Jenny La Fleur

Ahh... getting ready to cut my first ever piece of silk satin. I'm rarely afraid of fabrics but this is one of them! I'm only making a hat but still, it's such expensive fabric I'm terrified to waste it. I could really use a costuming buddy here to hold my hand while I cut.

Okay deep breaths - wish me luck...

I'm just about done with the process of stitching over my website to the new host. It took so long due to operator errors, I kept forgetting steps in the set up - can you tell I haven't done this in a while?

Anyway all my emails are up and running once again, as is my website. I'm just now finishing up the site up-loading process (geez I have a lot of files on my site!). So my internet presence is pretty much back to normal - yay!

In lieu of an interesting post and actual costuming content (because real life continues to kick my butt so there is nothing to talk about) I offer a funny... it made me laugh anyway. :>

1914 - an excellent example of what not to wear or how important it is to dress for your body type. I couldn't help it I laughed out loud when I found this! Poor thing, she obviously thinks she is hot stuff.

Many thanks to suededsilk for posting the link to a fun article "A Perfect Sewing Weekend" from the Selfish Seamstress.

I love suededsilk's point that nobody is really "Mrs. Vogue", so why are our sewing expectations sometimes based on a perfect ideal like this? It's like expecting to be Martha Stewart when we entertain or Carrie Bradshaw when we go clothes shopping. It's not real life.

Having said that... I actually related to a lot of the steps in this story. Is that bad? :P

I don't do hems by hand (unless it's absolutely necessary!) but I am meticulous about dry ironing patterns, steam ironing the garment as it takes shape, marking hems with a yardstick and chalk as shown in the story (with the help of Mom or B or course). I even like to double check that the grain is correct after I wash yardage (which on most fabrics from Joann’s is just an exercise in frustration!) and have been known to pull threads to find the grain line, ironically I did it just today on both a toile and some linen. I have to admit I don't do that on every project now, preferring to tear fabric, but Mom made me do it on everything when I first started sewing. She made me do a lot of tedious things like that in the beginning.

I guess that is really where all of that came from. My Mom was trained in the same era as this story and much of that basic training she passed on to me. It's amazing how much of it survived the years and both of our "bad habits" now that I think about it. I forget sometimes how lucky I am that while many of my costuming skills are self taught (like draping and pattern making) I was given a solid foundation in basic garment sewing by a talented home ect major who had been taught by equally talented home ect teachers. Such things are handy skills to be able to pull out when I need them.

Umm... Maybe I should teach a class on this stuff sometime at CosCol... "Random Garment Sewing Basics from the Era of Mrs. Vogue". Hee.

I'm sorry but this is just too much fun - those are some very lucky kidlets!

http://myhobbit-hole.blogspot.com

Dude, I want to go! There is NO way I can, not with CC and NYC, but how cool would this be?!

Costume Colloquium in Florence
(click on the English Demo on the left hand menu)

I'm always listening to something while I sew, music, a sermon, an audio book. This week I've been "reading" Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. It was really good, both the book and the audio performance. Well researched, well written and quite gripping actually, even though I knew the end of the story. The interview with the author at the end was cool too, you can tell he has a passion for the subject.

( discoveries )

I sometimes forget how spoiled I am living were I do, so much American history happened in this area. People travel miles and miles to see these sights but I live here. I drive past major Civil War battlefields, Washington family homes and President's houses in the course of my daily life. After a while you stop seeing them. I've barely stratched the surface of the "major" sites let alone discovered the out of the way pieces of history to be found tucked away here and there.

I really need to be better about taking advantage of such things... especially since I don't want to live here forever. :>

sites of interest:
http://www.fordstheatre.org/
http://www.fordstheatre.org/visit/virtual-tour.htm (virtual tour, including artifacts)
http://civilwarstudies.org/OnlinePrograms/Thumbnails/Boothtour/start.htm http://www.civilwartraveler.com/EAST/MD/booth.html
http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton/Lincoln.html
http://www.historicportroyal.com/index.htm
http://www.co-opliving.com/coopliving/issues/2005/February%202005/Images/feb05%20down%20home.pdf

twilatee - I thought I would answer your question here so others could see and respond if they have more info...

Yes indeed Wal-Mart is in the process of phasing out their fabric sections. I heard about that last year so this will happen over the next 1-2 years. I don't know if that includes the crafting sections or just the fabric, patterns etc.

I hadn’t heard about Hancock's closing until you mentioned it however. After some research... Hancock's has been in financial difficulty for some time. Early this year they filed chapter 11 bankruptcy and more recently had the company president step down. Right now they are consolidating, re-thinking their marketing strategy and as of this week have announced they will close some 130 stores around the country. I haven't been able to find a master list of what stores are on the chopping block but be prepared - you may be loosing your Hancock's in the near future. If (which is an IF) Hancock's goes under it probably won't be for some time, given the way chapter 11s work nowadays though, if that is any consolation.

I just lit of the candelabras (silver with black candles not yet put away from Twelfth Night) and it's really pretty. I could really get into typing late at night by candle light...

*looks at desk wondering with an eye to rearrangement and ponders*

As some of you know, I recently loaned several of my costumes to a friend in San Diego. She used them in a little fashion show, something for her church's women's group. Sending my "babies" to the other side of the country was harder than I thought it would be but I ended up getting a little "rental fee" for my effort and stress, so that was nice. Cash is always a welcome thing, especially when one is about to go to London. :>

Anyway... here is a pic I just received of the fashion show. I sent two other frocks but I'm not sure if they were not used or just didn't make it into this picture. I should be getting more pics at some point...