Time well spent

I have been using my time very well lately.

I have had long workouts almost every day for the last two weeks, including walking, weights, and a good deal of ballet practice.

I have done good writing, if not necessarily anything I can post yet, nothing's quite complete enough to make sense. Should try to whip something into readable shape.

I've started on a new sewing project, the Foxy Boxer Shorts from Sew Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp, my beginner sewing text. They are sort of complicated and I've already made mistakes, but what I need right now is actual, physical, tactile practice.

I've been reading good plays. I haven't been doing a lot of literary reading lately, so it's a nice change.

I've started cooking again, after not really having the time for quite a while. Now all I need to do is start having dinner parties again. I miss them.

I just got my DREAM script in the mail. Now I need to start getting off-book. Really looking forward to acting off of Jonathan as Demetrius.

I have not, by contrast, been terribly social. I've been feeling a little withdrawn recently and wanted time alone to do things.

Intimate Apparel, by Lynn Nottage



I read a play tonight that was recommended by my teacher tonight called Intimate Apparel, by Lynn Nottage. She suggested it because she thought it might help me write my play for the semester, Mrs. Hawking. I enjoyed the piece a great deal. It's about a black seamstress in 1905 New York trying to figure out what to do with her life now that she's thirty-five and has been alone for so long. It's sad and lovely, particularly a moment involving Esther the seamstress and the Orthodox Jewish man she buys fabric from. They are developing feelings for each other but of course nothing can ever come of it, and when she starts weeping because of a generous gift he gives her, he wants to comfort her but cannot touch her because he is shomar negiyah. I think my teacher recommended it because of the theme of a woman wanting to take control of her own life, resisting the circumstances society places her in, and do something meaningful with herself, as well as the strong female relationships, the way people can live for each other. I am still trying to parse out what to draw from the piece, how to quantify what I should take away and apply to my own work, but I thought the play was extremely effective. I also loved the sewing and garment descriptions-- the tactile luxury of the materials, the loving outpouring of the self into the craft. That sort of thing just... sucks me up. There's something holy in handmade things, and this play captured that very well.

God, I need to sew. And write. Both together.

The knockoff Atonement dress

You may remember that this past April, to console myself upon aging out of the best years of my life, I purchased a dress off of eBay that was designed to resemble the gorgeous green silk charmeuse gown worn by Keira Knightley in the film Atonement. I've had it for some time now, but have yet to have an occasion to wear it. But one thing I've been meaning to do is take pictures of myself in it to post here.

The dress is not a perfect fit. It's actually cut for someone less curvy than I, if you can believe that. It's a bit tight in the hips, so it has to ride up to lay right, which makes it rumple in the waist. I like how the bust shaping gives me definition. There's just same old problem I have regarding my boxy, massively oversized ribcage that means the zipper in the back only mostly closes. I think that also means the straps are not pulled as taut as they should be, and are prone to slipping. I may shorten them a bit because of that. Fortunately the back shape camaflauges the slightly gaping top of the zipper. I've always found a bare back very sexy, particularly my own.

If I remade it, which I'd like to do someday, I may copy the original, but I also would love to make it as the Tailor dress. Cornflower blue, slight cowl neck over a close-fitting beaded bodice with a straight skirt. And of course, sized to my proportions. Or possibly someone else's-- niobien* not only plays Bethany Loring, the wearer of the famous dress, she is the one cast member who I actually think physically resembles what I picture for her character. It sure would be fun to dress her up in such a gown and take her portrait in character.

But even if this dress is not perfect on me, I still like it. It has a long train and is very hot, which makes it not the easiest dress to wear, but it is a fabulous, flattering, striking color and I love the drama of it. And at the very least, it will be good inspiration for future dressmaking efforts. 

 

First attempt at draping!

Ages ago I bought something like five yards of a gorgeous striped dupioni silk off of eBay. It's lovely, in sophisticated shades of gold, red, and dark green, and has a stiff hand and a smooth texture. Today I pulled it out of the bottom of my fabric basket and messed around with pinning it to Adelaide, my dress form. I don't know much about draping, and it's one of those arts that seems simple but takes years of practice to really get, but it was kind of fun sculpting with the fabric and pinning it in interesting shapes.

