theladyrebecca | Recent Entries

The teagown is nearly complete. On Tuesday, I did the whole hem, and yesterday I finished all the velvet ribbon trim. So now it's down to a little hand finishing (adding 4 sets of hooks and bars on the yoke for closures, re-sewing the back watteau pleats by hand, and tacking down the ends of all the velvet ribbon bits inside), and the dreaded welt pockets. If I have the energy after all the hand-sewing tonight, I hope to do at least one practice pocket, and see how it goes.

And I've gone back to wanting to do the riding habit next, I think. I mean, I don't have to do it the super tailored way. I've done a little more research on riding habits, and though I don't know proper construction, I think I can at least figure the skirt shape out. I'll probably give myself a sewing break over the weekend, and then start tackling that on Monday.

The teagown is starting to really look like something! Over the weekend, did all the buttons/buttonholes, and I drafted the sleeves and got them attached (puffed sleeves are such a joy - mockup was almost perfect on the first try!). And then yesterday, the final trim option arrived, and naturally the one that worked best was the one I received last Wednesday (the 3/16" medium blue velvet ribbon). *sigh* Anyway, I started putting the trim on - I have one sleeve's worth completely done (and that sleeve hemmed), plus the collar is done, and I have 1 of the 3 rows on the yoke done. I also pressed and pinned the hem into place.

So I'm hoping that today and tomorrow I can basically finish everything besides the pockets. They are supposed to be some kind of welt pocket, but I'm kind of afraid of welt pockets. So I'm going to have to do some experimenting/practicing there, and if it really comes down to it, I can always do patch pockets instead.

I'd like to have it completely finished by Thursday night, but we shall see. My friend Emily and I have decided that, since our birthdays are four days apart in a few weeks, we're going to pick up a tea spread from our favorite tearoom and have a birthday tea, wearing teagowns. I'm looking forward to that!

Then it's on to the riding habit, though tbh, I'm still feeling a little scared of that project. Mostly because I don't know actual tailoring, and also, after watching Abby's video this week on examining her antique riding habit, I'm just like :o. Like, I have no idea how to do all of that. But also, the likelihood that I'm ever going to wear this on an actual horse is pretty much nil, so in that case, do I just make it look like the movie costume in whatever manner I need to, ignoring how actual riding habits were constructed? I really don't want to put this project off any longer. I'm also not sure how I should pre-treat the wool. Normally, I just throw wool through the washer/dryer, so it can get a bit fluffier/more like thicker flannel. But this one is already the texture I want it to be, so I'm not sure what to do that will make the texture stay the same.

I have to admit, I kind of just want to move on to my 1830s dress, but I feel like this project has made itself into a mental mountain of sorts, and I really need to not let it do that.

The 1890's teagown is continuing along very slowly. The body of the teagown is now fully assembled - it's lightweight wool on the outer, flatlined with cotton sateen. I've also assembled the pleated neckline yoke section, which is a decorative yoke made of one flat strip pleated to fit the neckline.

But once I got there, I reached an issue. And that's basically that Joanns sucks. I went there looking for 1/8" braided trim (or literally any 1/8" trim, or even 1/4" trim if that failed), and didn't find anything. I found one braided trim that was probably more like 3/8", and that's all they had. They also failed on buttons - no buttons at all that were anything like what I was looking for (7/8"-1", ideally blue, and not plasticky-looking).

So anyway, I have now ordered three potential trims from Amazon - two 3/16" wide velvet ribbons (one in medium blue and one in navy), and and a 1/8" navy trim that looks braided. Naturally, the braided one is not set to arrive until next Wednesday, and I wanted to finish this this week... The others should be here today, so I guess I'll see if either will work, and if not, I'll return them and have to be patient. And I wound up getting 7/8" cover button kits, even though it's way more work, and they always wind up breaking. So now I have to make 32 covered buttons. *Sigh*

Yesterday, though, I mocked up the collar, and it came out pretty close to what I wanted, so I should be able to make the small adjustments in the actual collar, and make that up today. Ideally, I'd love to make the buttons today, too. I'm not sure yet if I can do the facings/buttonholes/attaching buttons before the trim gets here, or if the trim needs to go into the facings. I'm hoping it's the former, because then I can ideally finish the entire dress besides the trim, and then just add the trim on and take final pictures on a sort of tight deadline, but still get the video out on it on time (since I have a week leeway with my vlogs). Obviously, I still need to do sleeves and the hem, too.

