Irritation

Today has been the source of a number of small irritations.

I forgot to pick up a squirt bottle while out shopping, which I need to make a vinegar solution to set the pleats of my skirt.

I can't find my grosgrain ribbon that I bought to make the ties for the bustles. I remember calculating how much ribbon I would need and buying it ahead of time so I would have it on hand for bustles. Now it's missing.

Not to mention that Gabriel didn't come to gaming on Tuesday, so I wasn't able to get her measurements for her bustle.

I had to spend twenty minutes to find a copy of my preferred character sheet for Pathfinder on the internet, and then ran out of paper while printing copies. And since I didn't collate my printing, I have five first pages and no second or third pages.

As a result, no sewing was accomplished today. Things were pinned, and fabric was purchased for me to make padded armor for a friend, but I didn't really DO anything.

That's a lie. I made tacos. And they were good tacos.

Luckily I'm working tomorrow (yay money!) and I can pick up some ribbon while I'm there. Maybe even a squirt bottle. One way or another, Castiel's bustle will be finished tomorrow. And even if I have to drive to Thousand Oaks myself, I will get Gabriel in her corset and take her measurements before she leaves for fieldwork.

So there

Skirt Loading

Had full intention to take laundry, scissors, needle, thread, ruler, and fabric over to a friend's today so I could do a few loads and flatline my plaid to some muslin. I remembered everything . . . except my ruler. Unfortunately, the only ruler they had was a cheap plastic dollar store kind, which would be incredibly inaccurate at measuring out pieces forty-four inches long. (I'm sure some people could carefully measure out such long pieces with only a twelve inch ruler, but I have to triple check my eighteen inch quilter's ruler because I notoriously skew lines. Not worth the risk.) As a result, no flatlining was achieved until I got home. This was further delayed by my cat deciding to help.

Besides pulling the fabric out of my hands and unthreading my needle, she is also supremely skilled at attacking my fingers through the fabric and putting her head right where I want the needle to go.

Despite all this I still managed to get two of the eight pieces done. The rest should be finished tomorrow, and I can start sewing pieces together.

The teal plaid flatlined to white muslin. The color is a lot brighter in person, but this photo was taken after sunset when my phone is at its worst for color sensitivity.

Luckily, the laundry trip was not a total bust. Besides doing three loads, I was able to take Castiel's corseted measurements. I'll probably pause the skirt for a day or two  this week to make up Castiel's bustle and petticoat. If I'm able to get Gabriel's corseted measurements on Tuesday, I'll probably do them all together. If I can get all of the undergarments for everyone done this month, I will be a happy panda.

So it is begun, again

I have officially decided to stop dicking around. I sat down today and wrote an introduction to Victorian clothes for my friends. Two of the group have worn corsets before and are comfortable with them, the other two are not. No one is terribly familiar with Victorian clothing, so I figured a guide was in order. I broke down what everyone would be wearing, the purpose of it, and the order it was worn, as well as how to care for things. Much easier to type it all up and email it to people than to tell everyone individually.

I also cut the pieces of my skirt today. I've been nervous about it because if the undergarments don't look pretty, but are still functional, it's not a big deal. But if the actual outfit doesn't look good, you done fucked up. So yeah, nervous. But I'm also starting to get nervous of my timeline. Gabriel is going to be gone for about a month doing fieldwork (she is an archeologist), so I need to get as much done while I have her. And I've got a wedding to attend at the end of the month, possibly one in September, and a week long vacation in October. So I've got to actually get to work.

My skirt is going to be pleated, alternating stripes of denim blue quilter's cotton and a teal and green plaid. The plain blue is heavy enough to stand alone, but the plaid is going to need to be flatlined. The plaid is too light (I can see through it when folded double), and it wasn't printed perfectly on grain. Since I cut along the lines of the plaid instead of on par with the selvage, I want to flatline it to avoid any possible bias stretch. Then I can sew the pieces together, pleat them, and add the waistband. I'm uncertain about the hem. I have the selvage at the hem edge, which looks tacky, but I worry that a hem facing will be too bulky. I guess I'll play around with it once it's all stitched together. I just don't want to disturb the look of the pleats.

Progress shots as progress happens. Until then.

Remembrance

On this day in 1919, my grandmother was born. And sixteen years ago, almost to the day, was when she died. I was ten. There's a lot I didn't get the chance to do with her, and there's a lot I never got the chance to ask her. And being adopted, it can be hard feeling connected to your own family because whether intentional or not, people equate blood with family. Like there's something that people who don't share genetics are missing, even if those people literally raised you.

Though her health didn't really allow it during my lifetime, my grandma used to be an avid crocheter. There were doilies she made on every end table. There were crocheted dresses on the extra roll of toilet paper in every bathroom. And there were crocheted glass covers, only used on the sacred of days, the rare Rootbeer Float Friday. I tried to learn, but grandma couldn't teach me, and my mom is left handed. (Nowadays I can crochet left handed in order to teach others, but at seven or eight it was beyond my ability.)

But even though there was a lot that couldn't be passed on, a desire to be crafty was instilled in me. That and the fact that a house isn't a home without copious yarn crafts. As I grew I learned how the things I saw everyday were made, and through books I taught myself the skills I had been surrounded by.

