Stupid phone won't let me use the text correctly... That's supposed to be *called

A Worthy Cause

A COMMUNITY WORRIED ABOUT A STUCK KITTEN CALLE  FOR BACK-UP

More Underwear Pictures

chemise

pin tuck detail of chemise

farthingale before hoop steel was inserted

interior side detail of farthingale

exterior side detail of farthingale

interior back detail of corset, notice my seaming boo-boo on the tab?

grommet detail on corset

bum roll

chemise and bum roll with Victorian chemise on the right

underarm gusset

before corset was placed on dress form

wooden busk for Elizabethan corset on top with Victorian corset busk on bottom

side view

rear view

front of corset, I ran out of lacing and had to resort to hemp twine for the busk until I can get more lacing.

rear view of corset

My Elizabethan underwear ensemble is finished.  I chose not to make drawers (at this point) but have everything else; chemise, corset, bum roll and farthingale.  The chemise and bum roll were not difficult to make at all.  Anything you see made in white is muslin, thank Joann's fabric for their 50% off coupons.
I am not sure the pin tucking on the front and back is period but it was necessary to make the thing fit.  The underarm gusset was an interesting detail that I had not encountered in my sewing before now but I found that I like it and the room it affords for movement.
The farthingale was not particularly difficult to put together, it just requires a mixture of technical skill and jerry rigging to get the hoop steel put in and secured.  I skimped on the finishing crimps and used electrical tape, which you may be able to see showing through the fabric in the pictures.  The fabric was still damp from removing tailoring marks.
The corset was not difficult to make at all, contrary to popular belief it does require patience and a fair amount of handwork.  Black linen and green duck were used for the body of the corset.  Boning is done in zip ties and I used metal grommets, then finished them by hand to lend a more authentic look.  The busk is a piece of pine that I picked up for free out of a scrap pile from one of the local hardware shops.  This being my first run at a corset, I don't feel too bad about the effort but there is a lot of room for improvement on any future works.  It does not fit as snugly as I would like but that is on my list of things to keep in mind for the next one.  Yes, there will be a next one, a Victorian era corset to be specific, that will include metal boning and coutil and a real busk!
The bum roll is not placed correctly in the pictures, I was so excited to have it all finished I just kinda threw it on the dummy and started snapping.  Yesterday's post may have a better shot.

Elizabethan Underwear Ensemble

You're Looking At My Underwear!ELIZABETHAN UNDERWEAR!

Found My Camera

Well, technically, it's my boyfriend's camera but it still snaps pictures all the same.  Anyhew, I will be posting pictures before the end of the week.  Nothing major, a couple of chemises, a set of drawers, a bum roll and a (hopefully) complete farthingale.  My coutil just came in yesterday for my corset so I plan on beginning work on that just as soon as I complete my muslin sometime this week.  I will snap a picture of the muslin as well to go along with the underwear post.  Happy sewing!

Pictures of My Underwear are Coming Soon!

So, I go to take pics for you guys this morning and foot if my camera wasn't dead.  Back to the house to hunt down the charger.  I am very excited to show ya'll my chemises, both Elizabethan and Victorian.

Research

I thought with the end of the semester so would I be finished with research but, I find it continues, just on a more pleasing subject -- sewing.  This morning I went to the library and checked out a few books on costuming, fitting and alterations.  One book in particular I am very excited about.  Amazon has it listed in the second edition for around $90 so I was bummed about not being able to afford it at the moment but then I got lucky this morning and found the first edition on the shelf by chance.  It is called "Fitting and Pattern Alteration: A Multi-Method Approach" by Elizabeth G. Liechty, Della N. Pottberg and Judith A. Rasband.  Normally I do not keep books I get from the library for the whole time alloted but this one I think I will so there is plenty of time to go back and page through it whenever I want.  Other titles from this morning include "The Corset" by Valerie Steele, "The Theatre Student: Costuming" by Prisk and Byers, "Period Costume for Stage and Screen: Medieval - 1500" by Jean Hunnisett and "The Cut of Women's Clothes 1600 - 1930" by Nora Waugh.  Needless to say, I cannot wait to get home and begin my research.  Thank goodness for the local library!  Ya'll have a good day, I've got some reading to do.

