Summer / Dragon*Con To Do List

Yes, I am thinking of Dragon*Con already. My dear mother thinks its foolish, I on the other hand know that there are less than 90 days til Dragon*Con and I have a lot to do. Let the planning begin! This is going to be in some semblance of order. I think.

First up? Projects that need finished and or improved.

• Our Confederate vivandiere uniforms. The sleeves need set into both jackets. All the hems need finished. And then we need to add the trim and buttons.
  
• I need to finish the embroidery (at least the border) on my Ottoman vest so I can wear that costume again. I have been working on it.
  
• I also need to finish fixing the bustle for my Ottoman costume.
• I need to make the pants for my Persian costume. I may take some of the green silk faille from the skirt hem to make the cuffs and waistband. Or see if I can find fabric the same color to use.
• I'd like to finish the Time Machine Purse for my Time Traveler.
• And I also want to add diamonds to my Harley Quinn comic costume so its more accurate.
• I need to finish my beau's Joker costume. The pants need hemmed. The jacket needs buttons and buttonholes. And I'm probably going to have to take everything in.
• And I need to put pockets on my beau's kilt or make him a pouch to go with it.

Okay, now for new projects that need completed:

• My playsuit combo. I think I'm going to change the bodice pattern. Adapting the walkaway dress bodice isn't going to work.
  
• Scarlet Spider costume for Prof. Watt
• Post apocalyptic costume for Miss Von Stoup
• Steampunk Rosetta costume for Miss Von Stoup to go with my steampunk Tinkerbell
• And a couple more costumes for Miss Von Stoup -- a polanaise out of a black and silver damask print and maybe something more out of the blue Chinese print we used for her Asian inspired jacket.
• I may try to make a Simi costume or a Star Trek costume for myself but doubt it'll happen.
  

And what I'm taking to the beau's for the weekend:

• Confederate uniforms.
• Ottoman vest
• Persian pants
• Joker costume
• Patterns for the Scarlet Spider, kilt and playsuit to think about what I need to purchase for each project

I realize everything won't get finished this weekend, but at least I'll have plenty to work on.

I've also been thinking about what costumes to take to Dragon*Con. And haven't been able to decide anything. As usual.

So much to do. And only 83 days left to do it in.

Help.

A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

Slow Going Progress on Marcon Prep

I haven't been up to much sewing over the last few days, between work and life.

Corset Commission for Rachel:

Rachel and James came in and bought the fabric for her corset the other day. Two cottons, one red and black, one white and black, along with white denim for the interlining. I'm going to use thread, boning, eyelets and maybe some lace from my stash. The goal is for the corset to be reversible. I prewashed the fabric and cut out the pattern pieces yesterday. Next up will be cutting out the fabric. EDIT The pattern has been cut out of all three fabrics. Next up: sewing the denim to one of the cottons and then sewing one side of the corset together for a fitting.

Ottoman Vest:

I worked on this a lot yesterday (I was in a car for four hours). All the basic border work is done, I put in a little more of the pink until I tired of it and then I started couching down spirals for the actual border. I have three spirals done, I probably have at least a dozen more to go plus all the fill in work. EDIT I worked on this more tonight, mainly some fill in work. I hope that I can have the border done by Marcon, I'm starting to think it may be too much work...

Joker:

My beau has decided that he doesn't want this costume for Marcon and wants it for DragonCon instead. So work for this is being set aside for the time being.

Cage Bustle Petticoat:

I hemmed this yesterday and just need to sew on a hook and eye closure to finish it off. EDIT I sewed the hook closure on so this is DONE.

