New Projects as Always :)

I realize that the last post I made was talking about the vyshyvanka that I want to make. It's still a plan (I bought a bolt of linen eeee! :D) but I have every intention of it being a winter project. I'll also make a shirt or two for my husband out of the linen. It's a little sheer, so I'll have to see how to get it so that I don't need a slip underneath as that'd be a pain in the butt.


This is the testing phase of my embroidery plans. I'll probably adjust it a little from this, but this is a rough start for the sleeve embroideries. I have not tested the second diagonal pattern (which is simple) nor the round symbols around the neckline etc etc. I also need to figure out how to do the decorated seams.

However! I just bought some silver sequin spider web sheer fabric from Joann's and now I'm all a-buzz about what my halloween outfit is going to look like. I have a spider web sheer jacket with a peplum and dangling sleeves from Hot Topic circa 2000, and I'm going to make a sheer overskirt with the new fabric and a black long slip or dress. Maybe if I get off my butt and do it soon, I can do silver spider details along the skirt too!

Of course, I have all of these embroidery plans, but who knows how much I'll actually want to do that considering my student and I will be working on her senior collection this year and MUCH of it will be embroidering bugs onto sheer and see-through jackets and skirts. So, we shall see!

New Project

So in my love of the 1920s and linen, I discovered that embroidered linen dresses was a really common theme in the past 100 years, not just the 1920s. However, you get into racist overtones. Whether it's the Mexican version of the embroidered dress, or the "gypsy fashion!" Romani version of the embroidered dress, you see a lot of "I'm a white tourist in your country who wants to buy your shit". And then I discovered/re-remembered that Slavic style was ALSO considered "exotic" in the 1920s. Enter the Вишиванка. (N.B. I haven't installed Cyrillic alphabet keyboard on this comp, so the rest will be Roman alphabet.)

The Vyshyvanka is the traditional embroidered shirt or chemise in Ukrainian national costume.



As I have Ukrainian heritage, I feel comfortable wearing a Ukrainian embroidered garment. Because I am cheap, insane, and talented, I of course want to make it. This has meant research.

Research into what embroideries are common, what stitches are common (answer: it's VERY VERY regional). Research with very little information as to where my Great Grandfather came from (I got diddly on my Great Grandmother, not to mention it was her PARENTS who immigrated). I have my Great Grandfather's original name before Ellis Island. That... helps very little. Apparently his first name is a common Rusyn name (from Transcarpathian region of Ukraine, Slovakia and Romania). Apparently variation of his last name are from either Slovakia or Austria. Apparently he was BORN in Austria, but identified as Ukrainian. All of these little bits of information has meant that I will be basing my embroidery off of the Bukovyna area in Ukraine.

Bukovynian Vyshyvanka look like this:

The bulk of the embroidery is on the sleeves, which is in three sections. A horizontal pattern on top, a monochromatic (and usually pale) band in the middle, and diagonal or vertical stripes toward the wrist. There are vertical bands alongside the front opening and the neckline, and occasionally a band near the hem. The embroidery patterns I'm going to use are based off of these two images:


However, in my practice efforts at embroidering, the middle band, which uses a stitch called morshchynka, is my least favorite embroidery stitch ever.

I find it difficult to use and unwieldy. Oh well. We shall see how it goes.

Middle of the Night Wedding Dress Update

So sewing the pleats down took more like 3 or 4 hours. Attaching the crin took more like an hour and a half. I'm halfway done with folding up the hem, but I'll also need to go back through and keep the up-fold of the hem tacked down (long story short, due to wonkiness with the hem length, it's a three step process instead of a two step process. boohoo me).

I have ten hours before my client picks it up. And I am burnt out for now. I'm finding it difficult to soldier on. (And I literally could not open my eyes this morning for my intended morning sewing.) Looks like it's bed and an early morning for me. There's NOT much to do, but it just feels never ending.

Blargle.

Wedding Dress Update

My client had final fittings today. The bad news is: it doesn't fit perfectly out of the box. The good news is: it's too BIG. Which is totes manageable.

So what I have left to do before she picks the dress up on Wednesday noon:

-- tack down the new pleat positions, < 1 hour
-- adjust the fit at the very top, 30 mins
-- attach crin to the bottom, < 1 hour
-- hem, 45 mins -- attach inner facing along top, 1 1/2 hours
-- attach button and buttonhole tab above zipper, 30 mins
-- add additional hook on halter, 10 mins

So yeah. Very do-able. Very good news. IT'S ALMOST DONE :D

Sewing Updates

I am awaiting boning tips which should come in tomorrow. I should have ordered them ages ago, but stupid me as usual kept forgetting.

This was my last to-do list for the wedding dress:
To Do Before Saturday:
-- iron fabric
-- trace out pattern on silk
-- trace out pattern on cotton
-- finish seam allowances
-- cut out silk
-- cut out cotton
-- flat line cotton to silk
-- grade seam allowance
-- zigzag finish seam allowance
-- flat fell lining together
-- put in boning casing
-- put in boning
-- fully finish the halter straps
-- deal with tulle
-- zipper??

It is now at:

-- iron fabric
-- trace out pattern on silk
-- trace out pattern on cotton
-- finish seam allowances
-- cut out silk
-- cut out cotton
-- flat line cotton to silk
-- grade seam allowance
-- zigzag finish seam allowance
-- flat fell lining together
-- put in boning casing
-- deal with tulle
-- iron outer fabric
-- fully finish the halter straps
-- figure out hem circumference of outer fabric
-- pin pleating attempts
-- cut out pieces for outer fabric
-- zigzag cut edges of outer fabric
-- french seam along panels and gores
-- cut and tip bones
-- put in boning
-- edge neckline with fashion fabric
-- pin pleating along hipline
-- pin pleating along neckline
-- confirm that the measurements work
-- stitch pleating in place
-- set zipper
-- attach hook and eyes
-- figure out hem length on Fluffy
-- hem lining
-- hem outer fabric with horsehair braid

Most of what remains is hand work. I can hem the lining with the machine, but everything else is handwork. Which, I rather like. Honestly, I've been enjoying my work on Fluffy's dress, as it's a puzzle to figure out, and it feels much like my work with Y, in terms of "not my project so it's kinda interesting". Also the amount of handwork is much higher than I usually allow myself for my own projects.

Speaking of my own projects, I meant to do a fair amount of work on the bridesmaid dress today, as I couldn't move forward on the wedding dress without bone tips. What did I accomplish? Ironing the silk habotai, washing and drying by way of the iron my lining fabric, and unpicking the curtain hems someone had hilariously terribly sewn into said lining fabric. Oh, and a quick burn test of the lining fabric. It appears to be mostly cotton, with perhaps a little poly added. Something WAS bubbling, but it nearly burned cleanly away. What I still have to do on that:

-- double check pattern
-- trace pattern onto silk
-- trace pattern onto cotton
-- add seam allowance
-- cut out silk
-- cut out cotton
-- hem cotton
-- flat line cotton and silk
-- trim seam allowances down evenly
-- zigzag edge seam allowances
-- sew darts
-- sew seams
-- finish neckline
-- finish armscye
-- install zipper
-- figure out pattern for bolero and ruffles
-- iron silk chiffon
-- trace bolero and ruffles onto silk
-- add seam allowance
-- cut out silk
-- zigzag edge
-- attach ruffles
-- attach bolero
-- make big flower for shoulder closure

I'm just not enthused about making this stupid bridesmaid dress. I'm just not particularly enthused about anything involving this wedding. We have the bachelorette party this weekend, and then only a week and a half away is the wedding itself. I'd much rather be sewing the wedding gown that I'm getting paid for, than the bridesmaid gown for a wedding that continually demands monetary support from me.

Wedding Dress Update

I am finding it difficult to keep pushing through working with the silk habotai for the lining. It shifts and wiggles under my ruler and so I can only draw lines 1-2" long at a time. I traced out and added seam allowance for the stability layer (cotton) in 15 mins flat. I've been working on the silk for a few days.

It wearies me. I have 3 more pieces to retrace (because chalk fades while working) and add seam allowance to before I cut it out. Once I have the two layers flat-lined, the silk should behave. But I have to get it there. AND be careful while flatlining to not have the silk shift its grain.

To Do Before Saturday:
-- iron fabric
-- trace out pattern on silk
-- trace out pattern on cotton
-- finish seam allowances
-- cut out silk
-- cut out cotton
-- flat line cotton to silk
-- grade seam allowance
-- zigzag finish seam allowance
-- flat fell lining together
-- put in boning casing
-- put in boning
-- fully finish the halter straps
-- deal with tulle
-- zipper??

Luckily, I had a piece of periwinkle blue cotton THE PERFECT SIZE to use as the stability layer. Seriously, I have had magical luck with fabric lengths. I also had given my client the perfect number for the lining fabric. And this is "fits perfectly without magic tricks to eke out more space". It's a stress-free "fits perfectly".

New Clarinet!

So my friend was getting rid of his clarinet. I said "sure, I'd love to have it -- maybe a student would need it". Well, maybe with a little fixing up it could be better than my normal clarinet! It's a wooden Bb Evette & Schaeffer, made in France by Buffet-Crampon. It's a little hard to read the serial number chart, but this instrument was made either in the mid-50s or mid-60s.

It's a little gunky and sticky now, but hopefully my repair guy will get it working as right as rain. I'd also like to get another case for it, as it's in a double case and I don't need that.

I also will need my repair guy to tell me how much it's worth so I can add it to my instrument insurance! I think I'll need to up my policy if I add this new clarinet and the 12-bass accordion I recently purchased.

Also, my friend gave me his stereo speakers. :) I'm very excited, for all that I won't use them in this apartment.

(Haha, after handling the clarinet, my hands smell like old-instrument.)