Greenleaf Designs

Not ignoring!

2011-09-04T09:49:00.000-04:00

Dear readers,
I'm not ignoring you! I've not really been busy lately, primarily recovering. This wonderfully tedious late summer has brought with it, a pulled muscle in my back which immobilised my right arm for a period, a summer cold, which I'm still getting over, a sprained right ankle, and the beginnings of carpal tunnel. Being down for the count with the sprained ankle, I've been crocheting like a madwoman! A bunch of new snoods for my Etsy shop and an afghan for my hubby!

But new posts about new projects shall be coming soon, I promise!

Cara

Etsy Shiny's!!

2011-05-30T09:22:00.000-04:00

So, things have been kinda slow, sewing-wise, in the last few weeks, as I've been reeling from the whirlwind of 2 different faires in 2 different states on back-to-back weekends. But I'll be getting back into it soon. Spring, however, has finally arrived, and it's quickly getting shoved out of the way by summer, so the next couple weeks will be partially devoted to the yard and getting it to a presentable situation!
However, I haven't completely slacked off. Yesterday I went outside in the first sunny day for a while and took some pictures of some vintage jewelry from my husband's extended family: watches, necklaces, bracelets and such, and posted them on Etsy.com. Check me out:

Vintage Crystal Faced Watch

Sapphire Heart Pendant

Lighted American Flag Pin

Eiffel Tower Pendant

Shades of Pink Necklace

Aries Ram Pendant

Vintage Gruen Gold Watch

Wedge Foot Pillows

2011-05-18T19:09:00.000-04:00

So, a few months ago I saw a commercial for homeopathic foot pillows. They are wedge shaped pillows that sit behind your feet in bed and lift the blankets off of your feet. Ideal for people who have foot problems or sensitive feet. I thought to myself: "These would be perfect for Dick [my stepfather]". He's had foot problems for years, and the worst part of his day was trying to get comfortable under the blankets at night. According to my mother, it's become a half-hour ordeal for him to get settled in bed now. So this wedge pillow was ideal! There was only one problem - They cost $50!! $50 for a freakin' wedge of foam wrapped in fabric.

So I sat down and decided that I could make that. Just need the foam. Well, hell! I know where to get foam from! and I've got some nice flannel fabric that needs a home. Why not?? Well, my husband and I went to Hancock fabrics and found the perfect foam - nice and dense, but still light weight, and in a 15x15x15 block. No problem, I'll just cut it to size! Heh, yeah right.

Cutting the foam has proved to be a challenge. Not insurmountable, mind you, but still a challenge. 4 knives and lots of light green foam dust later, it's done!

So, now the puzzle is what is the best way to cover the pillows, such that the covers are easily removed for washing? After some debate, I think that three seams down the sides at each angle, an attached right side and a zippered left side will be the best. Two sides of the left-side triangle will be zippered to make it easier to remove and replace the pillows should Mom or Dick wish to wash the casing.

(Don't let the apparent grunge on the fabric throw you...That's part of the pattern!)

So here we go!
It's actually proving easier to do this than anticipated. :) Always nice, right? After piecing it all out, I ran into some trouble fighting with the two Y-seams in the corners and with the zipper, but after much cursing, re-pinning, and re-stitching, it is done!

[Image - finished]

M'Crack Skirts, Pt II

2011-05-18T10:56:00.000-04:00

It's time for the Green! HUZZAH! As mentioned in M'Crack Skirts, Pt I, I'm making an overskirt and a double-layered under-skirt. Well, now that the black skirts are done, it's on to the green/white! The green fabric you've already seen, and I've told you about this beautifully shadow-patterned white fabric:

I'm starting by doing what I should have done from the very very start: patterning my base onto felt. I've already used the tissue base about a dozen times and it's only taped in 3 places right now, but I'd rather call it safe and just felt the primary pieces. As much as I've adjusted the waistband, felting that particular piece isn't totally necessary, especially since I just use it as a guide anyway. So, felting first!

I must say, it really is a nice feeling one gets when upcycling the most hideous and unusable curtains into a gorgeous, functional skirt! The fabric is lovely, but as curtains? Blech! and not at all functional as curtains either...entirely see thru! The longer I work with the material, however, the more I hate it! It's a mesh more than it is a fabric, it stretches, and it hates to lay right! Geh!!

Huzzah, huzzah! The body of the white is done! Now onto the much less irritating green cotton. :-) I anticipate the green being much easier to work with, simply because it's the same as the black. (M'Crack Skirts, Pt I) I loved working in that material, so nice and non-stretchy!

As expected, the green is so much nicer to work with, a lovely reprieve from stretchy crap!

I must say, though, as light as both fabrics are, I am surprised at how heavy the combined skirt turned out to be! Don't get me wrong, it's not uncomfortably heavy, nor unwearable, but it is decidedly heavier than expected.

The waistband was interesting. I found that it didn't like going on as well as I thought it would. With my previous experience with the combined skirts, I was adding a drawstring, so I was able to leave an opening above the skirt panels and make a casing. However, I'm not tying this skirt off, but rather lacing it shut in the back, so I brought the waistband closer to the skirt fabrics. I didn't measure right, however and was left with a bit of a tail on the back side. Instead of bruising my fingers and tearing up the fabric by ripping it all out and re-pressing the waistband and re-stitching it all, I just added a second row of stitching inside the waistband and a third with a "stitch in the ditch" just under the folded portion of the waistband to hold down the back flap.

So, after some debate, I decided to take a shorter hem on the white skirt than on the green, that way I won't do too much damage while wandering about Faire. I'm looking at taking a 3/4" first hem, then a 1" deep hem over that. Meanwhile, I'll probably end up taking a 1/2" then a 3/4" inch hem on the green.

New Corset, Final Stage

2011-05-18T10:51:00.000-04:00

After much debate, I've finally made a decision on the exterior fabrics! (New Corset, Update)
I've finally chosen to go with both sides of the corset being tapestry fabric. It helped that upon further debate and discussion with roommates and sewing buddies, it was determined that the tapestry would be sturdier and last longer than the suede. But no worries, I'll find a use for the suede!
As I sit on the couch sewing the back layer of tapestry fabric by hand and watch Gangland (I know...but it's fascinating to me...), I've been puzzling over the binding and my decision to use single-fold bias tape. I'm now torn between the bias tape and using embroidery floss and the button-hole stitch to make the edging. The decision however, seems easier. Based strictly on the functionality, a bias-edging will be sturdier and last longer. So it looks as though my decision has been made for me!