Now, almost two decades after her death, I make my bed with purple sheets in remembrance of her, with pillowcases that I cross-stitched with violets and lace trim  I crocheted. I top my bed with the quilt that I made, and add a crocheted counterpane that I inherited from her. And I know that even though we didn't share a drop of blood, she was family, and I wouldn't be the person I am today without her influence.

I love and miss you, Grandma.

Crossing things off the list

Having finally been able to meet up with Crowley and work on things for her, I can officially cross stuff off the to-do list.

Firstly, Crowley's chemise. I was going to do more detailing on it, but lazy happened.

Close up of the handmade lace.

Secondly, Crowley's drawers. I still need to add buttons and buttonholes, but she needs to try them on so I can get the fit. Also, considering that it is physically impossible for me to pass up sale buttons, how do I not have any that are plain black? The best I have are domed black velvet buttons, but A) I may end up using those on Crowley's bodice, B) there aren't many so I can't waste them, and C) domed buttons under a corset sounds painful. So I need to buy MORE buttons. (I love buttons, but I can never spend less than $20, because I will buy buttons by the crapload.)

Close up of the stacked ribbon trim. I was going to do 1/4 inch tucks around the legs and stitch the red ribbon to the underside so that an 1/8 inch of red ribbon would peek out from the tucks, but once again lazy happened.

I choose to do Crowley's undergarments in black since all he wears on the show is black, with a touch of red because he is the daring-est devil you've ever met. It's a perfect color scheme for the King of Hell.

The corset, chosen for the player not the character, is an olive green stitched in gold. The whole thing is finished except the seams, since I like to do a final fitting before everything is flat-felled and encased. Once I do the fitting, I can bind it, bone it, and floss it. Considering I want to have everything done in 4 months, I need to get busy.

Project Steps:
Chemises (Completed)
Drawers (Completed)
Corsets (4 of 5 Completed)
Bustles (2 of 5 Completed)
Petticoats (2 of 5 Completed)
Skirts (1 of 5 Started)
Bodices (Not Started)

Just keep sewing, just keep sewing . . .

Historical Sew Fortnightly #12

I am, once again, doing things. Yay for motivation. For this challenge I made . . . another corset.

Okay, there have been a lot of corset posts, but to be fair I need five total and they keep qualifying for different challenges, so go with it.

My fourth corset is for Gabriel, and ended up very nice.

The corset is a peacock silk dipioni flat lined to coutil, stitched in brown silk. It has an olive silk binding and a ivy border.

I had to hit a couple of fabric stores in order to find a binding I liked. None of the options I thought would work in the beginning actually looked good when the corset was finished. The leaf border was a speciality ribbon I found as a remnant. Since I didn't have any matching thread I had to very carefully remove the ivy from the brown ribbon it was attached to in order to save the thread it came with.

For the laces I found this very nice brown cording that matching the stitching. The flossing is the same thread used in construction.

The breakdown:

The Challenge:  #12 Shape and Support

Fabric:  Peacock silk dupioni, olive silk dupioni, cotton coutil

Pattern: 1880s corded corset from Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines, drafted to measurements

Year: Mid-1880s

Notions:  Brown silk thread, brown polyester cording, spring and spiral steel bones, spoon busk, grommets, and 2/3 of a yard brown ribbon with ivy border

How historically accurate is it?  The pattern and construction are good, but the lacing is polyester and the glitter printed ivy trim is way off. Considering that these are pretty minor points, maybe 90%, though the color may have been too out there for the time period.

Hours to complete:  I had to take a break in the middle, so no clue.

First worn: Unworn as of yet, but hopefully photos will happen soon.

Total cost:  $60?

Historical Sew Fortnightly #10

So, I didn't make anything.

Like, at all.

I was sick for a while, and didn't even meet my May goals, but since I did do some research, I figure I can at least present art-based costumes I hope to make in the future, starting with Amazzone Perugina:

Amazzone Perugina, by Cesare Auguste Detti

Although this is a late Victorian painting in the style of the 18th century, I intend to make this a proper 18th century habit. Unfortunately, that will not be for some time. To date, this is what I've accomplished on this costume:

This is half of the front of the stays to be worn underneath. I also made a shift, but that's as far as I got before I went back to my main project. Since I'm hand-stitching it, do not count on seeing this costume any time soon.

Pinterest recently inspired a search of painting by Alfred Stevens, who focused on painting women in the late Victorian era. His work shows off clothing to a stunning degree, and caused me to fall in love with this beauty from the end of the Natural Form era:

La Parisienne by Alfred Stevens 1880. Also, look at that sass. 'If that bastard doesn't show up in the next five minutes, I am done with him.'

 

I love the different shades of green, the lace trim, the sharp pops of black that bring the whole thing together, that matching parasol. So much love. Not to mention that at first glance the olive green appears to be velvet, but if you click through for the larger image, it actually has textured stripes. So either it is velvet with some striped texturing going on, or it's corduroy. I can do corduroy. Olive corduroy with chartreuse silk and a lifetime of happy feelings. And since my current project is approximately 1884, my basic undergarments (combination, corset) will work for this project. No idea when it will happen, but I will keep the dream alive.

And lately, having nothing to do with art or the HSF, I got a Victorian button hook for $6 at an antiques fair today.

It's small, only about 3.5 inches long, but it was too good of a deal to pass up. Happy!