theladyrebecca: (Default)
On Saturday, a group of my friends and I attended the Geeks Who Drink "When You Wish Upon a Bar" Disney quiz in Tacoma. Three of us dressed up, and I pulled out Jane to wear. I haven't worn this costume in years (I think the last time was for Emerald City ComiCon in March 2014), and the funny thing about returning to old costumes is that all of a sudden all the problems seem to be much more obvious. Like how stupidly large and ill-fitting that collar is, and the fact that once that hugely wide but very short bustle collapses, it doesn't want to un-collapse. Nevertheless, I still won the costume contest! And better yet, we won 1st place in the quiz, too!

That said, this was the first time that we had attended the quiz in Tacoma instead of Seattle, and we're going to stick with Seattle in the future. There were hardly any teams in Tacoma, so the prize money was really low, and it turns out that our score was high enough that we would have won in Seattle as well. I wish these themed quizzes came up more than once every 1-1.5 or so years, because they're so much fun! And now we can say we are both the Harry Potter and Disney champions. :)

Anyway, here's a few pictures!




theladyrebecca: (Default)
I promised this forever ago, and since the absolutely terrible internet in my apartment is not letting me update my website, I'm finally delivering on that promise!

You've already seen some of the photos of Jane from last Halloween, so I won't go into too much detail, but I wore the Jane outfit again for the Ice Cream Social at Costume College. We were going to have a Disney Princess costume theme at some point, but even though there only wound up being four of us to fit the theme, we still had fun posing for a few pictures together. (Speaking of which, Happy Birthday, [livejournal.com profile] gilded_garb!)

The only thing I changed between last October and here, was to take in everything quite a bit, due both to some weight loss and a new corset.




photos by Andrew Schmidt
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I did lots of little sewing bits today, which makes me feel like I kind of did nothing... But I finished off the sleeves on the candy bustle underbodice, and put the last bar on the overskirt, which means that everything I needed to do for the early candy bustle project is finished! There's still stuff I'd like to do for it (like bind the bottoms of the bodices, and put hooks and eyes all around the waists so nothing rides up or down on me), but that stuff is not entirely necessary.

I also took in the seams of the Jane bodice today (4" at the waist!), and tried on all the skirts. Which means I now need to move a ton of hooks and eyes on there, since they're all too big as well.

And for the ballgown, I went out and bought more cable ties, and draped up the overskirt(s). Since I'm not very familiar with ballgowns of this era, does anyone know if the overskirts were attached directly to the bodice, following those deep points, or were they just made as a normal skirt? In any case, I'm very happy with how it looks so far. And I'm super tempted to make it have a train... Which I know would be a bad idea.

Oh, and speaking of the gala, would anyone who is not planning on attending the food portion (I was so not impressed last year) like to go out to eat somewhere in costume?
theladyrebecca: (Default)
2011 was a pretty productive year for me, especially in the first few months.

January: Pre-Raphaelite-inspired linen dress and bodice (which I still haven't worn for anything)
             Chemise a la Reine, with short-sleeve shift, and matching sash and petticoat
           
February: Fully boned stays, which had been a ufo before this because I had never finished the binding
               My 1660s Restoration gown, with accompanying 17th c chemise
               Two pairs of crocheted mitts
               18th c floral striped petticoat
               Refurbished 17th c shoes

March: The beginnings of a hand-quilted petticoat, which I never really worked on again after that month. Maybe someday.
           Petal-shaped bum pad
           16th c escoffion
           Chemise-dress (faire-wear) commision
           I think I also made my short-sleeve chemise blouse in March, but since I never blogged about it, I can't remember.

Nothing in April, since I was busy moving across the country.

May: Floral robe a l'anglaise, with matching floral petticoat, and belt

June: Burgundy 18th c petticoat for the robe a l'anglaise,
        18th c hat (from scratch!)
        18th c cap, fichu, and pockets
      
July: Finally finished the 1950s Jean Desses cocktail dress, with matching shrug
        1940s romper suit w/ skirt
        Jacques Doucet-inspired early Edwardian chiffon and lace gown

August: Late Victorian walking skirt for my mom, w/ shirtwaist blouse
            Huge Edwardian hat
            Laughing Moon corset, started in the class at CosCol
            Short bustle, for Jane costume

September: Petticoat and skirt for Jane
                  Commissioned fish doublet and collar, with matching pants
                  Spats for Jane

October: Jane bodice, with detachable collar and tie
              Dyed the umbrella for Jane, and stitched eyelet lace to the edges
              Refurbished Regency-style shoes
              One black velvet muff and one white furry muff

