I Know What you Did This Weekend!

I most definitely have caught the sewing bug. In addition to helping one of my friends sew her civil war costume (and now a Regency costume as she gets sucked into my world), I've been busy to. Remember Mini? Well, she's finally finished and ready to get to work:
Mom helped me fit the cover last summer (that was NOT as easy as their 12 step plan made it sound). I got it out this weekend and finally put it on the foam dummy to make the final adjustments (even after it fits you, you generally have to take out a few more inches because of how strong the foam is). It finally is a double of me! Mini is now sporting my Regency stays, because I'm going to fit my bodiced petticoat on her as I work on it this week. Let me tell you what a joy it was squishing the resistant foam even more with the stays! The Jane Austin ball is in early August, so I'm making my Regency ball gown from the Sense and Sensibility pattern out of the white Sari I brought home from India. I only wish I could have gotten a head start on it this weekend, but after getting Mini all set up today (Sunday) I suddenly didn't feel so great and wound up sleeping most of the afternoon away.
In other news, G Street fabrics had an Ubber sale this weekend (up to 70% off), plus I had a 25% off coupon for one already reduced item. Missy came with me, and we tore through the fabric store for a good four hours, hunting for deals. Above (the green cotton velvet) was an AMAZING find in the $2 bin. I can't believe it was there - over six yards! I got a coordinating satin to line it with, and am planning on auction this one on ebay. At that price, I can actually turn a profit! I went ahead and bought some more baby flannel as well - I have enough left over materials that I'm making another Gainsborough hat to auction off (this time in left-over pink taffeta from my Robe Francaise). I'll let you know when they go on sale. All proceeds go towards my Costume Con 2009 fund.
My 18th century pocket hoops on one their last legs. Some of the reed boning snapped in the last move, and during the Frederickburg event, some of the boning started poking through the channels. Apparently a much better fabric selection is cotton ticking, and striped ticking was the favored look of the 18th century. Again, a great price, so I can remake my JP Ryan pocket hoops.The pictures above are for a new 18th century outfit. The cotton print (on the left) I picked up in Amish country for $4 a yard, and is going to be an 18th century pet-en-l'air. The pink is going to be for the skirt, and is a poly bengaline/faille that I spotted this weekend at G Street Fabric. I almost never use poly fabrics anymore, but it was a great price, it's a fairly convincing silk imitation, and the color matched beautifully. All of the silk options started in the $15 a yard (even on sale), so I decided this would work out. I already have the patterns I need - I'm going to reuse my JP Ryan Robe a la Francaise pattern, but make the Pet en l'Air view instead (it's more like a jacket than a dress).This was another Amish country find. It's a plum-colored plaid in homespun cotton from India (again...an amazing price at about $4 a yard). I saw it and fell in love with it. It's going to be the fabric I use for a civil war day gown instead of a visiting dress like I mentioned in my last planning post. I still have my silk for the visiting dress...not sure which one I'll make up first. Depends on my mood I suppose.
Perhaps one of the luckiest finds ever, this was another Amish country purchase. I needed a fabric for the forepart of the Tudor gown (mentioned in my last planning post), but I kept only finding silk damasks that were $50 a yard and completely out of the question for my budget. I found five yards of the pictured fabric in a $2 remnant bin. This fabric would be at least $25 a yard in a fabric store. I don't know what it's made out of - I'm fairly certain it isn't silk. Most likely some sort of a cotton/poly blend. At $2 a yard, who cares?

For anyone who's eyes are bugging at all the fabric: this is how I keep the costs of my hobby down. I always have about 10 project in mind, and I hunt for suitable fabric during sales. If the fabric I want isn't there, the project goes on hold (for example - the wool was all overpriced, and the colors were all wrong, so the 18th century riding gown is on hold). So...yes, it's a lot of fabric, but I'm probably set for the next year, with the exception of Costume Con purchases.

Fabric Surplus

Get ready!! The sewing projects are coming!!!

