The Old Switcherooni (March Sewing Challenge)

Well, this post is late, and the blue corset I had named as my March Sewing Challenge project still isn't finished (hand-sewn eyelets are time-consuming, and I'm making like three thousand of them). 

So I'm cheating, sort of - technically I DID make this outfit from start to finish in March, even though I hadn't planned to feature it:  

A viking "apron dress with straps in a V
configuration at the back, for a friend. 

Decorative contrast stitching on all the seams, the top and
bottom edges, and arrows on the straps (the recipient is an archer). 

Decorative band of rows of stitches along the lower hem...and
Daisy's butt, which she manages to get into like 98% of my photos. 

Ta-da?   I think so.  She loved it. :) 

More on the corset soon, I hope! 

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March Sewing Challenge: Part 2

Work on the blue corset proceeds apace:

Post #1:

• pattern drafted from existing Renfest corset:  re-sized, no. of pieces changed, back/sides re-shaped for style
• pattern traced onto paper for future use
• fabric cut out:  outer shell, inner lining, two layers of interlining

As of now: 

• interlining basted in place
• lining and outer shell sewn together, including straps
• Boning and cording channels sew in front/back/sides
• Cording inserted (sturdy upholstery welting cord, cotton)
• Boning inserted (bamboo kitchen skewers (it was what I had on hand)

I've also got most of the edge trim attached, but not finished, all the way around the pieces - but I've changed my mind about the color, and will be removing the trim and replacing it tonight.  After that, all that's left is the finishing that I have to do by hand - some stitching, some eyelet holes, stuff like that.  

Next set of pics should be a finished corset!  :D 

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March Sewing Challenge: Procrastination Edition

Sometime last year, I decided I wanted a Tudoriffic corset*.   Several months ago - before I re-did the sewing room - I went so far as to try on my old Renfest corset and mark up the pieces so that I could transpose it into something more or less period.

oops.  bit small these days. 

For a long time, the almost-pattern that I made that day sat in carefully organized storage a pile of other crap, awaiting the day when The Perfect Fabric might come along.  It did, eventually.  It was exactly what I'd been waiting for, and I guess that day I had CrazyFlakez for breakfast or something, because it got made into the top half of a sideless surcote instead:

However...

DUN DUN DUNNNN......  (to be continued)...



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Stuff I'm Working On

Honest to gosh, I have NO clue what to do for February's Sewing Challenge project.  I have eight yards of a beautiful black silk that I got on clearance last month (four. dollars. a yard.  Not even kidding), but I also have:

• an arming cote for a guy
• a Viking apron dress for a gal
• a wooden X-chair to strip and refinish for a guy
• a non-SCA art project commission for a gal
• THIS: 

Oops. 

And I'm about to take on a second job and will likely be working anywhere from 70-90 hours a week, depending on what my night job's schedule is going to look like.  (Hopefully it won't last for more than three or four months).  

I'm going to be down to weekends-only, project-wise. So...I guess we'll see?  Anyway, if I'm scarce going forward, that's why.  See you guys on the flip side, or as soon/often as I can.  

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January Sewing Challenge + Blue Silk Cotehardie Finished

TADA and stuff.

Hey, look, it's another blue cotehardie. I should start a blog or something.

Closeup of sleeve buttons and buttonholes.  Nom.





Buttons given to me by a friend in trade for some jewelry and jewelry parts.

Photo of the actual fabric texture, a woven stripe with very nearly a seersucker effect, once washed and pressed.


This fabric was a birthday present!  :D

Since I wanted to button the sleeves, I had to convert the top-seam raglan sleeve pattern to a back-seam pattern....I realized after I'd cut the whole thing out.

Nearly thirty years sewing, and I still do stupid crap like that.  I originally made two right sleeves, too, and had to re-do one.
Derp.

So I sewed the top seam closed and cut a line up the center for the new opening.

I intended to make a paper pattern for my raglan-sleeve cotehardie pattern set from this, but there were some minor complications* that led me to skip it, for now.

The sleeve openings and neckline/front opening are faced with a dark blue washed silk bias tape that I cut from a remnant.



(That's Rabi, my sewing helper, or, as a friend of mine calls these things, a "fuzzy pattern weight").









