Pirates, Potter, and Pleats

Hello again it is 3am and I am blogging about costuming once more!

Kathryn and I have had quite a productive night! We did after all have to make up for a dastardly attempt at a sewing circle last Thursday evening where Kat fell asleep on my Couch of Living Death as soon as she sat down and I...have no idea what I was doing but it clearly was not sewing because neither one of us made a stitch in the whole evening.

muslin underbodice and actual over bodice!

Today though, after themostdeliciouspizzaever we picked up our projects once more. For my part, I finally solved my under-bodice issue. Using a dress from my closet who's shape I particularly enjoyed as a pattern, I was able to draft out the pattern pieces I will use to construct the under-bodice. I'm rather pleased with the results of my muslin although I did decide not to do the under straps. Worst case scenario I can always as them as an afterthought, but I think the dress will look more elegant this way. I'm very grateful to Kat and my cousin Georgia for their assistance in this step. It's rather difficult to drape on one's own body and my dress form is slightly too large to work for me on something so precise.

Earlier in the day I also put together the sheer lavender outer part of the bodice. I used a french seam for the underarm/ side seams and based the back where the zipper will be. While sewing the darts, I didn't realize I still had a leather needle in my sewing machine so unfortunately I created some unsightly pulls in the chiffon with the first stitches. With some coaxing and ironing though I got it looking good as new. I put on the outer bodice over my corset and it fits nearly perfectly. I just have to adjust one of the ends of the sleeve. I have no muscle whatsoever but the sleeve is still a little tight around my bicep.

Kat modeling her bodice!

Kathryn and I got her skirt all put together this evening as well. She sewed the three back skirt sections together and I pleated and attached the front two sections. We also attatched the gingham check to the top of the skirt which acts as a facing to finish the top edge, and as a guide for evenly sewn cartridge pleats. Those will be our next step which I'm oddly looking forward to. I fine hand sewing to be far more enjoyable then machine sewing.

Thats all until I pass out.
Cheers!
Thera

Kat sewing her skirt!

Pile-o-skirt with gingham check for pleating!

dress used as pattern

Cutting, Stitching, And Brokeback Mt. Doom

Hello again!

Since my last update at 3am, Kat and I have been very very busy working on our costumes. A few nights ago we settled in with season one of the Tudors and the massive project that was cutting out all of Kat's pieces.  We got all of the black gown fabric cut and found that we had a lot left over due to the fact that the bolt was 68'' wide... oops. I told her to make a nice cloak or bag or something with the extra. We also cut into the olive/ gold sleeve contrast fabric.

Kat discovered the rolls and rolls of black made for an excellent sleeping bag.

Laying out the fabric.

It took us the entire length of my living room to lay this stuff out to begin cutting.

Finished corset!

Meanwhile, I finished up my corset and cut into the sheer lavender fabric that makes up the bodice and sleeves of my dress. This under bodice project is still unsolidified in my mind. When I put my muslin of the straps under the bodice pieces, I decided it looked too awkward. My material is a little more see through the the original gown (either that or my strap fabric is a little more bright) but they look dreadfully obvious on mine. So for now I'm toying with the idea of scrapping them in favor of believable ascetics rather then accuracy. Which would of course mean redrafting again. Kat's and my adventures today took us back to Sew Low where I picked up some better fabric for the cream colored bits so maybe that will look less distracting anyway. I also got the purples for the two upper sashes. My plans for the rest of the week are to get this gosh darned bodice figured out!

