Tuesday 7 December 2010

copying a Regency reticule, and a pink bonnet

I based my reticule on one that was for sale on www.vintagetextiles.com a couple of years ago. Though that one had embroidery on the sides.  I had intended to pipe the edges of the front & back, gather the side and sew the front & back onto the gathered strip.  Except that I forgot this when making it. So I gathered the sides on the piping and stitched that onto the front, and then the back.  I'm going to find a light weight cord to use for the draw strings as the ribbon is pretty but seems out of scale. The original had white cord not ribbon.


And having already made a red linen bonnet, I was less than impressed with working with silk. I'd thought to cut wider seam allowances than directed but crown section was trying to fray to nothingness in a couple of places.  There's more hand sewing than I really like, but I have to admit that it was worth it.   I put it on a wig on my wig stand  (easier to frame the shot).

Wednesday 1 September 2010

Mrs Miggins you shall go to the Ball



It was so much fun being the cracked Mrs Miggins and I'm so happy with how this costume turned out.  The only thing I'd like to change is the stays I wear underneath.   With my pink cable tie version, I still get a shelf for cameras, but the bodice is curved not flat. I don't think it's possible to get completely flat, unless my chest is under my neck. Though I'd like to get it closer to period.

Though I do work as a pillow

Friday 27 August 2010

ribbon trim switcheroo

yes I'm crazy enough to pull off all the ribbon trim & replace it with the gingham. Although it's a quarter inch too narrow it's a much better tonal match.

Cos I only had 6.5m I didn't run the trim down the open robe skirts.  And I had just enough to do the bows on the sleeve fronts & centre front. 

And Baby (my vintage bernina) had the timing go whack tonight. Thank goodness for Back Up Baby.  I used my even older but new to me Bernina 125 Jubilae with great success. Apart from filling a bobbin - I coudn't get that right.  :rollseyes:  You know you've used a great many machines when you can just thread it without opening the manual. I need daylight to read the tiny manual on bobbin winding.

oopsie, time to pack!

dithering on the ribbon

Today I'm wondering if I should use the gingham ribbon after all.  Though what I'd do is use the gathering foot and not use it down the skirt.  Hmm I have time to change it as the existing ribbon is only tacked in place. yayy for period techniques

on track for the trip

My plan was to have everything done before I got on the plane & it shall be so :-D   In fact I'm now contemplating sewing a few of the eyelets on my stays, cos everything else is done and why not.  I'm not going to get them all done, but it'll be nice to make a start.  It feels a little odd to not be sewing frantically to the last second.

left over from Tuesday night~  edge stitch bodice onto skirt  pinned but not stitched yet.sleevil. . .  the toile worked out well, so the sleeve proper & lining are cut out ready to sew tomorrow night  I was so paranoid about the biceps fitting that it's too loose at teh elbow. :rollseyes:  I'll fix it for next time but at this point done is betterer

Wednesday night
~ measure ribbon lengths ready to gather   Not happy with the ribbon colouring, and there woudn't have been enough of the small gingham at 6.5m  I used every bit of the 10 metres adn didn't have any left over for bows on the elbows or bodice front.  At the point I had to start gathering ribbon I was over it already.  I almost decided not to add the ribbon, cos I hates the gathering.  Yes I keep picking stuff with gathers, but at least I can bleat about it.  Just as I don't like ironing, but the clothes I prefer to wear need it, so I just suck it in & iron.  With gathers I feel entitled to suck it in & bleat as I gather. 

~ gather & attach ribbon trim to dress & cap.  Decided to not draw up the gathers on the cap until I get to Adelaide.  It'll be easier to press flat, assuming it gets a litle crushed in the suitcase
~ stitch wig modification!

