to wear a black t-shirt underneath, just in case the hooks pop open (despite my best efforts of bending them closed).</div><div> </div><div>These are pretty much constructed as the pattern would have you do them, but I added some French fuze to the inside waistband of the skirt because dupioni is not the strongest fabric lengthwise. I also laid the skirt out top-to-tail and cheated slightly off-grain because I had a short amount of yardage (I had a little over 2 yards of 55" yardage). Still, I managed to get the full length skirt out of it for my size (medium). </div><div> </div><div>I have also constructed a petticoat out of black poly-cotton broadcloth scraps leftover from another project. With the long strips I had kicking around plus my machine ruffle foot I was easily able to construct a peasant-skirt shaped petticoat with a long front slit and drawstring waist. It is three-tiered. I pleated out a good amount of ruffle and some of it didn't end up in the skirt. So, I took the little bit of leftover and tacked it to the back in a soft bustle. This isn't strictly a bustle skirt, but fashions of the time do have a bit of an S bend to them, so the extra fabric helps fill out the back of the skirt without making it hard to sit. I may put some horsehair braid at the bottom of the bustle portion to help it stand out a little more, but that's as far as I'll go.</div><div> </div><div>As the sleeves on this jacket are slightly puffy, I may want to rethink my original jacket idea and put on a slightly puffed sleeve. I'm not sure, though, so I want to make a mockup. I'll let you know how that goes.</div></div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-67897721654138741272010-11-12T17:30:00.002-06:002010-11-12T18:36:55.140-06:00SteampunkeryI've heard about steampunk, watched a few steampunk homemade series online, seen some steampunk jewelry books, etc, but it's taken me a while to make sense of it in my head. It's not exactly from any specific time period, except maybe Victorian. I sort of get the concept that it's what the world would be if everything was still cogs and steam instead of computers, but my mind still wants to classify it neatly somewhere in history. But you can't, because it's an imaginary reality. So what is it really?<br /><br />Well, one of our gaming buddies just went to a steampunk convention and posted photos on Facebook. So, of course there are pictures of guys in suits with antique looking hats (well, let's face it, unless it's a ballcap or ski mask or some such thing, men don't tend to wear hats much anymore so anything remotely civilian-formal looking seems old-fashioned, at least), girls in anything from corselettes and modern corduroy pants to lace and panniers and anything in between. Oh, and lots of gadgets--humongous robotic hands, ghost-buster type steam-powered power packes, delicate little pocket watches and other gizmos, anything these people can think up. So, it's a hodgepodge of anything these people wanted to incorporate, and there are very few rules. The sensible, historical-accuracy seeking part of my brain, upon seeing all these photos, said, "hey, you can't do that!" But then, some other part piped up and said, "well, why not?" Long story short, I've got an idea for a steampunk outfit, and I've started putting it together.<br /><br />Going by the lovely pictures in my head, it's going to be inspired from late Victorian or early Edwardian costume. What I want is a long gored skirt, slightly full in the back but not requiring a bustle or hoop, maybe just a full petticoat. Over that I want a frilly pintucked blouse with lots of lace and a high collar, probably with a little cameo at the neck, and a little fitted jacket with a long 2 piece sleeve, pointed in front and with ruffles at the base of the back. Haven't decided if it will have collar and lapels or no. And I have just the fabric for the jacket and skirt. I just hope there's enough of it. As part of the getup, I want to have a long, full apron of white twill or canvas with lots of pockets for tools. I also want to make myself one of those freakishly large hats like they had at the turn of the century, with lots of plumes on it (just not from endangered species, thank you), and one of those umbrellas like you get at Thinkgeek.com where the center stick lights up. And I can wear my white ankle boots with it! Yay! I have been trying to think of a good use for those for years, but I can't get rid of them because they are so uncommon.<br /><br />Sorry, I know you can't see the pictures in my head. This is just a teaser. I have to go make this now, but I'll be back next week to let you know what I'm doing. Ta-tah!redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-34356775150446208462010-11-06T00:01:00.004-05:002010-11-06T00:32:02.987-05:00Beating a dead horse... Again!If you don't know what this is all about, go ahead and read the post previous to this. Go ahead, I'll wait....<br /><br />Finished now? Good.<br /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536298804955072130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEileUNFDCSPpXB2SI-X8pen-fBXq5UkidEpuKTPZQ9xAJRYKqI8_PttPFFlI9UDgD9H3YQozFLuJHJTlW3uIFdvLqIUPvAEs6P5yWwlo_6vuoqejkKl7t8-FA7Hg82Gnv26VQYbAKgaO8Gn/s320/Photo_110510_001.jpg" border="0" /><br />Well, it's finished, in all it's gutsy glory;<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPR7lWuvuzahkNWYjI5JB624ibo2Gsv4b8CZMQkpPnjlRLYL9JryyFlMku0jSCK-pK0sP_krkwnpnECieTqCqHvpfTOe_FWtSkdBtFLS0KbEzGvmF8ygm_-5QO4OK3cCvB61-o1Lhh3AMZ/s1600/Photo_110510_003.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536298816727804466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPR7lWuvuzahkNWYjI5JB624ibo2Gsv4b8CZMQkpPnjlRLYL9JryyFlMku0jSCK-pK0sP_krkwnpnECieTqCqHvpfTOe_FWtSkdBtFLS0KbEzGvmF8ygm_-5QO4OK3cCvB61-o1Lhh3AMZ/s320/Photo_110510_003.jpg" border="0" /></a> As you can see, I added some grey fleece to the bottom of each leg, just to make it a little more proportional, as well as adding the hooves. I didn't have the time to do all of the fun things I wanted to do to it, but it's complete in itself as a comedic device. It ended up being about 5 feet long from nose to end, not counting the tail. I was kind of worried at first that it would be too ridiculously big, but I managed to fit it in a big black trash bag anyway and toss it in the trunk.<br /><br />I brought it to game tonight, and it gave people a good laugh, including the guy who asked the question in the first place, so I guess I can call it a success. Hm... What crazy project will I get myself into next? Well, someone did just ask me if I could make a peacoat out of red and black fur... And someone else asked if I could make a WWII jacket... Lots to think about.... <div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvu1-tZKPL1gRD5IClbqBPXD87sOqp8wn6y0fFHk_meH0T9i0Q9NSbVqO_6-Lg4qz9GTPI4jb6ss4lmXH6B9HRMBoL-tRPhfZ1tRFNRty4dwGTBL4LDEkqFh7YjS0oosGNuQANo9kWmfDi/s1600/Photo_110510_002.