Once I finish the teagown, it will be on to the Daniel Deronda riding habit, but I'm also still kind of scared of it, since I don't know tailoring...

I managed to get pictures and some video of the 1790s dress yesterday, so that video is now fully edited and uploaded, and the project can be put away. Or at least, it can be put away when the hem is dry (or clean and dry, if I have to soak it in oxyclean or something). Because yes, my yard was still a little muddy, and naturally, I stepped on the back of my hem multiple times. I tried to wash it out just using woolite, so I'll have to see today if that actually worked.

I also started on the teagown. I spent most of Tuesday's sewing time waffling about the differences between the TV pattern and my extant dress, and trying to decide if I wanted it to be an exact copy (other than fabric choice) or if a close visual copy would suffice. Finally, I said screw it, because having a teagown with that much weight coming from the back of the neck, which only opens down the front to hip level would just be a pain to put on and take off. So I'm going with the pattern's closure of buttoning all the way down the front. I also went with the pattern for seamlines, since my antique one has one front piece cut on the fold, two back pieces where the back and side-back bodice sections are cut and seamed together, but then connect all into one skirt panel (if that makes sense), and a gusset on either side. The pattern, on the other hand, has two front pieces, two side-back pieces, and one center back piece on the fold, which just made more sense.

So anyway, I cut out a hip-length mockup, sewed it together, and yesterday afternoon, I fitted the mockup. The main issue was that the hip flare was super not enough. It also didn't quite have enough room in the back pleating to create four pleats like my extant. And it barely had enough extra in the CF to pin the seam allowances together, let alone overlap for buttons. Oh, and the shoulders were way too wide. But all of those are easy fixes, and things I feel confident doing just in the final pieces, without having to make another mockup. So now I've ripped apart the mockup pieces, and it's ready to be cut out in wool with a cotton lining.

I'm really glad that I have a Wed afternoon zoom sewing group, since I did all the fitting yesterday with them, and it helped me be motivated. After our chat, I walked Lion, and somehow came back with a major headache (probably partially stemming from the fact I had been wearing a hairband all afternoon), and had no desire to get up from the recliner chair for the rest of the evening. I hope today's sewing goes better!

The 1790's dress is done. It was a pretty nice, quick project, and it makes into a nice dress, but it's also SO BORING looking compared to what I normally make. Like, I showed it to my mom last night, and she was like, "and that's it? You're not going to add any trim or anything to it? It looks like a lot of nightgowns I had in the 70s." And tbh, she's right. I'm hoping I can get some pictures of it on tomorrow (as in, actually go outside) because it's the only day that's not supposed to be rainy, but also, we actually wound up with snow over the weekend, which has now pretty much all melted, and combined with the rain, the ground is probably extremely messy. And though I cut off some of the train, this white cotton dress still has a tiny bit. Sooo... not sure what to do about those pictures...

It's also weird, because I have shared pretty much nothing about this dress anywhere. Like, I posted one in-progress pic on Patreon, but because I've been running the VictorianFebruary challenge on Instagram, and also because it went together so quickly, I haven't even shared any pics there. I will have a youtube video out about it next week, though.

And now it's time to start the next dress! I'm using the TV 1880s teagown pattern as a base to reproduce my antique 1890s teagown (except in light blue wool, because brown linen = ugly). I think I need to pull the antique out and study it a bit more, but I'm also hoping to cut out and sew together the mockup tonight. Ideally, I would love this to be a two-week or less project, since it doesn't have much in the way of trim, but that might be wishful thinking.

It's been about two weeks since I posted here (again - maybe I should just make that my thing?) but I don't think I've accomplished a whole ton since then, sewing-wise. Which is good, since my main machine has been sitting at the repair shop patiently waiting its turn for two weeks. And it might be another week till I get it back. I seriously do not understand why there aren't virtual queues or appointments made for sewing machine repair. Having machines just sit there for two weeks untouched is completely ridiculous.

Anyway, this is what I have done!
I went to the snow with Emily, and it was So. Much. Fun. Seriously. I wore my skating bustle, which turned out to be really good, because it meant that hiking/walking about 3 miles in the snow was no problem at all. And the place we went was freaking gorgeous. I've posted a few pictures on instagram already, but have way more to post, and I really want to go back and visit there again. I actually wound up vlogging the whole day, too, so that video will be going up a week from today.

