A Dedicated Follower of Fashion

PSA: If you've ever thought about maybe wanting to upgrading your Flickr account to unlimited (I know a lot of costumers used it in the past), they're having a 25% off sale for the next few days here. Essentially, they're saying the site is still losing money at an alarming rate, and they're trying to keep it alive. I hate to be flouncy and dramatic, but I may just have to give up costume blogging if Flickr dies; I've already gone through the Photobucket debacle and this would be even worse - at least those photos are still there, even if I can't get to them, but Flickr vanishing would gut my blog (not to mention DW), and it's realistically not something that could be fixed.

I know nobody gives a shit because instagram is a thing and that's all anybody looks at anyway and why would you want to look at pictures from five years ago...but oh well,  I tried.

In other news, I've started daily subbing again (because nobody will hire me for anything else and I give up; I'll just work part time jobs with no benefits for the next fifty years and hopefully drop dead on the sales floor someday so I don't have to worry about "retirement"), so I needed hand sewing for this week!


Maybe these stays will actually get finished someday, harr harr harr. I got the front of this half of the tabs all done, and I'm going to see if I can finish the back before work today, and then I'll have to take a break again - stay binding is just not something my hands can handle (heh heh) marathoning!

I also bought and cut out the pieces for the Redthreaded Regency short stays (partially motivated by the fact that I've needed to replace my old corded bodiced petticoat for years, partially because I suddenly needed hand sewing for subbing days again, and partially because I applied for an actual docent job at an historic site that would require a c1815 outfit, and was feeling misguidedly optimistic about getting any kind of response to my application, silly me) - I'm going to mostly machine sew them, but brought the pieces to school so I could baste them. And put the eyelets in, because I seriously misjudged how long basting would take and was terrified at the idea of running out of stuff to do while babysitting teenagers!

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Not the best weather for it...but we braved the mists and brought the umbrellas and had a fun(?) time of it anyway.

A very small "us" this time, too; just Robin and Tom and Yours Truly. (And I think Tom's uninvited to future events for unrepentant schmoopiness with his lady friend.) There was a definite decline in attendance from the other times we've been to this event, which was a bit of a bummer, but whatcha gonna do. At least that meant parking wasn't a problem?
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Not sure what's up next on the sewing docket...probably helping my mini-me build her own outfit to wear at the Indian King Tavern. I've picked a fabric or two that I'm willing to sacrifice for a bedgown, and it's time to re-home the off-white linen blend petticoat anyway. Bedgowns are dull but I plan on machine sewing the long seams so it won't be dull for long!

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I have been very busy doing nothing, as predicted! I think we're still doing New Castle Dickens this Saturday? But unless I'm super extra motivated very soon, nobody will have anything new for it. Which is fine! Just sayin'.

My new acquaintance/volunteer at the Indian King Tavern Carly sent me a text a couple of days ago, asking if I was still willing to dress her for the Christmas open house that's this Friday night. Oh, yes, definitely, I did not completely and totally forget that that was a thing I said I'd do. Definitely not. Whatever, I can crank out a bedgown in no time at all, petticoats are highly adjustable, and I'm happy to sew a bit for a fellow volunteer who's actually interested in looking put-together.

But, o happy day! When she came over today I discovered I've actually found a person who fits in my costumes! Not quite exact measurements, but uncorseted she's only about an inch or so bigger than my bust/waist measurements. And she's not a teenager, she's fully grown! I was SUPER excited, you guys; I was all LET ME DRESS YOUUUUUUU!

So I put her in my bedgown and a petticoat and sent her on her way.

Well, I mean,  I lent her other stuff too. (And did not okay hair hanging out from under the cap; this was just a "so you know how to put this on..." quickie.) I knew I had SO MANY CLOTHES for a reason! Not sure if she's somebody I can co-opt full-on into the hobby; she's an art teacher who is unhappy with teaching, and wants to try to get into living history and the presentation thereof, so it's more as a part of the whole presentation than a direct interest in playing dress-up er ahem, fashion history. Still, the fact that I can dress her in my clothes does help my case...though I did horrify her with an approximation of how much this hobby costs. We shall see.

