Getting Close to Completion

As I stitched the beading to the neckline, I made two discoveries.
1.  I could have basted the inside edge of the bias tape which is standing in for the insertion to hold it in place.  Then I could have placed the edge of the beading over the insertion and stitched them in place together.
2.  Do you see that little margin of fabric extending beyond the beading?  I am going to fold it to the right side of the slip and press it in place.  Then I am going to poke the 2-inch lace down between the slip fabric and the beading and stitch all three together.  Wait until you see my substitution for the 2-inch lace.

Speaking of 2-inch lace.  I have two ideas about that.  Originally I was going to use something that would simulate an half-inch wide flat edging because I thought that might work better than 2-inch wide.  I did decide to use a 2-inch wide and I had a very pleasant surprise.  I applied it as a flat edging without gathering it because the picture looks more like a flat application.  Just the process of applying the wide flat edging took in a little of the front neckline so that it was gaping much less.  Then I mitered in a little more in the corners and that took in more of the gaping front neckline.  So, I think I would recommend using a 2-inch wide lace and applying it flat.

I stitched the 2-inch wide quick and dirty.  The miters are not very well done and are still pinned in place but it is enough to give you the general idea of what I am doing.

 Yes, the substitute for 2-inch wide lace is seersucker.  I folded back a small hem along one edge and stitched it in place with my shell stitch feature.  Then I cut off a strip 2 inches wide, more or less. 

In this picture, you can see from the inside of the slip how I slid the seersucker down between the beading and the slip fabric. 

 In this picture, you can see the miter of the seersucker strip and how more fabric can be drawn into it to relieve the gaping neckline. 

You can also see an issue which I forgot to resolve.  I did plan the placement of the beading so the ribbon would be tied in a bow at the center front.  But, I neglected to manipulate the beading to give me an attractive way to turn the ribbon in the corner. 

The slip is flat so it is a little difficult to give you an accurate picture of it.  The space above the bustline looks a bit graceless.  It does look better on the dress form with contours behind it. 

This picture gives you a little idea how the slip can look on a contoured form.  It does have very flattering lines.

I still have the 2-inch wide "lace" to apply to the armseyes.  I think that I will only do one because after all, no one is going to wear this. 
 
I have been a little silent here and barely working on my slip, on any cross stitching, on keeping the house tidy.  I hope this week to take up and continue working on what I have put down and to start some new tidiness habits. 

To that end, I feel virtuous today.  Friday I found, quite by chance, someone who actually wants my old copies of Threads magazines.  I have all of them from the current issue back to the premier issue.  I also have the CD with all issues through 2011.  I had a difficult time with the idea of putting the old magazines in recycling so they sat on the floor in the basement.  Now that I found a good home for them where they will be appreciated, I can finish sanitizing them.  I wrote my name on some that I had loaned out; I am blacking out my name and I am pulling off mailing labels. 

Today one of our sons helped me sort through my turtlenecks, tee-shirts, and sweatshirts.  That is a fairly non-threatening collection reduction.  I did not discard as many turtlenecks as I thought I would but at least I can get them into two boxes and one small drawer; if I get any new ones, I will have to discard that many from what I have.  Again with the tee-shirts, I did not discard that many but what I still have fits into one large drawer.  Some of the older and more stretched out sweatshirts are gone.  The sad thing about that is that I still like them and cannot find any like them now. 

A Little Cross Stitching

Yes, I have been working on the Quaker Winders Keeper, just not as intensively as I was before I got the slip to stitch. 

I think that I have found something to use in place of the 2-inch wide lace on the slip.  Hopefully I will complete the slip during the weekend. 

