380 inches...

of ruching takes far longer than I thought!  The Overskirt and Dinner Jacket need to be detailed and finished; looking through some other examples online, I decided to stick with my "keep it simple" approach, Victorian-style.  

The jacket closures will be 13 hidden snap fastners with 7 decorative mother of pearl buttons on the front panel.  I am also toying with the idea of putting buttons on the back panel too; currently they are pinned onto the seams to prevent damage, they should sit higher and in the centre of the panels I think, I will play some more.

The sleeves and the front panels of the overskirt will have a ruched detailing in the same fabric.  I measured to ruche the hem of the overskirt as well, but the poplin is so fine that my initial doubling of the measurements was off by half!  It was a lucky error though, just ruching the front panel is perfect.

I will need to rehem the overskirt though, as it has a visible seam.  I will handstitch a hidden hem instead.

The only problem with all of this... my feet hurt!  I trust none of this sewing off Miss G, particularly with the snap fasteners which need to be accurate.  I like to keep the jacket as static as possible to avoid any mistakes.  I do enjoy the quiet of handsewing, it's very satisfying.

Finishing the 1882 Dinner Jacket

It's done!  All bar the buttons that is... but it's done!  I have one Victorian Dinner Jacket!!

I had a morning off today so decided to get the lining in; I have had a bad time with bagged linings in the past, so I was nervous, but the canvas interlining once again helped by maintaining the shape of the garment far better than usual.  The lining was pinned, right side to right side and then I sewed it in sections, the tails and bottom edge first, the centre edge and neckline second. 

I trimmed all the edges and any long threads and then it was time to turn it inside out.  The instructions are to turn it through the armhole, with all the interlining and boning I couldn't see how this would be possible.  I was expecting a nightmare.

One armhole, ready to turn inside out.

Half turned.

Almost done.

 I was so nervous I changed into my comfy sewing clothes before I started the turnout, but in the end it was all too easy.  The Truly Victorian patterns require a certain amount of faith at times, but they know exactly what they're doing.  They are challenging and inspiring, I am already browsing for my next pattern.

And here it is, on and off Miss G and with apologies for my lovely PJs!

Obviously I need closures and buttons, and maybe some more detailing, but I have a jacket!  It fits like a glove, it is impossibly comfortable and I am very pleased with myself tonight ;o)

I am also tempted to make a tail-less version for those non-Victorian days.

Plans? Pah! ;o)

The irony of writing about planning my work, and my work having other ideas about that, is not lost on me!  Now instead I can write about the importance of a final fit, especially when working on a tailor's dummy.  Oh, and also about "painstaking: (n) the application of careful and attentive effort", it was the word of the day yesterday.  

The Dinner Jacket:

I decided on a ruffle round the neckline and down the front closure of the jacket, using the twill of the skirt.  I do not like the collar suggested in the pattern.  I cut two lengths of twill, approx 32" by 4", gathered them lightly and pinned them to the jacket. 

Although very roughly pinned, on Miss G (if not in the picture maybe!) this looked lovely and suitably Victorian.

So, off we trotted upstairs to attempt to get into everything - I am now a certified contortionist! - had a "final fit" and learnt four things:

1) what looks good on Miss G, definitely doesn't look good on me; instead of the ruffles looking stately Victorian, it was more a case of girl dressing up in her mum's clothes;

2) Miss G has far broader shoulders than me; I knew this already, but in a jacket with this much detail and so little "give" it was very quickly apparent that more adjusting to the shoulder seams (and therefore the armholes) was required as the back of the neck stood proud from my body and there was bunching at the front;

3) I'm slimmer than Miss G, and a little more flexible/adjustable!  Finally the jacket had bosoms that fit instead of puckering at the top of the boning, however the centre front edges would have be trimmed back by about 1/2" each side, otherwise the overlap would be too great;

A natural light photo, to give a truer indication of the colour of the fabric.

4) and the neckline also would need to be adjusted; the pattern mentions an Evening Neckline, I would interpret that to suit.

So, new work to do: the shoulder seam needs to be taken in by 3/4" at the neck, tapering to the armhole, the armholes need to be adjusted by a few millimetres along the back seam, and the neckline will be less rectangular and more V-shaped, a detail that both matches historical images and suits the adjustments to the front panels.  It all then needs to be repeated on the lining.

As points 2-4 of my plan didn't go quite as hoped, and I was an hour or so behind schedule, there was no time to get the jacket fit and lined; my one step further on before moving onto the LBD.  Not to say that I was disappointed, I like the changes to the jacket and it will fit very nicely when it's done, but I had to move onto the LBD if I stood any chance of wearing it the same evening.

