A Little Home Decorating

 We have been in a new condo for 2 months now after 28 years in the same house.  So, I have really been 'gone missing.'  And, I haven't been sewing clothing, my first love.

But one of the reasons we chose our new home was the huge, bright space for my sewing.  I'll share some photos of that later.  But, that same space has a sitting area that I needed some extra pieces for.  Luckily, I find it difficult to part with things.  This green chair started out as ivory corduroy 35 years ago and was the first good piece of furniture we purchased when we were married.  It was later reupholstered in the fabric shown here which definitely didn't match.

I am lucky enough to live within an hour of a Crate and Barrel Outlet and they sell Marimeko fabric for $5.99 a yard which is a real bargain!  This may not have been my first choice for a print, but it works. And, slipcovering is not my favorite activity.  It is very hard on the hands and things don't fall quite as neatly into place as a beautifully drafted pattern, but sometimes it's a necessary evil! The pillow is done with an embroidery from Hatched in Africa called African Jewels and it is finished with some interesting trims that are very rough and reinforce the sort of 'jungle' look. 

Slan

Updates on Melibea's Costume

 Just some final pics from Melibea's costume for those who wanted to see it finished!

Dressing Melibea

A friend has asked me to help with the costumes for her theatre company, TKapow.  They are putting on The Illusion by Tony Kushner and I am working on one of Melibea's costumes.  Honestly, I agreed to do it because I had no experience making costumes beyond a giant felt pumpkin thirty years ago and the occasional princess.  And, of course, I like and admire Carey so I felt I could take something away from this adventure.  The pattern is Simplicity 3782, which may be out of print, but seems to be readily available on the internet and it has two versions of an Elizabethan costume.  For those of you who are true costumers, we are taking some liberties as this is community theatre.  

 One of my first challenges was boning.  Between the three bodice pieces there are sixteen channels of boning!  I had never put boning in before so a good deal of yesterday was spent reading up on it, especially how get it to lay flat!  I know now that there are many kinds and that steel is probably the choice of most professionals, but I only had featherweight available to me and decided that since this was, in fact, a costume, I would make do.  I struggled initially with tracing off the sixteen channels which were sewn into the lining and interfacing which had been basted together (I did not use fusible, of course, but rather a nice piece for sew-in from Pam at Off The Cuff).  I really didn't want to do tailor tacks for these sixteen channels so I put my light box to work and laid the pattern down first on the box with the lining/interfacing on top of it and was able to trace off the channels easily with an iron away marking pen.

 I then stitched the channels and inserted the boning which had been ironed flat.  I had to remove the casing for the boning first in order to fit it into the channels.

Voila!

The costume consists of an underskirt and an over dress which opens to expose the skirt.  Between both pieces there are about 12 yards of cloth.  Only the front panel of the underskirt is done in good fabric in order to cut down on cost.  The remainder is done with a simple cotton as it will not show.  This is attached to a grograin ribbon which snaps in the back.

 The sleeves come in two parts -- upper and lower -- which are seamed with contrasting piping inserted between them and a ruffle at the end.


 More to come as I'd like to wrap this up in the next day or two.

Slan

Does Anyone Not Look Great in A White Shirt?

A Bit of Fabric Manipulation

 Scarves made from Japanese obi silk and silk dupioni.  For the dark grey dupioni, I wanted to recreate the lovely organic lines of the branches so I randomly pleated the fabric in multiple directions, crossing each other on occasion and then crushing them a bit with iron.  I've always loved the look and feel of fabric manipulation so I am pleased with the result.

 

Happy Hanukkah!

For Molly and Hannah, two of my little sewing muses!

Vintage Duster

I recently had the good fortune to purchase a vintage duster from an antique shop in Concord, Massachusetts.  The Fairchild Dictionary of Fashion lists one of its definitions of a duster as a "tan or brown light-weight full-length coat worn when riding in an automobile in early 20th c. to protect clothing from dust."  The material in my coat is a very well preserved linen.  These coats were typically worn with an automobile veil.  Alas, my coat did not have an accompanying veil, and I am pretty certain that, although I look forward to wearing the coat, I lack the courage to wear the veil.

 The coat is a perfect fit with the exception of the sleeve length and the overall length.  Shortening the sleeve will be both interesting and easy since it was constructed with the cuff hand-sewn to the sleeve.  So, it came off very easily and I will turn up the appropriate length on the sleeve and then re-attach the cuff.

As you can see, when the cuff is off, the pocket faces up, which won't work at all.  But, when you slide the cuff back on, it's done in such a way as to resemble a turned up cuff, so it is slid over the bottom of the sleeve and attached there (shown with the very tiny red arrow). 

 One of the many things I found interesting was that when you lift up the flap of this cuff pocket, it is not finished at all.  The fabric had simply been slashed and some hand stitches done to keep the fabric from raveling.  I have no idea what the purpose of this pocket would have been and would be very interested in any thoughts any of you may have. 

I can't wait to finish my alterations and wear my coat.  I'll post pictures!

Slan