Jenny La Fleur

( in which the heroine gets wordy again )

The weekend was a nice little appetizer of CC and a good dose of inspiration and encouragement. I'm all motivated to finish up my costumes now - yay! Thanks again bauhausfrau for hosting this event - I can't wait for the next one! :>

The rest of my pics are HERE

Loren's pics
Kat's pics
Jonatha's pics
Maggie's pics
Mary's pics
Barbara's pics
Aubry's pics
Stephanie's pics

Second time is always the charm with me. I had great fun wearing my chemise á la Reine to Costume College last year but I simply adore the re-vamp version!

Below are some favorite photos, the rest can be found on my website here:
http://www.jennylafleur.com/dressup/2008.0504/album

( pics & rambling )

Right now I'm sitting in my re-vamped chemise dress waiting for B to mark my hem. Barring the event being canceled due to rain I'm wearing it to Belmont's Seurat Sunday tomorrow. I'd forgotten how much fiddly stiff was left to do. I should be able to get it all done today but still a bit of a pain.

It's a delightfully cool frock but I'm not convinced I like this style of gown on me. I have a feeling it's really one of those outfits that needs all the accessories (ie big hair) to look right though.

I wanted a new hat for the occasion but this week has been to hectic. I'll have to see how the fiddly bits go today... definitely something simpler than I'd imagined earlier this week. Oh well!

boring list making for me:
finish stitching lace at neck
add lace to sleeves
hem
cut, sew & finish sash (green check taffeta)
hat?
ruffle on petticoat?

YEEESSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It worked!!!

The dye job came out perfectly even, no spots or anything, and the color is perfect! I don't know what your monitors show but after the rinse cycle and a tumble in the dryer in person it's a pale blush color in person. Champagne is probably a good name. It's a great color for me and shouldn't be too much color in a chemise á la Reine.

I'm so excited! Hey, maybe I'm finally getting the hang of this dyeing thing! :>

Thank you so much for all your kind comments on my Poe dress and encouragement for my upcoming Redingote - you guys are so sweet to me! :>

First stage of the Redingote is to dye the Chemise gown. Like I said I'm thinking a pale peach or champagne color. Some form of off white really. Not being an expert when it comes to dyeing I turned to my old friend Google and starting searching for peach dye recipes. I came across several pages for dyeing flesh colors for dolls. The most helpful of which was this:
http://www.dollstreetdreamers.com/back_alley_articles/flesh_dye_recipes.pdf

There are lots of different recipes and suggestions in there. I happen to already have Rit tangerine dye in the house so I was delighted to find a recipe that mixes tangerine & pink rose. So I went to Jo-Anns yesterday and got the pink rose.

Today's project is to dye *scary music*. I'll let you know how it goes... :P

Hey koshka_the_cat what kind of ribbon/cording did you use for the drawstring in your chemise gown? Thanks!

I finished toileing the pimpernel yesterday, sleeve and all. I'm not 100% thrilled with the sleeve but it will work and I'm not in the mood to mess with it further. It's a sleeve after all. :>

Not that you can see from the pic but I cut the back into 3 curved seams. It's quite pretty, hope it shows up in the taffeta. I trimmed the back point a bit after taking the pic, so it's even prettier now. I took more pics but they were all un-flattering to myself or the frock so you'll just have to wait to see more. I really love this look - it's so stylish and flattering. I really need to do more 1790s/zone-front type things.

My testing of the orange fabric isn't going well so I've decided to wait on the shark tooth trim and see what I can find while I'm in LA. I'd really like some changeable taffeta. For now I think the application of black velvet trim to accent the zone will be enough. I just found out that for the first year my MK retreat and the RCHS ball are on different weekends so I get to go to the ball this year! *does happy dance* So I'm thinking the pimpernel should be my ball gown this year, although wearing the Bee is tempting. :>

Last night after picking apart the pimpernel toile and make note of the changes, I wasn’t feeling alert enough to cut out fabric so I worked on the hem to the chemise gown. It took forever (all those panels!) but it's done now - yay! I also cut out an extra sleeve toile so I can work on the chemise gown sleeves. I decided to go with the long straight sleeve after all. Easier and probably more flattering... we shall see. :>

Lookie - actual sewing content. With piccies and everything! My muse must have found her way back from Philly... :>

I was getting read to post last night when our power went out. *grinds teeth* Anyway B was beading away on the Fire when I looked around for something to do so I turned my attention to the chemise gown. I haven't been able to wrap my head around how all you people have put a drawstring round the neck while still gathering along the bottom of the sleeve strap. I need to see how you've done it because the descriptions are not doing it for me. mean people living so far away! I was getting all whigged out about it when it occurred to me that I will be adding a lace ruffle to the neck line so no one will see if I cheat. *looks at calendar and thinks. "cheating is good"* I'll just paw Katherine's at CC and figure it out for next time. :>

So I put it together the same way I did my Federal gown, which is less full but the same basic cut. Another cheat to save time and aggravation was to just line the blessed thing. I solved the problem of not really wanting a solid white lining by using the same thin voile as my lining. I ironed on lots of layers of heavy sizing until it was almost stiff so that it has some body while I'm working. I love spray sizing I really do!

It seems to be working well. If I had to do it over again I think I would have made the gathers along the sleeve strap a little less full. I may also take out the top-stitching along the strap. It depends on how much it shows under the ruffle. It looks a bit funky at the moment but I thought stitching down the gathers a bit would help the ruffle lay better.

I'm off to dance with RCHS at a local 4th of July event today so I can attach the ruffle and maybe do the waist casing while I'm there. Yay for period appropriate CC hand work projects! :>


Oh yes and a little seek peek at the Fire. B is doing such an amazing job. - Bless her little pea-pickin' heart!! Every time I talk to her she's finished a section and wants to add beading to more of the frock. The trip to King Tut is paying off - lots of inspiration for the beading. I SO have the best sistah evah!!

I have gotten discouragingly little done on the chemise la reine today. I seem to have spent most of the day putting in and then ripping out gathering stitches. *sigh* Then I lost my momentum and watched B sew hooks and eyes into her outfit while pretending to be productive. We had some good sister time and I got to pontificate on ideas for my Fire costume. Good stuff. So no new frock for Belmont tomorrow. Oh well, it's supposed to rain in the morning and be overcast the rest of the day so not a good chemise la reine day.

I think the chemise dress is coming together though. I've got the top gathered and pinned onto the temp toile lining. Looks pretty good, nice and full but not too full. Next up is to fiddle with the sleeve I think and add the casings to the waist.

I'm totally feeling the pull of costuming ADD at the moment so I may set aside the masses of white fluff for another project. A break from the white might be a very good thing about now. :>