I had the most lovely dream...

 Pay little mind to this update, your own dear F.F. is very tired and tired of her frothy ballgown and is going to roll about in the dirt some and beat some French soldiers with sticks this weekend, but wants to make a silly post about dresses first!

Hand-Sewn Linen Stays

Or, the doomstayers.
My first pair (which excuses a few of the mess ups, I think.)  I really need to make the bust larger next time I make this, but other than that I think the pattern worked pretty well.

 I don't yet have proper 18th century undergarments, so enjoy my post-school loungewear outfit and mussy hair.

 Bosomlicious!

 I didn't have anybody to tie the top off for me, so I'm just holding the loose end (it's spirol laced.)
As for the stats, it's two layers of thick linen from B&T, boned with reeding from the same, stitched with silk thread, bound with brown cotton and the eyelets are done in gold cotton embroidery thread.  It took me from the start of school (late August) until now, so that should give you an idea of the time it took to make.

Hopefully the gap-osis will be eliminated one I tie it all the way up, erp.
And now I have no projects to do at school... I hope my cotton organdy arrives soon so that I can start on Project Hide Dupioni with Lots of Organdy Puffs.
Cheers!

Heaps Farm and the trippy camp dress

Well, that event was certainly an.... adventure.  An adventure, meaning that the journey was as worthy as the destination!
It was my first time driving, and between C and I the 1 hour trip was lengthened threefold and I also ran our poor minivan into a wall and dented the fender up.  Whoops!
The event itself is the first of two to happen in Minooka, and if you have a choice, you ought to go to Dollanger instead of Heaps.  The battlefield here was absolutely tiny, which all the menfolk were grumpy about.

 At Ian's behest, we set up a civilian tavern and supplied hot meals, pickles, peaches and booze for a flat fee.  It ended up being a great success that we plan on recreating at Minooka next month!

 Unfortunately, it was very very cold, and a cold me is a cross me.

Me, with a pilfered Anne jacket. V v cold.

My poor dress also needed a fair amount of TLC, given how much we ran around in the dirt and frolicked.

 We also made a midday Walgreens butter run so we could cook our stew-

actively being able to believe that it's not butter

My dress was the cotton print dress from my second-to-last post.  Not particularly unusual, cartridge pleated skirt, gathered at both the bust and shoulders, slightly v-necked so that I could wear a fichu or a collar with it.  And as you can see, the cartridge pleating could have been done more evenly, erp...  Well, there's always next time.

And then after hours, in true tavern form, there was lots and lots of (fake) period gambling.

I'm still waiting on fabric to make my new ballgown, so until then, I am your alls' humble and ob'd. servant!

Fast-Forwarding

This is a wee bit later than my usual time frame!

I got this 1950s pattern on vacation with friends (I got a few more, too, but this was by far the simplest!)  I decided to make the gored skirt with fabric I got from my AP Art teacher last year, some sort of wool-like poly blend.  Unfortunately, the pattern called for 2.5 yards and I had.... 1.25
And thusly an 8 gored skirt became a 4 gored skirt!

 I actually really love this skirt.  It isn't quite so blindingly neon in person, but it's still bright enough to add some personality to an outfit, modern or otherwise.
The blouse, alas, is not my own creation (it's Lauren Moffatt) and the shoes are Campbell's that I got eons ago.  The hairdo is the post-getting-pushed-into-the-boy's-pool look (so fetch!)

It's all machine done except for the hem, which I had to take out and redo by hand.  It was my first time setting in a zipper, what a conceptual nightmare, ugh.  It also closes at the top with a fun little red-white-and-blue button.

The older projects are coming along well.  The stays are troublesome, and I'm almost done with my camp dress.  I have a CW event this weekend so stay tuned for more about that!

Selfie! With fun psd filters.