Costuming has arrived!

O.k., I realize I have been off the grid for awhile...this last semester was H - E- double hockey sticks and I am glad it's over.  only one more semseter to go and I'm dun, yes that was D-U-N, dun.  That's poor spelling coming from an English major. 

Moving on. 

I have begun in yet another interst area, costuming.  It's a blast.  I have most of the underwear for a Renaissance and Civil War/Bustle costumes finished.  The Elizabethan corset is HOT and was so much fun to make.  It was more of a dummy or a test run if you will but it worked out well enough to use in future costumes.  I have the chemise complete and the farthingale and bum roll mostly complete.  I have to get some extra supplies this week to finish them, namely the hoop steel for the farthingale.  Some of my stitch'n bitch friends and I are ordering some Reconstructing History patterns to make our dresses out of and I believe I will be a French courtesean from the 1560-70's era.  I love the deeply pointed bodices and the partlets of the time.
The Civil War and Bustle costumes will be two seperate costumes but the underwear for both costumes will be virutually the same except for the chemise ( I made a sleeved chemise from a Simplicity pattern and love it) and hoops.  I have a Truly Victorian pattern to make a butsle and a Simplicity pattenr for my Civil War hoops.  For over 5 years now, I have been promising myself I would make myself a hoop dress and never got around to it.  Wednesday night at stitch'n bitch, I decided to stop putting it off so I began the underwear construction so I would have the base to build the dress on.  No more excuses, this is going to be a dream realized and, it appears, a new obsession.
A word of caution on the Simpicity costuming patterns, they run large so hold the pattern up to yourself before cutting anything to see if the dimensions are anywhere near correct.  This was what I did for my Victorian chemise the other day and it turned out perfectly with some arm alterations (I have monster arms and always have to add at least 1", sometimes more for a comfortable fit in the bicep area).  I am debating making the sleeveless chemise from the Laughing Moon pattern I have on the way.  I purchased the LM DVD on how to build a corset and have found it to be very helpful and it is the Dore/Silverado corset pattern I am waiting on at the moment.
At first, I was very intimidated by the idea of building a corset but I found once I did, it was not as bad as I expected and I would like to make more (I'm thinking on for every day of the week).  Which leads me to my next paragraph.
If you live in the area and would like a costume, I'm available.  I am totally in love with the old fashions and while I have a ways to go before being a fashion history buff, I can make it work for hobby costuming needs.
Now that I am making these costumes, all I need is somewhere to wear them! 
I have no pictures yet but will get some up as soon as possible.

Where'd My Mojo Go?

O.k. I have tried twice now to sit down and sew the dress for my daughter but I'm lacking mojo.  I got the pattern cut and the fabric prepped but I can't get any further than that :/  Usually I can kick myself out of a slump but I can't seem to do that this time.  Maybe it's stress, or the after effects of stress?  Maybe it's menopause from my surgery?  Whatever it is, it stole my mojo and I want it back (sniffs, reaches for a tissue). 

Vote for My Coat on Sewer's Choice

Here's the link.  Make sure to click on the "sewer's choice" link at the bottom of the screen.

Fabric Choice

Thank You to everyone who dropped by and left your votes.  It came down to #3 and #4 in the end.  The blue is the best choice, a little thinner than I liked but I can just add a second layer, possibly to make the skirt look tiered, with the gold edge acting as the hem.  I want the dress to be a surprise under the tree for Christmas.

Be sure and check out my other recent posts, I want to start a "Design Your Own Purse Pattern" challenge.

Vintage Tween Fashion

I want to make this dress for my daughter but I can't decide which fabric, help me out.  There are 4 choices, three are quilting cottons, the blue with gold edging is cotton also (I'm guessing) but it is much thinner and has a nicer hand than the other three.  Drop your votes in the comment box with the number of the fabric you're voting for. 
Fabric 1: blue floral print quilting cotton with the background having a slightly blue tint to it

 Fabric 2: white gingham

 Fabric 3: pink quilting cotton with multi-colored flowers...kinda funky

 Fabric 4: turquoise blue with gold trim on one selvage only.