The VERY full plate - L

Trapped in bed, working on cosplay and Nereid hat

I've made an error.  I decided to have ALL THE FUN at once.  So here's what I'm working on:

WW1/Outlander cosplay is done except for pictures.  I have to 'do' my hair to take pictures.  It doesn't take long but I also want to do pictures on a foggy morning.  Atmosphere.  I want this done by the end of March.  Blog post.  (updates are near the end of the post)

Nereid - Skirt and corset mostly done.  I need to choose the right petticoat for the skirt and sew the beading on the corset.  Which means I need to finish the beading.  I made a tiara and seaweed.  I need Robin's help to put it all together.  And I made a start on the shoulder armor.  I want this done by the end of March.  Tick, tick, tick....  Blog post.   (updates are near the end of the post)

Lowell Mill dress - I made a muslin and am ready to fit it.  Then I twisted my ankle and missed our sewing/fitting day.  I couldn't stand up on one leg for very long.  And I can't lace that stupid corset by myself.  Also, I wore the corset to a Regency dance with my pretty blue Regency dress that I never properly blogged.  The busk is bad news.  I have boobs and a tummy.  The busk was flat against my chest but was pushed out by my belly so it stuck out at the under bust.  Nothing is cuter than a clearly visible wooden stick up the front of your body!  I took it out and replaced it with flat steel boning.  That should work a lot better.  I will take a picture next Wednesday when we finally get to out fitting party.  Once the bodice muslin is fit, this project should be pretty quick.  It's not complicated.  It should be finished in June.  Updated blog post soon.

18C Demode Court dress - first fitting is done!  And I had to recut it.  The second version is ready to fit.  I also need help to made the under petticoat.  It has to go around my giant pocket hoops and pleat at the top.  Once I get THAT figured out, I can use it to cut the visible petticoat.  And let's just not talk about the wig.  I just can't think about that right now.  Needs to be done for Costume College, end of July.  First post going up soon.

Naruto cosplay for Fanime - I have my son's Kakashi shirt and pants pretty much done except for trim.  I have the wig and headband ready for styling.  I still need to work on bracers, leggings and shoes.  And make a mask.  I have never styled a wig.  Going right for anime hair first time out.  Wish me luck.  And I'm doing a costume for me too (Jiraiya).  The wig is here, and most the fabric arrives Monday.  Finally, I'll need to help my daughter with her Tsunade costume.  Needs to be done mid-May for Fanime.

I'm all into the Historical Sew Fortnightly (now monthly) so I'm distracted by that.

Finally, the kid's improve group just reached out for costume help.  The play is on Monther's Day.

This may sound like a lot, or it may sound like I'm whiny.  But I'm stuck in bed resting my foot so it heals really quickly.  I'm going to Paris and Morocco for a dance and music tour in 2 1/2 weeks.  And I'm leaving in a month.  I think the kids are gonna get short shrift.

HSF 2 - the Blue Challenge

All three blue things, standing together.

Nothing challenging about blue!  In fact, I did 3.  And yet, here I am on the second to the last day, not quite sure what to post.  Yup.  I did 3 blue things this month.  All of them part of other things that are 'in progress'.  So I'll be posting them again as part of the final update for each outfit.

The winner is the 1915 plaid pleated skirt.  Why?  Because it's the 'Historical' Sew Monthly.  And plaid and pleated skirts were very popular in/around that time.
This is part of a cosplay and that post will be updated very, very soon

 Runner up - the 'blue demon' skirt.  It is the skirt for my nereid, and it's supposed to be water.  The skirt, when worn with a petticoat, is inspired by Victorian natural form.  I considered using it, but polyester organza and a 3 layer fishing line hem aren't really within the guidelines.  I'd love to say this was fun to drape but I would be lying.  Polyester organza is everything that is evil.  It IS awfully fun to wear though.  I am readying an update to the nereid post very soon.  In fact, I'm making seaweed right now and then I'll get to it.

Second runner up - Regency shawl, hand woven with twisted fringe.  Perfect!  Historical, and very pretty.  But only 6 feet long and 12 inches wide so it needs to be longer (which I can't do) and/or wider.  I may be able to make it wider.  Maybe for a later challenge.  It will get it's own post soon.   Until then it is a relatively useless scarf.

