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

Hello dearest dear readers!

I finished my clockwork gypsy skirt and have been working on my retro 'walk away dress', which is coming along swimmingly. The retro dress has been trimmed in bias along all the bound edges and the hem of the underskirt has been pinned. Halfway through pinning the horsehair braid to the overskirt's hem, I ran out. I was rather distressed but unwilling to go out to the store for the second time in a day to get more. I shall have to fetch some later. I also sewed the snaps to the front closure, sewed decorative buttons over them and sewed a button and elastic loop to the underskirt so it can fasten behind my back. I'm rather pleased with my dress and cannot wait to complete it.

I've been thinking about my Pretty Peggy Pepper costume. Here's a (not very good) look at the costume:

I was thinking of this skirt, shorter of course -
And this blouse -
Thoughts? Then of course I need the hat and the sash...I'll probably forgo the boots (unless I decide to invest in a pair that could function for this and my Princess Leia dress, which is a good idea) and just wear my plain white parade gloves. Another idea is to just purchase a ready made red blouse which might be easier.

I wanted to make more progress this weekend on my sewing projects but c'est la vie. At least I finished one and got another mostly finished. All I need to do to my retro dress is hem it. Still have alterations to do and costumes to make for the Misses Dashwood and Van Eycke.

Bonne nuit mes amis!

Miss Leah J Wilde

Sewing project update

First off all, my sewing machine - affectionately named "Fern" - is at the doctor's. It looks like she needs a new motor. So I'll probably be using Miss Dashwood's machine over the next couple weeks to get some projects done.

Clockwork gypsy skirt - sewed on the bottom tier and pinned the hem and the elastic casing.

I cut out the blouses and the skirts for Miss Dashwood and Miss Van Eycke. They should go together pretty easily.

I also cut out a new dress for myself - an adorable retro Butterick wrap dress.


Isn't it cute? The underdress is going to be a purple calico floral w blue and green in it and the overdress is a bright green broadcloth. I'll probably use purple binding on the edges as long as I can find a good color. I need to search through my stash for buttons and snaps - try to save at least a little bit of money.

I have two pairs of pants in my sewing bag to hem for a friend. And that concludes this sewing blog update!

A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

Gypsy skirt update and tips!

Yesterday I started and finished gathering the last tier of my clockwork gypsy skirt. TIP Divide each tier into sections before stitching the gathering stitches and break the gathering stitches at the division marks. This will make the gathering go a lot easier. Even if you don't divide it first, make sure that you do break the stitching occasionally or the gathering will be nearly impossible.

So then all I need to do to finish the skirt is stitch the last tier in place, sew the seam, hem and elastic. Not too bad. I work Monday so maybe I'll get it done on Tuesday and I can start on the costumes that I need to make the Misses Dashwood and Van Eycke.

I also sewed a button back on the blouse I wore yesterday, while I was wearing it. That was kind of interesting.

A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

Recent sewing projects

Hello dearest dear readers,

I haven't been up to much since Marcon. I felt that a break was necessary. But here's a little update as to what I have been doing -

1. I took in a dress for a friend so it would be a little more form fitting through the torso.

2. I just sewed a button onto my beau's pants. He'd lost the button at the fly and asked me to replace it. Instead of shopping for something that might match, I removed a button from one of the back pockets (which he never buttons) and moved it to the fly. Quick and easy.

3. Last night I made a new skirt for myself. I'd purchased a remnant of this lovely green embroidered cotton (similar to an eyelet) that was just under a yard. I cut it in half along the fold line, sewed the ends together on both sides, hemmed one end and created an elastic casing at the other, used a safety pin to slide elastic through the casing, tried it on, knotted it at the appropriate length, sewed the casing closed and voila! I have a cute new summer skirt. I think that it should work for everyday or steamy wear.

4. I've been working on using up the last of my clockwork fabric to make a gypsy skirt. Well, that's my term for them - a tiered skirt. I tend to live in them in the summer, my dears, because they are so comfortable and tend to be cool. All that's left is to add the bottom tier, hem and elastic it.

How to make a gypsy skirt:

First step - cutting the fabric
The first tier needs to be larger than your waist (or hips if that's where you're wearing it) - one and a half to two times should do it.
The second tier needs to be one and a half to two times longer than the first tier.
Each consecutive tier should follow this formula.
Ideally, each tier also increases in width - for example, the first being around 4 inches, the second 6 inches, etc.
Each tier will likely have to be pieced to achieve the necessary length.

Second step - sewing the fabric together
If you've already pieced each tier to the desired length, the next step is to stitch a gathering stitch along one side of each tier other than the first one. To do a gathering stitch, I use heavy thread in the bobbin, regular thread on top and a large stitch length on the machine.
Start by pinning the second tier to the first. The best way to do this is to divide both tiers into sections - four works well at this stage. Then gather each quarter of the second tier until it is the same length as a quarter of the top tier and pinned them together.
Stitch the second tier to the top tier, being careful not to catch any of the top tier in the stitching.
Continue with this method until all the tiers have been sewn together. As the tiers get longer, I would recommend division into eighths instead of quarters for the gathering.

Third step - seam, hem and elastic
Now that everything is sewn together, pin the two ends together and stitch a seam. I usually try to wear this seam at the back or on the side.
Next, hem the bottom tier. I tend to lean towards a narrow hem,
Then make the elastic casing at the top, being sure to leave a part of it open so that the elastic can be inserted. The easiest way to insert elastic (at least for me) is to attach one end to a large safety pin and pull it through the casing. Just make sure to keep a hold of the other end!
Once the elastic is through, try on the skirt and adjust the elastic to fit. Knot the ends of the elastic, cutting off any excess before allowing the elastic to slide into the casing. Then all you have to do is stitch the opening in the casing closed and your gypsy skirt is complete!

My clockwork skirt is to the gathering and pinning stage for the bottom ruffle. I would have done it the other day, but realized that the bottom tier wasn't long enough so I had to add more length by using up what left over bits of fabric I had. One good thing about the skirt is that with the gathering, its unlikely that anyone will notice / comment on the pieced tiers. And if they do, then I think that they are looking too close at your clothing. Such inappropriate behavior!

Well that's it for now, darlings!

A bientot!
Miss Leah J Wilde