I’m
blaming this all on the hot Summer weather. For the past couple months, I have
been starting and then setting aside a couple costume projects, but had to let
all of them slide to the side when I had to focus on getting two of my dresses
finished and done for Costume College. Normally once I’m home from that, I’m
all afire on making new things, and sometimes reality says you need more underpinnings
and petticoats. Bleh. Later.
I did come
back from the convention with all kinds of ideas, primarily to fit my theme for
Costume College next year, Dressing the Royals. I’d been saving photos for
quite a while of what I wanted to make. One of those turned into a mini-theme
some of us are doing next year. I was told to get as much of my costumes done
now because once the planning starts full swing for next year’s CoCo, I won’t
have much time. That’s about November and dramatically increases after that.
I’m hoping that by having a lot of that planning already started way ahead of
time, I may be able to survive without any new grey hairs.
Then I
wanted to make a fluffy bustle dress from a purple floral cotton voile. This
was about the time the weather started getting hot so those voiles were calling
to me. I’ve got it cut out so it just needs doing. Annnnd, I made the bodice
for a 1912 dress from a gorgeous jade green linen blend, but got stalled on the
skirt. It was an odd construction, and my brain couldn’t focus too well just
before CoCo. I may just try sewing it without reading the directions. Something
to do with the side panel that part is basted and part of it not. Whuh? So it’s
sitting in the corner along with the rest.
My first couple
weeks after CoCo have been spent shopping around for my Committee Teams for next
year; trying to update all the job manuals (about 50 of them), so they’re ready
for the new team; & learning how to use Gmail (which I already accidentally
deleted a bunch of stuff and took two days to find it again).
The problem
I’m having is focus. Yep, that’s the Squirrel Mode. I’m seeing all kinds of
pretties I want to make, or go back and finish the white and moss green floral
voile 1850s multi-tiered skirt and bodice I started last Spring. Or the 1890s plum walking suit. I’m going to be hunting for some green fabric for it, and black
velvet ribbon to go along the bottom because one skirt panel ended up too
short, and I had to add a bit of fabric at the bottom, so the ribbon will cover
that up nicely.
In the midst of all that, I got a hankering for a seaside bustle dress
after seeing some beautiful blue stripped fabrics, and got a great deal on some
on etsy. I didn’t have the perfect white cotton I wanted to add with it so it
wasn’t entirely stripes, so that put it on hold too. But now I have a white
cotton jacquard that will work perfect with it.
That’s FIVE
dresses I could be working on. So, you wonder, which one am I sewing on? None
of them! I came back from CoCo with new
fabric from the L.A. Fabric District to make my dresses for NEXT YEAR’S CoCo.
Black silk velvet, teal silk velvet, both of which I have never spent that much
money on fabric before. The two velvet outfits are both easy to cut and sew, and still require an underdress, but
it will be the finishing touches that will take a long time.
Another
purchase of a clearance-priced (really cheap) of embroidered cream REAL silk and
another of a very cheap embroidered burgundy polyester have ended up together.
They weren’t originally meant to go together but while folding them up onto
cardboard the other day, they just talked to one another and decided they need
to be THE dress I was planning for next year. The cream portion of the dress I
hope can someday be used for other outfits as long as I don’t have to
permanently attach the burgundy to it, which is not my plan. And I haven’t a
clue what pattern to use for the cream and burgundy outfit yet.
So, what
does my squirrel-brain want to do? It wants to work on one of my other dresses I have cut
out and make a bustle dress.
Maybe I
should let Chloe decide? Nope, she can’t focus either.
~~~Val~~~