Wednesday 25 August 2010

non linear progress

well it's not a linear thing, but progress is being made

leftover from Monday~ assemble bodice front & back
~ pleat skirt waist
~ cut out new toile of sleeves

Tuesday nightgo home via the goth shop in Enmore to collect the white foundation & ordered & paid for on Friday.  this resulted with me getting home much later than I anticipated.
~ stitch cap

~  edge stitch bodice onto skirt (the pattern has it hand sewn but that ain't happening!)  pinned but not stitched yet.
~  sleevil.  I can tell the sleeves will be evil, not just cos my arms are beefy but i think the sleeve head is too shallow.  I'll see what happens with the toile. I've allowed an entire evening for the sleeves. .  the toile worked out well, so the sleeve proper & lining are cut out ready to sew tomorrow night

Wednesday night
~ measure ribbon lengths ready to gather
~ locate the grey shoes for Miggsy in the Grotto  ugh these don't work. they're not comfortable & need the heels recapped.  I'll use my black Enda Mode or my off-white late 1790s
.......   Brought forward from Thursday night
~ gather & attach ribbon trim to dress & cap.

Tuesday 24 August 2010

Monday night sewing plan

Tonight's sewing plan went as follows

tonight (Monday)~ assemble bodice front & back (including neck binding if I have bias tape in my stash)
~ seam skirt & press hem, front facings
~ pleat skirt waist
~ cut out oval mop cap & press hem.
~ cut out new toile of sleeves

I still need to stitch down the bias tape to provide a casing for a cord to draw up the bodice if needed - that neckline is stupendously low!  Vast Acreage of Boobage displayed under fichu.  And I want to do that in the flat, so I'll sew the side seams after that.  I've bagged the rest, but want to do the side seams as adjustable.  dunno why, but meh, impulse is a funny thing and my gut may be telling me for a reason that will later become obvious,

I'll pleat the skirt waist tomorrow. My friend can't make it out on Wednesday night so I do have all the nights free this week.  Phew.

This week's sewing plan

so far I'm not behind in my sewing plans, possibly cos I have a realistic expectation of what I can achieve and still keep my sanity.  the only thing I haven't done is allow for gatherin the ribbon trim. I expect that I'll be hand basting it in place, rather than machine stitching it. Mainly cos I may change it at a later date and all that unpicking would put me off. 

I managed to comfortably get the tartan dress out of 3m of 150cm, which means that I have 5m of fabric left over. So now I have the pressure of what else I could make in the future. 

Anyways, my sewing plan is

tonight (Monday)~ assemble bodice front & back (including neck binding if I have bias tape in my stash)
~ seam skirt & press hem, front facings
~ pleat skirt waist
~ cut out oval mop cap & press hem.
~ cut out new toile of sleeves

Tuesday night~  go home via the goth shop in Enmore to collect the white foundation & ordered & paid for on Friday.
~ stitch cap
~  edge stitch bodice onto skirt (the pattern has it hand sewn but that ain't happening!)
~  sleevil.  I can tell the sleeves will be evil, not just cos my arms are beefy but i think the sleeve head is too shallow.  I'll see what happens with the toile. I've allowed an entire evening for the sleeves. (the cap should take 10 minutes if I'l being lazy & the skirt the same.

Wednesday night
~ am seeing a movie with a friend, but it's looking like she wont be able to. If so I'll bring Thursday night's plans forward.
~ measure ribbon lengths ready to gather
~ find navy dress in towering tubs in the Grotto
~ locate the grey shoes for Miggsy in the Grotto

Thursday night~ gather & attach ribbon trim to dress & cap.
~ pack

hmm, I need to get a cheapo suitcase from Paddy's market on Thursday  AND write a packing list before then or I'll forget something essential (like pins to pin the bodice closed!)

Saturday 21 August 2010

how much rump is enough?

Last night I got the linen skirt pinned to the waist tapes and it's quite heavy, so I'm not sure if adding the ruffle will be a good idea - except I now have 5.4m of ruffle ready to be ruffley on something.

The extra voile for the voile overpetticoat is preshrunk but not yet stitched.  I forgot to hang it out to dryt til it was bed-time. {foreheaddesk}  

The false rump is quite frankly giganti-normous.  It's almost toooo big. But I was reassured me by text message that it couldn't be too big! 



