Cleaning out my pattern stash

Okay, there is a possibility that we *might* be moving in the coming months, so I am trying to declutter. Actually, whether we move or not, I still need to declutter!

I've started with thinning out my pattern collection. I cannot bring myself to get rid of any of my Civil War patterns (though honestly, how many copies of Simplicity 4551 do I really need?) But I did pull out a lot of my historical-based-but-non-authentic Big 3 patterns, most of which are now OOP. I don't know what to do with them now... sell them on Etsy for a buck or two apiece?

I have one copy of Simplicity 8399- the Titanic gown (based on Rose's red beaded gown). Just a couple years ago I remember seeing them go for $25-$30 apiece on eBay... there are still some listed on eBay for $40-$60 but there are also ones listed for $1-$4! And there are a LOT more for sale than there used to be. I also have two copies of Simplicity 9221 (their cheapo Regency gown) that used to go for $10-$20 but they're going for next to nothing now. I'll bet it's because of the economy... people not being able to pay that much for patterns now, and people trying to sell of their "rare" or "in-demand" patterns to try and make some extra cash.

I suppose sometime this week, I can take pictures of all my historic patterns and put them on Etsy, try to earn a few dollars. If I get it done, I'll post a link.

I just posted all my unwanted "modern" patterns on my local Freecycle. Now I'm awaiting the flood of emails. (A lot of people around here try to snatch up everything that's posted on Freecycle, in the hopes of reselling them on eBay or yard sales...)

Starting on a new project... 1873 Polonaise

I have no idea why I started on this, LOL. My insane goal is to have this, a petticoat, and a bustle finished within a week!

For the pattern, I am using TV410 - 1873 Polonaise. Below is a picture of the fabric I'm using, it's a length of cotton calico from my fabric stash. The underskirt will be TV201 - 1870's Underskirt and will be made from, if I can manage it, an ivory stripe-on-stripe bedsheet!


Click for larger image

A shirt I want to reproduce

I was at Cabela's in Utah last week and I came across this shirt... I love it! $45 was a bit more than I wanted to pay, though, so I'm going to try and make one like it.

Let's see now... it looks like it's princess-seamed, not sure whether I'll "keep" that feature. I like the mandarin collar and the placket. I looked at the sleeve ties. They don't seem too difficult, it looks like self-fabric ties that are attached to the sleeve with a 2-channel "casing" of fabric over that, covering up where the ties are attached (securely). Zoom in and you can see what I'm talking about.

Now, for patterns. I think New Look 6849 might work... it's not exactly the same style, and no mandarin collar, but the sleeves are nice and wide. I also like Simplicity 2696, Simplicity 3684, and Simplicity 3786. But I think Simplicity 2854 (View D top, without the ruffle, and View B sleeves) will look the closest to the original top.

I just found out that Simplicity patterns are 5 for $5 at JoAnn's thru Aug 23rd, but I live 80 miles from the nearest JoAnn's. (Sigh) It'd be cheaper to buy it at Wal-Mart at their normal 40% off price, and save the gas.

Overseeded the lawn

Yesterday I went out into my jungle-of-a-backyard to try and trim it down. My husband looked around for a replacement primer bulb for the weed eater, sliced his finger open trying to cut off the plastic casing so it would fit in the weed eater, and then tried to cut down the grass and weeds with it... it didn't work right. It kept choking up and the throttle is not working.

So we had to go buy a lawnmower... we got a $300 one from Lowe's (it was the cheapest one that had good reviews- all the $100-$200 range ones had awful reviews). Our yard gets only partial sun because of all the trees... but we still had a ton of bermudagrass growing back there! So I decided to overseed the lawn (both front & back yards) with bermuda because it is drought-tolerant and it fills in quickly. The current lawn is St. Augustine and Centipedegrass but you cannot start St. Augustine from seed (because no one sells the seed) and Centipede grass takes an extremely long time to get established.

We might be putting our house on the market sometime within the next few months, so we need to have a decent lawn.

My garden is pretty much dead!

This afternoon I got home from a family vacation to Utah... we left on the 8th (10 days ago). I checked the 10-day forecast before we left, and there were a few days that showed a 60% chance of rain. Unfortunately, we did not get a single drop of rain!!! Most of my garden is shrivelled up and brown... everything except the Pink Champagne lisianthus. I went ahead and watered it a little while ago... and now I hear thunder rumbling outside. What luck.

But the good news is... now is the right time to start planting my fall garden.

Fall Vegetable Gardening in East Texas

My back yard though... it looks horrible. There are some weeds back there that are a good 2' tall, and there's a lot of bermudagrass that is about 12" tall (I was surprised, because I didn't think we had enough sunlight back there for bermudagrass). Our reel mower cannot handle the tall grass, and we do not have a rotary mower (the gas or electric kind) so I'm going to call around and see if someone has a weed whacker we can borrow.

I need to get some grass growing in that back yard! Maybe I'll sneak off to Lowe's and pick up a bag of bermudagrass seed...

Make that 2 corsets!

Okay, not only did I sew together the corset girdle pieces yesterday (and my order from Delicious LLC came in-- the busk and boning), I also cut out the pattern pieces for the Laughing Moon Silverado corset. I don't have a busk long enough for that... the only one I have (which I had to cut out of an old corset because I can't find my spare busk) is 1" too short. It'll work for fitting purposes, anyway. I need to see which style will work better for my sister.

I am NOT looking forward to setting all those grommets!! Maybe I'll do every other pair, since like I said, this is only for fitting. I'll put all the grommets on the final corset, of course.

Corset pattern pieces have been cut out...

My sister has decided that she would like me to use the Laughing Moon Underbust Corset pattern, View B, for her corset. She doesn't want a full corset because she is afraid of the "shelf" effect. We'll see how this one works out.

Since this is an under-bust corset, the pattern pieces are shorter than usual (they do not reach up to the bust or down to the hip) so I managed to cut all the pieces from an old pair of jeans of mine. Obviously the corset will be made from nicer fabrics (maybe silk or brocade, flatlined and lined with twill for sturdiness) but these jeans scraps will work just fine for the mock-up, which is what this is.

One thing I like about the pattern, so far, is that Views A, B, and C are all on different sheets of tissue paper, so it is VERY easy to find the pieces you want. That's something that annoys me about Simplicity, McCall's, etc... you usually have to unfold all the tissue pattern sheets, and cut out the pieces you want off each one, and then attempt to fold them up again.


I have so much to get done over the next 3 days... I need to finish this mock-up (including setting grommets and putting in the busk) and then make a mock-up of the bodice, for fitting. I ordered all the boning and a busk last Saturday and they haven't come in yet... they need to come in by this Saturday at the latest because I need them to finish the corset mock-up! I also have a lot of other stuff to do... cleaning, doing laundry, packing, etc because we're going on vacation for 1.5 weeks.