Would you trust your corset to this man? - R

I'm running out of time and that means I need to ask for help, which I hate to do.  In order to work on making bias tape for the Pagoda Top, I had to ask my boyfriend to grommet the corset, thus imperiling all my work.. I explained what needed to be done, took a deep breath, and prayed. He did make a rookie mistake in his placement, measuring from the edge of the top and bottom grommets and measuring from the center for the rest. He was...upset. I explained that his job now was to match - exactly - the other side of the corset, then the grommet-ting will become a "design decision" instead of a "mistake". He actually did a beautiful job on the installation.  Unbeknownst to him, however, there will be a lot more grommet-ing in the future for the Renaissance outfits. We'll see how he does on the other side tonight, but with his help I cut and stitched together all the striped bias material.  Lisa was going blind sewing on individual hooks and eyes and texted that she needed some inspiration so I sent her this picture of me cutting out the bias strips, (used my rotary cutter for the first time and decided I'm going to have to invest in a much larger cutting pad for this thing to be useful) and Roger getting ready to hammer grommets on my granite kitchen counter (until I shooed him to the garage workbench where mallets and hammers may be wielded with impunity).
Using the rotary cutter, my strips came out better than I'd ever done them before, but being the perfectionist that I am, I still dismayed that they are not perfect.  There's another technique that Margo Anderson recommends in her Elizabethan pattern instructions that I'll try next time, but for now, this'll have to do.
Next up: Sew the bodice pieces together for the final fitting and start making strips of blackberry Silkessence for ruching/decoration.

The pictures helped.  I only have 4 mores eyes to sew, and I want to do a try-on before I sew them down.

Bonnet lining, flat lining, the work just keeps lining up - R

I'm figuring out this bonnet-thing as I go and am so surprised by how it's coming together. I ruched the lining, stretched it back out to fit and hand sewed the edge to the hat edge. Next I'll machine stitch it to the brim so the ruching will have a chance to stay in place.  After that, I'll hand stitch the the lavender brim top down.  I've already sewn the strap/ chin tie so that's ready to go.  The last step before decorating will be to dye and stitch down some sort of edge trim.  I thought I ordered some Petersham ribbon (looks like grosgrain, but can actually bend around curved edges better), but I can't find it! (Yes, my neatly organized fabric/notions storage room has gone to hell.) I can't wait to decorate the hat.  Victorians went overboard in their decorations.  When in doubt, add more stuff!  There is no such thing as excess decoration to a Victorian which is a radical departure from my normal style of dressing.   Sweetie!  You had me get you white Petersham ribbon.  It is in the bag I'm bringing on Saturday. Well, dang it, no WONDER I couldn't find it!!

Last night I cut out the pieces for the Pagoda Top.  I meant to interline it in canvas, but I grabbed the more expensive coutil by mistake and cut the whole thing out before realizing my mistake.  Oh, well.  It just means that my top will be built like a tank, lots of structure and "body". I'm flat lining the pieces together and will treat them as one piece for sewing, instead of the more modern technique of bag lining that we are used to.  For the edges I'm thinking of using the blackberry colored Silkessence to make piping.  That material is very thin, normally used for lining, so I'm not sure what I'll have to do to it to make it stand up to piping. 'Tis a puzzlement.

I ended up making self-facing piping in the silk that matches the underskirt of the ballgown.  Since it's cut on the bias, the stripes are bias and it looks really cool. You can see that on the post of the Sewing Bee.

The Polonaise is closing - L

Last night I review my options for closing the front of the polonaise:

Skirt hooks - robust, yet truly ugly
Hook tape - big flap, wouldn't stay closed
Snap tape - pulled and, well, risky
Small hooks - we have a winner!

They look good (don't show), lay flat, stay hooked.  The biggest downside is that they will take a bit of time to sew.  In order for this solution to work, I have to sew a lot of them.  On a positive note, I don't have to wait for Saturday to decide.  Now I can use the group sew to get help on more challenging issues.  Like how to turn a woman's long blazer into a man's frock coat and include about 3 more inches of shoulder space.  And how to add 6 inches in the sleeve.  I have a diabolical plan!

Some things are done, and ironing - L

Ahead of our Saturday sewing day, I got a couple things done and began organizing the stuff I'm bringing to Robin's house.  First, my daughter's skirt is done.  I hate hate hate the fabric and I suffered, but it's done.  Also I knit an 'Edwardian Jacket' and am finished.  I probably picked the wrong yarn since it completely eliminates any semblance of waist when I wear it.  Here they are:

For the record, I will never plan to sew ribbon to a bias cut skirt made of super-slippery fabric ever, ever, again.  I measured and pinned, and measured and sewed and kept measuring and sewing.  And all the parts slipped and skewed under the feed dogs and in between my fingers.  I love the stripes at the bottom but they don't bear close examination.  The sweater was really fun to make and I learned a lot.  I have never tried to follow a pattern for a sweater before.  Never knit a garment before.  In fact I just learned how to read a pattern (sort of).  I taught myself to modify the number of stitches to adjust for my gauge, and I learned to make buttonholes and a collar.  I didn't even try hard to match the color shift but if looks fine (at least to me).  So what if it is the single most unflattering sweater I have?  I did it!

