To Do List Update - Fall Convention Prep

Since convention season is starting, and the weather will be turning cold soon, here's my current to do list:

White eyelet lined and trimmed in lilac cotton 60s shift - DONE

Two quilt tops and backs - DONE. Next up is the pinning this weekend.

Finished UFO mystery quilt top

Embroidered quilt, it now has a pink border.

Lolita commission. Deadline is mid October for Teslacon. - Coming along well.

Jacket commission I started months ago for a friend. Deadline is mid October for Pandoracon - This still needs worked on.

Finish my green and gold outfit - Natural Form, steampunk style. I need to make a natural form-esque petticoat and underskirt, both with ruffles, and also a long green overskirt trimmed in fringe. Deadline - Pandoracon -- I've started this. The petticoat is cut out and I've started construction. It's going to have a removable under section of crinoline with a ruffle to give it some extra ooomph. I bought black satin for the skirt (about 7 yards of it) as well as some black mirror organza, which will likely become ruffles on the overskirt. Currently, I'm working on the ruffles on the petticoat train.

Hand sewing lace onto the bottom ruffle of the petticoat train.

Purple corduroy skirt - This is prewashed but I still don't know what pattern I'm using. I'm tempted to do a full skirt over a pencil, if I have enough. It's a large wale corduroy and I just don't know if that'll work in a pencil skirt.

Striped Echino skirt - This is cut out. I went with a Vogue skirt pattern that has a ruffle at the bottom. So the stripes are vertical on the skirt itself and the ruffle was cut so the stripes start horizontal and get chevron-y towards the side seams.

Cutting this out made me nervous...I ended up basically cutting one layer at a time.

Turquoise corduroy - I cut out another 60s vintage pattern, a vneck jumper.

Vintage pattern and the turquoise corduroy. I even remembered to buy matching thread and zipper!

If possible, a new mask for Diamonds are Forever.




When I purchased the black satin and organza, I also picked up a couple other things...cream corduroy for a skirt along with lining (pencil skirt) and navy corduroy for another pencil skirt. There was a clearance sale. And I love corduroy. And I want to phase out wearing pants. Okay, I'm done justifying my fabric shopping. lol Also I somehow remembered to get thread to match the cream and navy, but no zippers for either of those or for my striped fabric.


And here's what I bought when I got the petticoat fabric --

L to R: pink flannel for the back of the mystery quilt, white crinoline, white muslin and Christmas fabric for my mom's Christmas gift - a new scrub top (she'll get it early, obviously)

My Summer Vacation Wardrobe - What I Actually Wore

Day one - Standard traveling ensemble of jeans and a tshirt

Day two - Red top tucked into my measuring tape circle skirt so all the cute details of the skirt showed

Day three - Blue embroidered linen dress aka the cotton candy dress

Common Burial Ground in Newport, RI

Day four - Red and black ensemble

Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth, MA

Day five - Black v neck tshirt tucked into my Star Trek skirt

Hotel outside Concord, NH

Day six - Pink 60s shift dress

Day seven - Jeans and a tshirt again for the drive home

Of course, I took several things that I didn't wear, including my high waisted denim shorts and my brown capris.

For more pictures from my awesome vacation (mostly of Sigmund), check out my instagram!

Summer Vacation Wardrobe Update - The Pictures!

Blue embroidered linen dress I'm working on right now. It's McCalls 6503.

Finished black circle skirt trimmed in black and red plaid.

Black and red plaid pockets for the above skirt.

Partially finished denim high waisted shorts.

Partially finished pink high waisted shorts.

Wearing the red pique pencil skirt to work. Aka my Dr Quinzel Pencil Skirt.

Wearing my brown capris and white bolero to work.

Partially finished red and black plaid bodice.

Update! Everything's Coming Along Nicely :)

I finished the green knit shrug. It's made from a remnant of my favorite knit, rayon spandex, that Joanns sells. I used a free shrug pattern from Tanit-Isis (one of my favorite bloggers, y'all should check her out), but altered it. Instead of a band all the way around and on the sleeves, I added a drape-y collar from a piece of left over material. The sleeves are unhemmed (for  now at least) but I did finish the back hem with a band. It's not super pretty looking but I think it looks well enough, especially to non-seamstress trained eyes).

The reversible retro swiss dot jacket is also DONE. Basic construction was done on the machine, then the two sides were machine basted together and I did the binding called for by the pattern in white, by hand.