Fabric Shopping and Plans for Persian Steampunk:

I purchased several things yesterday, but most importantly I purchased a new Simplicity pattern that is pretty perfect for the Persian inspired outfit I want to do. I think I am going to dye my silk faille olive green to go with the brocade vest. I'm going to do fabric covered buttons. I am unsure what the top is going to look like underneath the vest yet. I purchased a remnant of border eyelet, that may be what I use. I don't know if I want the stark white and may try to dye it, with tea or with dye. The only problem is its polyester / cotton blend so it won't take dye perfectly. I'm planning to line the vest in muslin, I'll probably dye that as well. Maybe coral if I can find a good shade because the brocade has coral in it.

I don't have enough fabric to make this wholly out of brocade. So my options are shortening it (which I really don't want to do) or making part of it out of something else. I think I'm going to see if I can find some coral satin or something similar to use.

Confederate Vivandiere:

Miss Von Stoup and I need to get started on these soon. I believe we may be fabric shopping this week or next. I'm thinking suiting fabric may best suit our needs.

Okay, let's take a look at my MARCon to do list, shall we?

1. Add lace to Miss Dashwood's black cotton bustle
2. Steamnun for Miss Dashwood (at least I assume she needs it for MARCon)
   
3. Alterations for the Captain - I finally gathered these from the Captain today. I need to take in a few things for him, and repair a vest.
   
4. New bustle for Harley Quinn - DONE
   
5. Embroidered border on my Lady of the Ottoman Empire vest
6. A more permanent solution to my Ottoman bustle. I'm thinking sewing the two scarves together along part of the top and then a bunch of hooks and or snaps to actually bustle it.
7. Steampunk Confederate Vivandiere.
8. Corset for Rachel.
9. I'm not really planning to finish the Persian outfit by MARCon, its more of a DragonCon outfit, but if it happens and its finished, I'm wearing it.
   

I'm starting to feel the pre-convention panic - MARCon is 7 weeks from this coming Friday.

Now that you have all been updated, I'm off to work on projects. Today will probably be - a little project for my beau, sewing the hook and eye closure on my cage bustle petticoat, embroidering my vest and maybe cutting out the corset if I get bored with embroidery.

UPDATE - Finished the project for my beau. Sewed the hook closure onto my bustle. Worked on embroidering my vest. And cut out the corset. I also spent time thinking about my Persian outfit. Not bad for a Sunday, huh?

A bientot!

Miss Leah J. Wilde

PS Non Marcon Sewing - I also cut out a skirt. The pattern is Vogue 2029, something I've had forever and never made. The fabric is a tan textured mystery fabric that Miss Dashwood got from her mother and said I could have if I wanted it. After cutting it out, I have similar misgivings to those that she had about it -- while the texture is interesting, the fabric ravels very easily and seems to lack stability. But I've already cut it out so we'll see how it goes together.

How I spent my evening....

Watching basketball and sewing. I tacked the facing down on the Think Pink skirt at the zipper, the darts and the side seam. Hopefully it'll stay in place better now. And I sewed the patch pockets into the inside of the Joker coat, so that's well on its way. I had originally hoped to work on my Ottoman vest as well, but I'm please with what I did get done.

The Joker 9 (Marcon prep)

First of all, the vest is DONE. Tonight I finished stitching the lining to the outer fabric along the armholes, then marked and sewed on the buttons. So its done (unless we decide to do the back tab...)

I also put a hook closure on the trousers. All that's left is hemming them, and I need my beau to try them on first. I was just going to do it, but I pinned them and laid them out and the hems didn't look even so I decided it was best to wait for him. That way, I'll know the trousers are the right length instead of just guessing.

So all I need to do is....
- Hem trousers.
- Put buttonholes in the jacket.
- Make and sew on buttons to the jacket.
- Sew on patch pockets to the inside of the jacket.

It's definitely getting there!

A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

The Joker 8 (Marcon prep)

I made a little progress on the Joker vest this evening.

• I treated the buttonholes with Fray Check and let them dry before cutting them open.
• I pinned the lining and outer fabric at the armholes and started stitching them together, using contrast orange thread of course.
• I stitched around the pocket openings with the orange thread, partly as decoration, partly to hold the pocket together properly.
• And my beau and I discussed and shopped for buttons and have tentatively decided to make our own - flat metal buttons (which I think I have) used as a base for fake jewels to be glued on to for the jacket.
  

