Diary of a Costumer

I didn't wind up with as much sewing time as I had thought yesterday, because I forgot to factor in eating dinner. Whoops. So after running errands after work, walking Lion, and eating dinner, and before I had to go off to another audition, I managed enough time to cut out all the silk pieces for the gala bodice, pin them to their lining pieces, and cut out bloomer pieces (two legs for show bloomers, and two that I will use for bloomers for me - luckily, the actress and I are about the same size, so I was able to cut them all at once). 

When I got home from the audition, I assembled the show bloomers, which only took about an hour. I forgot to get bias tape for the knee elastic channels, so had to make those out of tucks in the fabric, which took a tiny bit longer, but seem to work fine. I'll pick up more tape before I make mine. 

This morning before work, I also wound up with a few extra minutes, so I flatlined the two back pieces of the gala bodice. I'll get back to doing the rest of it on Friday. 

After work, I'm heading straight to the theatre, where I need to 1) make a pair of fake legs to sit on top of the flying carpet, 2) figure out how to add ankle straps to two pairs of shoes, 3) sew together the apron waists/skirts/straps and put whopper poppers on them, and 4) finish decorating the carpet. And of course, whatever else might come up, but that's in order of priority of when they'll be needed in the show. I'm getting there about two hours before they start the run, so I'm hoping to at least get steps 1 and 2 done before they start. 

I actually met yesterday's goal! Not that it was that hard. But after the fitting for the show and grocery shopping, I came home, ate dinner, and sewed until (past) bedtime. Which is really what I need to be doing every day. I got the trim hand-sewn on the apron, and pressed and sewed the whole hem on the Regency dress. Success!

Unfortunately, I don't expect any sewing to happen today. I work till 3, then I'm going to the gym on the way home, then I have to start laundry and get ready for a friend's Anniversary party, and then come home and dye my hair and go to bed. I also need to pick out an audition song for tomorrow and practice that at some point. But hopefully I'll be able to sew in between the audition and another friend's housewarming party on Saturday. And Sunday, I plan to have another not-leaving-the-house-because-I'm-sewing-the-entire-day day. At least a little of that will have to be for the show - I have to make three faux waist cinchers that go with the aprons, and probably a pair of bloomers, but I also want to hem my gala gown and start on the bodice patterning. So much to do!

I literally did not leave the house this weekend. And other than meals, sleeping, and taking 30 mins to exercise in the living room, I pretty much didn't leave the sewing room. On Saturday, I started messing around with the 1890s shirtwaist. I figured out the patterning for the shirt fronts. I started with an armseye/side seam shape from the new 1890s Butterick (ugly pink dress) pattern, but expanded the width to the CF by about 3x the pattern width. I knew I wanted tucks down the front, but didn't know how many. So I fiddled around with the pattern until I got all the tucks in the right place, then cut off the excess, sewed all the tucks in place (5 in the CF), and cut the neckline following the pattern shape. Then I did the same thing to the other side. Oh, and since I wanted to see how this would all look in the actual plaid, I took a risk and did all this fiddling with the actual fabric! I also pinned the three back pieces in that pattern on their seam lines, matching up the armseye, and keeping everything else as one large flat pattern, because I knew I wanted gathers in the CB at the waist. 

After I figured out all the shirtwaist body pieces, I switched gears to the mermaid tail, because that way I wouldn't have to change my serger thread twice. I serged off everything that I had hacked off during the fitting on Thurs, hemmed it, then added three tiers of the pre-ruffled organza at the bottom. While I was doing that, I was also waiting for the snap tape that I dyed turquoise to dry, because naturally, this is a rip-away mermaid tail. Once it was dry, I added the snap tape (ps - sewing snap tape to two layers of sequined material is annoying as anything), and I finished off the waist with bias tape. Done!