So after a nice trip to visit family in St. Louis, the tapestry fabrics are on! HUZZAH!! Now to see if I'm lucky enough to use my machine to attach the binding. My hopes are high that I'll be able to use my zipper foot to attach the binding via machine and save me bu-cu amounts of time!

After a little stress and a lot of praying...my hopes were in the right!! My machine can handle the thickness and stitch the binding on!! HUZZAH!!

Also, I've found that I can run the bottom edge of the tabs as well as the center point on the corset on the machine as well. Which has saved me a ton of time. After I finish that step, it's off to the couch to hand-stitch it all on!

Commission - Jess

2011-05-04T09:23:00.002-04:00

The loverly lady who gave me the idea for the eyelet skirt (M'Crack Skirts, Pt I) has now commissioned a bodice, skirt, and chemise. The entire project is an upcycle of old projects of hers - a 6yr old cloak and a set of curtains from her old apartment. Fun!

The only major trouble I've run into is that the pattern for the bodice isn't right in the proportions, forcing me to re-draft and re-shape some of the pattern pieces. Yay - A re-drafting project!!

Original Patterns:

Re-drafted Patterns:

After all the work involved in re-drafting the pattern for the bodice, it turns out that I didn't need 75% of the work I put into it! I really didn't realize just how squishy Jess is. All I really needed to do was increase each piece by one size. Geh! And it should be said, for the record, that I'm no longer allowed to sip on my favorite wine while working, especially while lacing bodices......

Also, I played with the idea of re-drafting the skirt pattern, but after much consideration, determined that adding four side panels would work better and provide a slightly fuller skirt for her.

Essentially, the skirt panels will be arranged like so :

   1
   2 2
   2 2
   2 2 (Instead of having only two #2
   2 2 panels on each side)
   3

And so begins the skirt! The closest thread I have is a lovely gold, but the worry I have is that I only have a partial spool and I'm also using it on my corset (New Corset, Update). So I'm debating using white or black thread on the body seams, which no one will see. I know that Jess wouldn't care, but it will still bother me, just because I know they don't match. After digging through my thread stash, however, I found a nice chocolate thread that looks nearly black on the spool, but is perfect for this particular fabric - just about a shade darker!.

Ok, so I've run into a small problem. The lovely suede cloth that she brought me won't allow the needle to pick up the bobbin thread. The exact machine set up stitches on cotton, but not on the suede-cloth. So, I have to puzzle on what to do. My current idea is tissue between the fabric layers to help the bobbin, but I'm going to have to discuss with some of my sewing peeps to find a solution. In the meantime, I'll work on the bodice to at least stay a little productive today! In a small way, I'm finding the fact that the bodice is going together without incident a little saddening. I kind of enjoy the puzzles and challenge of a non-cooperative project. But I'll also admit that it's nice not having to stress over at least one part of the project...I'm expecting the chemise to be as nice as well.

I am finding one issue with the bodice as it goes together (and this is consistent to the tissue pattern itself): the front and side pieces don't want to line up at the top and bottom. There is a princess seam, which I had anticipated, and kind of hoped, would take in some of the variance, but it took in very little (if any at all!!).

Bottom Variance Top Variance

I'll probably just end up trimming these down to fit and hiding the rest of the variance (what I can't trim) in the binding. But still! It's irritating that the original pattern does this, not just my redraft, though in all honesty, I should have tried to draft it out. After stitching the preliminary parts (and before attaching everything) and trying it on Jess one more time, it was determined that a dart was needed at the top of the bust curve:

Now onto the binding, which was a bit bitchy, but less than anticipated! :)

And here she is!!

[Image - bodice finished]

It's been a slow, gloomy start to this week and I've been feeling particularly un-motivated. So I decided to skip ahead a little and work on the chemise next...something simple, and not nearly as irritating as the skirt insists on being. Not really going to go into detail, there are two other chemises that I've done, and profiled, on here. This blog is long enough already!!

It turns out the solution to the suede-cloth fabric is Jess herself coming over to stitch! After consulting with her regarding the issue, she happily volunteered to come over and hand-stitch the skirt pieces, so long as they were patterned and pinned. So, yay! One less thing on my plate!

[Image - skirt stitching]

So, she got all of the irritating fabric stitched. Now it's up to me to find out if the newer material is machine-friendly. If it is, then I've got a seaming dream waiting for me for the remaining of the skirt. The newer material went together fine, and even attached to the suede wonderfully. After cutting and prepping the waistband, then attaching it while she worked on the hem, she has left with the mostly finished skirt, intent on hemming it while I finish my stuffs! Once I get a picture from Faire, I'll post the finished ensemble. Unfortunately my camera's being a butt today, so I'll have to come back and edit the brackets above, considering I can't currently get the pictures off the camera to upload them. Bear with me!!

[Image - Final!]

Chemises for M'Crack

2011-04-11T00:08:00.000-04:00

The linen is finally washed and pressed! HUZZAH! My new chemises can begin!!

I've decided to make two of different weights…one in a lovely tissue linen, at a 60/40 blend of linen and cotton. The other is heavier (ideal for the cooler days at Faire) and checks in with a 41/59 blend of linen and rayon. After puzzling over the pattern that I was originally planning to use, I came to the conclusion that it really just wouldn’t work for the look I’m trying to achieve. Seeing how I’m making it so that my corset can double as a strapless bodice, the chemise look I’m wanting is an off-the-shoulder deal. However the pattern that I was originally looking at has no elastic and thus would not provide the proper look. A lot of the chemises that I have patterns for can go off-shoulder, but don’t look right. Or the elastic climbs back up on top of the shoulder and just irritates me all day.

So after a nice little bull session with a friend of mine, I came to the decision of fudging a pattern I have and making it work for what I need it to. (Kind of like the rest of this project so far!) I’m going to be starting with a poet-shirt base, but instead of having a yoke over the shoulders, I’m going to be adding a casing and elastic. Thus as the shirt falls, it will want to sit around my shoulders, and the only true function of the elastic at the “neck”-line will be to keep it from slipping down too far. Also, I’m going to be adding about 9 inches to the bottom of the original pattern piece so that I have more of a knee-length dress feel as opposed to a long-ish shirt.

And so patterning begins! You can see here where I've added several inches to the bottom to create the longer body:

I was also forced to shorten the sleeves dramatically so I'd have a final look of a 3/4 or 1/2 sleeve:

Seaming was simple, and after attaching the front and back and closing the sleeves, all that was left was the casing for the elastic 'round the top and the sleeves, then to hem!
I opted to go with a "cheater casing" using bias tape, simply because I've got a ton of other work to do. Also, I have a crap-load of white single-fold bias tape sitting around in my sewing room and I desperately want it all to GO AWAY! So, why not use it up on this project? I also had some natural colored bias tape, and since I really don't care what people think about whether or not the casing on my chemise matches perfectly, I chose to use that on the "neck"-line of the heavier weight chemise, simply because I don't have anything else that it will match!

