robe a la francaise
Aug. 23rd, 2009 10:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragonlady7So I've been puttering around the Internet and have discovered two things.
First is that I was asking advice about what sewing machine I should look into getting, since my sisters are going in together to get me something. (I feel bad; they always, collectively, get me better presents than I get them. But that's an aside.)
Someone was raving about how great Pfaffs are, in general. So I looked, and through Pfaff's dealer locator I found out that there is a small, independently-owned fabric store, and Pfaff and Singer dealer, who refurbishes/does maintenance work upon sewing machines of any brand. I had no idea. Also it is directly on my way to work, and I have passed it daily for months, and have even looked at the sign. In my defense, it sounds like a used clothing store-- Threads of Time? It's right next to a consignment shop. I just sort of figured.
But anyway. I will be stopping in there Monday before work and asking about sewing machines. I will bring along pictures of my machines. Oh yes, let me remember to send those to myself so I can print them... Good idea. (This is why I journal!)
Second, this is the 18th century outfit I want. It's exactly what popped (albeit vaguely) into my head when Abbie said she wanted 18th C. It's from Arnold's Patterns of Fashion, the volume Mom gave me, the volume with Mom's maiden name on the bookplate (it only cost $10 back then for the whole book!), the volume she used to research her outfits-- and the more I look at it, the more I am convinced that this is Mom's wedding dress.
Here is Demode's version.
Mom did a floral-embroidered stomacher, which still hangs on her bedroom wall as a decoration. Her dress, which I've never seen in person, was palest blue satin. She had no paniers or pocket hoops beneath, but did have stays and I have not yet found the pattern.
I must make it a project now to find a decent (ie, not faded) version of mom's wedding photos! Maybe next time I'm home I'll steal the negatives-- I can digitize negatives at work, though it's a bit cumbersome. The prints have all lost everything but the red data, which means I don't even know what color Mom's hair was; I only know the dress color because I remember the embroidered panel on the wall. (Mom was blonde for a long time, but her hair darkened toward brown in her twenties, and for a while had a distinct reddish cast; for some time, she colored it, but I don't know when she stopped doing that, and also don't know what colors she colored it!)
In other news, I have a key to work now, which is exciting ish. It doesn't lock well. It unlocks just fine, I am told. Hm.
And in other other news, I have completely filled my hard drive, yet again. Oy. I took too many pictures at Pennsic. And I have to delete derby video stuff-- I blame video editing, bah-- but am too worried about preserving all the work I did to do it.
Z has volunteered to swap the hard drive out of our external hard drive into my computer. Sweet. I have to shut all my tabs, though. Boo. I'm bad at that.
When I got this thing, 120 GB seemed like an enormous amount.
Now 200 GB (the other drive) seems like... not terribly big...
Ah well. I must prepare for work. I have had just the best morning, I should mention, and had a lovely evening, and think I should mention that and not be complainy for a moment. *zen moment* Ahh. That was nice.
OK, to work!
First is that I was asking advice about what sewing machine I should look into getting, since my sisters are going in together to get me something. (I feel bad; they always, collectively, get me better presents than I get them. But that's an aside.)
Someone was raving about how great Pfaffs are, in general. So I looked, and through Pfaff's dealer locator I found out that there is a small, independently-owned fabric store, and Pfaff and Singer dealer, who refurbishes/does maintenance work upon sewing machines of any brand. I had no idea. Also it is directly on my way to work, and I have passed it daily for months, and have even looked at the sign. In my defense, it sounds like a used clothing store-- Threads of Time? It's right next to a consignment shop. I just sort of figured.
But anyway. I will be stopping in there Monday before work and asking about sewing machines. I will bring along pictures of my machines. Oh yes, let me remember to send those to myself so I can print them... Good idea. (This is why I journal!)
Second, this is the 18th century outfit I want. It's exactly what popped (albeit vaguely) into my head when Abbie said she wanted 18th C. It's from Arnold's Patterns of Fashion, the volume Mom gave me, the volume with Mom's maiden name on the bookplate (it only cost $10 back then for the whole book!), the volume she used to research her outfits-- and the more I look at it, the more I am convinced that this is Mom's wedding dress.
Here is Demode's version.
Mom did a floral-embroidered stomacher, which still hangs on her bedroom wall as a decoration. Her dress, which I've never seen in person, was palest blue satin. She had no paniers or pocket hoops beneath, but did have stays and I have not yet found the pattern.
I must make it a project now to find a decent (ie, not faded) version of mom's wedding photos! Maybe next time I'm home I'll steal the negatives-- I can digitize negatives at work, though it's a bit cumbersome. The prints have all lost everything but the red data, which means I don't even know what color Mom's hair was; I only know the dress color because I remember the embroidered panel on the wall. (Mom was blonde for a long time, but her hair darkened toward brown in her twenties, and for a while had a distinct reddish cast; for some time, she colored it, but I don't know when she stopped doing that, and also don't know what colors she colored it!)
In other news, I have a key to work now, which is exciting ish. It doesn't lock well. It unlocks just fine, I am told. Hm.
And in other other news, I have completely filled my hard drive, yet again. Oy. I took too many pictures at Pennsic. And I have to delete derby video stuff-- I blame video editing, bah-- but am too worried about preserving all the work I did to do it.
Z has volunteered to swap the hard drive out of our external hard drive into my computer. Sweet. I have to shut all my tabs, though. Boo. I'm bad at that.
When I got this thing, 120 GB seemed like an enormous amount.
Now 200 GB (the other drive) seems like... not terribly big...
Ah well. I must prepare for work. I have had just the best morning, I should mention, and had a lovely evening, and think I should mention that and not be complainy for a moment. *zen moment* Ahh. That was nice.
OK, to work!