I love the look of the strong, varicolor vertical lines. I just did a simple cowl neck here, and tried to draw in the waist a little bit, but now I want to try more things. I've always liked the look of elaborate pleating at the bodice, and that's definitely a sort of design that one would drape. Not sure how it would look with the stripes... but I'm excited to find out!

Debut of the preppy plaid skirt!

Decided my newly sewn plaid skirt, while technically a mini, is no shorter than many other skirts I wear to work on a regular basis, so I couldn't resist making today its debut. I put a hook and eye at the top of the zipper, but otherwise it is unchanged from the other night. Ensemble, c'est tres chic, non?

I can't believe how well I did with the fit. It sits at my high hip so nicely. I was afraid it would ride up, like another stiff-fabric skirt I have, but it's sized so well that it just clings to the shape of my hips and stays exactly where I want it. Exactly the right amount of ease and everything. I'm sure this is due to the precision with which the sloper instructions have you use your measurements. Though I did alter the pattern by lowering it to hip height, which could have caused a problem, but I guess I was in fact able to logic it out. The instructions are so well designed, even with the myriad mistakes I made in the drafting process, that I would realize right away when I did something wrong because the elegant, logical structure would be obviously disrupted. I was very impressed.

I figure I'll test it with a day of wear and see if it needs anything, like a waistband or a lining. I'm inclined to think not, it's working so well as it is. Seems a little prone to wrinkling; though the fabric is a coarse woven cotton, it has kind of a linen-like feel. But I can sit and stand and move comfortably in it. It lays flat across my front and hugs my backside without clinging too much. The only thing I'm actively unsatisfied with at the moment is the inside is completely unfinished. My seam allowances are just kind of flapping around in there. Makes me wish I had a serger to just securely seal them all up. If I lined it that wouldn't be a problem anymore, but as I said, I worry a lining might make it too heavy, and I don't want to risk screwing it up with a process I've never attempted before. Yeah, yeah, practice makes perfect, but I actually like this garment. Maybe I should save the first try for something I don't care about. But that would mean deciding on some other way to finish the seams.

As with any successful project, now I want to make more things. Too bad I'm so busy today, or I'd spend the rest of the day messing with draping my dress form. I don't know much about draping, but I want to just pin stuff all over it and see what I get.

I made a preppy beige and burgundy skirt!

Oh, my God, guys, I made a skirt! A skirt for which I drafted the pattern myself! And it fits me great and came together nicely despite the fact that I'm still new to a lot of these techniques!

I sized it to fit to my hips instead of my waist, so I didn't have to worry about darts. And I was careful about where my seamlines fell so that the fit was on. I love how it flares out just a little to hug the shape of my hips.

I inserted my very first invisible zipper, which went in okay. Not perfect, I wish I'd gotten the edges closer together, it gaps as the skirt stretches with me as you can see, but it looks pretty presentable. The sloper instructions tells you how to make a waistband, but it looks so nice as it is. The only thing that it might help is the slightly messy top edge where the zipper ends. I may skip the waistband, but I should probably sew in a hook and eye at least.

I even managed to match the lines of the plaid to itself pretty well! At least the horizontal lines. But it doesn't look too weird.

This fabric started life as a valance curtain I got at the thrift store, so I used the finished edges it already had for the waist and hem of the skirt. That happened to work out cleanly, I thought I was at least going to have to make a new hem. The other thing the instructions recommend is a lining, which I may also eschew. It fits so nicely as it, a lining would make it heavier. Also, I've never lined anything before, so maybe I don't want to risk messing up the skirt.

It probably needs a few finishing touches, but I'm really happy with it. I'd like to wear it tomorrow, though it might be a little short for the office. Still, it's so preppy and chic, and my legs have been looking so long and toned lately, it might be a shame not to. ;-)

Funny sewing machine diagram

I especially like "cryhole" because I suck at threading bobbins, or as I shall be saying henceforth, the "arc reactor." I like all the nerd references utilized here.

Six homework-free weeks to DO ALL THE THINGS!

