I don't suffer from insanity,

Next project, a suffragette outfit for my mom and a suffragette dress for Vee! Whee! One of my DFWCG friends is lending me an outfit she made for herself while she was preggo, so I personally am set (thanks TONS, jenthompson!).

I have the *perfect* dress pattern for my little V, and it looks super easy, too. I got it way back when guen_the_cat told me about a site that had an awesome library of patterns open to the public for a limited time:



My mom's is going to be simple thrift store stuff, I think, which will be easy enough to put together. And what we can't find, I'll see what I can throw together quickly. I already have a big tan felt hat she can wear, too.

Also, does anyone have any idea what color the sashes were that these women were wearing?

I'm copying this over for my own amusement, but I know it will interest and amuse some of my friends, too.

Plus, Joss Whedon is so awesome. This is the interview he did for CrochetMe.com.

( Heh! )

I've been so busy! Let's see. What has been going on? Well, my week nights are much as before: Monday/Tues/Wed evenings walk the hound, chores and either WoW, reading or watching a movie. Thursdays are still game nights, and the Serenity game is going well. I've been updating the Wiki, so all my notes are up. Whee! Fridays are more chores, etc. Matt is doing a lot of end of year stuff for the church so he's pretty swamped.

Thanksgiving was awesome. I went over to Mom's on Wed night to help with food prep as has become my normal tradition. We spent the evening visiting and working. Then Thursday had us at my older brother Rob's for the Thanksgiving festivities. I wore toe socks and flip-flops because I knew how much they bothered my brother-in-law (hehe). For some reason he has this thing against toe socks, so I was delighted to exploit that weakness. >:) See, I can be evil! Even though Matt tells me that's not evil, it's just mischievous.

Anyway, We all lazed around and visited and ate wonderful food. Some of Rob's wife's family came, too, which I hope also becomes a tradition, as I love having them there.

On Dec 2nd and 3rd Matt and I went up to the Lake to visit with tempest_sky and Tim. We spent a lot of time visiting, plus our usual golf cart ride (which I still so thoroughly enjoy!!). Tempest Sky is looking so adorable these days, as her pregnancy is really visible now. I so much enjoyed the time we spent there!

Then last week, I spent the weeknights as described above. Saturday morning, I got off my procrastinating shelf and pulled out my 1878 skirt and bodice to do some minor alterations - like finish the hem on the skirt and shift the fasteners around on the bodice. I still need to do some fitting stuff with the bodice, but I'll totally need help for that as I don't have a fitter's form (or whatever they're called). I'm realizing in the course of my sewing that I have SUCH a high waist.

Anyway, I still need to add trim to the skirt and bodice, and I was leaning towards pleats. One of my fellow costumers gave me a pleating tool that looks remarkably like a ruler with some useful bends in it. I think that will help a lot. I'm thinking of adding pleats to the bottom of the skirt and the ends of the bodice sleeves, plus maybe at the bottom of the bodice.

Next up is my pink regency day dress, and apron. I think also this year the costuming guild is working on rococo stuff, so that should be fun, too! We're also going to have a class on steam-punk outfits, which is going to be really fascinating.

Saturday afternoon, we headed over to a friend's house for a pre-Candlelight get-together. It was lovely, of course. I love hanging out with other costumers, as it gets me all excited about sewing again. And boy-howdy do I need the inspiration. I procrastinate to no end, or choose other hobbies (WoW/reading/movies) instead of sewing. Anyway, the party was fun with yummy treats and lots of costuming talk, and then we adjourned to Dallas Heritage Village for their annual holiday Candlelight event.

Candlelight was so much fun, too! We wandered around as a guild, and shortly after we arrived there, my sister annawick and mom saintvickery and the Lex, too, of course, saw us and wandered around with us. Annie and Mom were dressed up, too, so they blended well with the rest of us crazies. ^_^ Err... Eccentrics! We're not crazy, we're eccentric. Anyway, Annie's dress looked particularly good and made me definitely want to make an actual bustle, she looked so sharp!

The Heritage Village was absolutely lovely. It was a little warm at first (I think it got to 80 F / 26.6 C that day!), but cooled off after the sun went down to a very nice comfortable for Victorian clothes 60 F / 15.5 C. I still love touring those homes - some are very ornate and elaborate, and others simple and charming. Plus the candle-lit (go figure) roads really enhanced the atmosphere. This year there were a lot more people dressed up, too. I think some of the guild's members passed out guild cards, which was awesome. We drew quite a bit of attention as everyone looked really awesome. Hooray for dressing up!

