sewloud

okay I tried to right the emotional ship. I finished binding my stays today before I went to work



the boss approves

then I worked a quick 4 hours which wasn't so bad. and I actually think being forced to wear the mask and breathing my own hot air back was helpful in a humidity sense.

I came home and showered and I did a first pass at gathering all my things. I'll fully pack tomorrow as I'm out of brain cells. I'm just trying to stay awake till Amanda gets here in about 30 min and I can go to sleep Zzzzz

we leave for Williamsburg in a week *looks at piles of stay pieces* hmmm and I was gonna try and make more than just stays huh.....well THAT is apparently a pipe dream. I WOULD still like to make two stomachers and a petticoat? maybe? 

Currently the stays have all the boning channels sewn and I just finished all fucking fifty million 52 eyelets.  *ahem* don't let me do that again. Monday I got as many bones in as I could before I ran out of boning and my new roll arrived yesterday so tomorrow I should be able to get all the bones in and try it on...then I guess make any alterations I need to and then maybe possibly start binding them? I'm well aware they will probably be unbound at first wearing. 

wish me a very productive tomorrow..

Didn't make as much sewing progress today as I could because we went and had lunch with the in-laws and then I contemplated a nap for an hour and a half but didn't let myself sleep in the hopes of sleeping better tonight. coming off 4 days off I am on a up late, sleep late, cycle.

Did I mention I'm working on stays? I'm attempting to make the Augusta stays from Scroop patterns and virgil's fine goods.

I'm using the "historical" view but I'm mostly doing these as a fit test so I'm using cotton for all of it and will scrounge what boning I have...I bought some cotton canvas that's just a touch lighter than duck and am using leftover blue sateen for the fashion layer. I had gotten them all cut out and transferred the boning lines. and today I managed to baste all the layers together for all 10 pieces...then looked at the fronts again and realized "those lines are drunk and all over the place and I cannot use that" I tried going over the lines and it just turned into a hot mess.



so I sucked it up and cut two new fronts and re-did the lines. the first time I used a tracing wheel. This time I used a sharpie to mark the top and bottom of each line and then used a ruler to draw a nice straight line. muuuuch better.



still have to do the second front. and I'm really hoping I can salvage the other pieces without completely re-doing them as I think the fronts got the most distorted as they had by far the most lines.

maybe I'll poke it after work tomorrow...maybe

I told myself my 3 goals for the day were to 1. buy stays fabric (ie leave the house for a bit) 2. write a blog post 3. knit the last 3 rows on my first pinball side. So far I've done #1 and I'm being procrastinatey about #2-3. (I've worked A LOT in the last week, this is my lazy day)

There's been interesting discussion in Katie and Amanda's DWs (wait Katie's and Amanda commenting? I lost track) about written vs video-ed content. And I'm guilty of trying out this video thing, not especially because I want to be "famous" although I DO have a guilty desire to be a noteworthy costumer, but partially because I like to try new things and my life here is surrounded by the language of film. My husband sees the world through a lens so to some extent it's been a fun window into his world. I already enjoy shooting and I edited the second of my videos myself (with a HUGE learning curve). That said I find my personal approach is different than most costume vlogs or tutorials, I'm happy to share SOME knowledge but I'm also aiming for actual entertainment value and humor. "humor is my brand" because if you're going to have a successful youtube channel you do to a certain extent need to have a clear idea of what your brand IS.  

Amanda and I have talked about how to a certain extent the switch to video makes it less easy for a beginner to share content and not look like a major beginner. I think it's HUGELY obvious that Rob edited my first video and I did the second. There's just an experience gap of oh 30 years. Plus knowing what software to get, having a set up with quality lights, a good camera etc aren't really cheap things. I have been filming on my Nokia DSLR as well as my cell phone but I have a Galaxy S9 and I 10000% could not have filmed anything on my old Iphone SE. 

