(no subject)
So, do we remember the pirate gown of extreme coolness that I was all OMG, I WANT ONE OF THOSE over? (No? shocking have a link)well, the lovely harmanhay is giving the pattern away to subscribers to her magazine (OK, so if you sign up I get referral cookies if you tell them I sent you) for which this post isn't really an *advert* but it is a recommendation (I don't really care about the referral cookies, but maybe you don't believe me) because it's fantastic, but only if you like sewing things...
Anyway, so it a dress of great shiny, and I wanted one.
So I'm making one.
So here are some photos (they are click-through to LJ-gallery for bigger versions) so far
The first thing to do was order fabrics, I haven't actually got everything I need yet but most of the fabric came from some cheap fabric place in the US (which, even with UPS's rip off charge for dealing with paying my duty was still cheaper). It came in a large box...
Inside the box was shiny stuff! Some of this is silk dupion, some of it cotton (for the lining), it's all shiny; have a picture...
or two...
Also I have bought some lace (this is distressingly polyestery, perhaps I shall have to buy some better lace)...
and some ribbon (also polyester, damn John Lewis and their sinful modern-type ways)...
Stage one of making the dress is to make the skirt, which comes in two parts. First, the underskirt - which is, basically a big tube, it's in silk lined with cotton and here's a photo of the back, as you can see the top of it is not finished yet; I need to pleat it (because it's currently about 3* my waist measurement!) and put in a waistband.
But I had this idea, see, which was that the skirts would look so much *nicer* if embroidered. So I bought some embroidery threads (cotton) and a box (or two) to keep them tidy in...
And also some books for reference (no piccy). And began with flowers (have some pictures illustrating my un-l33t embroidery skills)...
The flowers are, right to left, common poppy, honey suckle, bindweed (yes that's a reference), violet, Bluebell (or harebell if you're English), hound's tongue, primrose, hottentot fig and chicory. Suggestion for other pretty flowers to add are welcome.
And that's where I am - not finished embroidering this layer, so not moving on to do the other layers yet. Here's everything back in the box...
So, this is taking a while; it may be some time before the whole thing is finished! Maybe my embroidery will improve along the way.
(And the black velvet backdrop to all of that is my duvet cover btw).
Anyway, so it a dress of great shiny, and I wanted one.
So I'm making one.
So here are some photos (they are click-through to LJ-gallery for bigger versions) so far
The first thing to do was order fabrics, I haven't actually got everything I need yet but most of the fabric came from some cheap fabric place in the US (which, even with UPS's rip off charge for dealing with paying my duty was still cheaper). It came in a large box...
Inside the box was shiny stuff! Some of this is silk dupion, some of it cotton (for the lining), it's all shiny; have a picture...
or two...
Also I have bought some lace (this is distressingly polyestery, perhaps I shall have to buy some better lace)...
and some ribbon (also polyester, damn John Lewis and their sinful modern-type ways)...
Stage one of making the dress is to make the skirt, which comes in two parts. First, the underskirt - which is, basically a big tube, it's in silk lined with cotton and here's a photo of the back, as you can see the top of it is not finished yet; I need to pleat it (because it's currently about 3* my waist measurement!) and put in a waistband.
But I had this idea, see, which was that the skirts would look so much *nicer* if embroidered. So I bought some embroidery threads (cotton) and a box (or two) to keep them tidy in...
And also some books for reference (no piccy). And began with flowers (have some pictures illustrating my un-l33t embroidery skills)...
The flowers are, right to left, common poppy, honey suckle, bindweed (yes that's a reference), violet, Bluebell (or harebell if you're English), hound's tongue, primrose, hottentot fig and chicory. Suggestion for other pretty flowers to add are welcome.
And that's where I am - not finished embroidering this layer, so not moving on to do the other layers yet. Here's everything back in the box...
So, this is taking a while; it may be some time before the whole thing is finished! Maybe my embroidery will improve along the way.
(And the black velvet backdrop to all of that is my duvet cover btw).