I've been busy making things and taking pictures.  As soon as I hit my next major roadblock (probably on Sunday), I will update posts all over this blog!

Update on Robin's First "A Gatsby Summer Afternoon" dress

Roger and I at a subsequent 4th of July Picnic, before the dress fell apart

Gatsby has come and gone, but Lisa is forcing me to post. As readers may recall, my first attempt at a rereleased Simplicity pattern from that era ended up in the muslin trash heap as a total disaster. So it was back to pattern shopping. I ended up with Reconstructing History's 1930s Ladies' Day Frock with Jacket #1317 and 1930's Ladies Princess seamed Slip which you can look at here: http://store.reconstructinghistory.com/rh1317-1930s-day-dress-and-jacket.html.  The site won't let me copy a picture from it.

I added an inch to the hips and all went well with this one. Some sewing techniques, like folding under the seam allowance and top stitching it down, were new to me but easily done once my modern brain got over it. The pattern has one omission in that it did not have an opening in the back neck, although the picture showed it.  I just put one in.  Lisa draped a better jabot for me (Thanks, Lisa) and that was that. Lisa also decorated my hat with stuff we bought in the Los Angeles fabric district when we were on a Costume College Shopping Safari. That stuff on the hat is actually a crinoline strip!

Here's the final product.  This dress fits me better than anything I've ever made. Oh, and the shoes are from American Duchess.  You can't see them, but they are great.  Love her shoes. The gloves I found on a trip to Europe in a fabulous glove shop that Roger spotted (He's good that way).

Post script to the post - the first time I had washed the dress, the seams started coming apart, even though I finished each edge. The dress is now unwearable and I am sad. I made a new Gatsby dress but it is so ugly I can't bring myself to write about it yet, let alone put up a picture. Oh, well.....C'est la vie!

Regency Dance Dress and Turban Finally Finished! - Robin

 Here's the final product of my first Regency foray. After making the stays and the dress last year, I had yet to finish the closings and the hat. Such a procrastinator! But as we have a Regency Ball coming up at the end of February, I got myself in gear and finished.

The dress is from Simplicity Costumes 4055, unmodified except for fit. The back is not historically accurate as I was only interested in getting something together to dance in. I ended up with too much back and overlapped it with double buttons.  Originally I had used hooks and eyes, but they popped open the minute I moved. The bow closes with hook and eye so it will hang correctly while dancing.

Now that my hair is l-o-o-ng, I really don't want to style it because all the curls will fall out the minute I sweat, so a turban was the answer.  But which one?? The answer came from a Costume College class Lisa took - Easy Regency Turban. However, mine was NOT that easy.  Here's why......

The back of the non-historic dress

The not-so-easy Regency Turban

starting the weave

the body of the hat

laying out the stripes

 I made the material for the turban out of ribbon bonded on to Pellon. The stuff I had was a bit stiff but I did it anyway. For the band,  I did it in stripes and machine embroidered the edge lines.  For the body of the turban, I wove the ribbon into a plaid that Lisa called "Sort of a Space Invader Plaid". This was a technique I saw in Threads Magazine a while ago and had wanted to try on something.  Evidently this should NOT have been the project to try it on.  This turban is supposed to be soft, malleable.  Mine is decidedly NOT. At first, all I could think of was "OMG, I look like a deranged Baker!", but as I sewed on the feathers and the jewel (from a hair scrunchie), I began to feel kinder towards it.  I will get some fake hair to make into tendrils to attach to the inside of the hat to frame my face, but as of now, it is wearable.  And by the way, the dog did not eat the pattern until after I had finished the turban. C'est la vie!

embroidery on the stripes

1830's corded petticoat - L - HSF Challenge #1

Did my my first HSF/HSM challenge!  I've been lurking forever.  It seems the challenges line up maybe sorta good for me this year.  We shall see how I do.  Anyhow, here it is, 1830's corded petticoat.
No pattern.  100" wide which is likely wider than it needs to be, but I'm pretty tall so I want to consider proportions.  I finally used cotton organdy which I now love more than anything. I really waffled about the cording.  I decided to use cotton cord (3mm clothesline from the hardware store), and enclose it in a facing.  True to every warning I read, the layers slip while sewing.  I finally resigned myself to having the facing a bit twisted and some bunching between layers.  I looked at a lot of pictures and read about a lot of how many cords and how high to cord.  I thought I could get away with about 30 rows, but ended up with 45.  This was determined by weight, how it looked as I worked, and by the overwhelming tedium of sewing interminable circles.  Just to make myself believe that there was a lot of thoughtfulness in this, I made each section 3 rows less than the section below.  My sections are (bottoms up) 15, 12, 9, 6, 3.  I have every intention of making a regular organdy petticoat to wear over this.  Just not right now.