And there it is! My completed chemise. I'm modeling it since my dress form doesn't have arms and these are designed to fit 'round the biceps rather than on the shoulders:

The tissue-weight chemise will be the same exact deal, just lighter weight. I may or may not come back through and post those pictures as well, simply because they will look the same.

M'Crack Skirts, Pt I

2011-04-01T22:28:00.001-04:00

So, my skirts have been nagging at me. My original plan was a black cotton skirt laid over the hunter green, similar to what I did for St. Pats. However, both the fabrics I purchased were a thin enough cotton (I got it thin on purpose) that they end up being nearly see-thru. So I’m going to add a third. Which leaves me with the puzzles of “Do I really want a three-layer skirt” or “Do I wear a thin underskirt that doesn’t match so I’m not totally see-thru”. Well, I’ve figured it out. Two-layer skirt and an over skirt. :D

My dear friend Jess (of commission notoriety) had made a skirt based on M4090 with an interesting variation, which I’m going to perfect. Instead of having a fully sewn skirt with all seams stitched, the front panel will be fully eyeleted down each side, laced to desired length. I’m going to eyelet the black and have that be the overskirt. What I’m going to do with the green to prevent the see-thru issue is up-cycle some old dense-cotton-tat white curtains. They’re beautifully overstitched with a nice laurel branch pattern. They also are a bit see-thru, but I figured the two fabrics would combine well-enough to cancel out the see-thru. :D

Here are the truer colors...the closeups didn't do them proper justice:

So, I decided to start with the black skirt, and opted to add about ¾” to the outside edge of the pattern piece, that way I have more than enough to take a rolled hem along the edges where I’m going to be placing the grommets. I don’t want a raw edge there, so, I’m going to take a ¼” fold, then a ½” second fold to create the smooth hem, and also allow myself plenty of space to place the grommets. The lacing will not be incredibly tight at any point and is only critical at the waist band. So, I won’t be reinforcing the inside of the grommets like I would on a corset or bodice. I’m also looking at box-pleating the back center since gathering the skirt would make the waistband a bit awkward.

Taking in the side hems went much better than planned, and I must say…since I’ve started sewing my seams have greatly improved. Now it’s on to putting the sides and the back panel together, then the waistbands. I’m still not quite sure what my plan is here as my original pattern is a solid waistband and my prototype that I’m basing this off of was simply cut at the waistband after the fact. Maybe I’ll measure the waist band, put a box pleat in the top center of the front panel, cut the waistband piece to fit it, then fit the rest of the skirt to the remaining piece of waistband…but add about 2 inches to the original waistband piece to accommodate the ends and seaming. I think I like that plan. YAY! Decision made! Now if all the other decisions in these various projects were that simple!

Traditionally, as a rule, I hate hem gauges. Yet in this particular project, I have found it incredibly invaluable. Odd. I must say, though it made me very happy to look at my hems and see gorgeously straight and even lines. And it’s not like I have anything against them, I just usually end up with uneven hems and a gauge would do me no good. Also, for the record: I HATE ROUND HEMS. They never look as clean since you have to stitch around a curve, rather than a straight line. Bleh.

And now it's onward to the waistbands. I decided to go with a centered box pleat in the center front in addition to the one I’m putting in the back; I figured that it would add a little more dimension. I also starched and pressed the pleat seams down about 14 inches…to help the dimension continue through the piece.

Fitting the waistband has been an undertaking, to say the least. Seeing how I have to have 2 different waistbands that equal to the final measurement, including edging space, it’s been quite a challenge. You’ve also got to love the fact that since I don’t have any kind of an assistant, the only way I could place it properly for sizing, I had to nearly pin it to my own freakin’ skin! OWIE! But anyway, the first wasn’t hard, I measured around the skirt panel. The second part of the waistband proved more difficult as I had to fit it to myself, then fit the back portion of the skirt to it. I decided to go with a pleated “bustle” look…box-pleat in the center, then knife-pleated out from there on either side. After fitting it on the model, it looked amazing, so I kept the idea!

Now that the previous “basic” work is done, it’s on to the incredibly tedious eyelet marking. Nice and long and repetitive. I discovered in my stash of inherited sewing equipment an “antique” grommet punch/setter (think early ‘50s antique). :D Cheating on the eyelet punching! The eyelets are going in quicker than anticipated, which is definitely a plus. But yes, once these are done, the skirt is finished! Huzzah!!

A grand total of 188 eyelets are going into this skirt!!

And here is the final skirt, laced together, on my dress form. It should be mentioned that my dress form and I don't get along. She was inherited from a friend and she's kinda old and rough. She doesn't like changing shape or size, so the fit is a little awkward on the form. But it fits beautifully on me, which is the final point!

New Corset, Update

2011-03-31T12:13:00.000-04:00

It’s snowing. WTF. It’s March 30. And it’s snowing. Thus is the fun of weather in Indiana. :-P

So, my first step today is to finish the top-edge stitching on my corset. Following this, I’ll be ready next to pattern out the corset onto the facing fabrics. The front is a lovely gold tapestry-like fabric with a gorgeous filigree-style weave. For the interior facing I chose a matching microsuede remnant.

So soft!! I wanted to make this corset pretty, rather than just functional. That way at the incredibly warm festivals, I can just wear the corset on the outside and make it my strapless bodice. The fewer layers, the better at the southern faires in late spring! Unfortunately, it’s starting to look like the channels aren’t going to be hand-stitched…the bones come so close that I think I’m going to have to hand-stitch the facing fabrics on to the final product before edging it all.

You can see in this picture that I had to get creative with my side boning. I was feeling inventive (and a bit confuzzled), so I designed these lines myself. The pattern generator that I used (www.elizabethancostume.net/custompat/ ) had a great pattern line for the boning, but I didn’t feel that it would be enough support for me for a full day at the festivals. So, I got creative and added full boning through the first tab and created a 6-bone fan over the 2^nd and 3^rd, splitting over the tab split, as you can see here:

Also, for everyone’s safety (especially my own), I reinforced the section around where the split will be as well as stitching about 4 rows above each split.

Now that I’m here, I find myself divided. The tapestry fabric is gorgeous. The “wrong” side of the tapestry fabric is gorgeous. The microsuede is gorgeous (and so soft). I have three paths I can take from this point. Such a fun dilemma.