I also washed some new fabrics and started to iron them.  I hate ironing even more than I hate that slippery fabric.  Two bolts of muslin still await me tonight.  Do I sound cranky?  You betcha.  Here's what I'm working on this Saturday:
Finish the front closure of the polonaise - or choose the closure and get part of it done
Fit the bustle tapes
Start on my hat - I bought some stuff to put on it
Take a picture!
Trace my renaissance patterns in my size
Fit my daughter's bustle and apron
Sew on my daughter's sleeves.
Choose trim for her bodice
Come up with ideas for modding a jacket into a frock coat for her boyfriend.

It IS a lot, but my daughter will attend and do much of this herself.  I hope.  And come what may, the polonaise will be complete by the end of the weekend.  That's the whole outfit except the hat!

We always dream of getting a lot more done than we actually accomplish. Not that we don't work really, really hard on sewing days, it's just that we dream really, really big (and have major time management problems, never realizing how long it takes to do stuff)!  

And, Lisa, the skirt looks great.  Anyone who bends down to really look at the stripes must be intent on some sort of perversion and will be hastily dispatched! Or at least "shooed". 

Corset Channels Sewn - R

The boning channels of the corset are now sewn in. The next step is putting in the grommets.  I need to get this part done before next Saturday because we are having another sewing session.  Lisa was over for a party at my house this weekend and graciously basted in my Pagoda Top sleeves correctly so I could try it on.  The top looks like it fits fine, so I'll cut if out in the fashion fabric and have it put together for the final fitting on Saturday.  I'm a little worried about the corset because when I hold it up to myself it seems too small.  We won't really know until Saturday when Lisa can truly lace it up for me.  I hate doing all this work and not really knowing how it's going to come out.  Each channel seam has to be sewn 3 times for strength due to the stresses put on the corset.  There are four layers of material:  One of silk, two of coutil for strength, and one of muslin for the inner lining. That's a lot of material to sew through and it slowed me down.  When I got tired of looking at white-on-white, I switch to working on the bonnet so my eyes wouldn't go "snow-blind".

Who's the bigger dork?
The person who pinned and basted sleeves during a big party?
Or the person who worked on her bonnet during a stock trading technology conference?

Give Rob her kudos!  She sat and hand-sewed a Dickensian Bonnet surrounded by a bunch of mostly young male traders, intent on gettin' rich in the stock market.  She was gettin' ruche.

Front Closure Dilemna - L

I came home from a very fun weekend in Portland Oregon ready to sew on my hook and eye tape which would finish the polonaise except for adjusting the bustle tapes.  But oh, no.... 
I was expecting to be busy with work related stuff all day Monday until I caught my heel in my pant leg (on stairs no less) and ended up icing my ankle in bed all afternoon and evening.  Perfect for hand sewing!
Here is a diagram of what happened followed by comments.  And an accessory update ; } (apologies for format oddity)

I sewed the eye side on the left front, folding back any excess so it wouldn't show. The eyes stick over the edge.  Now I have to move the hook strip away from the edge so the center front remains in the center.  And NOW I have a big flap in the front.  To add insult to this, the hooks do NOT stay shut.  One big sigh and I'm topless.  So I'm down to deciding between sewing individual small hook and eyes, or caving in and making the buttons functional and sewing buttonholes.  I am concerned about gaps and pulling with buttons.

On a more fun note, I went to the Portland Fleece and Fiber festival and had far too much fun.  I acquired a 'humane' sheep skin shoulder wrap.  OK, I'm pretty sure that wasn't the intended goal of this item, but its what I'm going to use it for (Viking!).  The fleece felts ON the sheep, near the skin.  Careful removal results in what looks like a sheep skin but no sheep was harmed.  In fact, we hear the sheep is mightily relieved to be rid of it.  The picture shows the fleece laying on my bed, and 30 seconds later when the cat found it and aggressively attempted to subdue it.

She spun in a crocodile death grip, and growled her most menacing.

Hints of upcoming projects - L

I have a couple new projects I'm starting to work on.  'Starting' as in 'thinking about and gathering materials'.  One is the promised Renaissance gown and the other is a new take on Steampunk.  I am sort of excited about my Steampunk thing.  Here is a small part of the fun:

And then, for our Renaissance stuff, Rob and I thought we would like to have 'flea furs' or zibellinos.  So I have taken upon myself to craft them.  I bought some very cheap kid's clay at Target (It dries without heat) and molded a ferret-face.  Now I let it dry, while I'm off exploring Portland Oregon.  It's a little bumpy but it says it can be carved and sanded after it dries.  I plan to paint it gold and add jewels and decorations.  Rob has some faux fur that will work well for the body and tail.  If the face works, I'll make another, and paws for both.

Next week my final shipment of parts should arrive and I can finish the polonaise.  We have a sewing day coming up and I will model it for proper photos.  May even wear my hat.  Oh crap, I totally forgot I have to decorate my hat.  Grrr. 
I love a hat, but struggle with decorating.  I need supervision.  I have a very strong urge to hot glue all sorts of neat stuff to it.  Random, inappropriate, often not very pretty, stuff.     I can't be the only person who likes gull feathers....and marine mammal vertebrae.