I finished the skirt last night. I survived! And I never want to see another bolt of tulle ever again! LOL!
Now, on to the bodice. It'll be a simple princess-seamed bodice made of white dupioni silk, and I found some pearl piping to decorate it with. It matches the color of the silk very well, and has a simple sort of elegance to it. (I love simple, elegant stuff). I think it's going to look really good! I just need to find the piping foot for my sewing machine!
Friday, October 30, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Lacing tape
After about an hour of searching online, I finally found this stuff! I knew there had to be something like this available, something you could add to the back of a wedding gown so you could do lacing. (I've made loops by hand before, but it takes forever and it's a bit tedious to make sure they're all the proper size... I was wondering how I could make the process faster).
But, I finally came across some lacing tape that has 'loops' on it (instead of the metal eyelet stuff that Farthingales L.A. has). I went ahead and ordered 3 yards of it... I am really hoping that it is what I am looking for! The picture doesn't look promising, but that is showing the whole tape... it's supposed to be inserted so that only the loops show (and they're small).
But, I finally came across some lacing tape that has 'loops' on it (instead of the metal eyelet stuff that Farthingales L.A. has). I went ahead and ordered 3 yards of it... I am really hoping that it is what I am looking for! The picture doesn't look promising, but that is showing the whole tape... it's supposed to be inserted so that only the loops show (and they're small).
Saturday, October 24, 2009
2009 Halloween Costumes
Tonight was our church's Halloween party. I managed to finish everything in the nick of time!
I wore a farby Scottish Highland-type costume, made from 100% plaid wool suiting and green wool gabardine, using Simplicity 8855. (Yes, there is supposed to be a gap between the front edges of the vest! Just look at the pattern photo!)
I also made my 15-month-old son a "leprechaun" costume using shamrock fabric and Simplicity 3650.
My 8-year-old was a sort of "Renaissance maiden", using Simplicity 9836. I made the headpiece by using a bridal wire frame, and wrapped the flowers, stems and all, around it and held it in place with ribbon!
And my 3-year-old was dressed as a chicken, using instructions from the Martha Stewart website. It was more complicated than I thought it would be... we also didn't get the feather boas secured on well enough, and after half an hour of running around, they started to fall off! And someone gave her a bowl of chili, which she spilled down her front. *Sigh* The costume is pretty much ruined, unless we can put it back together and let her go trick-or-treating next week as a half-butchered chicken. Eew.
I wore a farby Scottish Highland-type costume, made from 100% plaid wool suiting and green wool gabardine, using Simplicity 8855. (Yes, there is supposed to be a gap between the front edges of the vest! Just look at the pattern photo!)
I also made my 15-month-old son a "leprechaun" costume using shamrock fabric and Simplicity 3650.
My 8-year-old was a sort of "Renaissance maiden", using Simplicity 9836. I made the headpiece by using a bridal wire frame, and wrapped the flowers, stems and all, around it and held it in place with ribbon!
And my 3-year-old was dressed as a chicken, using instructions from the Martha Stewart website. It was more complicated than I thought it would be... we also didn't get the feather boas secured on well enough, and after half an hour of running around, they started to fall off! And someone gave her a bowl of chili, which she spilled down her front. *Sigh* The costume is pretty much ruined, unless we can put it back together and let her go trick-or-treating next week as a half-butchered chicken. Eew.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
I'm almost done!
I've been working like crazy, and I almost have my costumes finished. I want to take a break for the rest of the evening... we'll see.
On my costume, I just need to put the buttonholes & buttons on my blouse, and hem it. (I finished the skirt this afternoon... and let me tell you now, gathering all that medium-weight wool makes for a bulky waistband! I should've hand-gathered it, or pleated it, if I had time... but I don't. So, bulky it is. I wish I had a small hoopskirt to wear under it, or wish I knew where my corded petticoat was!) Oh, and I need to sew the front of the vest to the back at the side seams and shoulders.
