Sabrina

Just to liven up the ol' LJ, here are some pictures so it's not all text all the time. This is the bodice in progress with the fashion fabric finally (partially) attached.

And a detail shot of the fabric so you can see the fuzzy grey pattern that I want to paint gold.


Also, here's a picture of the hand-picked zipper I did on the bridesmaid dress. I realized I never posted a pic of this and I'm pretty proud of it. It was probably one of the easiest zipper insertions I've ever done, although it might have been a bit more time-consuming. But you can't argue with the results. The waist seam and the top of the zipper are all lined up and matched. :)

Bust padding was totally the way to go. Not only do have have some Margaery Tyrell-style cleavage going on (which isn't really that much with this costume, check out some of her other costumes! Whoa!), but I feel way more supported in the bodice. Because there's no back, there isn't much tension holding the front of the bodice to the body. The padding fills out that extra bit of space and no more slipping down! I also tried on the bodice with make-shift straps to simulate having the shoulder pieces sewn in. Everything looks like it's working. The tutorial I used to come up with the bust pads was this one from Sewaholic, but I used a few more layers of (poly) batting (about 8-9 altogether) including some that doubled the largest and second largest ovals.

Next is to cover the bust pads in some cotton broadcloth and sew them in. Then it's cutting down the edges to get just the right lines and sewing in the darts (which I've held off on in case the boning or padding made any difference in their depth or length). Then I'll finally be able to cover them with the fashion fabric!

Well I think using my body block/sloper really did have some kind of magic. My mock-up fits pretty close to how I want it to. There are a couple of lines I need to change (raising the bodice under the arm and having it go slightly farther back) as well as a small dart and a couple other very minor changes, but other than that, I'm quite happy with it. I'm planning on following nuranar's fantastic suggestion to have a dart in the lining, but not in the fashion fabric layer. If I can keep this dart small, I think that should work.

Looking more closely at pictures of the original, I think I will have to add a bit of boning. So instead of 2 layers of drill, which I think will actually end up being too stiff and not good with the dart, I am going to do 1 layer of drill and add 2-3 bones in the front that fan a bit and 1 bone in the side. The shoulder pieces, which connect at the corner under the arm and in front of the arm will also help with support.

In an interview, Natalie Dormer/Margaery Tyrell said, "There’s so much infrastructure in Margaery’s costumes because my breasts don’t naturally sit in that position." Neither do mine, Natalie, neither do mine... So boning it is! ;p

I finished off the bias facing and all that's left is the hem! The dress is now on the dressform so the skirt can hang and do its wonky bias thing. I'll hem it on Monday. Now I can get started on my GoT Tyrell bodice!

A refresher picture of what I'm aiming for:

More thoughts on this tomorrow. :)

Ok, so things are busy now. Three of my good friends are getting married (a wedding every 2 weeks from Aug. 23 - Sept. 21) and I am in two of the weddings. This means planning out and executing showers and bachelorette parties and 2 of those are this weekend. I have also been commissioned to make the bouquets for the weddings I am in. Plus, I will be making my bridesmaid dress for the second wedding. In addition to this, I am trying to get thesis research done so that I can write my Master's thesis and graduate in May and I have a part-time job as a research assistant (which is fun and awesome, but still takes up time). I also have regular life stuff to do, like be a normal sociable person and spend time with family, friends, and boyfriend. So what does all this mean?

When it comes to sewing, I have a lot of grand plans. (Don't we all?) But I think that I need to streamline them a bit. While I still want to get my Regency stays finished, there is no way that I will finish them and then get to the next 2 HSF challenge project and sew up a bridesmaid dress. So I am giving myself a pass on the Regency stays. I will work on them when I have time and they will eventually get done. But my next three projects will be (and aren't you getting sick of my sewing plan changes?):

1. 1880s bustle pad (HSF Plaid and Paisley Challenge): a very simple project that I can complete in a day or two and that I have all the materials for


2. My bridesmaid dress: something that I HAVE to get done, but since I don't want any extra stress I am changing my design for it. Instead of a bias cut dress (which I would have to pattern from scratch), I am going with an Audrey Hepburn-inspired design with a bateau neckline and slim skirt, (something like this) using a tried-and-true pattern that will take minimal adjustments. Not very exciting, but nobody cares what I look like, I'm just there for pleasant-looking background to the bride right? :)


3. Margaery bodice (HSF Terminology Pattern): this will be the most labour-intensive because it will involve creating a new pattern and some hand-sewing, but I can use my body block as a starting point and I have all the materials for it

All of these projects are on the smaller side, especially the bustle pad, compared to my other grand plans. But that's a good thing, because it means that they will get done without taking up inordinate amounts of time and I will feel accomplished. Sometimes I really need to have completed projects. Sewing for weeks and not having anything to show for it can get discouraging at times, especially when I feel like so many other things in my life are going the same way. It's just like treading water: tiring and you don't go anywhere, but you have to keep paddling so you don't drown. If all the other things in my life are treading water type things, then I need something that I can get DONE, that I can have finished and put aside and check off a list and point at and say, "Look what I made!" and not have a UFO hanging over me.

Grand plans can wait until after the wedding madness is over. Of course, then it might be thesis madness... ;p Enough rambling for now.

I'm going fabric shopping tomorrow morning in hopes of finding some sort of brocade for my Game of Thrones Tyrell costume, plus skirt fabric. I'm trying to think if there will be any other fabric I need in the near future. Whenever I have a fabric shopping excursion I try to plan ahead, but always feel like I'm forgetting something... usually because I forget something. Oh, right, just remembered: I'll need some sort of canvas/twill for the strength layer of the bodice. I could also use some stretch sateen for capri pants and some sort of quilting cotton for a sundress, but that's starting to get into wishlist territory, as opposed to will use in the near future.

Speaking of wishlists and sewing dreams, after seeing all the King's Landing style gowns with embroidery people on my Friends list are making, I totally want one too. Not sure when I'd ever get to it, but it's fun to plan and design. I'd probably come up with a House Mormont design because I like black bears and that's their house sigil. Also, they have really cool female family members who fight and such and have redeemed their family name after it was disgraced by Jorah. I'd want a dark green dress and I'd embroider it like Cersei's aqua gown only with pine branches and bears instead of swirls and birds.

Speaking of green GoT gowns, there aren't any that I can think of in the show, even though some houses have green prominently in their colours (specifically thinking of the Tyrells here). My guess is that it's because they greenscreen things and thus the characters can't wear green. Any other ideas or knowledge?