Then I moved back to the blouse. I sewed together the body pieces, then started on sleeves. I couldn't decide if I wanted a 3/4 sleeve or a long sleeve, so I used the leg-o-mutton sleeves from the Butterick pattern to start with, but I increased the sleeve head by about 2-3" on all sides, and dropped the width down to below the elbow, in case I decided on the 3/4 bishop sleeve. I flatlined the first one with organdy, made it up, and decided I hated the leg-o-mutton part. So I chopped off the bottom of the sleeve and made it up again. Too much pouf (I know, I don't think I've ever said that before). So I took it all apart, and took about 1-1.5" off all around the head, plus narrowed the sleeve under the arm just a tiny bit. Success! Of course, that meant that I had to take it all apart again and use it as the pattern for the other sleeve.

Once I had those assembled, I used a cut-down version of the cuff that comes on the old Butterick eton jacket pattern as cuffs for my sleeves, which worked quite nicely. Then I did all my buttons and buttonholes (16 total!), and moved on to the collar. I used a collar from an old early 1980s blouse pattern I have, increasing it to my size, adding about .5" in height, and turning it into a pointy collar. (I had pulled that pattern out a bunch as I was making the blouse, since it was kind of similar to what I was going for, but in a smaller size, with smaller sleeves, and with a totally different front tuck arrangement.) I hate sewing collars, but I wound up being able to complete this one with only a couple errors, both of which I was able to fix without undoing terribly much. And for me, that's really something!

I tried it all on with a vintage clip-on bow tie that I picked up at an estate sale a few years ago, and it went perfectly with this blouse. I had sewn gathers into the waist edge for the fronts and CB, pulled them up to fit while I was wearing it over the corset and petticoat, and finished off the bottom edge with bias tape, machine stitching it down because it's going to be tucked in and no one is going to see it. The other modern thing I did on this that made me happy was use a variegated thread that was pretty much the colors of the plaid. I enjoyed watching it change color as I sewed the whole shirtwaist. Anyway, I'm quite pleased with how it came out, and it makes me want to wear it in an old ice cream parlour and/or on Main Street at Disney. The funny thing is, I realized after I finished everything just how close this plaid is to the plaid of my 1890s suit, as you can see by the hat in the 2nd picture. 




I probably won't get to sew too much today, since I'm going to go to the gym after work, and then have trivia tonight. Tomorrow, though, other than hopefully going to the gym and watching the big fireworks show they do really near my house, I hope to get some sewing done, and I think I may stay in all day on the 4th and sew. I'm not feeling very patriotic anyway, and my goal is to finish the little fixes I have for Cinderella for the show and to completely finish the red silk Regency dress by Wed night. That way, all I will have left is the gala dress, which is going to take a whole bunch of experimentation, since I'm still not sure exactly what I want to do anymore.

I was full of big aspirations yesterday, wasn't I? I didn't get home from the fitting until 7:30 yesterday, and then I had to make/eat dinner, and suddenly it was 9:30. I finished flatlining the 5 skirt panels that I had not yet gotten to, and that's it. Also, at the fitting I found out that the elastic on Cindy's arm poufs needs taking in, plus I need to add the clear straps to the bodice, and put the choker on a slightly longer piece of ribbon (I also need to not cheat and try glueing on the whopper popper to the choker this time, because that totally didn't hold). Oh well, altogether not too many changes, and probably will only take about an hour total, so not too bad.

The mermaid tail was way too small, as I rather expected. She has to be able to sit in it, and there's no way that would have been able to happen. So I'm adding in a panel up the CB of the skirt, then I can add in the snap tape closure (it's a ripaway, add all the pre-ruffled organza fabric at the bottom (I was so excited to find pre-ruffled fabric!), and bind off the waist and hem. Shouldn't be too bad. *knock on wood* But I want to finish the 1890s skirt first. I want to get both of them done before Thursday night, though, since my mom is coming to visit and will be here until we're able to have our next show fitting. (aka no sewing time this weekend) I may have to sacrifice trivia night or a little extra gym time for that. 

On Saturday, I put the waistband on the gala gown skirt, and marked the hem length. I've also completely scratched the idea of a new corset for it, because there is just not enough time, so I'm going to use my 1870s corset. On Sunday, I was playing around with trims - I cut out some of my appliques, and I also did a test of the silver metallic grid on the ivory matte satin. And I hated it. It was so wrinkly and awful. I think I'm either a) going to have to do it by hand, or b) put the ivory on the skirt before doing the grid pattern, or c) both. So that's annoying and time consuming. I cut out the shapes for the front two ivory "cutaways," and put them loosely in place on the skirt, and they look AWFUL. 

