No Leave For Me

Well my leave was not approved and I will not have another opportunity to apply for leave until April & May now. So no sewing for a while still. I'm only getting single and double days off in which I need to clean my apartment and set everything right before I go away again.

I may get a promotion at work, I'd rather have leave though.

The Career Change Has Begun

I've been working on a career change for a while now except I always knew this one was going to take some time to germinate. My long term desire is to be a full time writer of fantasy fiction. And I'm one step closer to that dream. I've finished a manuscript and it has been accepted for representation by a literary agent. Now don't get all excited because that doesn't mean it will be published. But it's a lot closer to being published than before.

I'm onto my second novel now. I have this wonderful idea (well of course I think it's wonderful) and my characters are developing nicely. The sad news is that all of this creativity in print and a full time job means I rarely get time to think about sewing these days.

I miss my sewing adventures a great deal and hopefully the approval of some leave in Feb this year will see me creating a new corset or something similar. I've still got those hat patterns and all that silk and a myriad of ideas for pretty, pretty things. Not to mention pounds of red wool which really needs to find it's way into a lovely coat for winter which will be upon me all too soon.

Sometimes things just suck

Well wouldn't you know it, another 2 months have passed and I'm not here to post about a sewing project. On Christmas eve this year I said goodbye to my last surviving grandparent. She was 91.

I'm back to work tomorrow and it hardly feels like another year has passed. If there is one thing I have taken away from the funeral it's not to just watch the world slip by, we are not here forever.

Back To Work, tomorrow

As much as I've enjoyed 5 straight weeks of sitting on my butt and enjoying myself all good things...

How ironic that I go back to work on a weekend. Seriously though I'm not crying about this because to be honest I've missed the buzz. The rush of things, the meet several hundred people a day and yes even the whingers that sometimes find their way into my experience. I guess paradise loses all meaning without the pain that precedes it.

I've also decided to start working on my next career change, since all careers have expiry dates on them. Mine usually last between 2-5 years before I have to do something new. Now's as good a time as any to think about the next step.

Spring Is In Full Swing

Oh! The sweet smell of neroli. Two things in life I rely on to tell me about the seasons. The first is the scent of jasmine as it lines many roads in Sydney and you can smell it from miles away. When the jasmine is abound spring has come. The second blush of spring is signalled by the heady scent of orange blossoms, also a garden favourite in the Edwardian homes of my area.

Jasmine reminds me of being young and alive, whenever I smell it I am instantly 15 again and walking home from school. Neroli is the scent of summer as far as I'm concerned. Together they are my personal nirvana. I love this time of year.

Consolidation, The Project List

So in taking a break from my projects, I've managed to get my head into a space conducive to sewing. So here's the projects in order of completion...

1780s Jacket - completed, awaiting petticoat
Floaty Petticoat - awaiting waistband straps and side seams, expect to complete very soon. Hems, pleating & trims are all done.
New Stays - draft a pattern, sew a mockup, start on stays.
Hat- either wide brimmed or tall hat style. Think that after my stays I'll need a break from the sewing machine for a while. So hat is a good option even though it's not priority garment.
Caraco a la polonaisee - made to go with existing petti and depending on how I feel may also make a white self-stripe floaty petti.
Redingote - still having conceptional design issues with this and it's not needed until next June anyway. Start around April 2010.

So far that's the project list and I'm happy to stop looking for inspiration until I get some of this ticked off. Phew!

Sewing Credo

If you are going to invest your time in something as impractical as sewing historical costume then it really pays to have a method to your madness. Every inspiration source I look at gives me that ooooh, I want to make that too feeling. If I put every bit of costume eye-candy on my project list I'd never do anything except costume for my next 3 incarnations. I had to have a way to tame the fabric lust, the knee jerk reactions and stupid projects that I know I'll get bored of before I even cut the cloth.

I've done some thinking today and come up with some hard and fast rules for culling the "list" to a manageable level...

Invest In The Best

If I don't love it I leave it. Any fabric I feel ambivalent about never gets purchased no matter how useful I might find it later on or what a great deal it is. If I can't pick that fabric up and instantly know what I'll make out of it then it's not for me. And I have to admit there have been times when I've wanted to bring fabric home that I had a feeling would be great for "something" but I've left it behind. And it's usually only a few hours before I feel that was the right decision to make. My current fabric hoard is decidely lean, it all fits into one square foot box. Every item in there is earmarked for a particular project. There's no fabric just lying around without a project to call home.

