m_of_disguise (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
m_of_disguise) wrote2024-06-06 09:32 am
m_of_disguise) wrote2024-06-06 09:32 am
Entry tags:
Dickens Sewing Plans and Such
Poked around my website yesterday and decided it was finally time to update all the subpages. The front page had a revamp last year, but everything else was still in the old format and looking very dated. I managed to only finish one page, but eh, it's something. I'll probably get a page done every night, and have it all wrapped up sometime next week.
Looking back through my recent entries on the site, I haven't really finished a project in 4 years. I guess this makes complete sense - the last thing I finished was at the end of 2020, and guess what horrible thing happened at the beginning of 2021. Guess my sewing mojo was damaged even more than I thought.
The stripey bodice was the most recent thing, and then there was the 1590s maternity stuff last year, but the maternity stuff was very slapdash and has raw edges and dodgy hems everywhere. The stripey bodice is the only thing I can really be satisfied with, since all the edges were finished and all the closures are in.
Yeesh. I gotta get my shit together. I can't keep starting and not finishing stuff!
It makes me a bit more determined to work on the 1872 corset this weekend, perhaps even finish it if the baby cooperates. Or maybe get to work on that Dickens outfit that's gnawing on my brain. I gotta finish something.
Speaking of Dickens, I discovered the house I've booked has been listed for sale (I'm staying in that red bedroom). I emailed the host about it, and he said that it's just a family-to-family member sale, and that it wouldn't impact my stay. Whew! I requested adding Monday to my stay, since Cheryl moved her Dickens Tea to Sunday and I don't want to have to endure a 6 hour drive home after her event. My room was already booked, but the honeymoon suite next door (the first white room in the listing) was open and the same price, so I'll just switch to that room for my final night. Works for me!
Anyway, Dickens plans!
Likely Schedule:
Friday: Arrival day, Handbell Concert (5:30PM - may have to miss it since it overlaps with the Soiree) Bishop's Palace Soiree (6:30PM)
Saturday: Dickens Breakfast (8:30AM), Tea on the Tall Ship Elissa (11AM, a tight squeeze after the breakfast, but probably doable; if the squeeze is too tight, then I think I'd rather do the tea than the breakfast so I can sleep a bit later), the actual festival, Queen's Feast? (7PM - tentative - they had it last year, but it was a big anniversary year, so not sure if it's happening this year; there usually is some kind of Saturday evening event, but when it's not a feast it's usually a burlesque show, so wouldn't require evening wear...? Right? There's also the "Salute to the Sunset" on the tall ship Elissa, which is a cocktail hour leading up to the Lanternlight Parade, so if all else fails...)
Sunday: Cheryl's Dickens Tea (2PM)
Sewing stuff:
For sure:
- paisley wrapper made from pashmina shawls with eyelet petticoat (breakfast on Saturday)
In theory, pretty straight-forward, just sew the shawls together, and voila, skirt! But the shawls are a bit squidgey and wriggly, and the weave is somewhat loose, so I think I'll have to lightly interface them to give them a bit of body and resilience. Otherwise it should be a fairly simple project.
- electric blue plaid 1850s dress (tea on the tall ship and festival-going on Saturday)
This is the dress currently gnawing on my brain. It's also the most involved of all the planned dresses. It's based on a plate in either Iris or Weiner Modespiegel, which I don't have saved on this computer and I don't want to dig through all the digitized magazines to find. XP But it's a three-tiered skirt, with each tier sporting three layers of knife-pleated ruffles at the hem. Will it take forever? Yes. Yes it will. Which is why I need to start this one very soon, because the bodice is not any less fussy.
- Augusta Auctions dress but in navy/orange (with evening bodice for Bishop's House soiree, and day bodice for Cheryl's tea)
I've wanted to make something with that fabric for a really long time because it looks gorgeous, and the Augusta Auctions dress has been on my Want list every since it went up. This would also be a transformation dress. I have the fabric, just need the trimmings. The fabric does feel very modern, in a tactile sense. The flowers are sort of embossed, and the whole of the fabric feels kind of...spongey? Foam-ish? It's weird and certainly not what I was expecting when I ordered it. But it passes the 3-foot rule, and that's good enough for me, especially since this isn't a reenactment. Dickens has been so steampunk-ified that no one will bat an eyelash at some vaguely modern dress fabric.
Maybe:
- Kent State brocade dress
I still have a bolt of the same brocade I used for my loose gown, which is perfect for this dress. Just need the fringe and velvet ribbon. This one would be pretty quick to put together. However, since the blue/orange gown is going to be a transformation gown, I could just wear that dress for the soiree and Cheryl's tea, and wouldn't need a second dress. I may make this dress as a backup, in case I'm just not feeling the blue dress one of those days. Or, if there does turn out to be an evening event on Saturday, then this would be a good choice for it.
- Pink plaid silk dress, made from the fabric from the estate sale
I have a million yards of this stuff, and it would be a pretty mid-century dress. Not a need, though, just a want.