Current to do list for the Joker:

• Vest - finish sewing armholes
• Vest - sew buttons on
• Vest - maybe the back tab
  
• Jacket - sew on inside patch pockets
• Jacket - buttonholes (I need to find some fabric to use for the welts on the bound buttonholes, I'm thinking green or orange or purple satin, or I could use the coat lining or the vest lining...decisions, decisions, I'll have to talk to the beau)
  
• Jacket - make buttons and sew them on
• Trousers - waistband hooks and eyes
• Trousers - hem

A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

PS - In Me Made March news, I'm currently wearing my clockwork pajama pants.

The Joker 7 (Marcon Prep)

I got a lot done this weekend on the Joker costume for my beau.

Yesterday I put the waistband on the trousers. So all that needs done is hemming and two hook and eye closures on the waistband.

Today I did most of the work on the vest. We went to the fabric store and picked up some lining (blue poly / cotton). After we got back I set to work - cut the vest front and pockets out of the blue-violet and green checkered cotton, did the darts and put in the pockets, cut the vest back and the lining out of the blue poly / cotton, put together the lining and had him try it on (perfect fit!), sewed the vest front to the vest back, then sewed the lining to the outside leaving the arm holes and a spot along the back open to turn, turned it, finished the turning opening by hand, fixed another little issue by hand, then put in six button holes using orange thread for contrast.

All that's left is - fray checking and cutting open the buttonholes, sewing on the buttons, a little decorative hand stitching in orange thread around the pockets and sewing the lining into place around the armholes.

And the jacket just needs patch pockets on the inside, buttons and buttonholes.

It may be faint, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

And I also worked on my Ottoman vest this weekend. So all in all, a very productive weekend.

A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

The Joker 6 (Marcon Prep)

Last night I worked on the Joker trousers for a couple hours. I interfaced two of the waistband sections and got them sewn together. I also finished all the edges -- the side seams were turned under and zigzagged, the crotch seam was finished with bias. Earlier, I finished the edges of all the zipper placket edges with bias, sewn on by hand.

So all I need to do is put the waistband on, hem the legs and figure out if the waistband gets buttons or hook closures.

My sewing bag for the weekend has -

• The Joker trousers
• The Joker vest
• The Ottoman vest
• The fabric, pattern and quilt binding for my new bustle

I know I won't get everything done, but if I can at least make some headway on it.

A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

MARCon Preparations Begin...

They've already begun but I figured I might as well start posting them under Marcon prep.

Work on my Ottoman vest continues. I now have two lines of silver thread couched around the outside with enough space inbetween for me to put a line of pink, probably in a nice chain stitch. I'm starting a third line of silver that will be a couple inches above the other two, allowing space for a nice wide border, which is all I really plan to have completed by Marcon.

The fabric for my new bustle has been washed so that'll be ready for me to work on once the Joker is finished.

Speaking of, I really should have worked on the Joker tonight, but I'm feeling a bit under the weather and sitting on the couch embroidering was much easier than working on the Joker trousers. I plan to finish the trousers tomorrow, except for the hem and maybe the waistband closures since I need my beau for the former and would like his opinion on the latter.

A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

Improvements 2

I went to the fabric store and picked up (1) materials for my vest - embroidery floss, a small hoop and embroidery needles as well as (2) fabric for my new Harley Quinn bustle - 2 yards of 108" wide white muslin. It should more more than enough for the bustle petticoat. I also picked up some embroidery books from the library for my Ottoman vest project.

I also worked on the petticoat ruffle for Harley Quinn. Both sides are now hemmed. I contemplated trimming the bottom hem with lace but decided against it as no one's really going to see the petticoat anyways. Once the ruffle was hemmed, I stitched a gathering stitch along one edge (standard regular thread on the top, button thread in the bobbin) and pinned the ruffle to the petticoat, matching ruffle seams to petticoat seams.

