Multitasking at its best!

Well, I've been multitasking.  Big time.  But, honestly, I prefer it that way.  In the last several weeks I've accomplished a whole bunch of projects, or at least got them to a good stopping point.

Project #1-  The skirt for the Diamond Ball gown, which is now sewn.  I haven't finished the hem yet since I don't know what shoes I will be wearing and so I am not sure of the length quite yet.  I used Truly Victorian pattern 225- 1878 Fantail Skirt, which I've used a number of times now and it is quite lovely.  I need to make a new petticoat so that the skirts don't fall in on themselves like you see in the photo.  And speaking of petticoats, I came up with a (I think) brilliant idea for the train on this gown.  For anyone who hasn't danced in a Victorian gown before, trains are dangerous. They are a train wreck waiting to happen.  Modern people are not used to looking out for trains on the dance floor, and they have a tendency to get stepped on, causing the dancer to go down, potentially taking out other dancers with her.  So they are pseudo-banned from the dance floor for the most part.  Truly Victorian patter 121- 1879 Petticoat with Detachable Train has, surprise surprise, a detachable train!  So, when I make the petticoat up, I will do a duplicate of the detachable train in my ball gown fabric and voila!!!!  Beautiful train on the gown for dinner, no train on the gown for dancing.  PERFECT!!!  Also, I ordered some trims and pearls and such for the trimming on this gown, but this will be a long process of procuring the right stuff, so this gown is essentially on hold except for the train and the petticoat.

 Project #2- For the masquerade ball, Matt will be dressing as a raven/crow, his favorite animal.  So, I found this fantastic black and gold feather brocade on Ebay of all places, and I made up a vest for him using the Laughing Moon Men's Single and Double Breasted Frock Coats with 2 Vests (1850-1915) pattern.  The photo isn't fantastic and it looks a bit awkward on my mannequin since it has a bust and the vest (and my husband!) do not.  But truly, it came out beautifully, and the pockets on the vest are so clever!!!  I'll have to get a better photo at some point.  At any rate, it's complete except for button holes and  buttons, and I have some on order.

Project #3- I put some thought into the blue satin and velvet gown, and I decided to go with the Truly Victorian #423 Two-tone Bodice pattern.  I made a muslin mockup, and it fits beautifully over my corset as is pretty much.  The pattern is designed to button up the front, but it was easy enough to change that to a back closure.  I also adjusted the neckline so that it was square sided with a sweetheart twist, and I dropped the back neckline.  I backed the velvet and satin with corset coutil to give it a nice base, and have made the bodice except for the lining.  The satin is just beautiful, and the photo doesn't do the depth of the midnight royal satin justice, but you get the basic idea of where it's at.  I think that, truthfully, it has the potential to be my best gown yet, though it has a lot of competition in the Starry Night gown!!!  The next step on this is to line the bodice and get that settled, then attach the drapery.  The underskirt will be made from Truly Victorian #297 1898 Flared Skirt in the floral satin with velvet trimmings.  I'm definitely looking forward to the completion of this one!!!
Project #4- Months ago I started working on the Plain Bodice pattern that is the basis of nearly ALL of the patterns in Frances Grimble's pattern books.  I FINALLY GOT IT FITTING WELL!!!  It took 5 iterations and a mountain of tweaks (and 2 complete re-starts), but it's pretty much perfect.  I ended up taking some bodices that I have already made that I know fit perfectly and finding a happy balance between the basic Plain Bodice and those.  The photo of the completed product looks simpler than the drawing in the book mostly because it has none of the 'weigh points' on it, but they are one in the same.  It's super nice to have this completed finally since this opens the door to nearly all of the bodices in the book, so I can branch out into new territory!!!!  HOW FUN!!!!

