2015 Recap

Dec. 31st, 2015 08:36 pm
theladyrebecca: (Default)
Hmm, just off the top of my head, I certainly haven't done much since CoCo. Maybe going through everything, I'll realize I was actually productive this year?

These were my goals:
1. 1831 Archery dress Done!
2. 1829 Orange ballgown Done!
3. Corded petticoat to go with both of the above dresses Done!
4. 1830s bathing suit Done!
5. Professor Trelawney artistic reform gown for the CosCol Ice Cream Social This got switched to the green and cream bustle gown
6. Daniel Deronda riding habit (already have the fabric) Still have the fabric. Maybe I'll actually make it this year?
7. Little Red costume from Into the Woods Done!
8. Striped silk bustle gown. (Or maybe a sack-back. I found silk at Hancocks today for $8/yd, and I'm determined to not let it sit in the stash.) Yeah... That silk is sitting in the stash...
9. Handsewn 1860s gown. At this point, I'm still determined to do this fully handsewn, so who knows when/if I'll ever finish it. If I let myself do it by machine, I'm sure I would have finished it months ago... Still on the list. I just haven't had the time/patience for that much hand-sewing.

And this was what I accomplished. )

So overall, I guess that wasn't too bad. I definitely need to start sewing again soon if I'm going to be at all on track for CoCo though!
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I'm back from CoCo and trying to settle back in normalcy (it's not working). I took less pictures than ever this year, and my phone was taking very grainy/blurry pictures, too, so please bear with me.

As usualy, though, I had soooo much fun! Why is this only once a year?! I flew in early Thurs morning, arriving to Burbank at about 11:30. I was picked up by another lovely costumer, and we headed out to the Huntington. I had never been before, so I was excited to see everything. Unfortunately, it was so hot and humid outside that I wound up skipping almost all of the gardens. (I made it partway through the rose garden before I overheated). But I loved the European gallery, and I took lots of pictures of the beautiful portraits. The library was also very cool. I've never seen so many old books before!. After the Huntington, we headed back to the hotel, only to find that their system was down. Luckily, there were lots of friends to hang out and chat with while waiting, so it wasn't that bad, and I still found enough time to get upstairs and curl my hair before check-in.

Costume #1: The 1831 bathing suit!
I absolutely loved how this turned out. I felt just as ridiculous as the fashion plate, and it was really quite comfy, too! We wound up having quite a nice group for our bathing suit gathering, and took some pictures after the Frock Flicks podcast. I pretty much skipped the Pool Party entirely - I literally walked through it from one end to the other and back, before heading up to celebrate [livejournal.com profile] fairegoddess's birthday.


theladyrebecca: (Default)
Wow, LJ was busy this weekend! I don't know how you guys find time to post and sew. This weekend was all sewing for me.

Mostly, because it took me app ELEVEN HOURS to make my bustle gown sleeves. Seriously, eleven hours. And that was without any sleevil. But they're done and they're in, and I stayed up way too late last night because I was absolutely determined to finish the bodice. I'm pretty sure it's done, though I should probably double check, since I was finishing everything up at almost midnight last night.

Unfortunately, the bodice was pretty much the only thing I got done all weekend. I went over to [livejournal.com profile] vanessa_lynne's again yesterday, though, and she helped me mark where my bars need to go on the bathing suit bodice. As of this morning's bus ride to work, I had finished a little over half of them, so I know I'll finish them before I get home.

I still have a long list of sewing to do, though:

Tonight
-make bathing suit belt
-make bathing suit hat
-make/paint bathing suit scarf
-mark bathing suit skirt hem.
-make sleeve poufs
-tack bustle tapes in place
-dye hair
-make sure that any accessories too large to fly are ready to be dropped off tomorrow (ie: sewing machine and archery dress hat)

Tomorrow
-hem bathing suit skirt. I haven't decided yet whether I'm doing this by hand or by machine
-figure out hair for bustle gown
-double check that all hooks and eyes are on things
-sew petal bum pad to regular bum pad so they don't have to be pinned
-make bows to sew onto bathing suit bloomers
-pack

Wednesday/if time
-take in gala gown at the top of the CB closure, so that my roommate doesn't have to pin me in
-tack zipper edges down in Little Red
-make world's fastest reticule for bustle gown, because I have nothing that matches a green dress

I really hope that's everything left to do, because I already don't know how I'm going to accomplish all that. I will have about 4 hrs to sew tonight, and probably only two hours each on Tues and Wed. Yikes.


