Hobbit Dress

After Comic Con, I was left with a hopeless longing to travel through Middle Earth (I blame Karl Urban, but I digress). Thankfully, there was a Hobbit ball coming up. 

I dug through the costume closet, but nothing grabbed my attention, fit well (thank you health issues), or screamed 'I would be perfect for the ball!' Drats. Guess I had an excuse to make a ~new costume~

That meant that I had two weeks max to make something. Anything! I turned to the fabric stash. 

Plenty of options resided there, but would anything work together? The cool thing about the Lord of the Rings movies is the diversity of costume eras and classes to draw inspiration from. Each race had styles and embellishments that matched their culture, and all that with fantasy flair thrown in because why not? I could totally keep geeking out over the costumes in those movies, but I'll spare you. 

With that in mind, I pulled down literally anything and everything that even closely resembled something that might be worn in Middle Earth, compared those to patterns I already had on hand, and tried to estimate if I had enough material to make the idea happen. That was quite the mess, if I do say so myself. I finally landed on an earthy palette with some 1700's flair using American Duchess's Simplicity pattern 8161 from the Outlander series as a loose base to launch my Hobbit vision because I can't leave a basic pattern as it is. I did the jacket, ditched the sleeves, and added a peplum. The skirt and stomacher I did leave 'as is.' So all in all, not a lot of changes. ;) 

If time favored me, I also planned on using the undergarments pattern from that same line to make a chemise and bum pad to finish off the look, but that was the lowest on the priority list given how much time I had to put this all together. 

And so I sewed in any moment I could find. I must say, that was probably some of my more focused sewing, and yet, extremely relaxed. I don't know what was up. :P But that is why I don't have any 'in progress' shots. I would turn up my music and just sew. For the little bit of hand sewing that was involved, I turned on Gilmore Girls. I maybe got through two episodes, and I was done with the hand sewing. All this leaves now is the finished look. :shrugs: That might not be a bad thing. 

The really cool thing with this whole thing? Most of the fabrics were given to me or found for a steal at the thrift store. SCORE! Costuming on the cheap! :fist pump: The one downside to being able to use my stash - the fact that I have a stash to pull from. :P 

Let's do a supplies inventory:

Blue floral 'vest'- given to me

Brown linen/burlap stomacher - on clearance in the remnant bin at Joann's, maybe $3 max

Rust cotton sateen - given to me

Plaid wool flannel for skirt - Thrift store, 8 yards of material for $2/yard but I only used about 6 yards

Jute String - $0.99/yard, 3 yards at Joann's

Grommets - 2 packages of colored eyelets (because I only wanted to use the brown ones and the package had about 5 different colors, so in order to get enough of the color I needed, I had to pick up 2), $6.58

Chemise and petticoat (underneath) - repurposed from other costumes

Grand total: $24.55

WOOT! 

Now, I didn't have the time to make the structural underthings to :really: make the look. But now that I have the outfit, it won't take much to make those. Right? :sheepish grin: What I really noticed was lacking was pockets. The skirt had slits for pockets, but I just didn't have time to throw them together. Maybe someday. 

Until next time! 

SG

Some Rainy Day Sewing

 With the recent storms that blew through the area, there was obviously no desire to be working  outdoors. We battened down everything before things got particularly nasty, which left time to finish homework and some sewing. :shocker: So armed with a big cup of tea and time on my hands, I started digging in the fabric stash looking for inspiration.

I found some cheery yellow striped fabric with blue flowers on it in the scrap bins, and knew exactly what it should become. Whipped out the dress, put it on the tiny dress form, and stepped back. Yeah, the dress was done, but let's make it an entire outfit! I've got time! So a few things were added to the ensemble. Too bad I haven't mastered doll millinery because that would be the perfect final touch. I apologize in advance for the lousy phone pictures.

IT'S SO CUTE!!! I want one in my size please! 

It looks like something that could be worn to a summer tea party in the garden. 

 The extras for the dress are an apron, fichu, and bum roll. You'll see how much the bum roll helps to hold out the tiny dress later.

 The main dress is in two pieces, each with velcro closures in the back.

Details of the bodice

See how flat and floof-less the skirt is? The bum roll is one way to fix that. Just depends on the silhouette that you're trying to create for your doll. ;) 

 Until next time!