After a fun but intensely packed weekend, my six homework-free weeks have officially begun! What do I plan to do with this glorious time, do you ask?

What ALL THE THINGS do I intend to DO, you ask?

- WRITE! There are three things that I want to focus on now. I want to noodle a bit on Break a Leg, my short funny metatheatrical larp. I want to work on back-engineering the work I did for the Tailor screenplay to finish the audio drama version. And I want to make a little headway on Mrs. Hawking. Next semester I'll be doing playwrighting again and I think that is what I would like to work on then. If I make a little headway on it now, maybe I can have enough of it done to submit pieces for my workshop manuscript for the residency.

- GARDEN! I want to plant the three daylilies we took home as favors from Nat and Vik's gorgeous wedding. I've never grown plants myself before, but my dad is an avid vegetable gardener and keeps lots of decorative flowers and trees in the yard, so I'm sure he could instruct me on how to raise a few pretty lilies. I'm not sure what color they are; orange is my favorite, but the yellow and the burgundy-red kinds are beautiful as well. I need to buy a planter and some potting soil.

- READ! I read constantly for entertainment, but it's mostly been blogs and the Internet and stuff. The books I've gotten to read for school, such as A Wizard of Earthsea and The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche and Other Odd Acquaintances, have reminded me how much I'm missing out on. Bernie lent me Mistborn, so I guess I'll start with that, but I want to read at least one, maybe two real books this month.

- EXERCISE! I've been doing about one really hard workout a week, plus going to the Tuesday night ballet class that my rehearsal doesn't conflict with, but that's not enough. Now that I can spare the time, and I am going to get as much exercise as I can before I get busy again. I keep saying I'm going to do this, but I need to actually get off my ass when I don't have an excuse not to!

- DANCE! Going along with the exercise thing, I want to practice ballet. Also my INSANE GEEKY STUPID IDEA is that I want to choreograph an  Avengers-themed dance piece to the movie soundtrack, and even if that never goes anywhere, it's powerfully in my head right now and working on it at the very least will get me dancing and exercising! As lediva* wisely said, you always feel better going with that feeling of inspiration than you do regretting that you never went for it.

- SEW! I want to finish my Gertie crinoline 2.0 and the plaid skirt I drafted a while ago. morethings5* has gotten going with his sewing blog Gathering Pins and it's inspired me. The only way to progress is to practice, and I know I have the chunks of time necessary to really dig into my projects.

This may all be too much for just six weeks of free afternoons (my evenings are still pretty booked up) but I'd rather shoot for the moon and see how much I accomplish!

YAY THINGS!

Notes from the weekend

This Easter my mom gave me her slow cooker to take back up with me. She bought it years ago and barely used it; she found most of her recipes came out better in the oven or stove stop so she didn't bother with it. But she thought that with my busy life I might be able to make use of it, so up with me it came. This weekend I decided to try it out and made a boeuf bourginnone, a recipe I make frequently. It wasn't bad, but I didn't have enough time to let it cook for the full five hours it was supposed to take, so it wasn't quite as tender as it should have been. On the stovetop I've made it in three or so, but on days when I can't watch the pot (and can time my presence in the kitchen just right) this could be of use.

Bernie also hosted an Avengers movie marathon leading up to the release of the new movie. Jane was kind enough to organize a group trip to the midnight opening in May, so this was to refresh its predecessors in our minds. I had to come in and out because of other obligations, but it was fun to watch and spend time with the fun people who were present. I hope they all forgive me for my catcalling directed at Chrises Evans and Hemsworth. Avengers apparently has pretty much uniformly good reviews, so I'm very excited. Unfortunately I have to go to rehearsal beforehand, but I'll get out in plenty of time to meet up with everyone a little later, well in advance of showtime.

I learned Singer is holding a sewing machine sale right now. Go here if you'd like to take a look. I am very tempted to purchase that two hundred dollar serger they're offering. That seems a little cheap for a serger, so maybe it's not all that good, and I should practice my regular sewing skills before I worry about how I finish my seams, but still... I kinda want one. I still have two more weeks to think about it, so maybe this would be worth dipping into my savings.