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536298812149156146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvu1-tZKPL1gRD5IClbqBPXD87sOqp8wn6y0fFHk_meH0T9i0Q9NSbVqO_6-Lg4qz9GTPI4jb6ss4lmXH6B9HRMBoL-tRPhfZ1tRFNRty4dwGTBL4LDEkqFh7YjS0oosGNuQANo9kWmfDi/s320/Photo_110510_002.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-36575610703472474212010-11-03T18:51:00.007-05:002010-11-05T23:58:46.525-05:00Beating a Dead Horse<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535510096669254274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8E4UNXOVh61SN-vMiHx7V4wrHZr9TfHzBNjxg_b3FpdjTeM3KcH-2T4DpQ8r9-igxIuw8-k9IKUh8kUX13eaydtXhW4_kRHXCj0XYsyQ9btZ80HJeV3p671NmibGIcEk7P0qhxS2hIe_i/s320/Photo_110210_003.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>About a month ago, a friend of ours walked into game night and asked me "Can you make me a dead horse?" Apparently, a particular topic keeps coming up in meetings on which nobody is able or willing to make any headway. This is, understandably, quite frustrating. So, he requested a plushy, cartoony dead horse he can throw on the table and proceed to beat with something, but would still be soft and cuddly. He specified something between 3 and 4 feet long, complete with X's for eyes and yarn hair. Ok, I thought. Sounds entertaining, anyway.</div><br /><div>I figured, ok, I don't have to get terribly fancy, I just have to shoot for recognizable. So if you break it down, you can make the body and legs from cylindars, the muzzle and neck out of tilted cone shapes. The tricky bit is getting the proportions right, and this is where chance threw me a bone.<br /></div><div>My boss came upon a fairly realistic looking horse toy in the trash one day. It was one of the things that has a rebar skeleton inside so a small child can sit on and ride it. The batteries in the sound device had worn out, and the neck seam was torn open, with the stuffing coming out. So, knowing I had this project in mind, she picked it up and tossed it in her trunk. This is it:</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535510515982961538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikij3BsR6CIa70qqYIOPxfJphbyaFXChnOkT_6oQOxSlMFhwuEB94jM3mpK6K-J7lx9cBH4Ggfemyz7eMqmIlzuSVbw9WpG0HLcUkNOEqpSrerWQuL58Zl7Ucr4GfBDJFTIhe4qZvKQwsH/s320/Photo_110310_002.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div>It's only about 24 inches tall. I had thought about pulling the rebar and stuffing out, washing him and restuffing him in a comedic way and make my life generally easier. But come on; it's two feet tall, and not even remotely ridiculous looking, and I just couldn't do enough twisted things to it to satisfy my twisted creativity. So I went to the fabric store. $42 later I had lots of fleece pieces of varying colors and lengths, two packages of large ric-rac, and a 5 pound box of stuffing. </div><br /><div>I got out my measuring tape and started measuring various dimensions of the existing horse and writing them down on my various scribbled diagrams on cut-up paper bags, expressing the dimensions in terms of X so I could scale the horse up as desired. Then I got to measuring out and cutting various big rectangles of fleece based on those calculations, and sewing them together.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535511112092010530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEShEjIbOILkYjRbxoAcdLMJjRyHmaolmjba8O2oBxt_Q3Mk4Hm9v-ezZ5vnioTNqWqGUBwWvNGItrsVzP7M4TtpNUVpea_xPG3ajDMQ98gIp3Rarw68rn5HcRI9NR_7DTEIZJ_HcNWBbP/s320/Photo_110310_004.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br />In general, the horse turned out quite a bit bigger than expected, so I suppose I got something wrong in the length of the body and the head. The legs are also woefully short, but I can solve that by sewing in socks (or pasterns, or fetlocks, I'm not sure what the classifications are anymore, merely that they exist to describe the length of the white area on a horse's legs down to its hooves. And no, I don't feel like looking them up on Wikipedia just now, either). His tail is also a bit short, but we can just say it's been docked. and yes, in this pic his legs are still unfinished, but you get the idea.<br /><p>I wanted it to be clear that the horse was dead, probably by several different means. I also wanted it to be interactive, because that's more fun and twisted. So, I figured it would be pretty easy to have the horse die of hanging (just need to make the noose), disease, or broken heart. If I have the time and wherewithall, I might even work in some alien spawn and some gunshot wounds. Some of these methods show up externally, some internally. This means I needed an organ sac. I whipped up some plush intestinal tract and a heart and sewed them into a rectangular red piece of fleece. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535511107565920082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz0u_NDDt5S3bE5j8iMh4H5LXvi4Yr8W0moBBQBstm8xJcp1uOhsPgIojOYSQ9-NFCPIFbSVrfLkwMBmYEwlKEsx7yZ6q536QhT0eQL30DI_FD6RSDvnkSqtrYIphbEvitVFoqOYUCfGdk/s320/Photo_110310_005.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535511101858155874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJMH9DgkJXbd2yhLtZ3Y9J0KHTdHykfw-nY4QmUHUqyjvrVZYhxQfFFcjlAGoifg_b8uMeTDhtmYPWsu5PWlq-KHcqJ5Gs4lgo_IsTqyd_pG10vfUCNyvkHYvUatAZ_Q3fEPl3NueHlbkI/s320/Photo_110310_006.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p>I hope to get ahold of a little cthonid or alien to stick in there. I suppose I could also have put a small red throw blanket in there, either for a pool of blood or for a quick nap. </p><p>Our friend had wanted the cartoony X eyes. Sounds like fun, but can I take it a step further? I thought it might be fun to have an eye coming out, but to have it be detachable to help keep things easy. So, the eyespots are the loop side of velcro to keep the entire body soft, with a small bit of the hooks to keep the eye on. I made the eye by covering a styrofoam ball with a layer of muslin, then a scrap of china silk, then painting on the details with fabric paint.</p><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535510081680905570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3DqNO0mIou66b7w6df8Nx3wMgPxnVR05tGCTUf40t5wHp5nNIGOEwA9SAP-6rleTMDcXo_0MWw79Rakc4P8laHcNvMPmnRsQbt2TeqUW46BJp_xFgMwC-fWPsQcVaeJVMXuUX68PkBAsc/s320/Photo_110210_001.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535510087512940898" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfeP8kH2dNvl6xzPmpoYZztk7AcRXmZt-eWI0qTqtVMnt4L2-Gl_5nYJWBSYs6eVGzuv48u7ELIrobVsLgyL8rfTexGMyyOPNWpcV5YIXy0i5weugUXMobT-McVe8c0H19S_Bp3AKJeWF_/s320/Photo_110210_002.