Bach Coat - Part 1

One of my favorite parts about being a costumer is being able to work with passionate people who are into some really cool things. This year a professional organist commissioned me to make him a costume that would be historically accurate for Johann Sebastian Bach. 

This was an interesting change from the fantasy work I've been doing, and required some research into the period. Hint? Pirates of the Caribbean is almost the exact perfect time period, and they are still selling patterns for PotC costumes, so if you want to give it a try, I'd recommend altering one of those.

But historical reference is important, and we are basing the ensemble heavily on this portrait of Bach:

We debated about color and fabric, but finally settled on a nice, dark blue velvet. Thanks to my local fabric warehouse, I'm able to get velvet at 50% off the list price, which means my clients can usually easily afford real velvet, and not a cheap imitation.

Here's my assistant, Hannah, cutting out the pieces! Hannah comes in about three or four times a month to help me keep up with demand!

It is absolutely essential to serge all the raw edges on velvet, even if it is going to be lined, otherwise it will eventually fray completely away. Thankfully I do have a serger now, so such work goes quickly.

The lapels needed to be reinforced with interfacing for the buttons and buttonholes. I greatly prefer fusible interfacing, which is applied with a hot iron and damp pressing cloth.

This is the PotC pattern I referenced above. I was expecting to have to do a lot of alteration to a regular coat pattern, but to my surprise and delight the Jack Sparrow coat was nearly exactly what I needed. The only major changes I made were to line the entire thing, and cut out some of the excess fabric in the lower half.

Making the cuffs...

Sewing on the pocket flaps.

While I could have added pockets to the pattern, I decided against it. There will be pockets in the vest, however!

Coming together....

Check out Part 2 for more details on inserting the sleeves, lining and doing the buttons!

Looking for Christmas ideas?

I've collected some of my favorite gift ideas in this post. All of these are unique, awesome, and absolutely worth buying! Plus they are all sold by small, family owned businesses, so not only do you get great presents, but you are supporting some wonderful people as well!

Jewelry? Check!

My friend Shaylynn (who has been featured a few times on Confessions of a Seamstress) is an enormously talented young lady and runs a store on Artfire to host her whimsical creations. She specializes in wirework, with a steampunk and fantasy flair, and also offers religious pieces. I love how she uses everything from watch parts and guitar strings to rhinestones and beads to create her effects!

Some of my favorite pieces:

Rhinestone and Guitar String Bracelet

Eowyn-inspired Braided Wire Necklace

Celtic Knot Guitar String Necklace

Books? Check!

This year Catholic author Regina Doman and her family expanded their publishing company, Chesterton Press, to begin carrying titles by other authors. I've loved every single title I've read, and I'm looking forwards to reading the others!

Titles I love?

The Fairy Tale Novels

Fairy Tales retold... I don't think I will ever be able to convey how much I adore these books. If you haven't read them yet, pick up copies for yourselves as well as any teens on your shopping list! 

Zita the Spacegirl

Ben Hatke is a talented artist and writer, and his first book has been received with enormous delight by young readers. Perfect for kids of all ages, and tons of fun to read as a family as well! I read the whole thing in one sitting and can't wait to read the second volume, which is also carried by Chesterton Press.

Rachel's Contrition

Chesterton Press offers some really good adult fiction as well, but so far Rachel's Contrition has been my favorite. Powerful, evocative and well-written, it is a fabulous choice for any of the women readers on your list. 

Soaps? Check!

The Goat Milk Soap Shop is run by my friends Amanda, Megan and Teresa. Although I've not yet tried the soaps myself, they're on my list, especially since they carry bars that are fragrance free, which is wonderful for those of sensitive skin! They also carry goat milk soaps with essential oils, and regular fragrence soap made from high quality organic, natural ingredients. If you've got any questions about the soaps, the girls would be more than happy to answer them!

I'm looking forwards to trying:

Milk 'n Oats

Scent free and made with goat milk - sounds like the perfect soap for the allergen-plagued! 

Orange Lemongrass

Made with essential oils, this also looks like it would be a great smelling choice to add to my list!

Cherry Almond

And if chemical scents didn't bother me, I would love to try the delicious sounding Cherry Almond!

Baby stuff? Check!

