Diary of a Costumer

Wow, look - Saturday's post already!

I believe I just took two classes on Saturday - Heirloom Sewing Techniques, and Tailor's Canvas. Both were super useful and informative, and taught me a lot of techniques that I had no knowledge of previously. Now I just have to find the patience in my sewing to actually utilize them. 

I wore my Victorian skating dress, which was very warm. It made me really glad I hadn't attempted to pack my green wool winter bustle gown, which is even warmer! I'm going to have to try to remember not to bring winter-wear to CoCo, even if it is air conditioned. Too bad, since I think winter-wear is actually my favorite.



As usual, it seemed like there wasn't enough time to get ready for the gala (why don't I ever learn?!). And like I vaguely remember last year, the gala red carpet line was ginormous, so we had to walk outside to get to the picture area, where our dinner group had planned to meet up. Too bad, as I would have liked walking the red carpet with my giant train. (Also, trying to round up 25 costumers at a gala red carpet line for dinner is like herding cats.) We did make it over to Maggianos, though, which was as tasty as usual. And I didn't spill anything, which was good, since I didn't have time to take pictures before dinner! I liked that everyone seemed to be hanging out in the hallway/CoCo lobby area instead of in the ballroom, since it's always so crowded and loud in there. And I actually put my train down a couple times (though really only if someone was taking a picture). I spent way too much time on that train to let it get dirty or stepped on! Overall, I really enjoyed wearing my gala gown this year. I need to figure out what else I can (safely) wear it for!

And now, picture spam of the finished dress!



Sunday/Monday
I wore my new Laughing Moon pattern-test pelisse on Sunday. (PS, with the new wallpaper, the hallway past the photo studio makes for great daytime photos!) I hit the Bargain Bazaar in the morning, and found a couple gems - namely, 6-7 yards of dark navy wool, and an antique bodice! Not sure how I managed either of those, since there were at least 30 people who were ahead of me in line. No patterns this year, though, which is a little bummer, but I think I also got a couple trims, too. The only classes I remember taking on Sunday were Cynthia and Cathy's corset binding class, and Jenny-Rose's hair class, both of which were great. 



On Monday, I took the bus to the fabric district, and bought way too much silk, especially considering I had bought some on Thursday. But on Sunday, they did have the goldenrod taffeta I was looking for Thurs, so now I have both. Of course, it turns out I'm doing my gala gown out of the butter yellow anyway - oh well, I guess I'll have beautiful fabric for a future project!

Wow! I actually finished all my recapping! 

 I was determined to finish the pelisse last night. I only had about an hour to work on it during the day, but when I came home from seeing Sister Act last night, I went straight into the sewing room to finish. 

I did a machined hem, with the cotton batting inside the bottom inch. I did two rows of stitching higher on the hem, too, to represent where a second padded row should be, but since it's not actually padded, it doesn't really show up. Maybe that's something I'll change in the future, but I doubt it. I also added my tassel/button trim at the CB, inspired by the extant one.

And here it is:

I got about 3/4 of the hooks and eyes attached, of those that I already had. And I stitched closed the lower front of the pelisse. But unfortunately, that was all I had time for today. 

I'm hoping to be able to swing through Joanns on my way home tomorrow, but since I also have to go to the grocery store, that likely won't leave time for sewing. It's tempting to put both errands off till Friday, and come home and do my hem instead, since that's the last "big" part of the pelisse left. I just want to finish it and move on to trimming the turquoise gown!

The pelisse is nearing completion. I've worked on it a ton this weekend, and at this point, all I have left is the hem (or hem treatment, since I haven't decided if I'm going to do the puffed rows that are on my inspiration), stitching or tacking down the facings, making the belt, and finishing off the wrist bands with buttons and buttonholes. Hopefully I'll be able to do all that tomorrow, though I do also have to mow the lawn and hopefully take Lion to get his nails trimmed. 

Oh, and I also need to do the closures down the front, but I'm not quite sure what to do there. Were pelisses ever worn without a dress underneath? I'd really love to wear this with just a petticoat, since that is a) less to pack for CoCo, and b) less heat in Socal. Obviously, that means I would need closures all the way down the front. However, my inspiration pelisse has no visible closures. Would they have used hooks and eyes, and is there a good way to do that down the front of the skirt, where there won't be any tension? Or are there any other closure options anyone recommends?

Thanks for your advice!

I wanted to start on the pelisse in the 1.5 hrs I had between work and rehearsal today, but first I had to put several hooks and eyes on skirts laying on my sewing table, then clear off the rest of the sewing table. Which naturally meant that after ironing the mockup fabric, I ran out of time. I have to go grocery shopping tomorrow afternoon, so there likely won't be time then either. But there's a possibility that I won't be called for rehearsal on Wed, which would be awesome, because then I could see a show a bunch of friends are in, and have a little time beforehand to sew. And this weekend I'll have a four-day weekend, so my goal is to sew for pretty much the entire time, and finish the whole pelisse. If I do, I think there's a chance I might get to the Elizabeth Swann dress before CoCo.