Getting Down to Crunch Time - R

Lisa helped me get started on the Frock Coat. Because I didn't understand all the directions, I was afraid to cut anything out.  Her style is to charge ahead and deal with the consequences later. Her approach actually worked this time, although I have run into a few tricky spots that the instructions just didn't deal with adequately.

I used my own method of collar attachments.  The Laughing Moon pattern had you hand sewing the upper collar on to tailor's felt. I just faced the upper

collar with silk and sewed it on as a piece in a method I learned from a ladies' jacket I'd made some time ago.  Here's a close up of the collar.  It came out great. The jacket doesn't fit, though. I need to take in about 1 inch on each shoulder, otherwise it looks as if he is swimming in a giant bathrobe. Strange, because the muslin fit just fine. These are the things I don't understand, how you can make a muslin that fits but the jacket looks too big in the fashion fabrics. Ah, Life's Mysteries!

Crunch time meant it was time to stop fiddling with the flowers and actually sew them on to the bonnet.  Here's what I came up with.  In the spirit of the True Victorian, when I thought "OK, that's enough", I then added a few more flowers!

Voila, the finished bonnet.  It looks cute over the wig. Yes, friends, I bought a wig.  You'll see it in the final picture.  It is from Vogue Wigs online and is the "Scarlett" model from Lacey in Auburn. It is quite comfortable.















I now have two more days to finish the Frock Coat, with lots of hand sewing left to do.  Hopefully, my Beau will not travel to the Dickens Faire with pins still in his outfit!

We had tons of fun trying everything on for friends and family for Thanksgiving.  We took tons of pictures and will post them soon.  OK, some are already on Facebook.  Mysteriously, my Polonaise managed to grow and now needs to be taking in down the center front.  This will allow me to fix the mistake I made when I didn't follow instructions.  It will also need to be done all by hand.  My alternative is to undo a whole lotta facing.  Like the frock coat, this is truly a mystery.  No other item of clothing I own is looser.

Dickens Faire on Sunday!  Two days to fix and finish everything!

A blank black slate - L

I have been haunted...seriously haunted...by thoughts of a black victorian skirt with lots of trim.   I have ideas of what I would wear with it.  And I finally decided I just needed to make it.  Get it done.  Clear my head.  I have 2 pieces of thin black silky stuff (the dreaded silkessence), one is 3 yards and one is 2 yards.  I used the 3 yard piece to make the main part of the skirt.  Again based on that 1895 walking skirt.  It is lower calf length.  I used the two yards to make pressed pleats about 7 inches long.  Yessiree....120 inches of 7 inch tall pressed pleats.  I used the vinegar water technique to set them and it worked really well.  (google it...there a hundreds of examples on the interwebs).  That actually took most of the remaining two yards.  I made two inch strips with the rest.  I used a candle to 'burn' the edges so I wouldn't have to hem.  It worked OK.  I wasn't totally steady so have some uneven melty parts.  And yes, I melted fabric to the candle and spilled the whole thing in my lap.  I HIGHLY recommend using soy candles for this.  The 'wax' washes out easily.  I'm going to  gather up the thin strips and use them to make designs on the dress.  I'll attach the pleats at the bottom with a bit of velvet ribbon. And make a pattern with ruching above the pleats.

Of course I had to make a new petticoat.  This skirt will be a bit shorted than prior skirts.  It needs it's own petticoat.  And the petticoat might have lace at the hem.  And it might peek out a bit.  I got that mostly done too.  I just need to attach the lace to the ruffle and the ruffle to the petticoat.  I was going to use french seams but I got lazy.  So I zig-zagged the seam allowance.  Like a flat fell.  A Zig-Fell.

And then Rob and I spent the day working on her frock coat.  And it was a LOT of work.  We got most of the parts put together.  All the interfacing and junk attached.  Lining pockets done.  She just needs to put the parts together.  And figure out the crazy instructions for the back pleat.  (For reals, she has a ton of work still to do, but we did a lot too)

And with that, I'm going to have to tidy up the sewing and start getting ready for Thanksgiving.  Probably won't do to have twill tape, pins and scraps of ribbons and lining all over the dining room table.  And the living room.  And the sewing room.  And the bedroom.  Uh, yeah, I've been making a mess.

Sorry, no pics.  Black on black didn't photograph well, and I was just too busy to fiddle with it.  Seriously.  Black skirt, white petticoat, frock coat, all 60 - 70% done.  In a weekend.  And there was some playing of the new Drake's Fortune game.

We did an amazing amount of sewing in one day.  It helped to have two machines, each with a different color thread in it (lining is red, fashion fabric is grey). It was like a little production line.  Lisa hates ironing, so I did all the pressing and interface bonding.  It helps to have another brain with you so that when you are staring at instructions that somehow have turned into a foreign language there is someone there to translate.  All in all, a fantastically productive day. Now I feel as if I have a chance to finish this as opposed to feeling overwhelmed.  Unfortunately for me, this is pay-forward for all the blackwork I'm going to be doing on Lisa's Ren outfit!

