urgh

May. 18th, 2011 11:04 pm
miss_philomena: (strawberries and cream window)
CADD is hitting and it's hitting hard. It tends to come when I'm past the halfway point of a project, and all I want is to play with the next pretty thing. I think the only reason why I haven't started working on my blue striped summer bustle is the fact that I haven't unpacked my 1872 bustled crinoline yet, and I need to actually measure out the skirt lengths, because I'm not doing a train for this dress. And by no train I mean I'm probably going to do just a sweep, about 4" long in the back. I just need to see by how much I need to shorten my 7-gore pattern side back and back pieces, because I drafted it for about the 16" train as seen in my icon. (Yes I realize I could just cut the back 12" shorter. But I want to double check.)

I also want to make a nicer petticoat than the plain white one I wore at CosCon. I have a few yards of eyelet, so I'll probably use that. I think I'm going to do a yoke for that to keep the very top of the bustle smooth.

But I think most of all I'm in an accessories mood. I just dug through a bag of vintage gloves I have and pulled out four pairs that fit me. One pair is white fabric, two pairs are kid leather, one white and one pink, and a lovely suede pair that are burgundy. I'm also really itching to make some more hats. IDK, they're just so much fun. I've got a blue straw hat I picked up a while back from Goodwill that I'm going to use to make a little topper hat to go with my summer bustle. And even though I don't really have anything to wear with it I'm in the mood to make a ridiculously large hat, either something like the giant purple hat Kate Winslet wore in her first scene in Titanic, or a large high-crowned 1780s hat. We'll see, I suppose~

:/

May. 11th, 2011 10:15 pm
miss_philomena: (1875 train)
so scrapbook isn't working with the lj.app or something? Not cool, LJ. Your force me to email my pictures to myself just so I can upload them here. 365 pics will have to wait until LJ decides to behave again.

But anyway, stripy natural form update! Okay technically it's not an update because I haven't done anything else, but I took a picture! :D It still needs hemming, but that shouldn't take too long. And then all I really need to do is the bodice! I still need to cut the flatlining for that before I can piece it. I'm flatlining the main body with the same green striped cotton I used for the underskirt, and I'm gonna bagline the sleeves with probably some white silk taffeta I have in my stash. And I'm still trying to decide exactly how I want to trim this. Because the silk itself is such a bold design, I think I might only do some ivory lace around the neckline and end of the sleeves. And I think I'm gonna do either ivory or gold buttons on the bodice too.

big pic )

Now, for a bit of planning~ I think the next thing I'm going to work on is a summer bustle gown a la the 1872 dress I posted the other day. I was originally thinking of some type of floral print like the original, but then I remembered I have a lovely blue striped cotton gauze in my stash. It always comes back to stripes, what can I say? So not only to I want a nice light summer gown, I want it for something specific. That being Belvidere's Victorian Days this September. Which also means I'll probably need a white or light colored corset, instead of my black one. >_> But I've got a pattern I already like, so I'd just need to make another one.

ETA: works so much better when I get the html right >_>;;
miss_philomena: (watteau)
I'll admit, I haven't been sewing anywhere near as much as I should've been. D: Part of it is laziness, I'll admit. But part of it is also because I've been experimenting.

What, you ask, have I been experimenting on? I've been intrigued with the 1872 bustle hoop from Corsets and Crinolines, and so I've been playing with it. I'll admit, I've made mistakes every step of the way, but as this first one is only the trial, I'm not as worried about it. It's also made of two different types of fabric, and two unmatching colors of bias tape. Apart from the waistband it's all pieced together, though because I ran out of hooping steel it only has the bustle steels and the bottom most hoop. But my new stuff arrived today, so I plan to finish it tomorrow hopefully. But even with most of it's hoops missing, I'm already loving the shape of the bustle. Have a couple (fuzzy cameraphone) pictures! (With bonus Watteau bustle).

here's my lobstertail style bustle
and this is the 1872 bustled crinoline before I put in the bottom hoop

There isn't just bustle across the very back. It actually comes around my hips, adding some soft fullness there that's a part of the early bustle silhouette that looks lovely, if I do say so. I'm eager to see how it looks once I finish it up.

miss_philomena: (watteau)
A couple weeks ago I got the Watteau bustle polonaise all drafted and ready to go. I just cut out the pattern, and hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to lay the fabric out in the living room and get it pinned and cut out. I should have juuuuuuuust enough of the printed cotton to wiggle it out. But I drafted it so that the back would be as long as possible, so if my fabric shrunk more than I expected in the wash, I can just shorten that up as much as needed. If the center back ends up less than 68", well, it's not the end of the world. XD

In other news, I picked up the 'Fashioning Fashion' book yesterday at Barnes and Noble. And thanks to a coupon and mom's membership, it came out to $35 instead of $55. I like saving lots of money on pretty books~ :3 I wish I could see the exhibit in person, but sadly that's not possible.

Hmm... I think that's all I need to post on for now. Maybe tomorrow, if I get everything cut out and pieced, I'll have pictures to share. :3

Posted via Journaler.
miss_philomena: (grey purple plaid)
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.

miss_philomena: (watteau)

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 [livejournal.com profile] 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.

miss_philomena: (Default)
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.

miss_philomena: (Default)
Redrafting the pattern for my 1872 Watteau polonaise has been put on hold due to a lack of space. If I were inclined to move my very large and heavy kitchen table, I'd have enough room there to draft up the long parts, but that requires moving a large and heavy table. I think I'll just wait until Wednesday evening, when my neighborhood civic society has the monthly meeting in the local church basement. Plenty of space there. I'm also 75% decided on fabric for that. Since only the polonaise is cut out of the print, and all of the ruffles and skirt are made from the solid, I should be fine with 7 yards. It'll just depend on how wide the side back and center back pieces end up.

Because I can't work on just one project at once, I've got the bodice for an 1874 evening gown cut out, and need to work on that some. Not much else to say at this point, other than I need to scan in the plate I'm using as inspiration for that.

Only two projects at once? Are you kidding? I can't leave well enough alone, and have started on an 18th century project as well. I've pulled out fabric and traced off the pattern, and at some point soon I'll start on a set of stays. This set caught my eye, mainly because of the decorative lacing up the front, and what appears to be wavy cording. I can't consider the lacing functional, anyway, because it doesn't lace all the way down, and it doesn't look like it meant to be opened there either. "Fitting and Proper" also features a set of stays that has that bit of lacing at the front, and the angled boning. The McCord Museum's stays simply seem a more elaborate version of those. Anyway, I plan to use some hunter green cotton satteen I dug out as the face fabric, and will have to keep an eye out for a nice ivory cotton or linen tape for the binding before class next week. If I take an earlier train I should have more than enough time to run over to M&J first.

miss_philomena: (Default)
I took pictures today. Got some strange looks from families picnicking, but oh well.



The rest here.

I'm having oral surgery Wednesday, so I'll probably start working on the pattern for my next dress after that. I plan on adapting TV's 1873 Polonaise, which I've already fit to myself. I'll be doing a full out dress diary for it, so look for th starting post soon.

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miss_philomena: (Default)
miss_philomena

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