I do so love new victims MWAHAHAHAHA

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Happy Thanksgiving and all that jazz...I got to spend half of the holiday weekend with the Imaginary Boyfriend, as his dad drove down to North Jersey from Maine to go hunting. FINE I GUESS you can spend time with people who aren't ME! ;)

I also finally did my laundry, so that, apart from the silk and wool stockings that are air-drying, everything from Gettysburg is put away. (Ooooo.)

And I've written 2/3 of my blog posts - the easy ones of course! Horrible chartreuse (dinner) dress, and tartan retrim of the satin ballgown. I actually, with supreme effort (and the rest of a bottle of chardonnay, ahem), got most of the text for the rational dress post written, just have to go back tomorrow and add in the pics. "Just." Ooof.

There were some few little things I wanted to get done for New Castle/ Robin's christmas party, which is the weekend of the 14th...honestly I'll be lucky if I can motivate my lazy butt to make the skirt I want to wear for said party! I think we're going 1860s for New Castle this year, and coincidentally I have one or two outfits that may work for that...

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Let's see if I can be very diligent and get this writeup finished tonight...

The weekend didn't get off to a promising start, as I got up Thursday morning to find that koshka_the_cat had canceled her flight and wouldn't be joining us, as she was sick. Worst timed flu ever! We missed her very much. The only time we didn't was when robinsnest and I were listening to Christmas music on the drive out (as Katherine's not a fan and we wouldn't inflict that on her! but we really do enjoy it)! ;)


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Flickr album: Gettysburg 2019
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Well, okay, it's technically only Weds. But we're driving out tomorrow afternoon, so for all intents and purposes (or intensive purposes, if you want to be wrong) it's here!

I haven't been posting as I really only had time to either update or sew, not both, so I decided to sew! There's a slew of things I didn't manage to finish, but everything vital is in fact done, except for putting ear bows on my head doily to wear to dinner and tacking in the wool flannel undersleeves to the rational dress bodice. There are a few bits and pieces I can't find (wtf, I JUST HAD the other lace head doily; bet that damn cat stole it), but we're not leaving early so I trust I can find them. Started ironing things today and forgot how long it takes to iron a satin ballgown with a flounce. (Forever.) So overall, in very decent shape!

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SO I got a nice chunk of work done on the vest for the rational dress bodice yesterday, and today all I had left to do was finish the armscyes, hand-sew the CF points, and do the buttons/buttonholes. I merrily did the first two, and decided I ought to try the thing on before committing to buttonholes, just in case something had gone a bit wonkus.

"A bit." You could say that.

Somehow the damn thing ended up about 2" too small around (the edges only met with much yoinking) and about 1" too short. And I swear, the mockup fit FINE. It was even slightly too large in the waist, which was fine because of the tab/buckle vest back!

I could probably figure out what stupid thing I did if I looked at it closely and thought about it...but honestly I don't care! It doesn't remotely fit, and it would take way too much time to fix. Even if I wasn't running out of time before the event, I don't know that I'd be motivated to take the thing almost entirely apart to fix it.

This is where my fatalistic disposition comes in handy: I took about ten minutes to evaluate how bad the situation was, weigh my options, and decide, with minimal chagrin, to chuck the vest and just make a somewhat-tailored-looking bodice instead (vaguely related to TV449, crossed with the bodice of the last dress in POF1), starting with the pattern from my very first 1860s basque-bodice. I made that in 2011 so it needed some refitting, but far better than starting at zero!

And really, the vest derp doesn't actually throw me much off-schedule, as I still had to fit the mockup for the jacket that would have gone over the vest! Not to mention, y'know, make the thing. Vest didn't work out, oh well, let's move on, shall we?

So, short story long, I did get the mockup fitted and traced off the pattern pieces; we'll see how far I get tomorrow.

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Dinner bodice is done! That is, today all I had to do was try the thing on with an actual chemise (instead of a t-shirt) to do a final check on the fit (it's fine), sew the buttons on (it's a hook/bar closure as I like to fake button closures rather than actually make buttonholes), sew an un-period snap onto the skirt placket to keep it from gapping (as it's not actually a placket, just the seam allowance, ahem), and baste the skirt and bodice together to stop it going all creepy-creepy slidey-slidey on me. I could probably get away with a few strategic straight pins, and will still probably need one at CF to stop the waistband showing...but as I'm not switching out bodices this weekend, sewn together is less fussy to me.