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535510503361217938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54iGP0eLomxz0wpyp7GwRBDSNOpEEqX-r28jAwe9aaSEBMF7HYN7X6BlFbBsMYvs8CCi4JihU1Ic33tCAsoPjg0aYUcXcrp4RXILTqKMBtz6MBnvplTfFBreSqxaK3PbUtGuPE4I32_Z1/s320/Photo_110210_005.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535510494829192626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK_bpX7SBMRuJrzdJGTc-dcq3lEt2FIKNJnMWG6EpYJvHDDDrOnYrvYYjySbs5_CKxwyaw92u5d-9v00PFKNGJDcOQO_cKDj-w08CQfAaXJ4vb_37PsUz6R2rbE2yLLCN3JT0ARP4hASol/s320/Photo_110210_004.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p>I wanted the tongue to loll out of the mouth, and possibly be something to pull on. I made it from a few long pieces of lime-green fleece, and then threaded a wide piece of elastic into it and gather-stitched it down to make the back of the tongue stretchy. I extended the red of the inside of the mouth into a long pocket on the inside and stitched the tongue into the end. I then tethered the back of the pocket to the corner of the organ sac so that the tongue would hopefully retract somewhat into the body, keep itself free of the stuffing inside, and help keep the organ sac in place. I painted the tongue with some red and black bumps to make it look particularly nasty.</p><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535510077934823746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-pdRU1qc07_J6Os0pwj1hSoBXuGwymYiKAGCOac8ueojOtPW4gsDr03nAnfteDAZFd-1RjC6ZcpYL_eloJYrD62yja7Y2KmkXNvzf44pAzuG8d9dIVfqiOyMYKUHf-Y8uLB7dV8Ao_Dgw/s320/Photo_110310_007.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535511130560478658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiguEgb08wniFbOVIBqYXcUkW0tGUbRooukWyXMNgw7rxBkzdptCtmDdbu8uLYNDsUMJHfmRTdX5pcPD2EKbbKPcV5McEeFtvf6qHrqo2OznO8nU9AGgHQCzPA7ua8eF_OJ-k0rFeeFmokg/s320/Photo_110310_008.jpg" border="0" /></p><br /><p>So that's what I've got so far. I still need to make the socks and the hooves, make a noose, and make a few other bits and pieces if time permits. For now, this is what I've got, and it's an interesting romp!</p><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535511120193532354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 256px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibTo-SBDSfabIdeOW3Mgskei48VriKKpFK3UVewxMGEDTeW2XRaWms2XJ_Jur9Mkgf3qFQp84pXE41jgmiFesu2KW8c6GEKQ6Y2dB07vyFdneRM2WshepLRpKRfLmrPWlHVko-6UD1uCxW/s320/Photo_110310_003.jpg" border="0" /></p>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-37325399399426517682010-09-16T21:00:00.013-05:002010-09-16T22:31:00.519-05:00Child's play<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8e1QY8uiS2AffiKdkrKhS67ekuVZiTycklJ2HAuCB1R7tCbY7TbZVQ64PAuPjuwQh9clW9yMm-2DZcD5u4N_624ZQa9kT4nv23Kuz6o-NLK8vU4_VhWkPKKMaDF9oy_uSwbsEUDdGmJn/s1600/IMG_2393.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517705287938655570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8e1QY8uiS2AffiKdkrKhS67ekuVZiTycklJ2HAuCB1R7tCbY7TbZVQ64PAuPjuwQh9clW9yMm-2DZcD5u4N_624ZQa9kT4nv23Kuz6o-NLK8vU4_VhWkPKKMaDF9oy_uSwbsEUDdGmJn/s320/IMG_2393.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div>...Or, This Kid Should Be A Model.</div><div><br /></div><div>So. Over the summer, Steph and I were thinking of organizing a fashion show of the kids' stuff I had done. You know the type of thing... invite a bunch of interested friends over to your house, throw some stuff on some models and see who bites. So, I made a batch of new things, got my house cleaner than I had in years, rearranged the furniture, got some light refreshments, and put on my interview frock.</div><div><br /></div><div>And nobody showed up. </div><div><br /></div><div>bummer. I had to eat the rest of the chips and salsa.</div><div><br /></div><div>After a week or two (and somewhere past the why-don't-I-have-a-useful-talent-like-fixing-cars-or-something stage), we figured that, at the least, this stuff was still cute and maybe taking pictures of it would be a good thing. So, Steph has been pulling things out of the box and photographing them, some on her daughter Anna, when they are the right size. </div><div><br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517704523295572290" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4_1xs63I_NAnZkGNdaD2YYada1Jg8xXi9zkLZuMXWcsaKZreTWCqjz3uwBe8b5u-10VnNmoz5UQXKCn5SQX1NzHS0lylk7Pk16Dq4T1AVlPVDEb9bYFtinOQ6ncOy6r_OP8CjS4Us04ZQ/s320/IMG_2682.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517704531249776882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6N23Zh5Z3jLYp_zLkFFOaMJwLXWWUK8SIQrPZNNWAtxX2QUKQ9lJxSwLrOC0ui1lB1rYuHflwONPyiBwXexaB1MFGiKoYU5bowAB_tzREGtsI0vjcroJpHH07H0rF9mLtT9Prk0k1KQkL/s320/IMG_2685.JPG" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517707929259908498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJZGAjEV9T4Nm5Y3BPl88M3YKPD3mzRAeywOpD37nx1NnZYhD4pXAP47rBmmyYXmtdReGQqEYO3vDf7eRsxQKdy0KEFCg2goMWKGZgpkt0W2scCskVghL68ZFWnPxvBPAUhxe_efimcsiM/s320/IMG_2665s.jpg" border="0" /></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517707919693796498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhknwkoSi5IF_OzlPaOT2dl8-T8-AEGd-xSwgJpnaMWkbtEP-ZSZyXb6a_yfGr5Su3sugGV8OUpWBPG_6NdI8Xz6IcntSn4pD4PuXCDscWe94Xr5Njgx_5PTbwjPT2Z1tI30l-M35CV3KZE/s320/IMG_2655s.jpg" border="0" /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517711792721650610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8F_3h-qxmj7JAUVbgFTakxtr6VCWFU-Gi1fceYCwpXC7Xs2j0dLQ1bw-x8CTyTRnS9Lo_kDEu2hXAFb1kGGSOQvhQKaZn_sb2xBWGTZeJpCiaUZuUgGiV-fqA0s1BPdtnjhq4SdpaQXyw/s320/IMG_2678s.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517710996825305698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcVu_pikJJvdaE8F1FKo5g_PoSOTeuEb5pVtddwV1cgNp7YGX-JZiguhH5vUiq442vb2tHMOmFTtzQBIGfUjS9PKotOqMwczZy_JDhjh9_J2JLkUj5CyPImeekTDAnGLqjSp_EQzSaZkPy/s320/IMG_2677s.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517712334766223202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnscoxmeDsfLJwD0de3Ggb9Etr8pfey6sjd82JWYi_EESAn-O0SXbUJbOu6R87sRBljDEbx5Y9Lw2kpR8CoDxA86usy5WF5hJwCViSjOYK3r_jTcAU93Ycs09A4SVc9Q5gBvRAe6GaY65i/s320/IMG_2689s.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div>She's also been taking pictures of some of the dresses I've previously made for her. </div><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517705561023282114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 180px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjntKbNMAm13fJanDGzs-wa7G2g5gJjcTx0xbpnKSDTSohyy0TAXWcUu1dSo4Y6Ra2AdQp5YSXoPXGJyl2j8QnV5WhN_g3r84yjiFoBY8pXAKP1PrBwFJSED7ZNBxOfCDW67d76U9_ysSj4/s320/IMG_2398s.jpg" border="0" /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517706245358503522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 210px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhssxsGTC3CMEUckeW2gjXeT5DaMcxIsh04HEaFMOmDLfzrKGyOvHloAOvVo8AU5hzgMTgy2F4bdjmuM2_jIG5e7XxZahdScuUfOuudX05rXy4ViEgzqdBr7jbX9vbUOtTJD3i_78uBmQOX/s320/IMG_2400s.