For this weekend (because I AM going!!!):

*finish fur on paletot (almost done!)
*hooks on paletot
*hooks on plaid wool dress
*tuck in fancy petti
*look over green sage sheer (someone bought it! yay!)

I wish I had time to buy some flowers for my ball gown, but I also have no money. It feels horribly plain, even with my antique lace and silk bows. it needs flowers.... Or something...

And I'm halfway done with the prep! Other half tomorrow. It's really NOT BAD! Like, sure it tasted pretty nasty, but I only have to take 1 liter each day. And then the other part... Well that wasn't a big deal either! And seeing as how I got a sigmoidoscopy which is without a sedative of any kind, the colonoscopy should be a breeze. The only "hard" part will be dealing with the results, if indeed I have cancer. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Colonoscopy this Friday.

Fine. I can deal.

But I'm pretty much freaking out that I won't be able to go to the Civil War reenactment on Saturday and Sunday. Everyone I know who's had a colonoscopy was perfectly fine later that day, so there is really no reason why I shouldn't be able to go. However, I'm concerned that my case will be different... since my polyp is large, that will somehow... I don't even know.

If I can't go... I don't even know what I'll do. I had to miss the last event. I'm going to be so hellishly depressed if I have to miss this event. I know I should be glad that at least my life is saved and I have many more events in front of me, but I am not ashamed to say that I WILL be a grouchy, resentful, hateful sourpuss this weekend if I can't go.

However, I tried on my red silk bodice without a corset and it fits (I've lost so much weight... :-/). So if for some reason I can't wear my corset (which makes little sense... it already doesn't nip me in very much, just smooths out lines. And I'm not having SURGERY, just getting the polyp snipped out) I can still wear the dress. I'll be unhappy with the imperfect lines, but at least I have something to wear. There's also my wrapper which I love, but that means I'll be confined to the camp. Meh...

 Well I had no motivation to finish the Alice dress. Not sure I ever will! I wanted to finish my steampunk outfit but ended up messing up the corset in my haste. So I decided to just wear my silk Regency dress that I hadn't gotten good pictures of and go as zombie Jane Austen. It was really fun, and I carried around a quill and leather notebook to complete the look. Kelsey did my make up which looked pretty awesome, although you can't see it in the pics because they were taken at the end of the night. It felt so good to wear a complete outfit I didn't have to worry about. Although the top two hooks kept coming undone. I hate back closing dresses!!

I pretty much LOVE this dress... I feel so elegant in it. I want to make a chemisette with a giant ruff for it too. How fun! But I don't need a Regency dress for anything soon. I wish I could go to the Jane Austen Evening! Oh! :-/

Also, a scandalous pic of me in my bodiced petticoat. It would be highly indecent for you to see a front view! Even so, it's remarkably supportive and comfortable!

      

I decided to continue my madness and trim the entire bottom of the paletot with fur. I'm about halfway done attaching the fur, then i'll need to finish the edge. Surprisingly, I can sew through the skin with a regular sharp needle. Yay! Because I'm too cheap and lazy to buy leather needles. :D

The sleeves look like Tudor sleeves, I've decided. :]

Well... here is one sleeve with fur and fur around the neck. I'm not sure why, but I don't feel 100% happy with how it's turning out... Maybe I will when I have both fur cuffs on.

  

Sewing fur is HARD and not fun... I don't think  I have enough patience to trim my whole paletot with it... I've just started cutting and finishing pieces of fur to put on the sleeves, and I'm already getting really angry (and sneezy!). Maybe I'll put up with it enough to get fur on the sleeves and see how I feel. But at this rate, it is NOT going on every edge of the paletot...

But... what else could I trim it with? I could do soutache, but it seems like everyone does soutache, and that's about as annoying to me as the fur. I have some really, really lovely apple green velveteen I could trim it with... Maybe black fringe? I don't know... I need this in two weeks.

 Well, except for closures... :]

    

 I am now officially Lady Bridget Manners with the Queen's Court of the Southern California Renaissance Pleasure Faire.

*squee!*

This feels like such and honor, because I think RPFS is the most prestigious faire around (I may be a wee bit biased...) with the best-looking court ever! I'm already getting giddy thinking about who Bridget will be (and especially what she'll wear!). This will be the most fun "work" I've ever done!

I just finished trimming the green plaid wool dress! I'll take good pictures tomorrow, I promise. :]

Right now, I really want to start on the linen Regency dress... But I should probably finishing fixing the grey silk dress. Boo!

... I got some of this.

www.puresilks.biz/store/index.php

Ex-manfriend got it for me as a gift. He knows fabric always makes me feel better. :]

I'm thinking... frothy pink 1860s day dress. Because the red dress wasn't ridiculous enough.

 I'm back to the 1860s!

I took the green plaid wool dress back to school with me. I already let out the center front to see if that helps any of the tightness in the shoulders. It does a little bit... Does it look too tight?

I'm mainly excited to trim it. I have some pretty brown cotton crocheted/braid trim that I'm going to layer on top of ruched leftover wool. Isn't trimming the most fun part of any costume? 

I also have the okay to trim my paletot with rabbit fur, since I have ZERO DINERO to buy trim for it. I don't even have lining... *sigh* But I do have an ugly white rabbit fur coat from the 70s that I'm going to use to trim it, just like this:

 

Okay... Time for my Art History midterm! I've studied for 5 days... Let's hope that means I'll do well!

 So... I have finally decided to put a few of my dresses up for sale! I've loved them for quite a few years now, but what can I say, I'm bored with them and want two new silk and wool dresses (even though I just made my red silk dress...)!

If I don't sell any dresses via LJ or Facebook, I'll put them on Etsy or Ebay.

