why am i here

Well my old desktop computer has once again decided it’s not going to connect to the internet so I’m back on my laptop. Blah. I hate writing my blog entries on the laptop.


I kept working on my Padme sleeves last week. And I came to the conclusion that this poly charmeuse doesn’t hang right. It’s just slightly thicker and stiffer and just doesn’t hang like a silk would. So as much as it kills my budget I decided I needed to buy silk for the lining layer.

THANKFULLY I got paid for hemming some curtains so it’ll cover the fabric for this. But it now also means I have to once again wait on it to be delivered and now this is on hold again.


So I switched to work on the vest mock-up again. I realized I was dumb trying to do a mock-up in stretch fabric when my actual fabric is NOT stretch so I stopped working on this one.


Switched to some lining fabric leftover from Raddus Leia. My initial pattern definitely needed some tweaks, these front seams were too close to the arm, didn’t have enough in the front for the asymmetrical closure, and I’m not sure the bottom shape is right. I messed with this a bit, made some tweaks and drew up some new patterns based on that. I got a second mock-up cut and pinned together but I haven’t sewn it together just yet.

Obviously I also drew up a guide for the beaded/embroidered panel. Printed it out to use as a guidepost and to also check the sizing.

Friday the rest of my Jessica fabric arrived! So Saturday was dye day.


Chase bought me this retractable clothes line back right after we moved in but we had never set it up. Finally got it up Saturday morning because I was definitely gonna need it for this. The best part is is that it’s totally removeable so I don’t have to leave it outside at all so I don’t have to worry about bugs getting in it.


Dye set up


Pretty quickly discovered that the way it holds the tension doesn’t work all that great when what you’re hanging on it is very heavy and wet.


First 2 rounds of dye were drying way too light. I was initially only using RIT’s Marigold and Tan.


3rd round I added more tan and a touch of dark brown.

The smaller cut of the chiffon dyed the quickest, so I brought it upstairs to see what it looked like NOT in the glaring sunlight.


And here’s everything.

Overall I was decently happy with how it all turned out. Of course some weirdness happened. I dyed all the chiffon together and all of the charmeuse together. Somehow the 2 cuts of chiffon I had dyed differently. You can kinda see it in the photo above – the larger cut looked darker than the smaller cut. I decided that was likely due to not getting the larger piece rinsed out completely. I put it in the washer for a short rinse cycle and it came out much closer in tone but slightly SLIGHTLY desaturated compared to the smaller cut. I put it back in just some of the marigold for a second and it helped; they’re still like one shade off each other but it’s close enough.
Also the smaller cut ended up splotchy. Dunno how that one got splotchy but nothing else. At least it’s the smallest, least seen, most gathered up bit so hopefully it won’t be too noticeable.


All the finished fabric. I spent saturday night ironing it all. For no real reason because when I went to work with it Sunday it all wrinkled from being folded up.

Yesterday both Chase and I ended up feeling weird. We went outside and cleaned up my dye stuff, then cleaned the windows and both us came back in feeling exhausted and headache-y. Figure it was allergies. Or maybe breakfast, see below. I took a nap and some ibuprofen and eventually dragged myself upstairs to work.


I got 2 yards cut off the large cut of the chiffon and sewn to the smaller cut to create the smaller shawl piece. I got one end completely hemmed, the other one is partially hemmed (machine sewed once, now will flip up once more and finish by hand). Will do that tonight and also the start on the ends of the larger veil.

Then I’ll dig into the dress. SCARY


This is what Chase made for breakfast Sunday morning, french toast with strawberries. it was yummy. Maybe too heavy to have for breakfast then go out and work in the hot sun LOL


This lily is randomly pushing its way up right through where we just planted roses. LOL

Our new neighbors finally seem to have completely moved in. Maybe? They’ve been bringing stuff over in a truck every couple of days and then got a large appliance delivered but we never saw a moving truck until Saturday when they had a uhaul show up late at night. The uhaul stayed there overnight and was gone sunday morning… then yesterday no signs of life, and they left the garage open and the door inside the garage open all night. So weird. It seems to be an older couple and so far the only interaction we’ve had is they came and mowed Saturday morning while I was dyeing stuff in the backyard. I’d left the gate open and he came on his riding mower right by the gate, blowing a bunch of dust and crap into my dyeing area… I had to run over and close the gate to keep more from blowing in. That’s our one interaction so far LOL

Last night we went over to Kevin’s because his parents had bought a new pizza oven. Chase helped assemble it and then they made a couple of pizzas. It was good.

So this week in addition to sewing I also need to get my home work office cleaned up. We’ve got guests coming in a few weeks and they’ll be staying in here. I’ve got so many office supply things I DON’T use I just need to get rid of/donate. 3 storage/drawer things full that I never touch. Gotta get it cleaned up.

Then for sewing my goals this week are to finish hemming the veils, which should be no problem (I’m only doing the ends. The long outer edges are the selvedge), get the dress panels cut, and start getting that assembled.

My velvet swatch for padme is still lost. I reported it to the seller, they said they get a report every monday and if it still hasn’t moved by then they’ll send another. Also gotta get the new sleeve lining fabric ordered today.

Really feeling good about where I am with everything. I feel like (as long as I get this velvet fabric in sometime soon) I could be done with all major sewing for my costumes by early July, then just focusing on the beading/embroidery portions for both, and Chase’s costumes. That would be good. Fingers crossed.