Ugh

I have been sewing all day today. Like seriously, I've had maybe four 30-40 min breaks since about 10:30am through 2:30am. And yet I feel like I've done nothing. I want this dress to be finished!

So what did I do? I sewed on all the ribbon pieces to the bodice skirts, mocked up a sleeve, and then tried on the bodice. And it's a good thing I did, too, because it was too long in the shoulder straps by about 1.5," and the neckline was way too high. I fixed the shoulders and the neckline, and set (and reset) the sleeve mockup a few times, tweaking things like how gathered it was. And I actually wound up with a nicely fitted sleeve! It was nice to try on the skirts as well - they really worked pretty perfectly.

So then I cut out the sleeves in the sateen for the lining and in the wool. As expected, I did have to piece a little bit - I wound up being 4" too short on one of the inner sleeve pieces. I'm hoping that if I can find more of the velvet ribbon trim (a friend is going to look in the fabric district for me next week), that it will maybe cover or at least draw attention away from the pieced seam. I also cut out the sateen pieces for the skating dress (with a slight alteration to the flare at the cuff), since that will also have fitted long-sleeve two-piece sleeves.

I figured out how I wanted to trim the sleeve hems, and I'm varying just slightly from the plate on these, and sewed the fur in place, for the most part (the part that goes up the sleeve still needs to be sewn on, but that has to wait till after I attach the ribbon pieces for the sleeves). I set the sleeves to the bodice, and sewed on the fur trim around the neckline as well.

And that's it. I feel like it all took way longer than it should have...

I really want to finish it tomorrow, but I doubt that I will. I still have to figure out the whole piece that goes into the neckline, which I know will take a while, since I have no clue what is going on there. Plus I have to add the ribbons to the sleeves and to the overskirt, and put hooks and eyes on the skirt. So I'm not too hopeful. But I really want this to be a 2016 project!

2016 Year in Review

My 2016 Goals changed a few times over the course of the year, but this is what they were:

Navy blue swiss dot Regency - Done!
Black silk taffeta bustle ballgown - Done!
Child's Victorian Gown - Done!
Daniel Deronda Riding Habit - Still hasn't happened, and is no longer on my specific upcoming goals list.
1860s Fully Handsewn dress - Didn't even pick this up all year. Maybe someday, but probably not anytime soon.
Turquoise Silk Mid-19th c  Giant Ballgown - I kind of knew this was going to be a 2017 project, and sure enough, it will be.
Fur-trimmed bustle-era skating outfit - Coming up next; I've already started cutting pieces out.
Winter bustle gown - Almost done!
Super-secret Disney-related project - No longer super secret. This is the Snow White Designer Disney dress, and will be made for the CoCo pool party this year.

In June, I added an Elizabethan kirtle and Mary Poppins Jolly Holiday to the list, both of which I have since completed.


And here's picture proof of everything I made!

( Click here for pictures )

I think that's everything. Overall, not a bad sewing year, though being unemployed for the first eight months of the year certainly helped in that, and as you can tell by my posts, my sewing has definitely slowed down since I started working in September!