1) GOLD SILK DRESS

A beautiful dress of gold silk, completely hand sewn, and trimmed with black velvet and fringe on the bodice, sleeves, and skirt. To be worn with white collar and undersleeves.

Notes: Fits me, 5'4", 24" waist, 34" bust. I wear a 108" cage.

I'm asking $150 for this dress.
  


2) SAGE GREEN SHEER DRESS
 
This dress is a lovely, cool sheer to wear in summer. It is entirely hand sewn and made from a very light cotton organdy. It has a half-high lining for added comfort, which is trimmed with a bit of lace. Two rows of stitching control the top of the sleeves and give a very pretty silhouette.

Notes: Same measurements as gold dress.

I'm asking $125 for this dress.
  

3) TEEN'S SILK/LINEN DRESS

This dress I have just grown out of-- not physically, but by age. It is meant for an older teen girl, and while I am still 18, I feel just a bit too old for this style. However, with a chemisette or dickie and undersleeves, it can be worn by fashionable young ladies into their mid 20s. 

The dress is also hand sewn, of a plaid silk/linen blend. It does not come with the undersleeves or dickie.

Notes: measurements are the same as the greeb dress, but the length of the skirt is on the shorter side. However, there is a good three inches to be let down in the hem. This bodice is not boned.

I am asking $125 for this dress.
  

I'm thinking of selling my mourning dress too. For the right price, it can be yours! But I'm still thinking about it.

 

I knew it would make me upset, but I did it anyway. Not smart... :[

I am determined to enjoy next weekend. I'm about 95% sure it will be a success. I'm going to wear my amazing new dress and bonnet and look splendid and refined. And then I'll wear my new silk ball gown to the dance with its new bertha of antique lace from Salisbury (need to make that!!). And everything is going to be lovely, with my new Athenaeum skills in tow. I shall be a perfect lady. I have sworn off all my vices and have been good to my promise, but deep inside my heart I'm anxious and downright scared about how things are going to play out. If I remain completely ladylike and mature, things will go smoothly. If I let my emotions get the better of me, as I have in the past, it will be disaster. The outcome is entirely within my control. It's the control part that's hard.

I think I deserve my paletot wool... *goes to get credit card*

Here's a flirty Forties pic for you. From a fun day at Disneyland with the people I love best.

Yay for PC Disney images! WAIT. I don't see no Asians in there!!!! I'm going to sue...

You got me started thinking about my paletot for CWW! I just found the fabric too. And I already have a pattern that I drafted. Boo... CADD again.... *sigh*

In other news, I retrimmed by bonnet with the plaid silk, and used the red silk ties to put ruffles on the shoulders of the dress. It looks oh-so-much-more extravagant now! I CAN NOT wait for next weekend!!! :D

Hallelujah! This was one of the most work intensive dresses so far, because of hemming all those ruffles and putting them on cords, and doing a hem facing, and then having a freak out about the shoulders. But all in all, I am EXTREMELY pleased with this dress, and can't wait to wear it in two weeks! AHHHHHHH! :D

 

Okay... finished the red silk. Great. Right?

WRONG.

The shoulders aren't dropped enough. And there's NOTHING I can do about it! It's driving me nuts! I just want to sit down and cry... How could I have let that get past me??

GAH!!!

*runs around like a chicken with its head cut off, then sits down in corner and cries heartily*

     

One possible solution is taking the top row of flounces off of the sleeves, and putting them on the armseye. It might help give it the illusion of a more dropped shoulder. I don't know... Ugh.... *sadness*

Well, I guess it wasn't that bad, but because the silk frayed so much, I had a very uneven edge to sew the hem facing to. It's nearly done though, and I love how it looks. Neat and durable, and adds the perfect amount of weight to make the skirt hang very nicely. Then it's pleating and waistband. Yes! I WILL finish this dress this weekend! :D

Well, the corded flounce of doom is finally on the skirt, and the hem facing is about halfway done. Phew! That took forever, but I wasn't working very diligently, and took a lot of breaks since I wasn't feeling well. So once the facing is done, it'll be pleating the skirt to the waistband, finishing the bodice front edges, and putting the collar on...

Except... in my eagerness for a bonnet, I forgot to save a scrap for the stand-up collar... I have NO extra fabric. None. I could take the trim off of the inside of the bonnet... In fact, I think that's what I'll have to do. Because I want to have a stand-up collar on this dress, and it doesn't require very much fabric. We'll see how this works... :-/

Yay it's done! And it looks lovely, if I may say so myself! The feather and frill really pulled it together, although I wish I could get some green in there to balance it out. It turned out much more feminine than I thought it would, which I really like because I was worried the black and red would be too dark and masculine. But I love the way it turned out! :]

   

My body doesn't like my new pill. Or something. I can't tell. I don't like being on medication and I never have. I don't like messing with things, even if they're being messed with to improve a situation. Doctor's appointment tomorrow anyhow. I'm just about the worst hypochondriac you'll ever meet. I'm not even kidding or trying to blow things out of proportion. I'm a bona fide hypochondriac who creates psychosomatic symptoms for herself. And I can't tell if it makes it better or worse that my best friend is also a hypochondriac as bad as I am. We either fuel each other's anxieties, provide empathy and support, or get really annoyed when the other person won't stop complaining about his/her problems.

In other news, I started retrimming my mourning bonnet! I'm using scraps (and I mean scraps!) of the red silk, and some gold berries. It looks really sparse right now, but I'm broke. So I'm kind of scavenging for trim at this point. I think I have an ostrich feather I can steal from a hat I never wear, and I might have enough money to buy the netting for the inside! :-P