A.) I can use the “right side” of the tapestry on the front, and the microsuede on the back. Optional to be reversible.

B.) I can use the “wrong side” of the tapestry on the front, and the microsuede on the back. Optional to be reversible.

C.) I can use the “wrong side” of the tapestry on the front and the “right side” on the back. Optional to be reversible…optional but encouraged.

A few days of rest...

2011-03-30T09:23:00.000-04:00

...now it's back to the grindstone. I've been down and out with what I thought were allergies; turns out it was a minor sinus infection. And after a very mild bout of food poisoning yesterday, I'm back in the saddle. I've been crocheting my little heart out these last few days, so I've not been completely un-productive. I've also snared myself another commission. YAY! My friend Jess needs new garb and finds herself hating her seams and hating to pattern. So she's enlisted me to make her new costuming. Eventually you will hear about a gold and burgundy low-noble gown and a green and brown high peasantry get-up.
Additionally, today (should my body cooperate), I'll be finishing up the current stage on my corset and moving closer to the finish. As well, I'm hoping to get some skirt patterning done! Wish me luck!

New Corset

2011-03-24T09:55:00.003-04:00

So, as I stated in March '08, I've started (and nearly finished) my second, more functional corset. This time I added tabs (no more scars!), and I'm going to face and back line, then edge it. Also, I was lucky enough to obtain some severely heavy-duty thread so that there will be no whisper of fail!

I'm off to my friend's house for a Stitch'n'Bitch today and taking the corset along to work on, so hopefully there will be some serious progress! Stay tuned for updates!

New Corset, Update
New Corset, Final Stage

Resting, Planning, Preparing

2011-03-21T17:11:00.000-04:00

It's been a nice couple days of rest since finishing the jumpsuit. I've done a little more planning on the sewing room and puzzled on some organizational techniques to fully maximize my space. And I've been psyching myself up for then next phase of my work.
In May, I'll be travelling to both Georgia and Tennessee Renaissance Festivals. I'm planning a new corset (which I've already mentioned) faced with upholstery fabric and interlined with matching suede, then edged with black linen. Also planning two chemises, both linen, one lighter, one heavier; finally I'm going to build a skirt similar to the one I made for St Patrick's Day, but instead of brown and kelly green, I'm going with black and hunter green.
I'm a proud Chieftess of the Clan M'Crack, Head of the O'Cinneide Family. The Clan colours are saffron and hunter green accented with black and white. Up till now, I've not had a full set of M'Crack garb. After growing 3 cup sizes in the last year I needed to make a new corset. I figured why not kill two birds with one stone and make all new M'Crack garb while I'm at it? Makes sense to me.
So in the next few weeks, keep an eye on the blog for updates on the new M'Crack garb as it is completed! Also, I'm soon to be starting my gypsy skirts for etsy. I'll post a journal just on the first one, and if you like what you see, let me know! I'm always happy to do custom commissions and I'll ship most anywhere!

Elvis III, Episode 3 - The show

2011-03-20T12:17:00.006-04:00

IT'S DONE! IT'S DONE! HUZZAH!!!

Three days of frantic patterning and sewing. Three days of headaches, sore fingers, cursing and dehydration from drinking too much coffee. Three days of limited sleep, frustrating fringe, and hammered fingers. But....

IT'S DONE!!

So here are some pictures from the show!

Right side shot, with purchased belt:

Back shot, showing shoulder dart in action:

Left back side shot (and me off to the right!):

Front shot, second set. He was dying from heat, but then again, we all were a bit warm:

Toweling off with a satin scarf:

Singing to his mom, Nancy. She's such a huge fan and he always brings her to his show:

She loves coming out the bars to see Mark perform!

So! What do you all think of the suit?

Elvis III, Ep 2 - Pt 3

2011-03-19T08:50:00.014-04:00

And into Part, the Third. It is 10 of 8, and I have less than 13 hours to finish. So...here we go!

*NOTE: Today's chapter of Elvis III will be updated as I go, and posted at the end of the project, or the end of the day, whichever comes first!*

The shoulders are so deliciously easy. Pin. Stitch. Done. YAY! Don't even need pictures.

However, the sides were a little more difficult, as I had to additionally stitch in the godets at the calf. They went in pretty easy, but of course stitching a triangle into a straight seam is always a little funky.

Geh. Finally! Turns out, (fail number 2, for those keeping track) I forgot to pattern the neck facing for the collar. So that slowed me down quite a bit...Also found out that I didn't have the proper sized setting tools for the grommets. So after a short jaunt to Tandy Leather and Panera for lunch, I got back to work. And after some patterning, ironing and stitching, the collar is done!! Took quite a bit of arranging and ironing and cursing...and some blood (damned pins), but it's done! :D

When I first started this project, the first thing I stitched were the sleeves. So all I need to do now is attach them at the shoulder. Which is pretty much a matter of fitting them into the hole, stitching them and turning them right side back out. So, easy-peasy! We'll see, though, right?

Turns out that, yes, the sleeves were indeed easy! YAY! I had to add a box pleat and a couple of knife pleats to allow Mark enough room to move his arm, but my machine went through it just fine!

Just before the eyelets went in, I had to quickly hem the legs. I have to say, I'm not happy with the thread, but I didn't really have time to switch out and load a new bobbin for the 18 or so inches of blue. It ended up looking fine, but perfectionist that I am it bugged me a bit.

So, the worst fail of my work on this project, I must say, occurred during my run to Tandy earlier today...(remember? to get the eyelet setter?) Well, as it turns out, one should always double-check the size of the setter on both the wall and the package. I read the label on the wall, it said "5/16 eyelet setter". I assumed that since the manager was in the middle of stocking that wall, it would be right. So I paid for my item and went about my day. Well, when I finally got around to setting the eyelets, I discovered that the setter and the eyelets didn't quite fit. After much trial and error, I looked at the damn package and read "1/4 eyelet setter". Luckily however, I'm a corset maker. I scrounged my relatively large collection of grommets, eyelets and setters and found a matching set that worked. But the panic in the interim kinda sucked.

Unfortunately, I ended up working down to the wire, so there is no final photo of the jumpsuit that I could take in the "office". But look for the next post which will feature the suit in action!

Elvis III, Ep 2 - Pt 2

2011-03-18T18:20:00.010-04:00

Here we are, the night before the show, and all I have to do is put in the zipper and stick all the pieces together. The fringe was an ungodly nightmare, I must say. Honestly, the only reason I'm typing this instead of dealing with the zipper is because I've been at this since 10 AM, and I still want to throw the thing out the window! But, alas, I can't. But enough with the babbling: to my work!