November: 1860s black lace and ribbon cap

December: Pagoda-sleeved bodice for my mom for Dickens, with matching ruffle and trim added to her skirt from last year


Overall, not too shabby. Tomorrow, I'll post my list of everything I want to make for 2012. Happy New Year!
theladyrebecca: (Default)
Jane trotted out (sans pith helmet, which has not yet arrived in the mail) for a Halloween party on Friday. And I won one of the two best in show costume prizes. Here are a couple pics:


And last night, I went to the Queen of Naples ball, and followed that up by seeing the most cheesetastic movie ever, The Three Musketeers. Naturally, we went in our costumes. The movie was hilarious, but visually lovely, with some truly terrific swordfights, and if you're in the mood for some ham and cheese whiz, I highly recommend it.


I also managed to snap some of my favorite squirrel pictures ever yesterday.
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I tried on Jane last night, to make sure it fit alright. Good thing I did! The skirt waistband is a little bit gappy, but not enough that I think I want to move the bars smaller, at least at this point. The over-bustle waistband, however, was almost 3" too big, so I have to fix that. And another button broke, so I had to fix it. I hope to never have to use these buttons again. I also still have to do a little bit of pressing, and turn up the ends of the sleeves (I decided I like the length, so I won't be cuffing them up). I also still need to finish three more sides of the parasol trim. But anyway, here's some pictures!



I also finished up my shoes for the Queen of Naples ball on Saturday.


I decided I'm going to wear my chemise a la reine, except without stays on, and I'm going to belt the sash twice around a bit higher on the waist, as shown in the picture. And I'm doing my hair in a regency style, as opposed to hedgehog.
theladyrebecca: (Default)
As a quick update, Jane is done, except for tacking up the sleeves so it looks like I've rolled them up. And I found eyelet trim that I like for the umbrella, so I'm hand-sewing it on. I finished about 1/4 of it tonight. The pith helmet was marked as shipped today, so hopefully it will get here before Friday. Other than that, I just have to try everything on, and makes sure all the pieces fit me at the same time, since I've only tried each piece on separately. Oh. And I have to replace one more of those stupid fabric-covered buttons that keep breaking! I hope to be able to do some pictures tomorrow.

But I'm still sooo tempted to do an overgown for my chemise a la reine for Saturday, just so I feel a little more regency. Something like this would be nice, but I know I don't have time, even if I do have a few hours tomorrow and most of Friday. Instead, I'm going to decorate the pretty little ballet flats I got at Walmart and make them a bit more regency looking with some paint and ribbon
.
theladyrebecca: (Default)
Jane is nearing completion. All that's left at this point is the over bustle drape, finishing the edges of the sleeves (I haven't decided what I'm doing to them yet), and adding a tiny hook and eye to the front of the collar. I also decided to bite the bullet, and ordered a pretty, new $25 pith helmet, because I realized I'm just not happy with the $2 straw one I found. So when that arrives, I'll finish up the purple band on it. I've already finished the edges of the band - I'll just need to figure out the length. And if I can find eyelet trim that matches what I have on the skirt hem, I'll add it to the umbrella. In any case, it has to all be ready for a Halloween party on the 21st!

I'm really tempted to make something regency for the Queen of Naples Ball on the 22nd. So it's probably a good thing that I'm not done with Jane yet, or else I might actually try, and wind up going crazy. I'll just wear my chemise a la reine.

Oh. And I've decided to go trick-or-treating. If I'm dressed up, they have to give me candy, right? :)
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I spent the morning working on my sleeves. Sleeve #4 seems to work. Thank you so much [livejournal.com profile] centuriessewing for the link to that sleeve. I used that diagram to redo my sleeve #2. There's no pulling anywhere, and the fit seems really good. The only thing I need to figure out now is how to keep it puffing out, instead of puffing up.

Here are pictures of sleeve #4 (again, kindly ignore the fact that I am too lazy to put on a corset and do up the majority of my buttons).


I also did the bulk of the high white collar last night. I just have to finish it off with the tie and a closure.
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I have sleevil problems. Please help me! All my pictures of where I am right now are under the cut, but basically, I've made three different sleeves so far. The first one was a three piece sleeve with a pouf on top of a two-piece sleeve. I hated it, so I scrapped it. Number 2 is a standard two piece sleeve with a gathered head, but it's pulling weirdly near the back of the armpit. Number 3 is just a one-piece sleeve with a gathered head, though it (like #2) is being very pointy up by the gathers.



