Saints have been canonized for less forbearance and dedication than I have shown in keeping my New Years Resolution to sew from stash!  Every day I see desirable fabric (and imagine projects I'd make with it), and every day I leave said fabric uncut at the store.  At Fabric Depot, I put on blinders and get only the notions or interfacing I need.  At the Mill End Store, I marshal myself like a woman and a Roy and remind myself that if I want any of their delicious wool, or printed cottons, or textured silks, I will simply have to whittle my stash down to size!  At Goodwill, I don't even walk by the section next to curtains and linens that has their fabrics. 

A few years ago, before I started blogging, I made this costume for a musician to use in a music video.  The costume came out great!  The music video got moved to a back burner and hasn't been finished yet.  However, he recently donned the costume for a photoshoot, supplying me with some lovely close-up pics of the construction details!  So today: pretty pictures but no sewing pictures. 

My preference for the color yellow was established early in my sewing adventures and soon led to a bag full of yellow scraps that I didn't want to throw away because of ill-considered thriftiness.  (Not all thriftiness is ill-considered, of course, but I had three trash bags full of scraps in my closet before I realized I wasn't saving; I was hoarding!)  So I fished out the scraps I would use for this project, and then gave the rest away on Freecycle to someone who did crazy quilting. 

For my 1919 dress, I began by draping an idea on my dress form, then draping a pattern on my friend.  Next, I put a bunch of work into sewing the bodice.  So far, so thoughtful and meticulous. 

By contrast, the skirt is quickly applied, the waistband hurriedly top-stitched, and the finishing touches done at breakneck speed with my friend standing around in stockings and our ride waiting in the car! 

Which is to say that I finish just in time for the murder mystery evening...

I recently made a French bustle for a wedding dress.  Let me show you how I made it, and show the bridesmaid(s) how to bustle it on the day of the wedding! 

A bustle on a trained dress is a way of lifting the train off the floor so the wearer can dance or move in a crowd without disaster.  The first dance is usually a ballroom dance, so the woman walks backward the whole time.  She doesn't want to step on her train! 

There are different types of bustles, and in-consistent nomenclature.  The type of bustle your dress gets is partially determined by the type of skirt and train you have.