Vacation Sewing Update

Well, I leave for vacation in a week.  Technically, we don't leave til Saturday morning but since my car will be loaded up on Friday to head to my parents' after work, I'm saying that I leave in a week.

I finished my hooded knit dress:

And the Burda dress (nicknamed "Flower Power") is almost done, I just need to do a little decorative stitching around the hem.

I changed a few things, I didn't gather the sleeves at all, just sewed the cuffs on. They also don't have cords and tassels, they're just plain cuffs.  And I changed the directions, because I didn't agree with how the sleeves were done.

So all that's left is the tiered peasant skirt to wear with a funky hippie top that I have.  It's started, just need to get it finished.  I might even be able to finish all that tonight, if not I can definitely do it tomorrow. 

In other words, I don't think that I'm doing too shabby on vacation preparations at the moment.  Finish those projects, do some laundry, pack, hit the grocery for a couple items...It'll be a busy weekend, but it's all totally doable. :)

Vacation Sewing!

1960s wrap dress out of Pepsi fabric DONE

Swimsuit using a recent McCalls pattern - DONE

Hooded knit dress - in progress

Hooded sweater for my mom - DONE

Two shrugs from TanitIsis' free pattern, one black, one white - pretty much DONE (although I should probably put closures on them)

I've been a little busy :D

What HAS Miss WIlde Been Up To?

It's been FOREVER since I've posted, which was kinda expected gearing up to Teslacon but I figured a little update would be nice. So here's a whole bunch of pictures of what I've been up to over the last...almost two months.

First up, some vacation photos!!

What I wore: Star Trek circle wrap skirt. My new funky sixties esque Zodiac dress. Blue linen dress (I ran through the rainy fields of Shiloh wearing this actually). Disney Villainesses skirt. Travel sunset-dress. Train skirt. Striped circle skirt.

Star Trek skirt with new petticoat taken prevacation

Funky sixties esque dress in action above the Mississippi River in Memphis

Travel sunset-dress in action above the clouds at Point Park up on Lookout Mountain. They called it the Battle above the Clouds for a reason.

And at our hotel in Chattanooga which was an old TRAIN STATION

Train skirt in action on the rails...

And on the train.

Finished striped circle skirt taken pre vacation

Circle skirt at a shopping area in Gatlinburg

I also bought some sewing things while on vacation, a pattern and a Civil War quilt pattern book.

How could I resist buying a Civil War era pattern AT a Civil War Battlefield?!?! (Chickamauga btw)

And since our train station was built in the early 1900s and since we were staying on a train car, I decided to take my Edwardian undergarments for photos.

Okay, now for a little of what I've been up to lately:

I made my mom a new scrub top:

And I've been working on a baby quilt for a friend / coworker:

And I had a bad day a while back so I worked on my charm quilt. I have like 70-80 charm squares so far. I need 400-500 for a quilt. This might take a while.

There's also been a little Teslacon prep:

My polonaise got a red stain on it, and despite our best efforts, it refused to be removed. So I had to cut it off. I'm currently in the process of sewing about three more yards of braid on.

I originally wanted to complete three new outfits for Teslacon: Victorian swimsuit (which is done), Rococopunk and a blue and green sari ensemble. With all the other things going on, that's not going to happen. So my goal is to finish the rococopunk for Teslacon and move the sari outfit back for SES in the spring.

And, of course, when I start to think about what to pack, I add to my to do list...As of now, here's what I'd like to do: rococopunk (which needs a LOT of work), finish the Harley Quinn improvements, make a fichu for my lower cut dresses, fix my time machine purse, make a garrison hat for my main airship uniform, finishing sewing the braid onto my polonaise, and make a black bustle apron.  If all that gets done, the dream projects are a red petticoat, gold purse cover and spats to match my polonaise, some black bloomers / knee breeches (these might be done as part of the rococopunk) and a fancy pencil skirt.

All that, and I'm stuck at work. And out of town this weekend. Sigh.

What Has Miss Wilde Been Up To? 1

As you know, dear readers, I decided (practically at the last minute, of course) that I needed new attire before my vacation. Officially, my mother and I depart on 8/31, but I will be journeying to Cincinnati on the 29th, so vacation begins rather soon... Besides the aforementioned Audrey skirt, train skirt, dress and petticoats, I also decided to use left over swimsuit fabric for a circle skirt. Mainly because I love striped circle skirts. And because it was in two of my favorite colors to wear together.

First up, the fabric...

Second, the finished Audrey skirt with an old petticoat. I plan to wear it with a tank and a belt so it covers the white waistband.

Third, the train skirt. Shown with old petticoat.