Oh, and since I don't think I ever posted what order I'm wearing things:
Thurs: 1831 bathing suit
Friday day: Miss Pettigrew
Friday night: 1830s Archery dress
Saturday day: Little Red
Gala: Orange 1830s gown
Sunday: green and ivory bustle gown
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I did sew at lunch yesterday (and today), and on the bus, so my bathing suit bodice binding is complete, and I have 5 hooks left to sew on. It's good that I'm not planning to sew the bars on until Sunday, because although I have plenty of eyes, I only have 6 bars (and I find it quite frustrating that all hooks must come with eyes - I almost never use the eyes!)

I also assembled all the pieces for the bustle bodice yesterday evening. Somehow, it was crazy big in the bust, so I'm glad I tried it on before going any further! I wound up taking it in probably about 3" in the bust, and took in the lower CB 2" as well. But now it fits! I also sewed in the lining for the peplum along the hem, so at this point, the top and sides need to be tacked, and then the lining is all set. I even made four buttonholes! Of course, I also realized that this dress is going to require covered buttons, which means that's another thing I need to go run out and get.

My goal for tonight is to start and complete the sleeves on the bustle bodice. I know I will finish the last hooks on the bus on the way home, and I'm hoping that I will find myself with app 2 hrs of handsewing to do by tomorrow afternoon. I have an audition mid-afternoon in the same place that I am ushering a show tomorrow night, and since there is also a parade happening tomorrow night, I don't want to risk going home and not being able to find parking for the show. Of course, right now I probably only have about 30-45 mins of handsewing, so I hope I come up with something! If I manage to finish the sleeves tonight, I can make and attach the binding for the neck. And I might be able to start on the belt for the bathing suit, which will likely have hand-finishing, if nothing else.

Hmm, maybe I'll try to hit Joanns before the audition tomorrow - then I can sit around making buttons! 
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I got the twill and sateen I needed in order to finish cutting out the bustle bodice last night at Joanns. I also picked up some red fabric for the bathing suit scarf, a weird pleather for the belt (I'm really nervous about working with pleather!), and hopefully almost everything I need for class supplies. Though naturally, once I got home, I realized I had forgotten to pick up the lavendar ribbon for the bustle bodice! *sigh* I guess I'll be going back there sometime this weekend.

The bathing suit bodice is almost done. Yesterday, I finished the sleeves and started on the binding for the neck and hem. This morning on the bus, I stitched down the neckline binding, and got about halfway done with tacking down one side of the CB closure. I plan to sew at lunch and on the bus on the way home today, too, so hopefully I will finish all of the binding/tacking, and maybe even start sewing the hooks on.

I also assembled the rest of the bustle bodice pieces that I had already had cut out, and I cut out the peplum lining for all but one piece (before running out of sateen and heading to Joanns). This morning, I cut out the interlining for the last four pieces, so all I have left to cut are two peplum lining pieces. This bodice should be fully assembled tonight, and hopefully I can start on sleeves, since they will also be another patterning challenge. *grumble* Why did I pick such an unusual bustle gown?!
theladyrebecca: (Default)
The bathing suit bodice is coming along swimmingly (pun not originally intended, but hey). All the bodice pieces are sewn together, the back opening (I know, why did I do this to myself?) is pressed and pinned and waiting to be tacked and have hooks and eyes added, sleeves are cut out and serged. I think I may finish everything but the bars for the eyes tonight. I know [livejournal.com profile] vanessa_lynne talked about another sewing day on Sunday, so I may have her help me mark the placement for the bars, because I was stupid enough to let H/A win and create a bodice with hooks and eyes in the back! :(

I did not go to Joanns last night, so I still don't have everything cut out for the bustle bodice. I will go tonight. I have to go out tonight because I also have to go grocery shopping, and my Joanns list keeps getting longer. Hopefully while I'm there I can also figure out what I'm doing for the bathing suit belt. It looks like pleated leather, but I'm not sure I want to deal with having to sew over pleather. I also need to pick up everything for the two limiteds I'm taking. I know I shouldn't have waited this long, because I know I'm not going to be able to find batiste or lawn at Joanns, which means if I don't have anything that will suffice in the stash (*fingers crossed!*) then I'll have to make a trip to Nancy's this weekend.