Thanks to my trip to India, I now have all kinds of fabric for new projects. I can't purchase any patterns until after Christmas since a couple are on my Christmas list, but here is what I have purchased:
This pretty purple/blue fabric will be made into a civil war visiting dress, and I got a contrast peach fabric. I need to find almost 100 yards of ribbon for trim (!!) before I can make up the outfit. I already have a pattern for this one - it's a Simplicity pattern (#4510) that I haven't made up yet. Check out pattern 3855 while you're there...it's brand new and looks interesting. The Simplicity patterns all seem to fit very well so I expect it will go together fairly smoothly (knock on wood). I was thinking this would be great with my civil war bonnet.
This simple white silk will be made into a Regency day dress. I'm going to keep it very simple, and later on will make an overdress so it isn't just the stark white dress. I've always loved the picture of Madame Recamier, and this should be a close approximation. Plus, I have a new Kashmir embroidered shawl to go with the final product - it's going to look so period!
Next, I got a silk sari that will be made into a Regency ball gown. I bought the other silk before I saw this sari. If I'd know I was going to find the perfect white ball gown fabric, I might have purchased a different color for the day dress, but oh well. :) I'll put the border along the hem of the dress and use the heavily embroidered portion of the sari for the bodice.
Projects currently on hold are: Star Wars Padme nightgown, modern ball gown for the marine ball, and my Tudor dress. The Padme pattern pieces are so large, I'm going to have to cut up the pattern pieces in order to cut the fabric and I got a little intimidated by this. Both the ball gown and the Tudor dress need a lot of fitting rework, and I can't do that until I get a fitting double. The Tudor dress pattern is pretty disastrous (the fit was all wrong) so I'm thinking of ordering a new pattern. This pattern from reconstructing history just came out and is based off of the patterns in the Tudor Tailor. These costumes look amazing, and I would love to try them out.

**Please note that due to issues with blogger I was unable to attach any pictures to this post for the last several months. The original blog was written before Christmas, and the blog content is somewhat out of date. The seamstress apologizes for the technical delays which have since been corrected with the newest version of blogger.

After the Long Break…

I give you the plans for my Tudor undergarments! I now have all the velvet I need to make my Tudor gown, and before I order the brocade I need, it’s officially time to start my undergarments.

I’ve won another gift certificate to www.denverfabrics.com. They stopped doing the drawings for certificates recently…maybe because people like me kept winning over and over again. I ordered some beautiful white handkerchief linen.

I was actually almost ready to start cutting out the chemise pattern my mom brought me from the States. However, once I cracked into the instructions, I realized this wasn’t the kind of chemise I wanted, changed my mind, and ordered the Margo Anderson shift pattern.

An added bonus of this pattern is it comes with several other undergarments, including a great corset pattern. I may or may not make up a version of it. Everyone that uses this pattern seems to rave about it. I could make do with my 18th century corset, but it doesn’t quite look right either.

Before I make it, I need to read a bit more about the corset. I’m not sure it will give me the nice conical Tudor shape. Kendra of démodé made this great version of the pattern.

Oodles of Fabric!

Hi all,

I haven't posted lately because I have been sadly without fabric. However, that is slowly changing! There is TONS of fabric on my Christmas list. I also WON fabric from Denver Fabrics online. I'm not kidding: you can check it out right here (I'm listed as Melissa of Dulles). With my $50 dollar gift certificate, I ordered red and black velvet for my Tudor gown. This is a change in plans, because I originally wanted an all-brocade gown. The gift certificate changed my mind. The red velvet will make up the body of the gown, and the black velvet is for the turned-back undersleeves. I still need to get some gold brocade for the sleeves and underskirt, and some linen for a chemise. Then I can start sewing!!

My father-in-law also made a recent trip to Korea, and bought some silk for me!! World's coolest father-in-law!!! I haven't actually seen the silk yet, but he sent me this picture (look at all that silk!!! It makes me drool!).
The silk is a very pale blue (even though it looks white in the picture). Look at the vendor's hand showing through the silk: it looks almost sheer!! Wohoo!! I'll have to come up with something creative for the silk. It's not as wide as U.S. fabric: probably about 22 inches versus the standard 45 inches. It will require a bit of research and some creative cutting. I can't wait!