Anyhoo the bodice fits remarkably well, I can see that there will be sleevil cos of my hefty irish washerwoman arms.  And the sleeves are a couple of inches too long, when the bodice is the right length.  Go figure.

Once I had the stays, false rumpo, skirt and toile on I was relieved that it's all going to work out.   thankfully I remembered the draw the line for the zone front onto it while it was on.

I can also see how cutting the front on the bias really makes a difference to how it fits (ie betterer) cos mine is cut on the straight of grain, and while it could be better but I'm not going to fuss over it.  What I might do is cut the lining & white section of the zone on the bias & only have the tartan on the straight - Miggsy's has the tartan that way.

So tonight I'm
~ stitching the linen waist tapes (pinned only at this point)
~ join up & sew gathering stitches of the voile skirt ruffle
~ pinning (& sew if time) waist of the voile skirt
~ pin the voile ruffle in place
~ cut out the cap
~ cutting out tartan bodice (not yet the sleeves) and skirt.







Oh, and Lincraft only had 6.5m of the gingham ribbon.  It ended up being free cos the young guy was messing up the till & tried to charge me $56 for 1.5m of 7.99 voile, 1x packet cotton tape at $6 and 6.5m of $2 ribbon.  He had to get help to figure out what he'd done wrong and this morning I noticed that in fixing the overcharge problem he hadn't charged me for the ribbon.

Friday 20 August 2010

unsure if a chemise will need to be sewn

Last night I realised that I couldn't put my hands on my chemise, so I might have to make a new one.  At least I have some stash that will work for that - it doesn't match the top petticoat voile so I couldn't use it for the last bit of ruffle.

I also decided that I'll add the ruffle to the linen skirt last, as I'm doing that ruffle only cos I want to use it for historical wear, not cos the Miggins needs one. The voile skirt needs a ruffle for sure.

tonight I need to finish pinning the skirts to the waist tapes, lace myself into my stays and see that their hem is level.  I'll also pin fit the mock up of the bodice, it looked good over my victorian corset - which I had to put on cos I was getting a muscle spasm in my back from sewing.

Tonight:

~ buy more voile & preshrink it.  buy gingham ribbon to replace the checkered stuff I dislike.

~ finish pinning skirts to waist tapes

~ make sure they're level before stitching

~ pin fit bodice and cut out if still sane.

Thursday 19 August 2010

top-petticoat fabric shortage

Last night I discovered that I didn't quite have enough fabric for the ruffle on the voile skirt.  I had a 10cm piece (4") left when I needed a 30cm/12" to complete the hem ruffle.  Botheration.  I'm not sure if I should get it after work tonight or wait until tomorrow.

{thinks}

I'll wait until tomorrow.  I've got plenty to get on with tonight so it won't hold me back too much.

Monday 16 August 2010

Miggins wears a zone front

I'm not going to lace the front but pin or hook & eye it. Don't want to sew eyelets!  I don't think the diagonal goes to the side, but a little to the front of it.   Not sure that I'll machine embroider on the fichu. 



I've also started working on the wig, the one I got from Queensland was too narrow around the skull - my shetland pony bone structure, and because the construction method of this wig means it wasn't going to be easy to make it wide enough to bring down to cover my hairline.   I'd hauled my Nikki Webster costume wig with me in case it would help.  It has been stored for 8 years just in case of a second outing, and it's getting one. It fits easily on my head despite based on a similar mesh style, the rows of weft are not only more generous (ie more of them) but also not tightly laid on it.  What i did was cut the ringlet section off  the poompfy wig and place it on the same spot on the Nikki wig.  The bottom rows of Nikki are underneath the ringlet row, but dont show through the ringlets and they bulk out the back of the hair and the shades of blonde aren't so different that it's blindingly obvious. 