The Project Queue

Well, I have about 5 projects going at the same time, which truthfully is just how I like it :)  I've mostly been working on the blingy gown for the Diamond Ball on the cruise.  I ordered the fabric from New York Fashion Center Fabrics, which is one of my favorites for good quality satins and silks, among other fabrics.  It ended up at $206 for the yardage that I needed (you don't get away with small yardage when making a Victorian gown!!!!) and shipping costs.  It's a good weight, and the tinsel fibers in the cloth make it VERY not slippery, which is a nice change.  The big downside- when cutting the fabric little pieces of glitter and tinsel get EVERYWHERE!!!  I'm covered in them, my sewing room/office are covered in them, the cats are covered in them.... you get the idea.  I guess that's a small price to pay for glamour!!!

The bodice fits over my corset perfectly, and required very few alterations when I made my mock muslin.  I got the lining mostly in, but have to hand finish the arm holes as per usual.  The lining is leftover white satin from the Sapphire and Snow gown, so no cost there, and I had just enough to get this done :)  There will be a lot of decoration over this fabric base, and very little of the skirt, which will be made of the same fabric, will be visible.  The next step will be to find a nice lace to go over the underskirt, and to get the underskirt made.

A second project is early prep work for the Masquerade Ball on the cruise.  My husband and I want to do a themed costume, and we're currently working off the assumption that it will have a bird theme.  I have a couple of incredible ideas, but I'm keeping them to myself.  I want it to be a surprise for the cruise-goers :)  I found a BEAUTIFUL fabric on Ebay of all places that I was planning on making a vest out of for my husband.  However,  there were 3 yards of it and a vest front does NOT take 3 yards to make so I'm thinking I may make a bodice for myself out of it as well!

On a  more modern note, I've also been working on a cute sun dress with an adorable fox print.  I ADORE foxes in every form, in fact I consider them a totem animal.  I wanted to take a swing at creating some more wearable pieces, and I ordered a few Simplicity patterns to start with.  Here's what I've come up with so far (keep in mind it hasn't been hemmed, and the facing in the neck and arm holes isn't in yet):

Another idea that I've been floating around is a gown made of blue floral silk and dark blue velvet that I've had in my fabric closet for a while now just waiting for inspiration.  I am part of a pattern review group on Facebook, and I've been bouncing some ideas off of those guys for the best way to go about altering the patterns to make this happen. I've got a number of good ideas so far, so it will just be a question of freeing up the queue of projects a bit to start fitting this beautiful gown in.  Never a dull moment!!!  Merry Christmas and Happy Sewing!!!!

It's been an even LONGER time...

Hi all,
Well, over the last few months, I've gotten a lot done.  The up side is that a lot of it was thesis writing (I'm working on my MA in Virology), as well as home repairs (I painted 2 bedrooms and a bathroom), and cooking/cleaning.  The down side is that very little of it was sewing related.  Because I work for the federal government, albeit as a contractor doing the same job as my federal cohorts, I was furloughed in October.  But, unlike said federal cohorts, I did NOT receive back pay.  So, that was 2 and a half weeks sans paycheck.  So, massive Victorian gowns have been put on the back burner until I  'catch up' on those lost funds.
On a fun note, Guli Productions announced their next Victorian Dance Cruise in the Eastern Caribbean during January of 2015 :)  I am SUPER EXCITED, the last one was a blast!  Here's the link for more information: 2015 Victorian Dance Cruise.  I'm featured in a bunch of the photos on that page wearing various gowns/outfits.  This year's cruise features 3 balls, a Fantasy Masquerade party, and a Swimsuit Party!  The last cruise featured a Sapphire Ball, which is what inspired me to create the Sapphire and Silver ball gown.  This year's feature is a Diamond Ball, and in order to avoid having to pack any bustles/hoops/shenanigans, I will be going with a more 1890's Late Victorian look.  The gown that I think I will re-create is from the 1893 cover of Harper's Bazaar as seen in the drawing.  I have already chosen a fabric for the bodice, but not yet the skirts- lace is a little bit harder to choose, I think.  The bodice will be done in Ice Steel Rococo Paisley Metallic, which I know is not period correct:

The photograph, as per usual, doesn't really do it justice.  It's honestly PERFECT for  a Diamond Ball event :)  And at only $29.49 a yard, it's not too bad.  The color matched silk taffeta that I was considering using for underneath all of that lace is much more expensive at $46.99 a yard, and I would need many yards of it to complete the skirts.  So, that idea may be scrapped, though we'll see.  I've got lots of time to play with here, about a year and 2 months.  And I've been losing weight, so I don't want to make the gown too early and then have to make last minute, tricky alterations.

The other thing I've been playing with is the "Fashions of the Gilded Age" (Frances Grimble) Plain Bodice Pattern.  This series of books has Victorian era pattern miniatures which you draft in full size using either apportioning scales and graphed paper or you can use a projector to blow up the patterns, but this method is less tailored.  Once you have this basic pattern drafted, you add seam allowances of desired width, and make a mockup.  And here's the part that requires patience- fitting after fitting after fitting to make the bodice fit just perfectly.  Once you have a perfectly fitting bodice, you can use this pattern as a base to create nearly any bodice in the entire book.  And there are MANY beautiful patterns.  I have done about 3 fittings with this pattern so far, and I'm still a fairly long way away from having the perfect fitting bodice, so this is probably a long term project.  It's also a bit difficult to get into and out of a corset every time you want to do a try-on session, so that's slowing me down a bit as well.  It will be a HUGE accomplishment, and a major learning exercise, to get this fitted correctly.  I ordered a book off of Amazon that is also helping a lot: The Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting by Veblen.  This guide (hopefully) helps train your eye to recognize common fitting errors and shows you how to correct them.  It's been a big help in the whole process.  I hope that both of these resources help me to take my patterns and sewing to the next level :)

I've also been working on a pattern for a calico dress, since my split riding skirts and vest are a bit snug these days and I need a simple but pretty calico dress for the more low-key dances.

So, while I haven't really created much in the way of gowns, I have been working (slowly) on some interesting new things.  I know I say this every single time, but hopefully I will be posting a bit more as I figure out projects, fabrics, the order I will tackle them in etc.  

Until next time :)

It's been a long, long time!

Hi all,
Well, it's been a long time.  But, I have excuses; fairly major excuses.  My husband and I decided to upgrade homes, so we closed on a new house on April 9th and moved in that evening (in the middle of a late season snowstorm, I might add)!!  With said new house came a brand new sewing studio and small office for me to work from!  Between getting everything moved, getting the old house on the market, finishing up my graduate school spring semester (still have my 4.0!), finishing a chicken coop complete with baby chicks (who are now looking more and more like chickens), and full time employment, sewing time has been scarce, but I FINALLY got around to doing some work this afternoon.
I am still working on the same project I started back in February or March, and that is the crimson velvet smoking jacket I am making for Matt for Durango Heritage Days this coming fall.  I've gotten it mostly put together and have completed all of the machine sewing I think I can do with it, so now all that remains is the tedious hand tasks.

I know that this image isn't my usual quality, but the camera is still packed somewhere and I don't particularly want to hunt it down and dig it out.  The lining is in, although it is not attached to the fabric itself in some places as you can see on the front seam of this photo.  

I learned a few things bungling through this project:

1. Velvet is soft so you would think it would be fun fun fun to work with!  Wrong.  I had figured that by choosing a silk velvet I would be in for a wonderland of gloriously soft fabric just begging me to pet it.  Velvet, at least the silk variety, is slinky and slippery.  Even cutting the fabric in a straight line was a chore!

2.  If you use silk velvet- BACK THE FABRIC WITH SOMETHING SOLID!  Interfacing, wool, cotton, anything that holds its shape!  The stuff was all over the place while I was trying to sew it.

3.  Be careful of the grain of the velvet when you cut the fabric.  I thought I had this all figured out before I cut my fabric, and although it sounds like an obvious thing to triple check, I didn't get it quite right.  The flow of the velvet on this particular coat goes 'down' on one side, and 'up' on the other.  You don't really notice it by the way the light plays off of it, but if you 'pet' the coat, you can tell the difference.  Not perfect, but still workable.

4.  Don't leave pins in velvet, it crushes the plush part of the fabric and no amount of rubbing fixes that.

Otherwise, it's been an OK project.  There's still a bunch to go, and I have my doubts about whether or not I will be able to get the velvet to sit as nicely as I would like, but only time (and patience!!!) will tell.

