I Cannot Get Out!

I dread locking mechanisms. I have little experience with them and they always seem to work against me. I've lived in the country all my life, in a old house with children where indoor locks were not allowed. Ask Mom how Josh locked himself into the bathroom as a toddler- it was, apparently, traumatic, and indoor locks were never allowed again, even in the bathroom. Which was sometimes awkward when we had guests, but anyway, even in our new house though we do finally have bathrooms that can be locked, using a key to lock the entryway doors is hardly necessary. One, there's always somebody home, two, we have nothing worth stealing, and three, we still kind of live in the country.

So yesterday here at the house(sitting) I was trying to lock the screen door, the key stuck, and I tried so hard to get it out that I bent the key. I didn't even know that could be done.

Some basic projects finished this week:

A shift out of natural linen; I had some long strips left from a paneled skirt, so this shift is made up of several skinny strips. Not historically correct, but linen.

A petticoat out of heavy cotton. What can I say, stripes are fun.

Also completed, two T-shirts and a denim skirt for my upcoming trip. I'm convinced that home made Tees are best. I generally dislike the standard neckline and sleeve length of store-bought Tees, so with home-made I alter mine to have elbow-length raglan sleeves and a high neck.

Sitting in a House

I'm house-sitting again all this month, which I suppose is no excuse for neglect of the blog, but as you can see it hasn't been my priority. The schedule of my first week alone went like this:

I got up; took care of emails. Then I went to sew. Around 2pm I would finally remember to eat lunch. Then I would sew. Then around 7pm I would think of dinner. Evenings are reserved for sewing by hand, and bedtime is strictly before 10:30pm.

A week of that was enough, and I've learned to sprinkle my work with other happenings.

The Liberty Bedcover

I'm almost done with my Liberty quilt. I've quilted my way through Northanger Abbey, Mansfield park, and the whole Spiderman trilogy, and I only have a few teeny bits left. Goodness, the girls scream like crazy in the Spiderman movies. I should hope that if I ever end up hanging from a skyscraper, that(besides the fact I cannot physically scream like them) I will conduct myself with a little more aplomb. 

 

Housesitting:  I truly hate gardening, but I do love tidiness! Trying to keep plants alive on my watch. Rain helps.

How I Waste my Time

$1 Goodwill find: a lavender silk blouse, supposedly size small(whatever that means) but too big for me in any case.

I don't do big and shapeless very well.

But despite the size I can't pass by a nicely colored, 100% silk blouse that only costs one dollar. Thus, alterations ensue. I cut out the sleeves and side seams, took out at least two inches off each side seam and made the sleeves shorter. I also added a fake back seam, back and front darts.

Silk is finicky. It moves, wiggles, and laughs at you. It stains easily and washes poorly. But, if one can wrestle it into a decent position, silk makes for a really classy look.

Much more fitted, but the buttons on the sleeves need to be moved.
So now you know, this is how I spend the time that I don't have.

I'm working on the last two dresses for the theatrical. This dress is supposed to be more upper-class than the others, so I chose a paler fabric and more embellishment. The fabric company made a mistake on the order and I didn't have enough material anyway, so I ended up lining the entire dress, adding an underskirt and sleeves made from an old sheet. I wanted big sleeves, and undersleeves were the only way to accomplish that.

Front pleating, entirely for looks. I ended up using a few pattern parts of Butterick 5832, the new romantic pattern.

I even had a little time to work on my Pirate dress. The jute trim looks great!

 

The dress front opening- smaller trim, stitched on by hand.

Off topic but still cool, we had a storm go through last week that dropped some of the largest hail any of us had ever seen. The picture was even taken after they had melted for a while.The largest measured 2 1/2 inches across, 30 minutes after landing.

Romantic Dresses

 So I've been working on some dresses for an upcoming theatrical. I've decided I enjoy costuming for the theater, because while it is often historically-based, allowances can be made for the circumstances: being on stage, being wired with a mike, changing costumes, etc. And besides being historical, the costumes have to impart character in coloring and design perhaps rather more than normal reenacting garments.

 Matron dress: Yes, I know: plastic button fail. This dress is all simple grey broadcloth, made for the matron of an orphanage. There are three yards in the skirt. The bodice is fitted with darts, and I added a small pocket on the lower front. The sleeves are slightly curved with a little gathered fullness at the top.

 Pocket!

I started out with this dress in patterned cotton. My goal was to make it drape over the front, so I put slanted pleats at the shoulder and gathered the bodice front at the waistline, as close as possible to the center front. It turned out well, but the lady who will be wearing it is fairly small, and the gathered fabric puffed out ridiculously, so I had to take it in at the shoulder and tack down the pleats for some pouf control.

Shoulder pleats.

This dress I went with larger sleeves and small boned waist pleats. The buttons are supposedly coconut shell. I didn't spend time on matching the stripes, and that probably shows at the front closure.

I also added piping at the seams.

This dress is for a street girl selling flowers. It's going to be very striking.

Costumes and Costuming

Because of the Romantic gowns for the upcoming play I've really been neglecting my Pirate gown. So far, though, I've knocked out three girl's dresses and two women's, with about the same number remaining to complete.

I finally got my treadle into working condition. It ended up costing probably about half of what it would cost to buy a similar one on craigslist, but oh well. I had to buy a new leather belt, a needlebar clamp, and some needles. I tried the OK Sewing in Omaha first and bought the belt from them, but they didn't have a matching needle clamp and basically told me that since they didn't have it, no one did. That wasn't very helpful. Next I tried the Sewing/Vacuum shop in Council Bluffs, and they did have a needle clamp and needles.

About my neglected Pirate dress: I have cut out all the pieces and begun to put them together. I used the JP Ryan "Robe a la Anglaise" pattern. I like this pattern because it is basic and thus can be either formal or low-class, and then decorated a great variety of ways. But then, it's also the only purchased colonial pattern I've ever used! As other reviewers have mentioned, this pattern is long in the waist, high in the back, and the shoulder straps are very long.

I spent some amount of time looking for Pirate-dress trim. Faux leather is too chunky; lace is too overdone(and expensive), metallic is too gaudy. I want daring, but natural! Pirate, but ladylike! Then I found the jute section. It's a natural fiber, so it has a bit of a rustic look, but it's available in a few but neat-looking styles. Plus, it's cheaper. I ordered some for the sleeve hem and for down the gown front, and I'm really pleased with how it looks. Though I haven't had time to put it on yet....

Jute.

The Romantic Era

Fabric for five romantic-era gowns for a theatrical production: two ladies, one orphan, and two middle class working women. By the way, ever wonder why it's called the "Romantic" era? Here's what wiki says.