Diary of a Costumer

Today, we went to the Pioneer Farm Museum in Eatonville. It was really cute! I think it would have been more fun if I was a kid, because it's very hands-on for kids - they get to dress up, and do all sorts of pioneer activities, like kneading dough, washing clothes, etc. They even can have their hair curled with antique curling irons! It was still a neat museum, and we got to see several old cabins dating from around the 1880s, and meet all the animals that live on the farm.

I did manage to get to a little sewing/crafting tonight, though. I painted my Fugawees to match the Victorian child dress. I rubbed them down with acetone, then did three coats of each color so that there would be minimal streaks, and then used a matte finish on top. Getting the exact shade of pink was challenging, but I made it in the end! (it required mixing a tiny bit of mauve with equal parts red and salmon, I think).




While I was doing that, my mom fixed (at least for now!) the tiara I ordered recently. She reglued sooo many rhinestones, but it still seems like every time it's touched, more fall out. So basically, it's pretty, but I highly doubt it will last. Still waiting for my refund to go through...

I also did another embroidery repeat on Anna, and came close to finishing the binding on that last overskirt tab. Ideally, I'd like to finish the tab, do another Anna repeat, and make a bodice mockup tomorrow, but since my mom is still here, I also have to make sure she's not sitting around bored while I'm sewing. Definitely feeling the crunch!

I have done almost no sewing since my last post. In fact, I wound up with a massive headache yesterday after work, and fell asleep at about 9:30, which for me is insane. I figured I would probably just wake up early and sew this morning, but I actually managed to sleep for nine hours! I guess I needed it. I did have enough time this morning to serge two of the Rapunzel skirt panels, but that's it. (Have I mentioned before how much I hate poly satin on the bias?)

My cedar balls also arrived yesterday, so I took the boots out of the freezer, vacuumed all the moth poop out of them, and put a few cedar balls inside, as well as the slipper socks that were keeping the non-moth-eaten one upright (maybe moths don't like slipper socks?) They are now back on top of my bookshelf. My guess is that my moth traps will arrive today, so I'll put one of those up there too, and I'll be monitoring both the traps and the boots very closely over the next several days. Fingers crossed!

I got a fair amount done on Rapunzel this weekend. I mocked up the pattern, which was a nearly perfect fit. The only thing I had to change was the angle of the straps, so I only had to recut one of the pieces, and everything else from the mockup will be my interlining. I serged all the interlinings to the outer pieces, and sewed them all together. I'm pretty sure my Rapunzel pattern has more pieces than any other bodice I've made. There are 17 pieces, and two layers in each piece. But it always has turned out really nice before, so I hope this is no exception.

I've decided to go with flat steels for the boning. I just don't feel like spiral steels are going to have enough hold, and I've never worked with them before, so I guess it makes me nervous. I don't think it will wind up too terribly stiff. There will be a piece of boning on each seam, (stopping under the bust in the front), and the front lacing will have boning on either side that goes from bottom to top. I would like to figure out the measurements today, but at the same time, I'm wondering right now if I have it going too far over the hips. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to make that call until I start the skirt and see them both together. So the boning may have to wait. Luckily, there's a local lady who sells pre-cut boning, so I can order from her and just pick it up, which means no waiting for shipping!

Speaking of shipping, my Vogue fabrics order should be arriving today, which means I'm going to put Rapunzel aside for a day or two, and hopefully finish off the 1890s outfit. It shouldn't need much, and I find that giant gathered sleeves are always easier than fitted ones. I think I may do a fitted liner inside the pouf to keep the pouf in place, but it doesn't have to be pretty!

In other news, I went to the Ren Faire on Saturday. It was way better than when I went a couple years ago, probably due mostly to the perfect weather this time. We only stayed for a few hours, but my bf found pants that I think he can use for Flynn, and he got to try on the boots that he's ordering online. I didn't feel in the mood for hoops and velvet, so I wore my maiden outfit, which is basically my Ren corset, a peasant blouse, a couple of 18th c petticoats, and lots of flowers. It was comfy at least!

And a follow-up to my last post. It sounds like my boots somehow got moths. :( They're in the freezer right now, so hopefully all the moths will die. I checked all my other antiques, including the Victorian clothing and the vintage furs, and there's no sign of the moths in any of them. It definitely makes me nervous, though - how did they get in? I've had these boots for two years, and this could only have happened (at least I'm pretty sure) in the last several months. 

I feel like I worked forever today on the archery dress, and I don't feel like I'm too much farther along. I made piping, or at least some piping. (I think I'm going to have to make more, but I only had about 90" of cording.) I did wind up taking apart the sleeves to insert the piping and lace above the elbow, because I think it would have looked messy if I just sewed it on top. I also decided on which lace to use for the shoulders, and cut and gathered that.

I tried on the bodice again when working on trim placement, realized that a) I needed to take up part of the shoulder seam, and b) I think I'm going to have to pad my bust, which is really weird to me. I'm getting a weird line in my center bust because of the busk of my corset - not sure how they managed to mask this in the early 1830s, when they wore corsets with big wooden busks in them. I know the Victorians padded - maybe they padded in the 30s, too? I did get my trim placement figured out, stitched together the trim layers, and stitched all that on, too. The whole day, I was just waiting for the moment when I would run out of my ivory and my dusty blue thread, both of which I had almost none of at the top of the day. Somehow, though, through a very vigilant use of various bobbin threads, I managed to make it the whole day with just enough thread (that said, I will definitely have to stop at Joanns after work tomorrow).

