I thought it was about time for a new layout :)

The sleepyhollow riding dress is just about finished. I am going away to Italy tomorrow though so the photographs will have a slight delay. I really wanted to get them done before i left, because sleepyhollow and tan dont reeaally go together so well. I suppose i could use some pale foundation or something to make myself look a bit less brown lol.
Anyway, see you when i get back :)

Chemise Photos

Finished the Chemise de la reines and took the photographs.
They are all posted on my flickr acount here;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachaelscostumes/

Tea dying

So i have been doing some tests before tea staining the proper lace. I took four cuttings from the lace and then put it into the tea for different lengths of time to see which came out the best colour.
I dont know if its obvious in the photograph below, but the lace is a bit darker each time. To be honest i think that I will probably use the lightest one, because the darkest bit looks really brown whereas i really just wanted it too be slightly off white and a bit less bright. I do think the stained lace looks better than the pure white lace, so i think i will do it on the real lace. But it doesnt look exactly how i wanted it to.

Riding dress continued...

The riding dress is just about finished. Sewn on all the red lace, sewn on three of the front buttons and two of the back buttons so the skirt is all gathered. Now all i have to do is sew the lace on the stomacher. However, i have yet to find any lace that looks very good. I have found some white lace for down the front of the stomacher, but its way to white and squeeky clean so i think some tea staining is in order. I have ordered some lace of ebay which should hopefully work for the thicker lace at the neckline.
Heres some updated photographs;





Because of fabric shortage the back of the skirt is really shorter than i wanted it to be, but i didnt have much choice. I havent decided what i think of it yet. Plus, the ribbons and the lace etc are all a bit too red. But again, theres not much i can do about that so i will be happy.
Hopefully teastaining will make the lace look a bit less bright white and a bit more antiquey, but i have no idea how i can make the fabric for the skirt and stomacher look a bit more old and a bit less bright and modern. Maybe i will just walk through the woods with it on and muddy it up a bit. lol. Any tips on how to make it look more old fashioned would be much appreciated.

Riding dress Progress

Been doing some more sewing today, dont you just love summer holdiays :), and made some serious progress on the Sleepy Hollow Riding dress. Unfortunatley, when i got round to cutting out the fabric, i had a bit of trouble. It turns out that i didnt get as much of the grey fabric as i should of done (disastor) so i have had to compromise a bit and simplify a few things. For example i have had to simplify the sleeves a tad. Also, i have shortened the skirt a bit, which i am hoping shouldnt matter too much once i have it all gathered up like it will be *crosses fingers*
Other than that, the fabric looks nice and the collar worked well. So, it's mlooking hopeful. :) I attempted to do the grain variations that wereon the different sections of the bodice, but in the end it doesnt show too much that there is a difference. Looks okay though.

Bodice Toile

Okay, bodice toile Done.


The front,
ignore the turquoise vest etc that i am wearing underneath :)


And the back

I am really pleased with how this has turned out. I thought the front of the jacket was going to be too far apart, if that makes sense, but once i put it on on top of my corset i think it looks alright how it is. Also, obviously, when i cut out the real thing i will make it En fourreau, but i was concentrating on making the front of the jacket the right shape so i thought i would just keep the back simple, espcially as i wouldnt be making a skirt part for the toile. But yeh, mucho happy so far :)
Below is a photo of the buttons and lace that i arranged on the toile to see how it would look and i am very happy with the result.
Looks okay no?



So with the toile done and it looking as if everything is fitting corectly,time to start chopping away at the real fabric i think. Eeek.
Speaking of fabric, here is a quick snap of the fabric that i got for the underskirt/Stomacher. Like i said previously, i think the colour is brighter than on the real dress but the two tone fabric has the same grey/blue sheen as the actualy fabric so i think it should work okay.

Sleepy Hollow Riding dress update

Well, i have finally found some fabric that will do for the skirt of the sleepyhollow riding dress. As suspected, i couldnt find any fabric that had a pattern of any similarity to that of the actual dress, so instead i am using a plain two tone, teal and grey, taffetta-ish fabric. It is slightly lighter, i think, than the original fabric and not the exact right colour as i think its a bit less saturated and the colour is a bit brighter than i wanted, but its the best i could find and i really want to start it now. I cut out the toile of the bodice just now so i will make that up tomorrow hopefully, and post pictures obviously.

Also, i have finished the White Chemise de la Reine dresses and the plan currently is to take photographs on monday so i will post an update on that once they are done. I really LOVE my dress, more than i thought i would. Its exactly what i wanted :) I am not as keen on esthers dress though. I fitted it on her last week and while she looked lovely i have gone off the way i have constructed the dress. I wish, instead of a neckline that is gathered in the way it is, if i had made a sturdy bpdoce with a gathered front but maybe a similar collar trim than mine. Anyway, its made and i will know for another time that this technique, whilst not being awful, doesnt work as well as i hoped it would.

Off to bed now, photos of toile will follow in the morning.

Sleepy Hollow photographs

The phootgraphs of the finished sleepyhollow dress have evenetually been taken. Above is just a small version of one of the photos, but i didnt want to post a stream of photos on here so the rest of them are here;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachaelscostumes/
Enjoy :)