On my 8-year-old's costume, I need to hand-tack the shoulder straps of the vest into place, and add lacing on the front. And add ribbon bows to the front of the shoulder straps.... ugh, and make the headband. (I am dreading that part!)
I need to hem the pants on my 15-month-old's costume, and add elastic to the waistband. When I hemmed the shirt earlier today I added some decorative machine stitching to the bottom, in the shape of shamrocks, but it looks rather pathetic. Oh well.
And I need to dye the tights for my 3-year-old's costume! And I need to stuff the shirt with fiber-fill, but I don't know where my big box of it is (or even if I still have it??? Maybe I threw it out when I moved!)
On my costume, I just need to put the buttonholes & buttons on my blouse, and hem it. (I finished the skirt this afternoon... and let me tell you now, gathering all that medium-weight wool makes for a bulky waistband! I should've hand-gathered it, or pleated it, if I had time... but I don't. So, bulky it is. I wish I had a small hoopskirt to wear under it, or wish I knew where my corded petticoat was!) Oh, and I need to sew the front of the vest to the back at the side seams and shoulders.
On my 8-year-old's costume, I need to hand-tack the shoulder straps of the vest into place, and add lacing on the front. And add ribbon bows to the front of the shoulder straps.... ugh, and make the headband. (I am dreading that part!)
I need to hem the pants on my 15-month-old's costume, and add elastic to the waistband. When I hemmed the shirt earlier today I added some decorative machine stitching to the bottom, in the shape of shamrocks, but it looks rather pathetic. Oh well.
And I need to dye the tights for my 3-year-old's costume! And I need to stuff the shirt with fiber-fill, but I don't know where my big box of it is (or even if I still have it??? Maybe I threw it out when I moved!)
Monday, October 19, 2009
Still workin' on my costume
Yesterday I managed to finish most of my vest (all I need to do now is add the eyelets and lacing, and then fit it). I bought a 3-yd package of polyester boning a couple weeks ago and hoped it would be enough for both mine and my daughter's costumes... after I finished measuring all the boning for my vest last night, there was ONE INCH left over! Very funny, I thought. Talk about close...
Last night I got around to cutting out the fabric for the skirt, hat and shawl. The pattern piece for the skirt is a rectangle that is 22" wide, and it says to cut 3 pieces on the fold. That makes three 44"-wide panels, or a skirt with a 129" circumference (when you take out the seam allowances). My fabric is 60" wide... I went ahead and cut out two panels, the same length as the pattern piece- that'll make a skirt 118" wide, which I don't think is a huge difference (it's not like I'll be wearing it over a hoopskirt or anything). But it saves me about a yard of fabric that I can use for something else. Anyway, the only advantage I can see to having a 3-panel skirt is that it leaves a seam in the back for the opening, and the other seams are on the side fronts. I've decided I can go ahead and move the seams over to the side, and have a side-opening skirt. The pattern also has a few darts in the skirt and then it is gathered... I'll just make it completely gathered, no darts. Hopefully it won't make much difference. (Famous last words, huh?)
The short ends of the shawl are supposed to be frayed for the "fringe"... I thought I'd do that last night while watching TV, and it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r!! I was fraying it on one end, while my husband worked at the other end. We each got about 1" done (out of the 3-4" on each end that needs done) but he wasn't quite as careful with his end as I was with mine... so that one looks noticeably shabbier. *Sigh* But it's taking so much time that I figure I'll just finish everything else first, and then focus on that. So I need to make my skirt and hat (the hat is just a circle gathered onto the hat band) and then make my toddler's entire costume, and then make the apron for my daughter's costume. And the headband for that- yikes! I don't know anything about flower arranging or putting flowers on a headband!
I need to get busy... what am I doing on the computer? LOL! But I have so many other things to do to day- grocery shopping, cleaning the house, keeping my 3-year-old from tearing everything up...
