Reviewing and planning
Dec. 31st, 2015 01:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miss_philomenaIt's after midnight as I get ready to post this, so I am now exactly 275 days away from my wedding. Insanity!
And my best friend is getting married in something like 55 days. I have no idea what I'm going to wear to hear wedding yet either. It's a cinderella's ball type theme, so I told her I'd just wear one of my Victorian ball gowns, but she was less than enthused by that idea. I have a really nice evening gown, and while it fits in the body, it's too tight now in the bust. And the boobs are the one place I haven't lost weight from as my weight has gone down. I'm trying to decide if I want to see if I can find myself a dress for under $150 or so, or just make myself something.
But that's not the point of this post! This is my 2015 in review. It was crappy in some ways, and good in others. The best of course being that my mom is still here, followed very closely by Joe proposing.
January:
While I started this outfit before New Year's, I finished it in January, so I'm counting in here. I altered one of Simplicity's vintage patterns to replicate one I'd found on the Commercial Pattern Archive. The hat and scarf came from a patterns initially found on CoPA as well, but rather than waste tons of time trying to figure out the scale from an unmarked diagram, I managed to find someone selling a repro of it on eBay. Much easier that way. The hat is really utterly ridiculous on its own, but all together I love how it looks.
I'd actually started the piecing for this bag years ago, but all I had sewn down was the outermost red parts. Because I was about to start up classes and I wanted a bag big enough to carry all my large drafting rulers and rolled up slopers, I dug this out and finished it. It's based off a 1950s suede clutch I bought at auction back in high school.
More vintage! This is from an e-pattern I picked up on etsy. Rather than a full-sized pattern, it was a diagram with a drafting scale, intended for use by home sewers. I'm not sure if I was just failing at it, or if the scaling doesn't work as well for large sizes, because when I drafted it up for my bust width it was too long, and when I went for center front length it was way too small and the darts were out of whack. So I wound up just using my base sloper and creating the bodice from scratch. It's not perfect yet- too much ease in the bust right now, but I absolutely love how it looks. Whenever I do wear it again I'm going to do a little tweaking.
February:
Rather than sewing I spent most of February knitting this shawl, which I gave to my mom for her birthday the end of February. And I still haven't taken a picture of it since I wove all the ends in either. Oops.
March:
More knitting! This I did in just a couple round trip train rides to class. It's a thick yarn on wide needles, so it went fast.
Sortie cap! I've since finished this, but because I haven't had an opportunity to wear it I never photographed it.
Joe's suit for the Francaise Dinner. I'm super happy with how this came out, given it was my first time making menswear. I still need to put on the coat buttons and buttonholes, but I really don't feel rushed to do it, honestly. He looks pretty darn snazzy as is. He got to wear this again for the Battle of Trenton Ball last week, and I overheard someone admiring the striped silk I used for it. Score for stash fabric!
April:
As a junior member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, I can page as state and national conferences, which basically means being a gopher. Paging dress code is all white, and banquets require evening wear. Rather than try and hit up David's Bridals' $99 dollar sale, I opted to hit up Jomar instead. Last summer I'd picked up this absolutely beautiful laser border cut Kenneth Pool fabric for $2 a yard. I used a vintage Vogue 1950s pattern, and put six yards into the skirt alone. I forgot to take a picture without my shawl or sash (the hotel was cold!) but I'll be wearing it again in April. I also need to add an extra layer of lining in the lower bodice. I didn't realize as I was making it, but my tattoo is definitely visible through two layers of the fabric.
Spring semester:
My spring semester class was a very frustrating one, as my professor spent a large part of the semester teaching to the slowest students in the class. But since we were required to make full muslins for all of our bodices, I actually took pictures of them. The green one was my final project. All are inspired by 1930s and 1940s bodices/dresses, except the initial sloper.
June:
For my friend's birthday in June I made her a shower curtain. Random, I know, but she had everything else for her bathroom with this specific character, but shower curtains just didn't exist. So I had the fabric custom printed on Spoonflower and made it up for her. It was easy to make. The most time consuming thing was cutting the panels and getting them lined up perfectly. It's currently hanging in her master bath.
October:
I did no other personal sewing until October, when I made a medieval fitted gothic gown for Halloween. I knocked it out in only a few days, and I'm very happy with it! I plan to make a sideless surcoat to go over it. I also forgot to take pictures without the wimple and veil, and in better lighting, because I just fail at pictures.
December:
In another speed sewing event, I made this for New Castle's Dickens Christmas event. I did a super quickie muslin fitting Sunday night just to check the fit of the bodice. Tuesday night I redrafted the bodice into the specific shape I wanted for the separate bolero and vest. Then I had Wednesday morning, Thursday evening, and Friday for sewing. And I actually did finish it that Friday, to wear it the Saturday in Delaware. I love it. I just need to repleat the skirt. It was a little too loose, and the front kept dropping under the vest. It's an easy fix though! Amanda made my bonnet, and I love that too. The green silk she used is just gorgeous.
My final project for my children's wear pattern drafting class! I absolutely adore it, and no child will ever touch it because it's so perfect right now, haha. This might be one of my future pattern offerings. I didn't bother taking pictures of my other projects this semester, since most of them were either pieces, like lone sleeves, or only half-muslins, which just look weird in pictures.
(Not pictured!)
For the Trenton Ball last week I made a new petticoat to go with my 1740s mantua. Amanda posted a picture of it, and right now I'm too lazy to hunt it down. It's just a basic 18th century petticoat. It's Jomar white silk taffeta, which means it's actually faux silk. But it looks good and has really nice body under the silk brocade gown, so I don't really care. I tore the panels for it Christmas Day evening and pinned all the pleats. Saturday afternoon (the day of the ball) it only took a couple hours to sew it all up. I also transferred the pleated brocade ruffle from the old pink petticoat to the new one. I also rehemmed the mantua so that it was just floor length all around instead of having a sweep in the back. Much safer to dance that way!
And that's all the sewing and crafting I did this past year!
I'm also starting to plot out what I want to sew next year.
I've already decided to spend January and February making new undies for all periods. I need three chemises: 18th century, regency, and Victorian. I need pantaloons. I need to finally sew the regency stays I cut out a year ago. I need to do a little repair work on my 1780s stays, mainly replacing a couple of the broken cane bones. If possible, I want to make a new pair of fully boned stays appropriate for Pennsbury Manor. I need to decide if I want to just take in my Victorian corset, or make a new one.
I want to do pre-raphaelite/faux medieval for my birthday, which is April. I've got the fitted gown, I just need something to go over it now. I'm told one of my spring semester professors expects a fully sewn piece every week though, so we'll see how much time/energy I have outside of schoolwork for personal sewing.
Beyond that I'm not entirely sure what will be happening. I've got linen to make a new Pennsbury mantua as well, but I probably won't need it until May or June. And those don't take a ton of time to make. It'll probably come on the train with me where I can sit and hand sew for a good 80 minutes each way.
I also want to flesh out my late 18th century wardrobe. I've been doing that more than Victorian lately, and I want to keep at it while it holds my interest.
I'm hoping to move sometime in the summer, i.e. between semesters, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have for sewing in general. 2016 is going to be a very busy year in a lot of different ways.
And my best friend is getting married in something like 55 days. I have no idea what I'm going to wear to hear wedding yet either. It's a cinderella's ball type theme, so I told her I'd just wear one of my Victorian ball gowns, but she was less than enthused by that idea. I have a really nice evening gown, and while it fits in the body, it's too tight now in the bust. And the boobs are the one place I haven't lost weight from as my weight has gone down. I'm trying to decide if I want to see if I can find myself a dress for under $150 or so, or just make myself something.
But that's not the point of this post! This is my 2015 in review. It was crappy in some ways, and good in others. The best of course being that my mom is still here, followed very closely by Joe proposing.
January:
While I started this outfit before New Year's, I finished it in January, so I'm counting in here. I altered one of Simplicity's vintage patterns to replicate one I'd found on the Commercial Pattern Archive. The hat and scarf came from a patterns initially found on CoPA as well, but rather than waste tons of time trying to figure out the scale from an unmarked diagram, I managed to find someone selling a repro of it on eBay. Much easier that way. The hat is really utterly ridiculous on its own, but all together I love how it looks.
I'd actually started the piecing for this bag years ago, but all I had sewn down was the outermost red parts. Because I was about to start up classes and I wanted a bag big enough to carry all my large drafting rulers and rolled up slopers, I dug this out and finished it. It's based off a 1950s suede clutch I bought at auction back in high school.
More vintage! This is from an e-pattern I picked up on etsy. Rather than a full-sized pattern, it was a diagram with a drafting scale, intended for use by home sewers. I'm not sure if I was just failing at it, or if the scaling doesn't work as well for large sizes, because when I drafted it up for my bust width it was too long, and when I went for center front length it was way too small and the darts were out of whack. So I wound up just using my base sloper and creating the bodice from scratch. It's not perfect yet- too much ease in the bust right now, but I absolutely love how it looks. Whenever I do wear it again I'm going to do a little tweaking.
February:
Rather than sewing I spent most of February knitting this shawl, which I gave to my mom for her birthday the end of February. And I still haven't taken a picture of it since I wove all the ends in either. Oops.
March:
More knitting! This I did in just a couple round trip train rides to class. It's a thick yarn on wide needles, so it went fast.
Sortie cap! I've since finished this, but because I haven't had an opportunity to wear it I never photographed it.
