Harder than I Thought

Did you all see that movie "Julie and Julia"? I really enjoyed it, but mostly because I'm a huge foodie and my daughter went to the same school as Julia Child. But man, do I have to give that woman credit. Not only did she cook that entire book, she wrote a blog every day! This is harder than I thought. Not that I don't like doing this, I really enjoy it. I've got so much stuff I want to post, and I do think about it. It's just things get in the way. Laundry. Yep, laundry gets in the way. Cooking too. Oh and the cats. Yep, them too.

But in reality its me getting in my own way. So, instead of me trying to post every single day I've opted to be kind to myself and set a goal of three times a week.

So, after I post my latest creation for sale on Ebay I'll be back to talk about the most beautiful painting I've ever seen, show you how to put trim on a gown and talk about patterns.

Chow.

Roots and Redwoods

You know, it is so much easier to blog in your head. I mean, the whole time I was away in California I blogged in my head. I'd be looking at Amish quilts or 17th century Dutch paintings I had a running blog dialog going on in my head.Alas and alack, th ey did not make it onto the computer but they are still in my head none the less.

San Francisco, for those who've never been, is a lovely city in comparison to a lot out there. The streets are bigger, it's cleaner, the transportation system can't be beat period. There is less traffic (thanks to the transportation systems one would think). Every place I ate was amazing, including an artichoke and onion soup at the De Young museum. It even beat Paris as far as meals go. The people are eclectic to say the least, and the ethnic neighborhoods actually felt like, well,neighborhoods. And, DAMN,those redwood trees are tall!

Yet I came away with a feeling of disconnect that I haven't ever felt in any other city before. It lacked warmth- I don't mean physically as it was warm whilst I was there. It was something else that I can't quite put my finger on. Lack of 18th century history? Maybe, though the town of Sonoma had enough history to please even me. Lack of passion? No, I saw passion at the Fat Chance studio.
Lack of....lack of what? I'm thinking it was lack of roots. My roots are here with my family, my friends, my co-workers, my troupe. I don't think I really appreciated my roots, my connectedness to others in my life until this trip. I've come back happy to be here, happy I went, happy to go again knowing that my roots are here when I get home.

More later on the de Young.....

California, Here I Come

I like to think of myself as a well heeled traveler, but I’m not really. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’ve been lots of places. But in the scheme of the world I really haven’t. For instance I was only in California once for about 24 hours. Most of what I remember was how beautiful the water was and how freaking cold! I remember the harbor seals barking at Fisherman’s Wharf at midnight, and this ubber creepy wax museum with a Sleeping Beauty that was breathing. I kid you not. Her chest was going up and down like she was breathing. I can’t wait to go back! So I am off tomorrow to California to do some sightseeing and take some classes with Fat Chance Belly Dance. Yep, not only do I live this strange 18th century life I also belly dance. But before you get visions of I dream of Genie costumes in your head or think of all those lovely ladies in those itty bitty costumes let me say that is not what I do. I dance ATS Tribal which stands for American Tribal Style. It is an improvisational style that is more earthy and grounded and lovely. It celebrates the beauty of a woman’s body and her mind and her soul. I love it. I have now passed the first level of certification for FCBD, General Skills. Next up is Teacher 1. But I’m not sure how long my body will put up with the rigors of the dance. Believe it or not it is a lot of work. And at my age things get swollen and stiff much easier than before. So, should I give up? Stick to knitting those doll shawls? Hell no. I’m going to dance till I die. So here’s to all those older gals like me that go out and kick ass when they dance. May we be dancing at our great grandchildren’s weddings! Wish me luck…..

Test of Time

I’m trying to get Word to publish my blogs but of course technology has to elude me. When one spends much of her time with her brain engrossed in a period were bathing was considered optional for most folks and it took three months for the latest news from London (and fashion) to arrive in New Jersey it is no surprise that I have no idea which URL they are talking about and what is a URL?!

The one thing I have in my favor though is that I’m an nothing but if not stubborn and tenacious. So the test of time will be how long I will keep at it till I figure it out. And mark my word I will figure it out.