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517709611392824722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwaZXsaVsGepAUmpaLA65g9Rq6GL7aeZgqjsAMRvocaT4BVGdfRSOg1bSNRqsispmugO-qPkxKtx4NSANBtF3Rt6z8yIsuL5UE3v93hxNY3edfEeyxrp2VDF_snAwSonH1_OEOb9qJfx6I/s320/IMG_2383s.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517708972960261202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 196px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmj6bNXTp_zm-ITf3pf633PqZPYvono68xg38a8KnqUN8nFIR8-W-2lllLgq9jm5KaPFjBt8py_Zsx0nYcBR5f1fO0BRV8A7HAUiMqRbwkaxsErFDohDRFU1rGP3ho0NhhJa4ZASgBx_WN/s320/IMG_2377s.jpg" border="0" /><br /></div><div><div>Basically, what I've got is a box of cute stuff, access to a couple of cameras, and a friend with a kid we can put stuff on and model. We also have the internet, specifically, I have an etsy account. Hopefully, some of this stuff will end up there eventually. When I get time to make some listings. And yes, this is a cute kid. And yes, she has an older brother, and I make things for him too, it's just that they tend to be more Zorro and pirate themed items, not cute little girl dresses, which was more the subject of this post. Some other time, perhaps.</div><div> </div><div>And thanks Steph and Anna for letting me use these pics!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-23492972989401651562010-08-02T20:21:00.004-05:002010-08-03T21:49:38.606-05:0050's with a twist<div>
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<br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500987913456516354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 241px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSb2nb8QyNS8TO2OladvmubanQ_HyPxV9FpTOSJsD6RmrWiaRFDlArN_pEtf2F9sG0sXCnvLcgaQiFPsOvYcOHw7AHRHfq6SpcFrfammW0b3oilfxiQ8gMVTARpUspG1roskEVMjIUnbXg/s320/dresses%5B1%5D.jpg" border="0" /><br />
<br /><div>I like making these for some reason. Maybe it's because I love the fit and I can make them in cotton, which is washable. Maybe it's because they just look so classy in their 50's way. I will admit that when I wear mine with my sandle wedges, I suddenly go into cleaning mode, complete with the happy 50's music playing in the back of my head. What's more, I tend to enjoy it. Scary, no? But I digress.</div><br />
<br /><div>I just like making these dresses. I made 4 of them before I posted the custom listing on etsy. And then someone wanted me to make one of these, with just a few modifications: she wanted it shorter, and with a bandeau style front. Shorter is very easy, of course, and it turned out that the bandeau front was fairly simple as well, once I made a mock-up. Essentially, I made the cups as usual, to provide a good backing to the bandeau. The bandeau was taken from a Simplicity pattern that had the top I was looking for. I had to fiddle with it a little bit to get the narrow hem (at the keyhole) in the right spot, and I cut each side of the bandeau about 1.5 inches longer than the pattern pieces so I would have enough fabric to work with. This is what I ended up with:</div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500993059603958866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinpNEQ-GeSehZfxwGP2hglmEGXJFgkzKuaPxI6q9eX1108oJkWeilDqPdWBvrN9ibZjVZizXcKa8bCd2QY8RxfEGibcsDqfXFbBPw8cfU14VrblKxbbta3K5t7f8AbshGLdnIL9KTIwiyK/s320/DSC00305.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500993067263094466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQqtgHFPkRoU7PQoKPliW4r_AwUhSf8QXEdV8cjlRY1EN0GIP2D4I1k2YIF5ZftRLVCfnOHzQS9ChC7cONSLzmMUf_Sx5m8W1lSFgBCObbYwBSMlL2D4IhJbd9Sl4ibpBmwTCyOE1AV0IJ/s320/DSC00306.JPG" border="0" /><br />
<br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500993069865858178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 138px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidnwLo4hEJ7EuS3-SohR8_YJlpb8WaaT1cSwguPV3W-Sk8rCbvAsjheSyAsBqxWifg1nRJlFKn_pkdbx6AW42cCzj8ZjD2vMae6-l4At1LI2DyjH_VSUhEN4I3z1wg44CFz2DwMnFcLFi-/s320/DSC00307s.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500993078821019554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyHYssnxg1WQwnUHbNlwY_bXJGTqefH8fqKYvEx_LX8ZOTme7Ns4NkGqzY-ZahWgrvbOKketTrF1_YIarSE0K63CiGP1f6sP1LutOE6ADCoeqEYUP_u17pJHr5_u05Xua5BSIN9_ihgmlX/s320/DSC00308.JPG" border="0" /><br />I like the skirt in the last photo here, because the light makes it look luminescent without being see-through. It's been packed up and put into the mail, now. I hope she likes it.<br /><br />
<br /><div></div></div></div></div></div></div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-35989420501084790702010-07-18T21:50:00.003-05:002010-07-18T22:19:37.567-05:00Gold! (trousers)Funny how just when I think about leaving town people all of a sudden want me to sew lots of things for them. The same thing happens at work on sunday at 4:15. Twice as many people come into the store as have been in there all day, wanting things. Ah well. Business is business, and plane tickets don't pay for themselves, so I might as well get down to it and use my time constructively.<br /><br />One commission I have for this week is a pair of gold trousers. ... When I consider the things running through my head that I want to eventually put in my closet, I can't find fault with it (we just got in this new suede-finish silk fabric into the store that I want to make into a dress that I saw in <em>The Duchess... </em>You know, that blue one with all the fox fur? Wouldn't that be pretty if one could find a good substitute for real fox?) Sorry, shiney thing moment. Where was I? Oh, yes. Gold pants. They are going ok. I'm about half done with them at this point. They are going to be made out of liquid gold fabric, which is this knit stuff with a moderate amount of crosswise stretch, but not so much stretch in the length. The stretch is a small problem. The shiney side also sticks to the throatplate and the foot, and I'm scared to iron the stuff at more than a 3. To make it easier to handle, I am mounting the fabric on regular polyester lining fabric before sewing the pieces together. This will make the resulting garment a little more heavy, but will also keep it from being see-thru, as this stuff is wont to do.