Bustle Up

Samifer's bustle is completed!

Or, you know, nearly completed. I still need to add the buttons and buttonholes, but there's Dungeons and Dragons on Tuesday, so I'll just do it while we game. Here's the inside as well:

Samifer's bustle was made the same way as mine, using this tutorial. I originally was going to make a trained bustle, since her dress will have a train, but upon further research a number of people who have made trained bustles have been disappointed by the results. Add to it a few images of beautiful trained gowns wore by ladies stating to be wearing a lobster bustle underneath, and I decided to go the easy path. The bustle is longer than mine, and should hit around mid-calf. It also has a box-pleated ruffle along the bottom to give it more poof.

Right now I'm playing with the proportions of the bustle. For mine, the smallest bone (closest to the waist) was 2/3 of my waistband measurement. (The waistband is 2 inches below natural waist, which for me is 30". So my smallest bone is 20" long.) I felt it was a good size, but I didn't know whether that system worked for everyone. So this is my test. I used the same proportion for Samifer, and I'll see how it looks. If it works for Samifer, I can extrapolate that it will work for Gabriel since she is a similar size. The true test will come from Crowley and Castiel, who are the farthest points away from the mean in either direction.

And now you know two important things about me. One: I play Dungeons and Dragons (technically, I play Pathfinder, but I call it D&D since more people are familiar with that), and Two: I have taken statistics.

I've been a bad, bad girl

So you know how I said I wouldn't work on the Amazzone Perugina costume until after I finished my Victorian Femme goals? Well, that only really works as long as I have Victorian Femme things to sew. But once I finished Gabriel's mock-up, I didn't have anything else to work on. Without Samifer's measurements I couldn't start her bustle, and without a busk I couldn't finish Castiel's corset. So, in lieu of not sewing anything at all, I started on an 18th century shift. (I should be working on Crowley's socks for the upcoming Sew Historical challenge, but I didn't wanna.)

If it doesn't look like I got much done, that's because I decided to hand sew it. Yes, the part of the costume least likely to be seen by another human soul (except my husband, who couldn't tell hand stitching from machine and wouldn't care anyways.) I don't know why, I just wanted to. I have the lower gussets stitched on, selvage to selvage with the smallest seam I could manage, and I have one sleeve and underarm gusset attached. Once all the seams are stitched I'll flat fell them, but right now I'm just getting it together. I haven't cut the neckline yet, as I intend to cut it small and then trim it proper once I have stays. I'm also going to make the sleeves a little short for the period, so it can transition into Regency. I also found some fabric in the stash to use for pockets:

It's one of those overly bright patterns that you're never sure how you came to own, but there's more than you know what to do with. The pattern makes me thinks of the designs on embroidered pockets, and it's as good a use as any for a fabric I'd have a hard time wearing.

This will be the last Amazzone update for a while, though, since I now have the needed measurements for Samifer's bustle and will be doing a corset fitting on Gabriel tomorrow.

Nothing like more sewing projects to encourage you to work on all your other sewing projects.

Because life should be it's own obstacle course

Apparently I've decided that life is too easy, and so I have to make challenges to increase the difficulty. I have decided to make the Amazzone Perugina costume, and hopefully in time for the Art challenge due on June 1 for Sew Historical Fortnightly. BUT I can only start work on it after I've finished my goals for the month. Castiel's corset is as complete as possible without a busk (I basted the front pieces together to do a final fitting before flat felling all of the seams into boning channels). I still have to add two boning channels to each front piece, but I need the busk to figure out placement. Then I can bone it, bind it, and floss it. I've started the mock-up for Gabriel's corset, and hopefully I'll be able to measure Samifer for her bustle and petticoat tomorrow.

Holding my new project hostage until I complete my goals has given me new motivation. BUT I've also decided I'm not going to buy any fabric for Amazzone. I can buy things from Goodwill, to cannibalize for parts, but otherwise I'm making it from stash. Shift, stays, petticoats, pockets, all of it. Because apparently 'crazy' is my lifestyle choice. I have some remnants I like for the interior and exterior of the stays, and some clearance brown jean for the core of it. Muslin for the shift, an old cotton print for the pockets, a Goodwill silk blouse for the habit shirt. But I only have from when I finish my Victorian Femme goals until the end of April to work on it. After that, I get new goals for my main project and Amazzone goes on the back burner again.

