anielmom

In that spirit, I've drafted up a pair of  drawers from Fashion of the Gilded Age.   Managed to con D. into tracing a simple shamrock border on one of the knee bands, (he bailed on me for the second one).  Started embroidering that with a simple backstitch.  Took an hour to manage one lousy shamrock.  Might finish sometime before the next decade ends.  Could forgo the embroidery, but I want pretty knickers d*mn it!   Bak to the needle.  Will post progress tomorrow, if any is to be had.

After being totally inspired by bauhausfrau  's 18th cent. shoe recovering tutorial, and finding two pairs of the most perfect shoes dirt cheep, I decided to give it a go.  But I need Victorian boots at the moment, not 18th cent., so decided to try and modify her method.  So this is part one of who knows how many journals documenting my progress.

( Step 1: Spray the heck out of it )

The CADD has been kickin' my butt lately.  But I finally got around to cutting out and marking the final version of the Victorian corset.  I even have it partialy pinned together.  The hardware should be here tomorrow.
But, now I'm sick of it again.  *sigh*  So I think I'm going to try my hand at recovering a pair of shoes.  As I need a pair of Victorian boots, but don't have cash on hand to buy said boots, I'm going to try to make my own out of one of my thrift store finds.  Crossing my fingers that it works!

All the bodice and sleeve pieces have been scaled up.  Yipe!  The skirt I'll tackle by draping once I get a bodice mock up done.  Of course, none of this can go forward until I get that corset done.  Which means I've got to order the supplies.  Then there's the matter of fabric.

For the jacket I'm going with the black cotton velvet.  Safe choice, I know.  But hey, it works.  I have a few in mind for the dress.  None of which is over $6.00 a yd.

Any thoughts?  I could really use some input, 'cause I can't stop dithering.

Fabric 1  not to sure about twill

Fabric 2  I really want stripes, so I'm  leaning toward this one.

Fabric 3   I like the delicate feel of this one.  And its green.

Fabric 4 Again, I'm not too sure about the twill

I'm almost done with take 2 of the V.C.   Only 5 more boning channels to go, then cut the spirals.  (always a pita.)
Hopefully I'll have it ready to try on tonight.  *crosses fingers*  I'm getting anxious to see if the changes I made will work!

Side note:
I've got a place holder blog over at insanejournal, just in case L.J. goes bye,bye.

Just finished cutting out Mock u p#2 for the Victorian corset, and the first draft of the Regency stays.  I figure I'll wait to order the bones for the Victorian until I know what length I need for the back opening of the Regency. 
Now it's off to pick E up from school.

We had a very busy weekend!  On saturday we took a drive out the the forest.   We had lunch and went for a nice walk.  E loves to climb into the holes in redwood trees!  But then, so did I when I was a kid.  
Then we had to go grocery shopping.  And of course, had an attack of sticker shock.  It's appalling how much the price of food has gone up.

Sunday, we headed over to Marine World.  Again.  E's best friend's b-day is coming next Sunday, and we wanted to pick up a few gifts for her.   She wants a "soft shark" and "soft dolphin" (plush), so we got those, as well as a shirt and a necklace with a dolphin charm that has her name on it.  We had a lot of fun.  The weather was nice, and the lines were short, for the most part.  

E started camp yesterday.  She is very excited to be spending the next two weeks with her best friend!

After taking the car in for service, I thought I would have the whole day to sew.  Didn't happen.  I got a call from my sister, saying my aunt was at her house and wanted to see me.  So, I went over there, and now have even more sewing added to my list of already epic proportions!

On the sewing front:

On Saturday, I only got around to sewing the bodice lining down on E's Faire Frock.  Sunday I was to tired to do anything.  So we watched a movie.  (side note:  If you have not seen 'There Will Be Blood' don't.  D and I couldn't see what all the hype was about.)  Yesterday,  I spent what little time I had in the afternoon futzing around with Gemma.  She was still a bit bigger than me in all the places that matter.  I got her down to a more reasonable size and added soutache braid to all the seam lines.  The lines on the cover are not quite as accurate as I would like, especially the side seams.   I also re-worked the pattern and cut out the interfacing for the trim on the Archery Gown.



 

 So, I have made some progress on the Victorian corset.  I stitched up the back , and have turned it into a front lacing style.  The fit is better.  Not perfect, but it's on its way to being usable.  I need to let out a little along the back, and side seams to shift the bust seam to a more appropriate place.  Otherwise it seems to a pretty good fit.  I've boned the heck out of it with plastic boning, 26 in all, and it is surprisingly strong, I think it will work well on Gemma.  Pictures to come, once I get it looking a little better.

I plan to start drafting a new corset pattern using the instructions on Your Wardrobe Unlock'd tonight.  I have already done the "maths" for it, so just need to plot it out.  I'm thinking of using 1" grid interfacing that I've had around forever to do the draft.  That way I'll be 100% sure all my lines are straight and my corners are square.
 
I also need to make the smock pattern for E's Faire Frock.  In looking at the shape of the neckline on the over gown, I wish I had lowered it a bit, and made it more square.  I may need to chest on the smock and give it a back opening in order to get it over her head.  Oh well, live and learn.

E starts summer camp on Monday.  That means two whole weeks of being able to sew during the day!  Yippee!

Once bitten by the sewing bug, I couldn't not do something about it.  With D turning in early last night, all I had room for was cutting out/marking the corset.  So I did!  Yay!  the first sewing related thing I've done in months, and it feels good.  Tonight I plan on getting started on E's faire frock.  That really must come first, as She will need it in the next month.  Hopefully I will now be able to find the will to finish the Archery gown.  It looks so forlorn, hanging on Gemma, just wanting the finishing touches.