Things at the new job are going well. I had my one month review, and the boss had a lot of positive things to say. So, if things continue as they are, I guess I'll get to stay. ^_~ I'm hesitant because there's this six month probation thing that the University does, which since they fired the person before me makes me less confident than I would be otherwise. Luckily, the work itself is not difficult and my co-workers are all pretty awesome. So aside from missing my friends at the Shop (Mir and Kev especially!), over all things are well.

I'm finally adjusting to the early schedule, too, although I do find myself getting drowsy at 10 PM, which seems so terribly early. Bleh. I do miss my late evenings and late mornings! Oh and no traffic. I do miss having no traffic. I do like the extra two hours with the husband, though, since we are able to carpool. Anyway, if things work out here, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Matt and I looked for a house in Richardson or Carrollton in a few years.

Yesterday I put up some minor Christmas decorations - a wreath on the door and some lights, garland and a nativity set in the living room. No tree though. I think it's buried somewhere in our garage. Plus it takes us like three months to take the thing down (one year we took it down in JUNE), so I don't think we'll do a tree this year. Our living room still looks Christmasy, though, with the lights and the nativity scene.

Ok. Lunch is almost over, and I'm still unsure as to the policies on internet use for my office. My desk is in the front office (very public) and I'm in the student lounge, so I'll sign off for now.

Until later!

The original petticoat took about two and a half hours to complete, using some directions given by Fannie & Vera, who are Civil War reinactors. It was amazingly simple the first time around, although I did make some changes to their directions. Rather than using a drawstring or elastic, I pleated the petticoat waist and added a waist band.

From Costumes, In Progress

( From a hoop petticoat to a natural form petticoat.... )

Wednesday of last week, Matt and I went to the FC Dallas vs. New England Revolution game. We left our house at 6pm and it made all the difference. We got there at around 6:30, maybe 6:40, and the traffic was way lighter. The previous game we attended, we left our house at 6:15 and it took us a full hour to get there, so we missed a little bit of that first game. Yuck! Anyway, FC Dallas lost. T_T Even so, I had a lot of fun!

Thursday had me over at my friends' house gaming. Our Serenity game is going well, even though this last game was a classic "If it can go wrong it will!" The group had to make a deal with Niska. Then we found multiple (like 4 or so) bombs on the ship. Then we passed Reavers, who sent an exploratory shuttle. Then some of the bombs we missed blew up. Then the main Reaver ship came towards us so we had to limpingly jump without navigation, as that was one of the things that was damaged by the bombs we missed. Oh, and due to the previous complications, we'll likely be late for our rendezvous with Niska's man, so we'll be in big trouble there. So our next episode starts with us trying to get our nav system back on line and high tail it to the rendezvous. Heh. It was a blast. ^_^

Friday afternoon, I got an IM from Matt, who let me know that the annual Lewisville Lebanese food festival was going on this weekend. So, after work we headed over there and filled up on super-yummy Lebanese food. Mmmm.

The weekend was pretty tiring. We got up early and headed out to the farm so we could do some chores for Matt's mom. This time around, we worked on her greenhouse, so I got to climb ladders and such. We've committed every first Saturday to her for chores. Whee! But it's needed - she's in her sixties living in the boonies. Plus I do enjoy the drive (it's about 75 miles to the farm), as it's a nice, relaxing time chatting with the husband. Oh, and she gave me a basil plant that I'm going to have to try to keep alive. Which will be an interesting experiment. Heh.

I started on a Truly Victorian 1878 natural form bodice (TV420). I was thinking of doing the evening neckline but decided to stick with the collared one for the first time around. I've got this lovely light gray fabric that will make a beautiful outfit. I've also got a dark, dark gray that I am eventually going to use to do the trim and such so I can mix and match between the two, but for starters, it's all the light gray. I'm hoping to finish the bodice tonight so I can start working on the skirt and over-skirt. The goal is to have it done before the upcoming weekend.... We'll see how it goes!

Heh. This past weekend while I was sewing, I watched all the episodes of Firefly plus the movie Serenity. I think I should maybe watch something else tonight, but.... Well, Firefly is just that good. Maybe I'll watch it all again....

So, after seeing a corset on the corsetmakers group, I got to clicking and found, of course, the poster's website. So, seeing the beautiful garments, I get distracted and start clicking around some more. Oh, and knowing Italian certainly did help here, heh.

