Latest Commissions and projects

With music festival underway I finally have some time to post my latest commissions. in the last month and a half I have made and altered 21 costumes.

And here are a few of them.

First up are

Dorothy before OZ

Next up 2 Anne of Green Gables costumes

Arriving at Green Gables

 Tea at Green Gables

Next is a Pirate ballet costume that turned out lovely!

I also finally got some photos of a corset I made a while ago

It is a herringbone tweed with a velvet rose pattern in the fabric

I added ebony seed beads and Swarovski crystal beads to give the roses more dimension and sparkle. 

Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenge #15 the Great Outdoors Part 1

http://thedreamstress.com/the-historical-sew-fortnightly-2014/

I have join the Historical Sew Fortnightly!

With a new deadline every 2 weeks and amazing inspiration from other participating in the challenges, I am journeying forward with a small skip in my step to complete my first challenge.

The Requirements for the Challenge ~ due Friday 15 August. 
 Get out into the weather and dirt with an item for outdoor pursuits.

The Challenge: #15 the Great Outdoors
Fabric: 
Pattern:
Year:
Notions:
How historically accurate is it?
Hours to complete:
First worn:
Total cost:

For the Great Outdoors challenge I am working on a men's coat/justaucorps.  I technically began working on it in February last year, but due to school projects had to set it aside and then never had a chance to pick it back up.

My desire to build a coat like this begin back in September 2012 when my University mounted a production of Twelfth Night and the Costume designer for the show showed us the sketches. The time period was roughly 1710.  Each of my classmates were assigned a different character from the show to cut for,  and I was given the Duke Orsino. Thus began my love of justaucorps!

To cut to the chase, I built his costume and then decided that his coat was to fabulous not to build one for myself.

The great thing was our Orsino was roughly the same size as me, so with some minor tweaking to a pattern I had already worked most the kinks out of, I ventured forth ;)

After finding a delightful woven navy fabric at Dressew for $3 a meter I got to work.

After pre-washing, cutting and mounting the fabric, I began with the fun task of Pad stitching!!! It was then that I had to put aside this project.

But with renewed zeal and a deadline in less then a month, I am thrilled to pick up this project once again.

Check back soon for more updates :D

Oh the pleats ^_^

Halloween pt. 2

Wow, Halloween has come and (almost) gone!  I finished my brother's costume on time and he loved it! I had a few mishaps with this costume (crazy puffed sleeves, cutting out while tired and adding length to the wrong end… and twisting fabrics…) but other then that it was fairly straight forward :)

 had to take a picture :P

 fittings

I think my favourite part of sewing jackets is the facing meeting the lining, it's just so pretty.

Finished Product with along with my Gibson inspired costume :)

Halloween!!! pt 1

Where has the time gone! Halloween is TEN days away and I am just starting on costumes :p

As mentioned in a previous post my youngest brother wants to be Jack Skellington for Halloween, and after 2 years of asking me to make it for him he is finally getting his wish :)

I bought McCall's M6143 as the base for the costume since it is quite similar to Skellington's suit :)

I am going to work towards finishing it within the next 2-3 days and will post more once I have made some headway into sewing :)

Future Goals (or Breaking the habit of Procrastination)

I have come to realise I am not very good at keeping up to date in blogging… I think part of my problem is that I am not a very good writer and my grammar (to put it plainly) stinks.
When I started this blog I was supposed to be documenting my 2 years at school in "Costuming for Stage and Screen".  Now that school is over and I have my diploma in costuming I think I need to reassess my "goals".

Somewhere in the back of my head I think I have always wanted my own business.  Whether it was a cafe or bookstore, or now a retro clothing or costuming business, I wanted to work for myself.

But, I think my main obstacle in these endeavours is my self-modivation (or lack of in my case).  I am gung-ho at the beginning of a project, but when things start to become more difficult that enthusiasms starts to peter out, and eventually I just stop working on the project all together.

So, to challenge myself, I have to finish all my "unfinished" sewing projects before I can start any new ones.  And on top of that I have to complete at least one a month, and document what I am doing to keep myself on schedule ;)

Now that may not sound like a lot to do, but as someone who tends to procrastinate a lot, this might be a bit of a challenge.

Here is my list of unfinished projects.
- 5 summer dresses for my nieces
- White swiss dot summer dress
- Floral summer dress
- Jack Skellington costume for my little brother (Halloween deadline)
- Boy's size tweed blazer
- Silky red evening dress
- Navy blue wool winter jacket (styled after a justaucorps)
- Painted Beauty and the Beast shoes

(I am sure I have a few other projects, but I just can't remember what they are right now)

Happy sewing ;)

09/18 Update:
Almost 2 months have passed and I really haven't finished anything :-/
this is not a good sign Xp

Finished ½ Scale 1868 Dinner Dress Reproduction

It has been a while since I last posted.  School has end, I am moving in just under a week and I finally took some portfolio pictures of the 1868 dinner dress I began working on last November.

Here is the original gown

Courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum  

And here is my take on the gown

There were many obstacles and hurtles that arose while building this gown, but over all I am very happy with how the dress turned out, especially how well and easily the fabric dyed :)

American Duchess shoes ^_^

I have been following American Duchess for well over a year now and I get so excited each time she presents a new shoe design.  As someone who is a bit of a costume history buff I love how much thought and detail goes into each shoe creation :)

I was extremely excited to hear that the Duchess was hosting a shoe Giveaway for the newest design and with fingers crossed decided to enter.

If you haven't seen her shoes here is a link to her page http://americanduchess.blogspot.ca/2013/02/gibson-edwardian-shoes-giveaway.html
I definitely recommend browsing through her blog and shop, for you are sure to find many interesting things.