behold the stays!

Wow my friend's list sure has been quiet this week! Not that I've been doing much to fill the silence... just refreshing my page a lot. :P So for the rest of you to-busy-to-sew-lj-refreshers out there - behold the stays!! As you can see I have unashamedly pinched the line of seaming from the pattern Katherine just used but really it's too pretty not to pinch!

I'm very pleased with the stays, they are pretty, MA-ish and fit very well. Unfortunately I’m not pleased with any of the pics I've managed to take on them on me. So you get Narcissa as a model until I can try again on me. :> Oh yes and a little preview of how the outfit will look with the quilted petticoat - yummy!

Worked a bit on the pet en l'air today. I'm happy so far, the side view looks perfect. That center box pleat is bugging me though. It's plenty full at the top but looks kinda skimpy at the bottom. Must mess with it a bit more.

reality bites

I sat down and had a hard look at reality and the result is that I will not be making B new stays for the tea in 7 days. I think my new outfit (pannier, petticoat, pet en l'air and cap) and her new outfit (English gown) plus tax prep, a crazy work week, jewelry making tomorrow and family on Sunday is really quite enough. It's still insane but I'm determined. I’m not panicking or anything either. *crosses fingers*

I had B try on her pirate stays tonight and with a little tweaking (repairing my poor sewing job plus tweaks due to her lost weight) they should be wearable. I'm taking those with me on Sunday to the family thing, hopefully I can get most of that ripping and repairing done before the weekend is over.

Tomorrow after my jewelry class I need to work on her toile so I can fit it while she is home. I had her try on an old English gown of mine that had been made with the Period Impression pattern. It's a pretty close fit (once I lengthen it) so I'll use that as my base. I still want an en fourreau back but it should work for the lining/front. I'm also going to take the sleeve ruffles off and use them on her new frock. She was quite excited about those ruffles. :>

I will endeavor to update this week but I suspect it's going to be a case of every spare moment sleeping or sewing, nose to the grindstone sort of deadline weeks. Oh for the good old days, when I didn't have a life and could just sew! :>