I did, however, start on sewing the bustle bodice. Four pieces are serged, and two have actually been assembled. Maybe I'll get the rest of them assembled by tomorrow night? I wish I didn't have to work during the day - it's such a time suck when I really need to be sewing!

Sewing day

Jul. 20th, 2015 09:44 am
theladyrebecca: (Default)
Yesterday, [livejournal.com profile] vanessa_lynne hosted a sewing day, for which I am sooo thankful! She helped me fit (and then refit. and then refit again) the bustle gown bodice. I had been trying to figure out how to have one front piece with no darts, but by around 7:30pm, I finally said screw it, and drafted out a princess seam front instead. Of course, this means that altogether, my bodice will have 12 pieces (not including the crazy sleeves, which I really haven't even thought about yet). She also helped me fit my 1830s bodice pattern, since I couldn't remember what all I had done to it in Feb when I made the archery dress. I woke up a little before my alarm this morning, so I've already cut out the two front pieces of the bustle bodice. My goal for tonight is to get all the bustle bodice pieces cut (in both outer and interlining), and possibly cut the bathing suit bodice as well. And sew them together. I really need to get going on this! I want to be finished with everything by the end of this Sunday, so I can use the next few days to pack, and make sure nothing needs tweaking (like my gala bodice closure, which is probably not going to be gotten to...) Not sewing for three days last week really threw me off-schedule!
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I finished the bathing suit bloomers yesterday. I also finished the waistband for the bathing suit skirt, and potentially figured out at what length I will be hemming it. This thing is going to be so ridiculous.

Alas, accessories for this are still feeling a bit hopeless, but hopefully I'll get this bodice and the bustle bodice done by mid-next week, which will leave me a week to figure out accessories and pack. Last night it hit me all of a sudden that I feel like I'm not getting enough accomplished considering CosCol is in two weeks! I don't even know what I'm wearing when yet! And I have to find my class supplies list, because I have no idea what I need and therefore haven't purchased anything for them yet. 
theladyrebecca: (Default)
This time it's elastic. Apparently, I have no 1" elastic in the house. I have all sorts of other widths, naturally. So my bathing suit bloomers are almost done. All they need is the waistband casing/elastic. I had enough 3/4" elastic to do the legs. And yes, elastic is not period, but this is a bathing suit, and the best way for me to get the poufs in the legs is to have elastic in the cuffs.

I also sewed together the skirt panels, after cutting out a 3rd one - for a bathing suit, this seems very voluminous, but it looks way better now. I gathered the waist, too, so now I need to make the waistband, and figure out how much I'm hemming it, though that won't be at least until I get the bloomers and bodice done.

I purchased a scarf to wear with it, which I think I'm going to attempt to paint the stripes on (I couldn't find any that already had it). I still need to figure out what I'm doing with the belt - it looks almost like pleather belts I've seen at the thrift store, but unfortunately, time is now of the essence! I'm hoping to find some wide ribbon today when I go pick up the elastic. I already have the stockings figured out - I purchased red wide fishnet thigh-highs and will be wearing them over white stockings. I'm good on shoes, too.

Of course, one thing I still haven't decided is if I'm wearing this over a corset or not. The interesting thing is that her waist in the fashion plate is at her natural waist, not that slightly higher early 30s waist, which makes me think she's not wearing that longer late-Regency-style corset. But would she have gone without? I suppose that could also explain those bodice wrinkles... 
theladyrebecca: (Default)
After I fnished Little Red last night, I moved back to the bustle gown bodice. I marked everything from when my BF helped me fit it on Saturday, took apart the pattern pieces, and then stared at the front piece for over 30 mins trying to figure out how to draft the darts out of it. Then I gave up and moved on to the bathing suit.

I cut out the skirt pieces, though I'm wondering if two panels is going to feel a bit skimpy - I think I'll have to wait till after the bloomers are made to decide if I need another panel. Then I moved on to cutting out the bloomers, and realized that back in the LA fabric district, during last CosCol, I bought about 6" less fabric than I actually needed. Agh! So I spent about 30 mins trying to figure out how I could actually make it work. I wound up cutting about 3" out of the rise of the bloomers, so I hope they don't feel like I'm wearing low-rise. If they do, I might piece in some fabric into the rise - it will be under the skirt anyway, so no one will see.