I finished the Peppermint Bustle project. I'm not entirely happy with the hat I wound up making, and I'm a little concerned that the velvet ribbon I used is bleeding onto the white portions of the bodice, but overall, I think it still looks pretty great. And on the first clear day after I finished it, Emily helped me take pictures and video of it, and in doing so, I discovered a gorgeous beach park nearby, which I will definitely be returning to in order to take lots more pictures in other costumes. The only issue was that it was a very muddy beach, so now I have to figure out how to clean up my hem.

Instead of sewing in the last week, since I finished the peppermint project, I have been attempting to basically make all of my Feb videos. And as of yesterday, I have all but one Feb video filmed, edited, and uploaded, and the one left is a sewing vlog on my new/current project, which I hope to finish by the weekend.

And that project is the American Duchess 1790s Simplicity pattern! I used the pattern for a video on how to size up commercial patterns, and as part of the video, I fitted the whole bodice mockup, so I figured that since I've already done the hard part, I would attempt to finish the whole dress this week. At this point, though, I just have all the bodice pieces cut out. I'm making it out of the sheerish white on white cotton stripe that Joanns had a few years ago, which I made my 1910's dress out of. I'm hoping that I can maybe get the skirts cut out today, but I'm not sure I'll have time. I also have to figure out what petticoats were worn in this era. I'm cheating, and making it to go over my Regency stays currently, since I don't have 1790s stays yet. Those will have to come later.

In other youtube news, I passed 15k subscribers a couple days ago! It's insane how much my channel has grown in the past two months, and it's honestly really exciting. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I can make "career plans" or whatever, other than being stuck in my no-growth job. Which, I mean, I'm still happy in my admin job, but it's always been disappointing that there's no growth opportunities. So somehow doing youtube actually makes me feel like more of an adult with aspirations and all that.

The peppermint bustle is (basically) finished! I have to try it on so that I know where exactly on the shoulders the velvet bows need to go - they're already assembled and pinned in place, but I want to double check that they're in the right place.

Also, my trip to Joanns totally struck out. No wide red ribbon and no more velvet ribbon, so I have nothing available to add to the skirts. Which is a bummer. So I'm not sure when I'll be able to put anything there, but I really hope I find something eventually (it just won't be in time for a photoshoot within the next week).

I still have to do the hat. I think I have a straw base that may work, so I'm going to play around with it a bit today and give it a go, and if that fails, I'll make one out of buckram.

Tomorrow, though, my friend Emily and I are going to get dressed up and drive up to the pass to go play in the snow in costume. I'm really excited about it! I'm planning to wear my skating bustle, so I don't have to worry about hems dragging. And I'm going to try to get some fun footage recorded/take pretty pictures while we're there.

And then next week, I'm going to start working on my 1890's teagown. It will hopefully be a fairly close reproduction to the antique one I have in my collection, except out of light blue wool instead of tan linen. I'm using the Truly Victorian teagown pattern as a base, but altering it to have a yoke neckline and 1890s sleeves. I'm hoping it goes together relatively easily!

I'm still working away at my Peppermint Bustle. It's almost done -- I'm not super happy with how the sleeves fit, but I don't feel like going off in search of more fabric to redo them, so it will have to just be fine as is. Today, I'm hoping to make some velvet bows to go on the shoulder, and then go to Joanns and find some additional ribbon and trim to match my existing stuff, since I wound up running out. Whoops. But other than the bows, I just need to bind/trim the bodice hem, put some bows on the sides of the skirts, and make or decorate a hat. I'm kind of hoping that I have a hat blank I can decorate, but tbh, I don't think I have anything 1880s shaped.

On the plus side, if I have to make a hat, that is what this week's vlog will mostly be filled with, and then I can do a separate video on getting dressed/the final reveal.

Youtube-wise, things are going quite well. In the last 1.5 months, I've gained close to 10k subscribers, and I'm now able to make actual money from youtube. When my roommate decides to move out, I won't have to replace her, and until then, it will pretty much all be able to go into my savings. When I got my Dec youtube payout last week, I literally put $1000 of it directly into my savings, which was such an amazing feeling. I know it won't be that often that I get videos that perform so well, but my corset video has over 115k views (and a super high cpm, which means I make actual money from it), my Bridgerton video has about 95k views (though a super low cpm, so I really don't make much money from that), and my plus size costuming video is over 30k views at this point, I think.

I also launched a Patreon about 2.5 weeks ago, and I have 10 patrons now! It feels both really cool and really awkward that people actually want to support me in this way, but I'll take it! My next step is looking into PO boxes, because I've had a few people ask. For some reason, that just feels like something only fancy people have.