And I still want to get it done in little over a month. No biggie. *silently screaming*

Things are conspiring against me

So I have these two remnants in my stash, and they work pretty well together so I wanted to use them in an outfit.

To the left is a third of a yard of burgundy cotton velvet, and on the right is about half a yard of cotton upholstery print. The colors are similar without being matchy-matchy, but I didn't know what to do with them.

Flashback: I made a new friend and we were discussing favorite eras. I said 1880s (Second Bustle Era), she said 1870s (forgot to ask if she liked First Bustle or Natural Form). She also mentioned 1780s, so every once in a while I'll do searches for images in the 1780s, so see if there's anything I can get behind. I don't like panniers, and the flamboyance of Rococo is too much. There's a reason I prefer the tailored jackets and pleated skirts of the Late Bustle Era over the layer cake decadence of the mid-century Victorian. Good for other people, but not my cup of tea.

On one of my recent searches I discovered riding habits and redingotes. I like the habits more, the simple functionality over the frouffed up version, but it was something to get behind. And then I found this:

*Squee*

I loved it. The shape, the lace, the colors. The HAT! And I happened to have some velvet that would be perfect for the collar and while the print for the cuffs might not be accurate, it would be easier and certainly look beautiful. I had found it. Tell me, oh Pinterest, the details of this beauty I had discovered!

Amazzone Perugina, by Cesare Auguste Detti. (Born in Spolete, Italy December 28, 1847 and died in Paris May 19, 1914)

. . .

Born 1847

. . .

SON OF A BITCH!

Okay, so this wasn't a 18th century outfit; it is a late Victorian interpretation of a 18th century outfit. That's alright, I can work with that. Besides, technically everything Merja does at Before the Automobile is a modern interpretation of historical garments, and she looks like the time-travelling queen of period perfect. Maybe the artist wasn't too far from the mark?

Marie Antoinette - Joseph Kreutzinger 1771

Woman's Riding Habit. Italy. Circa 1780s

Mr. and Mrs Thomas Coltman - Joseph Wright 1770-1772

Riding Habit. United Kingdom, 1770 - 1775

Based of some period examples, the painting isn't too far off. The main things it got wrong were the collar and the cuffs. Le sigh.

Well that's that. I have enough on my plate now anyways, I don't need to be picking up ANOTHER project. Even if it is perfect. Even if Sew Historical Fortnightly has an art inspired challenge coming up. Even though I'm beginning to hit my stride and think I really can make all the costumes I planned.

So today I was at my friends' house doing laundry, and I figured I'd walk to Goodwill since it's less than a mile away. I may find something nifty. You know what I found?

This white cotton jacket with metallic floral embroidery that would be perfect for the waistcoat. It also has awesome buttons.

Not to mention this red wool jacket that also is super nice.

With military buttons.

So I started drafting images of my new 1770s riding habit, made from remnants and thrift store finds. (I like the 1770s more than the 1780s. 1780s lapels were weird.) I will be aiming for period, with the painting as inspiration. The cuffs will end closer to the wrist, the lace cuffs of the habit shirt will be closer to the jacket instead of extending way past. The collar will still be velvet, but will have a notch where it meets the lapels instead of being a shawl collar. The skirt of the jacket will be gored, using the extra fabric I take off the waist and back to make the bottom wider. I will be making stays, so I should be able to take off a good bit of fabric. I will also be on the look out for more fabric that is similar. More on this plan, as it develops.

Corset Number 3. Three corsets, ah ah ah!

Castiel's corset is coming along nicely, especially since I'm trying to be efficient about my work. I sewed all the cording channels in one go, then sat down and threaded all of the cording through. Then I cut all the strips of coutil for the boning channels, and ran them through the bias tape maker (while ironing, of course). Normally, I just work on one thing till I get bored, then I'll change to something else until I can't do anymore or I again get bored, and then do something else. Which is terribly inefficient. So I fought through my boredom and just kept doing a thing until said thing was done. All of the cording is finished, the third, fourth, and fifth pieces have all of their boning channels and are sewn together.

It's my best corset so far. My phone is bad at picking up colors, but the fabric is a burgundy silk duponi, stitched with black silk thread. All of the channels are stitched to the inside of the corset, so all you see on the outside is the outline. Since I'm getting better at stitching straight and taking my time, I may attempt flat felled channels at the seams, but I've got extra fabric if it looks bad and I decide to do covered channels instead.