Of course, once I sew the skirt and bloomers together, I'm going to be left with two crazy bodices to pattern. I'm at a loss for the bathing suit one, too. I almost wonder if it might have been made out of a knit... It's so fitted to her, and I'm not sure where/how to put the closures in. Hooks and eyes don't seem to make sense in a bathing suit, but would it have buttoned up the back in the early 1830s?

I've also yet to find adult-size swimmies, which I thought would be both appropriate and funny. So I think I'm going to have to make those undersleeve poufs, but that's certainly not something I'd ever want to go into water with! Not that this bathing costume is actually very appropriate for swimmming. Just as a reminder, in case anyone has forgotten, this is the suit:
theladyrebecca: (Default)
Continuing with the posting pictures theme, here is a post with a few pics from events we had way back in Aug/Sept.

First, in early August, [livejournal.com profile] theladysarah and I went to the WA Midsummer Ren Faire. It was really dinky, and we were pretty much the best dressed people there (I miss East Coast and Southern faires!) Also, note to self - one should always try on a costume that one hasn't worn in nearly two years ahead of time. Especially if one has lost 15-20lbs since one made said costume. Thankfully, Sarah did some quick hand-sewing for me and took my bodice in while I drove us to the faire.


Next, we had our Labor Day event at the beach. We had four people total (one of whom isn't even a costumer) but it was still fun, and we took some silly pictures. I wore my wool Victorian bathing suit, and brought along one of my antique parasols. More pictures showing everyone else can be found on facebook.




The other event we had was a practically spur of the moment outing to go see Austenland, thrown together by our Puget Sound Costumer's Guild and the Washington Regency Society. Interesting how an event planned on facebook 2-3 days in advance winds up with the same turnout as one planned about 3 months in advance... Anyway, it was a lot of fun getting dressed up to see a movie, and then we walked through Wallingford to go get chocolate after the movie.
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I don't feel like I was all that productive this year, probably since the early candy bustle wound up taking up soooo much of my time, but I did make a fair bit leading up to CosCol.

Pictures under the cut. )



My goals for 2012 were:
-a black knee length skirt. I didn't make one, but I bought one!
-the 1869 Pink Candy Striped Early Bustle Gown. Completed!
-Titanic gown. I started one, but I never finished it. The skirt is done, and the bodice is partially done. Now it's languishing as a ufo.
-Teens-era corset. Completed!
-Ballgown bodice for my black and gold plaid Dickens dress. Completed!
-Late Victorian jacket for my mom. She decided she wanted an Edwardian one instead. I've fitted the mockup to her, but haven't actually started the final jacket.
-Late Victorian bathing suit. Completed!
-18th c Robe a la Turque. Not for 2012, but I've finally started it!
-18th c quilted petticoat. Completed!
-1780s-style red wool Riding Habit. Started, but not yet finished.
-18th c red wool cloak. Nope, not yet.
-a Victorian waistcoat for my dad for Dickens. Nope, but I'll do it this year!
-18th c mitts. Nope.
-Regency corset. I didn't get into the CosCol class last year. We'll see if I can manage one on my own before this year's CosCol.
-Regency day dress. Nope.
-Regency overgown. Nope.

Overall, not too bad.
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I made two new bathing suits for Costume College this year. First, I made the super-quick-and-easy 1916-ish tunic and shorts bathing suit out of the plaid cotton flannel and navy blue wool. I wore that for the Thursday night pool party (or should I say poolside party, since almost no one went in the water) with my matching headband, the Capezio ballet shoes with elastic ribbons, and knee highs. It was very comfortable, though it was amazing how heavy the flannel became in the water. Unfortunately, I didn't stop to think about snapping a picture, so thanks to [livejournal.com profile] rebecca817 for snapping the only pictures of me in it. Here is one of them:




The other bathing suit I made was the 1890s one out of the light blue and navy blue wool, with vintage buttons. I wore it Sunday afternoon, while waiting out the terrible noises going on outside from the hotel's strange version of a party, and then afterwards for our own sort of pool party. My roommate, [livejournal.com profile] llyrafantasyfae, also wore her Victorian bathing suit that afternoon, so it was fun going around the hotel with her. While this one was very comfortable to wear both in and out of the water, the chlorine did strange things to it. It wound up softening the light blue to a grey-ish blue mottled with some light brown. And it also destroyed the Capezios, which I wore with this suit as well - after two wearings, there were holes going all the way through the toes on both shoes, and they turned reddish. So RIP Capezios. I also wore the knee highs with this one, and left my hair down in its post-teased and curled state (which wound up with surprisingly the right look for an 1890s bather).


first photo of the 1890s suit by Andrew Schmidt


So now that I've posted my wrap-up, how many days left till next year's Costume College? ;)

Finished!