Section by section I - pinned the bottom of the ruffle along the hem of the petticoat, gathered the top edge to fit the section, and pinned the ruffle down. Then I sewed the ruffle on, removed all the pins and clipped the gathering threads.

The ruffle looks good and I think it will definitely help my skirt hold its shape, just like I wanted.


I'm packing up things to take over to the beau's today. I think the Joker pants and vest are going to be the only project I take. And maybe an embroidery book or two for research.

And I've added a project to my to do list -- my friend and fellow Archonite has asked for my assistance on a costume for DragonCon. Which means more money for Miss Wilde's Convention Fund! I also have a couple friends interested in corsets and met a woman at the club this weekend who may be interested in some sewing as well.

EDIT - The Joker trousers have been tried on, and need taken in just a pinch. And I worked on my vest a little bit - started couching down silver embroidery floss along the edges. I'm planning two rows of couching and then a pattern of some sort followed by two more rows of couching to form a nice elaborate border.

A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

The Joker 5 and Harley Quinn Improvements 1

I got the pants put together - sewed the side seam, the inseam and the crotch seam. They look rather large, so like I mentioned before, a fitting will be necessary. Here's a shot of the pants currently, I think they look rather well, don't you?


With the Joker trousers to a point where I need my beau before I can move on, I looked at my trusty to do list and decided to work on my HQ petticoat. I had the fabric for the ruffles already as it was left over from the petticoat so I snipped and tore five twelve inch wide strips (one for each gore, they won't be gathered as much in the back because the two back gores are wider than the front three), sewed them together on the ends and I pinned the bottom and top hems. Next up will be sewing the hems, then the amazing fun known as gathering!

And here's a picture of the pile of ruffles on my sewing table:


A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

The Joker 4 now with photos! and Me Made March

First off, some photos of my ever so lovely zipper on the Joker trousers.

1. The zipper unzipped, and yes those are hand stitches you see:
2. The zipper zipped:


3. The zipper zipped with the placket laying flat:


4. And the back of the zipper showing the placket:


I told you it looked rather lovely. I need to finish the edges of the zipper plackets so they don't unravel.

And I don't know if this really counts as MMM, but I'm counting it. Today I'm wearing a pull over that my grandmother made for my mother when my grandma was in the hospital. Its a cream polyester (I assume) and its hand embroidered on the neck and sleeves. It did have a hood, that was removed a while back. I'm tempted to find it and put it back on. The hood is embroidered as well.

Me wearing the pullover:


And a close up of the sleeve embroidery:


That's it for now! A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

The Joker 3

It took two nights after working both jobs but I got the zipper put in. I took out the old stitching then followed a tutorial on converting a button fly to a zipper. I had to re do the crotch seam because it wasn't laying properly. I hope the seam holds, I had to make the seam allowance rather tiny at one spot to make the fly lay correctly.

The tutorial was on Cyber Seams - http://cyberseams.com/article/105117/clothes/pants_and_trousers_attaching_a_zipper_tutorial_part_1.html

The zipper looks rather well, I used a white nine inch zipper. I had a purple zipper, but it was only seven inches and I was worried that would be too short. I went ahead and pinned the next step -- sewing the back and front legs together at the side seams, but stopped short of sewing them considering how late it is. I'll need to finish the seams, as the fabric looks to be raveling, and my beau will definitely need to try on the trousers, as they look a little large. But I think that the most difficult part is already finished with the zipper being done.

I'm off to bed, my darling readers.

A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

Corset Commission 6 and the Joker 2

Corset Commission - Tonight we had a fitting and decided that more boning was not necessary. So I finished the top edge of the corset, put in the eyelets and laced it.