This is the last week before Festival of the Larps and I'm in pretty good shape. Paranoia is packed, thanks to Bernie, Matt, Mac, and Tegan, and The Stand is close to it. I have all my sheets and my costumes are in order. I just need to finish reading all the materials and I am going to be good to go. This promises to be an awesome weekend, and I'm excited to throw myself in. Thanks to our lovely con chair ninja_report* for putting it all together! Great work, dear!

Atonement dress

As some of you may have noticed, Tuesday was my twenty-fifth birthday. I am officially on the wrong side of twenty-five. I really don't like celebrating birthdays, but to console myself I decided I could get myself a little present. So I wandered around on eBay, my retail poison of choice.

Though I haven't seen the movie, in my opinion probably the most gorgeous dress to come out of film in the last ten years is the one worn by Keira Knightley in Atonement. It is green, bias-cut silk charmeuse with gorgeous details like a hip swag in front, complicated braiding effect in the rear, with an unusual mostly-bare back but with slim straps.

I'm crazy about it. I would say this dress is the primary inspiration for the design of Bethany's gown in Tailor of Riddling Way. Though since I have moved its creation to 1917 or so, it's even less period-appropriate, but I don't care.

Surfing around, I came across a listing for a prom dress that someone had commissioned but didn't want to keep anymore that had been styled after the Atonement dress. It was not very expensive and it was in my size, so what the hell, I decided to go for it. Here is what it looked like on the listing.

As you can see, far from a perfect copy. The color's not quite that vivid poison green (though that could be the camera) and that awesome strange randomly intertwining fabric effect on the rear is simplified to what appears to be rouching. Still, it captures a lot of what I like about the dress and even fixes the one thing I don't-- the bodice is kind of whatever on the original. I don't know why they went with laser cutting instead of beading on it, and emphasizes the boniness of Keira Knightley's chest. I have more going on up top anyway, so the more structured bodice of the version I bought will look better on me.

Probably someday, once my sewing skills are adequate to the task, I will make my own version of the dress. Charmeuse is a difficult, slippery material to sew with. But I bought the pattern that Gertie recommended as a good base for emulating it, Vintage Vogue 2859, just to have it for when that time comes.

 

Though it occurs to me that when I get to that point, what I may really want to do would be to make the Bethany dress, something similar except in cornflower blue with a nicer bodice. ;-) That would be a lot of fun.

Anyway, the dress I bought is scheduled to be mailed on Friday, so I expect it will arrive in the middle of next week. If so, it might be an option for my costume for Jesriah at Festival. It's ostensibly from the period I was told to emulate with my look. :-)

Drafted my first sloper!

Last night I got to work on my planned beige and burgundy plaid skirt idea. valleyviolet* cautioned me against a wrap style, so I searched around for simple directions on the Internet to making a basic skirt. I came across a really excellent BurdaStyle tutorial for drafting your own basic skirt sloper. It's very cool, teaching you how to use your measurements to draft two pattern that reflects the front and back of your body by quarters, which are then cut on the fold to make two halves.

Due to only having a fourteen-inch-wide piece of fabric, that required me to shorten the length of the skirt from eighteen inches, and I prefer wearing my skirts at hip-height anyway. So in order to alter it to my purposes, for the front I did not include any shaping, such as darts, that would not come down to my high hip line, and I moved the waist curve down. For the back I drafted it according to the directions in order to get the side shaping right, again moved the waist curve down, and then just cut off everything that came above the high hip.

It was fun and precise, I enjoyed doing it a lot. I used my French drafting curve for the firs time making the side and waist shaping! I was really impressed at how meticulous and well-though-out this design was for even a simple skirt sloper. Fit is one of the most challenging aspects of garment making, so this level of precision with the use of measurements is really great.

The last thing I did was cut the fabric. I added a one-inch seam allowance instead of a half-inch to give myself a wider margin for error. When I held the pieces up to myself they seem to have come out right, like they will take on the shaping they're intended for. And I really love this print.

I need to get a beige zipper before I sew it. I am going to be super careful, since going slow and following the directions precisely has served me up to this point. I really hope I can maintain the really good fit that I think I achieved on the sloper.