But all that said, I am kind of enjoying it as a different media. I don't intend to fully abandon blogging or writing here. They fill different needs to me. in my blog I write out specific outfits, with all the info about how I made them, here I share my feelings and inner thoughts with my friends, video is just a way for me to remember how much fun I had as a performer back when I went to acting classes. 

okay someone make me go knit before I lose the daylight. somehow i can't knit on 0000s without really good light and my living room is dim y'all. 

whoops haven't posted in ages...the Christmas season has been hard for me this year. More clearly I can see the chances of us having kids dimming and that makes a lot of it feel like "why bother" why have Christmas traditions if there's no one to pass them too, why does it matter? I barely managed the basics of presents for family and a tree. Rob was very helpful but he just doesn't have the sadness I do so to some extent he's left bewildered. But we made it through. My family came down the weekend after and I had a wonderful time being with them and those girls are just a hoot. I can't believe they're 7 and 5 already. Where does the time go?!



But please be impressed with my Christmas dinner part 2. I made a beef roast and it turned out perfectly! I was so proud of myself!



I can already tell we have passed the solstice as I feel the dark lessening. I love turning the corner to longer days. I'm so sun driven. And I now get the glory of a clean house to enjoy. My mom as a present cleaned my embarrassingly filthy fridge to brand new status, I got the bathroom sparkling and had to clean the sewing room for the girls to sleep in. I know I'm coming out of my depression because on a rainy disgusting day, instead of curling up and watching hallmark movies all day I went upstairs and excavated my sewing table so I could start another project. Mind you I didn't get as far as sewing but I did get as far as a clean space to do it in.

I also decided I wanted a regency outing so I'm going to wrangle whoever wants to go to Emma in February which will be fun. I want to make a new wool spencer and ruffly chemisette and an apron front dress.

I also want to go to Williamsburg in the beginning of February for their fashion weekend, need to get in touch with my MIL about the time share again...I really really need new stays. I wanted to use the Augusta Stays pattern...I should probably start sewing if I'm going to do 1/10th of this.

 ruh ro raggy Gettysburg is mere days away! lets take stock of how behind our heroine is on her must finish projects:

Rational dress
-sew on hem facing
-sew darts (already fitted)
-buttons on cuffs/buttonholes
-sew on trim (I'll probably do this dead last and possibly thursday night in the B&B)

Dinner bodice
-only thing done is patterned and fitted. going to use muslin as my lining

Amanda's shawl
-I have 50 of 400 bits of fringe sewn on

Also need to
-make a butt pad for my new hoop
-re-trim or at least look at orange ballgown
-clean house for company
-hem Rob's new pants

I am off today but we're going to a "friendsgiving" at 2pm and I'm well aware that will eat most of the day. Then I'm off most of Monday I work 5-8, work 7-7 on tuesday 

but all that said I'm still starting to get really excited for my long weekend with friends playing in another century. 

In a rare turn of events I had what was my most productive sewing day in YEARS yesterday. Amanda says we're all feeling the panic (she is right). I FINISHED my grandpa pants fully. And they fit very well and are very derpy. It feels strange to have pants with no pockets but there was no point in putting in pockets, I'll have a dress over it. I also got all the bias whipped down inside the dress. 

I also sized up the shawl on Amanda and decided to finish the pink stripe I was in and do one additional teal and one pink. So 20 more rows total. Last night after everyone left I was allowed to do 2 rows of knitting before Ellie was ADAMANT it was bedtime, it was actually kind of funny. 

My goal for today is to knit the rest of my teal row so that I'm 10 rows away from binding off, and piece the fabric and cut the sleeves.  So far I've watched the price is right with a dog on my feet and knitted 2 rows so I'm 4 in. I think I might pause and make mac and cheese for lunch... 

I'm struuuuggling here with the motivation for Gettysburg. Besides Amanda who is definitely bringing the inspo it feels like most of my group is re-wearing or done or making-under-duress. JESS SHARE MORE I KNOW YOU'VE SEWED A BUNCH and I'm just...slogging. But perhaps if I'm better about talking about it I'll be more inspired to sew.

so far the only thing I've touched is my rational dress. and to be fair it's the only thing I NEED

I've mostly made a very questionable pair of pants. But really you're only going to see from the knee down so who cares.



Also I just cut the same length Alice did...spoiler alert I look like I'm 7 and wearing my dad's pants. She got waaay more leg than me.

I didn't feel like putting a waistband on them so I skipped that and started the dress portion. I mean it's all got to be done anyway right? I basted in the half lining and sewed the pieces together. I had to whip down the seam allowances over the lining as it frays like a mofo. Tonight I cut out the bias strips for the edge finishing and a wider bit for the hem facing.