The front of the corset:
The back of the corset:
I think it turned out rather well, don't you? And I believe I could use the pattern to make an underbust for Miss Dashwood with a few alterations. So that's a nice bonus.

As for the Joker, I finished underlining the fabric last night and started putting the trousers together. Of course, I looked up how to convert the button fly to a zipper fly after I had already started sewing as if I was doing a button fly, so there will be some ripping of stitches tomorrow. However, I think the conversion will be relatively easy. I hope. And the pants seem relatively easy to construct so hopefully I'll have them done soon and then its on to the vest.

A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

Corset Commission 4 and other assorted topics

First of all, Bob's corset

Last night after packing a bag to visit my beau's abode, I worked on Bob's corset. I cut out the muslin for the lining, stitched it together, and then stitched it to the corset along the bottom and the center back. Thinking of ensuring strength in the boning casings, I made sure that both seam allowances were facing the same way. Today I realized that I should have followed my usual one seam allowance to the right, one seam allowance to the left. That way, I would have extra strength if I need to bone both sides of each seam. I may go in and clip the muslin along the sewn edge so it can go the other direction.

So the current To do list for Bob's Corset
1. Sew lining to outside along seams, center front and center back, creating boning channels.
2. Insert boning.
3. Sew lining to the outside along the top.
4. Put in the eyelets.
5. Lace!

I'm getting there! I expect this will be done early to mid next week.

Secondly, I had an idea for Lady of the Ottoman Empire. I'm going to embroider my vest. I've found several photos of 19th century Ottoman vests that are completely covered in embroidery. I don't know if I'll have the time or patience for that, but I should be able to manage a nice wide border and perhaps a center back motif. From my research, its going to be a lot of couching down metallic thread (which I've done before, but never in this quantity), probably in silver. I'd like to add some pink and brown to match the rest of the outfit and maybe some beadwork. I'm planning to draw the design out on paper, pin the paper to the vest, stitch through it then tear it off. I found a nice paisley design that I might use for the border...

Civil War costumes

Miss Von Stoup and I have been discussing our Civil War costumes. We have decided to go for the CSA Navy. Our uniforms will consist of a gray jacket and skirt, with black leggings and boots. Decorations have yet to be decided. And we shall wear kepis, I think.

Crazy quilt bustle

I had yet another costume idea -- using scraps to make a crazy quilt bustle. I'm thinking it could be worn with my black underskirt, but I'm unsure yet. We'll have to see if it even happens.

Finally, it is Me Made March

In MMM, you're supposed to wear items that you've made everyday. I think the rule might be two items, but I can't find the original post so... On the first, I forgot about it and just wore pants and a shirt to work. Yesterday, I remembered and wore a brown black and gold plaid 50's style skirt with a black sweater, black belt, blue tank top and tights and black boots. Today I'm in pants and a shirt again. On days when I work both jobs its a bit hard to wear things I've made -- my part time job has a strict dress code and since most of what I make are colorful skirts and dresses...it doesn't really work. However, I tend to sleep in pajama pants that I've made so that's something at least, right?

Updated to do list

• Finish Bob's corset
  
• Lace trim on Miss Dashwood's bustle (once she buys the lace)
• Alterations for people once I talk to them
• I need to finish my beau's Joker costume
• New bustle and petticoat ruffle for Harley Quinn.
  
• Steampunk Confederate costume.
  
• Embroider Lady of the Ottoman Empire vest.
  

Progress on My To Do List aka Corset Commission 3

Last night I...

1. Put a new collar on my Imperial Officer uniform. It just needs a couple hooks and eyes to close it but I don't have any with me so that'll wait til tomorrow or later this week.