The jacket looks fantastic!  And you'll be doing blackwork for yourself too.  ; )

Another sewing day and an outing - L

We had another group sewing day.  As always, we seemed to work non-stop all day and get almost nothing done.  Robin made undersleeves out of muslin and trimmed them with lace.  She stretched out the process by making placket closures.  They do look nice.  Lisa made a cravat, stitched together a large decorative bow, sewed the lining in a vest and other necessary pains in the arse.  We also laid out the frock coat and starting cutting.  But then it was dark and we were tired and other snively excuses.  

We also wore out dresses to a Victorian Haunted House  (Rob was pinned together!).  Pics or it didn't happen.....check out the vest!

 Of course we stopped for dinner ahead of time and created a bit of a stir at the Indian Buffet.  We had a big fan though....a five year old girl asked her father to come over and tell us that she liked our dresses.  I actually coaxed her into coming over to our table to say hello. 

We are sewing again this weekend.  We promise to take pictures.  In fact we plan to stage some pictures in Lisa's very overgrown backyard.

Another vest crawling to completion - L

I'm also working on a vest.  This one without a pattern.  I used advice for measurements from a couple of online 'free' patterns.  I tried my first single welt pocket and a 'cheater' collar (which means the fabric at the front V is self lined and folded over).

Here is the pocket in progress, and here is the vest partly done.  I've got the armholes and side seams done and just need to finish the shoulders, center front and hem.  Then buttonholes.  Haven't done a buttonhole since I was 15.  Sort of scary.  I will be practicing on spare fabric.  Wish me luck!

The vest comes together - R

 This vest was difficult to put together, but only because I followed (or tried to) the instructions. There were many points where I could have chucked the instructions and done it my own way, but I thought I'd learn a new technique somewhere in this confusing morass of verbiage.  In the end, i still ended up chucking the instructions and figured out how to finish it on my own.

It's only missing the buttons, which I tried to make as covered buttons, but the fashion fabric is too thick to create a 1/2" covered button, so I'll have to go to the store and find some that will work.  Otherwise, this puppy is finished with out my having bit the head off anything. Bring on the Frock Coat!

Bonnet work - R

 Got the Rit dye in the mail.  I ordered online from Rit.com because the local store carries a limited color selection.  I dyed the Petersham ribbon with blue denim & wine and stitched it on, also attaching the tie. Then I tried it on the buttons, but they kept coming out lavender, no matter how strong I made the dye bath.  The solution?

SHARPIES to the rescue. (Thanks, Faye, for having a purple Sharpie at hand at work and suggesting this to me!) I colored them with purple Sharpie and I know from experience that Sharpie doesn't come out of fabric no matter what you do.  I also played with the flowers and have decided to paint them with the dye bath to get rid of some of the blue.  I'll do that this weekend, as it is not a priority right now.

All I need now are some fabric flowers, which Lisa will show me how to make on November 6 and I'll have everything I need to finish the bonnet.

I will show you the flowers and make them for you at the same time.  Each flower will take 5 to 10 minutes even if you 'take your time'.  Bring your dark ruching strips.  We can put Valerie to work making tubes.  You could pull this off, 100% yet!  

Yes, I really did this - L

Needed to put together a costume for a man, very cheap, and not too much work, for Dickens Faire.  I don't have the time to make something fancy, and neither my daughter or her boyfriend wanted to spend a lot of money.  Here's what we decided to do.  I have an old long black blazer.  I would slit open the back seam and cut through the collar.  Then I would add about 4 - 6 inches of black fabric that looks close the the twill of the jacket.  I would also add 4 inches the the end of each sleeve.  By any logic, this shouldn't work, and should look really bad.  Here's where I am so far:

I realize these are bad pictures.  It is difficult to take good pictures of black on black.  On the left is the outside of the back with the piece sewn in.  The match is better than it looks in the picture.  I was trying to create contrast.  The inside is to the right.  I tucked under the edge of the lining and tacked it to the seam.    It looks like there is just another set of seams in the back.  The problem areas are the center back vent and the collar.  In place of a single vent, I made the added panel into a flap that looks like two vents fairly close together.

 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!

I also added length to the sleeves and made them cuff to cover the seam above the wrist.

Next I will make him a vest.  He needs it because adding only to the back of the jacket means it doesn't close in the front.  I don't have a pattern for a man's vest.  But I don't really need one since this fellow is very tall and very slim and any pattern would have to be modified beyond recognition anyway.

Based on my measurements, he's actually a true rectangle.  A very long rectangle.  So I made a quick muslin (pinned only) and have since cut out the fabric.  I decided I could teach myself how to make a welt pocket on this project.

  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.