jennylafleur | Entries tagged with commissions

I have been taking a slight detour from CosCol sewing to finish up a pending project.

This was an interesting one as it was a project I was finishing up for another gal, I didn't have any contact with the finial recipient, which was strange and fun all at the same time. :> A little altering (original hem was too short), a little fixing, all the fastenings and a ridiculous amount of ruffles. No pattern making or fitting which was nice!

Per usual I grossly underestimated how much time it would take to do everything but looking at it all finished on my dressform this morning, I felt an enormous sense of accomplishment. It really turned out well and I'm really proud of my work on it.

The ruffles were by far the biggest part of the task. There were 30 yards of fabric ruffled for the skirt and sleeves - whew! I finished both edges with a small zig-zag stitch (for a less bulky hem etc) so that means 60 yards of zig-zagging plus the actual hemming and gathering. Good Lord! I don't even want to think about how much black thread I went through. Mom came up with the brilliant idea of using dinner plates as my guide for the wavy design - it worked like a charm!

koshka_the_cat tipped me off to gathering the ruffles by cord, which made my life SO much easier. She had also suggested cutting the ruffles on the bias, which sadly I didn't have enough yardage for. I compromised and did the sleeve ruffles on the bias though and totally fell in love with silk taffeta on the bias. It behaved and laid so wonderfully! Yummy!

I also got a chance to better perfect and practice my piping and dog-leg closure skills. Oh and that face-forward-face-back pleat thing that was so fashionable in the 1860s. I think I'm getting pretty good at it now!

All that said I'm super glad it's finished and I can move on with my life and CosCol plans. It will be some time before I can face black taffeta again. Luckily all my black CosCol stuff is already done! :>

Wow, I actually got everything accomplished I wanted to yesterday!

So the ruffles are cut and pressed and ready to be stitched, the gaulle is all cut out and the Big Green Hat (TM)'s velvet is also cut and ready to go.

Today is full of Real Life things so not too much sewing will get done but I'm hoping to get started on those ruffles at least. *looks outside* Well maybe not, it's a bit gloomy out and the commission is all black silk taffeta. Gloom/evening plus black taffeta strains my eyes quickly, even with good lighting. Something about the black plus a sheen I think. If the sun doesn't come out later perhaps I'll work on my gaulle a bit instead. I really want to work on my hat but technically I need the gaulle first. Moo.

I have my camera back so some pics of the buckram hat as is. I don't think you get a good idea of the scale in the pics. Oh well! I used quite a bit of millinery wire in this hat, since it is so oversized and I wanted a certain amount of control to shape it just so. It's also a bit of an experiment to see just how much millenary wire is needed in a large hat and how much is too much - this seemed like a good hat for experimenting on. So there is wire around the crown tip and 4 rows on the brim. I used all 18 gauge wire on this hat.

Since I'm getting all nitty-britty here, I used two layers of single buckram on this hat as well. The crown tip and brim have the two layers zig-zagged together while the crown has stitch-witchery binding the layers.

Yesterday was nice. It was mostly a headache free day and I had a couple of friends over for a "crafty day". Collectively we sewed, quilted, made jewelry, worked on millinery and wove on a lap loom. We also had white wine and sparkling lemonade and of course we chatted and schemed while we worked. It was a really nice, quiet but productive Sunday afternoon. I really do need to do this sort of thing more often!

I worked on my Big Green Hat (TM), getting all the buckram pieces sewn together. It actually looks like a hat now and I'm excited about it. It really is going to be fabulous! No pictures yet though as I gave my camera to Mom and Dad for the weekend.

On today's agenda is to work on my current commission, the hat and my Gaulle. I usually like to work one project at a time but after looking at my calendar this morning (epp!) I need to multitask to get everything done for UTR. So today is a cutting day. I have ruffles to cut for the commission (ruffles!) then I'm going to reward myself with cutting out the fabrics for my hat and Gaulle.

It's been pointed out to me that I've been bad this year about mentioning projects and then not posting pics of the finished results. So here are some of the projects I've cruelly neglected to show you...

An 1860s work dress (commission). I just finished this today. Not a bad result for my first venture into the 1860s, my first ever piping and my first dog-leg closure - man I sure learned a lot on this one!

[Error: unknown template video]
A video to show how the closure works ('cause I was trying to explain it to a non-costuming friend and a video is just easier!).

A Steampunk style mini Wellington top hat (commission). Learned a lot on this one too, mostly that scaling wellington hats is much trickier than you'd think. Keeping the size and the proportions right at the same time was quite the challenge, as was cutting and lining up all those chains to make that pretty swag! I thought I'd lose my mind on both parts!

Quilt Square for a Friendship quilt (gift). Not bad for someone completely out of practice and not that good anyway at block piecing. I only quilt for very special people in my life, which this gal definitely is - I can't wait to see the look on her face when it's given to her!

Oh and just to prove it really did happen... my first piping ever . :>

Is it bad that I now what to pipe everything? :P

I just made and have sewn into a seam my very first piping.

Much easier than I thought and I'm doing fine without a piping foot (which apparently doesn't exist for my machine).

I'm feeling very accomplished all of a sudden. :>

First thanks so much for all your support and kind words this week, both about my effigy stays *blushes*, my jacket and my decision not to wear it tomorrow. *hugs* So what is next on my costuming agenda? I have lots of yummy ideas running rampant in my costuming brain right now but the one I'm most excited to actually work on is...

