2014 in review

Hello. I realized recently that I had missed the 2 year anniversary of this blog, so I apologize for posting this late. As usual, I've been busy with school and neglected this blog even though I have no shortage of posting material.

So, here's some of what I made in 2014. (I'm not counting unfinished projects this time, and unfortunately I have a lot more unfinished projects than finished ones.)

 My denim frock coat is awesome and I love it, but I wish I had used a more slippery lining for the sleeves.

My spiral pants are nice enough, aside from the fact that I messed up the pattern alterations and the waist is a uncomfortably tight. I've worn them maybe five times.

 I am not happy with these watch fobs and will probably take them apart and re- make them.

 This corset has pretty fabric, but it doesn't fit properly at all. Not that I care. I'm never going to wear it.

 I love my linen shirt very much! A couple of the button holes have stretched a little, but that's the only complaint I have with it.

 Not much to be said about the white cravat. I wear it fairly regularly and should make a couple more.

 The buttons are popping off my fur trimmed waistcoat! Their old fabric backs are tearing through and I need to replace them. It's bulky and weird, but very warm.

Curse those horrible chest lumps that ruin the line of my waistcoat.

 I love my silver waistcoat, but I haven't worn it or my frock coat much yet because I don't have any proper breeches.

 I wear these plain black pants almost every day, and they're starting to wear out.

 This cotton shirt is probably the one I wear most often.

Looking at all my finished projects together, it seems pretty pathetic. I really, really need to finish the things I start sewing. My unfinished project pile is getting out of control. Of course, I have been sewing a lot of things for school (mostly mockups) and will have to have 7 complete outfits made up by April 11th.
I'm taking a bookbinding class too! It's fun. We're only three classes in, so we haven't gotten to hardcovers yet.

Tiny little cemetery book.

Slightly larger book with buttons.

It has Gothic arches with bats on the inside cover.

I've done a fair amount of drawings too, though have not posted them anywhere.

Me in 2013 vs me in 2014.

 It may have been a bad year for unfinished projects, but it was a very good year for hair.

Now I need to go work on the waistcoat that's been sitting on my chair for a month.

Big Black Tailored Overcoat

One of the classes this year was Tailoring, and I am making a coat. The class is over, but my coat isn't quite finished yet. I gave my pattern a very big collar and lapels.

The mockup.

Since it's such a long and involved process, I'm not going to go through every single step of making it.

The sleeve being sewn.

 My fabric is wool melton, and my lining is rayon bemberg with blue & burgundy threads.

The back lining.

This is the canvas interfacing I used for the front. The assignment only required fusible interfacing, but I wanted to use canvas, much to the delight of my teacher. The black line is a bit of cotton zig zagged over the hole where the dart is, and the grey stuff is wool, which is also zigged to the canvas.

 Here's my under collar.

 And here it is with some of the pad stitching finished.

 Pocket flaps. They're lined in the same black cotton as the pocket bags are made of.

I did a prick-stitch around the edge of the pocket flaps.

The dart in the front stops just above the pocket.

Attaching the welt and pocket flap.

 After sewing the pocket bag on I had to attach the canvas to the front piece.

 I cut a rectangular hole through the canvas so the pocket could sit on the other side of it.

Cross stitching the pocket allowances to the canvas.

The top of the pocket bag, with the allowances nicely secured.

 Lots of temporary basting.

 The lapels with lots of pad stitching.

 Tailor's tape on the roll line.

The allowances of the canvas trimmed back to the stitch line, and fusible tape put all around the edge.

 Putting the shoulder pad in.

The cross stitched edge is the front one. The back edge hangs free.

 The shoulder pad basted in.

From the back.

And from the front.

Prick stitching the seam where the lining is sewn to the facing.

Here's the front with the facing sewn on.

 It's been pressed, but still looks a little baggy because the edge hasn't been prick-stitched, and the lining isn't all attached.

 This is what the coat looks like at the moment.

 The collar isn't together yet, but the sleeves are.

I can't proceed further without instructions from my tailoring teacher, so I'll finish this when I get back to school. I'm really looking forward to wearing it.

Silver Grey Waistcoat

I finally finished the waistcoat I started in January. I'm afraid I don't have any construction photos. I did take some, but the computer on which I keep my photos is almost dead, and I won't be able to retrieve anything from it until it has been replaced.

I sewed most of the big seams by machine, basted hair canvas interfacing down the fronts, stab stitched the back hem closed and put a running stitch along the front edge & pockets. The buttons are dimes covered in little circles of silk and the buttonholes are done by hand.

Dimes, besides being a nice silvery colour, are the perfect size!

The pocket flaps are whipstitched on and the pocket bags are machine sewn in the same way as the coat pockets.

It fits quite nicely, though I'm going to straighten out the bottom half of the front pattern piece. The curved edge makes the bottom buttons wrinkle.

The Challenge: #21- Re-Do

This could have qualified for 4 of the previous challenges:

#1- Make Do & Mend- Because the lining, pocket bags and back are all made out of recycled material, and the back is pieced.

#5- Bodice- Waistcoats aren't normally referred to as bodices, but it still fits the theme.

#8-  UFOs & PHDs- It sat in a drawer for 10 months before I finished it.

#13- Under $ 10- I don't know the exact cost of this but it was definitely less than $ 10.

Fabric: Silk dupioni, cotton ticking, grey linen.

Pattern: Drafted by me.

Year: Approximately 1770's- 90's

Notions: Hair canvas interfacing, 10 dimes.

How historically accurate is it? Only accurate from a distance. The construction is mostly okay, but has a few inaccuracies. The materials are also mostly okay, but the slubby texture of the silk dupioni is the worst inaccuracy of them all.

Hours to complete: No idea.

First worn: Saturday November 15th, 2014

Total cost: Eight or nine dollars maybe?