After much debate and many suggested and rejected ideas, my roommate Katie and I finally came up with the best solution for attaching the fringe. After laying a full-length piece of stitch-witchery where the fringe would lay, we started cutting and placing, using a smaller chunk of stitch-witchery every 8-10 pieces and pressing it to seal. This method ended up being the best solution ever! Happy mistake! It ended up being tons more adherent through the leather suede lace than we anticipated and only one zig-zag stitch over the length on each side was necessary!

The left side is done, the right side is close (can you tell we were near the end of the spool?):

A close-up shot of the left-side fringe. Is it just me or do the colours stink of Evel Knievel? :P

The next impossible task was the zipper. To create the smoothest finished edge along the front (and anticipating the grommets that will be added last), I opted to stitch the lining to the front, right sides together, then fold it back, creating a nice, smooth finish. I also ended up choosing to layer the zipper inside the fabric pieces in an effort to continue the smooth finish look already achieved above the fringe.

Additionally, my machine was originally my grandmother's. She gave it to me when she unearthed it in the process of moving. I've not really had a good chance to play. So when I discovered 24 stitch pattern cams, a little piece of me has been screaming to try them. So I did. I used a simple, but nice-looking, cam to add a little flair to the zipper line of the jumpsuit. If you look at it closely, you can tell that I'm still learning how to maintain my speed to keep a steady width/length of each segment. But from a distance it looks really cool! As an added bonus, I used inverted thread colors in the needle and bobbin, so it's blue on white on the front and white on blue on the back! Fun! :)

And a Close-up:

Now pushing 15 hours of work today, I'm finally into the last few stages!

The inseam is finally stitched; I say finally with such emphasis, simply because I fell victim to one of the most common sewing errors: I patterned two of the same leg. And didn't realise it until now (1.30 AM Saturday). Geh. Nearly an hour wasted un-stitching, re-patterning, and re-stitching...before I could even start pinning the inseam! Hopefully, though, this is the only major fail on my part and the rest of this project is smooth-sailing. (Fingers crossed!)

After fixing the issue with the legs, it was time to finish the crotch and stitch the back shut. The last 2 jumpsuits I've made for Mark had similar issues. He is very broad-shouldered. So my dear friend Katie (remember her? stitch-witchery lady? yeah...she's awesome) suggested adding a 6-inch long, 3-inch wide dart in the top center of the back and then box-pleating it under the collar, thus creating a nice dart of blue in the white of the buttersuede and allowing more motion for Mark during the show. Stitched in and pinned into place, this is what it looks like:

So, what I've still got left is to stitch the shoulders, attach the collar/neckband, attach the sleeves, put in the godets in the legs (the bright colorful things that make the wide-leg pants into "bell-bottoms"), hem the pants and set the grommets. If I get up at 7, I should be fine. As long as I don't dilly-dally. :P But, I find myself now staring at a clock that says 2.13 AM. I'm fried. Any more sewing tonight will end very badly for everyone. I'm giving up. A quick 5 or 6 hours of sleep, then it's back in for round 3!

St Patrick's Day

2011-03-18T08:09:00.001-04:00

So, yesterday was the fantastic ST PATRICK'S DAY!!!! Matt and I had a blast at our local bar, the Main Event. Karaoke, drinks, and great friends and new friends!

I ended up making a new skirt out of some re-conditioned fabrics...the green was originally a twin-sized duvet cover and the brown was a set of curtains. Originally the brown was going to be a part of my new Peasantry Garb for Faire, and it still may be, but I needed something to line the thinner green cotton with. So I figured why not stick the two together?!? Turned out to be a fantastic idea and it took me a day to make. I started yesterday morning around 11 and finished it around 6, with a three-hour break in the middle while I went to lunch and ran a couple errands with Matt. So, without further ado: the new skirt, and the full ensemble when it was done!

Here are the two fabrics side by side. Sorry the shot is so dark, my camera is high, I think. It works, then it doesn't...anyway. I had made the brown skirt nearly a year ago and hadn't finished the waistband or the hem, so I decided to double-layer with it. First to get it out of my stash pile, and second because I love the colors together!

Here's the skirt as I stitched the panels together. I must say, I really like how the base of M4090 goes together so quickly and easily!

The down-in view of the two skirts pinned together. The green ended up on the outside, yes. But to get that final effect with the final look I wanted at this particular seam, I had to stitch them together this way. This is not what the pattern directions say to do, but I was feeling creative and inspired. I wanted to make the skirt a drawstring-waist and needed to make the waistband itself into a casing rather than just a waistband. So I skipped the interfacing and starched two pieces of waistband, then basted them together. But first was this step, wherein I stitched the top fabric to the under-layer on the inside and followed a guide (see next photo) to be able to turn the skirts out and have a "lacing gap" for ease of donning, as well as a nice, smooth inside seamed edge.

Here's a close-up of the guide for the "lacing gap" (still don't know precisely what to call it!). The basic premise is that I stitch all the way around the top, starting at the left side of the gap guide, then when I reach the right side on my way around, I stitch along the chalk line. For added security, I double-stitched this part, then clipped down the middle to within 1/4" of the tip.

Upon turning out the skirts, here is the un-banded waistline:

And a close-up of the "lacing gap". I keep referring to this spot as the "lacing gap" because in the original pattern, the instructions say to stitch in a continuous lap and then install grommets and lace across this space. I ended up using it pretty much as a spacer for putting the skirt on easily (think an unzippered fly in a pair of jeans).

After this, I attached the waistband and stitched in some strategic box pleats to take in the excess and give the skirt extra flounce. When attaching the waistband, I ran into a few tiny issues pertaining to how to making it a casing. I ended up hemming the edges with a double fold, then zig-zagged across the ends to keep them down. After that, I pressed it in half and pressed up about a 1/2" edge and pretty much attached it like bias-tape leaving nearly 2/3 of the band floating to hold the lacing.

Here's the final look!

My new sewing room, and how it transforms

2011-03-16T14:44:00.001-04:00

When I moved into the house with my then-boyfriend Matt, I put all of my sewing on hold to focus on working at Faire and building our relationship. Also, the way our house was set up, there really wasn't a good place to set up. All the rooms are full of clutter, stuff, and people. We are lucky enough to have a 3-bedroom house with a living room and a family room, as well as an office and 3 bathrooms. Great house, right? Well, when Matt got his pot-bellied pig, he walled off a portion of the family room and filled the other half with a couch and entertainment center. That was a fine idea at the time, until that room (known as the back room)

became the landing zone for all of our crap that had no where else to go. Upstairs, there was a lovely little 8x9 room, but honestly it's too small. My sewing stuff eventually all landed there, but it just wasn't comfortable.