So basically, I'm so not feeling the gala gown right now, and am questioning all my choices. So I think I'm going to step away for a minute. I'm either going to work on my 1890s shirtwaist and skirt for CoCo, or I might assemble an outfit for Disenchanted. I'd love to get the CoCo stuff done. I think it should be a relatively quickish project, and will make my mind a little clearer for the Gala gown, because I won't have so many projects in my docket. 

This is what my sewing to-do list looks like right now:

1890s gala gown - embellish and hem skirt, do entire bodice, make jewelry
1890s shirtwaist and skirt - make entire outfit
Regency red silk dress - embellish skirt and make sleeves
Disenchanted costumes - there are a total of 10.5 costumes. I will have at least 2-3 stitchers on this, and I'm about to hand things off to one of them, but we have three looks from the waist up that are needed for promos in about a week, and then everything is needed by July 11th. And I still have more fabrics and pieces to buy for some of them. Hopefully I won't actually have to do much stitching on them, too, but I'll probably do at least 1-2 of the looks. 

So basically, this is why my brain is going crazy. And looking at my schedule, I should have 13 evenings and 7 full days before the Disenchanted costumes are due, and an additional 5 evenings and 2-3 full days after Disenchanted before CoCo. And that's if I do nothing else besides what is currently on my calendar. Gah!

The petticoat (minus the detachable train) is almost finished. I just need to hem the bottom ruffle. What I wound up doing is having one ruffle that goes all the way around the skirt, but is about 10" closer to the hem in the front than in the back, because I was seeing that on some extants. Then I put another ruffle that is wide at the CB, and tapers out at the sides, then another shorter ruffle that goes all the way around the hem, each ruffle attached to the one about it. And naturally, because it is so ruffly, it ate up at least 7.5 yds (if not more) of my 9 yds of fabric. So now I'm not really sure I have enough pimatex left for the train...

I think once I hem the bottom ruffle, I'm going to move on to the skirt, so that I can see just how much oomph I need for the train portion. That way I can also tell if I can supplement with a different kind of fabric, or if I need to order more Pimatex. I don't know how much of it I'll get to this weekend, since it's the final weekend of my show. But I really want to be done with this petticoat and get going on the skirt. Time is quickly running out, and to add to that, I just accepted a gig as Costume Coordinator for a show this summer. 

And then I unsewed. And then I sewed again. 

I had pulled out TV 121 because I liked the detachable train, and it said it would work as a petticoat for the 1890s, even though it's supposed to be natural form. Except it totally doesn't work for 1890s. And naturally, I realized this after cutting out all the skirt pieces and a couple of the ruffle pieces, and sewing together the front panels of the skirt. 

So then I was left with, how do I take what I have already cut out, and translate it into something that actually works. Luckily, I also had TV 170 on hand, and view 4 says it's for the 1890s. Maybe this time it will be true? Anyway, I am doing a modified version of the 170 pattern now, since I was trying to use what I had on hand, at least a little. I completely recut the center front piece (luckily, I got a whole bunch of the Pimatex for this), and cut the side fronts out of the four front panels of the 121 pattern. For the back, I cut the top layer of the 121 back in half, and added in the bottom layer in the center. It's pretty much exactly the back width of the 170 piece now at the waist, and it flares out wider to the hem, which I think will be better for me anyway. I have just the side seams to go, then all of those will be together, and then I have to figure out how I want the ruffles. I do still want to do a detachable train, too, since the skirt will have a big train. I am a little tempted to start on the skirt, though, so that I can see just what shape I need the petticoat to be, and then winging it from there.

I don't know why I thought this would be as easy as grabbing a pattern off the shelf. I'm incapable of making things easy. 

And of course, now that I'm back in the mood to sew, I need to stop and spend all my free time cleaning the house, because my mom comes to visit on Thursday night. 

Despite the fact that it's tech week this week, I actually did sew something. Though really, that's just because it was an etsy order, and I needed to send it out by today. I brought my sewing machine to the theatre and everything. (I'm backstage for most of this show, and have a lot of time on my hands!)

