(Belated) Happy Independence Day!

We were in Minneapolis visiting my father for the holiday. The amazing heat wave drove us inside but it turns out his apartment is a great spot for viewing fireworks!

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!