<br /><br />So far, I have managed to put the pockets onto the fronts and install the zipper. That zipper is now sewn in seven ways to Sunday. If it falls out, there is something very wrong with the world. The size I need is between two sizes, so I'm making the larger size and plan to alter things down a little at the center back seam, and possibly through the pleats up front. All the pieces are serged finished so I won't have to worry about them going into the wash. I am leaving off the back pockets, partly because they will take some time to get right (I can do welt pockets. That doesn't mean I like doing welt pockets). Also, given the thin nature of the fabric, not having back pockets may help the garment hang better. And if I get things wrong, this fabric is very unforgiving and will leave holes if I rip out seams. Holes are bad.<br /><br />At this point I need to sew darts in the backs, sew the backs to the fronts, sew the crotch seam, put on the waistband and hem the pants and I should be done. I should have some time tomorrow to get this done. So, hopefully tomorrow I can give the lady her gold trousers. Should be a good thing.redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-68376333358568889342010-07-10T21:22:00.006-05:002010-07-10T22:27:10.066-05:00Notes on a 10 year old corset<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEsstW1SnE7V1W2JhH8vw_lyvV9rGKSBwBcfy4aEFs_gQclauz38r50bW7tsB9Mdw0Z6Rnx15qX6EnE-kxwjnyOd4YxpnJxyZqYTH-XwYRV3oZ0V7j56J7-Bj-mOzchzB00QEnCmQwiaoQ/s1600/DSC00274s.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492476351972472850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 312px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEsstW1SnE7V1W2JhH8vw_lyvV9rGKSBwBcfy4aEFs_gQclauz38r50bW7tsB9Mdw0Z6Rnx15qX6EnE-kxwjnyOd4YxpnJxyZqYTH-XwYRV3oZ0V7j56J7-Bj-mOzchzB00QEnCmQwiaoQ/s320/DSC00274s.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbXJEv0_WJQLtIHX_dQGY7CrY4gY-2yP057P1i0xS_RatHLuNhCJIkEwaCEhEt0exlhO-SkiHse1UcgVdnwb8LOYGaCUXYziAkPsO0kC9WQ5VQxjXlkIg2QznqtJ71Nmg4ObeKzkymkAsJ/s1600/DSC00275s.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492469851756343746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 274px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbXJEv0_WJQLtIHX_dQGY7CrY4gY-2yP057P1i0xS_RatHLuNhCJIkEwaCEhEt0exlhO-SkiHse1UcgVdnwb8LOYGaCUXYziAkPsO0kC9WQ5VQxjXlkIg2QznqtJ71Nmg4ObeKzkymkAsJ/s320/DSC00275s.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>About ten years ago I was in a costume making class in college. Since I was already pretty good at sewing, I had my pick of what I wanted to do for a sewing project, and I was getting interested in corsets at the time, so this was a pretty natural thing for me to pick. For a pattern, I copied the 19th century corset out of <em>The Little Corset Book </em>and did a couple of fittings with muslins before cutting it out. The base layer is cotton coutil from <a href="http://www.farthingales.on.ca/">http://www.farthingales.on.ca/</a> and the top layer is some sort of polyester satin that was in the stocks in the costume shop at the time. Sandy found me the black flat lace trim somewhere. The bones are white coated steel. I used commercially available single-fold bias tape to finish the top and bottom of the corset. I believe the grommets were also from Farthingales. I didn't follow any specific directions while making this. I made it 2 inches smaller than my waist, just as everyone tells you when you make one of these. It ends up being an underbust corset. I have worn it occasionally for the past ten years, for up to 8 hours at a time. It has been washed once, by hand. It is getting quite worn now, so I thought I'd post some pictures of where the worst of the wear points are.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492476363579012642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 313px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2PoTUyIsyXRisG2PdklzuSomGe73Sp_ZjmXzMg-GHyEYtl37MTQEF0PPoEo28oMKyeibVL2qN_rroGLNy8GCtK7dNvvkJYZ07c6RHbGykp-c10oVXauM73sFow6k6YNkc0UsFp7hmnr_A/s320/DSC00279s.jpg" border="0" /></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><p>It was not very long before the lace started to wear out and come off. You can see where it's worn out here on the front corner. The wear is especially bad on the knob side of the front:<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492476373933938498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQnQiCGqRoLlz8xT-UtVVYCteEbxqpAdR8PjTs8OAEnotZrOzUexVrmsL5jJznR_qbywjpxdr59k6pdZh4fPvDUMcbFkeuIQaBPsRQ9WYpjCEDBGYXrZ8RwOUYu1XYn-nYAcqluSnjqyCo/s320/DSC00282s.jpg" border="0" />The lace has almost totally flaked off in small particles all the way down the knob side. Not sure why it's particularly bad in that spot, but the deterioration is particularly noticable, and started within the first year. You can see the place at the top of the corset on that side where the flaking first started, where I reembroidered it back in with some regular sewing thread during a particularly long read-through of a play I was in at the time:</p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492479709520739010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL-pcld_joiVMX3vgh9NSX0tUMtkrJ_vcMGNnZP5rCKaP9JED9bZHmLuCgexRosJk1nEPY-blu5QgCc3sHAEz-BX3VFLptb3MJFrEZVGBKcfNRUHd4h8xykS_3i2fw-GFmvJU6SdAQS4dd/s320/DSC00284.JPG" border="0" /><br /><p>One reason people tell you to make a corset at least 2 inches smaller than your measurements is that the corset will stretch. This certainly happened with mine, and the strain has created stress points at the sides of the bone casings. This is the worst one:</p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492476364218669218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 270px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPoA0pPfcyJR68bV140UC4Ssk5G5FrxeEgm53QHOpZ8Jfk77yYRkvSaa4GWxAmO2ZlN7tRINtzrVSMkkwtxowJCs1_L_GsoLddLFOI7jboxcZxUmqtu8Olf8LoE0GG-jRoRKi9ADUD3Vlm/s320/DSC00280s.jpg" border="0" /></p>I have always had a particularly long lacing in it. After 10 years, the cord is still fairly intact, though not as shiney. There is some wear in the satin under the cord, and one or two of the grommets have started to pop:<br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492480074630984642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyQ5KnqUCC4qjNKW76nsnu8lgi2aB2b_qn8atAQ7z52o01cSPHodRcX4i6LISqOavgfqGCmilTfwIJeGjiE832toAeSZ5Ap0j0xiIzcrXaCJgKKgnWNycEJALuReaEH2Velef3hUcsEO67/s320/DSC00281.JPG" border="0" />When I made the corset, I assumed that a good way to finish the top was to bind the raw edge down to the inside with bias tape, so that's what I did. Unfortunately, that made the corset a little shorter than I wanted it. But, I sewed it down really securely, and it hasn't come out on its own in 10 years.<br /><br /><br /><p></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492479722945780322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFYVwSm09baWbLDLB5-Qfnw-AP8fFgsH39lBhK0NbGe-feFMxXeTK-JU4WedV6T8CGp8UUI-miX65lFqriijeVLPJ2AV-3laZV0xbB8YirDHQBFWrkNnOm4TtV9UiAIJmsHEM9hbuPpkf2/s320/DSC00286.JPG" border="0" /></div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492479729587465506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy1iqkKOtTKQSEOBOsXEEJtcBfYcnImTxkAtvgrjjpVoEYCiqk-HkZ_hianCVpvu5oAJVyfefdxsYgTJPFabX9WP6sS1SQepCOouz8LgnI8A6A7B5dg9ybW2g3tVs4dQyydv_Rlbqo8rgU/s320/DSC00287s.jpg" border="0" /></div><div>One drawback to binding the edge of the corset this way, and to using bones that were slightly too long, is that now a good number of them are popping out of the end of their casings:</div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492479737771902354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 251px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz2YXqidXLdS6flXS-GUf7ejSK_APAT1MQXcSQY_JAuUCgFB5NshF1PirpZDN1MP6OcBU2x-XjvgCYCQIg3ppy5GUj2NI7YEUCzqzdHo_cQxjisv8o1dq_oHk_oTujRjCYdBBJwLhKuMrn/s320/DSC00288s.jpg" border="0" />I did a slight alteration to it when I had my internship at the La Jolla Playhouse. Whenever I would wear it, the bottom of the front would flip up slightly. The ladies there suggested I put a dart in the front to help simulate a spoon busk. So that's what I did here. It does indeed keep the front from flipping up:<br /></div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492479718591131602" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 206px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ll7-x63KuyJd7LXeoL7AN2F9c-iB-IPxOKT42nxrEkpDilObL7eahj6r2k-fG0xlje14qQMDoRzn8GQ49wsdlYJ2nqY1Zuo4eUajiO0E4cBG2JPf-4u38UH2T89uQQMLjVDbUHC3STx2/s320/DSC00285s.jpg" border="0" /></div><div>So, I suppose the best advice I can give for people thinking of making corsets is to keep the top fabric ever so slightly larger than the coutil, bind the raw edges over the top with double fold bias tape, stitch a dart in the bottom of the front, and don't make the bones too long.<br /><p> </p></div></div></div></div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-37788898245433653482010-07-08T07:11:00.006-05:002010-07-08T08:25:15.624-05:00Something modern for a changeA friend of mine is attending a wedding in a month and I thought it might be fun to make her a dress. So, I perused the various pattern books at work and for some reason really liked one from Vogue (number 1104). It's from a modern designer (Anna Sui). It's not what I usually make or am drawn to, but I figured, what the heck, it's been a while since I've worked in chiffon, and I might just have all the materials I need for this anyway except the buttons. This is what I made:<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491508766500284386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLw6v5nFo6hBcEtN9Ss-cLAVZ6Wn5BlQR880kezpuynaSEcqqyZPtN9H8POEf5fHR5MaUZxTXA9MN4bhCougGU3b_IwqthmsRUTefCDF6-JyEbk0lnKf8taOI6Qk-aX_IhVGyvAuKuQRhg/s320/DSC00220.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491508773692040546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPchPK0ngGiamywt7eLxdIqSPuzYAFFZdrqCQewFw1r6asfP9XU_55ytXHEOGdGYAenBnFuxQNAor4SiFJitmz3uzrQFsYax6VILk9PSVVr2BcSfHip5qZPS6CdwW_V3J50TZD-A05uD4Z/s320/DSC00222.JPG" border="0" />The only change I made to the pattern was to slash it near the bottom and add 2 inches to the length, otherwise the bottom ruffles would just barely have met the kneecap. The shell is silk chiffon, the ruffles are crinkle silk chiffon, the lining is silk lining fabric, and the buttons are shell. I cut it to a pattern envelope size 10.<br /><br /><div><div></div><br /><div>Chiffon is difficult to work with, and I knew this beforehand. The twisted nature of the fibers means it tends to go everywhere on you, so I can't work with it when I'm hungry, tired or impatient, otherwise I'll somehow make the sewing machine suck it down into the bobbin housing where it will get covered with linty grease. This is especially true of the green I used for the ruffles, which is crinkle chiffon, and therefore twice as difficult to sew. The advantage of crinkle chiffon is that if the thing you make ends up being too big, you can point your steamer at it, and it will magically gather in all it's little pleats, making the item in question narrower.<br /><br />The crinkle chiffon was difficult to hem on the ruffle parts, because they are circle cut and therefore have a lot of bias cut sections which are most unruly. When I put the edges of them through the serger set on a narrow rolled hem, the machine quite neatly sheared the edge off and ignored the fact that I actually wanted it to wrap the edge in thread. Even doing the traditional narrow hem resulted in a very wild, curling hem that I didn't like. So I ended up ironing the hem up, zig-zag stitching it on the fold, and trimming away the excess.</div><br /><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491520826222668178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9mTlrLjrpxd1QrkcZJdDxELtpbRB-g98E299ztsCyMPSfVIQsFu-t5sHUQj8QU-PgXvgSkGVYOQtpMRRDcxHqqD6SbQT8gastPm23BrSmYNsXc9lQ3QvBOV5-QrO-lBRrs5iiyKhCCEbV/s320/DSC00227.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491520832753098898" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixSAYi680oCVUxrlzsHYGf9vZli1HmAiF7RMmWsVS1P68IukE1bZumAGOXtByV0EES4-f0B6CMXK4-on7JilL9M7hyU2XyZ3Sldf6vk_0GhSbFPKe-fwsH_VVZG1-47LxgnkMAS08aJaqg/s320/DSC00229.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /></div>The belt came out fairly well on this. I was able to serge off the long strait edges to finish them. The ends I had to narrow hem the regular way because they were cut on the bias.<br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491522165826537586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ7jYM5zopt1_HVBDuKpHmC6iVI4NPk-skaqccBaGljZEZkQ6y8VbYFNgdT2uQ8ndlUEpG4C8eLeq4Sx58mtSFNWeDsexqIeKnoY6h-hgDNYgbplxIhwUEv3kmawjSJ49f98Ya_lTnqCZh/s320/DSC00228.JPG" border="0" />Overall, I don't think this was my best piece of work, and the materials were a pain in the rear to try to get them to do what I wanted. It took me a long time to get it made up reasonably well. It got some fabric out of my stash. I don't know if I or my friend will ever really want to wear it. It is, however, wearable on the right person I imagine that person to be tall with long legs and stunning hair.<br /><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491522172257457762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj16ObA4lFxj3oJIS_hUXN1XEVWC4QNHbnw_rsz1LqL6UrvkHFwZ8RCNgzMUANgtqycROGmpDIQf-1CCChNWimjCUGfiA8v7F97k_IxUB1fYWbxFezaQZWcR72_kDpSh9MmXg3CNeRuRq6Q/s320/DSC00223.JPG" border="0" /><br />Thanks for modelling the dress, Froggi!