Regency and Renaissance costume patterns

I bought two new costume sewing patterns for just a couple of bucks today. A Regency and a Renaissance dress.

I'm not sure I have a lot of use for a Regency dress, but after seeing Pride and Prejudice they're in my head, and while I was watching the show it occurred to me that they might not be so difficult to make. They have an empire waist and puffed sleeves, which means a lot of the normal fitting challenges wouldn't be necessary. In this pattern I prefer the shaping of the view on the right but the split overskirt of the style on the left. I actually really like that pinky brocade fabric, so I'd probably pick something similar for when I try to sew it up.

The Renaissance gown is really elegant, though probably significantly harder to sew. I'm probably not quite at the point where I could make it to my satisfaction, so I think I'll save it until I improve. But with the sort of plays and larps that occur for me, I'd probably have more use for a dress of this period. I like the fitted waist, which I would not want to mess up, and I'm still not precise enough to not screw up such fitting. I like the bold color contrasting with gold trimming. I would probably pick a deep green or blue, though the red is nice too.

A small sewing project idea

I haven't done any sewing in a few weeks, but I find myself itching to get back to it. After taking a stab at Gertie's layer cake crinoline, I was somewhat pleased but wanted to give it another try and make a second version. I found I didn't have any of the white silky fabric left in my stash-- I honestly think it was left over from the banners my mother made for my production of Hamlet. Instead I repurposed the horrible sack dress I made that one time, because it was the only thing I had with the right hand and texture for lingerie fabric. It also has a lovely print, a very subtle black floral outline over a deep purple background. So I made the slip part, but didn't get any farther than that because I decided the white vine-embroidered netting I had wouldn't work so well with the black and purple. I will probably need to get some black tulle or something instead.

I also recently picked up a curtain made of a textured cotton with a great plaid-y sort of design, dark red lines crisscrossing over a beige background. I love the pattern and the hand of it, and I think it will make a great above-the-knee skirt. Sort of preppy, sort of classic, very chic. The one question is what kind of closure. At first it occurred to me to put in an invisible zipper, which means I would need to pick up a beige one, but then I thought of maybe doing a sort of wrap style. My plaid pleated skirt is like this, with the front part lapped over itself, and a closure on either end of the fabric. Maybe I could put in two jean-style metal buttons, one at the left end of the lapped part, one at the back. I wonder if that would be secure and attractive-looking. I'll do a little experimenting to see what I like.

Gwyneth Paltrow's Oscar dress

While I didn't watch the Oscars this year, a lot of the sewing and style blogs I read include pictures of the outfits worn by the celebrity attendees. Apparently dresses with peplums were big-- whatever. :-P My favorite gown, however, surprised me. It was worn by Gwyneth Paltrow and not something I would have expected to like, but I found it elegant in the extreme and absolutely perfect on her.

It's a white Tom Ford column dress inspired by Jackie O's famous 1961 white inaugural ball gown, made by Bergdorf Goodman's Ethel Frankau but designed by the first lady herself.

Frankly I hate Jackie's outfit, I think it's prissy and frumpy and hasn't aged well-- honestly my irritation at the way we've canonized Jackie's style, and in fact her and her whole family, is a subject for a whole other post --but weirdly I love Gwyneth's. The dress itself is simple, fits her well, has an interesting neckline shape, and while normally I would find a cape to be an awkward additional to modern formal wear, this one complements her look perfectly. It has a sleek shape, not to much weight or volume, and I love the way it cuts diagonally over her shoulders but then opens just a little to lay away from the rest of her.

Milanoo.com, a website that sells various sorts of interesting dresses at prices low enough to make me suspect the quality, is offering a replica of this dress at discount, around $127. I confess this tempts me; I like this dress a lot and think it would look good on my body type. I'm not as tall as Gwyneth, which I think helps her pull it off, but I still think it would look nice. But it's not like I need any more dresses, especially formal ones; my thrifting expeditions have yielded more than I have occasion to wear. I definitely should not be spending the money. Also, I am wary of knockoff even in the best of cases. I notice the Milanoo website describes this dress as "one shoulder," but when you see pictures of Gwyneth with the cape off, as it is apparently removable, you can see that it clearly has both sleeves, just an asymmetrical neckline that creates the illusion otherwise when the cape is on. So chances are they screwed up the design.

