Upcoming ideas

So with my very first costume college under my belt I have a few moments to breath and plan for some upcoming outings. 

I also have my first must make dress for coco 2014 in mind

Isn't this dreamy? You can look at (drool over) a few more detailed pictures here. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/189291990561374178/

This style is one of the very few I can appreciate from the 20s so many of the looks just will not work for my figure. 

Before I sew for Coco 2014 though I have a couple things to do first :) 

I will be attending the antique elegance show in DFW and that outfit is starting to take shape. I am also attending a charity shoot at old Fort Parker in Oct. and hope to be making something along these lines

To wear during the day to shoot in. 

Sometimes inspiration comes from places other than extant garments or fashion plates, right now I am having a little love affair with this gown. 

This dress can be found in the book "Les petit dames de mode" 

http://pinterest.com/pin/189291990561378347/

The plum-y goodness makes me swoon. 

I also have another era first event coming up in November. A Gregorian picnic with the DFW costume guild once again. I am planing a simple dress using this sheer dotted cotton. 

 

Here are some of the ideas that I am collecting for that project.

If you click on this pin you can then view the 1810 dot dress board I have put together. As I am writing to you from my iPad app, I do t have the option to share the board URL link with you. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/189291990561118265/

We are moving into our new home and my sewing studio  (squee!!) on Friday so for the moment my stash is packed up, the machines are in cases and I can but plot and plan. Happy sewing! Next post I will do the big photo tour of the studio before all my things get moved in. 

It's not all fabric and sewing...

In September I am going to be attending the Antique Elegance show along with some DFW costume guild friends and I am hoping for a nice 1940s look with an easy outfit for walking and shopping.

One of the areas I get anxious about is hair, make-up and accessories...so yeah, just imagine my internal squeeee when it was announced that next years Costume College will focus this topic?!? 

I purchased some reproduction patterns at CoCo and plan to use one of these. I could find a Vintage pattern and make that but like Heathers - Truly Victorian patterns, sometimes it's just nice to have a multi-sized dependable pattern at hand.

I love a high waisted pant! This shape is usually flattering to my figure.

Possible blouse option

A skirt from the 50s is another possibility

With this blouse. 

But before I decide and start the fabric hunt, I wants to try the hair and makeup and see if I could pull it off.

So this morning I tied my hair up in rag rollers...

"Charming no?"

This was easier than I expected and since I started with damp and not soaking wet hair it dried in about 3 hours. I also thought the rags were small enough and soft enough that I could sleep in them. Who knew?!

Later I took them out and ran my fingers through my hair - instant perm! Note to self work on self pictures, but you get the idea. 

Later after some help from you tube...Ta Da! Not too bad. 

The eyelashes look HUGE to me but when I snap a photo they seem in proportion, I need a little practice with eyeliner but all I all I am pleased with my first attempt. 

Now I can breath and get back to what I feel a bit more confident with, running the sewing machine. 

Bye now! 

Summer bloomers of discontent.

So yesterday while I was blogging I closed the blogger app to grab a link for Old Fort Parker and when I returned to finish the post...it was gone! What?! Where is auto save when you need it? So in disgust I went about my day in a fit of blogging piqué. Today I am over it and so can share my latest short project with a more composed mind. 

I have recently moved from the dry plains of hotter than hades OK to the north of Houston. The change in weather being something like desert to tropical heat. 

Last weekend I went to a monthly SASS shoot with friends and wore the "summer causal" outfit most folks were wearing. A straw hat, jeans and a t-shirt. American old west historical clothing being too hot. Well dear readers, so were the jeans! It got up to 103* F and about 80% humidity, honestly, it rained later that evening. 

So I decided action must be taken to save myself from as much of the sticky mess as possible...enter summer bloomers! 

These lovelies are made from cotton on sale for 2.50 a yard. (2.5 yards needed) 

A McCalls pattern for $.70 on sale 

Cotton lace trim  $1.49 a yard (very nearly two yards per) 

Waistband elastic 3/4 inch for $2.49 (enough for two pair) 

Thread from the stash

Time spent about 2 hours on the first pair and slightly less on the next three. 

I started by cutting out the pattern for the shorter of the two pant options from this pattern.

I then cut off more length after sewing one set together minus the waistband to achieve the bloomer length I desired, then I simply adjusted the pattern to that length for the next three. 

I like to pre-wash cotton fabric before use, I also like to serge the raw edges before I throw it in the washer, it saves me the agony of a mess like the one you see here which is what happens when I forget that little step! You can also use a zigzag or even a straight stitch I imagine to keep this from happening where a serger is not available. 

After fixing that minor disaster I got right on with the bloomers...they are a straight forward one piece per leg business with an elastic band for the waist. The ruffle is applied to the bottom of the leg with no elastic or gather of the pant leg, I like these kind of bloomers to be airy and loose. 

At the end of the day I had four pairs ready for the shoot I attended this weekend at Old Fort Parker two for myself and two for my friend Cindy who is know as Shotglass in the cowboy action world. We have adopted the Jail for the annual charity match in October and will be giving it a face lift, so more on that project as we go along. 

 http://oldfortparker.org/Cowboy_Action_Shooting.html

Here we are in our "much more better" bloomers. They are nothing like accurate but bless me they are comfortable! Now dear readers I have brought you up to date - auto save or no auto save! 

A vintage pattern complete

Remember the drinks by the pool pattern?

Here it is on me ready to head out at Costume college. I made this pattern exactly as written just to see how it would act. I found it to be just the slightest touch too big in the bust- neckline as well as through the waist of the skirt. 

A little view of the pattern 

And during construction

The buttons I decided to use

Matching toes to peek out of my sandals. 

Over all I was so pleased with my first walk on the vintage pattern side of the street. Vintage pattern choices make a wonderful day class option for costume college. You have the advantage of looking "in costume" while being comfortable and yet not taking up too much space in valuable lecture halls or workshops.