Whoops. I guess I went on another posting hiatus. For the last week, that's because I've been completely slammed at work, to the point where I've even been taking shorter lunches. Things are finally starting to slow down today, which is a relief.

I've been sewing quite a lot, though. After finishing the three plaid skirts at the end of December, I started in on what I'm calling my Peppermint Bustle - a red and white striped 1880s dress which is kind of a mishmash of a few fashion plates. The skirts are completely done at this point (I just released the first youtube video on the skirts this week), and I fitted the bodice mockup yesterday, so I can start cutting out the actual fabric today.

I'm a bit torn on what my next project will be once this is finished, though. I had almost jumped into a Featherington-style dress from Bridgerton, but the fabric I bought for it just isn't enough yardage, so that is going to get returned. And I'm falling out of love with the idea of doing a Regency dress out of crazy non/ha fabrics. Part of me wants to do a nice h/a Regency dress, but I have a ton of them. Then that part of me really wants to do 1790s, which is the only decade between the 1770s-1910s that I haven't done. But because I haven't done it, I don't have transitional stays. Also, 1790s doesn't really tie in to Bridgerton.

So if I don't do Regency stuff, I'm planning to either return to Daniel Deronda, or make an 1890s tea gown. I fitted a mockup for the Daniel Deronda bodice yesterday (I cut out the mockup in April 2020, I believe), and the neckline needs definite help, so I'll have to recut a couple pieces there. But also, I can only really start on this if Fabric.com is able to fulfill my wool order from that fiasco they had with the wool bolts, where they sent everyone yards instead of bolts. So once they're able to send me the bolt of slate wool that I ordered, that will be used for this riding habit. If they don't send that to me by the time I finish the peppermint bustle (which I don't think they will, since I'm pretty sure I'll be finished by the end of next week), then I guess it will be either the tea gown or 1790s, depending on which side of my brain wins.

In youtube news, my corset video from last month hit 100k views yesterday, which is so crazy! And I released a video about Bridgerton about a week ago that has over 60k views, though the comments on that one have been so obnoxious for the most part. I also passed my one-year youtubeversary over the weekend, by which point I had over 8k subscribers, and I think I will hit 10k today or tomorrow, which is amazing. And I launched a patreon along with my one year anniversary, and have six patrons already. Also, between last month and this month, I think I'm going to be able to live on my own once my roommate decides to move out, which is a real relief. It means I won't be moving (guess I didn't need to paint those cabinets, which I have now finished), but it will be so nice (and a little weird) to live on my own. I just hope my youtube continues on this trend!

As usual progress and pictures and stuff can be found on my instagram and my youtube. :)

Oh, and instead of doing a year in review and 2021 plans post here, I have two videos covering all that on my youtube, if you want to check it out. :)

I finished the etsy order last week, and this weekend, I started on my Christmas skirt (I know, it's really last minute). At this point, all it needs is a hem and a waistband and it will be done, so I shouldn't have a problem accomplishing that tonight.

Then it's on to plaid skirt #2, which I think is going to be my navy plaid one. That one should be super simple, since it's just three panels and I'm knife-pleating it. (I box-pleated the 4-panel Christmas skirt). I have one more skirt to do, which will be a 3-panel "as circular as I can make it" skirt out of grey plaid flannel. And then I can start my stripey bustle dress! I finalized my design for it this morning, so now I'm super excited about it. I'm planning on doing very fun things using different stripe directions, and it's based on a couple different fashion plates. The goal is to finish it by early Feb.

In house project news, I hung my lower cabinet doors over the weekend, and finished painting them yesterday. I still have 6 upper cabinet doors to hang and paint, plus I think 4 drawers, but then, after 5 years of procrastinating, the kitchen will finally be finished!

And in youtube news, that corset video is still doing amazingly well. It is now up to 44.6k views, has earned me $444, and since I released it, I have gained about 2000 subscribers. So crazy! My other videos since then have been performing nicely, too. Nothing like the corset video, but about 2k-4k views each. It's definitely a nice way to close out 2020.

I finished the Christmas dress yesterday! I was kind of hating it as of Wed evening, but after hemming it and adding glam accessories and makeup/hair, I think I really like how it came out.

