aimeekitty

Hey Folks! Back in town but not caught up yet. Here's a quick snapshot of my work-in-progress 18th century zone-front gown from Burnley and Trowbridge's "“Quarter Back…Folded Front or Drawstring” An 18th century Gown of the Last Quarter" class.

What you see below is about 2 1/2 days' work,... starting from a pile of fabric. It's all handsewn! The gown still needs the rest of it's skirt, sleeves, petticoat and trim... and has a good deal of stitching left on it, but at least you can see how well the bodice is fit to my stays (corset) and can imagine how nice the final gown will look, right? :) The basic shape will look like this gown when it's done.

Fitting the bodice and sleeves (which we completed) is the hardest part to do (impossible) to do by yourself. So I'm really happy to have this done. Another weekend of work and I'll probably be done with it,... but not sure when I'll have time with Fanime next weekend and all.

My rough idea for the completion of it is a matching fabric petticoat, self-fabric buttons down the front of the bodice,... and am debating doing a self (frayed) gathered trim to show off the bright colors of the threads in the weave of the fabric... and maybe layer that trim with a dark metallic lace if I can find one.

It was a really really interesting class. The teacher, Janea Whitacre, taught us to drape (from scratch... no patterns) on each other to make our own gowns according to our taste and our body shape. And she taught us how to do this and finish the gowns in the historical way (ie construction like they did back then, hand stitching like they did, etc...) She brought a couple exact reproduction gowns to the class, too. It was really interesting to see the different methods of putting things together... and know that modification and mistakes were made back then, too... so we, as modern seamstresses can make mistakes and alter things..., and still be "historically correct"... knock this up in the "Call it battle damage" category of costume problem solving.
We learned A LOT and I'm gradually getting more comfortable with draping on the body from scratch. It's really just too bad that I can't drape -myself- without a second pair of hands.

Judy did a sherbet-colored stripe with a buttery yellow solid contrasting zone-front gown. She did the classic quarter-back style and I did mine en fourreau (where the back is cut as one solid piece and pleated to shape to the body).

I had a blast at Gallifrey Doctor Who Convention! Sadly I've been threatening to get sick for the past week so my energy level was kinda low, so no 4 am Lobbycon for me. Kinda sad about that actually. I feel like an old woman. This week I plan to sleep a lot and read bad novels.
<3 I got to touch the real "wee beastie" Doctor coat fabric, played with OOD and saw the cheerleaders of Rassilon. Huge thanks to everyone who hung out, went to my panels, bought my art, listened to my bad karaoke and were generally awesome.

NOTE: am behind on things... if there's something important email me again.
But here, have a couple pics for now!

(I swear, I'm going to adopt you girls. <3 )


Crisso (as Rose), Mitch (the Doctor), me (Pompadour) and Judy (clockwork droid, not seen here) did a skit to Annie Lennox' Broken Glass. All of us have had a pretty busy/harsh month, so we didn't have as much time to prepare, make props or rehearse as we would have liked. We had fun though and did NOT fall off the stage or on each other, so I consider that success. <3

it's getting there!
I'm not wearing my corset cause I did this too late in the evening to be bothered with that,... so it'll fit better once I do that. Plus it's not tacked into the lining yet, at all. (it's just my hand on my hip holding the fabric down)

Though, I'm frustrated at how it pulls/constricts my shoulders. It fits "fine"... I'd just like it to fit really well. Since I've only made one gown like this before, I don't know if it's user error, pattern error, if that's just the way these gowns are. (I mean everyone does joke about t-rex arms). ... It seems to me like maybe my back piece needs to be extended. Unfortunately I don't have a local friend to drape with and my dummy really needs to be padded out, too.
The fabric is a bit fragile and frays easily... I'm going to have to be careful with it.

bah, not feeling very elegant and courtly at the moment, but I'll share it with you anyway.

I'm trying to do much better about spending for the rest of the year. I love this simple Innocent World JSK though (been staring at it for months...) and I would totally wear it as a "normal" dress. And it's on sale. :( I based This dress on it... and I love this pale pink KidsYOYO coat... but it's rarely ever wintery here. (it's 65 degrees F today.)
SO ... I don't need the IW dress or another winter coat, right? RIGHT?

I need to sell some stuff regardless. On the cutting list:
my sunlight Super Dollfie 13 boy, some of my Momoko 1/6,
some size 11 lolita shoes, AP Macaron skirt in black, my hot pink BABY snow dot ribbon JSK, pink BABY usakumya furry headdress, my handmade AP white replica JSK, my handmade cupcake skirt, my handmade alice pink fabric skirt, my pink Utena costume, my Miwako costume,

anyway, here's my Madame de Pompadour fabric and flounce lace:

Day 15, Commission for bauhausfrau in her fabulous 18th century pink pirate outfit. Tried to base the background on the loose paintings of that period... but the pale colors of the markers don't really scan that well! done in COPIC markers and white Prismacolor pencil. SAKURA micron ink.
~ ~ Fave on DA

Click for Fullsize

Today kinda bites.
Besides that, I have a lot of stuff that needs to be done (besides work.) I wish I had time to sew some cute skirts right now. I have the cutest fabrics sitting around... but I can't see me having any time to sew at all until after New Years, and even then, my Madame de Pompadour gown has to come first.
So exhausted... not enough hours in the day and not enough sleep at night.

Accepting offers of cheer and macros.

My pink fabric came! (I want to make a Robe a l'anglaise with it..)
oh my... it's rather perfect.
I don't think it's too bright at all and I'll be adding hotpink ribbon flowers to it, I think. Unfortunately, I don't know when I'll have time and my Madame de Pompadour has to come first.
but... aaaah... this fabric fills me with glee!


Also hot pink,... still my toenails from my birthday pedicure! Wow! These are my new SAS sandals. You may scoff but they are the MOST COMFORTABLE THINGS EVER and they last forever. My last pair I had for at least 10 years.

While speaking of comfortable, if you want a super super soft soothing nightgown, I highly recommend Land's End. They never let me down. I was so relieved when I got my new one in the mail recently... it's like a cloud!



( A few more cloud photos under the cut )

am back from Costume College! (preview above... no more right now, sorry)
Judy and I had a GREAT TIME. So many beautiful gowns, I was in heaven! At times I felt like I was living in 18th century France... <3 Now I just want to make like 5 gowns. I learned a TON, everyone was really nice and I got to meet some folks from online that I admired! :D I'll post more about it later with photos, etc.

In the meantime, ...

progress on my Vampire Hunter D Sword! XD XD

photo from shipperamy of me at my SDComicCon booth with tako-san. (Thanks, Amy!) Tako-san is a gift from AJ. I keep him as a cute-ness factor for the booth and moral support. Tako-san, truly, though, is a seiza chair (made to ease the stress off your knees when sitting seiza... which is fabulous because it's adorable, and I have bad knees.)

Made some Lia progress today. The lining is now mostly attached and the gathered trim is done (at least for the dress itself.) The sleeves are pinked, but they're just pinned in place to see how they'll look for now. Wasn't sure about the lace, but Cheryll likes it... and I think I do, too.

Had dinner with Annie and Jinyo at Ye Olde Kings Head ... which is fabulous at the very least for being called Ye Olde. XD Lots of London nostalgia. Had a Newcy Brown and Shepherd's Pie and some type of custard pudding... plus great conversation. So yay!

I also got to stare at the ocean right at sunset, which is pretty much one of my favorite things in the world. I'd apparently temporarily forgotten how calming the ocean is for me.

I still have some things to add, and the gown isn't sewn to the lining yet... but yeay! it looks like a dress! No CUT FOR YOU.