Fashion Historian & Historical Costume Maker
Cynthia freaked me out yesterday by casually mentioning that we had about a month of sewing before the Colonial Williamsburg symposium, which left me hyperventilating. So, with that, a renewed vigor to get these stays wearable so I can start sewing the riding habit that will go over them!
Almost done with putting the pieces together; I’ve got one seam left on the other side. Hoping to finish that, and do a try on, tonight!
I thought for sure I’d be able to whip together the stays pieces on Friday night — I mean, what’s six seams? Nothing! Well, I now have 3 of the 6 seams done, and obviously this is going to take me another week. It’s HARD to sew through that many layers — pliers help, I have found — and to make sure you actually catch ALL of the layers, you have to stick the needle in, then check each side underneath to make sure you can see a bit of needle, before you can finish that stitch. Le sigh! I’ve basically killed my leather thimble, and my wrist is still tired…
Here’s a fuzzy shot of the outside and inside of one of the seams — thank goodness for welting, which will cover those ugly stitches!
Who thought I’d ever get here? I certainly didn’t! Now I just have lacing holes to finish and a strap to cut out, and then I can finally sew the pieces together and actually get cracking on my Williamsburg riding habit…
It’s hard to stick with my resolution of posting 5 times a week when you let your DNS registration expire! oops! Back in business now. I was going to tell you to watch Downton Abbey because the Edwardian costumes are stunning and it’s a highly entertaining series (Maggie Smith is snobby FTW!), but you’ve probably already figured that out.
Instead, I’ll bypass that and get to the 12th Night recap and final Florentine photos! The event was fun, as per usual with SCA events, mostly for hanging out with good friends and not because the event itself offers anything of interest. I’m sorry, but it’s true! I’m not into court or fighting and the dealer’s room was podunk. I’m fine with the SCA being about making your own fun, and I do, but there really isn’t too much to report beyond, “Ran around a hotel for a weekend with friends and wore costumes and saw lovely costumes.” I did take pictures, though!
The 1540s Florentine dress went relatively smashingly. The bodice fits now, although there are still wrinkles in the bodice — but these are “bodice moving around as I wear it” wrinkles, not “bodice layers aren’t laying smoothly” wrinkles as before. We couldn’t get it laced closed enough to hide any of the placket, so there’s some placket action in back. The sleeve trim looks MUCH better at the back seam, as it’s actually now a continuous spiral (yay!). I made a new girdle that was REALLY pretty, but apparently the crimp beads that I used to end it weren’t strong enough for the weight, and it broke as I put it on. I also made a jeweled-hair-band-thingie that I liked but really, what I want are ouches (stones in gold settings, like you see on many girdles) for a period correct look — I ended up using a lot of pearls, and I think it looks rather bridal.
As of 9:45pm last night, so that’s about 24 hours plus. I don’t have my corset on my dress form, so the dress is just pinned on. Now, off to the the bead store in hopes that I can find something that will work for a new girdle and jeweled hair band thingie!