Working on the sleeves

This evening Kathryn and I finished up the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings (Frodo and Sam are such an adorable couple!) while making leaps and bounds in the construction of Anne Boleyn's clothing. Our trip to Sew Low this afternoon was to get the lining and canvas fabric needed to begin construction of the bodice. Kat also picked up a lovely olive colored chiffon for the veil of her French hood which will pick up the color of the sleeves nicely. Anne's bodice actually came along quite quickly and painlessly. Kat put on her stays and we were able to do a few fittings as the bodice became more and more of a reality. We must have been quite a sight sewing away in out period underwear! We got the back finished as well and decided to modify the pattern's suggestion of doing grommets for the laces in favor of very tiny button holes. The fabric is so heavy and grommets so shiny, I think the button holes will just be better in the long run. They'll be a bitch and a half to get laces through at first however.  In addition to the bodice construction, we began work on the outer sleeves. They're all construed (with the contrast lining!) and ready to be put onto the bodice in the morning. 
I'm totally psyched at how swiftly things are moving. Especially since once school starts homework vs. sewing never ends in me producing a paper and this semester I'm striving to actually do well(ish).

That's all for tonight folks!
Cheers,
Thera

Bodice!

Gandalf!

Emily attempting to be helpful...Either that or trying to sabotage.

A Post By Thera

Hola!

 It's now 3am where I am and I've been sewing for a good 9 hours... holy crap! Thank goodness for the Lord of the Rings extended versions and good company. Still boggles my mind that Kat had never seen Lord of the Rings. Anywhoo.
I spent my morning glued to the T.V going frame by frame through the 2nd half of Titanic to get a better understanding of how the under part of my bodice needs to work. From what I gathered, underneath the lavender sheer body/sleeves, the off white beaded band is continued into a thick strap that follows the curve over the shoulder and is pulled together in the center back seam. It does not however morph into any sort of underbodice. Her body is covered mostly by the two lavender sashes that go under the sheer lavender pieces. The off white beaded bit seems to be just the strap, what we see on the front of the gown, and a little bit that extends under the lavender. A really great image of how this works in the back of the gown can be found just after Rose cuts apart Jack's handcuffs.
Since my pattern is assuming my fabric is not completely see-through (and it is) it is designed with just a center inset panel and one outer sash. So for the first part of my 9 sewing hours this afternoon/evening I was working on re-drafting the pattern to create the straps. I'm moderately pleased with how my muslin came out but it needs some tweaking. I'm interested to see how it will work with the chiffon.
The other thing I accomplished today is the near completion of my corset. I want to make sure I get Rose's look correct so I'm making period foundation garments. I ran out of boning with only two channels to go so as soon as I get some more I'll throw those puppies in and bind the edges. I have one half of the corset complete though. I'm loving the busk!

Tomorrow (or rather later today) Kat and I are cutting fabric. I have a feeling it is going to be another marathon day of stitching and scheming. Can't wait! And off to bed finally! :)

Cheers!
Thera

Modeling my muslin!

In Which We Begin Our Blog!

Hello!

Welcome to our blog! We are Kat and Thera and we are embarking on a Halloween costuming adventure of epic proportions! Well Kat is at least. We hit up a lovely discount fabric shop in Boston's garment district this afternoon where Kat walked away with 13.5 (!) yards of fabric. 
So what is this project you ask?

Well Kathryn has decided to make the dress of King Henry VIII's ill-fated 2nd wife, Anne Boleyn. And Thera is recreating the gown worn by Rose as the Titanic is sinking. Pleasant stuff right?! :)


We're very excited about it anyway. Clearly excited enough to begin this blog.

Here's what we're working off:

This is one of the paintings done of the actual Anne Boleyn. Kat decided against the fur...

And here is the pattern she will be using. :)

Thera has found the Costumer's Guide to be most helpful in the planning process of her costume. They research and collect images of really costume-y movie costumes. Here's the link! http://www.costumersguide.com/

This is the dress she's making. Off this pattern:

Their website is here: http://sensibility.com/patterns/1910s-tea-gown-pattern/

And thus we move from planning to creating! :)

Kat and her fabric!

OMG black fabric!

hehehe kinda what it will look like... sorta. In an not-sewn way. :)

Thera and her slightly more compact fabric. :) Loving the lavender!

colors.


That's all for now! We begin cutting and what not on Thursday. Wish us luck!

Cheers!
Kat and Thera