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Post by Mme de Beaufort on Feb 16, 2008 12:33:07 GMT -5
I was driving home and taking an alternate route to drop something off in Gresham, and it '*coincidentally*' took me to a large fabric store... (I tried to find your number on my cell, Cosmo and call you, but it wasn't on there any more... ) I bought 5.5 yards of a really lovely cotton with a pale green background and some slightly darker green designs on it. Very pretty. 30% off all fabrics! I'm stoked to start on a project. I'm going to do a drop-front day dress with it I think. I've been eyeballing this look for the back (though I think I'm going to do straight elbow-length sleeves)... I'm going to play with the pattern a bit on my dress-form to see what I can do.
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Post by cosmoblue on Feb 16, 2008 16:57:55 GMT -5
Well, I guess that I can forgive for not calling just this once. You are such a brave dressmaker. Your courage to experiment with things like that back is amazing. I think you are going to have at least a bit of gathers at your sleeve cap to get that sleeve to lay nicely over your arm. Though you could do pleats instead of gathers. When I saw that image on Jessamyn's page it made me think of you and you love of tiny backs. Can't wait to see what you come up with this time.
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Post by Mme de Beaufort on Feb 16, 2008 17:41:21 GMT -5
Well, I guess that I can forgive for not calling just this once. You are such a brave dressmaker. Your courage to experiment with things like that back is amazing. I think you are going to have at least a bit of gathers at your sleeve cap to get that sleeve to lay nicely over your arm. Though you could do pleats instead of gathers. When I saw that image on Jessamyn's page it made me think of you and you love of tiny backs. Can't wait to see what you come up with this time. Hey... don't throw 'courage' around like that without taking some credit for making what turned out to be the most amazing gown at the party, from a book nonetheless, scaled up.... -- not to mention as your very first historic gown.... and I won't even go into the fact that you made that corset right off... and seeing how everything turned out, Cosmo, you should be very proud. And trust me, anyone else who is reading this post; it's METICULOUS work. There're no sloppy cuts, no wiggly lines, even the basting she was mumbling about was perfect. I may take risks, but I screw up a lot, and I never do muslin mock-ups I'm not patient enough for that... so if I mess up, it's messed up.
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Post by cosmoblue on Feb 16, 2008 18:05:25 GMT -5
I don't count as having courage because I owe thousands of dollars to the US government for the training that makes it so I ought to be able to do what I do. It is courageous to create the way you do just because you enjoy it. You costume with wild abandon! It is very exciting for someone like me with AR/OCD tendencies to observe. I never know what is going to happen next with your projects.
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Post by Mme de Beaufort on Feb 16, 2008 18:09:28 GMT -5
I never know what is going to happen next with your projects. Neither do I. LOL!! ;D <--grinning blockhead
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Post by dawnluckham on Feb 16, 2008 21:00:12 GMT -5
Steph, as you work with this pattern (I know - it's a cool one, isn't it It's one of the first ones that attracted me to this time period) don't forget you need some of that fullness in the back of the sleeve in order to allow the sleeve to move. Cosmo's right, you have to have some pleats or something. Perhaps you don't need as much as the photo shows, but even if you want sleeves that appear to be plain and straight, you have to have enough ease.
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Post by Mme de Beaufort on Feb 16, 2008 21:14:50 GMT -5
Yeah, I figured I'd need to shape the back of the sleeve with pleats or a gather and then smooth it out as it goes down to my elbow.
I'm going to do the bodice first, and then build the sleeve in muslin until it's right. I need to have the arm holes set before I figure out the sleeve. I started my 'pattern'; which required me to put the corset on the dress-form, stuff the cups, and then to drag a white bin-liner over it, and using electrical tape, to shape the bodice pieces as best I could by eyeballing the pattern pieces on the gif. The sleeve will be completely different, so I'm not going to use that exact sleeve. Anyway, I cut the pieces off; the bin-liner and electrical tape thing seems to have worked, I have to pieces now. I have to account for seam allowances of course, but it's a start. I only cut one on one side, because I was worried that my freehand taping wasn't symmetrical. Mind you, I also made the little diamond on the back wider, since I'm a significantly bigger girl, and I don't want the sleeves to come in quite that far.
I'm about to begin. ::gulp:: I will create the bib only after the rest of the bodice is made.
I don't have the camera this weekend, so I will only be able to take pics after I've done most of the bodice. :::sorry:::
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Post by cosmoblue on Feb 16, 2008 21:44:40 GMT -5
I don't have the camera this weekend, so I will only be able to take pics after I've done most of the bodice. :::sorry::: I told you that I have a camera that you can borrow so that I don't have to wait for pictures.
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Post by Mme de Beaufort on Feb 16, 2008 22:16:13 GMT -5
I will not take responsibility for your camera when I have a cuisinart with fur known as Simon, who tends to climb like a small simian onto tables and sideboards while we sleep in seach of quarry. We will wake to find items in pieces in our bed, and Simon, the dear boy, sleeping happily beside them, reliving the destruction in his dreams, smiling a dog smile all the while. The work camera, I don't feel so bad about because it's already a piece of junk from being toted into dirty environments and used constantly. If it gets munched, there will be a celebration in the office. Don't think he won't eat a camera. He ate my tomato pin-cushion with pins in it. There is nothing that will not tempt him. ^--- the evil dog in question
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Post by cosmoblue on Feb 16, 2008 22:24:29 GMT -5
It is a really old camera that we let Kuku use. We are in the process of buying another camera so it won't even be a back up camera soon.
