What HAS Miss Wilde Been Up To?

Of course, the first answer to this question is always "No Good." ;)

I've been working on my Keeper of the Keys corset.
1. Sew boning channels and bone the seams DONE
2. Cut out, put together and baste in the lining (after of course finding something in the stash to line it with...think I can use some of the pink or green cotton that I have?) DONE out of green cotton
3. Put in the zipper while putting in the lining DONE
4. Cover all the seams with ribbon or other trim to disguise the fact that the boning channels don't go quite all the way to the seams... Not necessary, managed to get the seams properly stitched
5. Find something for the binding and bind the edges - Found black and silver striped fabric to use for the binding and it is in the process of being put on.

And I worked on my pink and white underwear:
Finish the binding and hem the pink and white chemise. DONE
Finish the seams and hem the petticoat. Worked on, still have one seam to stitch and finish.
Add petticoat waistband, with closure and buttons for remove-able ruffles.
Hem the edges of the ruffle base and start making the ruffles.
They will be trimmed in lace and narrow white ribbon.
The petticoat itself will probably have a ruffle at the bottom as well.
Once that's all done, start the corset. Cut the corset out of white satin. I need lining, and interlining before I can work on it any more.

Ohayocon Pictures! aka Costume Porn

Femme Joker with a couple of Harley Quinn's during the DC Photoshoot. I freaking love my suspenders!

A close up of my newest steampunk outfit, nicknamed "The Governess" by Dave. Photo by Neitling Photography.

Another of my newest steampunk outfit, nicknamed "The Governess" by Dave. Photo by Neitling Photography.

And the Suicide Squad Harley Quinn, which I think turned out pretty good! With my friend in his male Harley nicknamed "Harvey Quinn"

Keeper of the Keys corset - With a DEADLINE

This project now has a deadline - February 2 for the Airship Archon Winter Outing.

My plan is to wear the Keeper of the Keys skirt and a blouse to church, then throw on the corset and head out to meet up with the Archon. To do this, I kinda need to finish the corset...

To Do:
1. Sew boning channels and bone the seams
2. Cut out, put together and baste in the lining (after of course finding something in the stash to line it with...think I can use some of the pink or green cotton that I have?)
3. Put in the zipper while putting in the lining
4. Cover all the seams with ribbon or other trim to disguise the fact that the boning channels don't go quite all the way to the seams...
5. Find something for the binding and bind the edges

Because of the way the corset is constructed, this will pretty much all be done by hand, except for putting together the lining.

Ohayocon Schedule

Ohayocon is a pretty good sized anime based convention that has expanded into other areas of cosplay. It has a predominately young young crowd. 

My panels this weekend:

• Steampunk and Men's Fashion at 1:30 am Friday night in Delaware C
• A New Introduction to Steampunk at midnight Saturday night in Delaware C (lead panelist)
• Steampunk on a Budget at 4 pm Sunday afternoon in Harrison (lead panelist)

Other Airship Archon panels:

• How to Mod a Squirt Gun at 10:30 pm Saturday night in Delaware D
• Zombies in Steampunk at 1 pm on Saturday in Fairfield A-B
• Steampunk in Gaming at 5 pm on Saturday in Harrison
• Where Steampunk Meets Lolita at 11:30 am on Sunday morning in Union A-B

Other steampunk offerings:

• Thrifty Steampunk at 8 pm Friday night in Delaware A-B

Panels that interest me:

• Basic Pattern Making and Sewing at 1:30 pm Friday in Delaware D
• Vampires Don't Sparkle at 9 pm Friday in Fairfield A-B
• Birds Bats and Bugs A Wings Tutorial at 930 pm Friday in Delaware D
• Doctor Who Chaos in Columbus at 1030 am Saturday in Regency
• Cosplay Materials Beyond Fabric at 1 pm Saturday in Delaware D
• Advanced Pattern Making and Sewing at 1130 am Sunday in Delaware C

And there's a DC photoshoot Saturday at 4:30 pm. I'll need to decide what to wear for that one... And the Doctor Who photoshoot might be fun to witness, it's at 8 pm Friday. 

And we're going to have an Airship Archon meetup for a late lunch on Saturday at 2 pm.

Progress - Mainly Bustle and Petticoat

I started the new lobster tail bustle following American Duchess' tutorial. So far, so good -- I cut out the back and front pieces, with lines drawn for the boning casings. Just need to start putting it together! I decided to use a quilt binding waistband instead of her suggested waistband. Just a personal preference.



I traced the wash overskirt pattern, gathered the materials...and then then decided I really really didn't want to work on it.