Here are a slew of pictures )

My main questions are, how to I get rid of the pointy gathers up at the top, and, if I go with the two piece sleeve, what do I do to make it stop pulling at the back of the armpit?
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I spent a bit of time on Tues (since there wasn't any rain) dyeing my umbrella. It seems to have come out pretty darn perfectly! I am probably going to be adding the eyelet trim to it as well, but I haven't tested it out yet. I also have pretty much finished my bodice for Jane. I have one button more to put on, plus I have to replace one that has already broken. And I think I might take in the back a tiny bit more by the arms. Of course, since my corset is at the theatre right now, I only have a picture of it from a few days ago, which was pre-darts and buttons. I'll hopefully have a bit more time to sew on Saturday.




And because I know these pictures are somewhat lackluster, and you're probably getting tired of hearing of my super slow Jane progress, I present you with a picture of Teddy!
theladyrebecca: (Default)
Tech week is over, and we've had our opening weekend for HMS Pinafore (which went swimmingly), so that means I have time to work on Jane again! I also finished off a commissioned pair of parti-colored pants to match the fish doublet last week, which was where the already non-existent sewing time I had went.

So at this point, I have cut out all my bodice pieces for Jane, in both the lining and the linen. I hope to put them together tonight, but we'll see. And my umbrella came today! I wound up ordering this white cotton one. A giant box arrived on my doorstep today, and lo and behold, it contained my umbrella (it easily could have fit 20+ umbrellas). The umbrella itself is a little larger than I would have liked, but I have to make concessions somewhere. It has the nice wooden crook handle I wanted, and because it's cotton, it should hopefully be easily dyeable. I will almost certainly be dyeing it this evening, assuming I get home from work before it gets dark outside. I'm also still planning to put the eyelet trim along the edges, to match my skirt.

In other news, I was cast in another show, Almost, Maine, which will begin rehearsals the day after Pinafore closes. I'm excited to do another straight play, but I better get working on my memorization! And for any of you who live in the Bay Area, come see our second and final weekend of HMS Pinafore. We have four shows left, and you can purchase tickets at a discounted rate if you use the code "never."
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I've done very little sewing in the last two weeks. In fact, all I did last week was to remove the eyelet trim from the Jane petticoat and whipstitch it onto the skirt. And all I did this week was to fix my mom's Edwardian blouse sleeves so they would have more pouf, and make a pair of calf-high spats for Jane. I think I managed an average of 30 mins/day of sewing, between Pinafore rehearsals and work. But we open a week from tomorrow!

So anyway, here are the spats. They fit wonderfully, so hopefully that means they'll stay up on my legs! They're made of one layer of cotton canvas, with cotton twill tape for underneath the foot, and they button up the sides.



I'm still looking for that elusive wooden crook-handled yellow umbrella. I think I'm going to wind up buying this white one, in the hopes that I can dye it yellow. And possibly put some of the eyelet trim around the edges.
theladyrebecca: (Default)
I think I forgot to mention this last week, but I finally got a job! However, since I am now nannying 5 days a week, plus having rehearsals 3-4 nights per week, my sewing is going a bit slower. And now I have a rush commission to sew a doublet in time for the norcal Ren Faire costume check, so my stuff will now be put on hold completely until that is done.

Nevertheless, I finished my petticoat and skirt for Jane - they were mostly done before the weekend, except hems, which are now complete. For now. Though I think I'm going to take the trim off the petticoat and put it on the skirt instead, since it's not laying properly.

Here's a couple pics.
theladyrebecca: (Default)
What do you do to keep the sides of a short bustle from collapsing? Since I am poor and can't afford expensive patterns, I was trying to make a wire bustle on my own. It was coming along pretty nicely in it's initial prototype, but I'm having major problems with the sides. At first, I was just using twill tape to attach the hoop wire to (it's just safety pinned right now), but since that kept crumpling up, I decided to make a casing out of the twill tape for a cable tie, thinking that would keep it running straight down. However, with the cable tie in there, it's just bowing out really strangely. I have a couple pieces of twill tape standing in for the ties that will run across inside the bustle, but while they're keeping the wires from spreading out flat, they don't seem to be helping them stay down.


I keep thinking maybe I should just draft out a fabric pattern to encase it all, but I'm not sure that would wind up fixing my problem either. Help please!


This is what it looks like right now.


The side with the cable tie in the casing:






And the side without it. Please ignore the absolute disaster that has exploded in my room.






And here's my sketch for Jane, which is what I will be wearing it under:



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