The LBD:

Earlier in the week I recycled some of the spare taffeta from the 10yr old's Halloween costume onto the LBD.  I had removed the old skirt, but it was too short, the taffeta served to lengthen it and offered a nice tonal and textural contrast to the raw silk.  I gathered the fabric and pinned it to the bodice, keeping the same empire line that I had used with the tulle.

I then cut a "belt" 30" long, 4" wide, sewed the length, pressed and turned it.  I pinned it in place, below the bust detailing. 

Everything was handstitched in place.

I then hemmed the skirt, handstitching for an invisible finish, ironed it all and it was done - with 20 minutes to spare!  With hair and makeup done, my lovely satin mules, Cinderella (the dress that is, not me!) did go to the ball!  Lots of photos were taken; hopefully there will be one that I can post.

So near... but unfinished

I'm probably 80% done, but I did not finish the jacket today.  It was an inauspicious start to the afternoon's sewing: the first darts were too deep and had to be resewn; the second ones, I sewed in back to front, they too had to be resewn!  From there it was easier, but I have to admit to being bored the entire time I stitched the lining.  Not only is it now my third time round this bodice but after the last layer, this was just too easy - I missed the challenge and sense of excitement that I'd felt.  I pressed all the seams and then put the boning in it's casing.  I was rather pleased that, post corset, I automatically ordered casing - the instructions called for handmade casings from the lining fabric, which have been very time consuming.  I then basted the boning to each dart and the following three seams.  It took an age and I have my numb "corset fingers" back again!  There is puckering at the front of the bodice, Miss G has very fine bosoms which sit far more to the front than mine; I know that the jacket will fit me there, better than it does Miss G.

Next I sewed the sleeve and lining; attached them at the cuff and turned them inside out.  I fit the sleeve into the armhole, easing in at the top with a light gather.  I have the second sleeve to do and the lining to sew in, but before that I have decided to add a a gather to the neckline and I want to sew it in with the lining.  I am also toying with the collar, I'm not sure I like it.  I have made it but I don't think it will end up on the finished garment.

The photos are of a mockup of the the gather (made from the skirts twill).  I've tried to avoid taking pictures of the jacket today, the camera flash picks up all sorts of details that you don't see in natural light, not all of which are complementary!

I'll admit to being disappointed at not finishing, but I've done well and I made a darn fine dinner in the process.  Not only did the boyf eat his mini-pot, he ate half the big pot too and has started on the vegan brownies: I think I can call that a success!

Progress so far...

10am:  the front darts are sewn in.  What is immediately obvious is that the twill interlining gives the fabric a life of it's own, the shape is extraordinary and there will definitely not be no slouching in this!  I still have boning to add...

This isn't clothing, it's sculpture.

10.45am: the sides and back pieces are sewn together.  I am struck again at how sculptural this is looking.

11.15am: the front is attached at the side and shoulders and I try the finished piece on Miss G.  The neckline needs adjusting and possibly the front darts, but I will leave these for now, I turn the bodice inside out the redraw the neckline - the joys of a twill interlining, I just fold it and mark the line!

12.15pm: quick celebratory drink at the pub!

The 1880 Dinner Jacket - I'm finishing this today!

So, 8.33am on a Sunday morning.  Can no longer "sleep" concertinaed around the dog and the boyf, plus I am having some very odd dreams, a sore throat and 36 pieces of fabric, 10 bones and a couple of yards of boning tape waiting for me.  Not all immediately connected, but enough to get me out of bed!

Yesterday was going to be "sewing day".  Instead it ended up being gardening day, dog kennel day (she has a fake grass floor inside and out now! I love it!), wash and dry all the bedding in a day day, grocery shopping day, chatting at the garden centre day, "I will get these vegan brownies to work" day (and they did!), and pop into the pub for a quick drink and a chat day.  A very good day it was too!

Somewhere towards the end of it all, I cut out the remaining pattern pieces for the jacket (the fashion fabric pieces); ironed them to the interlining - the heat bonds them together, ever so lightly, and as we sat to watch "Limitless" I basted them together as they are now (the instructions are very specific on this) to be treated as a single piece.

Caught cutting, with my serious face on ;o)

Pairing the pieces together.

Some gentle bonding with a warm (no steam) iron, before pinning.

Basting, basting, basting...

Megs kept herself entertained!

So, back to today.  Its cold, it's wet, it's a perfect day to get this jacket sewn... Let the sewing commence.

From 46 pieces to one...

Good Lord! It's October already!

It's left me in a bit of a panic... our Halloween party is now only 20 odd days away.  We have so much to sort for the party; I have the 10yr old's costume to make; the Dinner Jacket has me sufficiently nervous that I keep putting it off, but I don't have enough time left to do that any more; and the LBD may not have made it to one party, but I have the Charity Ball on the 15th for which it would be good and it is now so firmly on my internal to do list, it will be a distraction till it's done.

