The great bustle adventure continues!

I added the waist tapes to my black bustle and it is just as amusing as I thought it would be to *finally* have a properly protuberant rump!

Who would ever have believed that my natural endowments could ever come to seem...skimpy?

I discovered that the hoops of the bustle poke me in the back when I sit down ('though the whole thing does fold up rather nicely) so I've decided to hold off on finishing it up. I'm contemplating making the innermost hoop shallower but I want to see/ feel the effect of a more professional bustle, and try it with a skirt, before I decide.

So, on to bustle #2!

I've bought Truly Victorian's pattern TV163: 1887 Imperial Tournure and have been altering it to something closer to my size. Since my hips are extreemly full in comparison to my tiny waist I expect I'll be playing with the fit quite a bit after I get it put together, but to start I sized-up the waist band by two sizes and the other pieces by 8 sizes. It really should be 10 but since the Tournure doesn't actually close in the front I don't think it will really matter and Clarence and I agreed that 8 sizes larger seemed to be about the right coverage across my butt.

We won't know if it was the right decision until the thing comes together...

Yeah for birthdays!

My darling Mama has just decided to give me a perfect pleater for my birthday present this year! I have been gazing at them admiringly as I contemplated all the trimmings I will need to make for my new bustle gowns and now...woohoo! A perfect pleater will be mine!

Combined with that nifty barbeque fork pleating trick I think my dresses might just turn out alright! :)

OK! We're off and running!

It's just shy of 2 months until Teslacon 3 and I've finally put down my fear, picked up my sewing tools and gotten started on my costuming projects. I've ordered three patterns which should arrive next week (more about them later) but in the meantime I've started on two projects I've been thinking about for a while. Namely, reworking two pin-tucked white cotton shirts and a skirt into a passably steampunk petticoat-chemise combination which could become a tea gown with the addition of a matching jacket. And a collapsible wire bustle.

Yeah, a BUSTLE.

I've been intimidated by this project for a lot of reasons but today I got up and started untwisting those hangers from the dry-cleaners and...Voila!

My bustle in progress:

Folded

Unfolded

I'm still in the process of wrapping each individual wire with organza ribbon. I plan to attach rosettes over the hinge on each side and a flounce on the bottom wire...and add the waistband, of course! Measurements will follow along with pictures of my finished project.

Off line for a bit

Our new home has no phone line, so weird!

We're having to figure out a new way to stay connected to the internet so please bear with me for the next few days as we work our way thru these..."technical difficulties!"

Back to thinking about that Lotto partlet

I ran across a sample of the kind of work that made up those mats I mentioned in my earlier post. I found this on eBay

See the similarity in texture and depth?

The ad describes it as crochet but it doesn't resemble any type of crochet I've seen or read instructions for. I'd think it was woven on a frame and knotted except that the threads lie in stacked bands rather than bunches and the connection points are level with the rest of the surface rather than dipping in. If you happen to know the name of this technique please share!

It's that time of year...again...

Sigh.

We're moving once again.

Only a couple of miles away from our current apartment and to a place and location which seem like they will suit us much better, so that's good, but it's still all kinds of packing and hauling right in the middle of a nightmarish level of other commitments!

Not the least of which is the IRCC II Challenge.

I'll have at least a few days at the beginning of August to concentrate on sewing but right now progress is so slow as to be undetectable without a time-lapse camera!

IRCC II - Tasty Nibble 14: Oooo! Lacy!

I'm keeping a more detailed record of the progress of my Camicia in the "Stitch by stitch" page but I couldn't resist sharing this shot...

I'm not getting much lift (I need to try fitting a bodice when it doesn't have lace I care about attached) but even though it's cut extremely low I feel really secure that this neckline isn't going anywhere. It's definitely the best fit I've achieved so far. happiness!