Overskirt!

Okay, I got impatient and went ahead and made the overskirt (the 2 younger kids were napping and my 2 older kids were distracted with their Legos!) I'm only partially done with the overskirt, it still needs the back sash and the waistband.

Ballgown skirt is nearly finished!

This was a lot harder than I thought it would be! The pleating & stitching on of the ruffle took about 80% of the time! This is the scaled-down version of an 1869 Grand Parlor skirt. I then had to put the skirt on the waistband, and pleat the back of it to fit. Now I just need to stitch under the back edges of the skirt opening (which was actually an earlier step that I skipped), and add a hook & eye. I was disappointed that the waistband ended up being a little too small (it should've had a 1/2" overlap and there's only about 1/4" overlap), so if I ever make this skirt again, I will remember to add 1/4" to the length of the waistband. Though if I ever do make one again, I will NOT add the pleated ruffle! (It'll save fabric and sanity!)

I would like to start the side-drape overskirt, but seeing as how this is a bustle gown... I really need to make the bustle. Ha ha! I already have all the pieces for the gown cut out, but none for the bustle. I'm done for the day, though, I'll decide later what I want to make next, the overskirt or bustle.

Experiencing the worst pleating of my life...

Don't get me wrong... I've done pleating before, lots of times. Mostly pleating skirts onto waistbands for my 1860's skirts. But this is a lot trickier... The skirt is full-length and gored, and I have to pleat the ruffle onto it, matching the bottom hems of each! I've never done this before, and it is time-consuming and (for me) a bit nerve-wracking. I watched the entire DVD of "Daniel Deronda" in the time it took me to do half the skirt (okay so that included hemming the top & bottom edge of the ruffle).... and then discovered that I'd mis-measured the circumference of the skirt. Oy. So I'm doing it again, using the "Divide & Conquer" method.

Next project: 1872 Ballgown (Demi Fashions)

A couple months ago I bought a Demi Dressform from Demi Fashions by Truly Victorian. I purchased it because I've always wanted to make an 1870's gown but never had a reason (and I can't justify the expense of all the patterns & silk for one!) I also figured it would look neat in our den, which we've recently redecorated with a Western/cowboy/horse theme.

This morning I traced out the pattern pieces, and I'm about to get started on cutting out the fabric. I'm using some iridescent purple/copper acetate taffeta I bought for cheap from Fabric.com (see, with a real gown I'd have to use silk, so I can make-do with synthetics since it isn't something I'm going to be wearing).

Pictures from my garden

I was having fun taking photos out there today. I didn't really get any of the carrots or lettuce because they're still too small to show up well in pics.


This is one of my 4'x4' raised beds. A couple of the spots haven't been planted with anything yet, and I'm going in every week and planting a couple more squares (that's why I have 3 different squares of bush beans).


One solitary bean, sprouting up in its square (the rest should follow soon!)


My Italian Rose bush beans just starting to sprout.


This one is cool, it shows beans in different "stages" of sprouting. I think these ones are Royal Burgundy. I also planted Purple Queen, which is an offspring of Royal Burgundy, but they have not sprouted!


Serrano peppers, my husband will be excited to see that. I need to figure out what's wrong with the leaves.


Blossoms on my lemon tree, woo-hoo!!


Strawberries, yummy!


Petunias... I added these for a bit of color.

Trying to think up a sewing project

My new county has an annual Fall Festival in mid-September that includes an Arts & Crafts competition, and it has a sewing division... and one of the classes is for miscellaneous/costumes! Yay! They also have Classic (detailed construction/menswear), After Five ("soft construction"), Sportswear, Children's Wear, and Wearable Art.

Now I need to decide what to do!

My ideas include:
An 1860's sheer gown made from red plaid cotton voile (miscellaneous/costumes)
A Regency cross-front gown similar to this one or this one (also for misc/costumes)
Simplicity 3962 (for Classic)
and maybe a nice vintage 50's pattern for After-Five. Gotta think up something for Children's Wear.

But... this is all just my ideas so far. I could completely change my mind! I might only make one thing! Who knows. Depends on how much time I have. But I'm not allowing myself to buy any fabric, I have plenty. And I have all the above patterns, too.

I wonder if I could make something from McCall's 4798 and count it as Wearable Art? Or Favorite Things' Frayed Jacket (which I already have the pattern for)?

Sequined fabric... never again!

I am in desperate need of a new skirt. So I decided I'd make myself a half-circle wrap skirt, using this sequined corduroy fabric, which I thought would look rather cute.

Well, the skirt does look cute, but the fabric was a pain to work with! When I cut it, I ended up with sequins all over the place. And every time I'd try to sew, the thread would go all goofy right after the needle would go through a sequin (you know, how it gets all looped up on the under side). And putting a buttonhole in the waistband to run ties through? Forget it!

Actually, the wrap skirts are neat and easy to make, and I love them... but I hate putting the buttonholes in the waistband. The buttonholes always goof up if the fabric is too thick. I think what I ought to try is making the skirt without ties, and just using diaper pins on each side to hold it in place, LOL! Maybe I'll try that for my next skirt, and see how it goes.