<br /><div></div></div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-20231679226046683772010-07-02T21:39:00.003-05:002010-07-19T16:16:06.763-05:00Gwissgoedd...just watching Dr. Who. The dvd of the last few episodes of season 4, David Tennant's video diary. Saw it on an umbrella. Apparently it's Welsh for "costumes". Hope I spelled it right, no offense to anyone who takes pride in anything Welsh.redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-70118624972397595462010-06-23T22:04:00.003-05:002010-06-24T19:42:02.631-05:00Elizabethan gown simplicity #8881: Ren faire notesWell, I went ahead and did it. I actually wore this gown to the St. Louis Renaissance faire in late May. Yup, the whole thing, for the whole day. Geoff and I got into the parking lot at about 10:15. I was wearing an alternate outfit, chemise underneath, with the dress in the back seat, since the farthingale is very difficult to sit in when riding in a car. We put up the sun shade and I started getting dressed in the car. I will say that having the chemise on in the first place made things easier, since it's a lot more modest than some modern garments. Once people parked cars on either side of us and went into the faire I didn't have people looking into the car. It took about 10 minutes to get into the whole thing. I had a little bag to hang on my wrist with a few of my things in it. It is also worth noting that the week before I had sewn a guard to the hem of both the overskirt and underskirt. This guard in Elizabethan times was a strip of fabric sewn to the hem of the garment to keep them from getting soiled; those pictured on dresses in <em>The Tudor Tailor</em> are made from black velvet. My question was, if velvet was so expensive, why would you make it into long strips to keep your dress out of the mud? I wasn't sure, and I didn't want to spring for a couple of yards of black velvet if I was going to trail it in the mud, so I took apart an ugly 80's dress made of black corduroy and tore the skirt into strips 4 1/2 inches wide. I turned down one long edge and serged the other edge, then encased the bottom of the hem in it, thread-basting it down with long stitches in black thread. I figure this was at least accurate to the spirit of the times when they would recycle old garments into new ones. To protect the underarms of the bodice I put in disposable pit guards-- not historically accurate, but perfectly sensible, given the 89 degree weather. Also historically anachronistic but absolutely necessary was the blue Nalgene bottle filled with water. And my deck-stain spotted running shoes, but you couldn't see them unless I actually lifted my skirt.<br /><br />I wore the dress the whole day, from the time we went through the front gate to about 6:00 in the evening when the faire wound down. We walked around most of the day, saw a few shows, ate a few snacks, and drank the entire contents of the Nalgene bottle at least twice. Yes, it was very hot. During the midday joust I did have sweat pouring down my face and dripping into my socks. Any sweat collecting beneath the bodice didn't really have anywhere to go except into the chemise, which is of course what it's there for. The bodice and sleeves felt a bit like a sausage casing. The hoops of the farthingale allow for some airflow if you can pick the edge of the skirt up to a cool breeze. The trick with all this sweating is, of course, to keep drinking water. However, you can't drink so much as to make you want to go to the privy, because the dress won't fit comfortably through the door. This is a very fine balancing act.<br /><br /><br /><br />Socially, one of the first thing you notice if you go to a ren faire in a dress this big is that people start to assume that you are one of the actors. As such, vendors don't tend to try to sell you things, and lots of people want to take your picture. Geoff was in t-shirt and jeans, wearing his Aussie hat and carrying his camera. He didn't get approached much by anybody. Not quite sure why. If asked what I was, I said I was simply a traveller from far away. This evolved into a noble lady from Alsace-Lorraine by the end of the day-- the ren faire has a French theme. It wouldn't do to call myself Queen Elizabeth (even though some people thought that's what I was trying to do), and since I was not on the court I couldn't say I was from anywhere particularly close to Paris. Not having done any historical research into personages or political climates for the early part of 16th century France I kinda had to wing it. When people asked about my ruff, I said I had travelled to Holland. According to Janet Arnold's book, the first starched ruffs were recorded in England as early as 1546, having travelled there from the low countries. I'm assuming that ruffs were being made in Holland for years before that, but I'm not sure when they would have come into France. My gown was lighter in color than those of the court; darker colors denoted wealthier people because darker colors are harder to obtain, especially vibrant reds and true purples. I was, however, the only one using very fine linen and smooth silk. I noted some pearls on other costumes, some with quite a lot of pearls.<br /><br />Since it hadn't rained for 3 or 4 days, the faire grounds were dry but not full of powdery dust. Some dust did get on the hem, but the guard seemed to keep it from rising far up the skirt. It was as if the corduroy sucked the dust into itself, so that when I came home and took the guard off to wash it, there was barely any sign of a dusty ring above the guard. It was a sunny day, so I wore a lot of sunscreen on my face. I figured that would leave a bit of a greasy ring on the partelette, but I think I got it scrubbed and washed before it set in. Since the partelette was between my skin and the neck ruff there was no visible soil on the ruff, so I didn't bother cleaning it. The sweat guards under the arms seem to have done their jobs admirably, because there were no sweat stains or odor at the end of the day. The chemise also seems to have done it's job well. It was interesting to note that when I took the gown off at the end of the day the chemise felt dry, despite all the sweating I had done. Linen is a remarkable fiber that will absorb up to three times its weight in water. I knew that when I made the chemise, but I didn't fully realize that would be the effect; I thought the fabric would feel moist. <br /><br />So: velvet-types suck up dirt and keep it from going anywhere, and linen sucks up sweat and keeps it from going into more delicate fabrics. <br /><br />The farthingale did give me some trouble getting through doors, and I didn't attempt to go into the privy with it, but it is possible to walk around in one for extended periods. When walking uphill I pushed the hoops forward from the back so I wouldn't step on the skirt. It's hard to get a good grip on the things while still appearing graceful because of the number of layers. Sometimes it's necessary, though, like when you try to sit down. The trick is to pull up a couple of hoops and sit on the