Jenny La Fleur

Oh my gosh – what a weekend! Twelfth Night was not the party we thought it would be (or had planned for) but it turned out to be a lot of fun! Good friends, good chocolate and much laughter… our last Twelfth Night. *sigh*

The highlight was Maegan surprising us by flying from San Diego to attend! She decided very last minute to party with us, arranged with Dad to be picked up and woke me up on Saturday morning! I thought I was dreaming!

Sunday Maegan, Bridget and I spent the day site-seeing in DC. I was tired from the party (and staying up with Colleen until 5am) but I’m glad I went – it was great fun! We spent the night at a hotel near the airport and said goodbye to Maegan at 6am this morning. I still can’t believe she came just to spend the weekend. She is such a good friend!

B and I got home about an hour ago so I haven’t even looked at our Twelfth night pics. I think a nap is next on my agenda... I'm so wiped! :> Pics are on the way though, I promise!

I'm not sure how I managed it but I haven't gotten one lick of sewing done today! The day isn't over but still, discouraging after my productive day yesterday.

I got some hours in on the CCFred site (always a good thing) and B and I finalized plans for Twelfth Night. You know, like where to put the food and that sort of thing. We pulled out all the "stuff" we've collected for the decorations and well, started decorating! We couldn't help ourselves once we got started. We are so bad.

I'm happy to report the plans are going well and the decorations will be pretty smashing. It’s proof of our genius and good shopping skills since we have been collecting for a year now, in spurts, all over the state, shoving things into the attic along the way. Not only does it all actually coordinate but it was super easy to put in place. It only took us a couple of hours and the room is practically done. We can't finish until Saturday because of logistics - but we could have done it in an afternoon if we had waited. Yay - TN objective #1 met - easy to prep this year!

*happy dance* I'm so excited, I'm so excited!


Of course that has nothing to do with the fact that I have no sewing to do. Not a stitch is needed before Saturday. I simply don't know what to do with myself! Speaking of... my new diadem is finished. B made it up earlier this week. It's so pretty but you have to wait to see it. My guests need some surprises after all! :> To preview a pic of the elements B used.

Despite my silence here I have been doing a bit of costuming this week. I’ve been trying to get my quilted petticoat started. I’m a bit scared, I haven’t started stitching and this outfit is turning out to be a huge pain in the butt. Could this project be cursed like the Pirate *looks tempted to run screaming into the night*

I whacked my back out don’t it but I have one panel all traced out in washable pencil. Now I need to sandwich the layers together and baste with safety pins. If and when I ever get that far *rolls eyes*, I’ll post some piccies.

In other news... I have an announcement to make for those invitees of our Twelfth Night fetes (you know who you are!). After much thought and chatting, Bridget & I have decided that the next Twelfth Night (Jan 2007) will be our last Twelfth Night party.
( Twelfth Night plans )

( The Updated 2006 Obligatory List Of Doom: )

Another Twelfth Night party is past! Inexplicitly I’m still awake so I thought I’d bring you a few of my favorite images from the party. The rest will follow soon. Really I should be in bed but I’m not tired for some reason. The weight of a looming deadline being lifted off my shoulders and too much sugar probably has something to do with it. :>

I finished the last stitch on B’s costume at 5pm this evening (the party was at 7pm). Way too close for my comfort but it was the best I could do. I’ve come to the conclusion that this costume is cursed. No matter how much I sew, I never seem to get any closer to finishing the wretched thing. Sort of like trying to eat pasta at Olive Garden, you eat and eat but you never seem to empty your bowl.

Not to say that her costume is finished – far from it. She was cheated on and safety pinned in places. At some point her stays out-of-the-package-poly-binding with have to come off and be replaced with silk while her coat and skirt still have to be made. Since I have to mess with the stays anyway I think I’m going to alter the fit of the back and shoulder straps. They are not right and bug me. I should also adjust her petticoat, taking out some of the fullness.

Of course despite it all she managed to look stunning tonight, if I do say so myself. Her beading was lovely in the low lighting and the velvet may be a pain but it sure is pretty. *sigh* She looks so good in red. :>

The oddest thing is that after this week I’m not feeling “off” sewing at the moment. It feels so good to have gotten something accomplished from my sewing list, even if it was in a crazed, mad way. I suspect I’m more burnt-out that I think I am though so I’m going to go on a forced sewing sabbatical. I noticed my machine was making some wacky noises today. These noises have been getting worse over the past few months and I really should take my machine in to be tuned up. The tension needs to be re-adjusted and the poor little thing is long overdo for some maintenance work. *bad seamstress*

Since I will be without a machine for a while, my next project will be to get going on the quilted petticoat. It is all handwork at this point so a good project for the interim. I may use Mom’s machine a bit to finished off my ballgown (attach the sleeve flounces)and get the stays fitting squared away while it’s all fresh in my mind. Then I can work on the new silk binding. More handwork you see. :>



Oh yes this week’s pirate progress pics. Not too many I’m afraid, I was too busy just sewing to document things. The last pic was us being a little silly. Narcissa was used as a clothing rack & accessory stand much this week and after piling on a few outfits on accident we decided to add some weaponry to complete the look. This is what happens when you have too much costuming and Cold Stone ice cream combined. :>

I got a few more eyelets done on New Years and last night so I’ve finished one panel (including the shoulder strap) and have 4 done on the second.