One Garment, Multiple Uses

I like to mix and match my wardrobe, even my historical wardrobe. I won't invest a week or two of my spare time on a standalone item unless it's very, very special. So far there's no project in that category. My fabric choices have to cross-dress. One petti, multiple jackets that co-ordinate, one jacket multi petti's that go. I actually think this is very 18th century of me. There's a reason why many 18th century ensembles are seperate pieces. Aside from a lack of fastening choices I also think it has a lot to do with frugality. When your clothes chew as much fabric as these ones do it really pays to get as many outfits as possible out of each piece. Only the very rich could afford an endless wardrobe, and even then there's evidence clothes were recycled with recuts as well. Since I don't fall into the very rich category I'll stick with mixing and matching as much as possible.

Take My Time

I'd much rather own one beautifully tailored ensemble than five that reminded me of how much I rushed them to completion. I like to chew over design and trim choices weeks in advance of beginning the project. I like to ensure my fabrics co-ordinate with existing pieces. I enjoy taking the time to handsew trims and finishes. I'd be proud of a piece that took me weeks to create because I know how nicely finished it is. And most of all, this take my time process allows me to eliminate projects which won't entertain me for long. If I get bored of it in the planning stages then it's really unlikely I'll finish it, so why start it? Besides planning a project is really more than half the fun of it.

God I Hate Sewing Right Now

Ironic isn't it? I just post about a new project, yet another project, even while I am still working on my first project, and I hate sewing already. Just having a suckful day I guess. It's taken about half of my life just to hem and affix trim to my floaty petti, what should have been a simple and quick project. But oh no, I have to go and have these "brilliant" trim ideas that take forever to do and frankly I'm not convinced they were worth it.

I can only pray that sewing a couple of ties onto the tops of my petti is a hell of a lot easier than the freakin hems. If I had any rope handy I would have necked myself already. Good thing all I've got is miles of tangled thread.

Refuse to even look at sewing machine tomorrow....going out scooter riding instead.

Hamlet, I love You But You Make My Life So Hard

Must be time for lunch because Hamlet has definately decided it's time to put that darn sewing away!

Cat Toys, Why Do I Persist?

Yes another shameless distraction post to cover up the fact I've only sewn one of the 18 meters of hems I've got to do. But I did flush $5 down the toilet today so I feel justified in at least posting about it.

My kitties have consistently ignored anything I have brought into the home for the purposes of being a "cat toy", it's almost as if they are making a stand. "What? You think we are pets? Here for your amusement? Sorry Missy but it's time you realised the truth about this relationship".

6 cloth mice with catnip now live permanently under the couch. A perfectly good plush cat tunnel, binned after I failed to find a new home for it. A $200 carpeted and custom made cat log, sits idly and pristine in my loungeroom only being sniffed at if I look like I might put it up on eBay.

Yet two cats who happily screw up the flokati rug and deposit it in the kitchen in a big heap overnight. Apparently it's an oversized bunny which needs to be taught a lesson. Any piece of cut up cable tie is an absolute winner and lets not forget the perenial favourite, the tape measure, especially while I'm using it. And I will relate the one time I had a cat swinging off the back of my stays chasing the loose lacing. Oh and when I used to use tracing paper (you'll understand why I don't now) that was an absolute scream to jump in the middle of it and rip it to bits. It also causes no end of trouble to want to stick our paws in the scissors while the household slave is cutting out fabric...

So the question and point of my post? Why on earths sake do I still get suckered into buying a cat toy such as the useless and unamusing piece of crap I purchased today? I could just as easily throw some tracing paper on the floor or use the tape measure? What's wrong with me?

Maybe I can give it to my nephew and pretend it's a kiddy toy instead.

Awards Night!

Although decidedly less glamorous than a red carpet affair I still celebrated my dubbing with a new haircut and hair-free legs..Whoo hoo! Both Lady D (aka The Dreamstress) & Madame Berg (of the Historical Sewing Forum fame) bestowed upon me this fabulous blog award. And I've got to say, it's always a humbling experience when someone else decides your stuff is worthwhile and deserves a bit of decoration. So here is my 18th Century trim for my 18th Century blog.

Most humbly and gratefully received.

The Art Of Costuming Without An Overdraft

When one becomes inspired by gorgeous 18th Century clothes one does not take into the sheer expense involved in doing so. The average big puffy (panniered) gown takes around 10 meters of fabric. If you're historically minded that gown will need to be made of silk and lined with linen. If you're really historically bent you'll have to source your fabric from one of the few specialists in 18th century prints. One can easily deduce that your credit card will sustain serious damage in doing so.

What to do? There are options....

1. Become a fan of working class clothing and lower your meterage
2. Become a fan of late century clothing and sing the praises of cotton
3. Become a career trophy wife and marry a millionaire..or two

Or you can be like me and decide that costuming is a necessary living expense and budget for it. Every month all of my base pay is accounted for, every last cent and it doesn't involve big hats or fancy shoes, unfortunately. But I do also have an additional variable income and allow myself to use that alone for costuming and having fun. Next month I will net an extra $800 in spending money. Oh, the mind is doing cartwheels deciding what to buy next...

I Found It! At Last Pics With Focus

Nothing can disturb my glee at finally locating the batteries for my camera and now having access to decent pics. No more fuzzies (so sharp you can even see the cat hair which covers everything in my apartment), no more ridiculously dark photos owing to a lack of flash. Proper colour rendition, and most importantly I have both wide angle and macro. Happy dance ensuing...

Bonus! Annual leave extended by a week...

I am so overjoyed about this. I'm on 4 weeks leave but as a work a variable shift roster my days off are always different month to month. It just so happens that in Sept my roster begins with 5 straight days off, extending my annual leave to a whopping 5 weeks! Oh yeah I know I have to then work the next two weeks with only 2 days off but still...pretty good.

Why 18th Century Sewing is So Great

For someone who hates sewing I sure do seem to be doing a lot of it right now. But somehow historical sewing is much more dignified than modern sewing. Lets have a look at all the reasons why historical sewing is so fabulous....

1. Piecing - No longer embarassing testament to my inability to properly plan my cutting layout, it's now charming period detail. The more piecing, the more historical I become.
2. Frugality - I increasingly find uses for all those odd little bits and pieces I've been procrastinating on when it comes to throwing them out. Odd buttons, useless lengths of trim, fabric that's been in my stash since 1974. All of it has a use.
3. Handsewing - Legitimate and extremely period. Instead of slavishly trying to sew every tiny detail with a machine and botching it up, I now have good reason to settle down in front of the tele and set a sleeve or eyelets.
4. Embellishments - No longer a slave to the exceedingly boring minimalist chic I can embroider, buy ribbon, and put bows on things no-one dares to put a bow on these days. Lets face it, with the 18th century you can go sick on the trims and feathers and it's really hard to over do it.
5. Collars, Cuffs & Hats are back! - I haven't had this much fun with oversized things on clothing since the early 1980's.

Historical, costuming cats

Like many costumers, I have cats. Two in fact. Both are weird. One eats thai red and green curry and usually loves to lap up the sauce and eat the beans out of it. The other one decides exactly what time I get out of bed in the morning. If I am not out of bed by her timing them she will walk across my hair (ouch, think individually pulled strands) and yowl shockingly until I get up. Too bad if my idea of sleeping in is getting up at the ridiculously late hour of 8am.

Just like my costumes one of my cats is historically incorrect. She is definately a modern cat, her breed wasn't even invented until recently. I don't as a whole support the cat fancier community. In fact I am all for the humble domestic. But she was out of luck and in need of a home so I gave her mine. My boy was living it large on the streets until he got impounded by the RSPCA and that's where I got him from.

Both my cats are stunningly gorgeous, and I'm so glad they both chose me. Here's HRH Jamaica...




And the ever lovable Hamlet...



Although these pics both show them happy in the garden, moving to a city apartment now makes them indoor kitties. I just haven't got as cute photos of them indoors. Both cats are expert pattern drafters as evidenced by their desire to sit on top of every pattern I am ever working on. They also like to hatch scissors, scraps of fabric and especially love coating all newly purchased fabric in their mohair additions.

Spring is most definately here

The jasmine is in full bloom which can only mean one thing, spring has already happened. I guess I'd better start planning those summer robes now or else they'll be like my redingote, something so completely out of season I will have no reason to make them.