Here's a short (seriously, it's like 12 seconds) of me shooting a musket for the first time! It was double loaded with cartridges that the Patriot's end zone militia use, so it's a big boom! So fun!
I just got home from a reenactment in Danvers, MA (YES! A reenactment! The only one I've been to ALL YEAR! How awful is that?). Anyhooo, it was wonderful and fun and I met some new and awesome people, and when I got home I had a surprise box from
sarahlizzi ! I opened it and inside was:
An awesome book and beautiful fabric! My dear, you know me so well! Thank you! What a wonderful surprise and fantastic way to end this awesome weekend. You're amazing :)
Now...what should I make with it?
This was taken by Gloria and shows me Saturday afternoon, in my green striped polonaise, cutting out the sleeves of the Whig gown, a mere 10 hours before I was to wear it. When I said it didn't have sleeves, I didn't mean they weren't sewn in. I mean I really, truly didn't have sleeves. I'm just glad I remembered my pattern!
(Aside: I especially love this picture because It echoes my icon so well. I have always been so amused by those Diderot images of the dressmakers and embroiderers going about their work in the frouffy gowns. Well y'all, I've done it!)
I still can't believe that I got this finished. A big HUGE thank you goes to Gloria who hand-hemmed two hundred and fifty inches of hems for me over the course of Friday and Saturday. She was the reason that I got this done. Gloria, you rock. I cannot thank you enough!
Despite my displeasure with the finishing and construction of this gown, it is the one that I got the most comments about and the one that I have seen the most pictures of in other sets, so it was obviously a hit. It is certainly striking, that's for damn sure, but I'm not sure if I love it. I almost feel like it is too much, you know? Like maybe it needs a simple gold petticoat or something to go with it. And, as you will notice by my tag, this is supposed to be a Zone Front gown and it most certainly is not yet! I will finish this, though, because I can see it in my head and I'm far to close to stop now!
Here are a few shots:
( Whiggishness ho! )
ETA: Also, I want to point out on that last picture, where you can see how well the stripes of the bodice and the sleeve match up, that it was complete luck and I didn't even try to do that. I'm telling y'all, the costuming gods are STRONG at Costume Con! Not even a touch of sleevil!
I think I'm going to need to go back and actually hem the entirety of the ruffle, because it shows no sign of being at a stopping point of fraying.
I believe that the last time I left this dress I talked about the petticoat trim, but I also eventually added box pleating along the skirt and sleeves and a wide knife-pleat along the neckline. I'm actually quite pleased with how the trim on this turned out, given that I was so worried I wouldn't have enough. All I can say is that there is a shocking amount of piecing in the trim!
Bizarrely, I don't have any pictures of me alone in this dress, so these were stolen from
( Much more pretty behind here! )
The fit isn't ideal. I wish that I had cut the front panels a little bit wider so that the stomacher didn't show as much and I wish that I cut the skirts a little bit longer.
But over all I'm pretty pleased with it. Not bad for a torn up old gown!( Cut for Kat! (I told you I would!) )
I also realized that I left one whole disc at work, so I'm 200 pictures short of what I have. I need to wait to post them. However, if you are Facebook friends with me, I've uploaded a preview, though it is me-heavy. If we aren't friends on facebook, you should add me, yo!
Also, I think I have Strep Throat, so if I made out with any of y'all at Costume Con, you should probably take some vitamins or something.
And I have another userpic- this one is my "evil countess" picture that
Oh, and Gloria- what kind of camera did you have again? Now I am REALLY in the market for a new one.
I'm calling this one "Did you SEE that chain mail bikini?!"
Or, to quote
More very, very soon.
Ready or not, Baltimore, here I come!!
Holy crap. I am not going to be done!
I LEAVE FOR COSTUME CON IN 6 DAYS.
I am loosing my terrified mind!
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May it be filled with the "extras" of George Washington! I think you should start referencing this video to all of your visitors at Mt. V.
"Did you know that George Washington had, like, 40 goddamn dicks?"
According to my schedule, I was supposed to be 100% finished with the striped polonaise on Friday night and I am nowhere close! Last night I sewed down the box pleated trim on the skirt of the gown and sewed half of the trim down on the petticoat (I had forgotten how much time trimming takes!), but I've still got a lot more to do including:
- THE GODFORSAKEN SLEEVES! BAH!
- A little bit of cleanup on the bodice
- Bodice and sleeve trim
- Re-pinking the trim on the petticoat (I used wave shears on the straw taffeta, but I don't like it and I want to pink it now)
I've decided that I am going to do the blue and gold Whig gown. It's been in my head for ages and I want to do all 18th century and it's a style that I know to some extent so there isn't a lot of patterning stress involved.
I haven't really started on that yet- just torn the panels for the petticoat and skirts and sewed them together, but at least it is something.
I do still have two more weekends, at least. I hope to finish the green polonaise by THIS friday, then I can start on the Whig gown.
tick-tick-tick-tick
My original plan was to have a deep, ruched ruffle all along the bottom, but I don't have enough fabric to do a deep one. I cut it all down to half it's size and I still only have a double length so it will be skimpy. However, it isn't terrible:
It's about 6 inches deep. (Also! Here's my fabric for the first time! Isn't it pretty?)
However, I'm still not thrilled with it, so today I went out and bought 1 1/2 yards of a straw taffeta that matches this. I can do a hell of a ruffle with this stuff if I want to- there is plenty:
I'm a little "meh" about this.
Or, I can combine them thusly:
So, what do you think? I can't decide.
Poll #1381746 How should I trim my Polonaise petticoat?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 28
Whadd'l it be?
Just the Green![]()
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2 (7.1%)
Just the Beige![]()
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1 (3.6%)
The green and the beige![]()
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14 (50.0%)
The green and the beige, but the green should be a narrower piece and therefore fuller![]()
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12 (42.9%)
These are all ugly. You are a failure.![]()
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0 (0.0%)
Isn't my fabric pretty?
Or, do you have a better idea? Do share!I don't have enough fabric to finish the Polonaise like I want. Grrrr. I figured 7 yards would be PLENTY with some to spare, but it is a much narrower width than I am used to working with. What a rookie mistake! I can't believe I didn't pay attention to the width! In an effort to have enough fabric left over to trim, I pulled out an entire panel of the petticoat, which makes my circumference only 108". I wanted it to be much fuller. I thought with that I would have plenty to do the trim, but even that is keeping it skimpy.
And I don't even want elaborate trim! Just a deep, full ruffle on the petticoat (and full isn't going to happen now, since I don't even have enough for a double length on the ruffle) and box pleats along the skirt of the gown. I'm going to need to get very creative.
It's especially frustrating because I had to waste so much fabric cutting out the bodice (stupid stripes on their stupid bias!) but didn't end up with any pieces that are even near large enough to piece.
Please join me in my frustration with stripes!
Also: Grrr!
Last night I finished the main contruction of the bodice (well, except for the sleeves...right
If I stick to my schedule, I have to be completely finished with this gown in exactly one week, which I don't know if I can do. I have decided that I am going to do the long seams of the petticoat by machine just to save time, but everything else is handsewn. This weekend I hope to complete the petticoat and attach the skirts to the bodice, which leaves Monday-Friday to finish the trim and the sleeves. Now that I'm actually talking out what I need to do, it doesn't seem so bad. The trim isn't going to be elaborate on this gown because I think the fabric itself is very decorative. I'm definitely going to do a big, deep ruffle around the petticoat, but I'm not sure what else. I'll need to put it all together and see what else it needs, I suppose.
I did, however, get some gorgeous silk organdy that I'd like to do somethign with. Maybe a sheer little frill around the neckline is just the thing!
