I need a kick in the Ditchley...

[Kate XXXXXX]

Will do!  Thanks.

[mollymishap]

Thanks for the update, Baron Fredrick.  I'm sending good thoughts their way.

~~~~

As to my update, I went to bed early last night & forgot to post, not that I did much sewing, just more planning.  I've figured out that I'll need close to 100 of each type.  I've got these ones coming in the mail any day now:

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/dehartsales/buttonsmay12-014.jpg

And these ones will hopefully come in before my deadline:

http://img.iwascoding.com/1/paid/2012/09/06/63/DCC705CBB7CF43CD8F89A1479936BB47.jpg

SO, my plan for this weekend is finish making strips for the poufs, get the lattice work laid down on the ivory fabric and stitch up those parts.  Wish me luck!

[mollymishap]

OK, so here's my end of long weekend update (not that it was a long weekend off work entirely as I needed to help with DH's end-of-year inventory which took a good chunk of time):

Have now cut out of fashion fabric about 90% of all the pieces to the overgown (bodice, oversleeves & overskirt).  The remaining 10% is deciding on a length for the hanging sleeves, so I'll probably do those last since I'll need to have a hemmed gown in order to match the hem of the sleeves so they're all even.

I've also cut out & have started assembly of my "plan B" underskirt, undersleeves, stomacher & revers in case I can't finish poufing in time.

Have not been able to attach any of the lattice to the "for real" under-pieces, though.  I found that I can't rip strips at home.  The cats like the sound too much--it's like they know a treat is coming--so I'm going to rip at rehearsals.

Speaking of which, I ripped an additional 150 strips for the poufs at rehearsals tonight.  Also, I received one of the two new buttons I ordered, so I'll start making those poufs soon.

So that's where I'm at.  I'll post pics as I can.

15 days left (I think--I'm starting to lose track in my panic.)

[gem]

Molly, how's it coming?!

[mollymishap]

Thanks for asking, Gem.  It's been a loooong week, but here's a summary of my last 3 days of progress:

Weds: Assembled most of the "plan B" undersleeves, but was unable to rip any more strips for the lattice at rehearsals.  Still need to attach the undersleeves to...something...in order to make them wearable.

Thurs: Figured out that I could re-purpose a linen summer dress I picked up at a yard sale sometime to use as the body for the undersleeves.   Unstitched what I needed to, cut and finished a square neckline to said yard-sale find and attached one undersleeve.

Today: Finished attaching the other undersleeve to the smock.  Started pinning the "Plan B" underskirt to the waistband & took pictures for you all.  Here they are:









ACK!  I forgot to re-orient the pics again.  I'll have to do that over the weekend sometime.

But anyway, my plan for what's left of tonight is to finish pinning the plan B underskirt.  Then, this weekend I can stitch it up and hem it so that I can start basting the over skirt and bodice together.  I don't have the whole weekend to work on it, but I'm going to give it my best effort.  I'm running out of time, FAST.  What worries me is that I know the bodice is going to be fiddly what with the stomacher & revers to contend with, so that may take up most of my time. 

Speaking of time, I have...what?  12 days to go?  Eeeeek!!!

[mollymishap]

Mid-weekend mini-update:

YAY!!!  I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere.  I have *mostly* completed the underskirt and undersleeves!!!  I need to tame the pleats here and there by tacking them to the stay fabric underneath, add some bling to them and finish some minor handsewing but other than that, DONE!!!



Now, on to the over-gown...

11 more days to go!

[Kate XXXXXX]

Yay and woot!  Looks excellent.

[mollymishap]

Thanks, Kate!

SO...for my end-of-weekend update I only have this to say:

I am in trouble.  

Had to work today (for a lot longer than I'd hoped) and then I had to go out and get some stiff canvas to interline the bodice with (and then wash & shrink it before cutting it out) so I was only able to work on the dress for a few hours...and none of it was sewing.  It was all spent on cutting out the canvas interlining and planning & trying to figure out how I'm going to rig the revers & stomacher but I think I have it figured out.

With some luck, tomorrow I can dedicate the whole day to assembly of the bodice, stomacher, overskirt & oversleeves.  Will need to do a quick run for some thin boning in the AM because I didn't realize I don't have enough of the particular type I need and then it will be sew like a fiend because now I only have...

10 days left!  

(And I'm still trying to learn my lines to boot...)

[Kate XXXXXX]

Don't feel frustrated: 75% of the time for any garment project is spent getting it ready to go under the needle.  The actual sewing time is always a lot less than you think it will be.  This is something we have to teach customers.  Any such project involves:

The initial design sketches and concept drawings
'Flat's' showing style lines and seam placement
Fabric research and sourcing
Embellishment research and sourcing
Pattern drafting
Making a toile
Fitting and altering the toile
Redrafting the pattern
Fabric preparation
Cutting and assembling sections for sewing, including embellishment of elements that need it before assembly
Sewing
Pressing.  LOTS of pressing!
Fitting
Alterations (usually a lot of what we do here us frog-stitching!)
Embellishing: some may be hand work, but some may be by machine, some by glue gun or hotfix wand!)
Reassembly
More pressing
Finishing (Hems, hooks and eyes, buttons, etc.  A lot of this may be hand work)
Final pressing...

Unless you are hand embroidering bits, applying trim wholly by hand, or making up trim elements by hand, MOST of your time making anything will NOT be spent sewing!  And even on a 'machine made' garment, there will be a lot of time sent away from the machine.

[mollymishap]

