Month: November 2013

Masquerade stays: Progress, pain and a trim poll

Published by The Dreamstress

In between bouts of paper marking, the masquerade stays are coming along.  They may actually even be finished on time (amazement). In any case, I have an event to wear them to on the 9th, so they have to be done by then! So far, with help from Miss Fiss, I’ve completed all the boning channels and inserted my boning, and sewn together the front, side front, and side back pieces in preparation for fitting. I’ve also cut the lining and outer fabrics for the back piece, and have inserted my lacing bones.  I’m using fenestrated metal boning, because it’s the only boning that I have around that’s both strong enough to support the back lacing and long enough for the length of the stays. At the moment things are at a pause while I coat the ends of the lacing bones and let them dry.  I’m just using nail polish – it’s worked well in every previous application! Things are also at a pause while I ice my thumb.  There was a little problem …

Five for Friday: Songs for Sewing To

Published by The Dreamstress

I love music. I own a lot of music, in a huge range of genres.  My collection is, to say the least, random and eccentric.  I wouldn’t say I know a lot about music, I rarely even know the proper name for songs, and I certainly don’t know anything when it comes to making it, but I still love it. My life has theme songs: certain pieces of music that play in my mind when I do certain things. Here is my soundtrack to sewing: 1. Classical KDFC. I didn’t grow up listening to classical music.  For some reason the classical radio station in Hawaii picks the most depressing, morose, dirgelike (and possibly just flat out dirge) classical music.  So I thought classical music was dire.  Then, working in a costume shop in the Bay Area when I was at university, we sewed to the San Francisco classical radio station, and I discovered that actually, classical music (and baroque music, and romantic music, and impressionist music) are all awesome.  So awesome that in retrospect I’m …