Once I get this completed, I am contemplating a few projects for me :)  The first project is the accompaniment to this jacket- a Victorian nightgown and dressing gown.  I found a Vintage Closet pattern for a turn of the century nightgown that should be very pretty if done right.  Also, From "Fashions of the Gilded Age," I found a Grosgrain Wrapper to go over that should be quite nice.

All in all, these may be more work than I have time, but I will start with the Wrapper for the sake of at least having one finished in time!

The Wrapper will be a new type of project for me because in the past, I have ordered sized, pre-printed patterns from one of many different companies that make reproductions.  This time, however, I will be creating my own pattern from the miniatures in the book.  Essentially, this particular pattern requires that I use a 1/4" or 1/8" gridded plastic sheet, depending on the sizing listed on each pattern piece, to 'blow up' the pattern to real size.  Should be an adventure!  I'll let you know how it proceeds.  At this point, I am waiting on the two grids I ordered from a quilting catalog, so I can't begin on that quite yet.

Happy sewing!

Hoop Skirts and the Austen Era (Regency)

 Hi all,
It's been a little while since I was able to update the blog- I blame it on grad school.  And life.  But, I have found a few stray minutes here and there to complete a few new projects!

So for those of you who remember last year's Regency gown, I hated it.  I started with cheap fabric and ended up with a cheap looking awful dress.  It was horrific.  I spent so many hours working on Matt's War of 1812 British Officer's Coat that I just sorta threw mine together.  It was too short, clung to me with static, and was just an embarrassment.
So, this year's Regency Ball in March 3rd required a new gown.  There was NO way I was going to be seen in public again like that!!!

 I decided to use the same pattern again this year since it worked ok last year and I spent all that time altering it to fit well!  The base pattern was a Sense and Sensibility Pattern, and I wouldn't recommend those to anyone who hasn't sewn a few gowns before.  They aren't necessarily the most straight forward patterns, or so I have found.
A few months ago I found a beautiful heavier weight white gauze embroidered with white and purplish gray flowers that I thought would be perfect for a new gown.  I paired that with a deep lavender heavy weight satin that I found at Joann's Fabrics of all places; usually I avoid that place like the plaque since they tend to have cheap plasticky fabrics.  This one is good, though.  I then paired those with a pewter lace that matches the branches for the flowers on the gauze perfectly!!

The gown has a bit of pleating in the back at the waist so it is a bit fuller in the back than it is in the front.  I shortened the overdress because that was a look that was very popular at the time, and also because I was about a yard short on the fabric (I had to guess the yardage when I bought it and it was SUPER expensive!!!).  I will likely wear a petticoat under the gown even though they tended not to do that, mostly because I am used to massive hoops or bustles when I dance and I am worried that I will get tangled up in the dress like I did last time!  With the cheap fabric of the old gown and the desert dry conditions of Colorado, I felt like I was stuck to my gown the whole afternoon!  This fabric is a LOT heavier, so it should be less of a problem, but I'm not taking any chances.

Since it is March in Colorado, I purchased a Spencer jacket last year to hopefully keep me warm.  I had forgotten that it was lavender when I purchased the fabric for the new gown, but it goes perfectly with it!  I purchased this from Bonnie Blue Arts on Etsy:  the construction is good, and her prices are more than reasonable.

 Here's a closeup of the neat lace that I picked up.  It was a bit of a pain to hand sew on, but it came out very well.

My other project was to create some new hoops that are smaller and earlier in the 1860s than my massive elliptical hoops of 1867.  I used Truly Victorian pattern "1858 Round Cage Crinoline," which I was very happy with.  The worst part of creating hoops, and the main reason I would never want to do this for a living, was plotting and sewing all the straight seams on the bag on the bottom of the hoops.  It is a necessary evil though- the whole purpose of the bag is so that you don't step through the cage by accident and trip yourself severely!  They honestly took me maybe 8 hours to complete and were straight forward.  I don't currently have any costumes to go over these quite yet, but this is the base work for some new ideas that I have coming up.  And, as you can see in the background, the birds got to help me which made them very happy.

