short gown finished, only minor updates needed

eed to make a couple of tweaks to it, but yay finished and from stash.

The sleeves are too tight as my alteration wasn't too scientific. Thankfully the wool has enough inherent ease in the weave to get them on. I've also got enough fabric scraps to add a gusset, and I suspect it will be approx the same amount as the bodice needed.  So not too awful, just annoying.  Also I couldn't find my quarter inch tape to use as the under bust drawstring so I used knitting cotton which doesn't have enough guts to risk tying tightly.  So I'll unpick the basting stitches for the cord, and replace it with cotton tape.  I'll then whipstitch the seam allowance to the upper bodice so it sits properly


I'm also thinking of being naughty and order 2.5 yards of lightweight wool in yellow from FFC. It's away from my face and a fashionable colour for the time.

the shortgown glitches overcome

Very late last night I realised that I had cut the bodice lining wrong (ie too narrow) and not the wool outer layer wrong (I sewed a tuck it it to make it fit the lining).

This is what happens when you fold up and don't pin or tape in place adjustments to the pattern pieces.  Tonight I'm going to unpick the waist seam and the underarm tuck to let that out, and whipstitch a piece of lining fabric into place. Moar hand sewing {shudder}.  There's a couple of pleats at the side of the skirt section, one of which can be let out so the skirt to fit the correct bodice width.


If I don't do it, the front will cut into my arms pretty badly

Trying to be too quick and not taking necessary steps then is result in needing more time to fix it than doing it right in the first place.  I ignored my inner voice and am re-learning the lesson.

I'm so not getting my green skirt done this time so am being lent a skirt - it helps to be short!  A taller person's waist skirt will be long enough if I put it at underbust level.  I'm taking the square of cotton plaid to hem if I need anything to do tomorrow.


The first thing I did sewing related when I got home was slash the lining and unpick the bodice tuck and the pleated skirt for an inch or so.


And then I whip stitched a strip over the top of the gap. The wool is lightly caught in most of the stitches, but that's ok, this is working close and piecing is period.  This is what it looked like before I trimmed the strip to length


I got the sleeves inserted neatly and tidily ... which was a warning sign. Sleevil lurks everywhere. They're a bit snug - proof that I should have mocked up my alterations, but meh. Working class, sleeves can be a bit tight so long as they go on. The wool is very malleable so it's ok.

I've got under half the hem to whip stitch down, and a tiny corner of the sleeve (where it's almost a corner).

Tonight I made regency lemonade, and some pork and leek pasties for my lunch tomorrow. I used 4 sheets of rice paper roll wrappers as my gluten free pastry wasn't good after more than a year in my freezer.  Yikes, that's $20 of pastry I couldn't even try to use for half that year (dang gall bladder).  Oh well I'll get less next time!

reverse stashbusting

Last night I  popped down to the laundry to grap a top for work today, & thought I'd have a quick squizz in the tub o' regency goodness for the piece of grey linen. It's not enough to make a short gown, as it's only 135cm wide (pesky beefy arms of mine).  Anyhoo, I thought it'd be good for a working class regency apron - trying to use stash this year as much as inhumanly possible.

Instead of finding the grey linen in there, I found the lightweight blue stripey crepe-ish wool that I thought had been carted to the charity shop last year. So freud was looking out for me. It's not scritchy and that extra width at 150cm makes it enough to squeak out a short gown.  I may even need to piece a sleeve, but I'll get it.  I'm thinking lightweight wool's a good enough idea as Winterfest and Redcoats & Convicts both happen in winter.

Concession needs to be made for the fact I'm a bit of a freak though.  Last Thursday I noticed that I was the only person at the bus stop (or indeed on the bus) who had bare legs, short sleeves, no scarf, cardigan, jacket or coat. And I wasn't cold. Not even crispy on the outside and toasty inside.  I was pleasantly comfortable. I still am this week and it's not warming up.

fending off donation-remorse

About 13 years ago I got a couple of pieces of fabric from a charity shop near my workplace at North Sydney.   Last year I decided I couldn't justify keeping one of them as I didn't think I'd ever have a use for it.  So I think it went to the Fabric Cave in a huge bag of other stuff.

Today I thought, hmmm if I can't find the pink/green print, what else in my stash can be sacrificed to the working class regency. Oooh, goes my brain. That blue with white stripe lightweight wool. Winter is coming and both events are outdoors, so I'd be cosy if there's a cold wind.

Only to discover that in my spreadsheet it's tagged for donation. Huh, wonder if it really and truly did get sent.  My have to fossick for it.

If it did, I'm refusing to regret it. It's only blind chance that let me think of a use for it well over 6 months afterwards.

pragmatically not starting any new projects

I've another 2 months to wait until my gallbladder surgery, and I'm trying to accept my limitations as it has severely impacted my life.

I'm being a bit fatalistic about not expecting to get anything finished, nor much progress on anything until afterwards.  {shrugs} it is what it is.  And I've got enough part started projects that I don't want to start any more.

What I can do is plot & scheme for when I bounce back.   Sydney Supanova is 21-23 June, which I'm anticipating to be a month after surgery, hopefully time to make a costume out of stash.  I've a hankering for a Catelyn Stark (Game of Thrones) so I have started trawling for pics ... hard to find any of the skirt section of her dress ... not her dark green coat but the V-neck, panelled dress underneath.  The bodice front has 4 panels on each side, and I'm guessing the back is the same, ie 16 panels on the dress.  I may simply dye the 2 pieces of pale blue linen I have in my stash. 

Winterfest is the following weekend, and I'll wear my regency kit as I'll be with my napoleonic re-enactment group.

Mid July is the Redcoats & Convicts day at Hyde Park Barracks, so I may finish my open robe for that.  Or a more downmarket ensemble as I'm with sailors.   As I'm not actually portraying a sailor I need a role that allows me to be hanging around with Nelson's sailors.  So after perusing the 1811 Dictionary of Vulgar Tongue I'm going to be a bum boater.  Which sounds hideous, but in fact is:

  "BUM BOAT. A boat attending ships to retail greens,
     drams, &c. commonly rowed by a woman; a kind of
     floating chandler's shop"

I love my greens, and a dram or two so it's a great match personally.

Further away, end of September is a subscription ball to celebrate the 1813 crossing of the Blue Mountains ...  it really was a trip to the unknown for them. They thought there was a huge inland sea ... unlike the reality of huge amounts of desert in the middle of the continent.  So I'm going to look for 1813 ball gowns for some inspiration for a new ballgown.

Redcoats & Convicts at Hyde Park Barracks

The re-enactment group I'm in  was asked to be convicts for the day as they were needed for the event as much as Redcoats.  I don't have british naval kit so I wore my newish open robe & crazy cap and played at an older version of Sarah Rose, transported for 14 years for stealing fabric & lace. 




At lunchtime-ish we convicts got to have a feast that was to re-create the celebration in 1818 for King Williams birthday  put on by Governor Macquarie.  It was all "men" at the feast cos there wouldn't have been any women at it back in 1818,  though I did sneak in before it was properly over to the scandal of the cooks.
 

We even had someone play Gov Macquarie's role so later in the afternoon I went up & asked him for permission to get married as convict women had to get the Gov's permission.  He kept asking if my intended was of good character & all I could care about was that he had land! 
I did get my photo with a proper lady, who probably wouldn't have been at the prison barracks back in 1818 but the organisers wanted a broader social status range at the event.  The other person played a convict pick pocket hence why he was getting closer to pinch something off her person.