The snow blower that was stolen from our church is back.  We picked it up earlier this week.  I am not certain if the length of time reflected difficulty locating it or if it was kept until the thief made his court appearance and pleaded guilty.  The value of the snow blower is more than $1,000 so the crime is a felony.  Our son has been asked to write a statement of expenses for restitution.  I doubt that we will see a cent of restitution.  He has also been asked to write an impact statement to be used at the time of sentencing.  Right now our son and a friend took the snow blower to the shop that has serviced it to have it checked and order repairs, if necessary.  It is just nice to know that we have it back.  For the time being, it is chained to a truss in the shed.  In the spring, our son and his friend will embed a heavy duty loop or two into the cement floor of the shed and chain the snow blower there.  At least this sorry story has concluded. 

Time to show you more progress on the slip

I have to admit that at the moment I am extremely tired.  I am not certain I will feel like working on the slip after I finish this blog entry.  I have what I think are some interesting construction ideas that I am dying to try out so I just may turn on the sewing machine and heat up the iron when I finish here. 

I stitched the back the same way that I stitched the front.  The major difference here is that there is less body curvature to accommodate so the seam 31-32 acts more like a miter and less like a dart. 

As you can see, I interfaced the button placket sides.  I opted for fast and dirty as opposed to 1912 techniques.  I used fusible interfacing.  If I were trying to be more accurate, I would have used a strip of organdy, stitching it in place at the fold like with herringbone catch stitches. 

I am tempted to think a shaped interfacing might work better than folding the extension to the inside of the slip.  The one reason standing in the way of that is the fact that it would add the bulk of a seam at the fold line.  So, in the end, it is probably better to press the extension to the inside, clipping it where necessary to make it lie flat. 

I clipped the top of the center back seam to be able to open the seam allowances to press the seam.  Unfortunately Blogger does not want to post my picture top edge up.  I have tried everything I can think of including cropping the picture.  You will just have to turn your head to the side if you want to see it top edge up. 

The slip is not designed to fit Agatha Amelia's shape.  Agatha Amelia is a standard dressmaker's form.  I think it is a size 14 prior to the most recent sizing standardization.  The front of the slip gapes a little as you can see in the picture. 

The extra room could intentionally be there to accommodate the push-up effect of a corset.  If one does not plan to wear a corset, this should be fitted out.  It might be possible to pull the ribbon a little tight in the beading to ease in the fullness but I am not certain it would look good under the garment of choice. 

I found this insertion in my stash and it is the correct width.  As I began to pin it in place, I developed a couple ideas about how to work with the laces and insertion.  I am anxious to see if my ideas have any merit. 

The day was extremely dark yesterday.  It was very hard to get a decent picture of the slip.  I am hoping that before I finish up my blog entries following the construction of the slip, I can get a decent picture of the entire slip. 

Back Again with the Slip Pattern

I apologize because I am afraid that you are going to become very bored with this.  For those who thought I was constructing the garment, I am sorry to disappoint you.  I am, at this point, only sampling the pattern and its construction.  Some of the stitchers are constructing wearable garments. 

The patterns come without modern construction directions.  I gather that we are doing the work to enable the writers to develop the construction directions.  But then, I could be completely wrong.  It is a little exciting to know that the patterns we are using were last used a little less than a hundred years ago; to be on the safe side, let us say they have not been used in at least 75 years. 

After posting an entry on the 1912 Project blog, I decided to come back here and write my comments; I am much more comfortable working with Blogger than WordPress.  Did I also tell you that I am blundering my way around Facebook?  The group is using Facebook to communicate. 

After constructing the front yesterday, I had intended to work on the insertion today.  After Tracey posted her progress on the slip, I thought I might skip this step.  After thinking it over, I decided to go ahead.  My original plan was to apply the insertion to the front after constructing it but before stitching it to the back.  It is a little more fussy and demanding to do it this way rather than applying the insertion to the individual pieces where possible before doing the construction.  I think the way I am doing it has the advantage of reducing bulk in the seam allowance areas, enabling the garment to mold a little more closely to the body. 

I am substituting wide single-fold bias tape for the insertion.  It is a lot stiffer than lace insertion and a little narrower but does give us an idea of how the process works. 

The bias tape represents the insertion down the center and each of the side front seams.  It begins a little above the placement line for the first horizontal line of insertion across the top of the slip. 

