Showing posts with label chemise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chemise. Show all posts

Sunday, April 8, 2012

The Neverending Project/s

Sometimes a project just sort of bogs down. I usually manage to pick it back up again after a brief pause and power through it, but there have been a few that just sort of... sit around... for a long time. A really long time. Like, years. Seriously. After a couple of years on the shelf I just kind of get annoyed with them and tired of having them in my life. It's often projects that were a lot more expensive and involved than I was hoping.
Take, for example, two projects that I recently finished (for no good reason, I just got an urge to see them done and gone, and I was searching for things to work on that wouldn't require too much thinking).
Example A)
Duchess Grey chemise top in ivory lace and pearls:




This project, according to my receipts, was started two whole years ago. Most of the work was done. I had designed a way to add the pearl chains that would allow for easy cleaning and storage and had them strung and ready to go. The body of the top was done. I just needed to attach the layers at the underarms and then add the straps and bow. I bogged down on this for some reason and it sat it a bag waiting for me, making me feel guilty whenever I ran across it. Especially because the materials involved here were stupidly expensive. I finally got back around to it and finished it up quickly enough that I wonder what the heck took me so long.

Example B)
Black silk dupioni and pheasant feather pillbox hat:



This one sat incomplete for no less than three full years. I wanted to make a pillbox hat for a long time. But, you see, the problem is that millinery supplies are not that easy to come by these days. And I couldn't find anyone (or any references) that could explain the process of hat-making to me. So I had to reinvent the wheel. I designed and built this entire thing from scratch. I got the base and top completely built and covered in the silk dupioni before I bogged down on this one. The lining was half-way attached, as well. All that was left was adding a tiny detail to the lining, stitching it in to the hat, adding loops for bobby pins, attaching the top to the body, and gluing down the feathers. That sounds like a lot of work but it was only a day or two worth of effort, in reality. All the hard stuff was already done.
There are no excuses for how long I let this sit around. I think I just fall out of love with things, and the longer I work on them the less I am interested in them. Also, the more closely involved in them I am the worse and more insurmountable the entire thing seems.

ANYWAY! TA-DA! I finished two things that I thought would never get the heck out of my sewing room! YYAAAAYYYYY ME!


Sunday, October 12, 2008

Welcome to Autumn!

I know it's been Fall for a while now, but around here it hasn't felt like it until very recently. This entire weekend has been chilly and windy. I'm trying to resist my primal urge to settle in with a good book and just hibernate until Spring!

This gingham chemise top was a custom order for a repeat customer I have worked with in the past. I took her idea for a chemise in gingham and designed this top, to which she added the extra buttons to pull some extra life into it. I think it turned out very cute, and I'm glad she loves it, too!

In preparation for the holidays I'm continuing my adventures in advertising. This Monday 10/13, look for my banner ad at Punch and Pie. If you miss it, don't worry, it will be back again next Monday 10/20!