And it's really not bad. The fit is not the best I've ever done - there is some funkiness at the back of the shoulder that I probably could have steamed out if this was a wool dress, but alas, this is silk. If it really bugs me I can always take the sleeves off and futz. (Haha that is never going to happen in a million years...) And I decided I didn't really need to add padding at the upper bust, since I took the Jankiest Tuck ever in the upper bust that's hidden under the trim. I may decided to add said padding after seeing how wrinkly it looks in pictures later, but for now I think it's fine.

A couple of dumpy Mabel pictures because now I have a smartphone I don't have the "it's so hard to take pictures and upload them" excuse...


A Pip is not as good at holding out a skirt as a hoop, but said Pip likes to play Viet Cong with hoops under skirts, so we try to avoid bringing them out when possible.


I should have done a lot more sewing today, but I was having an "off" day, so I only got to sewing after dinner (pizza, which did perk me up, despite eating one slice more than I should have, and I am still overstuffed). After the dinner dress, I did measure the pattern piece for the collar for the rational dress vest, and realized it'll fit with only an inch taken off the length, so that was easier than expected, whew. I don't think I'll get the under-collar pieces pad-stitched tonight, but that's at least what I'm up to.

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The Usual Suspects and I got together last Sunday for a stitch'n'bitch, and after some thought in the couple of days leading up, I decided it would be smartest to work on the dinner bodice, as that was the closest to finished. I was not overly productive (I love sewing days with the girls but I invariably get less done than if I was on my own), but I did get the couple of pieces of boning sewn in, and cut out/constructed/attached the sleeves. And started the undersleeves, which are just a big fat tube of black silk organza, with a little bit of the perennial black lace sewn on.

And that's what I've been poking away at all week - not in an especially motivated fashion, I must add. I am very much looking forward to Gettysburg, but I work best in a state of mild panic. (Not full-on panic; that just results in sticking my head in the sand and doing nothing and hoping it will all go away. But some pressure, yes!) And it's hard to feel panicked when I have three 1860s day dresses and a ballgown in the closet right now! Are they exactly what I want for this year, no; could I sit around and do nothing from now until November 21 and still be totally fine...yes.

So, slight revision to the sewing list, unless I somehow find a ridiculous amount of motivation in the next week! The ballgown is getting bumped to the end of the list; there's absolutely no reason I can't wear the satin ballgown again, other than it's heavy and annoying and something always rips on it when it gets worn. But it fits and I think I fixed the flounce from last Gettysburg (note to self: check that)...

Rational dress is still on the list, after I finish the dinner bodice - pants and skirt are done, and while the vest/jacket still need a fair bit of work, that's quite doable. I also want a chemisette and collar to wear under the vest, but I definitely can fake those if I have to.

And dinner bodice? Is pretty close to done, actually. These are from the other day.



The netting is rayon - I bought it for something else that I wanted silk netting for but come on, mama ain't got that kinda money, but didn't use it then - it's of course not as nice as silk, but it's a good few steps above your standard nylon scratchy stuff. And it had to be hemmed...not by hand, thank you. A wide zigzag with a short stitch length worked quite nicely if not perfectly! And the loopy trim is the one I bought on clearance ages ago and squirreled away for just this purpose. It's a little poly-shiny but it's not awful. Although it's an example of stellar Joann's quality...

Couple little loopies missing here and there...although thankfully nothing on the bodice trim, actually...just a couple spots on the sleeves. Oy. The outside loops also all have to get tacked down because they flip up...right now I've only tacked the loops on the bodice CF because that's most noticeable, and the other loopies can just flap in the breeze for the moment. That'll be a Later thing...

Ideally I'll get this bodice and undersleeves done tomorrow before the Imaginary Boyfriend shows up for his visitation tomorrow night (it's his weekend), but as long as I get pretty close, I'm not too worried. That'll leave a week and a half to finish rational dress stuff.

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Somehow I haven't really made any progress on the vest, oops. I worked a couple of sub jobs and then my sister got a new pupper and brought him over today...

I did make a new pair of undersleeves though? I decided I needed a warmer pair than my usual lightweight linen ones, if we're going to be outside for a few hours on a battlefield tour (in an outfit I haven't finished, yes). So I ordered a remnant of white wool flannel from Renaissance Fabrics and made up a new pair. Stupid-simple, just tubes gathered to cuffs. Nice and warm though!

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