Last night I got around to cutting out the fabric for the skirt, hat and shawl. The pattern piece for the skirt is a rectangle that is 22" wide, and it says to cut 3 pieces on the fold. That makes three 44"-wide panels, or a skirt with a 129" circumference (when you take out the seam allowances). My fabric is 60" wide... I went ahead and cut out two panels, the same length as the pattern piece- that'll make a skirt 118" wide, which I don't think is a huge difference (it's not like I'll be wearing it over a hoopskirt or anything). But it saves me about a yard of fabric that I can use for something else. Anyway, the only advantage I can see to having a 3-panel skirt is that it leaves a seam in the back for the opening, and the other seams are on the side fronts. I've decided I can go ahead and move the seams over to the side, and have a side-opening skirt. The pattern also has a few darts in the skirt and then it is gathered... I'll just make it completely gathered, no darts. Hopefully it won't make much difference. (Famous last words, huh?)
The short ends of the shawl are supposed to be frayed for the "fringe"... I thought I'd do that last night while watching TV, and it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r!! I was fraying it on one end, while my husband worked at the other end. We each got about 1" done (out of the 3-4" on each end that needs done) but he wasn't quite as careful with his end as I was with mine... so that one looks noticeably shabbier. *Sigh* But it's taking so much time that I figure I'll just finish everything else first, and then focus on that. So I need to make my skirt and hat (the hat is just a circle gathered onto the hat band) and then make my toddler's entire costume, and then make the apron for my daughter's costume. And the headband for that- yikes! I don't know anything about flower arranging or putting flowers on a headband!
I need to get busy... what am I doing on the computer? LOL! But I have so many other things to do to day- grocery shopping, cleaning the house, keeping my 3-year-old from tearing everything up...
Friday, October 16, 2009
Costume update, mine anyway...
Last night I got a chance to do some more work on the blouse for Simplicity 8855, and I almost have it finished. All I have left to do is put a buttonhole & button on each sleeve cuff, and hem the bottom of the blouse.
It is rather an interesting item. It has no armscyes like a typical blouse... it is sort of like the "rectangles and squares" shirts of the 19th century. But only slightly... there is still the curved cutout for the neckline, and the sleeves are curved on the bottom (longer on the seam edge than it is in the middle). The shoulder seam is very long, but it is gathered, and the sleeve itself is gathered only at the very top, a couple inches on each side of the shoulder seam. The sleeves are also very tightly gathered at the cuff... if my fabric had been any thicker (it is quilting calico) I wouldn't have been able to gather it all in. Doing the plackets around the neckline was interesting... the neck facing actually goes to the outside (I did View A, where there is not neck ruffle but there is lace trim around the edge of the neckline facing... my camera battery is dead right now and I can't find the charger, but I'll try to get a picture later).
I managed to get the vest pieces cut out this morning, before my kids woke up. I was going to make the vest from black twill (because that's what's shown on the pattern envelope), but I discovered the leftover green wool gabardine (that I made a riding habit from) matches the green in the plaid quite nicely (there is no black in the plaid at all) so I decided to use that instead. I didn't have enough of it left to do anything else with, anyway.
There is a 1" seam allowance on the sides of the vest, as it is to be a fitted vest, and fitted is done on the side seams. Interesting, I've never seen that on a Simplicity pattern. Now I'm wishing I'd finished my underbust corset, LOL. (I got over halfway done with it, and then realized the jean fabric I'd used has 2% lycra in it- blast! So it's stretchy, I have no idea how well it'll work).
The vest is going to be fun to make, though, because the instructions for it are worded very strangely. There are 3 layers- the fashion fabric, the lining, and "muslin" which seems to function as an interlining. (I don't know why they didn't just say to cut "interlining" out of muslin). When my camera is working, I'll have to take a photo so you can see how bizzare the instructions are... I had to read them through 3 times before they made sense, and when I finally understood what it said, I realized that the instructions could've been written much more simply, and much less confusing!
I said in a previous post that this pattern seems to have been re-released with a different number and envelope. Next time I'm at the store I'll have to look up the new pattern and see if the instructions have been simplified, just out of curioisity. I think a beginner sewist would be scared away by these directions! (Actually the blouse is a bit of a challenge anyway, more suited to an intermediate sewist).