I'm still working on the red and black bodice.

Close up of the red and black gingham I'm making the shorts and matching bodice out of.

The measuring tape skirt is DONE, except for the pockets. I feel like its a little too big, so I have have to rectify that at some point...Or just wear it as is. I'm planning to do buttonholes at a friend's tonight (my machine doesn't do them) and then hand stitch on the pockets and buttons. I have some red ones picked out!

Finished measuring tape circle skirt. I did all the hand stitching in red. Btw I used a vintage zipper!

And I decided that I needed my brown capris for this weekend, so I cut those out Monday night and put them together. The zipper's in, I need to finish the waistband and hem them. Before I hem, I'm going to give them another try on. It's the same pattern as the shorts, just a longer view, and somehow I'm not sold on the fit of these...

Speaking of this weekend, do you know how hard it is to plan four or five outfits that look nice, cover my tattoos (which if you are unaware cover a good portion of my body from shoulder to knee), and will be cool in mid to upper 80 degree weather?

So right now, I'm looking to:

• Finish the brown capris for this weekend (obviously)
• Get the pockets on the measuring tape skirt (even though its wearable without them)
• Finish the red and black bodice
• Finally make that 40s seersucker blouse
• Start working on the lolita commission I have waiting for me at home 
• And then cut out the blue linen dress and pink and white blouse
• I'd love to make another pair of the shorts I did in red and black, but in denim

Retro Inspired Summer Wardrobe Progress

I've been up to a lot of sewing lately.

I finished that Mad Moxxi commission (and she LOVED it). And I've taken on some Lolita style skirts and vests for another commission. Fabric's in my car, waiting to be prewashed this weekend.

As for my summer retro-inspired wardrobe:

• The red and black gingham shorts are DONE, the matching top is maybe halfway there. The shorts ended up awesomely high waisted, totally need to make another pair, maybe in denim... The zipper, hooks and eyes and hem were done by hand.

• The red pique pencil skirt is DONE, hem and zipper by hand. I used some lace on the hem as hem tape to make it a little prettier.

• As is the black and pink plaid pencil skirt. Which I am very proud of, because it was my first foray into matched plaid.

• The Star Trek wrap circle skirt is DONE, with a hand sewn hem.
  
• I used my walkaway dress pattern to make a wrap blouse out of striped white on white sateen and trimmed it in the black Paris print. And that's DONE.
• The top I made using a retro Butterick reprint dress pattern out of said Paris print is DONE, the collar is the white striped sateen and so is the binding on the hem (by hand). 
• My 60s shift dress is DONE, my first use of a vintage pattern was successful! I took in the back darts a little, I think if I made another dress I'd mess with the front as well. Has some extra slack there.

The wrap blouse, red pique skirt and shift dress in progress.

• And the dotted swiss dress is DONE as well, hand hemmed the skirt and the lining.
  

In progress:

• A green knit shrug to wear this summer when I don't want my tattoos to show
• A retro style cropped reversible jacket out of left over dotted swiss - one side white on white, the other blue, trimmed in the white on white dots.
• The black and red gingham bodice.
• The measuring tape circle skirt - It's put together, and I made a couple pockets (lined w red pique); needs the zipper, waistband and hem.

• I have the 40s striped seersucker cut out, but haven't worked on it yet. And the brown capris, the blue linen dress and the pink and white blouse are still waiting til I'm done with what's already cut out. I think the pink and white might end up a Colette Sorbetto...

Miss Wilde's Weekend

Was spent, as I'm sure you can imagine, sewing.

And watching Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Arrow and Star Trek (2009, not the new one, unfort), while sewing.

So what did I do during all that sewing time?

Well, the Mad Moxxi commission is mostly finished. My client is coming over today for me to figure out snap placement and hand it off to her. This jacket is one of the most complicated things I've ever made.

I painted the stripes with spray fabric paint and lots of masking tape. The yellow braid is all hand sewn on (just tacked, not intensively sewn down). The lining was basted in by hand. The buttons were of course sewn on by hand.

And I MADE striped fabric for the collar and cuffs -- sewed doubled face white satin ribbon down onto the cut out cuffs and collar of black satin. 

The tails of the coat also have wire sewn into the seam allowances so that they can be flipped up.

Told you it was intensive!

It looks pretty fantastic though.

