Miss Philomena

Two awesome things happened today.

1) I got into the Burnley & Trowbridge stays class in September! \o/ I was first on the waitlist, and someone cancelled, so I'm in~

2) The (second) sari I ordered for my Titanic dinner gown arrived today. I've already got it cut apart and mostly draped, but I need to finish the underdress before I actually finish up the draping of it. It's a net sari, and I wasn't sure if I'd match the color for the underdress or go with black, but black won out, so it'll be made of the black silk charmeuse I've had in the stash for a few years now. I'm still trying to decide if I want to line the skirt or not, but I think, since I'm not doing a train on the silk, I'm going to skip lining. I think I'll just do a petticoat for it.

In the slightly less awesome realm of things, I'm almost finished with the green striped gown. I just need to sew the last few hooks and eyes into the bodice.

In other words, current and soon to be started projects, in no particular order. *Warning, this post is image heavy.*

While I don't claim to be a great knitter (I can't do *rather, haven't tried* more complicated stuff), one of my absolute favorite things are the beaded knit purses you occasionally see. I have a couple, bought at an antique fashion etc auction that I can't remember the dates for, done with gorgeous steel beads. Steel beads are no longer manufactured, or if they are, I haven't been able to find them, so I have to compromise and use glass beads. Fire Mountain Gems actually carries steel colored glass beads, which look damn near prefect, but I haven't gotten around to ordering more from them yet. Anyway, enough babble. ( This is one of three purses I'm working on at the moment. )

And on to the sewing.

I had some fun on Ebay the other day and ended up picking up three saris. One of them will probably wind up being made into an 1880s bustle dress. I have a book with a plate I like, I just can't find it at the moment. If (and this is a very big if) I can make it work, the other might wind up a late Regency style. It really just depends on if it's long enough on the crossgrain to use for the skirt.
( It will be one of these two, and I think I'm leaning more toward the green one for the Victorian dress. )

( The third sari I bought, which is an absolutely gorgeous blue brocade, will be put aside for some future use. )

On my 1872 Watteau outfit: I've done a bit more of the pattern, but I still haven't gotten around to the back and side back pieces. Perhaps Sunday or Monday, since I have the house to myself for a week, and the cats certainly won't care if I move the kitchen table. ( Anyway, I snapped a pic of the fabric I'm planning on using. )

Next up: 1874 evening gown (on the left): Nothing really to say, as I don't have the lace yet for the skirt, and haven't done more than cut out the bodice. Here's the beautiful light blue/white shot silk I'm using for it, though. I think I'm going to look for a satin ribbon to match it for the swags and bows. Don't know what I'm going to do about the fringe yet. I might just go with lace.

And into the the 18th century: I've loved the 1775-85 Caraco in Patterns of Fashion since the first time I saw it. ( And I've had this silk/cotton brocade sitting around waiting to be used for years, so it really seems like a match made in heaven. )

And I think that's enough babble from me today. And on a completely random note, I need more icons.

ETA: I've also got a Regency getup mostly done for one of my BJDs, so once I get around to sewing the closures and whatnot on, I'll put up pictures of that as well.