a week of CADD

*sigh* I'm back to feeling blah. I guess I'm not totally over last week's ick. Man - I was feeling good at Loren's farm this weekend too... must have been the company! I was obviously having too much fun to not feel good. Maybe I just overdid it - I was utterly exhausted from the long drive when I got home Sunday. So I've been taking it easy for the last few days in hopes that I can shake whatever this is and feel 100%. I haven't felt like doing much of anything else so I've been working on costuming things in a very CADD manor. With lots of naps. :>


All the cording is done on my stays - yay! It seemed less difficult/time consuming than I remembered, which was nice, but it was fiddly and ripped up my hands a bit, not so nice. I'm just glad it's finished. I have lots of step-by step progress pics of the stays but I'll save those for another post.


While I was at Loren's I worked on my Poe bonnet a bit. I decided that the neck flounce thing (does it have a name?) was too bulky after all. So I took it apart, cut out 2.5" from the center, put it back in and stitched it on the bonnet. Much better! I then sewed on the ribbon ties, ignoring the pattern directions and simply placing them where they seemed to hold the bonnet on my head best. I played around with bonnet trimmings but am feeling uninspired so far. I think I'm going to set it aside for now and wait for my bonnet trimming muse to appear. I don't need it until January anyway so I can wait patiently. :P


Oh I must introduce my newest toy - Hettie! My dear friend Tina made this hat/wig stand for me as a thank you for my help with her Civil War bonnet. Isn't she sweet?! It really does make things like hat trimming and wig styling so much easier when the Styrofoam head it not moving around on you. Think of how much simpler my life would have been making that turban last year! Why "Hettie"? I don't know. It seemed rude to call it an "it" since she did have a head and Hettie seemed the right name when I was pondering.


In true CADD I started on another hat this week, this time a S&S style capote to go with my new 1800 day dress (more on that later). I'm using the pattern from Mela's Costume College class, going for an Eleanor style hat. I'm not being too literal with my inspriation so of course I had to modify the pattern - I can never leave well enough alone not even with Mela!


I'm using buckram from the stash, since I don't have any straw to work with. I don't know how period correct it is to make this style without straw but I'm going to do it anyway. I think its okay... This time the buckram is of the single layer variety. Because I felt it was a little lightweight for the way I abuse my hats, I cut two layers, spray basted them together and used them as a single layer afterwards. (Temp basting spray = love!). I machine zig-zagged 18gauge wire to both edges of the brim and that is as far as I got. I'm trying to decide how big I want to make the mushroom cap part and if I want to line the brim in flannel or not. I'm thinking not at this point based on my covering fabrics and a desire to not have a thick brim.


My next act of CADD was to start work on a covered 18th century flat hat for bauhausfrau. It's my half of a barter/trade we have going at the moment. *wink* Even though I'm in absolutely no rush for my item, I am in the mood to work on a covered flat hat so I figured I should go for it while the mood is upon me.

I used a craft store straw hat, that ironically I got in a costumer's give away at Loren's last year, taking it apart and refashioning it into the correct size and shape. I then pleated & pinned to get the brim fabric all pinned on and ready for stitching. I don't have thread to match so I had to stop there until I can run to Jo-Anns. I have step-by-step pics of this project too but I'm going to wait until it's finished to post them. 'Cause I'm mean like that.

sewing channels

More than you wanted to know about sewing cording channels...


The first channel I tackled was for the bone that sits above the hip gore in the center of the side seam. For stability and to better shape the bust I decided to go with a ½" steel bone here. I used bone casing, because of the seam. I first finished off the end with tiny zig-zag stitches then carefully centering it on the seam stitched it in place.


I continued the stitch (¼" away from the seam) all the way to the bottom of the stays. It finished it from the front and stitched down that pesky seam allowed I kept out by mistake.


Next I turned my attention to the front panel. First I took a clear ruler and drew a line (in washable pencil) about ¼" below the bust gussets. I stitched along that line, and then using my presser foot as a guide (I found the width of my zipper foot was the perfect size for my hemp cording!) I stitched 3 more rows, creating 3 cording channels. I then again took my clear ruler and marked a line ½" below my last stitching line. I then stitched 4 rows, creating 3 cording channels. And so on until I reached the top of my hip gussets.


This worked out nicely as I didn't have to spend hours marking every row and by stopping and marking the occasional line I kept myself straight. The whole thing came out remarkably even and straight!


Once I reached the hip gussets I started stitching vertical channels, filling in all the space between the front busk and the hip gussets again using my presser foot as my guide.


Next came the endless knotting, which took about twice as long as the actual stitching! While I was stitching I generally put in one or two stitches over the line as a safety measure, so after picking those out (so the stitching lined up with either the side seam or the last row of horizontal stitching), I pulled all the threads to the back and began tying them in knots.
Once that was done I took a needle and running it right along the stitching tucked the ends under the fabric.


It's a time consuming thing to do but the result is so pretty! *squee*


For the boning on the side panel I used my old stays as reference to draw on stitching lines with my trusty clear ruler and washable pencil. One boning channel went near the side/front seam and two channels went in the center-ish of the panel. I then stitched those up. For the bones on either side of the side/back seam I simply used my clear presser foot, which gave just the right size for the steel boning I wanted to use there. On the back panel I used a mixture of presser feet and pencil markings to create the combination of channels for the steel boning, hemp cording and eyelets along the center back.


I then soaked my stays in warm water for about 15 minutes to remove the pencil marks. I rolled the stays in a towel to remove the excess water then hung them up to air dry over night. The next morning I used a steam iron to take out the wrinkles and I was ready to insert the cording.

cording my stays

Continuing our series with More Than You Wanted to Know About Cording with Hemp...


Actually I didn't take as many pics of this process because I basically followed my own tutorial.


I did discover a few tricks though; one is using the correct tool. This handy awl was the only tool I ended up needing to open & close the holes. It turned out to be just the right size and super efficient to use, which was nice. I got my awl from Jas Townsend & Son but I know other vendors also carry this same awl.


Another trick I learned was you can use your awl to easy the hemp into the hole. Slide your hemp up to the hole opening. Insert awl into the hole, making sure to keep on top of your hemp. Ease the hemp into the hole while pulling the awl out. It's a bit tricky and you need to go slowly to maintain the right amount of tension but it did enable me to use pieces of hemp that I would never have been able to get in otherwise.


Otherwise the cording was pretty straightforward. I used twill as my "lining" this time, as opposed to the quilting muslin I used last time. I was a little concerned that the holes would be difficult to create or the weave would not allow me to close the holes afterwards. I shouldn't have worried - it worked just fine!


Once all the hemp was in, I trimmed the bottom of the stays a bit and ran a basting stitch to hold all the cording in place. Once nice thing about hemp is that you can sew right through it, using a large needle of course. :> I'm going to wait to trim/baste the top until I can try it on but that will have to wait until I can get some eyelets worked. *sigh*