I also:

• Put together my Star Trek wrap circle skirt (to make it a wrap skirt, I added an extra piece on one side, put on a waistband, left a slit in where the waist band attached so that the waist band / sash could slip through). Because of the weird way I cut out the skirt, the sides ended up being short so I had to then measure the short sections and measure all around the skirt, marking, drawing a new cutting line, and trimming off the bottom. Now all it needs is hemmed!

  

  Skirt before I put it together

• Worked on my dotted swiss sundress. I ended up buying a dusky green poly cotton for the lining, because the blue dots weren't blue-blue, but more of a blue-green. I put together the lining, stitched down the elastic in the dress waist, tacked in the skirt lining, then sewed the bodice lining down to cover the waist seam. The green lining darkens the skirt a bit, but it makes the blue dots pop, so I think I'm okay with it. White lining is just so boring, you know? It's going to look so pretty with a petticoat underneath! Right now it's hanging on the back of  my closet door so the bias cut skirt can settle before I hem it. 

  

  Dotted swiss sundress hanging so the skirt can settle

• Made my sister in law a new nursing cover. - She's of Dutch ancestry and we just got in two Dutch prints at work: one with windmills and a stripe with windmills and wooden shoes. I asked what she wanted and she requested a new nursing cover. I think it's a bit of a different shape than the first one I made (because I didn't follow the pattern) but I hope it works for her. I lost the pocket on the original pattern, but kept the boning and adjustable strap because she said she liked them. Yesterday I finished it by hand stitching the facing in place along the top edge. So that'll go down to Cincinnati the next time I visit!
• I've cut out a lot of my new summer wardrobe pieces AND pinned the darts and seams as well. (My office has been SLOW lol). - As of right now I have cut out: The black and red gingham shorts and top. The pink 60s shift. The red pencil skirt. Half of the measuring tape circle skirt (it was giving me issues so I gave up, the fabric needs ironed before I try again). Turquoise and white striped 40s blouse. White striped sateen - I went with a wrap blouse as an experiment, used the bodice from the walkaway dress, lengthened the bodice a bit and made both the front and back pieces a bit wider to accommodate a closure in the back and a tie front. Black and white Paris print cotton bodice. And I cut out the black and pink large gingham check plaid pencil skirt, hopefully I did it right and my plaid will match up!

  

  Vintage pattern I'm using to make a 60s shift dress

And the cut out 60s shift with the darts pinned.

That's all I've got for now! A bientot!

PS - Almost forgot that I picked up a super cute retro inspired McCalls dress pattern the other day randomly. No idea how I missed this pattern! lol So I'm going to use my blue embroidered linen to make McCalls 6503 instead of a skirt, once I decide which neckline I like better...

When Last We Saw Our Sewing Heroine...

...she needed to spend her weekend sewing (1) a corset (2) a bustle (3) a shrug and also (4) test run new costumes.

(1) The corset is coming along nicely. It's boned (I used cable ties and lighter plastic both), has a zipper, and the lining is put together. I need to stitch the lining in, finish the edges with the bias tape I bought, put on the trimmings, put in the eyelets, make a little watch pocket and sew it on and sew on a D ring or two. I'm even putting in bra cups because otherwise I would have had to take in the bust.

Wow that sounds like a lot...

(2) The bustle is DONE. Just need to play with the ties a little bit.

(3) The shrug is also DONE and fits fine

(4) I haven't tried on the pink and white underwear yet, and I'm also gonna need to try out  the new steam stripper.

And I need to PACK! The convention is a week from tomorrow. A WEEK!!!! (Yes, I am in pre-con panic mode, thank you for asking lol)

And now...for some costume porn!

This is my first overbust corset.

One half of the corset done, including boning

Eyelets, d rings, bra cups, boning and bias tape? Must be corset making time!

And the finished Lobster Tail bustle!

In other news, I went fabric shopping the other day. I picked up some quick dry performance knit (running clothes), a yard of white Swiss dot to go with the blue I have in my stash for a new dress, and some teal taffeta for an underskirt to go with my Pink Paris jacket and overskirt. I went shopping with a new client, so I have the stuff for her commission as well.

Corset, petticoat and current sewing projects - Pictures!

Basting the layers together before binding

Binding a corset really kills your fingers

Corset with the binding finished!

Finished ruffle panel!

Hem ruffle on the petticoat

Pants the I'd like to finish - comic print fabric

Skirt I'd like to finish - black corduroy and floral corduroy. Adding the floral print because the UFO skirt as originally cut would be too short for me now - It would show the tattoos