This black silk robe a la francaise is about 80% hand-sewn, more than I ever intended. I've retrimmed it 4x now!
Recreating the pink portrait of Mary Queen of Scots had long been a dream, & I finally did it for my birthday.
My drag alter-ego is Leonard Autie, hairdresser to Marie Antoinette. He sometimes gets a new suit for Carnevale.
That’s how it felt all weekend. HOT. 90s for four days in a row. My sewing room was literally a sweatshop Saturday and Sunday. But dammit, I got some things done! Bodice is mostly complete, though I ran out of hooks and eyes for the stomacher. Would have liked to use hook-and-eye tape, but the
Petticoat is done! All that pleating nearly broke my brain, and it ain’t perfectly even ‘n stuff, but it’s done. And it looks awfully cute, so I’m glad I did it. Also glad that I made the petticoat extra full because it gives a really pretty silhouette. Add the polonaise and it’ll be all poufy
I guess the next thing I can start on is the underskirt. I have the underpinnings, and it doesn’t require the bodice to be finished. Maybe, just maybe, if I’m very focused this week, I could cut that out. I find it terribly difficult to sew on weeknights, just don’t have the energy and inclination
One of the very first forays into non-Renaissance faire costuming I made was my Stanzie gown. For our first Famous Dead Person’s Ball in 1992, my ex wanted to be Mozart, specifically as in the movie Amadeus. His stepmom graciously offered to make his costume, so I decided to try and make myself an 18th-century
Gah. Making underwear is one of the most boring things ever. It’s simple, but tedious. Guess I need to hit the thrift Saturday for some cheap white sheets. If I can’t find any/enough, I do have a coupon for Hancocks. Budget Costuming Tip #20: Joann and Hancock might not be good for many things, but
Should I wear a spinet on my head? I already bought a violin. Would two instruments be too much or just right? I can’t decide, and the price of the spinet is enough to make me quibble. See, for Cosi Fan Tutte, I decided I would wear the Big White Wig. And since I won’t
These are some my favorite costumes I’ve ever made. I almost regret selling them on eBay, except that I got a very good price and the money went towards the closing costs on our house. So a fair trade, really. The dressform photos below are from the eBay listing. For the GBACG’s second Faerie Tale
I better look at Kendra’s book again to make sure what shade of purple/blue my dress is 😉 Oh and lace as accurate as that? Not bloody likely, IMO. Though I hope to do some looking in the LA Garment District at next year’s Costume College. I keep looking at the painting and thinking that
Right before I left for Europe, I had finally settled on a caraco jacket made out of this black linen embroidered with blue vines — the seller offered 4 yards literally minutes before the shuttle picked us up for the airport! But I bought it via PayPal in Berlin — ah, the wonders of modern
Right before I left for Europe, I was all a twitter over 18th-century costumes. This was inspired by a GBACG event in June 2006 at a Sonoma winery. I had finally settled on a caraco jacket made out of a black linen embroidered with blue vines, found on eBay (the seller offered 4 yards literally
It’s clear that I’m gonna have to suck it up and buy more fabric. Oh horrors (hah ;-). Robe a l’anglaise or polonaise are the popular ideas, and my crazy notion of using black brocade from The Stash with white eyelet failed to make the cut. I kinda knew I’d have to buy new fabric,
One of the GBACG‘s 2006 events I want to go to is wine tasting in 18th-century costume at a Sonoma winery in June. Currently, I have nothing at all of that era, so I’ll need a new costume. Being planny-pants me and also chronically busy, I want to start planning the costume now, but I
Technically done again! No really. Well, ok, maybe not. I could add more. This is one of those costumes you could always just add a little more too. But for right now, I’m finished. Finished sewing the trim on the overgown’s neckline, then made a sash for the back. Used the sari trim lined with
After much hemming and hawing (no pun intended), I made the overgown. Well, it’s not quite done yet. Need to finish hand-sewing the trim around the incredibly wide neckline. Also need to add sash ties in the back because in my attempt to make the overgown big enough to go over the first gown, I