*About that "minor" complication:  while I'm not normally one for New Year's resolutions, I did something crazy this January 1st and joined a gym, and have been going nearly every day since then (go me).  While I've lost a bit of weight already, I realized, while doing the final fitting and alterations on this cotehardie, that I've got muscles in new places, and I'm already taking on a completely different shape:  not just "less of me", but my upper back is widening with muscle development, my ass is higher and hips narrower, and my biceps seem to be reaching for the Hulk Hogan stars.  Gotta watch the upper arm development, yikes.

That's all well and good, but I cut this dress out weeks ago and have been just staring at it since then, until just the other day.  I've changed shape so much since I cut out the pieces that the dress no longer fits - and it's not a matter of letting out or in: there are sections of the dress that just aren't the right shape, as if I'm putting on an outfit tailored to someone else entirely.  Which means, sadly, that I can't wear my Candlemas dress to Candlemas.

I did, however, come up with a solution to at least that problem.  Details tomorrow!

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Candlemas 2014 + January Sewing Challenge

With any luck, this will be me in two weeks:

I have NO idea why the picture came out gray - it's white on my screen, y'all.  Sorry.

Simple cotehardie, in a blue silk from FabricMartFabrics (.com), given to me for my birthday by a friend.  It's this color:

But with a shimmery woven stripe.  100% silk, lightweight suiting.

Floor-length tippets in white - I'm toying with the idea of doing them in a semi-sheer organza, since I have semi-sheer white organza.

Teeny silver buttons up the arms and down the front; though I haven't yet decided whether or not to do buttons allllll the way to the floor or not again.

So far, I've re-worked my raglan-sleeve cote pattern to fit me better; and I've gotten the dress and lining cut out (the lining is plain white cotton).  The sleeves will be lined in a cornflower-blue washed silk, for when I want to unbutton them and turn back the cuffs.

I'm not sure exactly how I'll make the headdress, yet, either, but I have some ideas (1, 2, 3).  (I did something similar a couple of years ago by just putting my hair up in two buns with big, plastic hair clips, and wrapping it all with fabric).

not pointy, but, it's a start.

I'm also still in the midst of re-decorating my sewing room.  Actually, the last piece - my sewing table - has finally been finished, so I'm about to throw the whole room back together and actually begin working in there again (sewing on the cutting table in my art room = NO).  Pics of that, and progress on the blue silk very soon. :)


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Navy Dress Finished (December 2013 Sewing Challenge Project)

front/back

It.  Is. Gorgeous.  It came out exactly as I planned, and for the most part, went off without a hitch (aside from some unexpected cleanup around the V in the front where the seam line was bulkier than I thought it would be).




So, you know that thing where you try on a really gorgeous outfit in a store, but then discover that while it's awesome, it's just about the least flattering thing you could possibly do to your poor body?  Disappointing, yes.  But all you have to do is put it back on the rack and move on, though.

front detail; elastic inverted-V empire waist

Now imagine that you made that outfit yourself.  You used pretty fabric you'd been saving for something special. You spent weeks planning, researching patterns, and drafting the final pattern to use.  You spend weeks putting the dress together, expending ridiculous amounts of effort to make sure every last stitch is perfect and professional-looking, and end up making the emergency-last-minute fabric store trip three times to get the exact right parts.

And only now do you realize, after all of that - and the night before you need to wear the thing - that while the dress is perfect, it looks horrible on you.  It fits like it should, but the style accentuates all the worst parts of your figure and exposes every single flaw.  And now you have a beautiful dress that you can't wear, and can't just put back on the rack.  Nor do you have anything to wear the following night for your shindig.

fake (decorative) buttons made from beads)

Still, though, it came out beautifully, and I'm really proud of it.  I'll probably never be able to wear it, though.  I could lose all the weight in the world and I think I'd still be the wrong shape for this, but you never know.

actual button (bead), and hand-made button loop

When I was a kid, my mother had a similar sewing fail - a dress she made for herself that came out great, but looked awful.  She ended up using it as the default "clothing" for her dressmaker's form, when she wasn't actually using it.

I think I'll do the same thing, if I ever get around to getting a dressmaker's form, hehe.






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And Now For Something Completely Different

Well...sort of.  First of all, this is my December entry for the Monthly Sewing Challenge.  And while it's a mundane sewing project, it IS a sewing project - it didn't seem right next to furniture makeovers and decoupaged weirdness going on over at Pushing Furniture.  When this project is finished, I'll likely link back over there, though.

Maybe I'll photograph myself in it sitting in my backyard, and then we can get all three blogs into the act.

