Monday, January 11, 2010

It's back on!

The sewing machine is back and working beautifully. I always love how my machine sews right after its been tuned. It actually was really broken this time, so I'm glad I took it in.

The weekend rain afforded me some time to finish my plaid silk bodice. I'm pretty happy with how the sleeves turned out. The top sleeve is a two piece shirred down to a fitted lining on both sides. I'm a bit crossed-eyed, but the plaid is mirror-imaged on sleeves and bodice, biased and matched (with the exception of the underarm sleeves and side seams), whew!

The bottom bell sleeves are lined with white silk (not sure exactly what type, probably chiffon or habotai, courtesy of the Sew Expo remnant table) so as to show off the eventual white undersleeves. This is my first dress using custom and/or completely drafted patterns, and wow, does it ever make a difference in the fit! The bodice is drafted with 1/2" ease, compared with 2-3" of ease in a modern garment, so it can be tricky to get a good fit with that little wiggle room!

Our Northwest winters are quite rainy, so we headed out with the kids to our local museum's family day this weekend. The kids loved the fossils, dino footprints, replica dinosaur teeth and toys!

The rowed in their very own Native American canoe, inside the local tribes exhibit (which also had a nice display of various Hudson's Bay Company beads I wished I could use for reenacting).


The museum also had a furnished 1886 classroom (our school district is one of the oldest in the state, and while I'm not certain, I believe this was an original classroom). The kids found their seats and Nate started doing his "work." The books on the shelves were many that we have in our own home for study.

There was also a "pioneer" area with half a covered wagon, a general store and a place to try on some clothes. I almost wanted to volunteer to sew them some things, but I can't even keep up with my own projects! It was a fun family morning though, and the kids had a good time.

I'm off to keep plugging away at my dress, I'm gauging with tiger tape this time, so the stitches and gauging "pleats" should be my most even yet! Hopefully, this dress will be finished soon!

6 comments:

Mrs. G said...

I just took a break from my sewing marathon to check blogger and I saw your post. Your bodice looks beautiful! That's a real eye-popping plaid. :-)
Paris

Anonymous said...

That silk dress is coming along nicely, and the sleeves are awesome (you definitely will be the only person at the fort rocking sleeves like that!) Now I'm regretting not picking up more of that plaid at Joanns (the price was amazing), but I think that that plaid is much better suited for you. ;-)))))

Lauren said...

I'm glad your sewing machine is up and running again. I'm excited to see your finished dress. The bodice looks wonderful so far :-) You museum trip looks like a lot of fun.

Mia said...

The bodice looks great, I'm always inspired by 19th century attire!
ps) I'd love for you to stop by my blog!

Mia

Sarah said...

What a fabulous bodice!! Wow! It looks fantastic. The colors are amazing in it, and wow, I can't wait to see the finished dress!

Rachel said...

wow, that bodice is gorgeous!! I love those sleeves!