So, tonight I got busy... randomly so, but I'm going with something being better than nothing! :o)

I have taken the skirt off of the LBD; it is now back to a bodice and I have more fabric to play with.

I then moved on to the Dinner Jacket.  Taking measurements from the mock-up I have placed an order for the boning and some white boning tape.  Hopefully this will be with me mid-week.

I amended, and trimmed, the necessary pieces from the Dinner Jacket, based on the pinned mock-up that the lovely Mrs B and I produced.

I then cut out the lining pieces, I've picked a cream cotton; the same colour as the twill skirt.

After the lining was all cut, I started to mark out the pieces on the interlining.  I am using the left-over canvas from the Corset project.  I am marking out the pieces as the top fabric will be basted to it before I start to construct the jacket and as the canvas will be the main structure of the jacket, I want this to be as accurate as possible. 

Finally, I decided on a name for Dolly - who sits by the sewing machine happily watching me fuss - she is called Fryda, from "fryd" the Norwegian for "joy".   

At 9.30pm I called it a day.  More tomorrow.

It's time to give Dolly a face

Its been a busy day, but in the middle of it all, I sat down for half an hour and Dolly "grew" a face.

I was inspired by the picture below (from fingtoys on Flickr), which I came across by accident.  

She looks a little like Princess Leia! But she is beautiful and I love the knitted jumper.  Most importantly, she has the prim/Gothic/simple/black stitched face that I have been thinking about for Dolly.  I particularly love her fabric cheeks, I had not thought of cheeks...

So I quickly Googled needle sculpting techniques and, with the foolishness of one who knows no better!, stitched a nose.  The 10 yr old has been telling me that I should give Dolly Coraline-style button eyes, but I find them a little uncomfortable to look at, so I compromised with a pair of round jet beads, which I sewed on with four stitches (N, S, E & W).  It's a pretty detail, gives the eyes more shape - pulling the needle through with pliers, when it got seriously stuck, was less amusing!

Finally, I free-styled an embroidered mouth.  It's set slightly to the side, almost as if she is smiling to herself -  it's feels appropriate.

******

We finished the day with dinner with the B's.  Once the boys had gone to the pub for a game, or three, of pool, the lovely Mrs B kindly agreed to help me fit my jacket for the Victorian Costume.  Once I was all kitted up, and Mrs B had stopped laughing at my bloomers and inability to move, she spent an age adjusting and pinning and adjusting again.  She is a good friend is Mrs B and she can fit clothes beautifully!  

Thank you Mrs B x

An 1880 Mock Up

The Dinner Jacket instructions recommend a mock up; so a mock up I have made.  It's a quick and dirty piece of sewing so no photos of the process!  I am glad that I've made it though, as there is a fair amount of adjusting to do, particularly to the back panels.  At the moment it sits on Miss G, but she's just a little larger than me, so I will have to get dressed up at some point this week and trust the boyf and a pot of pins not to leave me too damaged!

At the moment the arms are just pinned in as the panels that I need to adjust on the back will change the arm hole size.  I also think the arms will need narrowing and that the shoulders will also need to be shortened.

The back edge of the dark green side panels is where the adjustments need to be made, you can see the bagginess along the edge.  I do love the sweep of the tail panel as it comes down the back of the skirt.

Below the waistline fits perfectly, on Miss G at least, and the length of the tails is good.

The mock up really is a mess! but I was not expecting it to be much more than a quick proof that the jacket would fit, especially as we'd taken the measurements carefully and multiple times.  I'm surprised by the amount of adjusting that it seems to need but now glad, in equal measure, that I have the chance to get it fitting perfectly.  I've never worked on something that needs this level of tweaking before; it's going to be interesting.

The 1880 Dinner Bodice

So here it is, Truly Victorian pattern TV422: the 1880 Dinner Bodice, a truly nerve-wracking piece of clothing to both make and wear!

I have read the instructions, and re-read the instructions (a number of times...) and come to two conclusions:

a) this makes the corset look like a doddle, and
b) I need to man-up-woman (the 10 yr olds favourite new saying) and just get sewing.

So, I got measured this morning, spent a happy half hour with my calculator working out my "adjusted measurements" and selecting the pattern sizes accordingly (mostly a D, one C), lengthened where appropriate - confused yet? I was! - and eventually was able to trace and cut out my pattern pieces.

13 pieces for one jacket, to be cut out in the metallic poplin, a twill interlining and an inner lining; and lets not forget the 10 pieces of boning! ...yes, that's a medicinal glass of red wine you can see ;o)

Now all I have to do is adjustment the pattern: this piece will require an initial toile (muslin) in order to make sure it fits perfectly.  I'm going to raid the scrap bin, a patchwork toile maybe?