ANYWAY.

So, you may remember the navy blue, rayon, paisley, challis/satin that I ordered back in May.  This stuff:

I got it [because it was on clearance] thinking that it would make pretty court garb, but the pattern is far too modern to look even remotely right in a period style.  So it went in a box.

However, I've accepted an invitation to something really, really cool:  a friends' holiday dinner at a very fancy restaurant, at which we're all to dress in at least semi-formal attire.  WOOHOO!!!  I haven't gotten to dress *UP* in Mundania in SO LONG!!  So long, actually, that I didn't own anything to wear to a fancy-dress dinner party.

So I had to come up with something fast, and cheap.  I had an idea of what I wanted, actually, because I've been commenting on half the formal wear pins on my Pinterest boards that, "This is what I want, if I ever get to wear formal wear again."

This was the picture I ended up choosing for my main inspiration.  The pin doesn't go anywhere, sadly;  it's captioned as a 1930s evening gown, but with no other information.

After spending hours perusing patterns online, and narrowing it down to four or five that I thought could be made to work, I called a friend of mine, who OWNS ALL THE PATTERNS.   I picked out two patterns from her stock that I thought would work for what I wanted.

This was the first:  Simplciity 3503.  There's a high back and a halter back option for view A (the long beige one) that I could make look like the inspiration picture.

Sadly, since the pattern was too small, and I was going to have to do SO much work not just upsizing the pattern itself, but also adjusting for a MUCH larger bustline (DD) than the pattern allows for, that it basically makes it not worth my time to use this pattern . Which was my favorite.

The second option was Butterick B5710, which is very modern in shaping, so, in addition to re-sizing the pattern, and adjusting the bust, and removing the drape in the front....and adding a midriff piece...and a completely different back....wait...plus a shaped, flat front skirt piece?  On these hips?  Nope.

So, oh, crap...now I didn't have a pattern to work with. Again.  Mind you, this is after two hours of studying the pattern instructions for both of these gowns, pulling out and measuring and sketching and re-drafting some of the pieces, until I finally gave up on each one.

There was a pattern I'd had in mind in the beginning that I'd discarded, mentally, because I couldn't find it online or in Lorrie's stash.  If only I had that one.

BUT LO!!  When did I buy this?!  This was the one I had been thinking of, all this time, but I don't remember purchasing it!  Hallelujah!

The shaping on this one, on the finished piece, is similar to the Simplicity pattern above, but the inverted-V-shaped waistline is elasticized instead of being an actual midriff panel (which, to be honest, is fine with me).  Since this pattern was, miraculously, already the right size and shape for me (how the...?!), the pieces themselves took VERY little alteration, only stylistically.
















The structural and stylistic changes I've made/am making to the pattern as printed are:

• View:  sleeveless, deep-V option
• Not using the triangular modesty insert in the bustline at the V-neck. Cleavage or GTFO. 
• Length extended to evening length, so that the front hemline hits the vamp of my shoe (top of foot, opposite the arch) 
• Split the back into two pieces (it was a single piece on a fold), flared he back opening and extended the center low point a bit so that when finished, the back opening would drape open like the top picture, just a little bit.  
• Scrapped the pattern's neckline and front opening facings and created my own, both to face the new back opening, and to support the fabric at the front and back openings, since it's lightweight and drape-y (flutter in the back, lay-flat in the front). 
• Using a ruffle-edged decorative elastic band on the outside at the waistline, instead of an elastic casing on the inside of that seam.  Is for pretty. 
• Also for pretty: faced the inside of the neckline and back with a lightweight decorative gimp in the same color as the fabric, for a pretty, lacy edge.  

Finished pics soon!   :D



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You, Madam, Are Out of Order.

In what I'm sure is an adorable attempt to keep up with things I say I'm going to do  ...

*pauses for laughter from the audience*

I return to October's Monthly Sewing Challenge, which you may remember from this post.   While I did not finish the purple 12th century gown in October, I DID finish it this month, and will have pictures for you very soon.