When it came time for the wedding, I decided that I was going to make all of the bridesmaid's dresses, as well as my own. So I enlisted the use of the "Black Room" (nick-named that when it was painted black by a former roommate, and though now painted white, still retains the moniker). Which was fine, until 2 days ago when Mark moved in. Katie now has moved back into the Black Room and Mark has taken the Grey Room next door. Which left the little room or the back room. Well, Matt and I had decided (since he hadn't used the room for nearly 2 years) that the large furniture stuffs in that room were going to go into the garage sale and moved all but the couch out. 6 months later, he and I have finally started moving me and my stuff into the back room and started the process of converting it into my full-fledged sewing room.

So, yesterday, I built the bookshelf that Matt and I bought months ago and set it up in my new sewing room... :D

In addition to finally building (and filling) my new bookshelf, I also finally got around to hanging up the important bits from our wedding...The group photo of us and our wedding party, our marriage license, and my bouquet (made by my Matron of Honor):

More changes! I've recently acquired (read: Hancock Fabrics was throwing them away) a bucket-style thread holder and a pattern cabinet. So I had to do a little rearranging and now all of my patterns and random bits of thread have new homes! YAY!

Also, remember the giant pile of crap? Yeah, that's getting organized today! Can't stand the jumble of junk and crap and other various shite that has collected in a pile to one side. It gives me limited space to work and it looks bad. So I'm fixing the problem by cleaning it, organizing it and sorting it.

Not much work will get done today on projects, but I'm hoping that by the time I'm done organizing, I'll have twice as much room to work!

Elvis III, Ep 2 - Pt 1

2011-03-16T14:41:00.002-04:00

So, today has been tons more productive than yesterday in regards to Elvis III. So far, the blue lining has been patterned and cut, and now it's onto the white fabric. I will hopefully be able to update later this evening with the happy news that the fabric is cut and the two parts are together. That's my goal for the day. *fingers crossed*

Here are two shots of the Muslin:

This is the best shot I could get of the lining fabric. Unfortunately my camera doesn't show the true color very well. It's a few shades darker...think Royal Blue, with less purple.

The two back pieces of the Muslin laid out on the blue lining fabric. This shot is a better color sample. This is actually quite close to the final color scheme...The ivory buttersuede that Mark and I decided on ended up looking nearly white.

The collar bands and the godets laid out on the lining. The final result is hopefully going to have a white outer band on the collar with a blue facing. Also, a small blue godet in the center back across the shoulders as my "workspace" is *very* broad-shouldered.

So far, all the blue is patterned, as is the white. Haven't taken photos of the white fabric, but it's done! *le sigh* Tomorrow the plan is to put it all together! Haven't gotten the lining attached to the outer fabric, but by the time I was done with the pinning and cutting, it was already dinner-time and I was losing my source of natural light. The curse of using a picture window as my primary light source. :(

Elvis III, Episode 1

2011-03-15T13:54:00.000-04:00

So, I find myself beginning the enormity of making and finishing the third Elvis jumpsuit for my friend (and now roommate) Mark.

The first was successful as far as it held together and looked ok, but in my eyes, it qualified as a fail. It was only partially lined in the sleeves, and the fabric that we used ended up being sort of see through. Not enough to really show anything, but rather, you could see every seam; and the decorations (conchos) were handstitched at the last minute and looked a bit haphazard, as you can see below:

The second was far more successful, but still not perfect. The outer fabric was a basic cotton bedsheet, which ended up being even more see through than the previous jumpsuit, so we decided to have a full-body lining of red satin. Great in theory; horrible in practice. The lining didn't move the same way as the outer fabric, and as any good fabric-person knows, didn't breathe worth crap! The rhinestones and the eyelets set into the cotton looked fantastic, but were an incredible pain in my arse. And once again, I ended up working down to the wire. The final results:

I would like to mention that the last-minute scrambles WERE NOT MY FAULT! Frikkin' Elvis delayed me until the last minute with late fittings and shopping late....So. To fix this problem, when he approached me regarding this third installation of an Elvis jumpsuit, I made it very clear that these last-minute situations wouldn't happen anymore. I needed more time. Well, it's happened again. Not his fault though, I have only myself and a bum hip to blame. I found myself unable to walk comfortably due to an increasingly stiff and painful hip, and knew there was no way I could possibly pattern. Once the ache finally subsided and I got the fabric and assorted add-ons, I find myself at today. With only 3.5 days left, I have to pattern, assemble and finish the third jumpsuit.

I am feeling a little better about this, as the muslin has been fitted and trimmed down, the fabric has all been pre-washed and pressed, and all I've got in the way of adornments is some fringe stitched into the front. But, once I have a chance to sit down later this evening, I will post the second episode of this jumpsuit, and the status at that point in time.

2 years later.

2011-03-15T10:19:00.000-04:00

So, I just realized that I had completely forgotten about this blog...And I fully intend on using it again. But, for anyone reading this, here's an update!

In January of '09, I moved out of my apartment and into a house with my boyfriend-at-the-time. My sewing helpers moved as well, and learned how to co-habitate with two dogs, a pot-bellied pig, and now a hedgehog. They aren't thrilled.

In the summer/fall of '09, I had the opportunity to work/perform at two different Ren Faires, and while I enjoyed both experiences, I must say, I'd rather attend and have my online sales support the habit. :)

In summer of '10, I married my high school sweetheart and housemate, Matt. He's fantastic, and fully encourages my Ren Faire behaviour and sewing addiction. He also is a bit of an enabler of my yarn addiction.

About a month ago, now, I rejoined my favorite online community after a period of absence, and am slowly re-joining the Ren community, as funds allow.

My commission load is still minimal, but I'm trying to get more word of mouth and more exposure so that my work load will grow. I'm bored, people! Gimme somethin' to do! :)

And a couple weeks ago, I finally set up my etsy account! Cara Greenleaf Designs is now on Etsy. Unfortunately, nothing up for sale quite yet, but definitely in the next couple weeks!

New photos of my current projects and finished projects to be posted soon!

Cara

Effigy on hold, New noble gown

2008-09-04T14:28:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I found the camera!!!
(It was in the pocket of one of my coats that I rarely wear. Hush you. I'm a ditz....not my fault.)

Also: I HAVE A SEWING MACHINE NOW!!! YAYA!!!! It's a loverly 1945 Aldens Zigzag and it's in fantastic condition. Here! Take a look!!