I did wind up having to shorten the bodice a little more, meaning that this pattern is apparently not meant for people with swayback. (Basically lengthening the CF 1" and shortening the CB 1", plus I removed the length I had added on the sides). Still, though, this pattern went together amazingly well, with the least alteration I think I've ever done on a pattern. So if you want a dolman sleeve 1950s dress, I highly recommend Butterick 5556! I did make some other changes to the instructions, like gathering the skirt all around, instead of leaving the CF flat, plus flat-lining everything instead of bag lining, which meant I created a back facing piece for the neckline, and I bound the sleeve edges with bias tape. But very easy changes.

I will have a video out on the full process on Tuesday, which I'm going to edit today. And hopefully tonight, I'll finally film next Sarturday's video (I've been putting it off all week), which is examining a gorgeous magenta velvet 1890s bodice in my collection.

I also randomly got an etsy order yesterday, which I think is my first in a year or more, so I guess I have to make a quick Harry Potter skirt and send that out, and then I can move on to my three cozy plaid skirts. I really need to make the Christmas one asap, or I'm not going to be able to wear it by Christmas! But that said, I also really have to hang, and ideally paint the outsides of my cabinet doors this weekend, since they've been cluttering up the kitchen and garage for a week. And Sunday, my bff is coming over, and we're going to pick up a fancy Christmas tea from our favorite tearoom, and we'll dress up and have a fancy Christmas tea at home. In other words, I don't know when any of this sewing is actually going to get done!

In youtube news, last Saturday's video is still performing amazingly. It's by far the most popular video I've ever made, and I think will hit 20k views today. I've gained over 1000 subscribers in the last week, and my revenue keeps surprising me (I hope it stays this high!). If I can find a way to maintain this sort of performance, I could actually afford to live in my house by myself, without needing to rent out the third bedroom, which is great, since my current roommate is thinking about getting her own place. Of course, it's way too early to know if that could happen, but it's nice to dream about. I'd have to weigh at least three months together, though, and see if my income stays on the same level (especially since Nov's low performance was a shock after Sept and Oct).

I worked more on the Christmas dress last night. The skirt is now fully assembled, and I attempted to gather it by machine, but apparently that's totally not going to work (the threads snapped over every seam when I tried to pull them up). So I guess this will either be hand-gathered, or maybe even pleated?

I also tried on the bodice, and it fit almost perfectly. I don't think I've ever made this little adjustments to a pattern (this is Butterick 5556). I wound up having to take a little bit of length out of the CB, and that's it. And all that I had done in the first place was to draft it out to a size 24, add 1" length to the CF and .5" length to the sides, and 4" length to the skirt. That's it. That's like nothing!

So that meant I was able to start the collar before going to bed. It's just a standing collar, but it's now attached to the bodice, which means the neckline is ready for facing. The bodice also needs cuffs, and then to have the skirt attached and the side zip inserted. And I'll need to hem the skirt, but that's all that's left. I have to commute in to work every single day this week (I'm even working Friday, which I usually have off), so unfortunately that means I have way less time to actually sew, since I have to work longer hours, plus commute, plus wake up earlier (aka go to bed earlier). My goal is to finish it by Wed night, but I have a feeling I might need more time than that. Especially because I really want to shoot an antique bodice examining video tonight, too.

I wound up buying some plaid fabric from Joanns last week (both plaid silk taffeta, which was an astounding find, and some plaiditudes fabric), and I'm going to make three plaid skirts as my next quick project. One is a Christmas skirt that I will barely have time to wear before Christmas, and that I bought the fabric for in early Nov, and the other two are from the plaiditudes fabrics. I just want more cozy plaid skirts, basically. Then I'll be starting on a new bustle dress, hopefully right around the start of the new year.

This was a super busy weekend! On Friday, I spent a lot of the day attempting to paint my kitchen cabinet doors. I did manage to get the insides of the doors and the edges painted, though there are several spots that will need touching up. That's because I was not aware that paint doesn't dry if it's below 50 degrees, and particularly if there is high humidity. Half of them were painted by 2pm, and the other half by 3pm. At about 8pm, I went outside with a blow dryer for about 1.5 hrs until the edges were dry enough that I could pick them up and lean them against things in the garage, since it was, by that time, 35 degrees and 94% humidity outside. I put a space heater in the garage for about 2 hours, and by morning, they were all dry, but still a bit tacky. So there went my plan of hanging them before painting the exterior of the doors. And now I probably won't have time to do more on them till Saturday. I'm also supposed to paint my soffits somehow, but I feel like that's not actually possible in the winter?

