I *AM* A Pretty, Pretty, Princess…

OK folks, now for that other project I mentioned in my last post about Schaube. The dress.

It is time for new garb; my old garb is lovely but no longer fits, and I am sort of itching to try out some sewing ideas with a new Rock. The first question, as always, is what dress to make. I love my ‘T-front’ camp dress…but technically I have one of those, and making another of the same dress isn’t really inspiring me at the moment.

So what to do?

Well, the idea of making a ‘pretty, pretty princess’ dress has been cooking in the back of my brain for some time now; but not one of the more common “Saxon Princess” designs with the lacing over the plastron/stomacher* (as femkederoas can attest, there are many other “SP” variations that are lovely and not so typically recreated). While I clearly have thoughts on those styles that I would like to explore (clicky, clicky…) I am still a bit loathe making one for me at this point.

But, I am in love with the high collars.

girlish sigh and much fluttering of hands

( So…I am on the hunt for high collared styles that are not plastron/stomacher* based.  )

Regardless of the dress I choose, I think I am going to finally try out attack_laurel’s cartridge pleating method. Even though I will be working in wool, and not silk, I am excited to see what I get for results.



*coughthe historical German term is Brusttuck/Brustfleckcough
**coughthe historical German term is Gollarcough

Brilliant Sewing Tips

As someone who has only been lurking on the Yahoo ‘h-cost’ list for a little bit; I am constantly amazed by the brilliant sewing tips that pop up there. For example, this little gem:

“A note on fitting corset muslins:

“A hint I got several years ago - don't remember from where - was to create two strips out of heavy material - old jeans will do in a pinch. Make them at least double thickness, and put a narrow bone of some sort along the edge fold. Then put in grommets about every inch. Make them longer than you think you'll need for any possible corset style you might ever make. These can then be basted into a muslin so you can lace it up properly to check the fit, without having to put in grommets, try to pin it to fit (not happening), or making slits that then rip out after one fitting. Once you have the fit, remove them and use them for the next corset muslin.

“These have made corset making much easier!!

“Sandy”



*boggles* OMG. Why didn’t I think of that?!?

*beats head against desk for the years of ‘pin hell’ she has subjected herself and others to*


On another note, here’s one I picked up from a friend ages ago.

Get a length of ‘swing set’ weight chain (ie. the weight you find on children’s outdoor gym equipment, not the kind you’d lock your bike up with), about 6 yards long. Longer if you’d like.

Using old fabric of a medium weight, make yourself a length of bias tape, where the finished tape (when folded in half to make a casing) is about 2” wide.

Sew one ‘end’ of the tape shut, sewing in a sturdy cord or ribbon.

Tie the cord or ribbon to the last link in your chain.

Carefully sew the chain into the tape, enclosing the entire length of the chain in the casing. There should be enough room to easily sew the tape closed, this will be important later. Sew another ribbon/cord into the open end of the tape, type other end of chain to this.

Now, you should have a very long, weighted ‘chain snake’ covered in a medium weight fabric with the chain tied securely into each end of the casing.

What to do with this item, you ask?

This clever little bit will help you hang the bias stretch out of your fabrics for skirts, skirting, cloaks, etc.

Simply cut your pattern out, then sew the panels/pieces together which need to be stretched. In other words, if you are stretching a cloak, sew together the pieces of the body, but don’t worry about the pieces in the hood (unless they need separate stretching, for some reason). Then sew the ‘chain snake’ to your mocked up garment’s lower hem.

Finally, secure your mocked up garment’s upper hem to a sturdy dowel which you can hang over hooks in a location that can get wet. I have a couple of old ‘bike hanging’ hooks secured to rafter ends in my back yard in a shady location. Once your garment is hanging, with the weight at the lower end, wet it.

Between the water and the weight, your bias stretch will hang itself out relatively quickly (I normally do this with wool, and depending on fabric’s weight it takes 2-3 days and 2-3 wettings to get all the bias stretched out).

Once the fabric has stretched, you will need to re-cut your lower hem to level it.

But at least you won’t end up with ‘short and long’ bits on your garment as time stretches the bias on a finished piece!



Anyone else have some tricks-o-the-trade ore “homemade sewing tools” to share?