Update: Edwardian Aqua Tea Dress

A continuation of this post.

Ah, I'm back to working on the Edwardian Tea Dress!  Which is good, because I'm supposed to be wearing it on Friday!  :)  Sewing to a deadline- not something I'd recommend, but it's how I stop procrastinating!

As a reminder, here's my pattern.  It's really modeled after the Rose "swim dress" from the movie "Titanic".  (Or as I call it, "Something to wear while I run around the entire ship and then almost drown.  Because I'm in First Class."  Was anyone else amazed that this dress didn't get caught on something in the engine room, or at least dirty?  Or was that just me?)

So pretty!

Other than being pretty in pastels, I love the light, gossamer fabric, and I think of this dress as being filmy, floaty and flyaway.  So dreamy!

Color Design:
The colors I chose I am calling peach, seafoam green, and marine blue.  Since the pattern calls for three dress layers, I went with the peach as the bottom later, then the green in the middle, and blue on top (with the green also forming the sash in the middle).  While it's not an exact color match, here's an idea of the final product.

I LOVED working with the peach fabric.  Normally, I don't crush over peach.  All costumers have some colors they veer away from, usually because it's too "modern".  Peach was HUGE during my childhood (late 80s, early 90s), and so when I see it, I steer clear.  But when I looked at it against my skin, it was so dreamy!  I may have to go and make something else peach!  Yummy!

Chemise panic!

My Edwardian underthings have been slow going.  I have a completed Edwardian 1910s corset, which will go perfectly under here (as opposed to the Edwardian 1900s S-shaped corset), and a Edwardian chemise and drawers.  But I had a brief moment of panic, because I realized I am facing something I've never done before- the V-shaped Edwardian back!  Yikes!  Would my chemise be visible??  I tried on my mockup with the corset and chemise, and you could see maybe 1/2" of chemise in the front.  So, once the dress is finished, I'll try it on again.  If I can't pin it down, I may just have to wear it with my Regency chemise, which has an adjustable neckline.  Note for the future: need another Edwardian chemise, with a lower front and back.  Sigh.

Mockups & Body issues
To make people feel better, I will let you know that I went through four (yikes!) mockups for the bodice: first was too small, second needed some adjustment, and third needed even more adjustment, before I was happy.

One of my ongoing sewing challenges is that I have both sloping shoulders, and narrow shoulders.  So, fitting around the shoulders (and even the upper rib cage) tends to have issues, and causes all of my fitting concerns.  (Interestingly, despite my height, I fit patterns perfectly from the neckline to waist, and never have to lengthen my bodices.  Yay!)

To see the effects of narrow shoulders in action:

Queen Elizabeth from Reign.  Yes, the costumes are not authentic, it's on the CW, blah, blah, blah.  I think it's fun and dramatic, and has hot guys with swords.  So, nyah.

I love this actress because she perfectly demonstrates what narrow shoulders look like.  See how it's almost a straight line from her waist to her armpit?  That's me.  It's annoying.

Edwardian challenges:

Each new era has it's own "look" in term of silhouette.  Edwardian (1900-1918), especially the 1910s, closely follows the looks of Regency (1800-1820), almost a century before.  They both have the empire waistline (or in the case of Edwardian, the directoire waistline), the light fabrics, the fitted bodice (but not overly so, and not boned), and the skirts without support (no hoops, no bustle, crazy talk!).  Working in this era, when mostly I've done late Victorian, makes me twitch a little.

For example, the pattern calls for a lining for the skirt.  But when I look at Rose's dress, the fabric is so light and flyaway, and does not look like it should have a lining, so I nixed that step.  However, I will add a petticoat, to give it a little support, but mostly for modesty, as the underskirt is peach and just a little see-through.

Have I mentioned I LOVE the Edwardian long corset?  It curves over the hips to give a smooth line, and just makes me feel so elegant!

Project updates:

Once I got finished with the design and the mockups, I started sewing!