Of course, no amount of efficiency can make up for a sudden change of plan, so although I have strips of coutil ready to be covered in silk and stitched in place over the front two pieces, I've decided to do it a different way. Every attempt I've made at covering a strip of coutil with an equal sized strip of silk and then stitching them together onto a corset hasn't looked very nice. It's functional, but the silk frays and sticks out and it's hard to keep the pieces aligned. Then I remembered a different way to make channels: sew a tube, press it flat with the seam in the middle (not at the edge), and sew it down onto the corset. Since I want the channels to be silk covered coutil, I think it would be easier to stitch a tube of the layered fabrics, press, and then sew. At least that way the fabrics can't shift independently of each other and look messy. It's worth a shot, and if it works out as planned, this corset may be the first of what I'd consider a sell-able quality.

Goals for April

These are my goals for this month, posted in order to keep me actively working on them and not get distracted by all the other pretty things I want to make:

Castiel's corset

Gabriel's corset

Samifer's bustle

Samifer's petticoat

Crowley's socks, for the next HSF challenge, Tops and Toes.

I still don't have the busks for the two corsets, but if I can get everything else done it'll qualify. Each corset takes me about a week, since I'm not good about just sitting down and hammering one out. My bustle took about a day, and I'm expecting no different for Samifer's. I expect three, maybe four days for the petticoat, less if I can build up the enthusiasm. I already have one of the socks done, so if I can do the other one it'll fulfil the challenge. I want to be finished with the underwear so I can finally start on the outerwear.

As of right now, things I still need to make before Halloween: 1 chemise, 1 drawers (set of drawers? Is it like pants, where you say pair of pants to refer to one?), 3 corsets, 4 bustles, 4 petticoats, 1-5 corset covers (depending of how badly the corset shows through), 4.5 pairs of socks, 5 skirts, 4 overskirts, 5 bodices, 1 jacket, and 1 cape. Also, maybe 5 pairs of boots.

The chemise, drawers, and bustles come together quickly, and if I figured out how to use the ruffler foot on my sewing machine I'm sure the petticoats would come together quicker. I still have seven months, not quite time to start panicking, but I do worry about getting things done on time. Especially because there are other things I'd like to make this year.

I'm also going to be visiting my folks for a week this month, so I may just take my sewing machine with me. Who knows? I might get all my shit done.

Sew Historical Fortnightly Challenge #6

So this challenge gave me trouble, but I really didn't want to skip it like the last one. I could think of things I wanted to make, but not a fairy tale they would apply to, or good fairy tales, but not costumes they could be made into. I also wanted something quick, so I didn't take too much time out of my main project. Finally, inspiration hit in the form of this pattern:

Free pattern found here.

I know that not all Disney movies are fairy tale and not all fairy tales are Disney movies, but I had a difficult time separating the two. So I didn't try. My fairy tale character:

Megara, from Disney's Hercules. That slinky dress with shaped bust works perfectly for the 1930s.
Following this advertisement:

I aimed to make a dress like the one third from the left. I choose the longer option for the dress, lilac fabric for the main body, and added a darker purple under bust accent and a low slung belt. I also went with light purple chiffon sleeves, echoing the shawl Meg wears in this scene:

The result:

Then I realized, wait a minute. 1930's. Bombshell make-up. So I pulled my hair back, did up my pretties, and took some glamour shots.

I'm a damsel. I'm in distress. I'm handling it. Have a nice day.

The breakdown:
The Challenge:  #6 Fairy Tale

Fabric:  Light purple crepe, dark purple charmeuse, and light purple chiffon.

Pattern: Vera Venus' 1930's Little Bias Dress, linked above

Year: Based on the ad I found featuring a similar dress, around 1933

Notions:  Light and dark purple thread, hem tape, invisible zipper

How historically accurate is it?  I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of ALL THIS POLYESTER. Beside the totally inaccurate fiber, the cut and styling in on par with the time period.

Hours to complete:  8 - 12. I didn't really keep good track of time, but it came together quickly.

First worn:  Tonight, because that I have it on and my make-up done up, I don't wanna take it off.

Total cost:  $40, give or take.