Jul. 17th, 2012 03:25 am
theladyrebecca: (Default)
The Victorian bathing suit is complete! Here's a pic:



I also finished stitching on the trim to the candy bustle overbodice. And I drafted out a pattern for an 1860s ballgown, which I plan to wear for the gala. At this point, these are my CosCol plans:

Thursday: teens bathing suit (still need to make matching headband)
Friday day: teens daywear
Friday night: Jane (which I need to try on and make sure it's not too big now)
Saturday day: pink 50s dress
Saturday night: 1860s evening gown (which I need to make a bodice and overskirt for)
Sunday tea: 1869 candy bustle (need to finish trim on underbodice sleeves)
Sunday pool party: Victorian bathing suit
theladyrebecca: (Default)
All the bathing suit needs is a hem, and otherwise it's complete! And I'm off tomorrow, so I'll hopefully get a lot of sewing done. Maybe I'll even figure out what I'm wearing to the gala night. :)

Almost!

Jul. 15th, 2012 01:10 am
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I'm almost done with my Victorian bathing suit. I made most of the pants today - all they need left is for me to stitch on the navy decorations on the side seams, and finish the cuffs on the bottom. And all the dress part needs is a hem. And I have to figure out whether I'm doing real buttonholes and buttons, or stitching the neck together and doing a fake button closure.

Also, I think my serger officially died today. Luckily, I had already serged all the exposed seams of the pants. And right away, I went and ordered a brand new Brother 1034d serger. Of course, when I was looking at it last week and put it in my fabric.com shopping cart, I had a 25% off coupon. Which naturally, has since expired. So I bought it from amazon instead.

And in other news, my USPS case is finally closed. I received a check in the mail yesterday for the full amount I had insured it for, so at least I'll be able to replace things. Or maybe not replace everything, and buy that bicycle I've been coveting instead. Or just save it for CosCol. :)
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I finished the sleeves of the bathing dress, and patterned, cut out, and serged the pieces for the pants. I don't know if I'm going to get to sew at all tomorrow, though.
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I got a lot done on the bathing suit today - I finished all of the neck treatments, minus buttons and buttonholes, and almost finished the sleeves. I just need to put the band on the bottom of them. But, would you believe it - no sleevil! That's 2.5ish (if you count the cap sleeves of the 50s dress) projects in a row with no sleevil. Which probably means the next one will absolutely kill me.
theladyrebecca: (Default)
Today I had a wonderful time hanging out in Volunteer park at my first SITU event, playing croquet and having a picnic. Being with so many other costumers again (and the fact that we had a great "OMG it's one month till Costume College" freakout) put me in a major sewing mood. So when I came home, I wound up with a huge case of CADD. I cut out the patterns for my Victorian bathing suit and my pink 50s dress for the princess party (I picked up a cute Vintage Vogue pattern at Joanns today), as well as the two body pieces for the bathing suit, and all the skirt pieces for the pink dress. Of course, it was after I cut out and serged the wool for the bathing suit that it dawned on me that I wasn't sure I had ever pre-washed the fabric. Oops. So I put it all in the washer, along with the two pieces I cut out, and I'm just sooo thankful that it's a gathered dress, since it did in fact shrink about 3" all around. I also sewed together all of my pink dress skirt pieces, and started handsewing the trim onto the other armseye of the 1869 overbodice (I finished the first one yesterday).

Finished!

May. 30th, 2012 01:42 am
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I finished the Edwardian bathing suit (though I suppose I really shouldn't be calling it that, since it's really a teens-era one). And I bought new fabric for the candy bustle bodice/apron drape. I hope it works! I haven't started cutting it out yet. I think I'm going to tie in the seersucker from the ruffle by putting in a patch pocket on the apron drape. I was going to do a hidden pocket (and I still might do one or two in addition). I suppose you can never have enough pockets, though!

I start training at the Space Needle tomorrow, and we have another preview for As You Like It tomorrow evening, so I'm not sure how much I'll actually get done. I know CosCol is still two months away, but it feels like it's fast approaching!


And on that note, does anyone know if the addition of the Thurs pool party at CosCol means there are going to be two pool parties this year? Or is the Sunday one not happening anymore?

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