Thursday, August 20, 2009

A quick update

Today will just be a quick list of what's going on right now.
My under petticoat is almost done, both waistbands are sewn on. I'm waiting for the sturdy cotton tape I've ordered to arrive, so I can sew on ties. I decided to go with cotton tape purely out of the economic factor. I get 3 m for 16 SEK, if I should go with the more historic correct linen tape I would have to pay 13 SEK/m. I felt that I prefer to spend my money on visible things ;)

The same place that had the tape also had other sewing supplies and some buckles. And I found very cheap but good looking ones for my shoes. They are made for a strap that 4 cm wide which should fit my covered shoe straps well. (9 SEK for one buckle, it's a steal ;) ):


I have transfered the embroidery design to my pocket today so tomorrow I can start to work on it. I will do some traveling this weekend so I hope I can work on the pocket on the bus and in the car.

Last night I tried on my stays (I was afraid that they would be to small) But they fit me pretty good even if I probably should loose some weight. I need to adjust the angle of the strap a bit and I will add some more boning to the side of the bust. I'm also contemplating to cut the armhole a bit deeper because it chafed me a bit yesterday. But maybe the chemise will prevent that? I think I will leave it for now and try it out. I can always lover the armhole later.The new boning material is on it's way to me, I'm going with synthetic whalebone for the body and crinoline steel for the bones at center back.

I've also started to construct the lining bodice for my pet en l'air. Originally I planned to use the pattern in Patterns of Fashion, but that one has a back that you can't adjust the sizing on. That means that I have to always tie my stays the same. That's noot so good. So now I decided to use the this method instead:
http://marquise.de/en/1700/howto/frauen/contouche3.shtml
When I compared the pieces for the lining and stomacher with the pieces for my stays I made another discovery. My waist is almost 4 cm higher that the pattern waist. That means that I have to change the pattern quite a bit. Very well, I can't do so much about this until my stays are finished so I will just read marquise's instruction and get my self familiar with her process.

/L

7 comments:

  1. Good luck! I was very helped by marquise's instructions when making my pet-en-l'air, I'm sure you will be too!

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  2. Lovely buckles, I'm a sucker for accessories. Good luck with your Pet-en L'air I hope you'll post a dress diary for us

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  3. It's really easy to combine Patterns of Fashion (which has much better patterns, and somehow really clear instructions, even if they don't actually exist) with the adjustable back that Marquise gives. It's what I did with my francaise.

    And I totally agree with you on the cotton/linen tapes thing!

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  4. Neat buckle!

    I used Patterns of Fashions as well, for my pet-en-l'air, but back. I sew it together about 6cm, then cut away some fabric CB in a slight angle. Then I sew ribbons to the sides, 3 pairs. Voilá, instantly adjustable pet-en-l'air. :-D And I've needed it...

    I use cotton tape too! :-)

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  5. Oh, Thank you all for your comments. I will try to answer them all in one message :)

    Mme Berg >> yes I think that with the guidance of marquise and patterns of fashion the garment will be good when I'm finished.

    ClaraFlorence >> Yeah, me too. I always make tons of accessories for every garment I make. My Lolita dresses for example always has at least to different sets of hair accessories and I always dress with lots of details :)
    I will try to document every steps of the way when I get into the outer layers :)

    AlohaAroha >>
    God to hear that there more people than me that have tried this combo. We'll see how I do it. I think Isis solution in the comment below yours sounds good to.

    Isiswardrobe >>
    Thanks. Yes I really like them. I'm really looking forward to all my packages arrival...
    I think your solution to the back issue sounds neat and with less bulk than the marquie method. I think I'll try it :)

    /L

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  6. Yo dawg, I herd you like blog awards so I put an award in your blog so you can have an award while you blog

    http://madameberg.blogspot.com/2009/08/aaftae.html

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  7. Would the shop where you got your cotton tape and the buckle be Stoff & Stil by any chance?
    If so, I get the same 3 meter tape for all of my 18th C petticoats too, and I've also got that very same buckle ;)

    /Vanityfairy (or Tinkerbelle on Sysidan)

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