To Do:
- pants waistband
-pants buttons
-hem pants

-finish CFs
-finish neckline
-sleeves
-hem

I had said I wanted this dress and the body of Amanda's shawl done by Halloween. hahahahahahahahahahahahaha At least the shawl is coming along well.

Yesterday I went to Belvidere Victorian Days, which in itself isn't weird, but for the first time I went without a close friend. Yes I saw people I knew, but none of the usual suspects went, and it felt very out of my comfort zone to go "alone." But somehow it didn't bother me? Rob was surprised the day of when he suddenly realized I was going solo, I guess I hadn't talked about it at all.



I wore my 1882 tea gown that I made for last year, but honestly I love it so much I'd wear it a million times. Something about it makes me look so curvy in all the photos...which I am very much not actually.



I met up with Mick and Shane and mostly hung with them or bounced over and saw Lara. It was very relaxing and kind of freeing to realize I can have a good time without my security blanket. The weather was beyond perfect, 70s and breezy. We had a formal tea time with china and laughed a lot.

The shopping at Belvidere is sadly not what it once was. But I did get a few things from Lara. I got a Young's Improved Plaiter board (pleater) which is magic as far as I can tell. Now I want to pleat ALL THE THINGS. And the CUTEST pair of slippers. I have zero idea how old they really are, but they're super comfy and I think they're darling.



They changed the fashion show this year and instead of being one old lady's collection of misdated things they put out a call to all participants who wanted to show their work. Which meant it was a really mixed bag. Some very interesting interpretations, some lovely tailored things, a few beginners who made solid dresses straight out of TV patterns...

All in all it was a lovely day and I'm glad I went. It really remains my favorite event, even if the shopping isn't great. what I want out of an event is to relax and laugh a lot. mission accomplished. 

In the end I managed most of my sewing for our Longwood outing. I did not make a stock collar, but looking at Alice's super tall collar I don't think I have enough neck for it anyway. I also didn't make a belt, partially because I forgot, and partially because I did a quick sweep and didn't have any fabric that wanted to be a belt and sort of matched. I wore it with a brown ribbon, but it didn't matter because my shirtwaist is SO blousy it hung over it.

I got there super early because I'm always late and dammit. I wanted to be ontime. Dressed myself fully in the parking lot and was just figuring out how to fish my sunglasses out of the car with a bird wing on my hat when Adrienne and Mackenzie rolled in. I did film a very amusing (to me) clip of myself dressing in the parking lot as I was kidding myself that I would "vlog"

The weather was STUNNING. It was warm but with a steady cool breeze and low humidity it was super pleasant. The news claimed it was the nicest day of the summer and I'm tempted to agree with them.

Everyone else came mostly dressed so it was just a few min of gathering bits and picking up a Taylor in the parking lot before we headed inside to find more of our group. All in it was a group of about 20 breathing bodies, 3 of whom were Alice's ADORABLE 2 nieces and nephew who are visiting from the UK. Somehow Alice managed to perfectly costume five people in like a week..and they were perfection!




This is the picture of those who made it till 6:00 closing time, We had a lot of people arrive late and some who left early so I never managed one good group photo.

In terms of my outfit I'm hoping Amanda got some full length photos as I didn't really.



The sad but true reason is because I felt fat and uncomfortable and didn't WANT to ask someone to take my picture. :-/ all I see is that I'm a giant white blob. I have no waist. I wore Rob's 1860s cravat on a whim and regret it in every picture, it hides the insertion work I did on the shirtwaist. I had my hat tipped so far back you can't see the amazing wing and it looks like a cowboy hat instead.



I did however think everyone else looked stunning, and as someone who really enjoys photography I loved getting to take all their pictures. Alice and Amanda seem to be so perfectly lithe and elegant and made for this era. I had major lust for Amanda's super sharp jacket.



I think as a unit we were a stunning view at Longwood that's for sure. Looking forward to going back sometime.



For my next wearing of this outfit I want to finish a belt, lose 50lbs, and ponder some skirt embellishment. So many of the originals have it, but would it detract from the elegant line? unsure.