Miss Philomena

I was just feeling a bit under the weather for a few days, and despite only taking two classes this semester, they're already running me ragged.

Anyway, the first and most important thing: Poe pictures! Anyone who wants to is welcome to snag stuff. I can also supply high-res full size (3008x2000 pixels) for anyone that wants them.

I was also very productive yesterday and basically finished my capote. I sewed the straw brim over a month ago, and I finally dug out the silk for the crown. The lace is only pinned on, but I'm still deciding if that's how I want to do it. The first two are obviously pre-assembly, and the second two are how it currently looks.

The green is a bit brighter than the striped silk I'm using for the polonaise, but I'm choosing to ignore that fact. I also had originally planned to use silver trim for the outfit, but I pulled out a burnished gold and green trim that looks amazing with the stripe, so it's not quite a Slytherin polonaise now. Strange as it sounds, the gold is a little more subtle than the silver, and I like the little bit of warmth it pulls in.

I tore the panels for the skirt and overskirt the other day, and as soon as I unearth my pinking shears I'll start cutting the ruffles and working on them as well. With the stripe on the cross-grain planning it out takes a bit more fabric, so I ended up picking up the rest of the what the store had, bringing me up to 14.5 yards total, half of which is going to the ruffles. Because the ruffle on the skirt is so deep, I can only cut three out of the width, so the underskirt will need 3 yards just for the ruffles. I can cut five ruffles for the overskirt out of the width, so that'll take less fabric, luckily. And the neckline only needs a 1" ruffle, so that will just get pieced out of what's left over after I cut the bodice. I'll probably start the actual sewing next week.

The bodice is fully cut out and waiting to be sewn. The velvet bands are also on the skirt, so apart from a pocket and the binding for the opening, the skirt is finished. Yay! My mom and I are going to New York tomorrow, so I probably won't be doing any further work until Tuesday. Depends on how long it'll take me to thaw out after we get home tomorrow.

And on a completely seperate note, and the realization that I haven't talked about them at all yet-- I've got a pretty large ABJD collection. I enjoy writing, though I don't consider myself particularly amazing at it, and a number of my characters have come to life, so to speak, as dolls. The third anniversary of my first doll is coming up soon, so starting on that day, February 3rd, I'm going to (attempt to) post a doll a day, with a couple of pictures and possibly a short bio. Not all of them have been painted, but it'll be something fun for me to do, and a way to get back into photographing them more regularly. So keep an eye out on the 3rd!

I meant to do more than I did yesterday, I swear. I tore the plaid pieces for the skirt and sewed it up last night. I intended to cartridge pleat the back two panels, but I couldn't get the gauge right, so instead I did flat pleats. Oh well. I have to decide how wide I want to do the velvet bands now. I'm thinking 7 or 8 inches wide, and 3 or 4 inches apart. I might cut the bottom one wider, because it will also form the hem. Expect skirt pictures later tonight. I've also added a sleeve and half the collar to my bodice mockup, so I'll try that on later as well. If everything works out well, I might even cut out the bodice and lining at some point tonight as well. While I don't think I'll have the dress finished by the end of tomorrow, I might shoot for the end of Monday. I'm feeling good about it, and I wanna keep pushing with it.

And so this post isn't all text, yesterday I played with my hair!

My bun is a bit too low, and it's sticking out further than it would normally because it's not pinned, I just put a hairtie around it to keep it up. And in the second picture you can see my bonnet, which is lined, but I haven't put the outer fabric or any of the trim yet. My mom and I are going up to Manhattan at some point this coming week, and M & J is on the lsit of places to go. We need ribbons and such for both of our bonnets, as well as something for her mantle.

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.

Because this sounds like it could be lots of fun, I went through my folders of fashion plates and picked out something new (and cold weather appropriate) to do.

I decided on this 1875 plate, because I love the false vest look.

Much as I'd really love to use a plaid for this, I have to go with what's on hand (and I'm already working on another plaid winter dress). I dug out some dark blue velvet and some striped blue silk that I've had for ages. I'll take a picture tomorrow probably.

And to go with it, a coat, of course.

If I can, I'd like to use some bright blue wool flannel that I have, but it'll be a tight squeeze because I only have 4 yards of the 60" wide stuff. Depending on how it looks, I'll either use the dark blue velvet to trim the coat as well, or some white silk velvet I have tucked away. If I don't have enough for a full length coat, I'll go with something shorter. I have a few doleman patterns I can pick from.

In other news, I have a mockup for my Poe plaid dress sewn, I just haven't bothered to try it on with my corset yet. I finish the semester on Tuesday though, and I'm going to try and have both of these outfits fully finished by the end of the month. Well, the 1875 set has to be done my then away, since the stoll is on January 3rd.

Went to Philadelphia today, and picked up the velvet and buttons for my 1844 gown, among other things. So now I have everything I need for the gown itself. I was going to start the petticoats yesterday but I couldn't find my white muslin anywhere. I'll have to pick some up from Joann's tomorrow. On a slightly related note, how wide did the skirts tend to be in the 1840s? I'm half tempted to do everything on the cross grain, and just use the 5 yard piece I have for the full skirt. Otherwise, I'll just do 3 panels of the plaid, but it's only 44" wide. I just feel like that might be too narrow.

One of the other stores in Philly had the most gorgeous teal/peacock green heavy silk satin, for an amazing $19 a yard. I'm half tempted to go back and get it, even though there's probably only 3 yards or so. It'd be enough for a long-sleeved 1650s bodice, at the very least. Maybe tomorrow. It really was an amazing color, even if I do prefer the bluer end of the teal range.

Time to pass out now. *running on about 2 hours of sleep*

I've been doing more poking around and finally found an 1840s plate I really like. And here's what I've decided on.



I'm definitely liking the plaid dress on the right, and since it's a November 1844 plate, it'll be a great starting point for the Poe event in January. I've even got fabric that'll work for it, sort of. I think the pink really makes it, don't you? I say sort of, because I only have three yards of the plaid, and I'll probably want another three to four, since it's only 45". I'll have to stop in before my class Tuesday to see if they have anymore, because it's been almost a year since I bought it. I'll also need more of the velvet, but that'll have to wait until I know if I can get more of the silk. Plus it's from Philly, which is the opposite direction, and requires driving down there.

But first things first, this outfit needs a whole new set of undies. I'm quite tempted to just use my 1870s corset, rather than make a new one, so for now I'll just start on all the petticoats I'll need.