White Shift for Historical Costumes

I am still working on rebuilding my sewing muscles. It's hard because I have neck and hand issues and sewing is pretty hard on both. I have to limit myself to 30 minute sessions which is pretty frustrating because of how slow projects progress.

BUT I did finish something new this week!

I have been wanting to construct a proper set of undergarments for some historical costumes. Primarily I want to do dresses from the 1500's and 1700's, so I'm creating undergarments that will work for both periods. They're not exactly the same, (I'll need different hoopskirts), but I am fairly certain I can make the same shift and set of stays work for both. When we moved, I had a sheer curtain I no longer needed that I could then utilize for a shift, so I put that project into action!

 It's not precisely historically accurate - I wanted functional and pretty. Hand embroidery was out, but I have my embroidery machine so I could still do some sweet details.

The sheer fabric frayed like crazy, so there were a lot of french seams.

Also, for once my rolled hem foot actually worked! It's really best on straight seams, and the light fabric worked well.

The most difficult part of the shift was gauging the neckline. I didn't want it to show under the overdresses, and the Tudor period had wide necklines so that meant I needed to leave the shift neckline pretty large. I have very narrow shoulders so the shift probably is going to need to be pinned in place or it's going to slip down. Bleh.

It looks how I wanted it to, which is quite gratifying! However, the lace neckline is a little harsh on my delicate fibro-sensitive skin, so ultimately I may have to nix it - or insert a soft underborder. (which, if I made it extend beyond the shift, might help solve the large neckline issue. We'll see.

It took me about 5 separate days of short sewing sessions, but I did finish it (for now) which feels quite good!

Belle's Blue Cloak

Right now I am coming to the acceptance that I may not be able to do costume commissions again. Which is destressing but still sad. And I'm trying to figure out how to manage the half-finished commissions I currently have sitting in my sewing room. As we unpack I get closer to the point where I can make inroads in some of them.

For instance, I finally finished off this Belle Blue cloak, for which my customer has been waiting FAR TOO LONG. And I mainly supervised this project, my contractors did the heavy work! (overseeing contractors is still pretty stressful when I'm trying to manage my fibro). It turned out great, though!

My client and I looked and looked, but were unable to match the fabric used for this cloak in "Once Upon a Time." We discussed a variety of options, but finally settled on this brocade as being the closest. It was, unfortunately an eBay listing that is no longer available, but here is the link in case it helps any interested folks track it down elsewhere.

I don't have construction photos for this project, but it was created the exact same way as the Red cloaks (process photos here). 

We WERE however able to purchase a clasp identical to the one from the show, and it is still for sale here (as of 5/20/2016).

 (and yeah, I've lost a ton of weight, as you can see even just in these pictures of my face. :( )

A NEW PROJECT (At last)

After a month in the new house, I decided to see if I could manage to start and complete a simple project. My muscles are pretty much non-existant after nine months of being sick, and stress really screws everything up, so I decided to just try a low-frustration low-risk personal project to start building myself up to the point where I can finish my contracted commissions.

I had a lovely blue floral cotton with a gorgeous drape in my stash. I decided to make a simple sundress out of it.

I went for a very basic bodice. It was thick enough not to line, which was great and make it so much simpler (and cooler!) I ended up spending one day just fussing with the bodice fit, so I was really glad that I didn't have to adjust a lining layer as well.

(I lost a LOT of weight over the past year - almost 40lbs. The clothes that fit me now are all at least four or five years old, so it's really nice to have something new in my wardrobe that FITS).

I used binding on the neck and armholes, turning it towards the inside to create as little bulk as possible. It turned out quite nice!

Of course, I then I had to find an occasion to wear the dress - and I found two in the same week! I also found that my pink Eileen Fisher sweater I inherited from my grandmother works perfectly with it!

It was so wonderful to feel well enough to make AND wear my own creation, and feel like I looked great in it. I'm still struggling health-wise, but this was a pretty big event. Now waiting to see if I continue to improve, or if I suffer any set-backs with the changing seasons.

