Diary of a Costumer

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, 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

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!

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.

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? :)

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?

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."

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.