edge of the chair, on the hoops you pulled up so your skirt doesn't flip up. This is rather uncomfortable for long periods of time. <br /><br />Generally the response was positive. There were several nice people who took pity on me and fanned me. One nice lady helped tie my shoe (it's very hard to bend over in a steel-boned bodice). Even the court was nice and invited me to sit in the booth with them for the final joust. People were just generally interested and liked to strike up conversations about this big ginormous dress. If I do this again next year, I'll probably bring a recently aquired metal drinking cup, to get the Nalgene bottle out of the picture. I'll see if I can get ahold of some comfortable footwear that doesn't look too out of place. And I'd like to see if I can make Geoff an outfit he'll actually enjoy wearing. This will be challenging; he doesn't like to be too hot. Well, it bears thinking anyway.redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-2425628862820188332010-04-25T14:42:00.004-05:002010-04-25T14:51:28.231-05:00Now on Etsy!!<div><div>Hi! I now have an etsy store:</div><br /><div><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/thebluesilkrose">www.etsy.com/shop/thebluesilkrose</a><br /><br /></div><div>I am slowly but surely taking pictures of all the things I have made and want to sell. Once that gets done I'm going to try to get some of those things made that I always wanted to make but don't have a good excuse to wear and probably post them there. So far I have some girls' dresses and some simpler costume items up, as well as some of the Kinsale cloaks I've made. Here's a picture of one:</div><br /><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464163868034191474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHaJ1CoOY_CgRTZpZEKzMcz9u9_lAJyDdBi8FvnByPP4lWHgy2Fe4eF0Mt_OCF6Quor8L8ktxtCV1JE62fq88u-XSAlsGxoHDyachjUOVQdBjeFuUdtBRm5r-jyqKGK8o6uIS5-PwDzku3/s320/DSC00152.JPG" border="0" /></div></div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464163863949253234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2UapeQsAUU7U6tD1Dc4GC8CKFSmeWUVDOOl3hDkgYFmVVpL7I80b9WbBl5NyxWqz3DK62o_unkUw4Lv-pkc0v0-KUdiSFdWd11r5NkR44Buh1grgAoAmm3u34IkwOdIkdSr5bG0pDIp5A/s320/DSC00151.JPG" border="0" />As per the terms of agreement, this item is on sale through etsy only. Contact me there if you're interested. Please come browse! Etsy is a great concept, and there are a lot of people there doing some fantastic stuff!redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8812447014574740729.post-28116152768571911332010-03-31T20:55:00.003-05:002010-03-31T21:21:06.152-05:00The finished outfit...<div><br /><div>Here it is:<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454983376425841762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQa8b86prePQpqHqhDR2x8qAKa9YgKA4VRAEy2_QUkL8uYOylcKk6Zmp_E54zIyn-wMMD7055TGr2xe-65TTF2VZiglmnEqQI9ftHDldI-rfYpO01WkAJR-73G8U1I-Z3cM-7DqT1OVIZ0/s320/DSC00101.JPG" border="0" /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtoSkYBCDVjfKCk18J6c4vyv4LpfwfGk4psi6mXKNGrlGv19FnnxTFG3t0zomf4rst3Djl_Gx1q7UjFQnMshTWhxK0nIC_6aS_ij6UR_eFq-UWtwIDfvQPehRQvF2ZzMIM_roKcWjXnnIr/s1600/DSC00112.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454983401936834002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtoSkYBCDVjfKCk18J6c4vyv4LpfwfGk4psi6mXKNGrlGv19FnnxTFG3t0zomf4rst3Djl_Gx1q7UjFQnMshTWhxK0nIC_6aS_ij6UR_eFq-UWtwIDfvQPehRQvF2ZzMIM_roKcWjXnnIr/s320/DSC00112.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBjk7h-GyTTQxF234YrFex7e3gAGCmDT0X66daabkgGjZvonHexcCzObSQMv7OzuFPNUSeWfebY1IIWFCYbTPIy9fQQiNG7nIZ_ptT7o4tmjkagL0OncUzPkbGU7e4asoH537TXXQTVaA/s1600/DSC00103.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454983391947832034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBjk7h-GyTTQxF234YrFex7e3gAGCmDT0X66daabkgGjZvonHexcCzObSQMv7OzuFPNUSeWfebY1IIWFCYbTPIy9fQQiNG7nIZ_ptT7o4tmjkagL0OncUzPkbGU7e4asoH537TXXQTVaA/s320/DSC00103.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcNcgHbaZRnEu11uLW4-Sv4urgOZX38adBAAavEhn2r1FKwT5J7Ox8ObbscvlvGlNX6Hv3VrH3xRy4jwOPaYj5be6_rcd-1D3XPkHV76CeEKwF3z5xiCCLnDUgTKjOcldpPjmW5oN6f12z/s1600/DSC00102.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454983388152241506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcNcgHbaZRnEu11uLW4-Sv4urgOZX38adBAAavEhn2r1FKwT5J7Ox8ObbscvlvGlNX6Hv3VrH3xRy4jwOPaYj5be6_rcd-1D3XPkHV76CeEKwF3z5xiCCLnDUgTKjOcldpPjmW5oN6f12z/s320/DSC00102.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />The French hood is from a current Simplicity pattern, made almost according to the pattern instructions, but I did make a built in hair bag out of handkercheif linen and attached it to the veil before I sewed them both into the hood. You can probably see the bottom hoops out of place on the one side of the skirt, probably because the poor things have been hung up for so long and are a little out of shape. A little spray with some water and some time on the floor overnight should clear that up. The neck ruff looks best in the top and bottom pictures; after a few pictures I took the ruff off to see if I could help Geoff with the camera and put it back on wonkey. Overall I am pleased with it; wearing it even for a few minutes did make me feel a bit more like I could step back into that time. And yes, the ruff and hood is what does it. You look down at the skirt and see the perfect starched sets of this archaic bit of clothing in your field of vision and feel like you could be in court. Just a little.</div><div> </div><div>A side note, this is a picture that Geoff took of me while I was still squirming to get into the bodice. It shows how I quickly put up my hair, winding it in two ropes around the back of my head. This was quick and easy to put in with some bobby pins. A more period accurate and probably a more solid way of doing it is outlined in <em>The Tudor Tailor</em>. <br /><br /><br /><div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5454984026816323266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFKsPZXzlSo5T8VzBSEa10EfGSPS2s2Qt1cHofBRTeEasu-YiN9heEPs9dzXEvyKkhw0bvoSHvNOexW8pPXgEl_wHRaPdWSbug9msoILpHGfq4x7cbqx39t6ddvrexhpnrj4a7csCWc7Zb/s320/DSC00098.JPG" border="0" /><br />I don't know how many hours I spent on this dress. It's probably somewhere in the range of 150-200 hours, with all the beading and hand sewing I did. I don't even know what I'm going to do with this thing now that it's all together. I have contemplated selling it on etsy, but would anyone buy such a thing? Especially given the price tag I'd have to put on it to get a decent wage from it. I shall have to ponder this some more.<br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div>redsilkthreadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15266090284545368742noreply@blogger.com1