2011 Costume Wrap-up

Well the year is done and overall I'd say it was a success.   Here are the majority of things I finished this year, minus the outfits  I made for other people and don't have pictures of yet.

There were also some other projects this year too: a suit of clothes for my boss, a skirt/bodice and petticoat for a coworker, a pair of bloomers and a corset for another coworker, and a variety of skirts for a friend.


For next year I have a few ideas already.
1. Garbaldi blouses in red, white, and black
2. a maroon skirt with blue wool trim
3. a blue wool bodice
4. a black striped bustle dress c. 1869
5. a green skirt with box pleated ruffle
6. the green striped dress with matching Swiss waist
7. redo the pink dress and add trim
8. fix the purple jacket

Happy New Year's!  I'm a little drunky right now on Moet et Chandon so apologies for any spelling errors that might have insued.  Cheers

A quick glimpse

I've got some early shots of my new work ensemble. It's based on a pattern from The World of Fashion in winter of 1852 that I found in Patterns of Fashion. I added the skirting myself and left it much more open than the norm to give it some personal choices. I had it finished enough to wear today for a test drive and it went great! Everyone really loved my new outfit and I'm super pleased with the fit and general look of it compared to the standard around town. You can also see the beginnings of the living room remodel in these shots too. More to come later.

Knee deep in it

Whew!  It's been a heck of a month for me.  Let me recap before I get down to business...

Charlie my puppy was diagnosed with pancreatitus.  $800 later he's on a very restricted diet and I'm on the war path to take down a couple of very high class puppy mills here in Tuolumne County.  Learned a lot in the process.  Would like to especially thank Jeannine Dietz in Oregon who owns Charlie's great grand sire as well as Kim Townsend at PetShopPuppies.org.  Seriously wonderful people that I hope to stay in contact with.

Work is going well.  The pink and poofy has made quite a sensation and I'm working on a few new projects as well.  Appear to have irritated a few people with my work, but I suppose that was bound to happen.

The house renovation is still happening.  I'm skipping the bathroom for the time being and have moved on to painting the hallway and living room.  Will also be doing the floors in the kitchen and new carpet this year hopefully.  It's amazing what a difference applying sealant to the windows makes too.

Found a great article that I think is of extreme importance: Is It Really Important?  I think about 99.999% of the people working in Columbia with me (including myself) could benefit from reading this article and seriously taking it into consideration.

So, the new project that I'm knee deep in...a basque bodice based very closely off of the blue silk one at rwolivers.com.

Mine is purple striped fabric and will have purple striped trim too most likely.  I'm planning to do a double flounced skirt in chocolate colored courduroy after this next paycheck.  This way I can make other jackets to go with it or tie up the skirt and make a pair of bloomers and have a Turkish Outfit also.  Will also be looking for new shoes too.

Already planning and scheming

Here I haven't even technically finished the 1852 summer day dress and I'm off to the races planning more outfits.  I had a rude awakening at work when I discovered I would have to wear at least one of those icky work dresses a couple of a days a week still.  Mostly this was out of the need to not be so poofy on delivery day and restock day.  I did it last week, and with the hem about an inch longer than I needed, and survived fine, but I fear for my dress.  Plus, I do not want to wear either of the two work dresses I claimed.

So to avoid further discomfort, I have decided to make another more "practical" outfit.  Naturally this can't be something frumpy since I have set a new standard.  Even before I started the day dress I thought it would be nice to do a two pieced outfit.  I've found two different bodices that I quite like and will eventually be recreating both of them, but in more simplified manner.  I'll be making a skirt to go with the bodice, but during winter I might take the route of a quilted petticoat in stead to mix it up.  I'm not sure that quilted petties were worn out and about for public display, but I can't see why a woman would go to such lengths to make a beautiful garment like that and not show it off.  More research perhaps.

But yes, the jacket...I like both of these a great deal:

1853-55 fringed bodice from corsetsandcrinolines.com

c.1850 blue taffeta bodice from rwolivers.com

Sadly because of the nature of my job, I will not be able to do the wider sleeves.  However, since the jacket I'm making first will be for summer wear, I can make it short sleeved with sheer or muslin undersleeves to go with the chemisette that will be required.  Tit for tat I suppose.  This will also give me a chance to make a nice apron.