A Day To Do, A Day To Not

I listened to the clues today.  You know what I mean.  Those days that life is sending you clues that you shouldn't leave the house, that something isn't right and that you'd best keep to your house and away from moving or sharp objects.  That was my day today.  Forgot my wallet, walked down the driveway to bring in the garbage can and then forgot it, drove the car down the driveway only to have to walk back to shut the garage door and so on.. Once I understood that things weren't going to go my way today I gave up with the idea of going anywhere till I had to go to work (yes, I do have a 'real' job).  By listening to the clues I saved myself any additonal grief of having 'one of those days'.  Days like this are NOT days to pick up the sewing and it made me doubly happy that I finished up yesterday.

Back to the gown.  To attatch  the skirts to the bodice you first have to pleat them down to a size that will actually fit into the opening on the bodice bottom.  I usually do this by putting the bodice on the dress dummy, sitting down in front of it and then simply start pleating.  I've got an almost uncanny ability to pleat exactly the size I need with very little re-do.  Must be a gift.

There are several ways to pleat a skirt onto a bodice including cartridge pleats.  I find those work best for super full skirts and someday, when I do another gown with them, I'll talk about that. But for this one I simply pleated from the front skirts to the back center with the pleats heading towards the back.  That means if you were looking at the front of the skirts the right side pleats are heading towards the left, and the left to the right.

Each individual pleat needs to have its own pin.  Once they are all pinned, and you check that they fit perfectly into the opening, it can be pinned to the lining fabric only.  I usually press up the edge of the bodice along the stitching line.  It makes an easy guide for sewing and a nice clean seam.  Sew the bodice onto the skirts by using a back stitch, about 10 inches to the inch IF you are hand sewing.  I machine sewed this into place.
 

Sew the skirts onto the bodice lining.  Once that is done you need to hand stitch the bodice onto the skirts.  This can only be done, IMO, while the gown is on the dress dummy.  The point of the back of the bodice needs to be sewn down ontop the skirts several inches.  If you do this with the gown laying down it will not lay flat.  Pin along the bodice edge and sew onto the skirts using a running stitch.  Remember not to sew through the lining. 
 
The skirts are now attatched to the bodice.   To finish up the gown hand sew the side seams and the hem. 


 

Another Day, Another Gown

Today was a productive day.  Not only did I turn my daughter's room into a den for my sons (of which she is not pleased and they are) I also finished another gown that I forgot I had started.

How does that happen you ask?  If you had ever seen the very large pile of fabrics in my sewing room you'd understand.I came across it as I was digging under the pile for a piece of silk. There it was. A fully sewn bodice sans the skirt.  The fabric is red Chrysanthemums on a cream background. It is part of a collection of period correct prints put out by Colonial Williamsburg sometime earlier last year It's getting harder and harder to find and this particular one is very popular, at lesat the red and cream is.  I've got it in a purple and gold as well. 

So with the laundry done, the boys situated I pieced the skirts of the gown together. 

The skirts were pieced using a French seam.  For those of you who don't know what that is I thought I'd list the steps here.  Though it takes twice as long as just a simple straight seam it makes for a sturdy, well constructed garment.

All sewers know that you put the right sides of the fabric together and sew the seam to the inside of the garment. Not so with a French seam.  This time you place the wrong sides together sewing your fabric together so that seam line is to the outside, not the inside of the garment.  You can see that the rights sides of the fabric and the seam line are to the outside in this photo.

Next, turn the fabric to the wrong side.  Press along the stitching line so that both sides of the fabric are facing one another.  Check out the photo.

Now you are ready to sew. sewing.  This gown is a combination of hand and machine sewing.  Some of my garments are 100% hand draped, hand sewn, others are a combination of both.  My thoughts on that subject will be for another blog. But for now it's time to stitch.

Stitch alone the folded fabric about 1/2 inch all the way to the bottom.

Now comes the neat part.  Open the fabric and viola!  The selvage edges are caught inside that seam you just sewed, kind of like a casing.  When you open it to the outside all you have is a seam line.  And there is never the problem of raw edges with this type of seam.

Tomorrow I'll go over the technique I used for pleating the skirt and attatching it to the bodice.  Until then I'll just sit here and enjoy looking at another lovely gown.

Updated Photo of Draped Gown- She Needed A Petticoat