Real Life interferes with Sewing

I realize that I haven't posted anything in a very, very long time (since I was frantically getting everything made for Victorian Ball in January) mostly due to Real Life (namely school, work, graduating and trying to find a real job, etc). But! I have still been sewing constantly, as usual. :)

In January, I finished my 1880's ball gown which consisted of:

• Collapsible bustle cage
• a bustle petticoat
• bloomers
• chemise
• a black taffeta underskirt
• a 3 part bustle
• and re-fitting my velvet bodice from the previous year's ball

Pictures of most of the pieces my outfit are posted in Deviant Art account here: http://silver2007dragon.deviantart.com/

And here's the entire outfit!

The Ball this year was amazing and almost everyone was in costume this year! I lead the Bustle Ladies and the Cirque Cast (http://cirquedevapeur.blogspot.com/), who were joined by Oscar Wilde and a Steampunk 10th Doctor and the rest of the Fencers en mass. Pictures of the entire group can be found here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/modernselkie/sets/72157625883550702/) taken by the wonderful photographer Modern Selkie who braved the 20 degree weather and standing in the road while dodging cars to take them.

In February and March I worked on a doublet and trunkhose set for Elizabethan Feast. I planned to match my boyfriend, who was dressing in a dove grey velvet outfit inspired by the Duke of Buckingham from the 1970's Three Musketeers and Four Musketeers. My outfit was made of an odd shaped piece of blue and gold diamond patterned brocade and there was just enough to make a sleeveless doublet and the slashes on my trunkhose made of gold taffeta. I also attempted to make hose to go underneath them, but the pattern I picked didn't fit as well as I hoped and there wasn't enough time to remake them before the Feast. An old blue velvet wrap skirt of mine got taken apart and turned into a sword cape to match the entire thing. Unfortunately, no really good pictures of my outfit were taken during Feast (probably due to the fact that I sprained one of my ankles twice during the dancing and had to leave early to get first aid) but my roomie got one before that mess with her iphone while I sang the annual rendition of "The Mermaid".

 In April and May, I finally started working on Colette's Ringmaster tailcoat from the Cirque de la Vapur. I'll go into detail about the process of pattern drafting and such in a later post, but here's a picture of the almost completed coat (it just needs a bit more top stitching and the matching sleeves).

It's my goal to start updating more regularly (hopefully with more tutorials, research and pattern drafting adventures!) but, as always, Real Life comes first. Cheers and happy sewing!