Since by this time it was Sunday, I decided to start on what would take the most time- the skirts.  Since these go from just under the bust to the floor, they are LONG.  I made a mockup of the skirt along with the last bodice, and without a hem, it went to 6" above the ground in my bare feet. Since I was thinking that I should make this slightly earlier (and thus a longer hem), I lengthened the skirt 4", and cut out and sewed the underskirt and two overskirts.

Here is the result!

The colors here look somewhat close to what they actually are.  Next step: cut out and sew the bodice and lining, cut out the waist sash and rosette, add some hook and eye tape, and presto!

Ack, I still need to make jewelry!

Stay tuned!

Costuming Zen and the Art of Volunteering

I maintain that I am not an early bird, though some would disagree.  I just have a cat who gets fed when I wake up, and thus does not have a "snooze" button.  :)

Here in Southern California, I participate in an organization called Costumers Guild West (CGW), which does many things costume related, including running Costume College (!), as well as organize workshops, get togethers, and other costume related activities throughout the year.  It's a non-profit, 501(c)3, run entirely by volunteers.  I'm a member so that I get a discount to Costume College, as well as the earliest registration, and I attend their events as time, inclination, and budget allow.

I was attending one of their annual meetings this part weekend, sitting at a table with some friends, and one of them asked if I would head up a Costume College committee (of which there are many to choose!)  And I thought:

"Why don't I volunteer?  Why don't I raise my hand, and tell these really nice hard working people that I will help them out with whatever they need?"

Because, I realize, I am BURNT OUT.

Since most of the people reading this won't know, I first moved to Southern California in 2003.  (Ah, another life!)  Since I didn't know anyone, a friend of a friend asked if I would consider volunteering as a stage manager at a small theater.  "Sure," I thought, "no problem."  (Famous last words!)

This was a small 50-seat theater located (at the time) on La Cienega Blvd., near Westwood.  The theater personnel consisted of a constantly changing company of actors, some of whom filled higher roles such as the artistic director, and a few technical volunteer stage managers.  The stage was in a constant turn around of stage productions, between those currently in production, those in rehearsal, those being cast, etc.  At first, I was just working on one production at a time.  "I can do more," I thought.  So one show became two, two became three, etc.  Stage managers left, I filled those shoes, and then before I knew it, it became normal for me to be at the theater or in rehearsal almost every day of the week.  (Of course, I was working at a normal day job as well, because this was truly a volunteer position.)  Work days were for answering theater email, evenings were for rehearsals or productions, weekends were for stage meetings, more rehearsals, or more productions.  Finding and training replacements for my own vacations were a challenge.  Getting an evening or a whole weekend day off was a blessing.

After almost two years of "volunteering" at the theater as a stage manager, I got so burned out, I stopped going.  They found other stage managers, and the shows went on.

But now, more than 10 years later, I am still so burned out that I hesitate to volunteer, before I find myself in that sinkhole.

In retrospect, I learned some valuable lessons from the volunteering experience:
1) Almost everyone can be a leader.  It just depends on who is willing to step up and take charge, find the answers, and do the work.
2) Let it fail.  You can yell and bug people about problems, but they won't do anything until the system crashes.  Then it'll get fixed.
3) You can do more with less.  When there's no money for anything, you don't have to go to Target for everything.  Goodwill is your friend.
4) Take care of yourself.  You're no good to anyone if you're sick, or dead tired, or so stressed that you're going to scream.
5) Share knowledge.  Having just one person know everything doesn't do anyone any good.  Share everything you know, and teach other people as much as you can.
6) Keep lines of communication open.  This doesn't mean you have to answer your phone 24/7.  But take ownership for what you need to do, and listen to the people who send you stuff, so that you can be prepared for what you need to take care of.
7) There are a wide range of people out there, and you'll meet all of them.  Within any volunteer organization, there are a wide variety of people.  And they are changing, all the time.  And some are weird, and some are awesome, and some absolutely are the worst, and some you will love.  And you will need to get over and past your issues with some people, because they are there and willing to work.  And you need them.

I honestly think everyone should volunteer for a non-profit organization for a year.  You'll walk away with a much greater appreciation for the world around you.

And now, back to sewing!