Wow....I'm WAY behind

My dearest readers,

I do apologize for the immense amount of time that has passed since we last spoke. I've been so consumed with projects that I have not had a minute to spare.

Since giving details on anything at this point would be rather cumbersome, I'll just share a quick summary with you --

(1) I finished my Butterick 'walk away dress'. I think it turned out rather splendid, but the fit is a bit odd. The underskirt rides up terribly. If I ever use the pattern again, I plan to widen the underskirt section so it wraps around my hips all the way instead of leaving a gap in the back. I may even alter my current incarnation if I have the time and the fabric.

(2) I also finished costumes for Dragon*Con for Misses Dashwood and Van Eycke. There were a few fitting issues that resulted in making an entirely new skirt for Miss Dashwood, and the blouses will probably be redone at some point -- A note my dear readers: brocade does not gather well when making an off the shoulder blouse -- but overall the costumes (skirt, blouse and vest) turned out well. And I learned something new during the process - how to use a grommet setter.

(3) I also put together a quick costume for Miss Dashwood who will be portraying the goddess Durga during the convention. We purchased two yards of a beautiful sari-esque fabric. I simply cut it done the fold line, leaving two pieces of fabric roughly two yards long and 30 inches wide. I sewed an elastic casing along the raw edge of one piece, threaded elastic through the casing, fitted it to the adorable Miss Dashwood, and then sewed the side seam. I left the skirt unhemmed because the selvage had a nice little bit of fringe that went well with the border print. The second piece of fabric was just hemmed on all three raw edges to be used as a drape.

(4) I hemmed two pairs of pants for a friend and mended something for my beau.

Last night I tidied up my sewing area - stashed away bits and pieces, threw out some trash, etc. and started a new project of my own.

(5) Personal current project: A New Hope Princess Leia. I'm pretty much following what the tutorial posted by a fabulous costumer named Pam - http://chucrew.com/Leia/Leia.html She goes through everything from making the pattern to the hair style. Luckily, she's about the same size as me, so I was able to use her measurements to make my own pattern. So far the dress is turning out well. Last night I made the pattern, cut out one dress (you basically make two dresses and then use one to line the other), and stitched both side seams, leaving a slit at the bottom. Unfortunately, I ran short on fabric so I'm going to have to pick up some more today. Since I ran short on fabric, I went ahead and made the hood pattern and cut that out. I also pinned the two sides that need hemmed. Its in my sewing bag right this moment because the hems need to be hand stitched.

(6) Progress on Pretty Peggy Pepper - I acquired a red shirt that I'm going to attempt to modify to use as the top. And I purchased a blue fabric remnant for the skirt. I think I'm going to forgo using a pattern and just make a quick skirt like the one I made for Miss Dashwood (see above).

(7) Imperial Officer's Uniform - I found a pattern that I think is pretty much perfect to make an imperial officer's uniform from Star Wars: http://www.patronsdecouture.com/burda-7458.htm It has not been purchased yet, but likely will be.

(8) I've also been thinking about several other costumes that I would like to do in the next year or so: Steampunk Confederates for my beau and I for Marcon 2011; a steampunk (maybe dieselpunk) Army uniform using my grandfather's uniform jacket (no I will not be altering the jacket itself so don't worry); a sexy Leia using left over fabric from the ANH dress

(9) And I've been thinking about Christmas presents. So far I'm making my parents aprons (fabric has already been purchased) and my brother and sister in law pajama pants. His will be black, hers purple plaid as long as I can find some.

(10) Things I need to finish - Alter a dress for Miss Dashwood. My steampunk stewardess costume by Mid Ohio Con (November) - it needs some accessories and I need to decide if I want to wear the pettidress I made to go underneath or if I want to wear leggings and a cami for a sexier look. My Harley Quinn costume for Mid Ohio Con - I still need a hat.

(11) I need to start a vest my cousin asked me to make for her son. This will probably be my next project after the Leia dress. It would be nice if I could finish it by the weekend so I can take it to her when I go home for a visit.

(12) And I have a commission for one of my beau's friends coming up that he wants for Halloween. I should probably talk to him about that.

Well, dear readers, I hope this update of past, current and near future projects made up for the month of no communication.

A bientot!

Miss Leah J Wilde

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 ideas

I'm putting these here because if I write them down, I'll just lose the note.

1. A plaid full gathered skirt, like this one courtesy of Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing (my latest blog obsession)



2. A sheath dress w a sheer overskirt. I could probably use my retro Butterick for this, with several adjustments. The only question is where the heck do I wear it? (also from Gertie's blog)

50s wrap dress update

wHello darlings!

Last night I actually started on sewing my oh so adorable 50s wrap dress. It went together amazingly easily. The first step was to pin and sew the darts in the front and back bodice. I'm not going to lie to you dear readers - I hate darts. They're rather fussy with their placement and annoying to pin and sew. But they do make a garment fit so I suffered through sewing eight of them - yes EIGHT darts: three on each side of the front and two on the back. After sewing the darts, I sewed the two pieces of the overskirt together along the back seam, then sewed the skirt to the back bodice. The next step was to sew the front to the back at the shoulders, then I did a quick fitting. I looked the pattern up on a pattern review website and several people said they had issues with the fit, but Miss Dashwood and I agreed that no alteration was necessary. I was actually rather surprised considering I do not possess the desired silhouette of the early 1950s. In other words, I'm not very chesty. I do however possess hips that would make a non-curvy girl sigh in envy if she was in that era. My next step was to cut several strips of bias from the purple calico. I wanted to follow the pattern and use purchased bias but I could not find a good color and decided instead to just make my own. I pinned one strip to the dress - started at the hem of the underdress, up around the armhole and down the front of the overdress. I have the other side, plus the neckline to do. Then of course comes stitching the bias into place.

Other projects I worked on last night -
1. I finished modifying a bustle I made Miss Dashwood several months ago. She was uncomfortable wearing it with a bustle pillow so I took out the top piece that would set atop such a pillow and resewed the ribbon ties along the top ruffle. She seems rather pleased with it.
2. In preparation for a pirate themed event this weekend, I pulled out a cream colored cropped blouse (its actually part of a Bavarian drindl). The elastic at the bottom of the blouse has failed over the years - after all the blouse is older than I - so I removed a few stitches in the casing, snipped the elastic and pulled it out. I then checked my supplied and was unable to find narrow enough elastic but I did have elastic cord. So I threaded the cord through the circle at the end of a large safety pin and fed the doubled cord through the casing on the blouse. I tried it on, adjusted the cord, knotted it and snipped it. Viola, the blouse is now ready to be worn this weekend! I'm thinking of just pairing it with cream bloomers and a red sash. Don't know what shoes to wear though...

Things I need to do - (1) hem Mary's pants after I get matching thread (2) take in Miss Dashwood's dress (3) finish my retro dress (4) make outfits for the Misses Dashwood and Van Eycke. I've also got a couple Christmas gifts in the works - a quilt for my beau that I've started cutting fabric for and aprons for my parents that I've purchased fabric for. EDIT (5) I still need to finish my clockwork gypsy skirt. I'll be taking a lot of sewing to my beau's this weekend to work on, won't I?

Sew much to do! Sew little time!

A bientot, 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