green_martha

I'm not sure my recap can capture how great those days in Paris were.
( First costuming event, on Friday )

Then there was lots of seeing old friends (and the in-laws, but only for an evening), which was great in itself. All the while I was frantically working on my outfit, adding one buttonhole to the dress' collar, buttons to the mantle, sewing down the lining on said mantle, and finishing the hat. The dress and mantle were done by Saturday night, the petticoat I completely forgot to finish (thank Goddess for safety pins), and the hat wasn't done until Sunday, 11:30 pm. But in the end everything was wearable and I was even able to put it on and take the RER to lisotchka's place.

( Second costuming event was then on Sunday for me )

Then the Home Geek and I spent Monday discussing wedding cakes with my lil' brother, and on Tuesday I met heileen again to visit the Lacroix exhibit. The exhibit was in itself quite fabulous, with lots of historical pieces (I don't care that much for modern stuff, really, esp. of the unwearable haute couture kind), sadly a good part of them could have been better displayed. There were billions of white edwardian dresses, with lace, embroidery and yet more lace, a series of wonderful stripey dresses, a STUNNING white natural form dress made from alternating bands of stripey fabric and lace, a bright orange 1890 Worth dress I'd steal if I could, a vibrant blue day dress that may make me like crinolines, many many pretty 1920s tunics and flappers, yet more complex edwardian evening gowns, more dolmans and visites that you could ever imagine, etc, etc... The exhibit is seriously gigantic, but I was a bit disappointed by the way some pieces were displayed (on a clothes rack, witout mannequin, making them shapeless and sometimes squishing them between other dresses, so that you could only glimpse a little beading or some detail of the fabric) and by the book (many conceptual art pictures, concentrating on the modern Lacroix stuff). Since I didn't get the exhibition book I got myself the previously mentionned Art Déco Fashion which has been further fuelling my desire to dance in a flapper dress and louis heels.

I still have some vacation days ahead of me, to make the flat liveable again and the like. I took care of some of it today, and booked the place for our wedding (woot !), but I still have a lot to do, and still feel very very tired.

Next on the sewing list are (in no particular order) :
- finish the Very Silly Project #3, aka Goth Kitty
- make the mockup for my brother's justeaucorps
- mockup my mom's 1911 jacket
- hem and embroider the Pillowflower
- finish the 1920s bra
- sleep

I may opt for the last item on the list right now.

Apart form a fex stitches here and there (the ones I keep for the train, because a girl's gotta have something to keep her hand busy while travelling... or because I'm runnign short on time maybe ?), the dress is done ! I've taken it in a tad, and it fits much better now, and it's hemmed, and I love it. And I'm glad the holiday season is over because it has a slight Christmas tree feeling to it. But I like it nonetheless.
*squee* Who's the pretty pretty princess ? *squee*

Since yesterday evening everything seems to go wrong with this outfit. Tue mantle sleeves (but taht was to be expected, you know, sleeves...), then I was 5 bloody centimeters short ont he silk, had to go buy some new fabric, then the fabric does toally NOT behave like it should and creates a ahem... late 18th century fichu puff between chin and boobs instead of the intended smooth gathered look. Heeeeeeeeeeeelp I'm freaking out !

And that happenign when I have no one to shar emy frustatration with is BAD. Very BAD.

The gutta on the silk won't dry fast enough.
The newly shaped hat won't dry fast enough.

I have no other choice but to work on the mantle....
And stress, besaue I have to go in twenty minutes and won't be back until errrr... late. And the same goes for tomorrow. And I have forgotten to buy hooks and eyes tape, needles for the sewing machine, and buttons.

Crap crap crap.

I've almost reached one of today's goals, which was to finish the petticoat. It only needs... you guess it, what I always add in the train = a closure.

I even have a few in-progress pictures ( right under the cut )

Now the bad news is that I cramped my neck while handstitching the waistband, so now I feel dizzy and nauseated and just want to curl up in a ball and wait for the sun to shine again. And certainly not eat. At. All. Ugh. Everything I need to do next involves some kind of strain on my neck : pinning together the mantle's pieces, draping the silk overlay on the front piece of the dress... Maybe I can sketch the painting design, if I watch my posture closely enough. *crosses fingers and goes off to eat at least a bite*

I need to completely redo the waist on the petticoat. The hem is awfully uneven and the only place I can adjust it easily is at the top. And I need this to be right becaus eI'll wear it again at my wedding. *heavy sigh*

Seriously, they should have been here quite a few days ago already.
Just. One. More. Day. I can't deal with the Stupid anymore, and we've been getting bad cases lately. Worse than the usual "But where are the brooches ?" when they're right in front of the person. And several at a time. Ugh.

About Tuesday's bomb, from what I gathered form the news reports it was "only" a jealous ex-husband trying to blow up his former wife. The wife's friend got severe leg injuries, and that's it. Some people are really, really sick.

In sewing related news, the sleeves are set in, and almost lined, and I'm forever grateful to philcostumes for his crash course in sleevy matters. Sadly, I miss some supplies which I won't be able to get until Monday. Which makes me somewhat reconsider my Cunning Embellishment Plan (tm) for the center front piece of the dress. Anyway, rather than spending time pondering any further, I'll go work on the sleeves' lining and I'll see where I am on Monday and decide accordingly what should get done. I still have to sew the coat together and make a hat...

So I headed to Toto over my lunchbreak, only to find out, after half an hour of searching, that they only had 1m80 of very thin silk voile in the color I wanted. Or heavy, crispy taffetas which would NOT work with the otehr fabric's drape. *sigh* Just pray that I don't mess up. I still need another ingredient for the dress, I'll try to go buy it today. I probably won't sew much this weekend anyway, with work today and birthday party tonight and tomorrow. But I'll bring my knitting !

Speaking of knitting, the chaos socks are done except for weaving in loose ends and blocking, and have demonstrated that my cast-off methid SUCKS. They're wearable as bedtime socks, though, and quite comfy as such.

... I feel like a princess in it. And an unconstricted one, thanks to the lack of a corset.

You're just genius, you saved my night, an dprobably the lower back of my dress too. There's no way in hell I could've done that in a not-ugly way per hand. Not with non-matching thread and the two layers of fabric. At least not without watching ALL seasons of Project Runway in a row. So thank you, you're great. There's no way your younger sister is replacing you on my desk as long as you're still resurrectable. And you only died twice in the whole time I've known you. Thank you, Pfaff 1214. Thank you for being able to chew your way (with only minor thread breaks) throught 5 millimeters of fabric.

*off to crash in bed*