Oh and I'm not doing the travelling mad Miggsy, so no need to find a sporran or trim a hat.  The basket would be useful, but not when it comes to packing for my flight down.

sewing bee progress

I got my false rump stuffed & finished off, and the measurements over it from waist to floor at centre back, side and centre front. My 2 pieces of stash white self stripe linen are perfect. The 2.5m is long enough for the front & back - I don't need a deep hem as there's going to be a 10" or 25cm ruffle at the hem.  The 1.5m is ideal to cut the ruffles with around half a metre left over for something.  Maybe line the bodice of a regency dress or spencer. 

I'm creating the linen under petticoat to use as a proper petticoat aka skirt for 1780s dresses.  So it's not a quick n dirty version that I'm making.

This screencap doesn't show clearly that the top layer is voile or sheerish, but it is.  It's got a ruffle too



I thread pulled the linen to make sure both lengths were straight and even.  The side seams are pinned and ready to machine.  I'd have cut out the voile top skirt except that I forgot to take the right fabric with me. I'd picked up another piece of white fabric that was near the voile. 

I'm going to have to buy lace for the sleeves online, as my local Spottie had nothing, and I'm sure Lincraft didn't either.  I didn't actually go to lincraft, but I should just suck it in & buy it through eBay seeing as there's more available in the type of lace I'm looking for

I also got a good approximation of the size I need for the cap, and need to remember to make it oval as it's much longer at the sides than front & back.

sewing bee progress

I got my false rump stuffed & finished off, and the measurements over it from waist to floor at centre back, side and centre front. My 2 pieces of stash white self stripe linen are perfect. The 2.5m is long enough for the front & back - I don't need a deep hem as there's going to be a 10" or 25cm ruffle at the hem.  The 1.5m is ideal to cut the ruffles with around half a metre left over for something.  Maybe line the bodice of a regency dress or spencer. 

I'm creating the linen under petticoat to use as a proper petticoat aka skirt for 1780s dresses.  So it's not a quick n dirty version that I'm making.

This screencap doesn't show clearly that the top layer is voile or sheerish, but it is.  It's got a ruffle too



I thread pulled the linen to make sure both lengths were straight and even.  The side seams are pinned and ready to machine.  I'd have cut out the voile top skirt except that I forgot to take the right fabric with me. I'd picked up another piece of white fabric that was near the voile. 

I'm going to have to buy lace for the sleeves online, as my local Spottie had nothing, and I'm sure Lincraft didn't either.  I didn't actually go to lincraft, but I should just suck it in & buy it through eBay seeing as there's more available in the type of lace I'm looking for

I also got a good approximation of the size I need for the cap, and need to remember to make it oval as it's much longer at the sides than front & back.

Saturday 31 July 2010

Fabric in hand for Mrs Miggins

I left work early today so that I could fetch my fabric parcel from the post office. I'm soooooo happy, cos even though it's a smaller scale print it's faaaaabulous for La Miggins.  It's 150cm wide, so I'll have more than enough.



I'm hoping to preshrink fabric for my rump & hip roll - not sure which one I'll want (or both?)   need to find ribbon to trim it next.

Sunday 27 June 2010

Inara costume for 2010 Can't Stop the Serenity charity screening

I have to applaud the organisers of the 2010 Can't Stop The Serenity.  The venue was the right size and it was so much fun to watch Dr Horrible as well as Serenity.  I'm so glad that it was finally a year I could get to it.

Here's Ripley and I ... actually it's the of the best photo I've got of my Inara Serra costume despite wearing it 3 or 4 times before.
.

Monday 21 June 2010

Ma Dola, from the movie Laputa

It was great to make a costume from the movie Laputa ... there aren't many characters in anime that are suited to a woman no longer in the bloom of youth. Thankfully I really like Ma Dola - she's cranky, bossy but with a kind heart (at least some of the time). One of the lines that most amuses me in the movie is when her sons wonder if all women grow up to be like their mother. This horrifies them!