happy things

So totally belated but...

Happy Birthday girliegirl32786!!!!

In more happy news *drum roll* - the binding is done!! Just four more eyelets and the stays are done!

pet en l'air issues

My stays are done - yay! I took pics for you but they came out horribly so I will try again tomorrow. The stays are pretty though - I'm very pleased!!

I started work on my bleu outfit today. It went okay. Well, slightly less than that actually. The plan is to make a version of the above outfit from Marie Antoinette. In short a bleu pet en l'air. After much research and trying to wrap my head around the whole sack thing, I printed out some inspiration/reference for my walls and went to work.

I cut out a rough lining from my basic anglaise pattern, trimming away the front and adding a false stomacher piece. I then began on the outer toile, which is when the slightly less than okay part of the day kicked in. I messed about with the back pleats for a while before concluding that my toile fabric was just not wide enough (fashion fabric is a bit wider luckily). So I decided to move on the front and mess with pleating later. The first draping totally didn't work and the second only a bit better.

I can't figure out how you can possibly use one piece of fabric from stomacher front to back/side seam without darts or tucks or another seam. There is just too much area to cover and without something to release the stress it buckles and wrinkles most un attractively. I'm not seeing evidence of tucks or darts though, except were the front bodice and skirt are cut separately (which is not how the MA or Arnold ones I'm copying are done). Am I missing something?

I'm not sure I can make the pet en l'air anyway as I have a very limited amount of fabric to play with. This sack thing really sucks up the yardage! I don't know. It's so much easier to skimp when you know what you are doing, which I don't. I'm hoping the whole thing will look better in the morning 'cause right now it's just not giving me warm fuzzies...