Back from school means back to blogging!

So I finished my first year away at school! It was tough at times and it took me ages to finally feel at home there. Trust me when I say I went kicking and screaming for the first month.

And for my second semester what class did I take? Theater 115: Stagecraft I. It was a two part course on lighting, and, drum roll please...costume design and construction!!! You can bet that I took this class as an opportunity to polish up my sewing skills and learn new techniques. My two main projects were 18th century based (surprise surprise :p). I'll post more on those later.

Overall the year was a great success both academically and in terms of maturing into the adult that I'll one day present to the world.

I just wanted to give a quick update to let you all know that I haven't given up on this blog (or the stays). I'll be having some major surgery soon which will leave me with more free time than I'll know what to do with. So what better way to spend that time than to continue my historical research, work on my sewing and post on my blog for all of you wonderful people surfing the interwebs? My next post will be about my two projects from my stagecraft class.

Until next time!

Hiatus: School is Coming

Once again, I will need to take a break from my project (though hopefully not the blog!). In one week I will be moving into school and of course the last thing I'll have time for is sewing, so until things settle down, my projects will be put on hold. I will keep updated with some other things (books, art, fun finds, etc). After all, someone like me can't possible hope to keep an interesting blog going based on amateur sewing projects alone! I'm thinking my next post will be an art one. Until next time, my good readers!

Hold Up in the Project

      So just after my last post, I sat down to work again. After boning two more channels, I realized that I was all out of my industrial cable ties! My friend wanted to go out so I thought that I'd stop at Lowe's on the way so I could pick up more. That was my first mistake. I walked in, found the electrical aisle and found the cable ties. After a nice little search, I came across something similar to the ones that I had bought in Home Depot, though they seemed a little less rigid, and they were wrapped in a circle rather than packed straight. I bought them anyway (second mistake). It turns out I can't flatten the ties, and even if I did, the plastic would have a "memory" an try to bend back. This, unfortunately, happened the day before my vacation. I'm finally back, but now I'm a little behind on the stays. Hopefully I can get to Home Depot (curse you Lowe's!) and get back on track. Until then, fellow anachronists!

Sewing Update: Pictures

I finally have pictures!!!

This little guy keeps me company as I work

My beautiful workspace in the dining room

Outside of the stays

Inside of the stays

Close up: I decided to tack down the seams, because if I just leave them as is, when I line the stays, I feel as though they will bunch up. Plus I think it looks better :)

Industrial cables ties for boning. They're cheap and washing machine friendly!!!

Preview of binding and trim. Each seam will be overlaid with this lovely chocolate ribbon. The stays will be bound in brown bias tape.

Lining

     So I do think that my fabric change was a good idea. These stays will breathe better, and I think that in the end, it is a much nicer fabric than the forest "brocade." I still have to bone a few more channels (I ran out of cable ties), sew the lining to the stays, clip the tabs, make the eyelets, add the trim and bind  the edges. So there is still a LOT left for me to do. I have a lot of hand sewing ahead of me. Hooray! I haven't posted pictures of the chemise in order to save space, but I will next time. Until then, I suppose!!!

Please Forgive the Delay

Sorry about the extended delay, but I have been traveling! Since my last post I finished the chemise and got started on the stays. All of the boning channels are now sewn in. Hooray! Now I have the lovely task of cutting, smoothing and inserting the boning. I also changed my fabric in the name of comfort. The green fabric was lovely but it was a cotton/rayon blend, and as I'd like to wear the stays as often as possible, I'd like them to breath. So I went to my local Hobby Lobby and picked up a 100% cotton duck in a pretty little blue and brown pattern. As soon as I can I will take pictures, but at the rate I'm going, by the time pics are up I'll be done! We'll just have to wait and see....

Progress: Clothing Part II

     After my last post I took a trip to the fabric store and picked up the pattern I had been looking at. It gives instructions for a pair of stays, chemise, pockets and panniers(of sorts). Aside from a few little tweaks here and there, the pattern appears to be historically accurate. I'm not sure about the panniers, though. I've decided that to begin with I'll make only the chemise and stays. For the chemise I bought basic white muslin.
     The stays, however, are going to be where the artistry comes in. I purchased a pretty "damask" in a linen/rayon blend. I wanted silk dupioni or damask in natural fibers but I couldn't find any! A fabric store that carries only synthetics for home-decor fabrics...sheesh. Anyway, the fabric is a really nice deep bottle green. The edges are going to be bound in a light blue. For the interfacing and lining I chose canvas and muslin respectively. That way the parts closest to my body will be of natural fiber so I don't boil. I've tried to go as historically accurate as my budget allowed, though I admit to a few slips in the name of design and keeping funds low. Since this is my first pair of stays, though, I'm more concerned with the result than being a stickler for the rules.
     Boning I think is going to be the hardest part. After some research I've decided that I want to try using cable ties. Its much lighter than steel, sturdier than featherweight, similar in firmness and flexibility to baleen, and relatively inexpensive. I have a while to go before I need them so we'll see if that works out for me. If it doesn't.....well then its time to come up with another idea. Sorry for the long post. I promise to post photos of my fabrics and progress as soon as possible. 

Taking the Plunge: Clothing Part I

I've decided that it is high time I started to sew some period garments. I've been surfing the web, staring at patterns and fabrics, and planing for over two years now. I need to just do it. So that's my summer project. As I am new to the whole historic reproduction world (and not at all capable of drafting my own patterns), I'm going to start out with commercial patterns. I think I'm going to begin Simplicity's pattern 3635. Yes, I know it isn't exactly period correct, but that's what alterations are for! So the plan for today is that I'll be going out to my local fabric store and picking up all the necessary odds and ends. I think I'm going to do the stays in a lovely toile patterned home-decor fabric. Any advice from seasoned sewers of period clothes? Wish me luck!