I have a few baby quilts left, and I'm selling them each for just $35! If you're interested in one of them, just send an e-mail to elenatintil [at] gmail [dot] com. (They also make great lap quilts!)

 Blue Stripes

 Honeypot

 Pink Power

 Violet Flowers

Southwestern Evening

Like the quilts, but don't see a design you like? Custom versions start at $50 apiece.

Hopefully this post has given you some ideas for your Christmas shopping and perhaps made the whole process a bit easier! 

Black Brocade Bodice

After making two versions of Belle's blue dress, I decided to do a third version for my sister's birthday present... only this time in black!

The only difference in this bodice is that I used less boning - just two pieces by the eyelets to keep them straight.

Want a bodice like this of your own? Check out my commissions page for more details!

YLP - Margaret, Part 2

Part 1 got us through the underdress and the sleeves, now it's time to see the whole gown come together.

The overdress is constructed much the same as the underdress, only without the ruffle. Truth be told, I had some troubles with this hem and I still wish I'd gone back and fixed it. Ah well, the client loved it. :)

Sleeves required a bit of gathering on the top.

Sleeves inserted!

Underdress and overdress, right sides together, with the collar sandwiched in between to pull them all together!

The nearly finished gown!

Sewing in the zipper. I realized that it was high time I started finishing the raw edges inside the zipper and zigged them to the edges of the zipper. (Didn't have enough red thread to do it on the serger).

Final detail... I'd left the lining open at the sleeves, so that I could turn it inside and sew it invisibly, covering and finishing all of the exposed seams.

Finished product!

Isn't our model a cutie?

Many thanks to Amanda's family for doing the photography on this one!

Want a chance to win a 50% off coupon for the dress of your choice at YLP? Check out our Christmas Contest!

YLP - Margaret, Part 1

In addition to making custom costumes for adults, I also run a business with my friend Amanda, crafting high quality dresses for little girls. This is called "Your Little Princess" and every single design is an original by me. 

For this dress, the client wanted our Margaret dress, done in red and white.

This project was actually begun quite awhile ago, when I still was given JoAnn's a chance to prove their mail order worth. This was the order that clinched the deal - I will no longer order anything color specific from the JoAnn's website. The red fabric was far too rust colored....

And the "cream" was a very definite yellow. So I stored both pieces away for future designs and went to the store in person to purchase the right fabrics.

I'm absolutely in love with the white fabric I did manage to find!

Making the ruffle for the partial underskirt.

Making the lining/slip.

Full lining/slip.

With ruffle!

Attaching sleevecaps to undersleeve.

Oversleeve, cut and hemmed.

Sleeve assembled! Check out part 2 to see the rest of the assembly and the finished dress!

Want a chance to win a 50% off coupon for the dress of your choice at YLP? Check out our Christmas Contest!

How to Make a Travel Sewing Kit

We've all been there. On vacation. Out for a fancy dinner. A night with friends. A wedding. And a snap breaks, a seam tears, a hemline comes loose. And you think "man, if only I had a needle and thread, I could fix this so easily!" 

If you're wise, you carry a small sewing kit with you. If you're me, you look at those kits and go "oh, they're so cute! But why would I spend money on them when I already own everything in it?" And then of course I promptly forget about assembling such a kit at home.

This all changed when my grandmother gave me this cute little purse. Or lipstick case. Or whatever you do with a three inch long pouch. My sister and I both got them and the first thing we said was "HOW CUTE!" in unison. And then mine sat unused for awhile because I couldn't figure out what to do with it.

Then last week I realized it would be perfect for a travel sewing/repair kit.

See?

Needles and pins secured into some folded up fabric. I could have assembled something more finished, but hey, it worked and it was quick. I had two tiny spools from an old repair kit (by old I mean 15 years ago), but I needed at least white and red added to that collection, so I cut notches in a straw and handwrapped them. They fit in the center holes of the black and brown thread spools, so it's a great space saver.

Then of course safety pins because sometimes you don't have time to even sew!

Lastly I needed a miniature scissors. I had a Swiss army knife that I never carried, and it has other useful things in addition to a scissors, plus it was the right size. So I added that.

And there you have it! A simple yet cute kit assembled of things any good seamstress already owns. And if you don't have your own sewing stuff, these are the sort of things that you could raid from your mother or grandmother's sewing box, because I pretty much guarantee they have surplus.