 So that's all done. And I decided I needed a new dress pattern because I didn't have anything unstructured and drapey enough to use with the silky fabric I randomly bought a while back just because it was a cool pattern. So I went to the fabric store...

I couldn't resist the 1930s suit patterns (one's the skirt, the other is the jacket) and the bottom pattern is the one I'm using for my new dress.

 I managed to cut the dress out using a lot less fabric than it called for because (1) I'm not doing a self binding around the neck or using the fabric for the tie. I'll purchase binding and use some ribbon for the ties. And (2) I changed it so it has a center back seam instead of being cut on the fold. Otherwise I had no where near enough fabric for it.

Also purchased at the fabric store: (1) a couple yards of a Star Wars print to make a skirt or maybe a dress, I'm not sure yet. I know I don't have enough for a circle skirt, at least not at a good length but I have too much for a little gathered skirt so...We'll see. My dear brother assisted me over the phone to pick out which Star Wars print to purchase. Because he's just that awesome.  (2) Fabric to finish a project for a friend.  (3) Like eight yards of netting and some muslin remnants to make petticoats. I got four yards of white and four yards of yellow (because the yellow could go with a couple things in my wardrobe and white is basic). So we'll see how that goes. (4) Oh, and a zipper for my rococo punk project.

So for vacation sewing: the Audrey skirt is DONE. The train skirt is DONE. The dress is cut out but I haven't started putting it together. The wrap circle skirt is put together and pinned for the hem. So all it needs is the waistband and hemmed and it'll be done. And I have fabric for the pettis but haven't started them yet.

I haven't made much progress on my Teslacon sewing. The swimsuit just needs the buttons sewn on, the buttonholes sliced open, and the hat finished though, so it's almost there. It's CUTE. I'm excited about wearing it. I haven't touched either of my other projects though.

Sunset Dress - Toledo War and Some Updates

As you probably know, I made a little steam casual sundress from some travel prints I had in my stash. It was supposed to be quick and easy, but was neither, but I got it finished and made a matching hat band well before the event, so that's all that really matters, right?

Anyways, here's some pictures:

The best picture is a side view. Of course, my sunhat was so huge that my face is obscured in pretty much all of these... Picture by Dixie, cropped by me.

The back, also featured is my awesome backpiece that still needs work
Picture by Sally, cropped by me.

And this was the only picture I could find of the front. The one with the pigtails is my friend Gloria, who is a-maz-ing. Picture by Corielle Riddell, cropped by me.

 The event was fun, and we had a decent turn out. A lot more Ohio people than Michigan, which was amusing to me because we drove a lot farther than they did.

Details on the dress: I used Simplicity 3823 for the base, pretty much just the bodice part. I converted it from a side zipper to a back zipper. Pretty sure that I could take the bodice down another size, but if I end up gaining back the weight I lost, then it would be too small so... The skirt was as long as I could make it while matching the pattern along the center front and center back seams. It's not perfectly matched, but only I can see the issues so... I just gathered the panels so they fit the bodice. The zipper is a orange-rust color, and I used dark red thread. The zipper was hand picked, the hem done by  hand as is my standard operating procedure and the lining whipped in by hand as well. I also wore one of my petticoats in most (if not all) of these pictures.

Note to self: I really need a new petticoat. Or three. I've been trying to find a good tutorial, the Sugardale one might be the best so far. Although I really love these layered rainbow pettis. I really need several in different lengths for different skirts and dresses, to be honest.

On that topic, I have vacation coming up and have decided to make a couple new things to wear. (1) I bought around 4 yards of an Audrey Hepburn print cotton (not really the one I wanted, but the movie poster print sold out :( ) and plan to just make a quick little dirndl skirt. Maybe a wrap, if I can figure it out, maybe gathered onto a waistband that has elastic, maybe gathered with elastic. I haven't decided yet. (2) The same thing for some train print cotton I have. I've kind of been saving it for a steampunk outfit, but we're going to Chattanooga. And it's TRAINS. So I figured if I did the same kind of skirt, that I could just undo it if I wanted to use the fabric for something else in the future. (3) I'm also thinking about a little silky dress from some cool zodiac print fabric I got from the red tag table on my last little spree. (4) And petticoats. Even if I just do one or two new quick and dirty ones, I could really use some new petticoats.

As for Teslacon, that sewing is coming along pretty well. The swimsuit is almost done, except for the sash and the hat. The rococopunk is well underway and the stays are DONE. And I started work on the bustle gown as well. I'm hoping to have another serger date at my friend's place soon to work on that. If I do any panels, it'll just be one, so I'll have plenty of time for fun. :D