Another side project - Ball d Aneala dress

Today (Monday) I sketched my dress for the Ball d' Aneala. I will be wearing this dress on Saturday. So far I have fitted the bodice (and refitted, and refitted etc) and it is ready to cut the silk. All of the fabrics are in my stash, so I'm not allowed to go and by anything for this dress, just use what is already here. Tomorrow I will cut the bodice and take it to work with me to start hand sewing it to the interling. Pictures to follow.

Where does the time go?

Time seems to fly these days and I don't always get things done as intended. Since getting my sewing machine fixed I have made an outfit for a Talk Like a Pirate Day event - which was rained out :(. Luckily we had a lunch at work, so I got to wear my pirate coat, hat and boots at least.

Currently I am working on a medieval / middle eastern outfit for an Arabian Nights event on Sunday. This is loosely based on a 16th c Persian outfit. Next week I need to make an Elizabethan dress for the Anealan Ball. Pictures ups soon.

I must get cracking on the Eleanora dress again though. If I want to wear it to the 12th Night Coronation in January I will find my self running out of time..again.

That doesn't sound good...

Something sounds not quite right with my sewing machine :( so it is at the sewing centre getting some tlc. In the interim im using my old machine and working on some pirate gear for Talk Like a Pirate Day as it doesnt have the button hole stitch I have been using for the applique.

Update: machine fixed and ready to be collected :)

Thanks for the lovely comments... I am of to Cairns for a mini break, so not much progress on anything this weekend, but I will be relaxed and refreshed :)

Another minor diversion

We recently had our midwinter feast and the theme was 1492. I wanted to create an English dress from around that period, between the Burgundian and Tudor styles. I found some nice wool blend fabric, some faux fur and a portrait of Elizabeth of York and my Pre-Tudor gown evolved. It was really comfortable to wear and nice and warm.

I drafted and cut the pattern one Saturday afternoon and made the dress in approx 6 hours, finishing as I was supposed to be dressed and ready to go. It has side back lacing, and as the fabric was quite heavy I used the strips of eyes (as in hooks and eyes) to form the lacing eyelets. It worked really well.  Despite that and the lack of documentation, I entered the dress (with verbal documentation) into the A&S comp and much to my surprise came runner up. Thanks to Linda for the photo below.

Another week down

I managed to do about 6 hours on the dress this week and about an hour on the documentation. The only problem is finding tiny sections that I have missed :( better to notice them now I suppose than after the dress is finished. Hopefully I will get at least as much done this week.

The art of self delusion

As I mentioned yesterday, I am starting to work on documenting how I constructed my dress and why I did what I did and it occurred to me that one of the reasons is delusion.... most people would probably have looked at the portrait and thought...no way. Not me, I just thought "ooooh pretty, have to make it, it wont take that long surely", hence self delusion. Would I have made the dress if I had realised how long it was going to take? I am pretty sure a few people said I was a little mad to attempt it, but once started it has to be finished, so onwards and upwards as they say.

Thanks to everyone following the blog, mostly for the positive comments that keeps me inspired and partly a little for the guilt I feel if I have been really slack (which happens often) and don't update the blog as often as I should.

Another 2 hours completed today.