Now that that's done, though, I really want to jump back into historical sewing. I think I'm going to start with an s-bend corset. I know it's not accurate, but I'm still toying with the idea of using it with my 1890s gala dress, since it makes such a nice shape. So I'm probably going to mock that up first, to the point where I know what size of busk and metal boning I need. That way, I can place that order and move on to the skirt of the gala gown while I wait. 

Of course, I also still don't know exactly what I want to do for the gala gown, either. I've been planning a yellow 1890s dress since last year, but now there's a couple people doing super gorgeously decorated yellow 1890s dresses, so I feel like I need to step up my game. So I'm thinking about going back to my initial idea of the dress from the Hermitage. The only thing is, the feathers I have are just not as nice as those feathers (obviously) and a feathered hem seems like it's just asking for trouble. And something tells me they wouldn't survive even a single wearing. But the cutaways on that dress seem decorative enough that it would be a bit more impactful than a plain dress. Or I could go in a completely different direction, and go with the golden yellow silk I bought, and hope that the color would speak for me. Ugh. I really need to figure this out! 

This was my initial idea:

It almost feels silly to post my sewing goals when I've only accomplished one since I wrote them out in August! But anyway, this is what I'm hoping to make and when:

Winter coat - started, and will hopefully be done by the end of this weekend. I finished the puzzle, so other than work and rehearsal, I can focus on this now. It needs to be finished by mid-Feb at latest.

1890s Queen Mary-inspired yellow evening gown - Ultimate goal: Costume College; Ideal goal: Victorian festival in late March. I would potentially like to make an 1890s corset for this, since my only specific corsets are 1860s and 1870s, but I doubt I could finish both by the Victorian Festival. I also probably want a new petticoat for this, since I usually cobble together other petticoats in an attempt to get an 1890s shape.  

1880s Mauve and Stripey bustle - Needs to be finished by the Victorian festival. 

1830s Plaid silk dress - Ultimate goal: Costume College, but I could potentially wear it to the Victorian Festival if I finish it in time. 

Edwardian velvet-ribbon trimmed walking dress - need by CoCo. But of course, the sooner the better!

Once I manage to finish all that, I'd really like to make a new set of 18th c stays. Neither of mine are very comfortable, which is why I tend to stay away from the 18th c. But I really want to make more 18th c (I want to use the new AD Simplicity pattern!), which means a new corset. 


Of course, the wrench in my plans for the Victorian Festival is that I begin rehearsals for Oliver this week, and as soon as that closes, I'm going to Europe for nearly 2.5 weeks. And the festival is less than two weeks after I get back. I'm hoping I can at least do the stripey bustle, since I won't mind terribly if I have to wear last year's CoCo gala gown for the ball - after all, it's changed quite a bit since I wore it to last year's ball there. 

Thanks to Black Friday, I finally managed to buy two acid free boxes from The Container Store, and now all my lovely historical pieces get to rest in comfort! Two 41x19x6" boxes was just enough to hold everything. At this point, my collection consists of a jet-beaded capelet, at least 5 or 6 (I forgot to count) black bodices from between the 1890s through I think about 1905ish of various styles (some beaded, some lace, some silk, some cotton, etc), a mid-1890s silk walking suit, an unknown-dated velvet jacket (which I honestly can't tell is a riding habit or eton jacket, or something entirely different), two beaded lace guimpe blouses (one cream, one black), and my 1860s cotton stripey dress. And there's a a heavily-soutached capelet on it's way to me, too.

I might have an ebay addiction.

Here's a couple pictures of ones that were looking particularly pretty in the tissue paper:

The one on the left might be my favorite, because of how absolutely enormous the sleeves are. I like the intricate closure of the one on the right, though.


The ivory guimpe, which is practially a dickey, since the length is so short. All the little grey specks are basically tiny rhinestones, and I like the bust improver. The collar is also quite stiffly boned.



I also cut out the outer layer of my corset, which took way too long for some reason. I still have to cut out the inner layer, but then again, my busk is still not here anyway...