Unpacking the new sewing room

Well, the new sewing room is gradually getting unpacked.

It's a smaller space, but I have the whole family room just outside the sewing room for large cutting projects.

Yes, most of the stuff you see here will end up in the sewing room. I am a very efficient space user!

For example. To transport the material from my cubbies, we put the contents of each cubby into a clear plastic garbage bag. This has made them both easy to transport and identify for unpacking. There's a LOT of fabric in each cubby, as was really obvious when we put them into the bags and they weren't so tightly packed!

Dress Sketch Commissions OPEN!

As you may know, Nathan and I are in a tight spot financially. Due to my fibromyalgia, I'm still unable to deal with the physical demands of sewing. (I hemmed some curtains for Nathan last week and the pinning alone just about killed my fingers.)

However, drawing with markers is not only manageable in spurts (writing is different), it actually calms me down and can reduce my headache at times. So after a lot of thought, I've decided to offer clothing sketches on commission as an attempt to raise some much needed $$$.

Below are the basic perimeters. I'm going to take on just a few to start and see how it goes.

Because this is marker and not digital, once it's drawn, I can't change it. If you want preliminary idea sketches ahead of time, that would be an additional cost ($5 extra for three preliminary sketches, of which you pick one for final design).

I'm only doing clothing designs right now, not animals, scenes, multiple figure poses, etc.

I'm starting off at $20, but we'll see what happens (that may not be enough, based on what I see other artists charging. Right now we're just desperate.)

Send me a line if you are interested in acquiring a piece of existing art you've seen me do in the past.

Want to start Machine Embroidery? Keep an eye on Hancock Fabrics

Hancock Fabrics filed for bankrupcy in February and their liquidation sales began yesterday. That means that currently all of their sewing machines are 20% off. This includes the Brother HE1 ($279.99 today), which I mention because it is identical to the embroidery features of the machine I have.

(I have the SE400 which is also a sewing machine - see comparison here. However getting an embroidery only machine is totally fine because it's a pain to switch back and forth between sewing and embroidery so I recommend having two machines anyhow. )

The Janomi mini is also on sale ($63.99 today)! I have an older version of this machine (mine is teal) and have been tremendously impressed by it's ability for such a small machine. Perfect for travel, small quilting/mending projects, or a child's first sewing machine.

I paid $70 for my Janome mini, and $300 for my Brother SE400. Even keeping in mind that the HE1 lacks the regular sewing features, I would still consider this a very good deal on both machines - but if you want to play roulette, you can wait and see if they end up discounting machines further in a month.

Moving to the Future

I miss sewing so much. So, so much. We're pretty sure I have Fibromyalgia, which means between the pain in my hands and my overall fatigue, sewing is still out of the question. We're working very very hard to find solutions, but for the time being, I still can't work. 

We move NEXT WEEK. My new sewing room will be a bit smaller, but I won't have to share it with quite so much stuff because all of the non-sewing stuff I currently have in the room can be stored elsewhere. Also, the new room only has one window, and it's half the size of the ones here, so that frees up a bunch of wall space.

Lest you feel too sad about my disappearing window light - don't worry! The house has a beautiful 4-season-porch. Eventually our plan is to update the windows so that we can properly heat it during the winter and turn that into my sewing room. (In MN it is just too expensive to keep a room heated if it isn't energy efficient - and I have too many paints and inks and delicate machinery to let it freeze/boil). I'm also hoping we can move the washer and dryer up to this room as well! But this is 5-7 years down the road.

Anyhow, as you can see from the photo, my mother-in-law has already begun packing the room up. The sewing stuff will be some of the last to move over, however I'm going to bring my little travel machine right away. I want to try some hexagon quilting - maybe start with a potholder and see if I can tolerate short spurts. I think a hexagon quilt would be an idea project for 10 minute sewing sessions, yes? All those short seams, and small pieces to rotary cut - no lugging heavy velvet around! Also, I can use my mini iron, which is much easier as well!