Monday Progress Update: January 14th

Feel like I didn't get anything done this week compared to the last few weeks.  Probably because what I did get done was handwork and mockups, and more handwork and mockups.

Bustle Dress:

My 1870's Day Dress is getting completed finally.  I looked at the underskirt for a while and decided I wanted emphasis on the gathering, so I hand-tacked a 3/8" velvet ribbon onto every tuck seam.  Then I added a ruffle at the bottom and hand-sewed a pleated satin ribbon with a 3/8" velvet ribbon in the middle onto the ruffle seam.  I also added a ruffle to my overskirt, and more pleated trim:

Then I proceeded with the bodice.  I made a mockup and tested the fitting.  Refit the waist and shoulder, did another mockup.  10 mockups later my sleeves were still icky and I was frustrated.  Thankfully my husband came home from a business trip on mockup 11.  He started taking pictures of my mockups, which really helped me see that the problem was in my armscye and sleeve cap:

Mockup 11:

 Pattern adjustment to the center back:

Mockup 12:

Mockup 13:

Mockup 14:

 So, 14 mockups later I had a good pattern to do my final bodice out of.  I made it out of silk faille flatlined with polished cotton (did you know washing polished cotton turns it into muslin?  I did not :( ).  I also used the pleated trim very liberally on the finished bodice, so much that it totally covers up the painful piping I did on the bodice neckline:

Ah, well, it's pretty.  Now it needs bows.  BOWS EVERYWHERE!!!


I also got a little work done on my Vanellope costume:

I dyed the hoodie numerous times to get the right shade of teal.  I think it is still a little light but good enough for now.  I also added the pink "sewn" look to it:

Finally, I started the skirt.  After a talk with Bethany over how to do the pleating I am thinking I can get it just like the picture and not fake it with knife pleats or something.  Here's the cut out skirt fabric:

And here's the start of pleats:

Wish me luck, I've got to finish up both of these costumes and the remaining details on Maghda by Thursday!  Also next week's Monday Progress Update will probably happen on Tuesday due to Arisia this weekend.  You've been warned :P

Historical Sew Fortnightly: Challenge 1

Yet again at the last minute, I finished a regency recticule:

The Challenge: #1: Bi/Tri/Quadri/Quin/Sex/Septi/Octa/Nona Centennial

Fabric: Silk Faille, lined with polished cotton

Pattern: http://s269.beta.photobucket.com/user/DawnLuck/media/Retucule%20Pattern/049.jpg.html?sort=6&o=21

Year: 1813

Notions: Thread, ribbon

How historically accurate is it?:  Dunno.  Used a sewing machine, so not that.  Historically accurate fabrics, but rayon ribbon.

Hours to complete: maybe 1.  I took this one easy.

Total cost: all stash, so $0

I'm finishing my bustle dress next week, so to get a head start on that I wanted an easy challenge #1.

Monday Progress Update: January 7th

I feel like I only got little stuff accomplished this week, which is crazy since I almost completed two costumes, but there's no reasoning with the crazy.

First, details on Maghda I finished:

I got the center front piece painted and mounted on the corset.

I used my new duct tape pattern method to make a pattern for all the decorations on the horns.  No decorations yet though.

I hated how my tights turned out last week.  They were too dark, too bluish, and overall not what I wanted.  I played around with taking the dye out, but I ended up painting over them with Lumiere paint in Pearlescent White.  It ended up pretty good, close to the metallic silver body paint I'll be using on my face and chest.  It was an interesting few days with me wearing the tights around the house while painting them or them being wet because I wanted to paint them stretched so they didn't dry too small.  After finishing painting I put on the stirrup pants and marked them just above the knee.  I then cut off the stirrups and sewed them to the tights, cutting off the extra tight below the seam.  The stirrups  have an annoying logo I have to get rid of, then they get gold decorations on them.

I didn't like how plain my hip armor was, so I made these diamond inserts with worbla and made lines with hot glue before I painted them.  Then I hot glued them in place (a few times until I figured out the placement I liked).

 The headdress has all these little four-pointed stars on it.  I was going to cast them, but it was taking forever and I didn't like the results (and all the wasted casting plastic) so I went through my stash and found htese little four-pointed knot beads in silver.  Of course, they needed to be gold, so I painted them.

I've also got these decorations cast and painted.  One of the circular pieces goes on the corset and the other two are for the tights, and the stars are for the tights too.

 Next I worked on Ladies Night, and I finished it.  There's the corset with bubble ruffled mirror organza and a big sequin fabric heart, the skirt with a darted yoke and pleated bottom, and the furry blue legwarmers with elastic for right above the knee.  I even found the perfect accessory:

 I'm still on the lookout for a baby pink rhinestone bracelet, but otherwise that costume is done, even the wig (which thankfully doesn't need styling).



Next I worked on Song 4 U.  I ended up finishing the dress in a day, and hemming it the next day so it's all but done.  I made a mock up of a sheath dress and fitted it to the knees.  Then I made a boned base out of a heavy sateen and a cover out of casa satin.  Over the cover I gathered chiffon in bunches.  I had to tack a lot of that by hand.  The skirt is a circle skirt with a back train gore out of circle ruffle bridal fabric.  The bare space between the skirt and the chiffon is supposed to be covered in a straight-line ruffle fabric, I didn't figure that out until I got the cd with the making-of-the-video on it on Thursday, hopefully I can find some, otherwise I'll probably improvise with more circle ruffle fabric.  The second picture is the skirt picked up in points like it is in the video.  I'm still deciding if it needs a petticoat to fluff out the skirt or not.

I also finished the bracelet for the costume:

This week I need to make the bugs for Maghda's outfit.  I'm hoping that a trip to the model train hobby store will end up with them motorized so they flap their wings, but that's still very much up in the air.  I also need to hit my bustle dress hard and hopefully finish it so that all I have to finish next week is Vanellope and details on Maghda.  At least with the productive weekend I'm back on track with my to-do lists, so that's a good thing, even if tomorrow is hellish.

Goals for 2013: Blogging

I'd also like to set some blogging goals:

~ Post at least once a week.  Hopefully this will be Monday Progress Updates, but not always.

~ Post twice a week the majority of weeks.  This means keeping up on setting up posts ahead of time.

~ Start up Creative Chat Wednesday again.  Think of lots of questions and pre-schedule so it's a no-brainer.

~ Do at least one video a month.  I really would like to get more videos done, I just keep coming up with empty excuses.  Need to stop that, script some, and bite the bullet.

~ Fix my feed.  I hate how whenever I post to this blog it posts over on the feed for my book blog.  That is unintentional and confusing!  Tried the google forums, so I think I need to just call them.

2013 Goals: Costuming

Now that its a new year I can concentrate on new ideas.  Ideas for now, randomly: