Holiday Goodies! (wherein the heroine loses her fortune at a fabric sale)

The best present I got was two weeks off of work and I've finally had some time to sew!  But coming in a very very close second was the professional dressmaker's dummy in (close to) my measurements that Jay got me.   Since I don't know anyone else in ATL that does historical or steampunk sewing, trying to do fittings being fitter and fittee had been driving me batty.  Hoping the dummy will be a big help on that front!

Jay also got me a cute little "sewing bird" for my sewing table

and a copy of Style and Splendor: The Wardrobe of Queen Maud of Norway 1896-1938 (that I'd been drooling over for close to a year)

Jay's sister got me a copy of The Empire's New Clothes: A History of the Russian Fashion Industry, 1700 -1917 (which I had also been lusting after) so I have 2 new books of fashion porn..  err research. :)

And Hancock Fabrics was having crazy After Christmas and New Year's Day sales so I laid in a good stock of black, burgundy and cherry red rayon velvet at (I kid you not) $7.65 a yard as well as some nice wool at 60% off and found some real bargains in wool and linen on their $2.97 table.  

I also nabbed a bolt of this cotton for $1.29 a yard that just seemed to say Wiener Werkstatte print (admittedly, early 1900s Viennese textiles have only been a casual study for me to this point) so I might give that Eduard Josef Wimmer-Wisgrill dress from my last post a go at some point this year.  If it turns out to be all wrong, then its a pretty lining for something.

On the actual sewing front, I finished my 1890s petticoat (Truly Victorian TV170, view 4) which was both a lot of fun and a lot of frustration to make.  The bottom ruffle is 10 yards long and it was my first time using a ruffler attachment.  The ruffler is great fun, but it took about 4 tries on different settings to get the ratio of ruffle to petticoat (with the corresponding pick all the threads out and ruffle 10 yards of fabric again...  and again..  and again)  One of my first projects of the new year is to do test runs on each setting of the ruffler so I know the setting I need in advance next time.  But I was watching Dr Who while sewing, so at least the time spent redoing wasn't too too tedious.

This was supposed to be a plain, basic petticoat as a test run with the plan that it would be an under-petticoat long term once I knew how the pattern went together and could get some nice cotton organdy. But me, being me, I had to add trim, which of course, extended the time it took to complete.

So I was all set to start a new project, but both options were thwarted right out of the gate.  The Reconstructing History pattern  I had for a 1940s dress had 2 versions on the front but no collar  pattern pieces or instructions for version that I wanted to make. And despite being certain I owned it, I did not have the 1890s walking skirt pattern that was also on my short list for projects.

So I emailed Reconstructing History, placed an order from Truly Victorian and moved on to plan C:  a Victorian chemise and drawers pattern included in the Laughing Moon Dore/Silverado corset pattern I had and I rang in the new year in the sewing room, cutting out a chemise.

I still have no idea what I am wearing to AnachroCon next month, but whatever it turns out to be, my undergarments will be pretty! :)