SG

2016 Project Plans

Looking at my schedule for the year, I'm going to keep my sewing project list toned down. I'm trying to finish my certificate at school, and I have a new job at a chef's garden that will fill up all the mornings that I'm not in classes leaving afternoons and weekends for homework. If I should fulfill my project goals, I'll be pleasantly surprised. If I go above and beyond that, I'll be really surprised. 

First on my docket is a new Regency day dress. This project wasn't in the cards until I went to a fun fabric store for my birthday, and I found this amazing cotton. I couldn't say no. I carried it through the store, petting it all the way. Fabric creeper, I know. But I don't know a seamstress that doesn't pet every single bolt in the store while perusing the aisles. 

Ahem. Back on topic.  

So I had this fabric. I didn't know what I could do with it. Until... Actually, I knew exactly what that fabric needed to become the moment I laid eyes on it. It needed to become a Regency dress because I totally need another one. So, it shall be a crossover dress.

I just got the buttons because I thought that they looked cool. I doubt that they'll actually work their way into the dress though. 

In case you can't see the print very well in the first picture, I got one closer up. IT'S ACORNS! 

The next project I have in the works is a working, middle class colonial dress with a caraco jacket and a red petticoat. The print was found at an antique mall (but really it's a modern Waverly), but the price was right. You might recognize the fabric because I did a post on it a while back. I've just been waiting to find the right fabric for the petticoat. The other day at the thrift store, I found a cotton sheet set that was the perfect color and it was also half off! SCORE! Now to actually make it. ;) I need to make some of the structural under pieces as well to make the look complete.  

Somewhere in there, I would like to make a pineapple reticule, regency stays, and an 1840's dress, but we shall see what actually happens. 

Until next time! 

SG

Scottish Country Girl

I'm still here!!!

After finishing the MotB dress back in January, I needed some super easy projects (pillowcases anyone?), and then I sent my machine off to get a servicing. After goodness knows how many hours have gone onto that thing, it needed some R&R, or just a tune-up, ya know. Then I got it back and started chipping away at the sewing to-do list that grew while the machine was away. First up was making alterations and additions to my costume for the Celtic ball (which was on Saturday). 

Ever since the theme for the ball was announced late last year, I've been planning this get-up. I already had the dark blue skirt/'petticoat', blouse, and yellow over vest thing, but I wanted to add more Scottish flair to the mix. I found a plaid that I absolutely adored (from Joann's, oddly enough), and whipped it up into a floor length skirt. Then I made the shawl. Do you know how long it takes to pull all those threads to make the fringe? Anyways... Those two plaid pieces done, I put the ensemble on Lady Catherine, the dress form, and stepped back. It was quite the mishmash of things. To clean up the look, I made a stomacher using a piece from one of JP Ryan's patterns  and stitched it into place. Much better! The day of the ball, I was able to get into it quite quickly (which was good because I got a late start to getting ready) and topped everything off with a woodsy crown that I found at a Renaissance faire last year. The finished look was exactly what I was aiming for: a Scottish country girl with fashion influences from the 1700's. With flower crown. :P A friend of mine said that it was like a Celtic fairy or sprite and that I needed a special power. Invisibility. That's my super power. But that's a story for another day. ;)

I could probably have dedicated a bit more time trying to work with the tucked in part of the skirt. Oh well! It worked. 

The shawl is tucked into a :really: cool belt loop that was given to me (by a complete stranger, no less!) and held in place at the waist by grosgrain ribbon. 

Until next time!

SG

Colonial Jacket

My patterns finally came!!! 

Okay, I'll back up a bit. 

I found some gorgeous Waverly fabric at an antique mall in town, and it was begging to be made into a colonial jacket. The only problem is... I'm not very familiar and I haven't sewn much for that fashion era. After doing some research, pinterest scanning, and asking some gals who have more experienced in this style of clothing, I landed on J.P. Ryan's patterns. And my patterns have finally arrived. ^_^

My Waverly fabric and JP Ryan jacket pattern

But alack alas! I have other projects that are higher up on the priority list, so I can't get started right away. Oh well! 

Until next time!

SG