So I started my pink and white underwear set instead. :) I used my standard underskirt pattern for the base petticoat, used the bustle pillow pattern as a guide for the ruffle addition that will be remove-able and cut out the chemise. As of now, the chemise is put together, with some lace trimmings, binding pinned to the arm holes and half finished around the neck line, side and shoulder seams are finished. Pretty much all of the seams on this set are going to have to be finished because the fabric is very light weight and prone to fraying. I need to finish the binding on the chemise and hem it. The petticoat front gores have been sewn together and the seams are pinned for finishing. The back gores are sewn together and don't need finished because I used the selvedge for that edge. :) I also pulled out some white satin for the corset. I need to find or purchase something for the interlining though.

Worked on the Keeper of the Keys corset. All it needs is lining, boning at the seams, binding and a zipper.

Embroidery on the embroidered quilt is DONE

And I packed for Ohayocon. Which still needs finished, but it's mostly done. :)

To Do List for the Next Couple Weeks:

Mending for a friend. Need to pick up some iron on denim patches.

I need to purchase batting for the baby quilt and get the binding made.

Find the inspiration to work on that wash overskirt...

Finish the binding and hem the pink and white chemise. Finish the seams and hem the petticoat. Add petticoat waistband, with closure and buttons for remove-able ruffles. Hem the edges of the ruffle base and start making the ruffles. They will be trimmed in lace and narrow white ribbon. The petticoat itself will probably have a ruffle at the bottom as well. Once that's all done, start the corset.

Be nice to finish that damned Keeper of the Keys corset...

Start putting the embroidered quilt together

To Do List! (bustles and overskirts and petticoats oh my)

A little progress...Finally got the Harley Quinn neck ruff to work (at least as well as its going to), and I pieced the baby quilt last night.  I also prewashed the green cotton that's slated for stays lining and my new bustle, the pink and white stripe for my new underwear and the swiss dot that I don't know what I'm doing with it yet.

Projects with deadlines:

Baby quilt - deadline ASAP but my cousin is due in April. This is pieced, just need to buy batting, pin it, machine quilt it, then make and do the binding which will likely at least be partially done by hand. 

Lobster tail bustle from American Duchess' tutorial - deadline February 11 (for the Historical Sew Fortnightly challenge)

Wash overskirt bedecked in trimmings - deadline February 25 (for the Historical Sew Fortnightly challenge) Planning to do the grey silvery satin again, to match my bodice and skirt, and use the black and silver plaid for trimmings. Probably ruffles, maybe use some trimming ideas I found on Your Wardrobe Unlocked. I wouldn't be surprised by some lace, ribbon and or braid either. I should probably get started on this actually...

Pink and white underwear set - deadline March 25 (for the Historical Sew Fortnightly challenge). Going to make a petticoat with detachable back ruffles, and likely a ruffle at the hem, along with a 'chemise' of sorts to wear with it, as well as a white underbust corset. Planning some white ribbon and lace as trim.

Easter dress - deadline March 31. Wow, Easter is early this year! This is still a maybe.

18th Century pockets - deadline April 9 (for the Historical Sew Fortnightly challenge) These should be pretty easy, unless I decide to embroider them (which I probably should...)

A 20s inspired dress to go see The Great Gatsby in - deadline: May 20

Projects without deadlines:

18th century outfit, probably the stays first since I already have the fabric, just need a pattern.

Keeper of the Keys underbust corset

Embroidered quilt (embroidery is almost done!)

Quilts and pillowcases for Soldiers Angels

Weekend projects? Hopefully the overskirt, but I could see myself working on the petticoat instead, cuz that's what I want to work on...

Fabric Shopping and Project Planning!

A dear friend and I went shopping Monday evening. I picked up several items for projects that I want to work on:

Three yards of a wide green cotton to use for the lobster tail bustle as well as lining for my stays. (sewing challenge Under It All)
A little under a yard of a heavy weight patterned cotton to use for the stays.
A couple yards of a blue swiss dot. No idea what that'll be, but I'm thinking Easter dress...
And five yards of a pink and white striped polyester to use for a petticoat. Inspired by this fantastic petticoat. Mine will be an earlier decade, probably with some ruffles. (sewing challenge Stripes)

I'm actually contemplating an entire little underwear set of pink and white --- petticoat, chemise (probably using a tank top pattern and not an actually full length chemise, or one of my night gown patterns I have. I think this one, sleeveless shortened and trimmed with lace would make a pretty little chemise to wear...) and white underbust corset. I've been meaning to play with the underbust pattern I have anyways...

18th Century Costume Planning

Dear readers, I have come to the conclusion that I just need to bite the proverbial bullet and embark on an ambitious project: a complete 18th century costume. And I do mean complete.

A shift.
Stays.
Probably something around my hips. Leaning towards a bum roll over the panniers / pocket hoops option.
Under petticoat.
Pockets?
One or more petticoats, one of which would be the outer visible petticoat.
A jacket or gown of some sort. I haven't quite decided on this yet.