Real life continues to get in the way and because I have so much handwork to do on these stays they are moving at a snails pace. Not good. I’m not even making lists this week because they might discourage me. I’m simply living in a parallel universe where I believe I can get everything done in time for the party! *IcandoitIcandoit* :>

On the good news front the house is clean from our New Years party, so some general picking up should suffice for TW. We’ve taste-tested some snacks at Costco that will work, so less cooking then originally planned. elegant_musings and her sis are coming today for a week’s pre-party visit so I’ll have a sewing buddy and extra hands to encourage and help. I’ve tested the Fray Check on my ball gown fabric and found a satisfactory way of cutting and sealing the sleeve flounces. If I can just find three hours before the party I can add those to my ensemble.

Anyone have some extra time I can add to my hourglass this week? :>

I was bad today. I mean I almost stayed in my budget but I mostly bought for future projects; future costumes, next year’s Twelfth Night… so bad! In my defense I think we are just about finished with this year’s Twelfth Night purchases. We bought some 17th century style goblets today (for a steal at Walmart no less!) but other than that, we need get favors, candles and the actual food. Oh and maybe some paints for the annual twelfth night craft project. *rolls eyes* How we are going to pull off that still hush-hush scheme I still don’t know! :>

Tomorrow we are off to Williamsburg for two days. Dad surprised us with a hotel room and a reservation at Trellis so I’m excited. We probably won’t do much in the historic area, mostly hitting the pottery and outlet malls. Sounds like fun to me! :>

I ordered my colonial shoes from Jas Townsend a few hours ago so they are on the way. I bought the necessary buckles and treated myself to a small pair of sewing scissors for RCHS outings as well. I really hope these shoes work as I’m really not interested in any of the other reproduction shoes I’ve seen (and I’ve looked all over!). My consolation is if they don’t work I can put the money toward Costume College, a very worthy cause, yes? *crossing fingers*

Not much on the costuming front happening these days. I have taken out all the broken stitching from the kitty toy that was my ballgown trim and started again. I've also started another quilt signature. I'm so glad I changed the stitches I used for that. The chain stitching was pretty but so time consuming. The stem & seed goes much faster.

B & I saw Narnia this afternoon. May I say wow! Great job - I thoroughly enjoyed it. I totally want Lucy's crown. I also thought the Witch's battle outfit was the coolest costume. So imaginative!

I must brag that all my Christmas shopping is done, I finished it up Wednesday. All the packages that have to be mailed are taped up and addressed too. I'll swing by the post office after my Mary Kay appointment tomorrow and post them. The Twelfth Night invites are also (finally) sealed, stamped and addressed. They will also go out tomorrow. I'd say I had holiday things pretty well in hand but I haven't even started my Christmas letter yet. SO BAD. As long as I write it before Christmas day, right? :>

Just updated the website with some goodies including these pics modeling the kimono. They were taken as I dressed for Twelfth Night.

So many days, so few updates... I feel a bit guilty. It's been crazy with work and fun with around here though. The party was lovely and I think everyone enjoyed it. I know I did. I have tons of pics and such to post from the party, but haven't gotten to them yet. We (elegant_musings and our siblings) are off to DC for some site-seeing this morning, so it won't be today. Hopefully before the week is over...

I have made the locked pic post public for those of you who couldn't see it last week. You'll find it here.

The finished re-vamp on Narcissa. I’m pretty amazed at how it came out. It almost looks like this was the original design, instead of last minute fabric finds and changes on a whim.

I’ve said it a few times already, but beaded edging is what really makes the dress. It draws it all together. It adds weight and drape to that wretched cotton, and great sparkle to the whole ensemble. I have a series of pics to show how the edging was made too. I’ll be posting them as a beading tutorial on my site sometime this month.

I can’t wait to see the gown on B, with her hair and makeup done. *wink*


The infamous banners! I’ve showed the process of how they were made with pics of one section. The stencil was placed on the fabric, traced with silver Sharpie markers and then removed. We then filled in all the stencil lines, and smoothed out the pattern where necessary with the markers. The design was then painted with slightly watered down acrylic paint. Very time consuming but the results are great!


To make the sun and moon, we first made templates of the shapes we wanted out of a brown paper bag. We carefully pinned these, making sure the celestial shapes were lined up correctly with the design underneath. We then covered the surrounding area with paper towels (to catch any residual spray). The area was sprayed with an even, fairly thick layer of spray glue. A heavy layer of glitter was then sprinkled onto the area. We allowed the glue to dry a few minutes before removing the template. When the glue was fully dry, we carefully brushed off the excess glitter with a feather duster. The living room, banner and our clothes are now covered in glitter!! :>

For the sun we used a fine purple iridescent glitter, while for the moon we used a super fine green iridescent glitter. Really we should have reversed those, as the finer glitter has a lighter appearance but oh well!