Anyway, I'm doing all that because I'm thinking about selling my house and buying a larger one, and those are the two big projects that need to be done before I can proceed with the selling process.

So instead of working more on the cabinets on Saturday, I worked on my Christmas dress. Everything is now flatlined -- 8 skirt panels & 4 bodice panels. And the bodice panels are assembled (though I haven't tried them on yet), and two skirt seams are done, plus the pockets are in the skirt now. I hope to get the rest assembled tonight, ideally, so that I can work on collars and cuffs and finishing and all that, and have it finished before this weekend.

Yesterday, I spent the whole day with my bff and her husband, driving about 2.5 hrs each way in order to spend a few hours in Leavenworth, which is a Bavarian Christmas town in the Cascade mountains. It was very pretty, but I have not seen so many people, nor so many mask offenders in one place since all this started, so that was very disconcerting, and meant we didn't spend much time walking around outside. The drive was pretty, though, and our dinner was huge and delicious. Plus we brought home lots of other bakery items and candies and such for later.

In other news, my video from Saturday is knocking my socks off. It has performed so well that it made me twice as much money in its first day as any other video, has brought in over 300 new subscribers (I hit my 2020 subscriber goal!), and already has the second most views of any of my videos. So crazy. I really hope I can continue this somehow! Here's a link to the video if you haven't seen it: youtu.be/PSvy8N61YnI It's how 8 different corsets affect my plus size body, and everyone has been so appreciative in the comments. It's really wonderful.

It has also prompted me to set up my Patreon. I'm not doing the official launch until early Jan, but technically it's live now, if anyone is interested: https://www.patreon.com/ladyrebeccafashions

Oh dear. Nearly a month since I last posted here. Sorry!

Anyway, the 18th c ensemble (aka petticoat and jacket pattern test for the Amalia pattern) is done. I would like to make a fichu and apron out of patterned fabric for it, and I'm also thinking of making a new shift and possibly a market bonnet to finish out the ensemble.

That said, I'm getting a little tired of these smaller projects, and I'm ready to go back to a big project. I haven't decided if it will mean me finally returning to the Daniel Deronda riding habit, or if it means I will do a red and white striped 1880's dress, but it's one of those.

Though I do still have two smaller projects that will come first. I'm currently working on a 1950's Christmas dress, which is currently half cut out, and I want to make a quick Christmas skirt as well. But as soon as those are done (hopefully this week or early next week), I think it will be time to head back to the bustle era.

Oh, and I did totally reorganize my fabric stash. It's so much nicer now! You can see the first part of the reorg in my most recent youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCLxk6c5Sy8&t=594s

As it seems I have a hard time remembering to post here, if you want actual updates, please check out my instagram or youtube.

I'm getting closer to finishing the 18th c jacket - at this point, all it needs is sleeves. I fixed the neckline, finished the hem, and I did another sleeve mockup to fix my fitting problem. Yesterday, I cut all the sleeve pieces out, and I do in fact have enough for the petticoat! Unfortunately, I don't think I have enough to put a ruffle on it. I'm hoping maybe I'm wrong, because I really want a ruffle. I do for sure have enough to do cuffs on the bottom of the sleeves, though, which means I'll have to find a pattern/instructions about how to do that, since that's not included in the pattern I'm testing.

I'm switching gears from the jacket to the petticoat tonight, most likely, since I want Tuesday's video to be about how to make a super easy 18th c petticoat. Which means I need to make said petticoat by Saturday night, so that I can edit the video before Tuesday. I also have to film next Friday's video tomorrow, but it's a scripted one, so hopefully it won't take long. It will be about my favorite sewing tools, so that people can use it as a holiday gift-buying guide.

On Monday evening, I went over to my friend Emily's house (she's in my bubble) because she just bought a new townhome and has a sewing room now, but doesn't know how to organize it. So it was fun plotting out how to lay everything out, and what kind of things she needs in her sewing room. I'll be doing a video on the transformation eventually, but I don't know when that project will actually be done.

By next week, I should be on to new sewing projects. I'm still a little torn whether I want to start the bicycle sweater next, or if I want to reorganize my sewing room first... I just know I want to make the sweater and a vintage-style Christmas dress within the next few weeks. Maybe I should do the Christmas dress first, then choose between the re-org vs the sweater?

The pattern test 18th c jacket is coming along pretty well, but I totally didn't realize there would be So. Much. Handsewing. Like, I have gotten way too used to Victorian and how easy it is to make everything (well, until you start to trim it at least). I'm machine sewing this bodice anywhere the pattern tells me to just backstitch, like the lining, but it's handsewn everywhere else, aka most of the bodice seams.

I tried it on yesterday for the first time since it was just a lining mockup, and it fits mostly well. The straps are somehow now way too long, so I have to shorten them by about 1", and the neckline was a little too high, so I've already unpicked that, and I will have to cut it down a little and re-sew the lining to the outer. The hem of the jacket skirt is pressed into place, but not yet sewn. I'm hoping I can maybe get all that fixed by tomorrow?

I tried on my initial sleeve mockup with the bodice try on yesterday, not sewn together, but just to see where it fits. It's definitely too short in the sleeve head right at the inner seam. I think I'm going to do another mockup with 1" of height added there, and that should be good. Then I have to cut out the sleeves of the actual fabric, and keep my fingers crossed that it will leave me with enough fabric left to make a basic petticoat. I wish I had enough for a ruffled petticoat, but unfortunately this is a discontinued Ikea duvet. I may have to go searching on ebay, because I really would like a ruffle.

The Daisy dress was finished in time to do a super quick photoshoot last Wed. Up until Tues night, I had really been thinking I wasn't going to get in done in time to film/shoot it for the reveal video I was set to release last week. So that was a relief. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, and it photographs pretty wonderfully. Instagram seemed pretty excited about it. :)

I guess I should say, I didn't actually finish it by the shoot, but all it needed was closures put on waistbands, and for the ribbon and daisies on the shoulders to be sewn on, instead of pinned. I have since done all that, so now it is completely finished.

So now I am working on a pattern test for a new Scroop / Virgil's Fine Goods pattern, which I can't really share anything about on social media yet. Which is so weird for me! I've done two mockups of the bodice, plus one sleeve mockup. The sleeve mockup still needs alterations, but I'd rather go back to the sleeve mockup once I've put together the actual bodice, since that's what I normally do anyway. So the outer fabric of the bodice, which is that white ikea duvet with the little red flowers, is getting cut out today.

I'm hoping this project will go relatively quickly, so that I can get back to things I can vlog about (I'm posting a filler video in lieu of a vlog next week). I'm torn, though, because I really want to redo all my sewing/fabric organization, but now it's cold and I also want to make the 1890s bicycle sweater. Plus, I have way too much fabric for that sweater, and I can hopefully sell everything left over and therefore won't need it taking up space in my organization plans. That makes sense, right?

I also took advantage / got taken advantage of one of fabricmartfabric's sales last month. I bought 6 yds of silk crepe-back satin for $10 yd and 5 yds of rayon challis in a christmas plaid for $3.99/yd. After ordering, I realized that rayon challis was not what I wanted, despite how perfect the plaid was, and when it arrived, I realized the silk was very much not what I wanted either. I've already sold the silk off, and will probably attempt to sell the rayon as well, but I want to go to Joanns first, and see if I can find a similar plaid in a better fabric, because I want to make a 50s style Christmas dress after the bicycle sweater.

Youtube-wise, things are going pretty well. My subscriber count is growing super slowly, but I was able to increase my revenue a little bit in Oct vs Sept (I made $240 in Oct), so that was nice. Nowhere near the increase from Aug - Sept, but as long as it keeps growing, I'll be happy. My other goal is to reach 4000 subscribers by the end of the year, which I think will be a close race, but should hopefully happen. I'm also hoping to reach 10k on instagram by the end of the year.

I'm actually on here twice in one week, so I feel like I ought to post, even though I haven't done much since my last post.

So 1888 Daisy Dress -- I finished all the binding on the bodice, which means neckline, armseyes, and hem, plus finished the last couple hooks and bars. I'm honestly not sure why I bound the armseye, since the bodice does have a little drapey sleeve thing, but whatever. I still have to figure out said drapey sleeve bit, but it was too cold in my sewing room yesterday to take off my sweater and try on the sleeve mockup. Hopefully today?

So instead of trying it on, I decided to start on both the overskirt and the daisies. The problem with starting the overskirt is that I'm still waiting on half the fabric to arrive. I only had enough voile left for two skirt panels, and the three extra yards I ordered should be here Friday. In any case, the back panels of the skirt are together and gathered.