So, the effigy corset project has been put on hold, mainly because I like my fingers.

With that in mind, I was prepping to go to Ohio's Renaissance Festival, which will actually be here in about 2 days, so this is a backlog kind of dealy today, and I found that I have a new Noble's Gown pattern, and lots of gold velvet. Keep in mind I'm a bit of an idiot. So, silly little numbskull that I am, I decided that, with only two weeks until Faire, I was going to attempt to make this dress. As it stands now, the dress is almost complete, all that is left is to stitch the pleats of the topskirt, gather or pleat the underskirt, and put the grommets in. Lack of sleep and lots of pins in my fingers later, it looks fantastic.
I'm following Simplicity pattern 3782 (I think that number is right...if it isn't, I"ll come back and edit it at some point).

So here are the pictures as the dress progressed!!

I'm using a beautiful Gold crushed velvet for the over, and a lovely smooth Brown velvet for the under, with a gorgeous antiqued lace as the trim:

Patterning was a bear, it took almost three days to get it all organized, pinned, trimmed, and traced.... :P

At least I had some help:

Finally, though, I could start construction!
I started with the bodice, knowing it would be the most intricate and require the most work. I wanted to get that out of the way first, considering the time crunch I was working on.

But it came together quicker than expected, and turned out beautifully!!

The sleeves were a bit of a challenge, but they turned out quite well! Only, once again I'm an idiot, and didn't make the sleeves detachable. ( *bangs her head against the wall* ) But I'll be buggered if they still don't look phee-nomenal!

And now we move on to the skirts. All 10 pounds of them!
Most of the time, I won, but there were a few moments wherein the velvet did triumph.

My favorite idea of the whole operation, though, is the trim. I am a poor little seamstress so I have to be creative sometimes. I didn't want to spend $30 on trim, when it could be better spent on food, so instead of scrimping, I scavenged. I actually ended up using some of the excess brown velvet, layering it the lace that I used on teh sleeves and tacking all of that on as my skirt trim! I'm quite impressed by how it turned out.

What say you?

Now here was teh most challenging part of the whole project (thus far): the pleating of the skirts. My machine, though awesomely sturdy couldn't fit the gathered velvet under the presser foot, and I am really not in the mood to handstitch that much, so after some consultation with friends, I opted to cartridge pleat the top skirt (and will probably do the same on the bottom skirt.

Of course my favorite little helper couldn't resist getting in on the action:

Isn't he cute folks?!

Well, that's all there is thus far, but don't fret! Now that I have my camera again, I will be able to take pictures of this dress when it's all done and get them posted fast! HUZZAH!!

So!

What do you think so far?

Effigy Corset

2008-06-01T17:08:00.001-04:00

Thus it begins. After finish my first official faire of the season (Tennessee), I am now deep in the Faire mindset and ready to make more clothes than a normal human should!

Unfortuantely, my camera has gone missing as of late, so I'm trying to find the bleeding thing so I can post pictures of my blue velvet dress for Aelyna Grey...I actually don't know if there were any pictures taken of me in the velvet on Monday, but many cameras were hiding as the day was interrupted by a lovely deluge. But we'll see!

The dress in question is actually a lovely, triple-lined royal blue velvet Irish Overdress with a cream-colored chemise under it. Turned out beautifully!

First debut of Rust Gown

2008-03-30T22:32:00.000-04:00

So, Castleteer Event was last night! HUZZAH!

Great fun was had by all and my Rust Gown made it's debut. Now, there were some fitting issues, such as the bodice needs to be taken in an inch or so in the front, and through out the day, a couple of eyelets popped out of place, and several were very rough in the lacing process, however, in general the clothing worked out beautifully!!

Here are some shots of the gown in action!!

What do you think??

Character Sketches

2008-03-30T22:19:00.001-04:00

So.
I've got about a dozen characters that need garb, and I've recently drawn out some basic, pencil sketches for six of my characters, including one that I'm making for my darling Patrick.
Details of the drawings are listed below the pictures, giving more of a mental picture of the final product.

Aelyna "Grey Hawkes" Grey, First Mate of the Rusty Cutlass

Details:
Blue Velvet Irish Overdress with gold hasps
Light blue cotton underskirt
White linen chemise with belled sleeves and collar-bone height scoop neck
Blue snood with white pearls
Black boots

Captain Quincy Hawkes, Captain of the Rusty Cutlass

Details:
Blue Velvet frock coat, lined and trimmed with black damask
White linen shirt with ruffled cuffs and three-layer ruff at neck
Gold buttons on coat
Black leather gloves
Black Cavalier hat with blue feather
Hair pulled back into a ponytail
Black linen or cotton breeches with drawstring just below the knee
Black leather boots with fold just above Knee

Druidess Cyrwnn, Earth Spirit and Guardian of the Fairies

Details:
Natural shaded chemise, long, flat-edge wrists, scoop neck
Medium brown light wool Irish Overdress with dark brown lacing
Brown boots/sandals
Grey-green light wool cloak (Like LotR Elven cloaks) with muslin lining and wood hasp; deep cowl hood
Fits very loose, and very simple; no trim

Emerald Dancer, Irish Dancer

Details:
Black sheer chemise with ruff around neck
Black corset with black embroidery and emerald green lacing
Black topskirt gathered in draping tiers with emerald ribbon
Emerald green bottoms skirt with handkercheif hemline
Black low-cut heels over black leggings

Hussy Cara Greenleaf, Wench

Details:
Scarlet Bodice with purple lacing
Cream-colored chemise with off-shoulder collar, elastic in the neckline; sleeves falling to just under elbows
Scarlet bottom skirt
Blue Velvet top skirt, cut on angle, lowest point just below the knees
Brown Sword belt
Brown heeled boots
Brown Cavalier hat with purple feather

Lady Cara Dragonspyre, Lady Wife of Lord Dragonspyre

Details:
Black, round-neck chemise with purple beaded trim
Black bodice with purple design in center panel and black side lacing
Purple open sleeves with black lining in same fabric as bodice
Black top-skirt over hoop
Purple bottom skirt of same fabric as sleeves
Sheer blackish purple capelet attached to back straps of bodice
Sheer blackish purple draping over the black topskirt of hoop
Heeled black boots
Amethysts decorating hair

Silver Shadowe, Mercenary and Assassin

Details:
Black chemise with slight bell to sleeves, they will be close to skin, but not too tight
Black bodice with silver front lacing
Black overskirt with split front
Either Black with Silver pattern or Grey second skirt
Black boots
Black half gloves, covering back of hand but leaving fingers bare
Black cloak
Black sword belt
Hair uncovered and pulled into a low-braid at base of neck.

