Update on the bug skirt - Tahdah!

My bug skirt got hustled off into near-oblivion in the great Ack!-Mom-and-Bob-are-coming-and-the-house-CANNOT-be-such-a-shambles! clean-up of 2012 but today I got the itch (to stitch, hee hee) and finished it up.

I've been playing with pleats again but this time I did a flat front with the pleats falling away from the center in both directions. I also played with the waist line a bit. I like the raised waist on the wild pink and black (and brown and gray) print skirt but I'd need to bone the seams for the waist to stay up in the back--which I don't much want to do. On the bug skirt I decided to leave the fabric above the waist line in the front still attached which has the effect of a raised waist but disappears at the back where the other skirt gets all folded up by my rolls.

I followed the same basic process as on the other skirt, basting even pleats down from the top of the fabric to the hipline and then customizing the waist to hip angles of each one individually. I've only stitched the outer edges of the pleats down as far as the waistline. The ones in the front and back fit smoothly over the hips already and I think the slightly puffy pleats on the side back may well lay flat on their own after the skirt has had a bit of time to soften.

What do you think?

IRCC 2 - Inching closer...

The first row of gold trim is all stitched down and together, the second row is down, and the sleeves are pinned in place. I guess I'll have to figure out the shoulder trim any moment now...

IRCC 2 - And here's the proof!

(That would be the collar of my coat as I work on the first row of gold braid.)

IRCC 2 - I'm getting close...

No, really!

I attached the collar to the loose gown and I'm about 1/2 done stitching the fur together at the neck. I've also got the first 2 rows of gold braid pinned in place on the collar--all ready to sew--and the sleeves pined into the armseyes. That part is giving me a bit of trouble. I'm taking out one of the sleeves and repinning it until it hangs the same as the other one. I have a feeling it will take several tries but I know it will be worth the effort when they both *behave properly* when I wear the gown. Once I have the angles of the sleeves correct I'll be sewing in the underpart of the sleeves and then...(cue scary music)...making (up) the shoulder treatments.

I have a tiny little pile of fabric left from which to make something decorative for the shoulders. Well, that little pile and a lot of gold braid. Hmmm....

I'm also considering taking the second band of gold braid and doing something decorative with it as it rounds the collar and reaches the center back...

Also hmmmmm....

In the meantime, perhaps you would like to see a picture of my pile of scraps? Um, I mean my shoulder treatment in progress?

Woo hoo! I found a fabric store!

I've been in Indiana for nearly a year now and I'm feeling ready to explore. I happened upon a great blog, littleindiana.com which highlights things to do, see, buy and eat in small towns all over the state so I've been thinking about starting to use it as my exploring guidebook...and then came this post: Raders Fabrics in Danville, Indiana.

What a gold mine!

Two sleeves trimmed, on to the fur!

Wax Portrait! Pretty, pretty, pretty

I found the most interesting object while browsing the collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art today



Portrait of a Woman in Venetian Dress, possibly Bianca Capello

Possibly made in Italy, Europe
Late 16th to early 17th century

http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/44066.html?mulR=30954|75

I love the wonderful luminosity of the wax.

The Gold is Down

And now I'm working on joining the sets of loops to make my trim pattern. Maybe there's hope I'll finish after all!

On to Sleeve Two

I've turned and hand stitched the edges of the second sleeve and the attachment of enormous quantities of gold braid has commenced.

I still have fantasies of finishing this silly loose gown this weekend...

IRCC II Tasty Nibble 12 - One Sleeve Down(ish)

The gold trim is finished on the first of my hanging sleeves.





I'm kind of tried of the house being coated with bits of faux fur so I think I'll add the gold braid to the other sleeve and both shoulder treatments before I line them all.

Fear Not! I am still working!

Real life has intruded quite a bit lately but I'm taking just a moment to show you my progress on my IRCC loose gown's hanging sleeve.



And, if anyone is interested in 1880's clothing I now have boards for my inspiration for Teslacon outfits on Pinterest.

http://pinterest.com/auroralucia/

So here's the thing...

I have a picture I want to share with you from a costuming perspective but I also find it to be a very disturbing image of institutionalized violence against women.

I've been flipping back and forth about it, but today I decided that our history as humans is what it is--good an bad. That said, I found another very interesting image in that great book I have been looking at lately "El traje y Los tipos socials en El Quijote" by Carmen Bernis.

Bearing in mind that my contemporary Spanish is nearly non-existent and my archaic Spanish even worse, I gather that it is part of a series of mural paintings dating from the early 1600's from a monastery (possibly in Guadalupe), and that this particular scene portrays an incident in 1593 involving the exorcism of a courtesan.

Her clothing is interesting from a historic costumer's perspective but the whole image is so fraught with emotion and layers of meaning that I find it hard to look at.

And that would be my kind of warning regarding Adult Content Ahead

Detail

Curation milagrosa de una endemoniada, comienzos del siglo XVII
Pinturas murals del claustro del monasterio de Guadalupe


Anything I could say about her bodice/corset would only be speculative, but I note that the bottom of my hemp corded bodice behaves in just the same manner as her's is doing, and that the decorative detailing in the bands at the top and center front would be quite supportive if they were actually trapunto.

And trapunto could handle those corners...hmmmm.

IRCC II Tasty Nibble #11 - The seam-y underside of the sleeve

I thought you might like to see the pieced together madness that is my sleeve.

You'll never guess what I've been doing today...

Between bursts of cleaning the house in preparation for Mom and Bob's visit next weekend, and laundry, and reading fanfic, and catching up on some blogs, and watching episodes of Clarence's new show-to-watch "Teen Wolf," and cooking, and scouting the Internet for bloggers working on fancy dresses for Teslacon I've been...

(drumroll........)

Sewing my IRCC project!

Yep, back at work at last. :)

Today I've just been turning and finishing the edges of one of the hanging sleeves for my loose robe but it looks like I'll be ready to start putting on the gold trim soon. Maybe tonight!