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dragonlady7Day 2 of bad cramps-- I hope this eases soon because I have SHIT TO DO. Like, um, go to work again.
Anyway.
Sewing progress:
Prewashed and dried all the new fabric I've bought in a while-- everything for Lorelei's dress (though I admit I washed the sparkly stuff in a mesh bag so it wouldn't fall apart-- I would prefer to be able to say the whole dress is machine wash-and-dry-able because I've done it, but I think that sparkly stuff will be OK once applique'd down-- I just didn't like the look of it loose) and all the stuff I bought to make things for Z.
Blue silk twill dress. I fixed the shoulder seam, tried it on again, took it in under the arms and a tiny bit at the back, tried it on again and feel like it's too tight. Whatever, it is close enough. I have to do something about going behind the laces anyway-- the panel can be wider and I can lace it looser, if it comes to that. It's adjustable outward, but not inward-- once it's laced shut I can't adjust anything in any further.
So I cut a facing of scraps of the fashion fabric-- I really did bother piecing the scraps together. It only needs to be an inch wide, and on grain! I can't resist using scraps. They look tidy. So I've faced the neckline-- and yes, that did make it lower, but I"m not trying it on to find out how much just yet.
I have now pieced a facing of linen for the armholes, since I'm not putting sleeves on.
After that, all that will be left to do is... well, I've decided to remove the gores from the front. The front gives me a very large-looking pregnant belly and that's not really OK for a modern event: I tried it on with the front gores pinned out so the straight panels meet instead, and it looked fine. So i'm just going to seam-rip the gores out of both the skirt and the lining, and sew all together flat, so all the skirt's fullness is at sides and back. Otherwise it really, really, just doesn't look right. I probably will just chuck the gores in the scrap bin, because I don't want to try to insert them elsewhere in the skirt.
I have been looking up Slavic / Rus garb, because Z is amusingly taken (in a noodgely fashion) with the idea of a Baltic persona for Pennsic. ("Can I say I'm from North Latvia so I'm Iceberg Lettish? Ooh, can I be a gypsy? Then I can be Romaine Lettish!" Balts are fucken tools, I'm tellin you.)
I bought some fabric yesterday at JoAnn's-- went a bit nuts, really-- and I think the next day I have off and am coherent, I am going to just have a cutting orgy. I am going to take big plastic bags, or paper grocery sacks. I am going to draft all the patterns I need. I am going to lay out the fabric and cut the pieces, and label them in transfer pen. Then I am going to put the pieces, along with the notions and trim etc., into the paper grocery sack with the pattern, and label it with its contents, the intended recipient, and whether it needs hand- or machine-sewing.
Then the ones that need hand-sewing are going to go into a basket I can pull from next time I am going on a long road trip, and the machine-sewing ones are going in a basket next to the machine.
I fantasize about being this organized, you see. But I quite literally have the materials, patterns, and notions for twelve projects in a pile under the table, and keep being paralyzed with confusion every time I go to sew. So this has to happen. Or something like it.
Anyway.
Sewing progress:
Prewashed and dried all the new fabric I've bought in a while-- everything for Lorelei's dress (though I admit I washed the sparkly stuff in a mesh bag so it wouldn't fall apart-- I would prefer to be able to say the whole dress is machine wash-and-dry-able because I've done it, but I think that sparkly stuff will be OK once applique'd down-- I just didn't like the look of it loose) and all the stuff I bought to make things for Z.
Blue silk twill dress. I fixed the shoulder seam, tried it on again, took it in under the arms and a tiny bit at the back, tried it on again and feel like it's too tight. Whatever, it is close enough. I have to do something about going behind the laces anyway-- the panel can be wider and I can lace it looser, if it comes to that. It's adjustable outward, but not inward-- once it's laced shut I can't adjust anything in any further.
So I cut a facing of scraps of the fashion fabric-- I really did bother piecing the scraps together. It only needs to be an inch wide, and on grain! I can't resist using scraps. They look tidy. So I've faced the neckline-- and yes, that did make it lower, but I"m not trying it on to find out how much just yet.
I have now pieced a facing of linen for the armholes, since I'm not putting sleeves on.
After that, all that will be left to do is... well, I've decided to remove the gores from the front. The front gives me a very large-looking pregnant belly and that's not really OK for a modern event: I tried it on with the front gores pinned out so the straight panels meet instead, and it looked fine. So i'm just going to seam-rip the gores out of both the skirt and the lining, and sew all together flat, so all the skirt's fullness is at sides and back. Otherwise it really, really, just doesn't look right. I probably will just chuck the gores in the scrap bin, because I don't want to try to insert them elsewhere in the skirt.
I have been looking up Slavic / Rus garb, because Z is amusingly taken (in a noodgely fashion) with the idea of a Baltic persona for Pennsic. ("Can I say I'm from North Latvia so I'm Iceberg Lettish? Ooh, can I be a gypsy? Then I can be Romaine Lettish!" Balts are fucken tools, I'm tellin you.)
I bought some fabric yesterday at JoAnn's-- went a bit nuts, really-- and I think the next day I have off and am coherent, I am going to just have a cutting orgy. I am going to take big plastic bags, or paper grocery sacks. I am going to draft all the patterns I need. I am going to lay out the fabric and cut the pieces, and label them in transfer pen. Then I am going to put the pieces, along with the notions and trim etc., into the paper grocery sack with the pattern, and label it with its contents, the intended recipient, and whether it needs hand- or machine-sewing.
Then the ones that need hand-sewing are going to go into a basket I can pull from next time I am going on a long road trip, and the machine-sewing ones are going in a basket next to the machine.
I fantasize about being this organized, you see. But I quite literally have the materials, patterns, and notions for twelve projects in a pile under the table, and keep being paralyzed with confusion every time I go to sew. So this has to happen. Or something like it.