I'd like to make it as accurate as I can, without spending a ton of money on patterns.

I'm still in the research / planning stage, but I figure I can at least start on the underpinnings, the shift, the stays and the petticoat. I've found several tutorials for making petticoats and shifts, because you don't really need a pattern for those. As for the stays, I'm going to use Butterick 4254.  I know its not 100% historically accurate, but it's accurate enough for me I think. I'll just need to decide if I want to use modern or historical construction techniques.

This may end up being a project of the evening gown sort...

Accepting the Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenge

So, as you may or may not already know, the Dreamstress is hosting The Historical Sew Fortnightly challenge this year. That's 26 challenges over the year. I definitely know that I can't manage all 26 but I'm gonna try to get at least a few of them...

She's only posted seven so far, but here's a breakdown of what I'm going to try to do:

• #3: Under it all – due Feb 11.  -- I'm thinking that lobster tail bustle would be perfect for this. As long as I can hunt down some stash fabric for it...
• #4: Embellish –  due Feb 25.  --- If possible, the wash overskirt I've been meaning to make bedecked in trimmings. I should probably start this sooner rather than later, to allow for the bedecking...
• #6: Stripes - due March 25. --- No idea what I'd do for this one. I just freaking love stripes. :)
• #7: Accessorize – due April 9.  -- 18th century pockets 

If I'm gonna do this, I should probably get started on either the bustle or the overskirt. I have a feeling that the embellishments I have planned might take a while...

2013 Sewing Plans

The last post was more of a thinking post. Now that I've thought about it, I'm ready to make my 'wish list' of sewing projects for the year.

Random idea: I've seen dresses with lace as the front apron. I think I still have a piece of eyelet fabric...that is definitely an idea...

Try out a few tutorials I've seen online... Like American Duchess' Lobster Tail Bustle and the Butterfly Bustle Drape on Your Wardrobe Unlocked

Finally make the Alison swimsuit from BurdaStyle that I downloaded a while ago.

1884 Wash Overskirt from Truly Victorian.

A Natural Form Victorian dress. I've been looking at patterns on Truly Victorian, but haven't decided on what I want to do yet.

An 18th century costume, starting with the stays.

A Regency outfit, probably a dress and spencer, based off of Simplicity 4055

As you can tell, this is less than I originally posted. This is what I actually think I may be able to accomplish this year.

Prepping for Ohayocon

... Is DONE! For the most part at least.

I think.

1. Suicide Squad Harley Quinn.for Ohayocon - The corset is done. The shorts are done. I ordered the socks and they've already shipped so I should have them in time. I still need to buy the temp color for my hair, but the neck ruff and gauntlets are done. The ruff needs a little love but I think its wearable right now.
2. Suspenders for my femme Joker - DONE

I've got panel presentations and packing well underway!

In other news, the embroidery portion of my embroidered quilt is almost done! And I have the squares cut for the baby quilt for my little cousin.

NYE Top Construction

On December 29, I realized that the perfect thing to wear to the NYE party I was slated to attend would be a backless dress. This realization came out of the desire to show off the newly completed back piece - "Snow Queen" tattoo.

Over the next couple days, I contemplated several different ways to make the dress and gradually formulated a plan in my head to make one before the party. Despite being sick on the 30th, the dress was finished with time to spare. And I made a shrug as well!

Here's what I did:

I took a remnant of brown knit fabric that I had (originally purchased for leggings, but too small. Then made into an attempted wrap but it was too small for that as well) and cut the front of the tunic using a knit tank pajama top pattern. The neckline was cut straight across instead of scooped and I just cut it as long as the piece of fabric I was using. I measured the tunic to see how long straps from shoulder to side would need to be. Then I cut two strips of fabric about 14 inches long (I think). They were wide enough to be folded in half and turned for finished straps that ended up around an inch and a half wide. Next the straps were sewn on, attached at the neck and the side, crisscrossing over the back.

Then came a fitting. It looked good and was already long enough to cover down past my hips. I took a piece of fabric that was originally the side of my attempted wrap and moved it around until I was pleased with its positioning across my behind. This rectangle was sewn from matching the corner of the top edge of the rectangle to the bottom corner of my tunic / dress front, and up around 12 inches. I did this on both sides. This left the points of the rectangle to hang down, forming a nice drape.

I then finished the inside edges - some with a narrow hem, but I lined the upper portion of the front. I left the dress / tunic unhemmed.

The dress / tunic was a hit, mainly because it was so demure in the front and scandalous in the back.

I also made a quick little shrug from a rectangle of fabric, sewn only to make the sleeves and left open in the middle.  All in all I maybe spent a couple hours constructing both items.

I really think I need another top like this. I'm kinda in love...

The back of my dress / tunic, picture taken by a friend (Carol)

And the front of the tunic / dress, picture by the lovely Sarah Hans