What a cute evil dog though.
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chiemi
Clergy
"Shelves in the closet. Happy thought indeed. "
Posts: 140
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Post by chiemi on Feb 16, 2008 23:54:37 GMT -5
The fabric sounds lovely! I really like the style of the gown you are going to make. I can't wait to see pictures! By the way you dog is sooo cute!
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Lady Serendipity
Clergy
"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort". --Jane Austen
Posts: 120
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Post by Lady Serendipity on Feb 17, 2008 0:43:29 GMT -5
The fabric sounds lovely! I really like the style of the gown you are going to make. I can't wait to see pictures! By the way you dog is sooo cute! Ditto (the fabric), ditto (the style), ditto (pictures!) and ditto (LOVE THE DOG! lol)
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Post by dawnluckham on Feb 17, 2008 10:41:11 GMT -5
OH Steph! BE CAREFUL with the dog around you sewing things!! I had a really difficult experience last year with my dog. She was ill and they were going through a whole series of tests to try and figure out what was wrong with her. X-rays done and the vet calls: “I think she’s eaten a needle… Maybe you can come down and identify it for us?” It was the odd shape that had them confused. It was a sewing machine needle!
Long story short – more than $1000 later my dog had surgery to remove the needle. She had a scar from chest to lower belly because the x-rays only could indicate a “region” where the needle was located not an exact location. And I felt super guilty about the whole deal because I hadn’t been careful enough with my sewing stuff and a dog that likes to put everything in her mouth.
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Post by Mme de Beaufort on Feb 17, 2008 23:46:10 GMT -5
I am usually careful, but I've been given a particularly artful dog who finds all sorts of ways to get into the most unlikely places. I've taken to storing my notions and such in a tote by the window now. Luckily, i worked for a vet clinic as a manager for several years when I first moved to Oregon, so I get lots of discounts and such; so if something happened, they'd be there for me. He's already cost me a few bucks for eating something mysterious that caused him to puff up like a blowfish... We're always on alert, but sometimes, he gets one over on us. He was fastidious about plucking the pins from the cushion before chewing a hole in it and getting sawdust all over the bed along with the pins. Anyway... I have finished the back part of the bodice, and am now working on the bib. I'm gathering it right on the dress-form with a piece of bias tape tied around the waist. It's going fine so far. The sleeves may prove interesting, but we shall see!
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Post by cosmoblue on Feb 18, 2008 0:02:26 GMT -5
Anyway... I have finished the back part of the bodice, and am now working on the bib. I'm gathering it right on the dress-form with a piece of bias tape tied around the waist. It's going fine so far. The sleeves may prove interesting, but we shall see! Very exciting!
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Post by dawnluckham on Feb 18, 2008 0:33:22 GMT -5
Can't wait to see the results, Steph!
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Post by Mme de Beaufort on Feb 19, 2008 13:59:53 GMT -5
The front of the skirt is now attached to the bib, and the 'cord' has been attached. I like how fully gathered the skirts look. I'm sort of winging it without a pattern, just sort of glancing at pieces from the Period Impressions 464 pattern... it seems to be working for now. I've never just made a dress on the dress form before. I'm worried about the lack fo lining, though, and the fact that I will have to hem.
Tonight, the back... Then I will attach the sides up to the split, hem and do something to finish the edge of the openings on the skirt. I haven't figured out how yet. I am going to need a petticoat too; this is the first gown I've done with no lining on the skirts.
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Post by cosmoblue on Feb 19, 2008 19:59:32 GMT -5
The front of the skirt is now attached to the bib, and the 'cord' has been attached. I like how fully gathered the skirts look. I'm sort of winging it without a pattern, just sort of glancing at pieces from the Period Impressions 464 pattern... it seems to be working for now. I've never just made a dress on the dress form before. I'm worried about the lack fo lining, though, and the fact that I will have to hem. Tonight, the back... Then I will attach the sides up to the split, hem and do something to finish the edge of the openings on the skirt. I haven't figured out how yet. I am going to need a petticoat too; this is the first gown I've done with no lining on the skirts. I can't wait to see pics! Why worry about hemming? It is the least challenging thing about what you are doing. In all my schooling I have only ever lined 2 skirts and that was only because it was a requirement to the assignment.
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Post by Mme de Beaufort on Feb 20, 2008 12:50:17 GMT -5
Okay, I took some pics. I added the back skirt yesterday but i hate it. I gathered rather than pleated, and I'm not happy with the look. I'm going to remove the skirt and reapply it with pleats. Naturally, Flickr is acting stupid, so bear with me.
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maudelynn
Clergy
~ I may not always make good sense but I ALWAYS make good tea!~
Posts: 193
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Post by maudelynn on Feb 20, 2008 13:02:06 GMT -5
I have 2 shelties and they are way too clever for their own good
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