In the meantime, I DO have pictures for you of my 13th century cylcas surcote, done in Caerleon's heraldry, for the War of the Rams at BAM last Saturday:*

All linen, with machine embroidery around the edges of the neckline and sleeve openings.  And for once, worn with all appropriate and period layers (with some modern ones thrown in.  It was fücking cold):

• knee socks
• knee boots
• leggings
• linen braies
• cotton chemise (white)
• linen underdress (green - and this is actually my plain beige underdress that you've seen me wear with my blue Viking apron dress.  I dyed it last week for this event).  
• Linen cyclas
• Hair: net snood, barbette, and linen pie crust hat.  I was also wearing a veil and/or scarf wrapped around my head and neck most of the event, as well as...
• a "cloak" which was a plush lap blanket from Waldemart that I picked up for $4 at the last minute to wrap around my shoulders

I was SO WARM.  Man, all those layers feel like walking around bundled up in blankets.  Yay!  

mostly the whole thing

Cotton duck screen-printed lions satin-
stiched in place, and tongues painted with
50% mixture fabric glue and craft acrylics

Bonus project for November:

A long tunic for one of my very favorite
Vikings up in the Steppes area (Dallas). 

Green and black machine-embroidery on the
neck facing. 

Evidently I'm on a machine-embroidery kick lately.

Wait til you see December's project.  :)

SO ANYWAY, now that you've seen November's project (s)...I'll put up pics of October's project later in the week, LOL.  And then maybe afterwards I'll have my poop in a group enough to get things done and posted on time.  ;)



*  Very short event review:  fücking cold. 

A Sewing Challenge!

SarahLizSewStyle is doing a garment-a-month sewing challenge, and I'm joining in!  I'll be doing it with SCA garments, though - and maybe the occasional mundane piece.  I'd begun a new outfit for our baronial event just last week, so I've decided that that will be my October garment and my first one of this year-long challenge.

If you'd like to get in on the challenge, visit Sarah Liz at her blog here, SarahLizSewStyle:

The dress I've begun (and I spent about two hours on armpit gussets alone last night; apparently this is going to be one of THOSE projects, egad), is a 12th century pendant-sleeve down.  Much like a bliaut in cut, fit, and shaping, but with long drooping sleeve ends that start at the wrist or mid-forearm, rather than the elbow or upper arm like a bliaut.

Inspiration-wise, I give you the following:

Mistress Aénor d'Anjou, a 12th-century clothing Laurel, via Pinterest, and her website.

Revival Clothing's 12th century linen pendant-sleeved gown (there's a red/black version on the website now, though I prefer this photograph).

This lovely and simple gown by Antalika on DeviantArt.  










The fabric I'm working with is an amethyst-colored "antique satin" (a satin or silk substitute developed in the 1950s which can be made of several different combinations of fibers;  mine is rayon and silk), which is cross-woven with black and with a slubbed weave and a very subtle luster on the outside.  I purchased it at Gulf Wars in March, and while I don't have a picture of my actual fabric, it's just about this color, maybe a tad lighter:

SilkBaron's "blackberry" dupioni

I cut out the dress pieces last week; last night I managed to get the body all put together, the neckline shaped, the gores in the skirt and underarm gussets all pieced in, and the sleeve pendants shaped, but not attached.  Not bad for one night!  Especially when you consider that I'm basically improvising this pattern as I go along.  I cut the basic body shapes based on my cotehardie pattern, without didn't cut a neckline so that I could do that later, and a tad large so that I can slip the entire dress over my head.  

This fabric is what my mother used to call "hairy."  It unravels like crazy, and SHEDS EVERYWHERE.  While the fabric itself is strong, trying to pick out an errant line of stitching is like walking on a rotten rope bridge across LAVA.  UGH.  

That said, otherwise, it's been wonderful to work with.  It has some give on the bias, but mostly doesn't stretch at all, so there aren't any weird tension issues with it pulling.  It's lightweight, but with a beautiful heavy drape, and feels wonnnnnnnderful against my skin.  I'm almost disappointed that I have to wear a chemise under it, hehe. 

The fun part is, I have to have the dress finished by THURSDAY NIGHT.  @_@   I still have to create an exterior neck facing and attach it, attach the sleeve pendants, finish all the interior seams, and hem the skirt. If I end up with time, I may also run some very simple embroidery (by hand) along the edge of the neck facing, and maybe around the edges of the sleeve openings, but I'm not sure about that yet.  

For now, the dress is just a pull-over, meant to be wrapped with a loooooong cloth belt (which I don't have, by the way, so there's that).  I'll be wearing my linen pie-crust filet hat, with a linen barbette, and either my large silk veil, or my small chiffon veil with the pearl edging.  Haven't decided yet. 

Fun!  So we'll see how far I get tonight.  Update when finished! 

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