During pinning and marking my cat would climb inside, and since he objected to being moved, there are already some little holes in it.  Just like a real antique!

Cotton organdy is very light and crisp.  If it gets a little wobbly, a quick iron sorts it right out.  Now I want to make all the pretty Gibson girl dresses.  Don't hold your breath.

Sewing cording in circles really makes me stabby, but if that wasn't enough, with just 5 rows to go, I was stricken by food poisoning/stomach virus that threatened to turn me inside out.  I've spent the last few days living on orange Gatorade and white rice.  No coffee.  So it's really a surprise that no family members were killed in the making of this petticoat.

Next up, I need to finish the WW1/Outlander mashup and put that to bed (for now).  And repair the Attack on Titan cosplay because we are going, en masse to 'Escape the Walled City'.  After I do all the laundry.

While I was working - L

I'm still working on my two bigger projects, but I've done a few other things.  I'm being driven crazy trying to modify a 1930's dress that I'm pattern-testing.  I woke up this morning with another idea on how to make it fit.  I have to size it up quite a bit and the FBA is in the center front.  Every time I try it, the center 'V' is way too deep or the bodice sags badly under the bust.  But I think I figured it out.  More to come.

I'm participating in the Lowell Mill dress group on FB, so I'm making a corded petticoat.  So boring and yet so frustrating.  I'm fairly confident that 1830's dress will not be flattering and the fabric is lovely yet frumpy.  I just really want to do it.  I don't even have any place to wear it, except maybe Dickens Fair.






















And I got my first paid commission.  A friend wanted a 1920's party dress.  She didn't need to be historically accurate and doesn't like the rectangular 20's bodice.  Lucky for me, she had an amazing sequined minidress.  I made a simple skirt with a silver sequined handkerchief hem overlay.  She also had a small feathered hair clip that we took over-the-top.  She's happy and I'm happy.

Last Minute Throwdown - L

I've been working on something.  I'm not making much progress, but I'm working.  It's a fantasy costume comprised of things I have laying around.  I started a post, but I lost access to my pictures due to a power cable malfunction.  It is soon to be resolved.  Separately, my son informed me that he was going to be William Lloyd Garrison for his Historical Figures character.  It's a large part of his grade for this quarter.  Students choose a name out of a hat and do a presentation in costume.  Most kids don't have mothers with time or sewing experience so they just need to make an effort to dress sort of like their character.  There were some inspired ideas.  One kid wrapped a white dish towel around his head to represent a wig.  I made something fast and relatively easy.  And best of all, it looks like I spent a LOT of time on it.  A tailcoat!  (not at all a proper tailcoat)

I had a 'sort of' jacket pattern for the Attack on Titan jacket.  I used that.  I made curved darts in the back for fitting and to make it look like a tailored coat. I made the tails by looking at pictures, because they are just curved flaps. I made the collar smaller, and crossed it over in front and added buttons.  I made a VERY simple vest.  The kind where you start with rectangles and cut big arm hole curves, a neck curve, a V and add buttons.  I made a cravat (8 x 36 inch rectangle).

The pants are from his suit.  The shirt is a regular shirt with the collar pressed up and tabs ironed into the front.  The top hat and cane are things we have lying around.  I didn't get a good picture because he just doesn't stand still for longer than 2 seconds.

What he had to say?  'I look GOOD'
What his friends said?  'Overkill much?'

I probably won't be back to this blog for a month.  Robin and I are taking a 'girl's trip' soon, and until then I REALLY need to clean the sewing room.  Last time I started to clean, I ended up down the rabbit hole of making a fantasy costume.  Yes, it will burn down the stash, but it is making one hell of a mess in the process.  And the holiday season is coming.  That time when the sewing room has to fulfill it's purpose as 'guest bedroom'.