I'm going to pipe the CF opening, as well as the shoulder seams. And I think I'll be using hooks and eyes to close it, because I have no idea what else would make sense. I also have to figure out what I'm going to use for the ruff around the neck. I don't know that I have enough organdy left, and then I would have to tea-dye it to make it ivory. But otherwise, I would have to use lace, because using the silk left from the skirt doesn't seem like it makes sense. Plus, I have no idea which lace I would use - there are so many already in this bodice. If you can believe it from looking at the pictures, the lace on the bodice front and at the elbow is actually the same - it started out as 5-6" wide lace with scallops on both edges, and it is left over from my chiffon and lace Edwardian gown from a few years ago (as is the lace at the shoulders). On the bodice, I stitched down the middle so that the scallops would just peek around the braiding I layered on top. The lace on the sleeve puffs is a vintage lace I picked up at some estate sale.

And here's the pictures!



I also painted my boots today. The color looked totally right as I was mixing it, but now I'm worried that the blue is really way too turquoise. Maybe I'll wind up brushing some sand color over the light blue before sealing them.

Apparently I went crazy, so I decided to finish the corded petticoat today. 49 rows of cording in all. I had to add a 7.5" wide top piece for length, since the cording shortened it so much! And naturally, I got to what I thought were my last two rows, and ran out of cording, so I had to make a mad dash to Joanns. (Though I then wound up doing four more rows of cording.) I like how it looks, though! I haven't starched it yet. That, and adding the hooks and eyes at the waist will wait till a bit closer to when I'm actually wearing it, which probably won't be for quite a while.



And that wasn't the only thing I got done today, too! I had a good mail day, and my dyeable flats for the gala gown arrived, as did my new Fugawees. Unfortunately, I had to exchange the Fugawees for a wider size, so those have already begun their journey back to FL. But I did dye the flats! They're very orange. Hopefully not too orange, since the shoes in the original fashion plate were much brighter than the dress as well. I also bought ribbons to match.



I also started on the archery dress skirt. The two panels are cut out, the side seams are sewn, and I have pinned all the pleats, so they're ready to be sewn. I think I might have the whole thing finished tomorrow, minus the hem (which will have to wait until I make another petticoat, plus I want my Fugawees back before I hem). Not sure, though, since I'm really hoping my BF and I will finally go see The Imitation Game. Plus, my parents' gift to me of Ticket to Ride arrived today, too, so I think a round of that is in order. 

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.

The binding is done!!! I still need to do some eyelets for the shoulder straps, but otherwise the stays are done. I tried them on today when I finished the binding, and took some pictures of both the stays and the quilted petticoat, so those will be posted soon.

I must say, though, I hadn't realized just how high these stays go in the back! I tried on my floral robe a l'anglaise with them, to see if I could fairly easily alter the pattern for those to get the bodice patterns for my riding habit and robe a la turque, and the back of the dress is about 4" lower than the back of the new stays. I'm slightly disconcerted, but I think with at least both of these two projects, the back of the jacket/gown will be quite high, so hopefully the stays won't present a problem.

As far as shoes go, I wound up buying two pairs of imperfect Kensingtons. One of them I plan to paint red, using the angelus leather paints. And the other will probably stay ivory until I come up with a design I really like. I also bought a pair of red stockings from Sock Dreams, and I'll just have to live without clocks in my stockings.

Today was our Tea and Titanic event, and while I didn't get any good pictures of me by myself, I did take a couple pics of my new "Princess Slip" before I left. And my Edwardian shoes complete with shoe clips.

I just got back today from a week-long trip to Seattle. I went up there for an audition, and to scope out the various neighborhoods of the city, so that I'll better know where I want to live when I move up there in a couple months. And while I was away, my new shoes arrived!

The Bordello boots arrived before I left, but I'm returning them since they're pretty uncomfortable, especially for the price (and that way I save more money for whenever American Duchess releases her button boots). But before I left, I ordered these pumps in ivory. They arrived while I was gone, and they are perfect! They look even more Edwardian than they do on the website, and they're super comfy and very pretty. And because I found an online coupon, and bought the ivory colored ones, they were only $14.99! I kind of wish I had them in more than one color...

In other news, I''m super excited for the Oscars tomorrow! I guess I've run out of time to watch stuff, but I think the only movies (nominated for more than one award) that I haven't seen are Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

I think it just goes to show how lax I've been on pictures lately, but I took this on Nov 4th. And it's the only picture I've taken of any sewing work I've done since Jane.

This is the mid-Victorian lace cap I made based on the new Butterick pattern.



I also realized I never posted pics of my Devonshires from American Duchess. I haven't gotten to wear them for anything yet, but I tried them on when they arrived, using some vintage tension buckles I bought on ebay earlier this year.


Now I really really want the new Fleur Buckles she is offering! Maybe I'll get them for myself for Christmas. :)