- seaside dress in white pique
Originally planned to do seaside dresses with Liz, but with her big move this year it's doubtful she's going to make the trip. So the seaside dress is tentatively off the list for now.
Anyway, them's the plans. Now to dig out my crinoline and actually start on some of this.
Looking back through my recent entries on the site, I haven't really finished a project in 4 years. I guess this makes complete sense - the last thing I finished was at the end of 2020, and guess what horrible thing happened at the beginning of 2021. Guess my sewing mojo was damaged even more than I thought.
The stripey bodice was the most recent thing, and then there was the 1590s maternity stuff last year, but the maternity stuff was very slapdash and has raw edges and dodgy hems everywhere. The stripey bodice is the only thing I can really be satisfied with, since all the edges were finished and all the closures are in.
Yeesh. I gotta get my shit together. I can't keep starting and not finishing stuff!
It makes me a bit more determined to work on the 1872 corset this weekend, perhaps even finish it if the baby cooperates. Or maybe get to work on that Dickens outfit that's gnawing on my brain. I gotta finish something.
Speaking of Dickens, I discovered the house I've booked has been listed for sale (I'm staying in that red bedroom). I emailed the host about it, and he said that it's just a family-to-family member sale, and that it wouldn't impact my stay. Whew! I requested adding Monday to my stay, since Cheryl moved her Dickens Tea to Sunday and I don't want to have to endure a 6 hour drive home after her event. My room was already booked, but the honeymoon suite next door (the first white room in the listing) was open and the same price, so I'll just switch to that room for my final night. Works for me!
Anyway, Dickens plans!
Likely Schedule:
Friday: Arrival day, Handbell Concert (5:30PM - may have to miss it since it overlaps with the Soiree) Bishop's Palace Soiree (6:30PM)
Saturday: Dickens Breakfast (8:30AM), Tea on the Tall Ship Elissa (11AM, a tight squeeze after the breakfast, but probably doable; if the squeeze is too tight, then I think I'd rather do the tea than the breakfast so I can sleep a bit later), the actual festival, Queen's Feast? (7PM - tentative - they had it last year, but it was a big anniversary year, so not sure if it's happening this year; there usually is some kind of Saturday evening event, but when it's not a feast it's usually a burlesque show, so wouldn't require evening wear...? Right? There's also the "Salute to the Sunset" on the tall ship Elissa, which is a cocktail hour leading up to the Lanternlight Parade, so if all else fails...)
Sunday: Cheryl's Dickens Tea (2PM)
Sewing stuff:
For sure:
- paisley wrapper made from pashmina shawls with eyelet petticoat (breakfast on Saturday)
In theory, pretty straight-forward, just sew the shawls together, and voila, skirt! But the shawls are a bit squidgey and wriggly, and the weave is somewhat loose, so I think I'll have to lightly interface them to give them a bit of body and resilience. Otherwise it should be a fairly simple project.
- electric blue plaid 1850s dress (tea on the tall ship and festival-going on Saturday)
This is the dress currently gnawing on my brain. It's also the most involved of all the planned dresses. It's based on a plate in either Iris or Weiner Modespiegel, which I don't have saved on this computer and I don't want to dig through all the digitized magazines to find. XP But it's a three-tiered skirt, with each tier sporting three layers of knife-pleated ruffles at the hem. Will it take forever? Yes. Yes it will. Which is why I need to start this one very soon, because the bodice is not any less fussy.
- Augusta Auctions dress but in navy/orange (with evening bodice for Bishop's House soiree, and day bodice for Cheryl's tea)
I've wanted to make something with that fabric for a really long time because it looks gorgeous, and the Augusta Auctions dress has been on my Want list every since it went up. This would also be a transformation dress. I have the fabric, just need the trimmings. The fabric does feel very modern, in a tactile sense. The flowers are sort of embossed, and the whole of the fabric feels kind of...spongey? Foam-ish? It's weird and certainly not what I was expecting when I ordered it. But it passes the 3-foot rule, and that's good enough for me, especially since this isn't a reenactment. Dickens has been so steampunk-ified that no one will bat an eyelash at some vaguely modern dress fabric.
Maybe:
- Kent State brocade dress
I still have a bolt of the same brocade I used for my loose gown, which is perfect for this dress. Just need the fringe and velvet ribbon. This one would be pretty quick to put together. However, since the blue/orange gown is going to be a transformation gown, I could just wear that dress for the soiree and Cheryl's tea, and wouldn't need a second dress. I may make this dress as a backup, in case I'm just not feeling the blue dress one of those days. Or, if there does turn out to be an evening event on Saturday, then this would be a good choice for it.
- Pink plaid silk dress, made from the fabric from the estate sale
I have a million yards of this stuff, and it would be a pretty mid-century dress. Not a need, though, just a want.
- seaside dress in white pique
Originally planned to do seaside dresses with Liz, but with her big move this year it's doubtful she's going to make the trip. So the seaside dress is tentatively off the list for now.
Anyway, them's the plans. Now to dig out my crinoline and actually start on some of this.