Rust Bodice

2008-03-30T22:16:00.000-04:00

Ok, so the Rust Gown's bodice is done.

And I'm not dead.

Quite an accomplishment I must say.

I know I usually prattle on more about this, but I've got two posts to make tonight, and the pictures are pretty self explanatory. And I'm tired. I just got back from Castleteer, and I'm ready to go shower and go to sleep. So, as said before, with no more introduction or babbling:

Bodice Lining:

Bodice Front:

Bodice Strap detail:

Eyelet marks along the back:

Rust Gown II

2008-03-24T13:48:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I went to Mother's this Saturday past to work on the gown with the assistance of her sewing machine. Much progress was made!

I successfully finished the corset. It is done. The beast is finished! A total of 30 man-hours were spent stitching the bloody thing, and the thing isn't even the very best it could be. But oh well. The next one I make will be better. However, for a first attempt I'm quite proud. The final product is only three layers thick: One layer of duck cloth and layer of cotton with cable ties as the bones. A second layer of cotton was laid over the duck cloth's facing side, giving the finished, smooth front.

The eyelets are (I believe) aluminum or a steel/aluminum mix.

:D
I'm quite proud of myself. All by hand too. Owie.

With Mother's assistance, and the sewing machine, the skirts are done as well. Both of the skirts were nearly done when I got there Saturday morning, but the edges were unfinished, and I got some help there. Mother also helped with the laying of the top skirt and the hemming of both.

This picture is of the stitched topskirt over the finished bottom skirt. We were trying to make sure that the split fell right, and some darts needed to be removed. (My hands are over the waist because the hasps weren't on yet. I still had to hold it up.)

This shot is after the darts were removed, the edges finished and the hasps put on.

This is a close-up of the hasps, though I'm not sure if they are H/A or not, they will be covered by the bodice, so I'm not too worried, but they look pretty! (Sorry, the picture's a little blurry)

YAY!
*dances*

Now all that's left to finish is the chemise and the bodice!

Mother is actually helping me quite a bit with the chemise, doing most of the actual machine work. I cut and pinned all of it from lovely handkerchief weight muslin, very light and soft, but because I was so behind on the corset, she volunteered to do the machine work on that. Very nice of her.
It's actually almost done:

And now it's on to the evil little demon that is my bodice. At this writing, I've drafted the pattern, and started stitching the first layer onto the core of duck cloth. No pictures yet, but I'm getting there, and I'm considering having the straps be laced on, rather than attached, but I'm not sure yet. As it's drafted, they're attached, but that could always change.

Wish me luck. My deadline says I should be done with the beast by Friday night. Heh. Like I said, wish me luck. Pictures will be posted when it's done, and when I'm at the event where it gets it's test run, at which point, I'll be going over just what flaws cropped up.

Rust Gown I

2008-03-21T12:23:00.001-04:00

Ok, So here's the first installment in my dress journal.

This particular dress is going to be used for a couple of different noble characters:
Historical: Dona Mencia de Mendoza
Faire: Lady Cara de Valencia

I also may use this gown for my "Noble Con" Character.

These first pictures are from my first attempt at an historically accurate (H/A) Elizabethan Corset. I used duck cloth as my stiff inner layer instead of canvas, as the only canvas that the store had was "artist's canvas". Didn't feel like pulling it off of a board. So duck cloth worked and I used old bedsheets as the lining. I'm still debating what to cover it with, but seeing as it's going to be mainly used as underpinnings, I may just double the lining fabric and be done with it. I'm going to attmept a better one in the near future, but first I must invest in a sewing machine.

Oh, yeah. I don't have a sewing machine. Every stitch you see on this page was done by hand. This weekend I will be able to have access to a sewing machine for a day, so I will be making the chemise, finishing the skirts and hopefully making a bodice with that so that I don't go crazy with sleep deprivation before next Saturday, which is when this entire gown needs to be done.

Anywhoo. This is the picture of the channel lines drawn on the duck cloth.

This next picture is after the channels were stitched and the cable ties that I used as bones were inserted, but not trimmed down.

This is the center panel of the corset, all boned and final stitching done along top and bottom.

And the most gratifying picture I've ever taken. This is the finished core of the corset, taken after countless hours and bloody fingertips. I'm actually quite impressed, as it was the first time I'd ever attmepted anything of this scale or difficulty, especially since I had to draft the pattern myself and had never done that before this project.

(the reason the left side looks unstitched and some of the lines look "undone" is because I ran out of my black thread and the store only had "natural" left in the particular thread weight I was using)

*le sigh*

So that's the corset. Next are the much easier, but still as mentally challenging, skirts. I decided on making two skirts, a bottom skirt with a pattern stitched on and a top skirt that has a split. I started making another dress off of a pattern from McCall's and quickly found that the size 6 for that particular skirt actually translates to about a size 12 by store standards. So it doesn't fit. So I took a skirt that fits perfectly and lays right over the hoop I have and used that as my pattern. It worked! :D That was a gratifying find.

I don't actually have a picture of just the plain bottom skirt, but I have a picture of the reveal pattern pinned on, then trimmed and stitched. You can see the bottom skirt color (a nice, naturaly shaded cream) at the corners when the skirt is laid flat.

Pattern pinned:

Pattern trimmed and stitched:

Pattern detail:

The fabric I used for the pattern is actually about a yard and a half of drapery fabric. I fell in love with the pattern and the color, so built a dress around it. I've found that that is a very fun way of starting a dress, and the drapery fabric is so much more durable and heavy, it really gives that period weight, without the heat, it's actually kind of thinly woven, so it breathes beautifully.

This next shot is the bottom skirt laid over the fabric for the top skirt (which is only pinned at this point. After I work at mother's tomorrow, I will post the pictures of everything else, including the top-skirt finished). I realy like the way the colors compliment each other. I'm going to trim all of this in a rich chocolate brown to really pull all the shades together, and wear brown boots, not that it matters, but I'm a stickler for everything matching.

That's all that I have done and photographed right now, but stay tuned and next Monday more updates will be posted!

Oh, and what would a sewing project be without helpers??

Not a blog, a project journal

2008-03-18T12:49:00.000-04:00

This is not a blog. There. I said it.

I'm using this space as a dress and chain journal. Here I will be posting project ideas, from design to finished, and will be updating as I work on new projects. Huzzah!

Also, will be posting Faire news as it relates to myself, my characters and my business.

If I get bored, this will also be a place for me to build up characters and work on backstories with feedback as an option.

Here we go!