Joe's suit for the Francaise Dinner. I'm super happy with how this came out, given it was my first time making menswear. I still need to put on the coat buttons and buttonholes, but I really don't feel rushed to do it, honestly. He looks pretty darn snazzy as is. He got to wear this again for the Battle of Trenton Ball last week, and I overheard someone admiring the striped silk I used for it. Score for stash fabric!
April:
As a junior member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, I can page as state and national conferences, which basically means being a gopher. Paging dress code is all white, and banquets require evening wear. Rather than try and hit up David's Bridals' $99 dollar sale, I opted to hit up Jomar instead. Last summer I'd picked up this absolutely beautiful laser border cut Kenneth Pool fabric for $2 a yard. I used a vintage Vogue 1950s pattern, and put six yards into the skirt alone. I forgot to take a picture without my shawl or sash (the hotel was cold!) but I'll be wearing it again in April. I also need to add an extra layer of lining in the lower bodice. I didn't realize as I was making it, but my tattoo is definitely visible through two layers of the fabric.
Spring semester:
My spring semester class was a very frustrating one, as my professor spent a large part of the semester teaching to the slowest students in the class. But since we were required to make full muslins for all of our bodices, I actually took pictures of them. The green one was my final project. All are inspired by 1930s and 1940s bodices/dresses, except the initial sloper.
June:
For my friend's birthday in June I made her a shower curtain. Random, I know, but she had everything else for her bathroom with this specific character, but shower curtains just didn't exist. So I had the fabric custom printed on Spoonflower and made it up for her. It was easy to make. The most time consuming thing was cutting the panels and getting them lined up perfectly. It's currently hanging in her master bath.
October:
I did no other personal sewing until October, when I made a medieval fitted gothic gown for Halloween. I knocked it out in only a few days, and I'm very happy with it! I plan to make a sideless surcoat to go over it. I also forgot to take pictures without the wimple and veil, and in better lighting, because I just fail at pictures.
December:
In another speed sewing event, I made this for New Castle's Dickens Christmas event. I did a super quickie muslin fitting Sunday night just to check the fit of the bodice. Tuesday night I redrafted the bodice into the specific shape I wanted for the separate bolero and vest. Then I had Wednesday morning, Thursday evening, and Friday for sewing. And I actually did finish it that Friday, to wear it the Saturday in Delaware. I love it. I just need to repleat the skirt. It was a little too loose, and the front kept dropping under the vest. It's an easy fix though! Amanda made my bonnet, and I love that too. The green silk she used is just gorgeous.
My final project for my children's wear pattern drafting class! I absolutely adore it, and no child will ever touch it because it's so perfect right now, haha. This might be one of my future pattern offerings. I didn't bother taking pictures of my other projects this semester, since most of them were either pieces, like lone sleeves, or only half-muslins, which just look weird in pictures.
(Not pictured!)
For the Trenton Ball last week I made a new petticoat to go with my 1740s mantua. Amanda posted a picture of it, and right now I'm too lazy to hunt it down. It's just a basic 18th century petticoat. It's Jomar white silk taffeta, which means it's actually faux silk. But it looks good and has really nice body under the silk brocade gown, so I don't really care. I tore the panels for it Christmas Day evening and pinned all the pleats. Saturday afternoon (the day of the ball) it only took a couple hours to sew it all up. I also transferred the pleated brocade ruffle from the old pink petticoat to the new one. I also rehemmed the mantua so that it was just floor length all around instead of having a sweep in the back. Much safer to dance that way!
And that's all the sewing and crafting I did this past year!
I'm also starting to plot out what I want to sew next year.
I've already decided to spend January and February making new undies for all periods. I need three chemises: 18th century, regency, and Victorian. I need pantaloons. I need to finally sew the regency stays I cut out a year ago. I need to do a little repair work on my 1780s stays, mainly replacing a couple of the broken cane bones. If possible, I want to make a new pair of fully boned stays appropriate for Pennsbury Manor. I need to decide if I want to just take in my Victorian corset, or make a new one.
I want to do pre-raphaelite/faux medieval for my birthday, which is April. I've got the fitted gown, I just need something to go over it now. I'm told one of my spring semester professors expects a fully sewn piece every week though, so we'll see how much time/energy I have outside of schoolwork for personal sewing.
Beyond that I'm not entirely sure what will be happening. I've got linen to make a new Pennsbury mantua as well, but I probably won't need it until May or June. And those don't take a ton of time to make. It'll probably come on the train with me where I can sit and hand sew for a good 80 minutes each way.
I also want to flesh out my late 18th century wardrobe. I've been doing that more than Victorian lately, and I want to keep at it while it holds my interest.
I'm hoping to move sometime in the summer, i.e. between semesters, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have for sewing in general. 2016 is going to be a very busy year in a lot of different ways.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2015-12-31 06:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-01 01:58 am (UTC)I'm looking forward to seeing what you do in 2016, and I understand about your mom and hope things improve this year.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-01 06:31 am (UTC)