I think that as far as upcoming projects are concerned, the list keeps getting longer and longer.  Matt and I attend Durango Heritage Days every year down in Durango, Colorado.  One of the fun parts about this weekend is that people stay in costume nearly constantly- a few even attend breakfast in dressing gowns and smoking jackets!  I plan on making Matt a neat Victorian era smoking jacket (not for actual smoking, of course!), and myself a night gown and dressing gown to go over it.  I picked up a neat Simplicity pattern called Vintage Closet: Turn of the Century to 1925 (5188) for my nightgown.  I picked up Ageless Patterns "1868 Smoking Jacket and Cap" for the jacket, and I'm sure that will require a good deal of alteration but should work ok.  I have found a bunch of extant examples of gowns and jackets so I will have lots of inspiration in that project!

Last week, my husband and I traveled with a bunch of our Victorian Dance friends on a cruise to the Caribbean islands.  During the day, we were your average tourist; we visited the sights, hung out on the beach, and ate an incredible amount of food.  Three of the evenings, however, were dedicated to Victorian Balls.  The first was the Captains Dinner, so instead of modern formal wear our group of 53 all showed up in our Victorian finery.  

The second was the Sapphire Ball, in which everyone's gown or costume had at least some blue on it.  

The third was a Cowboys and Calicos dance, which was much simpler given it was on the last night of the cruise and we had to scramble to pack up everything afterwards. 

One pretty nifty addition was a Victorian Swimsuit Party!  A large group of us visited one of the pools on board in 1890's swimwear and we certainly turned some heads!  Since I participated in the shenanigans, I don't have any photographs but will add a few soon if I can.

All in all, we had a fantastic time and I got to try out some new gowns.  The light green embroidered gown was trotted out for a second go round and it was quite nice.  The Starry Night Gown made it's debut and was very well received.  And, my swimsuit was just adorable!

One of the best parts of being involved in a large group of people that have the same interests as you is that you are able to bounce ideas off of everyone.  I came back from the cruise with about a million different ideas for The Next Project, although most of them will have to be on hold until the end of the semester (yeah, grad school).  On the list, however, are a Smoking Jacket or morning coat for Matt and a Dressing Gown for myself.  We came up with the idea for a Victorian Slumber Party a little too soon before the cruise, but one is in the works for next time!  Also, I need to work on a cute Calico dress for myself, I'm just not that happy with the split riding skirts and vest I purchased; they just aren't authentic enough.  I know I'm just being picky, but it's little projects like these that are fun!

Hopefully I will be posting again soon with a fun project, but until then, enjoy the gowns from the cruise!

Just a quick note: Gowns In Action

I must admit that as I typed the title for this post, I had the Muppets "Pigs In Space" theme going through my head!  Ah, the silliness that is brought on by cold medicine :)
Here's a photo taken at the R.M.S Titanic Dinner:

The Bottle Green Gown came out wonderfully, much better than I had ever anticipated.  I have an hourglass waist, so I wasn't sure how a high wasted gown would work with my figure.  Answer: it worked just fine.  I even find myself excited to wear it again, the sign of a successful project.

Here's an oldie but goodie, a bustle day dress that I created for the Durango Heritage Train last year.  It uses the Truly Victorian TV101 bustle, so a very 1880s look.  At one point, as I was strolling around Durango with some friends of mine, a 'gentleman' drove by in a car and yelled "Nice A*s".  Very classy!!!

I unfortunately didn't get any shots of the maiden voyage of my new Pale Green Natural Form Gown for the cruise, but my husband was sick with a head cold so my attention was elsewhere.  That said, the gown was a success!  Short of losing one of the flowers that was safety pinned on the side of the gown, everything went nicely.  It is a little long for flats, which is what I wore, so I will have to pick up a pair of flesh tone or white dance shoes with a bit of a heel so that I don't have to worry about stepping on the hem.  All in all, though, it was very nice and I got TONS of compliments.