It is rather an interesting item. It has no armscyes like a typical blouse... it is sort of like the "rectangles and squares" shirts of the 19th century. But only slightly... there is still the curved cutout for the neckline, and the sleeves are curved on the bottom (longer on the seam edge than it is in the middle). The shoulder seam is very long, but it is gathered, and the sleeve itself is gathered only at the very top, a couple inches on each side of the shoulder seam. The sleeves are also very tightly gathered at the cuff... if my fabric had been any thicker (it is quilting calico) I wouldn't have been able to gather it all in. Doing the plackets around the neckline was interesting... the neck facing actually goes to the outside (I did View A, where there is not neck ruffle but there is lace trim around the edge of the neckline facing... my camera battery is dead right now and I can't find the charger, but I'll try to get a picture later).
I managed to get the vest pieces cut out this morning, before my kids woke up. I was going to make the vest from black twill (because that's what's shown on the pattern envelope), but I discovered the leftover green wool gabardine (that I made a riding habit from) matches the green in the plaid quite nicely (there is no black in the plaid at all) so I decided to use that instead. I didn't have enough of it left to do anything else with, anyway.
There is a 1" seam allowance on the sides of the vest, as it is to be a fitted vest, and fitted is done on the side seams. Interesting, I've never seen that on a Simplicity pattern. Now I'm wishing I'd finished my underbust corset, LOL. (I got over halfway done with it, and then realized the jean fabric I'd used has 2% lycra in it- blast! So it's stretchy, I have no idea how well it'll work).
The vest is going to be fun to make, though, because the instructions for it are worded very strangely. There are 3 layers- the fashion fabric, the lining, and "muslin" which seems to function as an interlining. (I don't know why they didn't just say to cut "interlining" out of muslin). When my camera is working, I'll have to take a photo so you can see how bizzare the instructions are... I had to read them through 3 times before they made sense, and when I finally understood what it said, I realized that the instructions could've been written much more simply, and much less confusing!
I said in a previous post that this pattern seems to have been re-released with a different number and envelope. Next time I'm at the store I'll have to look up the new pattern and see if the instructions have been simplified, just out of curioisity. I think a beginner sewist would be scared away by these directions! (Actually the blouse is a bit of a challenge anyway, more suited to an intermediate sewist).
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Repurposing my jeans...
I've lost nearly 35 lbs since May (woo-hoo, go me!) I had 2 pairs of jeans that fit me when I started my weight-loss journey... I accidentally tore one pair and threw them away, and the other pair got abandoned on the shelf in my closet, since they got WAY too baggy for me.
Today, I was getting ready to work on my Halloween costume and decided that I might want to wear a corset underneath. Not a full corset, though... it'll be an underbust corset, just to keep my waistline in check (since the costume will have a fitted vest). I didn't want to use any of my good fabric for something that won't be seen and that I will only wear once, so I decided to cut up my jeans to make the underbust corset from! I had to get rather creative with the pattern piece layout, and remove the back pockets so I could use that fabric as well.
(I call them jeans but they're a light tan denim fabric).
I just got all the pieces pinned together... tomorrow I'll stitch them all together and try to finish the corset. Less than 2 weeks until the church Fall Festival/costume party, and I have to make my costume and my toddler's!
Today, I was getting ready to work on my Halloween costume and decided that I might want to wear a corset underneath. Not a full corset, though... it'll be an underbust corset, just to keep my waistline in check (since the costume will have a fitted vest). I didn't want to use any of my good fabric for something that won't be seen and that I will only wear once, so I decided to cut up my jeans to make the underbust corset from! I had to get rather creative with the pattern piece layout, and remove the back pockets so I could use that fabric as well.
(I call them jeans but they're a light tan denim fabric).
I just got all the pieces pinned together... tomorrow I'll stitch them all together and try to finish the corset. Less than 2 weeks until the church Fall Festival/costume party, and I have to make my costume and my toddler's!
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