New Fabric and Sacque Muslin!

Don't you love receiving packages in the mail!  It's like getting gifts (only you paid for it!)  A sad existence, I know, but opening a package does give me a decent amount of joy.  Especially when fabric comes in them!  Check out my haul:

First is the 4 yards of polished cotton I snagged off of Ebay.  Only $15!  This will be used to line my paletot.  That thing just keeps getting more and more expensive... sigh.

Next is the fabric for my Regency dress.  I'm using the Sense and Sensibility drawstring day dress pattern from the Elegant Lady's Closet super pattern.  Short puff sleeves!  I'm excited for that one.  It shall be beautiful.

Finally, the lavender semi-sheer plaid fabric I'm making an 1860's sheer dress out of.  I need to get working on this dress as soon as possible or else I'll miss the summer season and have to stow it in my closet for a very long time!  It's on my agenda for the month of May, along with Sarah's dress, so hopefully Senior Project and school won't get in the way of my progress.  As for the design, I'm thinking one word: ruffles!

I also sewed together the muslin for my sacque today.  I love sewing together muslins.  Seams really don't matter and yet they look good in the end!  How lovely! And, it's an awesome crash course in using the pattern.  Always, always, always sew a muslin.  It is very important.  Anyway, the bodice of the sacque is just about right, however the sleeve needed to be taken in quite it a bit for it to fit in the armscye.  After I took it in, then it fit very lovely.  Check out the pictures:

 I especially love the back.  It's going to look so lovely over my hoop!  It is quite gratuitous width-wise, but I figure that it's always good to have more rather than less (at least with a sacque).  I can be assured it will fit over the necessary 4 layers of clothing I wear at reenactments at any given time.  Black polished cotton for the lining is on its way.  And, with any luck, I will be able to wear this to the Cincinnati Museum Center's Civil War days in the beginning of May and use it as a part of my Senior Project presentation.  Let's hope!

Finally, a picture of my lovely assistant, Judy.  She likes to sit underneath the sewing machine... while I am sewing.

Have a wonderful day, everyone!

Muslin Madness!

I have been a muslin-making machine!  In the past 2 days I have made 2 muslins, one for Sarah's Civil War bodice and one for my sacque.  Well, Sarah's muslin fitting didn't go too smoothly... let's just say that it was a tad too small and must be let out.  That's not too big of a hassle, though.  I haven't sewn together the muslin for my sacque yet, but holding it up to me, it looks just right.  Also, it kind of helps that a sacque is not fitted!  The pattern I'm using is from the Wisconsin Historical Society (Patterns of History #1865).  It is currently out of print but can be found for the lovely discounted rate of $5.00 at www.sewingcentral.com .  The pattern actually comes with directions for the sacque (deemed a paletot by the pattern, but it's a little too short to be a paletot), a bodice, skirt, AND a cage crinoline!  The last one was a pleasant surprise to me!  However, the dress style is a little late in the Civil War time period, so it can't be used as widely as other dresses.  Oh well!  The sacque will be made with the extra raspberry wool I have left over from my dress, lined with black polished cotton and trimmed with velvet ribbon.  I can't wait to get started!

--Mel

Slacking on my sewing

I've been so busy that I haven't gotten any sewing done. One sleeve still lies half-pinned to the bodice in my mom's sewing room. Soon, though. Possibly Sunday or Monday I will finally have time to work on it again. Right now, I have a 20 page paper on O. Henry's short stories to write. Awesome, right?

However, I now have some new friends in my sewing room! I adopted a new sewing machine that runs wonderfully (now). I had a very scary moment where I got the needle stuck in the bottom of the machine and thought I had broken it for sure. No worries, though! I was just inserting the bobbin incorrectly. (It's not my fault! I had never used a bobbin like that!) Also, a whole 25-yard bolt of muslin came in the mail yesterday. It is quite lovely! I wonder how long it will take for me to exhaust it. We shall see!