Monthly Update

I'm back with another (slightly overdue) monthly update! 

Things have been kind of hectic around here. I've been working off of deadlines other people have set, and it has been a bit tough fitting bonus content in around that! But there will still be two bonus videos this month, if not more. They'll just be coming towards the end of the month.

And in the mean time I'll show you bits and pieces of what I have in progress!

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The first thing I've been focusing on is a nine-teens piece, which was heavily inspired by this dress and this dress. As well as ballet costumes from the same period. 

I'm making this as part of a sponsored making of series and it's been a lot of fun! It looks quite simple but there are lots of subtle details to add texture. 

That is just the underdress, the overdress will be orange china silk with lace inset on the hemline and ribbon embroidery. 

I'm still not that good at ribbon embroidery, but I've been practicing a lot! So hopefully I get the hang of it in time to finish this piece!

I also recently finished up another early 1900's piece - this one is for McCalls, and I got it shipped out this morning! It took me a few attempts to get right and ate up more time (and fabric, I almost ran out!) than I expected.  But I like the finished dress a lot. It makes me think of dresses from Titanic and Downton Abbey, without being too referential of anything specific. 

Here is a close up of the details since the full dress is a secret! 

Speaking of McCall's, my third pattern with them has come out! I'll probably do a devoted post to this on my blog, since I have some WIP photos of this somewhere (I may have some video footage too - if I can find that I'll post it here!) 

It's an 18th century ensemble based on a Robe a la Turque I made a couple years ago. I improved upon the pattern quite a lot, and made it from fabrics that suit the period better. 

Here are a couple photos of it. I love the richness of these materials so much. 

All the trim was painted with jacquard paints to match the brassy tones in the skirt. It made it stiff and difficult to stitch on, but it coordinates so well!

With some of my other commitments out of the way, I'm back to working on Sewing through the decades. I completed the mockup for the 1930's bonus piece...which was hellish. I don't think I'll ever purchase a Pictorial Review pattern again. This one was worse than the 1910's piece...

But this means I can film the sewing video for it, so that will have to happen this week.

In fact I think there will be a lot of filming this week. 

Including a 1930's themed cooking video! I've been doing a bunch of menu planning for that. 

The cook book I bought this time around doesn't have recipes for complete meals (nothing when it comes to simpler side dishes) and I wanted to limit the recipes I follow to a single source. 

So it may not be a proper Sunday dinner like the last one - or at least it will be an odd excuse for a Sunday dinner. But I'm excited! I'm thinking chicken pie as a main, with a few weird jello salads and casseroles.

I bought three bundt pans and ramekins today and I have anchovy paste in my amazon cart. So I'm pretty committed. 

I still have a 1930's hair/makeup video to film this month. And the fix-it video about the 1930's rayon dress. I'm hoping to have all the videos go up in the same month, so August can be thoroughly 30's themed. But that means I have a lot of filming/editing to do!

I'd also like to finally make the bonus project you guys voted on. I bought the pattern and material a couple months back but needed to make foundations for it, which took a while. But I now have a massive organza petticoat that is perfect for it! 

I also forgot I needed a zipper and 8 yards of lining fabric. So I'm waiting on those. But soon construction can begin! And I'll try to post regular blog-y updates about that on here. 

And as soon as I get that done I'll open up a poll/suggestion post for the other promised bonus projects. 

On top of that 50's themed project, I have a couple other midcentury dresses I've made! 

One of them was made using V2960and shown in this video. 

And the other is made from the fishy floral cotton I shared in my last haul. There will be a vlog style video about this one going up soon.

If I somehow manage to get everything mentioned so far done in the next two weeks, then I really want to take the first week of August off and work on historical projects. 

I attempted to work on an 18th century gown earlier in the month, but realized I need to make a new pannier and petticoat first. My current pannier is really flimsy and I don't feel comfortable building a dress on top of it.

So that was a bummer. But I tried to persevere! Only to realize my summery yellow shantung which I picked for the dress was way too thin to create the shape I wanted without backing it with something.

I found a yellow taffeta from Fabric Mart for $8/yd which I ordered to use instead, which is great. But I still have to devote a few days to new foundations before getting started.

So I may end up making that Jean-Honoré Fragonard inspired dress I mentioned in a haul video instead, out of pale pink dupioni. 

I'm also really into the idea of making something 1880's and experimenting with silhouettes. I have a delightful striped taffeta for it. But dresses from periods I'm less familiar with take a lot more time to construct. So I'm not sure what to do. Or if I'll have the time to do either!

So that is what I've been up to (and plan on being up to). Definitely staying busy! 

Also - I had three videos go up that weren't posted here first. If you don't follow me on youtube you may have missed them so I thought I would link them here.

1. 1950's Floral dress : Following V2960 : Pattern Review & Vlog 

2. Making a 1950's Floral Headband (Or at least attempting to) 

3. First Steps and Missteps : Venturing into Vintage 

I put a new blog post up too, all about my dotted 1830's dress! And I have a few more written that will cover the entire project.

Lastly: all mailable rewards for June have been shipped out. $16 rewards  take 2-7 business days to deliver within the US, and 7-30 internationally (though I've heard it is usually faster). 

If it does not arrive within that time frame please feel free to message me! And if you did not receive a previous months rewards please let me know.

$36 rewards should arrive within 3-7 business days. If they do not, please contact me and I'll make it right.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to sharing more soon!