The weekend update

I promised photos of my pioneer outfit. Unfortunately I forgot that I didn't have my SD card in my camera, so I had to take pics with my phone. So they aren't the best quality! Sorry!

The BBQ and celebration was a lot of fun, especially as I was able to catch up with my fellow costumer, Alexandra. We've made lots of fun plans for our costume group for the rest of this year! I'm excited which I'll talk more about later!

With sleeves rolled up.

With Dara and Alexandra.

My skirt doesn't look that full, but trust me, without the (semi-)corded petti it would look awful.

So here's the dress.  It's a printed brown and pink cotton. The lining is fitted and boned with the cotton print gathered over it. I'm mad about what I did with the back. I thought to macth the gathering from the front and so I added more to the center back, but I don't like how puffy it turned out. But I didn't have the fabric, time or inclination to do anything about it, so there it is. This was seriously a quick project. From start (draping it) to finish it took me about 4 nights. I piped all the seams on the bodice as well as the waistband. Because I was too lazy to really figure out how to make a dog-leg closure work, I make it a sort of "round gown". The sleeves are literally half widths of my fabric with no shaping. I gathered them to fit the armscye and a wrist band that buttons. I'm wearing it over bloomers, my corded petticoat, another basic petticoat and my 18th century pocket actually. I needed something to carry all my stuff in! :) For the neckerchief I just cut a piece of white cotton in an enlarged diamond shape and tied it around my neck. I didn't even hem it. Most of it is cut on the bias so it doesn't matter. The apron was super simple but I'm glad I used as much fabric as I did, I like how full it is! I also wore my cream boots (these work for so much!) and a straw hat that I cut slits in for some ribbon to hold it on my head.

Anyway, I'm glad to be done with that! It was a fun event, the kids seemed to have had a really good time and while they weren't authentic looking, it was still fun to see everyone in their "pioneer" garb! :)

A slightly wonky corded petticoat

First everyone, thanks for the nice comments about my Aqua Spencer ensemble!

Second, I'm back from my trip and I'll try to post pics of the wedding dress soon, but of course I forgot my camera, so I borrowed my brothers. So I need to get those from him, but what I really want are the bridals she had taken, they looked lovely!

Also! It's almost the end of the month, which means I am close to finally being free to work on what I want! :) Yay! Saturday is the last day of the Pioneer Trek. They actually left this morning, but I'm only going for Sat.

In that vein, I've been finishing up my own dress. Last night I made a really wonky corded petticoat in just over an hour. So, quick and dirty! But it will do the trick!




I still have a bit of hemp left so may add another row or two...

Tonight it's finishing closures on the dress and perhaps making a ruffled petti to go over the corded. We'll see!

I'll try to post pics from the event on Sunday!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Hooray!!

I finished the wedding dress last night!!  It's done!  And she's very happy with it and so am I!  It's such a relief to be done and to not have to stress about it anymore.  I did way more stressing and worrying than she did.  She was the perfect customer and if I could be guaranteed that they would all be like this I'd be tempted to do more commissions...  I will post pictures after the wedding.  Lots and lots!

Anyway, the end is now almost in sight.  It's on to finishing up the Pioneer Trek stuff this weekend.  I'm going tonight to help sew, and will be making ~5 skirts next week to have on hand just in case.  Then next Thursday I'm going out of town for the wedding and to visit my family, which I'm really excited for.  Then when I get back, it's the actual Trek!  So I have to make sure it's all done pretty much by next Wed.  I think it's doable. 

And then I'll be free!  I told myself I'd take like a two week break from sewing or just do little projects (like the embroidered pocket I started - will post soon), but I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen.  I have a million projects I want to work on and need to get going.  No deadlines really, which is good, but I want them now!  But no, now it's time to organize and clean my life up a little bit!  The sewing area is a disaster!

Oh Pioneer

So I finally started working on my pioneer dress.  Which means I finally figured out what I wanted to do for it.  Well kind of.  After looking around for so long trying to find information I decided to just do what I wanted basically.  It doesn't need to be 100% accurate.  I had a wide range of dates to choose from really: 1847 - 1858 so that made it difficult since there were changed to little details over that time.  What I had a hard time figuring out was whether I had to do a pointed waist or if it could be straight.  In the end it seemed to me that a lot of work dresses had straight waistlines, throughout this time period, even if pointed was popular, so I decided to go with that since I didn't want to do the pointed bodice.

So I draped a fitted lining and then came time to figure out whether I wanted to have it gathered or darted over that.  In the end I went with gathers, which I actually hate now that it's done, because I read so much that cotton dresses were *always* gathered and not darted.  Which I don't think can be 100% true, but whatever.  I boned the fitted lining since I'm not going to be wearing a corset with this dress for the event.  I may make a very light corded corset for it later, but I just don't have time for that right now.  Plus, I'm not sure how many pioneer women actually wore corsets all the way across the plains.  I'm guessing not many.  Though they would want some support.

I also had a hard time figuring out how to do a dog-leg closure actually.  Then yesterday I had the brilliant idea of making it more like a "round gown" from the 18th century and having the front skirt panel tie on first, then the bodice close over that with the back of the skirt attached to the bodice.  I got this all attached this way last night and am pretty happy with it.

This whole project has been a little rushed and sloppy actually.  I've only worked on it about 2 and half evenings and right now, all I have left to do is the hem, one sleeve and the front closures.  And that includes the time it took to mock-up/drape.  I need to have this done by tomorrow morning.  And I also want to make a corded flounced petticoat.  So hopefully tonight I can get the dress finished and do the petticoat too.  Oh, and make a little pinner apron.  I also wanted to get together a plain straw bonnet, but don't think I'll have time for that, so I'll either wear the cloth bonnet I already made (which I also hate) or just wear a plain straw hat.

Then when that's all done tomorrow I can go back to the wedding dress full time!  We've finished all the mock-ups and fittings, so now it's on to the actual dress!  I'm hoping by Sunday night to have it pretty much totally assembled, minus of course all the hand finishing.  Then I can focus on the lace and the belt!  Oh man.  My life is so crazy right now, so sorry for the lack of posting!

Weekend Update

I am really glad this weekend is over.  I have had to put sewing on hold pretty much all this week (though not planning as is evidenced by my last post...) so that I could get a bunch of prep work done for my church responsibility as Pioneer Trek Clothing Committee Chair.  Did I explain this already?  We're doing a three day pioneer hike pulling handcarts this summer with the youth of our church and I'm in charge of making sure everyone is dressed "appropriately".  This of course does not mean historically accurately.  Unfortunately.  But you really can't expect that of around 100 kids from tons of different backgrounds.   Anyway, I've compiled a lot of information and had to present it tonight to all the youth leaders.  If you guys are interested, check out the web pages I made with lots of info about Mormon Pioneers and what they wore as well as what we'll be wearing on our trek.  I didn't write all of the information I've posted, but have gleaned and filtered lots of things from internetland.  And created the "bloomers" tutorial myself. :)

Now that that's out of the way it's on to the corset!!  And then finish the Francaise (I decided not to stress about getting that done for this weekend, but Costume Con instead) and then FINALLY on to the Regency plans.  And a million other little things, hats, wigs, etc.  But I have three weeks!  I think I can get it done!

But now you know why I haven't been posting much.  I'll try to be better!