Because the garment has shaping created by the seamlines 26-27 and and 27-28, I draped the slip over a pressing ham to better pin the horizontal tape in place, covering the upper edges of the vertical lines of insesrtion. 

Needless to say, I used the pressing ham to press the bias tape after I stitched it in place. 

I brought Agatha Amelia, my dress form, out to help me show you how this is going to look.  Agatha Amelia is too big for me to use for myself and is a little smaller than this pattern is sized.  I think that she will still be helpful to us. 

I used the same process with the insertion in the neckline and upper armseye areas.  First I applied the four vertical segments and then I applied the horizontal one, covering the lower ends of the vertical segments. 

This horizontal line of insertion does not cover the seam 26-27.  Its upper edge is at the #27 point. 

I want to try to find something that more closely represents the eyelet beading that is applied to the slip above and inside the rows of insertion at the neckline.  The beading will have to be mitered to account for the 26-27 seams in front and the 31-32 seams in back. 

The list of materials calls for 2-inch wide lace.  I had assumed that it would be applied to the beading in the neckline and around the armseyes.  Until now, I thought that 2 inches would be too wide.  As I look at the front on Agatha Amelia, I think 2 inches will work. 

At Last I Can Tell

Yesterday I got my first pattern in the 1912 Project.  Threads magazine has a nice, brief description of the project; click here to read it. 

Monday we were offered a challenge project to stitch this princess line slip.  This garment would have been worn next to the skin, under the corset.  A chemise like garment would have been worn over the corset to conceal it.  Oh yes, under the slip one would wear pantalettes.  Talk about layers of garments, even in the 1910's. 

After resolving some issues opening the downloaded pattern file, we printed the pattern last night. 

This afternoon, I crawled around on the floor to tape the sections together.  The pattern pieces lined up with remarkable ease.  I was pleased with how well the sections matched each other. 

The construction looks quite straightforward and, I think, deceptively simple.  The lace and eyelet trimming make the construction more complex.  Since my purpose is to work out the construction, I will sample the pattern with some light weight blue broadcloth that I have. 

Following that, I will sample out the application of the lace and eyelet as suggested in the accompanying directions.  I have a feeling that in 1912, the lace and eyelet would have been stitched using what we now refer to as French heirloom sewing techniques, not the way described in the directions. 

It remains to be seen whether or not I will actually construct the slip in batiste, lace, and eyelet when I have finished this process. 

You may become tired with my progress reports.  We are all expected to document our progress.  We can do this on the 1912 Project blog or on our own blogs if we link to the 1912 Project blog.  So for now, I am starting out here. 

Progress on the Quaker Winder Keeper

I goofed off on Saturday but made progress prior to Saturday.  Yesterday it felt like I did more frogging than stitching.  The good note is that I think I am past the point of making miscounts on the light blue medallion. 

There are two spaces left for initials.  One is above the light blue medallion and to the left of the red plant.  The other is to the far upper right in the picture.  I like to use three initials so I am going to leave a small motif out; it is above and slightly to the right of the red plant.  The year goes in a little cartouche on the bottom of the pouch. 

The squirrels are running around.  I thought that you might like to see one running along the top of our fence.  The camera was hand held and the focus is a little fuzzy. 

Began Stitching the Quaker Winder

Yesterday, I did a little stitching. 

Guess what, you can't see what I stitched in the picture of  the finished stitching. 
What you see in this picture is the inside of the little pouch opened to lay flat.  Think of what you see in the picture as a square and the corners have been folded back.  What I stitched is the upper left hand corner and is folded back. 

For Catherine:  
Look for the 8 January 2012 entry.  Apparently you cannot get a direct link to entries that do not have titles because the link is attached to the title.  You may have to go into archived entries because when I post this, the 8 January post may be pushed into the archives.  Scroll to the last paragraph of the 8 January entry.  That is where I said a little, precious little at that, about my secret project.