I pulled off the old collar and figured out how much I needed to add so it fit right. I cut out two new collars (inside and outside), but I had to cut them in two sections with a back seam -- fabric wasn't big enough to cut on the fold. I stitched the center back seams, then stitched them together at the top and sides. Pinned it into place and tried it on and it was too big. So I marked where it needed to meet in the front and redid the collar, making it a pinch smaller. Pinned and tried it on again and it worked. So the next step was to sew it on, which I did by hand so I could manipulate it easier around the curves. I did a little more tweaking today, but now its just about perfect. Or as perfect as I can get it at least.

2. I put together Bob's corset, except for the eyelets.

Here's all the pieces laying out, the ones on the top are right side down, the ones on the bottom are right side up. This was so I could keep everything straight when I started putting it together.


Here's both sides put together before I put the zipper in. The center is the center front, the sides are the center back of the corset.


And here's the corset with the zipper put in. We're gonna do another fitting, then I'll be making the boning channels, sliding the boning in, finishing the edges and putting in the eyelets. Plus any changes that need done after the fitting. But all in all, I think its coming along well.


3. However, I did not work on the Joker pants this weekend. I meant to, but somehow my Sunday afternoon just disappeared.

A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

The Joker 1

I am slowly but surely working on underlining all the pieces for the Joker trousers. A few pieces were stitched the other day, today I pinned the underlining to all four of the actual pants pieces (two fronts, two backs) and then stitched the underlining to the fly pieces and to one leg piece. So I've only got three more leg pieces to underline before its on to actually putting the trousers together.

I was supposed to have a fitting for Bob tonight but he canceled because we had some nasty, snow and ice mixture weather hit. He's now coming over Wednesday.

Corset Commission 1 and other sewing

As previously mentioned, I'm making a corset for a male friend of mine, Bob, for a drag show. I'm excited and nervous to be entrusted with this, as its a charity show and of course my first time sewing female clothing for a male. It will also be my first time using cable ties as boning, something I've been wanting to try.

We picked out a Butterick pattern 3906 -- its a nice underbust corset and came in plus sizes which was a bonus for grading the pattern up to fit him. The only major change to the pattern was taking off the straps so it was more of a waist cincher.

Last night, I cut the pattern out of muslin. I added one inch to each side of each pattern piece and lengthened them about an inch as well. Then the pieces were pinned together.

Today, I stitched together all pieces with a machine basting stitch and also basted in the zipper. The finished corset with lace up the back, but as I told Bob, I can't reuse eyelets so those are going to be saved for the final corset. After I put the zipper in, I realized how HUGE it ended up, so I went through and took an inch out of each seam. On one panel, I took a little out of the middle of the panel, thinking it might work better fit wise if I increase the number of panels. We'll see what he thinks at his fitting.

Now all that's left of this step is to have said fitting and see what changes need made before I tackle the pleather.

Other things I did last night / today -

I measured how much lace Miss Dashwood needs to purchase so I can trim out her black bustle. I was hoping I had some in my stash, but alas, I don't have nearly enough.

I hemmed my City Bluescape skirt. Then put in the casing and the elastic so that's DONE.

I started sewing the cotton underlining to the fabric for the Joker trousers - tabs and waistband are underlined.

I cut out the pants for my Imperial Officer uniform. I think we're going to try to get me approved before an event that's coming up.

And now I'm off to see my beau!

A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

Just a couple things...

Last night I was planning on working on my corset commission for a lovely man named Bob. Yes readers you read that right -- I'm sewing a corset for a man. Its for a charity drag show that he participates in every year.

Well, as I pulled out my materials to start working, I noticed the pattern size on envelope -- 6, 8, 10. As Bob is a pretty normal sized man, I need to be using a much larger pattern size for him so the pattern and receipt were slid into my bag for exchange and I was left without a project.

I decided to pull out the City Bluescape skirt and pin the hem. I contemplated stitching it, but really was not in the mood for it. Instead, I pulled out the pants for the Joker costume and worked on pinning the underlining to the fabric. I pinned four tabs, four waistband pieces and the fly pieces. All that's left to pin are the trouser legs.