Hi, Pepper and Tony. Wow, I never noticed how much taller she is than him.

Anyway, so it seems likely that buying this dress from Milanoo would be a waste. Now I'm wondering if I could sew such a thing. It wouldn't have to be an exact replica, I'd just need to make a column dress, maybe emulating the asymmetrical necklace, and figure our how to make a cape that would drape in exactly the same way that this one does. I'm not sure what the fabric should be, probably something smooth but with stretch, given the way it fits. Likely something with crispness to it too, given the folds in the bodice. Not sure I'd need to both copying those, but I do think they're nice. It may yet be beyond my skill, but I'll definitely be adding to it my List of Dresses I Want to Copy Someday, along with the Margaret dress and the Cordelia dress.

Sewing project: Gertie's layer cake crinoline, mark 1

Last night I really needed a change of pace from my homework routine this week, so I decided to get in a little sewing practice. I remembered that ages ago, I decided I wanted to make another one of Gertie's tutorial projects, specifically the Layer Cake Crinoline. It was cute and looked easy enough, so I picked up some netting from the sale bin at Jo-Ann Fabrics, a semi-stiff white with great embroidery in a sort of bamboo motif with scallops on the edges. I couldn't exactly remember, but I think I got some white rayon as well for the top part. But I decided to wait until my sewing machine arrived before I started, and once I got it I started working on other projects and never got around to it. So yesterday I dug the materials back out and gave it a try.

I found the netting and pressed it smooth because it had been folded up in my basket for quite some time, but the only silky white material I could find I'm pretty sure was leftover material from when my mom made the Hamlet banners. That meant it probably isn't a garment fabric, and the drape likely isn't ideal. Still, it would probably serve, so I pressed it as well.

Then I went on the Blog for Better Sewing and found the instructions. The Layer Cake Crinoline basically consists of a slip with some elastic at the waist made of a typical lingerie fabric, with two gathered tiers beneath it made of a fabric with more body. Gertie's tutorials are good, but sometimes I think they take for granted that you already have the process of garment making down in your head, which I would not say I do yet. So I cut out two squares of my silky material to make the slip part, sewed the side seams, and pressed them open. Then I needed to put the elastic on the top edge. I cut it to fit my waist (hips actually, because I prefer my skirts to ride lower), sewed the ends together, then marked off the quarters of both the elastic band and the top edge of the slip.

I had gotten the fancy picot edge lingerie elastic like Gertie recommends, and as far as I can tell she says to sew it to the right side of the slip with the scalloped edge facing down, then fold it down into the inside so that the scalloped edge is facing up, and sew it again so that it stays in place that way. She didn't specify whether to start on the right or wrong side of the slip, however, and I sewed it on the wrong. I could have gleaned this information from looking more closely at the pictures, which it is possible to tell from, but that didn't occur to me. So when I turned the skirt right side out, the picot scallops were right side up, but had a little frill of fraying, folded over material sticking out from under the bottom edge of the elastic. Attempts to trim this off were either not complete enough or resulted in cutting little holes in the slip under the band. So I dug around in my stash and pulled out some of the lace I used to make the garter that Caitlin wore in Margaret. Cutting off one of the two frilly sides, I attached it under the waistband to cover the holes.

Next I cut the second tier of the crinoline of the embroidered netting. Gertie says it should be only five and a half inches plus seam allowances, but I wanted to preserve the bamboo embroidery pattern, so I just cut to the top of the tallest stalk. I sewed the edges of that piece together to make a tube, then put two long basting stitches in on each side so I could gather it. I folded up the hem of the slip, pinned the gathered netting underneath it, and then sewed it all together. I didn't like the look of the stitching around the bottom of the slip, however, so I took the other half of the lace and sewed it on over the hem to hide it.

That is how it currently looks. I did cut out material for the third tier, but I feel like at knee length it's already long enough. I also love the pretty embroidered scalloped edge, and I don't want to mess it up by trying to attach anything to it. Here are the details from another angle.

