Miss Philomena

Hello, everyone. Things have been, to put it lightly, utterly insane since my last post. I was laid off from my job the day after my father was hospitalized. It'll be a month tomorrow that he's been in there, though my mom and I are hoping he'll be released within the next week or so. But it should be obvious, with her at the hospital every day, and me up there 3 or 4 days a week and taking care of the house (and kitties) the rest of the time, anything sewing and costume related has fallen to the wayside.

But I've been itching to work on something for the last few days. I just can't decide what I want to work on. :3

Since it's only a little more than an hour north of me, I have no excuse for missing Costume Con. Which means I also need a plan of action for it. I'm almost tempted to do a different century each day. I've got my two German Renn gowns to cover the 16th century, and they only need some finishing work to be wearable at this point. As for the 17th century, I might do either 1630s or 1660s. For the 18th century, I've wanted to do a late style 1730s/40s mantua for years. And finally the 19th century will be something(s) in the elliptical/early bustle style.

This is just a tentative plan, of course, but I think, as long as schedule myself well I can get it all done. I think tonight I'll poke through my fashion plates and portraits and firm up my ideas.

I tried everything on earlier and it's all looking fabulous, but I didn't feel like taking pictures. I've got the bodice lining cut out, and I'll do the plaid next. And when it's light out tomorrow I'll go outside and tear the strips for the velvet bands on the skirt. I'd rather keep all that fuzz outside.

I've also started covering the bonnet as well. I'm using a brown cotton velveteen for the outer fabric. I've got the crown cut, gathered and pinned on. I'll baste it down and then put on the brim. I'm leaning towards using blue ribbons for trim to match the blue stripes on the silk. We'll see what I like when I go up to M&J.

On a completely different note, I'm toying with the idea of switching out the Watteau bustle gown for my teal Venetian for Costume Con. I'll decide that once I finish everything for Poe.

(Please excuse the messy sewing room)

And here it is with a couple of petticoats on the left, and with the dress fabric draped over it on the left. The bonnet frame is for my mom. I've wired and put the flannel on it, but I still need to bind the edges and cover it, obviously.

And on a different note, I've decided to jump in on the polonaise bandwagon. I fell in love with this polonaise in the Kyoto Costume Institute the very first time I saw it. To keep up with the theme I'm doing with my green 1869 villainess gown, I'm going to use a green and black stiped dupioni I have, and trim it with silver. Along with self trim I want to use some silver, so it'll be my Slytherin polonaise.

I think I'm going to take a break from the Poe dress tonight and start working on the black straw capote to go with my polonaise. I won't start working on the polonaise itself until I finish everything for the Poe event.

Okay, this is an attempt to plan out what I want to do over the next three and a half months for Costume Con. Now, taking into account classes and a part-time job with my usual speed, I'm going to try for two outfits a month. Once I make a new pair of drawers and finish my fully boned stays, I won't need to factor in undies time. Anyway, here's a tentative schedule.

January:
1840s dresses x2 for Poe
18th century fully boned stays
1780s Chemise à la Reine if I can, otherwise it'll get bumped back where it fits.

February:
1872 Watteau Bustle Gown
1869 Villainess Gown, on the left

March:
1660s Catherine-Charlotte de Gramont, Princess of Monaco for charlesii.
Secret Project for the Masq

April:
1791 Purple Sari Pierrot Jacket and Skirt
1920s Print Silk Dress, adaptation
1957 dress

Of course, if I finish stuff faster than I plan (which I probably will), things will get bumped up. Unfortunately, my budget won't allow for the duchesse satin for the 1660s gown until March, but if I can, the April dresses will get bumped up sooner because I already have the fabric for all of them, leaving more time for the March dresses.

ETA: wow that's a lot of tags. XD

ETA2: I've put up an ij mirror account, but I'm not worried about needing it. It's there just in case. Feel free to friend it.

Back in October when I told my mom about the Poe events this month she started whining about how much she wants to go as well. I told her if she wanted to go with me, though, she'd have to dress up too. Today she finally decided to go full out.

We've decided to keep if fairly simple, since I'll probably end up making her outfit as well as mine, but we've got four weeks so it should be fine. I'm going to use one the bodice patterns from Cut of Women's Clothes with a plain skirt. We're going to use a wool blend I just got off of ebay, a charcoal ground with fushia and cream plaid stripes. For an outer layer we've got a pinkish tan wool for a mantelet. I've got a buckram bonnet frame I started I while back that I can whip up for her once I wire it. Add in a few petticoats, and possibly a corded one, depending on how much longer it takes to make mine, chemise and drawers and she'll be good to go.

I'll post more details at some point tonight or tomorrow.