I work a double today, but I'm hoping to get out early enough that I can cut out the corset pattern before bed. Then tomorrow or this weekend -- the mockup!

A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

PS I brought the book my father loaned me to work today -- The Fighting Men of the Civil War. So if I have the time and inclination, I can start research for our costumes.

Just a quick update...

Well, there was no sewing this weekend, but I did do some shopping so that I will be able to sew. On my way to my parents house, I stopped by the fabric store and purchased a few things. I know have -

1. Thread and a zipper for my pink suedecloth skirt

2. White muslin to use to lengthen my blue and white cotton so I can make a respectable length skirt. It was a remnant, and so cost me almost nothing.

I also picked up some black thread (it was on sale) and a remnant of buckram (it'll get used at some point).

So now I can work on either my pink skirt or my blue and white one. Of course, I do need to finish my beau's Joker costume (mainly so I can move on to my CW uniform with a clear conscience) and I've also got commissions starting. I had a meeting with a friend last week regarding the corset I am making him for a drag show and I need to email a couple other people about their alterations.

As always, there's no rest for the wicked.

A little Ohayocon, a little sewing for me and a little quilting

I didn't get a chance to work on Catwoman sadly. Hopefully I can do that soon.

I did sew a hook onto my Harley Quinn jacket. Its meant for my mask when I'm tired of carrying it, but I may just hook some old keys on there. We'll see.

I finished sewing together the rows of my beau's quilt which means.....I finished my first quilt top! I am quite excited. Now of course comes the actual quilting....

The Joker jacket is almost finished. I sewed in most of the lining today, until I hit a snag -- the lining was just a touch short around one sleeve. So I brought it home, sewed in a little more fabric and pinned it. Its in my sewing basket to finish sewing tomorrow. I also hemmed the sleeves. Before sewing in the lining, I basted the lapels into place so that it would be easier to sew the lining to the lapels. I took the basting out when the lining was stitched into place. EDIT I just finished sewing the lining into place on the second sleeve. Even though it'll need buttons at some point, it's wearable as is and so I am considering it DONE. (Jan. 5, 2011) It took me one day under two weeks to finish. Not bad, not bad at all.

I worked on my pin up skirt. First of all, let me describe the skirt. Its a circle skirt style (one of my favorites) done in two layers -- the pin up fabric is the top layer and the 'petticoat' layer is cream cotton with a polka dot ruffle. I basted the zipper into place on the pin up fabric. Then I sewed the ruffle into place and hemmed it. Next I sewed the two layers together along the top with a basting stitch and sewed the zipper into place in the lining layer. Then I sewed the waistband (which is polka dotted on the outside, cream on the inside) to the top of the skirt then pinned it into place so that it covers the stitching at the top of the skirt. Its in my sewing basket to hand stitch down tomorrow. I also put some cream lace in there, as I am quite tempted to trim one if not both layers in lace.

I decided which pattern to use for my corduroy skirt. I'm going with the long version of the wrap skirt, probably the plaid one in the bottom row. I need to get some interesting closures for it. I'm hoping that I'll actually wear it. I usually wear a lot of circle skirts, which means I don't really have anything else in my wardrobe so something different would be nice. I think I'll just have to force myself to wear it the first few times, until I get used to the new-ness.



I also decided what to do with my pink suedecloth. I'm going to make the Vogue skirt on the left, the one with the flared bottom. At least I hope I am, I think it'll be cutting it close fabric wise. But the flared skirt is the plan, if not, I'll probably go with the Vogue on the right, with the godets as it uses less fabric.



All in all, I think I had a rather successful day. Tomorrow I would like to finish the Joker jacket and the Pin Up Skirt. I may also have time to either work on Miss Dashwood's costume or cut out one of my skirts, probably the corduroy will be first. It'll give me a winter-y skirt to wear.

My new year's resolution is to name each item I make myself. It'll be more entertaining that way.

A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde
Steam-stress of the Airship Archon