The Love, Blood, and Rhetoric School

So, I am going to share photographic evidence if my misspent youth on the Internet. Please, take this as a cautionary tale. Also remember I have grown as a person since then, and please be kind.

Here is Jenn, wearing not just the first historical costume I ever made, but the first garment I ever made:

It's an ostensibly Tudor ensemble, made from a Simplicity pattern. Yes, it has visible lacing in the front. Yes, the stomacher has darts. No, there is no skirt attached to the bodice. But the sleeves are surprisingly accurate, even though I held the turn backs with buttons because I had not yet watched Six Wives of Henry VIII on a huge hi-def tv and seen that they were pinned.

I tried to make the gable hood from the pattern, failed miserably, and ended up covering a Juliet cap from the bridal aisle at joann fabrics. And yes, it's a completely non-period synthetic brocade, there is no shift or under sleeves, and it's trimmed with Venetian lace!

I told you I had a misspent youth.

The thing fit like a dream when I made it though. The back of the bodice in particular was serendipitous. There's no way it should have fit that perfectly on my first try. I was so skinny we had to overlap the grommets in the front and flat lace it! (Jenn is a different shape up top than me, and she's not wearing stays under it, so it's not a perfect fit on her. I also had a bum roll that she refuses to wear, but it gave the skirt a great shape.)

And there are a few redeeming factors. One, it is not burgundy! Back in the early oughts, every Ren Faire dress one saw was burgundy. In the costume contest that year there were five burgundy dresses, a purple velvet Elizabethan (which won, deservedly so), and my blue bodice. I think I came in second because of the colors. That and Bruce had a very nice waffenrock that coordinated. Second, the bodice trim is rather nice. It's gold net layered with gold and rose flat braid.

Here we both are with a lovely young lady who reproduced a dress from The Birgias. It's not often one gets to walk up to a stranger and say "I'm dressed like your mother!"

I just noticed my pendant is flipped over. Oh well. Also note the period-appropriate grease stain on my stomacher. I'd like to point out the two dresses on the right are from the same pattern, Period Patterns 42, which lets you know how versatile it is. I'd highly recommend it.

The turquoise dress is all one piece, no separate sleeves or chemise, though the lower sleeves were either leotard or I think legs cut off tights. And she was wearing a separate corset under. The skirt is gathered, like the costumes from the show, which, from doing my research, I'm not convinced was nearly as common as pleats of one sort or another.

So posting shamed me into getting some work done. I finished stitching up the gown lining, so the underside of the cartridge pleats and I are protected from each other, I cut, gathered, and sewed the forepart to a ribbon waistband and sewed the fixed side to the gown, I sewed the fixed side of the stomacher in, and I pinned the gown hem.

Still need to:
Hem camicia
Hem gown
Hem forepart
Hook and eye for forepart
Hooks and eyes for stomacher (this is the make it or break it step)
SLEEVES (sweet Mother of God, sleeves...with lacing capabilities)
Some way to lace sleeves to gown (eyelets are most period, but damn time consuming. I may make do with lacing rings for Saturday and then fine tune for next year)

Okay, my dream is to not have to wear a separate set of stays under my Italian Ren gown. To this end I am possibly overdosing on interlining.

The main bodice, which is sleeveless and a very low v that covers maybe half my breasts and clasps at the center waist, is made out of fashion fabric, one canvas interlining cut on the grain, one canvas interlining cut on the bias, and the lining. I thought the bias cut interlining was pretty genius, since it will hopefully prevent stretching along the forty degree neckline.

It fits pretty well, but does nothing to give me a period bust. I plan on attaching the stomacher permanently on the left inside bodice, and using hooks and eyes on the right side.

To make it flatten appropriately, I'm thinking of doing fashion fabric, buckram, bias cut canvas, buckram, grain cut canvas, lining. I figured the buckram would add a lot of stiffness without adding much thickness.

Does this sound reasonable, or have the pregnancy hormones taken over?

Also, can I use Venetian lace on the neckline of a Florentine gown, or is that a no-no?

(I feel like this should be tagged "help me starlightmasque, you're my only hope.)

Today I fulfilled a long-held dream, and ordered a pair of custom boots from Turtle Island Moccasins.

Long-held as in I first tried a pair of their boots on eighteen years ago. They weren't custom, and they were shearling-lined, which was way too warm for summer, but they were amazing. I was in high school, so the 325 may as well have been 3000. But today, I am an adult, with 300 in birthday money from my mommy and my auntie.

So I made a down payment, and got fitted for a pair of calf-length boots. Apparently I'm one of the 8-10% of the population whose feet are actually the same size. The gentleman looked like he heard angels when the two little paper footprints lined up perfectly. It was kind of funny. Then he made a 3D form, using the same duct tape method I use for dress bodices.

They are going to be tobacco-colored leather with matching trim and leather buttons on the side. I'm super excited. It will take about four months.

Oh dear God! The glue gun interrogation scene in Orphan Black. I cried laughing. The idea was just magical, mostly because anyone who has used one of those knows they hurt like a bitch.

I think I'm pregnant again. I'm not late yet, but I'm having what I swear are round ligament pains (whoever says those cant start before six month is a lying liar who lies), and I started crying when my lady sim danced with her little boy at his birthday party.

I just purposely woke Robby up during a routine diaper change so I could hold him and rock him. He's getting so damn big, I feel the need to get all the baby(ish) snuggles I still can.

One of the nicest things about having a second child is I know to anticipate the "last times". For about two weeks before he stopped nursing I would always think that this could be the last time. Same with the rocking and lullabies, and him wanting to be held during church, and snuggling my hand to his cheek when we hold hands to walk.

I need another baby. Seriously.

Instead of cleaning, I have been looking at icons on eBay. Because one can never have too many icons.

And now it is officially past my bedtime, and I have missed my window to fall asleep, and will lay in bed until two a m listening to my darling spouse alternately snore and pass gas.

Yeah, doing it. Monday morning.

Bruce just calked from work to ask what day we are leaving.

We leave tomorrow morning.

So now Bruce is suddenly full of wonderful ideas that would involve me redoing things and changing plans I made two weeks ago. This last-minute shit of his is nothing new, and generally I can deal with it, but when it involves big trips like this it really triggers all my "you don't think I actually do any work" issues. Because I've been building up to this for weeks. And them Mr. Knows Best prances in at the last minute to tell me how things should be done, because I haven't done shit.

In less abstract annoyances, I've been trying to pack his clothes for a week, but he still hasn't chosen what he wants to bring. Apparently he plans on going clothes shopping tonight after work. Friends of lj, feel my :-/

I had to unexpectedly go bathing suit shopping today, with Robby. It was super fun, let me tell you. I brought the finalists home to try again tonight.