I'm not sure I love the look of the lace at the waist, but it sure does look nicer than it did before I put it on. I think I do like it inverted at the slip's hem, though. It's not terribly voluminous, which is the primary point of a crinoline, to add volume to the skirt you're wearing over it. Thought the way it is, I don't think it would be terribly inappropriate to wear it as just a skirt, if the weather and situation allowed.

I'm got it on today beneath my other handmade skirt project, my full gathered red silk dupioni. I'm not sure it makes any difference; the dupioni may have more body and fullness than the crinoline. I kind of like the idea of the neat edge of the crinoline peeking out beneath whatever skirt I'm wearing, but I don't know if I like the look of it here. This is my unsure face...

I think I'm going to make a second version of this project. I have plenty of the netting, and if I don't have enough of the silky stuff I'm sure I can substitute something else in that wasn't originally intended to hang from the fly system in a theater. I really want to see if I can get the elastic band technique right, so I don't have to cover up my mistakes with lace. I'm out of that stuff now anyway.  But, whether I wear it or not, my construction here isn't too shabby. Every bit of practice leads to improvement!

Sewing project: ballet skirt

So I finished the ballet skirt I've wanted to make myself for a while now. I found a pattern drafted by the talented and hilarious blogger The Selfish Seamstress, printed it out, and taped it together. The fabric I chose was a black polyester georgette with a magenta and tan rose print on it. I liked the look of it and it would match two out of my three ballet leotards. I cut out what was basically a large half-circle of the fabric, then I double-folded the waistband over a length of grosgrain ribbon and pinned it in place, which was tough because of how shifty the georgette is. But when I sewed it, it came out okay.

Then I sewed a zigzag stitch near to the bottom edge. The fabric is ravelly and I wasn't sure how to hem something of this shape, so I thought I'd make a border and then trim it.

The stitching seems to have pulled together a little too tightly, but I actually think that's a good thing because now there's raised line at the edge that kind of feels like cord. It made it easier to trim the excess without cutting the thread.

It came out okay except that the stitching prevents one corner of it from laying flat. But it's not that noticeable. This is how it looks on Adelaide, the name I finally picked for my dress form, who is currently fashionably wearing a see-through skirt with an ostrich feather hat.

I will wear it to ballet this Tuesday and see how it works. :-)

Tested and sewing for Titus

Spent my first full day of testing my Lenten resolution to not let things get me down. It was shockingly hard, and that in itself was sort of upsetting. Do my emotions and well-being really crash so easily? Is it really so tough for me to not spiral when things don't go my way? I'm sort of disgusted with myself. But I did a pretty good job of moving forward and not getting dragged down, so I guess with effort I can break this cycle. That's the idea behind committing to do it for the entire forty days.

I've been going in to help with Titus stuff in the afternoons of this week. I have mostly been assisting Walker, the costume designer, with costume construction. He's sewing and otherwise building the entire wardrobe, which I am quite impressed by, but it's a lot of work so I was happy to take a little bit of the burden off of his shoulders. I am actually really glad to have something getting me to practice my sewing, and the chance to hang around chatting with Walker has been pleasant as well. He is extremely intelligent and a very interesting person. Under his direction I made two half-circle capes, a purple imperial robe for polaris_xx*, a toga by attaching two white linen curtains together and putting a stripe of blue silk along one edge, and a red military tunic to be worn by Prentice. I hope to go back in and do more sewing today, and if it's possible for Walker to assign me something I may take some projects home and work on them over the weekend. I've been meaning to work on something anyway, so if it would take some of the load off of him, I would be happy to get the practice.

Free on a Friday

For the second round of Festival I got into Folding the River. I was torn very much between it and High Rollers, but I'd already told the GMs I would be signing up, so I decided to let that decide for me. Neither Paranoia or The Stand have filled yet, but neither are in the time slots that people tend to prioritize, so I am hoping that once signups go open on Monday night we will get our full complements. Paranoia was in theory supposed to be modular, so it might be able to work if we have to excise parts, but frankly I think that fell by the wayside enough that we'd have to do a lot of fixing to make it work. The Stand is not really able to work without pretty much the entire cast-- I could maybe cut out two roles, max, without having to do major surgery --so I really really want it to fill.

