(All apologies to PD James)
As we have crested the hill on our first project (Victorian for Dickens Faire) we have been having an email chat about what we've learned. Mostly about ourselves.
We took a bath in reality.
Robin is currently focused on finishing the outfit for her beau. She has not gotten to most of the ruffles and trim she imagined adding to her dress. If she has time (and inclination) she will add to it. I was pretty surprised by this. She had some fantastic ideas, and had already purchased lace and extra fabric for ruffles. She has had a craving for 'decor' far and above mine. Ironically, I was the one who went 'all in' on hand crocheted lace and pleating. In both cases it was a question of priorities. Rob had a lot of fun out of town weekends planned that ate into her sewing time. She also chose to delay her start to lose weight, and opted to make her own corset. (I'm STILL not finished with the corset, haven't lost weight but gained instead, and still want all my gee-gaws on the dress, but I also want my beau to have some semblance of a costume, so I defer to that desire. The dress looks fine as it is and I can always add the trim for next year. It was hubris to think I could make two complete Victorian outfits from scratch with only intermediate sewing skills and a busy schedule.)
Both of us found that there was more work, and the work took longer than we expected. I (Lisa) started early after struggling with a plan to work out more. I was also going to make a corset, but decided not to make one at this time (mostly hoping to lose weight). Then I undermined myself by choosing to play with trim and crochet my own lace instead of working out.
So body issues all around! Something we would rather not blog about, but since it has impacted our costuming, we chose to include a couple of paragraphs. And body image is NOT the issue. The real issue is how much time we've chosen to commit to these projects, what we thought we could get done, and our natural competitive instincts. I can't say whether Rob would do things differently. I would not. I had my job increase substantially when my daughter and her boyfriend decided to make outfits. I really need the time now for them, and for my son's Halloween costume. (The four things I would have done differently would have been: (1) to start the corset first and, if I'd had to build a new one later, I'd would've had all the experience from the first one. As it was, I delayed the corset and that delayed my project and (2) use Silkessence as the foundation fabric for everything I made. I now hate that fabric with a passion and, as my hatred grew, so did my lack of passion for sewing and (3) would've tuned up my sewing machine before the start of the project, thus curing a lot of headaches before they started and (4) to be more realistic about how much time I can devote to sewing given my already busy schedule - and that's the most important lesson and it's also the one I'm still struggling with because I honestly don't know how long it really takes to make things.)
And as a break from all that serious stuff, here are my newly updated accessories
Fingerless gloves (handmade), small bag for money and phone (handmade)
And my finished outfit front and back. And sitting atop the dress form, my first cut at my hat.
This hat have generated more mental turmoil for me than nearly anything else. I'm not sure why.
Here is the pinned, stapled, taped, and generally jammed together hat, close up (along with a photo of what I did next).
Later, after wine and reading, I'll be fitting the jacket I've hacked apart for my daughter's boyfriend. It is a violation of every sane principle of sewing. But it's not looking too bad.
On the left is the vent from the outside. And on the right is the vent from the inside. And yes, it's ghastly on the inside. If it is visible at all when he wears it, I will add some lining. But I don't think so. Next I will have to deal with the collar. It won't be lovely no matter what I do. If it is truly awful, I will buy a small bit of velvet and cover the collar altogether. Pictures soon!
Here's my welt pocket (muslin). I used a tutorial on the web for a single piece welt pocket where the lining is the same fabric as the welt. It worked well. Here is a link: Single Welt Pocket Tutorial I had plenty of the fashion fabric to use for this, so it wasn't a problem. Finally we will make him a cravat. I found a really nice brocade remnant. That should disguise the fact that he's just wearing a regular white shirt. He will also wear regular grey wool slacks. Not perfect, not even close to perfect. However he will clearly be 'dressed' and should look pretty nice. Assuming, of course, that I don't mess anything up.