What do I find in her Regency selection? A set of short stays like none that I've seen, which look AMAZINGLY simple to re-create. Sweet! I may just have to give it a go.

She dates the stays at 1804. The exterior is in silk taffeta, but I figure I'll use cotton at least for my first try. The front is corded horizontally and the cords look to wrap around the eyelets in the front-center which I imagine gives the eyelets that extra support they'd need. On the inside each cord is sewn in its own channel, but on the exterior it looks like the cords are doubled up, which makes me think there are three layers. I wonder if she'd send me some higher rez images... Hm....

Not a lot is happening with me, aside from the craziness at work. Gearing up for GenCon is always pure chaos, and I'm really starting to feel it. Whee!

Lessee. Thursday games are going great. Two weeks ago (7/27) the team of intrepid youth battled an 80 foot tall robot. Last week (8/2), they saved a boy from anti-meta assassins (the term we're using in our game for supers is meta-human).

Fri 7/28: Werewolf. I am loving that game, even though we're just in the beginning stages and not even a pack yet. The two cubs just completed their Rites of Passage. The rest of us started out Cliath. The participation is really incredible. I'm not the only one taking notes, and the updates on the wiki are just a blast to read, and almost as fun to write. Next installment, this Friday. Hooray!

Sat 7/29: We went shooting in the morning with several friends at the range on 1171 and I35W. I'm no good with a pistol. I think part of that is my eye prescription hasn't been renewed in like three years plus I have a slight astigmatism. And my hands shake. But for some reason I'm not quite so bad with a rifle. I probably simply need more practice....

(more) Sat 7/29: Anyway, we finished up around noon, went home and cleaned up, and headed out to Anna to hang out with my oldest brother Rob, and younger brothers Chris and Aaron. Rob ran his GURPS game for us and much silliness ensued. We also played a card game called "Once Upon A Time," which merely continued the insanity. I believe much fun was had by all. This theoretically is going to be our every 4th Saturday hang-out. I hope it continues!

This past weekend Matt and I watched the Bourne Ultimatum with some friends. Aside from the shaky-cam (which really bothered Matt but not me so much), I thought it was a really fun flick. After the film, we headed over to some other friends' house for dinner and an evening of hanging out. They invited several other people, most of whom I knew through various avenues such as the old days of the Cam, WoW, etc. It was a Harry Potter themed evening so I went in my Hufflepuff gear, and Matt in his Griffindor stuff.

I really need a pocket for my wand in that robe. Hey, annawick, do you have any more of that mustard cotton left? Like a 12 inch by 4 inch scrap or so?

I'm planning on cutting out some fabric for two projects to work on while on the road or quiet hotel room time at the con. One will be an 1800 cap from the Kannik's Korner pattern (view a). Easy, easy. Then I think I'll cut out a dress from Sensibility.com's Lady's Closet. Probably this one. Both of those I can do by hand while in the car the 18 hours to Indy, plus 18 hours back. If I'm not reading, sleeping or driving....

The shop, as I mentioned, is chaos. It will only get worse this week. So if I pull my hair out in mass quantities, someone loan me a wig, please.

So they pretty much fit. There's a little oddness around the breast gussets, but I'll tweak them a little and they'll work until I make another set. I think as I get better and have more practice, fitting will become better, too. Fun, fun!

Oh, yeah. In case it wasn't clear before, these were entirely hand-sewn. Yes. I know I'm insane. And it's only the beginning! ^_^

Oh, and PLEASE forgive the totally NOT regency era shift - I don't have one yet so I used an old ren faire one!

( Finished! )

Next up: Probably a dress from this pattern. That one looks the easiest for a first try...

So, I've gotten all the eyelets done. And I can sure tell the difference between the first few and the last few, heh. The last few look much, much better as I was getting the hang of it.

( Making eyelets.... )

Ok, so Step 5 was to attach the shoulders, but I never did get pictures of that step, even though I did it three times. It was pretty straight forward, but I did have to make some adjustments to the strap length. That part wasn't surprising, as the pattern called for straps that were way too long. Anyway, so I don't have any pictures of adding the straps. I have finished all three layers, though!

( Edit: Oh! I did get a picture of the strap after all... )

( Close-up of a gusset, and picture of Step 6 )

The directions say the rest of Step 6 is to stitch over all the already existing seam lines. So that's next. I think I'll just do a very small, tight running stitch since a back stitch would look bad on the under-side. I brought it with me to work so I can work on it during my lunch break. Heh.