In other news, I have finished my first screenwriting assignment and have decided to declare my afternoon and evening free. I am now making a list of things I'd like to do with that open time. I would like to take a walk into town, maybe run an errand or two, maybe just walk. It occurred to me recently that even if I get back to going to the gym as often as I did in undergrad, back then I was also walking across campus three or four times a day in addition, which I am definitely not getting now. So I am determined not only to make time for workouts, but also just get off my lazy ass and walk during the day. It means a significantly greater time commitment, unfortunately, but I think if I schedule correctly I can make it work. It would be worth it to shape up a little.

I want to finish another scene for Tailor that I've started but not yet made much progress on. It's the confrontation between Tom and Kenneth where we finally learn why Kenneth's been hanging around with so much interest in the Lorings. We recorded a scene between Plesser and Jared this week, which has inspired me. I would also like to have it for the Artist Meetup morethings5* and I have planned this weekend, where we use each other as accountability partners to keep us working on our artistic projects. Maybe I'll noodle a little on my short-quick-easy larp idea, since I'm feeling particularly engaged in larp production right now.

Finally, it'd be nice to make a little more progress with my new beginner sewing text, Sew Everything Workshop. I've gotten a little ways in and so far it's exactly what I was looking for. It starts with the basics and explains them very clearly. So far I haven't learned anything I didn't already know, but I like things that emphasize the foundation and confirm that I understand correctly before moving on to what I don't already grasp. I'm anxious to get to the part where it actually walks you through a sewing project, which is what I think I really need.

Oh, and one last thing. I recently decided that the first "plot line" I'd like to feature on Hipster Feminist is a story about Rhoda stalking an ex-boyfriend. Not sure how that's going to work yet, but I think it has the potential to be very funny. Maybe I'll do a little work figuring out the storyline and seeing how I can chunk it out into individually funny, one hundred and forty-character pieces. 

Bizarre sewing whim - authentic priest's cassock

I have always been a fan of cassocks, the long, severe coats worn by priests outside of liturgical dress. I like how many different vibes they can give off; authoritative, modest, powerful, reliable, separated, even scary. If anyone ever saw that lame comic book adaptation Ghost Rider from a few years back, you may remember the way Peter Fonda playing Mephistopheles. My mom pointed out to me, "They have him dressed like a bishop." So they did, and I thought it looked incredibly creepy and cool.

Ever since seeing Andy Kirschbaum in his awesome black cassock at Venezia I have had a bee in my bonnet about having one. I'm not really sure why. Women don't really wear them, and it's not like I don't have enough coats, or an abundance of opportunities where it would be appropriate to dress like a priest. But I like the idea nonetheless.

I bought this pattern on eBay as a compromise, so I could eventually make my own one day that would fit me if I really really wanted. It came in the mail yesterday along with the costuming I ordered. Looking at it, the front is pretty simple but the back looks complicated, with lots of tailored placed and pleats in the folds, so it's probably too difficult for my current skill level. It also doesn't have the capelet like higher-ranking priests wear either, though that would be easy enough to draft. I don't know what I'd do with it if I did make it, maybe just take lots of weird pictures of myself as a girl priest or something, but now I have the option if it bugs me enough.

Savonarola costume, part II

I finished my Savonarola costume for Venezia this past Saturday. After finishing the vest, I just had to attach the hood. That turned out to be tougher than I thought it would be. In the end I used a tutorial on the Internet for making a hood on a Jedi robe. I cut a large rectangle, folded it in half to make a square, and sewed up one of the sides adjacent to the fold. It needed to be attached to the vest on the side opposite the fold. I pinned it along the neckline, but that left a lot of loose fabric just hanging. Unfortunately I never did figure out how to make the neck fitted while keeping the volume of the rest of the hood, so I just gathered it and attached it a little ways down the vest front. It came out looking pretty decent, even though the hood had a tendency to slide back down my head. I put it on over a black poet shirt, black leggings, black leather belt, and Renaissance boots. My hematite rosary hanging off the belt completed the look. Here is the final ensemble, from the front and from the back, and I am pretty pleased with it.