Thanks, Kate; it's good to be reminded of that fact...at the same time it always feels like it's more 90% prep work and 10% assembly for me.  I spend a lot of time in my head designing, re-designing, trying to project how a particular seam placement or embellishment or whatever will look, deciding it won't work, chucking the whole lot in the brain's trash bin & starting over.  

To the casual observer it looks like I'm just standing there, staring at a pile of cloth, with a somewhat absent look on my face (& possibly some drool peeking out of the corner of my mouth), but that's just the way it works for me.

Having a deadline helps, in an odd sort of way, to focus my energies; but it can also be a drag & turn a project that's supposed to be fun into work.  

I logged on this morning to help myself focus and after reading your post, I think I'm going to do something a bit different for today's update.  I think I'm going to make lots of mini-posts to this same reply during the day to log just how long it actually takes to get things assembled.  Keep in mind that I'm working out of my house and there are many interruptions, but beyond that, I'm just plain POKEY sometimes...actually, most of the time. Let's see how this works out.

It's 8 AM and I'm ready to get started!

ETA:  So between 8 and noon (roughly) I got myself organized and ran a few errands in town, including purchasing some boning I needed.  I've been going pretty much straight since then.  It's now almost 6 PM and I thought I'd take a break to post.  Here's what my "sewing" day has looked like 'till now:

12:10 to 1:04 - Laid out and punched holes in some plastic strapping I've been saving to use as "lacing bones".  Tried out various combinations of grommets vs. eyelets, etc.  Decided on some brass eyelets.

1:05 to 2:51 - Laid out (already cut) white linen bodice lining and figured out exactly where I want the "lacing bones" to go; pinned & ironed the channels down.

2:52 to 3:08 - Sewed said channels down & inserted the lacing bones.

3:09 to 3:44 - Pinned linen bodice lining, canvas interlining and fashion fabric of stomacher to mannequin so that I could figure out where the stomacher will attach, etc. 

3:45 to 4:19 - Grabbed a bite to eat.
.
4:20 to 5:24 - Cut out two layers of canvas interlining for the stomacher & figured out bone placement.  Cut out middle bone made from leftover plastic strapping.

5:25 to 5:30 - Sewed middle bone channel down & inserted bone.  Decided it wasn't stiff enough, so...

5:31 to 5:44 - Grabbed some cable ties, cut them to the right length and then...

5:45 to 5:49 - Sewed two more channels down & inserted bones.  I think it's stiff enough now, so decided to take a break.

5:50 to ?  Taking a break to post and gather my thoughts.  So far, only about 30 minutes of my more than 5 hours of work have been spent in front of the sewing machine.

We'll see how the rest of the night goes.

[Adriana Rose]

Dont forget to sand down the ends that you cut on the cableties! You are doing amazing keep it up~

[mollymishap]

Thanks for the reminder, Adriana!  Never a good thing to have boning poking into one's ribs!!!

SO, for the remainder of the evening, I worked, worked & WORKED some more.  I'm too pooped to re-type my blow-by-blow but suffice it to say that roughly the same pattern/ratio of planning to sewing time held true.

I now have about 90% of the bodice complete; what's left to do is to punch holes & set some eyelets tomorrow, then get myself into the corset & pin the shoulders to compensate for uneven shoulder slope (one arm slightly lower than the other--thanks a lot, heavy purse), then sew the shoulders to each of the lining and the fashion fabric, then add the decorative cording around the edges on the fashion fabric, and then, FINALLY, sew the fashion fabric to it's lining.

Sounds like alot, but compared to the fact that it's taken me about 10 & a half hours today to get the bodice to where it's at, the above feels like a breeze.

Here a couple of pictures of where I'm at:





It doesn't look much different from the outside, but it's the inside that counts & which is unseen, unfortunately.

So...how many days do I have left now?  9?  Ugh.  I'm going to bed & dream that it's done. 

'Nite, all.

[mollymishap]

I just got home from rehearsal & was only able to get a couple of hours of work on the bodice this morning before work.  Here's is where I'm at:



I've finished the bodice except for adding cording to the edges and then attaching the fashion fabric to the lining.  What you see in the pic is the lacing showing the stomacher on the *inside* so that I could mark with chalk where I need to make size adjustments so that it will slip between the lacing and the canvas interlining.  Hopefully, I can get that done in the AM tomorrow before work.

8 days to go...

[gem]

Oooh, it's looking great!! And nice to see a closeup of the fabric; I didn't know it had so much sparkle.

I'm rootin' for you!!

[mollymishap]

Thanks for the encouragement, Gem.  I'm starting to get really crispy on this project.  I promised myself I'd be in bed before midnight tonight, so I'll keep this update brief and post the pics I took (including a real close-up of the fabric) tomorrow.

Today I was able to get the lining and fashion fabrics attached to each other, which was a BEAR in itself since one shoulder absolutely refused to behave & I argued with it for HOURS until I got it to do what I wanted, albeit grudgingly at that.

I only have the bottom seam to hand-stitch, which I'll do in the AM tomorrow.

(If I wasn't so darned exhausted I'd be feeling pretty excited about how it's looking.)

Currently, I'm debating whether to set-in the hanging sleeves or make them detachable.  I've been looking at late-period portraits to look for clues, but no luck so far.  I think I'm going to make--something--to hide a lacing strip so that I can make them detachable.  Maybe it won't be 100% faithful to the portrait, but it will make it more functional for me. 

SO, the plan for tomorrow is to finish the bottom seam to the bodice, make the final adjustments to the stomacher, make the sleeve-somethings, set them in, and start on the overskirt.

I hope that's not too ambitious a list.  My one from last weekend certainly was.

7 days to go.