the pain of new

This Charles Dress is turning out to be a very laborious process. I seem to spend more of my sewing time in front of the computer going through my costume files and trolling the internet for answers to my design/fitting questions. It seems counter-productive but it's not; I am figuring it out slowly but surely.

I realized the other day that this project is so hard in part because this is a totally new era/style for me. It's been so long since I ventured into completely uncharted territory like this, having been happily playing in the 18th century/Regency sandbox for a while now, that I've forgotten what it's like to start from stratch! So I've been going back to some of my "milestone" dress diaries, like my first 18th century gown, my Rohan dress and yep it was the same then. Lots of research, lots of toiles. Very long entries.

*sigh* I'm sure it will make me a better costumer in the long run but dude - I miss my already beautifully fitted and tweaked master patterns! *pouts*