Then I moved on to the daisies. I did a test daisy out of organdy, and it seemed to work well. Each daisy around the skirt hem is made out of three layers of organdy. The organdy is cut in a 9.5" diameter circle, and the circle is folded up in half a bunch of times, and the petals cut, kind of like making a paper snowflake. Then the three layers are laid on top of each other, with the petals slightly off from the layer below, so it looks like lots of full petals. I basted around the inner circle, then realized I would have to have a line of stitching down the center of each of the front petals as well, so that the petals will not all fall when they're attached to the skirt.

I haven't figured out the inner portion yet, but I'm picking up seed beads from Joanns today, and I plan to glue the seed beeds to the center for texture, and paint the centers yellow. Then I'll tack the flowers onto the skirt.

I'm not sure how many daisies I will need to make, but I think it's at least 16 or so for the skirt, plus one slightly smaller one for each shoulder, one to hold, and one giant one for the hat. I have cut out enough circles at this point for 11 of the skirt flowers, plus the shoulder flowers, and have used up a fair amount of my organdy scraps, which is nice. I'm hoping I can maybe avoid cutting into my legit organdy yardage, but I'm not sure if I'll have enough scraps.

Oh, and in non-daisy news, we're having a little Spooky shoot at the Old Tacoma Cemetery on Saturday, since last year's turned out so great. It's going to be quite cold! If I can find more of the wool from my skating bustle, I hope to make a detachable pleated tier to add to the bottom of the skirt, in order to make it regular length. If I can't find that wool, then I think it will actually be cold enough to wear my green winter bustle. Not quite as spooky, but it should coordinate well with any leaves that have fallen.

Whoops. I kind of forgot about posting here for the last month. This is what happens when I a) have a nice little week-long visit from my mom, and b) have too many social media channels going on.

So anyway, in the last month, I completely finished the hussif costume (including the hat), then made my version of the Strawberry Dress, which turned out very nice.

Last week, I started on the 1888 Daisy costume, which is going okay, though I'm a little behind where I had hoped to be. The bodice is mostly done - I need to bind the neckline, do the little sleeve drape thing, do some trim on the neckline, and put on two more hooks and bars. The underskirt just needs hooks and bars. I haven't started the overskirt, and I'm waiting on more fabric to get here for it, because I didn't order enough the first time. And I need to make all the daisy decorations, including the hat. And I need to finish all that in the next week, because I need time to film the finished thing for my Halloween costumes reveal video, which will be out on the 30th.

I also need to finish it on time so that I can start the pattern test for the new Scroop pattern. I won't be allowed to post about that, which is kind of weird for me, since I've been vlogging everything! And when that is done, I will get to reorganize my fabric/sewing storage.

I've been playing catch-up with filming stuff, too. I have a bunch of stuff I will need to film and edit in the next few weeks, because I used up my tiny backlog while my mom was here. My youtube is doing pretty well, though - I made over $200 in Sept, and am on track to do the same for Oct, which is good, because I also need a new laptop. I have all my Elsa videos out at this point, by the way, including my final reveal video, which I'm pretty proud of (and which took forever to edit, to get it all right with the music). Here's a link if you're interested in watching it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeIF-Hb_OmY&t=509s

The Hussif dress and apron are now complete, and I'm just working on the hat. For some reason, I really struggled with it Monday night, but I think I figured it out yesterday, so hopefully I can get it all assembled tonight, and the hussif will be done!

Once that's done, I'm going to start on the Daisy dress. I think it will have a structured bodice underneath, because 1888. I'm not sure if the bodice and skirt should be separate, but I feel like that is what was done with the fashion of the time. That said, I'm only going to work on that through Saturday, and then I'm probably going to pause for a week and switch over to the strawberry dress, while it's still warm enough to wear it.

In Elsa news, I was able to get pictures on Sunday, so those are starting to show up on my fb/instagram. I still need to add the diamond motif to the hem, though, and I think at least a handful of rhinestones came off during the shoot which will need to be replaced. But I have a feeling I may wait to work more on her until after I finish the Daisy costume and Strawberry dress.

I'm also eagerly anticipating reorganizing my giant shelving unit in the sewing room (and probably the cubbies in my sewing table as well. I bought some curtains to hang over the shelving unit as a neater background, but since things stick out of the shelves, I can't use the curtains yet. But again, this will have to wait until after those two projects are finished, since Halloween is looming nearer!

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Rebecca Maiten

Lady Rebecca Fashions

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Diary of a Costumer

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1790s and 1890s

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Daisy Dress Progress

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