Sometimes the works get gummed up when my supervisor makes an appearance. . .

I made this corset last year. It's embroidered brown linen with pink trim and lining. The corset has an interlining of pink duck cloth and is stiffened with steel bones. 

    Last night I found myself with some time so I decided to start in with my sewing. So fist off I set to repairing my corset. It looks. . . okay. But with such a tiny space and poor lining I think for now it's the best it will get. After that chore I set out to make a chemise and partlet. 

    Originally, the chemise was going to be purple with white sleeves. But the purple fabric was too rough I felt and swapped it out for a different fabric. It's very pretty – white with a light blue and silver pattern (left). I just can't stand to have boring undergarments! The sleeves are still white, however, I am tempted to just cut them off or make new ones because I forgot to lengthen the pattern and am left with sleeves that only reach to my forearms. That's going to drive me nuts, I just know it will!

   

 Putting the chemise on hold, I moved to the partlet. I used a white embroidered organza (left). It was fairly easy to make, but I'm not sure how I'll like it. I think I'll need to see it with the dress first. I don't have a picture of that, but I'll post it with the completed dress so you get the full efect - partlets are better that way ;)

The last project I attacked last night was a bumroll, made from purple duckcloth (left), I don't know if it's completely necessary but I'd rather have it just in case i get it all assembled and decided I want it. I attached gold grosgrain to it before sewing it all up so i could keep it on. the finished result always makes me laugh - it looks like one of those crescent travel pillows. My finished bumroll is a nice violation of Sumptuary laws! 

Well, plans for attending this year's Otakon have collapsed. Sad. . . but I have won a consolation of some sorts – promises from the boyfriend to dress up for the local Renaissance fair this year. This year, I have my eye on making and wearing a traditional dress that could date late Tudor/ early Elizabethan. My dress isn't based on any particular painting, but I have been crawling around the web and library for inspiration!

Luckily, I already have a farthingale and pair of bodies, and even a pretty snood so I don't have to remake any of that (whoo) – but I do need a new smock, underskirt, sleeves, partlet, and – of course, a dress. If I have time, I'd also like to make an atifet and new cloak to wear with my gown (normally I attend the faire in the fall and it can get chilly!).

So, I have already got what I think at this point is most of the needed fabric – sans trims and whatever I've managed to have forgotten. Now deep down inside I pine for a purple gown – but I also know that one is not supposed to technically wear purple unless you're nobility. One can dress above one's station, but boldly wearing purple, ala Anne Boleyn, seems a bad move. Ah the days when I could feign ignorance. . . To keep in line, I have chosen a satin of a wine colour (that could appear purple in the right light) for the gown, a brown brocade for the underskirt, and a white organza for my partlet.

Now, I couldn't completely dismiss purple from my dress! So I'm going to make a purple smock (with white sleeves – hee hee) and a purple bum roll. If I felt like it and/or had the time/need/money for it, I'd also make a purple corset and farthingale. Maybe someday. . .

So. . . the contact came and was a total waste. It came torn and the company won't refund/exchange it, and I'm not spending money on another because I'm not totally convinced it will fit (damned astigmatism) so I've come up with a new plan. I ordered a pretty blue and pink fan that should match my outfit off of eBay and have decided that if a photo opportunity arises, I shall cover the "red" eye with it. Problem (sort of) solved. . .

     I like Stella's outfit – I find it just a bit upsetting that there are no nifty accessories (like a crown or big necklace) – although I do get to wear long opera gloves and attempt at being heterochromatic. Also I get to make some cute little pearl decorations for my hair and some hair extensions to augment my existing hair (that will become all purple!)

Alright, so I scoured the internet to find my sparse accessories and did a fairly good job (I like to think). First, I looked for the contact – just one, a red one. Stella has one green eye, one red one. Luckily, I have green eyes, just need to make one red.

     Bingo. Found these on http://www.youknowit.com – and they let me buy only one. The price was good, $11.18 and shipped for free! Yay, free! Still, I don't know if the contact will work. . . I have an astigmatism, and turn out – they don't make red contacts for astigmatisms. Boo (of course, if anyone knows differently, please tell me – not that anyone reads this blog). At any rate, I went ahead and ordered the lens – don't know if you don't try.

Okay, next on the list were gloves. I chose an opera length, navy blue pair off of eBay (I love eBay). They only set me back $12.90. No complaints there! They've already come, which is great because I can take them out to match the fabric I chose for the dress (: .

     With my eyes (hopefully) taken care of and gloves bought, all there is to worry about (accessory wise) is my hair. Tonight I broke down and bought some purple hair extensions to pad out my hair to get as close to Stella's style as I can. I got 10, 20" pieces for only $13. Pretty good. These too were bought off of eBay. Ten seems like a lot, but it will come in handy in case I melt one when trying to curl them or one is damaged or some such nonsense. . . Later I'll have to find some clips and get out the glue gun to affix some pearls ^_^ .

It begins. . .

 

    To make Stella's gown, I started with what I know best – corsets. Also, since I have to order steel bones and a busk, it's better to get that out of the way so I can order all the hardware and have it on time. Now, I have one problem with this corset in that it's not really a corset, it's more of a bustier with the need for cups and all that fun. To my surprise, I don't have a single bustier pattern, nor do I have any of my bra pattern drafting supplies (lost in a move). So I had to do what I always end up doing – Frankensteining (a process where I splice together patterns from different sources to make the desired pattern).

The patterns I used to make Stella's bustier is Kwik Sew 2489 and Simplicity 5113 (only the torso part).

 

First I made up the bra – and wow, the cups turned out really weird, I wish I had taken a picture (this is why you have a camera – dummy!). It look like an old lady bra or something – I dunno how the designers of kwik sew think boobies are shaped, but they thought wrong. . . At any rate, know that if you use this pattern, you will need to reshape the cups.

    After making the bra, I made the torso up and then sewed the two parts together. Now I had my mock up! Time to fit it. I pinned the mock up to my sewing dummy, leaving a 2 inch gap in the pack (squish room for the corset). Then I began the fitting process (and I got to correct those cups!)

    The initial assessment showed me the garment was too big for me, so I resized it with pins (all the yellow marks on my corset are pins to correct my seams!)

    After pinning, I took the mock up off the dummy, marked all the pin placements with a sharpie, and resized the parts. Then I took it all apart to use as my new pattern.

 

COST OF MOCK-UP

• Fabric / Thread - $0 (I had this on hand)
  
• Patterns - $0 (I had both the patterns on hand)
  
• Time:
  
  • Initial pattern making – 1 hr
    
  • Cutting out – <1 hr
    
  • Sewing - <1 hr
    
  • Fitting – 1 hr
    
  • Resizing pattern – 1.5 hr
    
    
    

So far, so good. I will need to make a second mock just to make sure my new pattern fits (I hate ill-fitting clothes)! The second one will be made out of duck cloth (torso) and soft cotton (cups). Hopefully it fits and I can use the second mock up for the finished garment's interlining.