can i kick it
First things first – part of my site broke recently. The front page scrolling banner was just stuck on “loading”. When I go into the wordpress theme options to that area, sometimes it loads (but I can’t click on anything) but most of the time it’s just blank with a constant loading gif at the top.
I think it’s an issue between the latest wordpress update and my theme. Unfortunately the theme I use is abandoned, the creators have disappeared, so there will be no update patch from them to fix it. So I just got into the coding and replaced the rotating slideshow header with a static one for now just so it doesn’t look weird. Thankfully this is just an aesthetic thing and not anything super important, my site is still functional.
But it does mean that after dragoncon I’m going to have to find a new theme and do a total rehaul of the site. UGGH. Ok so this is a thing where I’m half “UGGH” but also half secretly excited cuz I love working on my site LOL. And I’ve had this theme for nearly a decade so I guess I got my money’s worth.
Lil weirdo has been extra weird lately. Begging for lunchmeat from my turkey sandwich…
Going up on the catwalk by herself…
Threateningly staring at me down my sewing room hall
It’s all because my sewing room has been closed to her. I’ve still had all that tulle out from working on the Belle petticoat – I put that on pause to work on the skirt. So to keep her from going up there and monching on it and getting parts of it all disgusting with her drool, I closed up my sewing room doors. She hates it, she sits down at the door and cries. Yesterday I did pick up all the tulle and let her back in (hence the threateningly staring at me down the sewing room hallway) because it was really throwing off our A/C running having the sewing room blocked off for so long.
Anyway. Somewhat of a disastrous work week. I did finally finish flat-lining all of my skirt pieces, and got it partially assembled. Most of the seams are finished, I didn’t finish the last 3 yet because I started to think this thing might be too wide at the waist and I may have to take it up. I don’t want it to look too bulky under my bodice. But I did test it out and it’s ok so now I just need to go back and finish those 3.
This was a beast (haha) to wrestle through my machine. It’s SO heavy. But finishing up those last 3 seams and then getting the waistband on will be the last time I have to deal with it at the machine. Everything else I’ll do by hand.
So where’s the disaster? It’s the amazon hoopskirt ugh. I said from the beginning I was worried about it and I was right to be worried. It is not strong enough to hold up the weight of this fabric. I tried it all on (using my 2005 bodice as a stand-in) and the hoopskirt just turns into an amoeba blob as I move.
So I had to go online and buy all new materials to make an entirely new hoopskirt UGGGH. This is not a half-fun UGGGH like rebuilding my website, this is a pissed off, “I don’t have time or the money for this” UGGH. Seriously this was an extra $150 on top of what I’ve already spent on this beast (haha).
I also cheaped out and bought smaller hoop wire than the pattern I’m going to use calls for so please pray for me. But on the bright side I’ll be able to build the kind of hoopskirt I wanted from the beginning instead of trying to cheat it with extra petticoats.
So while I await all of that stuff to get here, I moved onto the bodice. I’m using the same bodice pattern I’ve used for both 2005 and 2012 because I love the shape.
I did do a mockup of it first because I wanted to edit it a little. As I said above I did try on my 2005 version with the skirt, and I had about a 3 inch gap in the back which is more than I want. So I traced the original pattern onto my patterning paper and made them all a little bit bigger, and also edited the curve of the bust to fit better.
Once that was good enough I cut my lining and strength layers. Got those assembled and pressed. Decided to do some basting stitches to hold the seam allowances in place while I did the boning channels, which I normally don’t do but the curves on the bust seam on the strength layer were kind of fighting me staying in place. So I decided to just do basting stitches on every seam allowance on both layers, why not, the stitching would look nice. Well it was about halfway through doing all that that I realized my bobbin stitches looked weird. Really loose like the tension was messed up, even though I hadn’t messed with it. Went back and looked at everything and realized it had been like that for a while – even while doing the main seams on both layers. Traced it back to when I wound a new bobbin partway through assembling the layers. Replaced the bobbin with a new one and no more issues, but I had to go back through and re-do my seams because they were very loose. What a waste of time.
Last night I got my boning installed.
Both layers ready for the outer layer to be added. This yellow is actually the lining layer that will be against me but it looked nicer on the form than having the strength layer to the outside.
The skirt is currently pinned up over my 18th century panniers just to keep the fabric neat until I can finish it. Which brings up a problem – how the hell am I going to store this thing when it’s done?? LOL. All of my other silk velvet things hang, but this skirt is SO heavy I don’t think I’ll be able to. I may have to buy a new under-the-bed storage thing and carefully arrange it in there to try to keep it from creasing. Well, whatever, that’s a problem for post-dragoncon me to deal with.
Saturday went out and helped mom with her skirt, we got all of the pieces cut, and the lining pinned on so she could get them attached. And I got a basic start of a waistband cut.
And Sunday I did start messing with my last dragoncon project of the summer – I got the Yaya Han bunny suit pattern out and cut it out and did a mockup. I did decide to start at the biggest size of my pattern, since I figured that’s what would fit my bust and work down from there. NO LOL that mockup was so big I couldn’t even take a picture of it. I cut everything down but haven’t reassembled it. I’ll either do that tonight, or I’ll get the velvet layer for my Belle bodice cut and made.
Also yesterday did a duct tape dummy of Chase’s legs. That was fun LOL
Ok, to-do list as of this week (not FOR this week, just in general):
Troi:
-style wig
-make sure headband works
-paint shoes
Lorne:
-test out hairstyle
-add trim to ribbon
-paint jewelry pieces
Scarlet Witch:
-buy boots
-make boot cover patterns
-make boot covers
-when skirt fabric arrives, distress and add waistband
-finish glove on shirt (I did one but not the other)
-figure out attachments for everything
Belle:
-pick out swag fabric (samples incoming)
-make chiffon skirt swags
-design embroidery
-do embroidery
-make outer layer for bodice/attach
-back closure
-waistband on skirt/closure
-finish petticoats
-finish seams/hem skirt
-make new hoopskirt
-style wig
-make bodice shoulder swags
-gloves? (considering dyeing one of my sets of vintage white ones…)
The other one:
-finish mockup
-cut real fabric
-assemble
-starting stoning
I got heat-fix rhinestones for this one instead of glue. Gonna try it out. Fingers crossed.