My blue "Eyre" dress! I am *so* jazzed about this project. Before my fabric.com order arrived, I was planning on tweaking my original Poe dress for Poe's Birthday in Jan. When I made the order I was hoping for a royal or electric blue, something kinda obnoxious, for a different project. However after some mental adjustment however I found I loved the moody midnight blue that I received. It immediately screamed Victorian to me and after staring at it for a couple more days it quite clearly said 'I need to be 1840s'.

( all about the Eyre dress )

( laughing moon corset )

( commissioned bonnet )

After the CW bonnet is done I probably should work on a new Regency dress and finish up my 1804 stays for S's tea on the 14th but the Eyre dress is singing a very persuasive and sweet song right now...

Yesterday was very productive.

I mostly worked on a commission that is due at the end of the month. The dress, formally known as the prettiest toile ever, needed some alternating to fit my client so I spend most of my day on that. Gah, alterations are SO time consuming! I also did another mock-up of the sleeve. The first mock-up looked pretty good at my fitting last week but I needed to add fullness/puff at the top. This toile looks pretty good, it just a little tweaking (more fullness at the back) and I can cut and assemble the real sleeves. Then the project will be done - yay!

I also worked on my stays a little bit. I sewed the two halves of the front lining together and then stitched on the bias tape for the horizontal boning. I noticed on

tailordrews last pair of Dideriot stays he had more than 2 lengths of boning. Then I looked at the pattern. Sure enough, the illustration shows four pieces while only two are marked on the pattern. So I decided to experiment and add another piece to make three. I don't know if it will actually make a difference or not, we'll see.

I then started putting all the pieces together, although I didn't get too far with it. My bed was calling far too loudly! :P

Remind me to not make a black toile again. I wanted black to minic my QotN fashion fabric, so I could better visualize the finial product, but I'm finding I don't enjoy working on it. The black drains me somehow and I can only work on it for short bursts of time.

Not a good sign for my QotN. I'm hoping the excitment of velvet will help me get over that. Rich, nappy goodness - yay!

This weekend I toiled and finially finished tracing the master pattern for the QotN bodice. It took me a couple of toiles to get the back fitted nicely (drafting out that jacket peplum) but it was worth the extra effort. This is going to serve as a master pattern for my upcoming Pimpernel re-vamp and a new English gown too so it needed to be right.

I also got all the pending baby quilt signatures ready for embroidery. All five of them. *sigh* We are working on a signature alternative. The quilting group is too big now and this lone embroiderer can't keep up. This lone embroiderer is also tired of being behind and feeling guilty because of it so she is more than ready to hang up her shingle. It was fun but moving on can be a good thing too.

Also, another sewing commission. Another English gown for an RCHS member. Nice and easy, yay!

My commission is done - yay! Well at least the first one. the Regency dress still needs it's tweaks but the main project is finished, delivered and paid in full. It feels good.

I realized as soon as I got home from delivering it that I neglected take a single pic of it. *loser* I'll get pics eventually (first time she wears it to an event) but for now you will just have to take my word for it that came out nice. :P

Last night saw some productivity. After ironing about a million yards of fabric (and rolling it on boards, which is the way I store my fabric) I cut out two everyday skirts and C's #2 bodice toile. Hopefully I read my little scribbles and markings on the toile correctly. I must take pics next time for referance. I need to get off LJ soon and so sew that together as I have fitting with her this afternoon.

So that makes 4 everyday skirts I currently have cut out. They are all the same pattern too, am I in a rut or what? :> What can I say, you use what works. That and I'm getting suck in my ways in my old age. Umm... can you tell I like brown and black?

Yesterday I went to Jo-Anns. They didn't have what I was looking for of course but they did have pattern ease in stock (for once!) and a whole bin of clearance ribbon. So I went a little wild. It's hard not to when it's all $.10 and $.25 a yard! There are a couple more I might go back for today... I also bought a length of bargin table fabric for (you guessed it!) an everyday skirt. It's in the washer so I'll take pics later. :>

Yesterday was very productive. C came over and I measured her for her English gown (a commission - yay!). I then quickly threw together a toile and fitted that to her. I'm always amazed at how much faster it is to fit other people than myself... anyway. We have another fitting on Thursday so I need to cut a new toile, based on my markings, and cut out some sleeves to fit. I also need to order some .5" twill tape - any recommendations?

In other good news, I showed C my prettiest toile ever and offered to fit it to her if she wanted to buy it. She did! So I have a little work to do on that now (hem, cut down the back since she is a little smaller than me, add sleeves). No big.

I love that my costuming is paying for CC this year. It's really working out well. I have a few other costumes and maybe some fabric that I want to sell for the CC fund too. Things I love but don't see myself ever wearing again. I'll offer them here first then post on Ebay or Etsy... so be on the lookout for a post on that in the next few days.

I also worked on my own stuff yesterday, cutting out a toile for a new English gown. I'm using my striped Pierrot jacket as a base but I need to get rid of the peplum and use different sleeves so a toile seemed like a good idea.

I worked on my pearl dress a bit too. I've been working on it diligently every night this week so I only have 4.5 motifs to go until the sequins are done. Then it's on to pearls, which will go much slower. This really is a monster project, I must be mad. If only it wasn’t so fun!

Note to self:
When doing alterations remember that normal people like a bit more ease than the historically minded ones.

Ah huh.

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

Jenny La Fleur

adventures in costuming

a slight detour

cutting day

this & that

in my spare time...

my first piping ever

piping

the next bit of fun

a productive day

just say no to black

something crossd off my list

this & that

commissions & my CC fund

in alteration world

Profile

July 2014

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags