Today, I'm gonna try a new format for my project diary... I think it'll be useful for people learning to sew to have a clearer idea of how long something takes and how much it costs, so I'll start including those details as accurately as I can.  I also know that a lot of people stop reading when they see a block of text (not sure why, since I like blocks of text, but the world is diverse!), so I'll try to put vital stats in bullet points to make them easier to read. 

Like most frugal people, my family was green before it was cool.  Every Christmas, we re-used wrapping paper from previous Christmases (no ripping or tearing allowed!) or used the colorful Sunday comics from the newspaper.  This year, as everyone seems to be ordering from Amazon, I see lots of the Amazon gift bags under the tree, which are some sort of outerwear-type chemical fabric covered with sparkly polyester organza.  Naturally, I'm saving them for next year, too! 

My niece has requested a muff for Christmas.  (I'm guessing this has something to do with her long-standing love of Frozen.)  For color, she wants pink.  Then--because her mom doesn't like velvet--she requests velvet.  I consider it my bounden duty to help her tease her mother, so I consent to the velvet!  But I don't have pink velvet in my stash, so coral-red is what she'll get.  ;)  I also have some pink charmeuse for the lining, and brown faux fur (a knit) from an old hat that I disassembled. 

Remember this picture?  Besides my nightcap, I'm wearing a yellow quilted bed jacket given to me by a friend.  Bed jackets used to be a thing, before central heating became the norm, and they are really useful for lounging around if, like me, you're chronically chilly!  Mine is probably from the fifties or sixties.  It's made of some sort of loud synthetic (loud as in it scratches and rustles against itself like taffeta or cheap acetate).  It being older than me to start with, it didn't stand up to more than two years of my use and occasional washing; the batting went flat and various spots wore away and shredded.  

So I decide to take a pattern from it and make new!

When I told my six year old niece I would make her a hat, and asked what color she wanted, she answered: "Teal and sparkly pink!"  Well, I found sparkly teal and pink, so I decided--close enough--and set out to make the hat with them. 

I picked up a Maw-Bell pattern from Fabric Depot a while back, during their warehouse sale.  It has a plaid skirt and hat in it, but I was just interested in the adorable hat.  As it turns out, it's a super simple pattern! 

A seamstress friend from my Steampunk days referred this bride to me back in November 2017, when she found her own plate too full.  G. came with dress pattern, her chosen fabric, and even a muslin made up by my friend.  I finished the dress for her by the new year, but am only posting now, after the wedding! 

The pattern is McCall's 9133, and it's view A that she wanted.  She chose electric blue satin for the dress, and white lace for the overdress with sleeves.  In particular, because she's a practical woman, she requested that the two layers be made entirely separate, so she could shorten the blue dress later and wear it to other events.  For notions, I bought a blue invisible zipper, white loops & buttons, and horsehair brain for the hem. 

My Elizabethan-inspired modern ensemble continues... not exactly apace.  The posts so far:
Elizabethan Inspiration
Blackwork Ruffle
Blackwork Partlet

Today, a post about stays.  I won't go into the history of stays, because so many other people have done so, and so well.  Instead, I'll focus on making my first pair of bodies.

Today I'll talk about the next stage of my modern Elizabethan ensemble!  I make a partlet and embroider it with Elizabethan-inspired blackwork, using modern embroidery floss and all-purpose thread, and my own designs.  This'll be a long post, encompassing the draping of the partlet pattern, sewing it, designing the embroidery pattern, and embroidering it. 

A note about pictures in this post: if you click a pic and it takes you to an enlarged version, it's my picture.  If you click it and it takes you to a Wikimedia Commons page, it's not mine, but I'm using it under a creative commons license or Fair Use clause.  Basically: the historical portraits are not mine; click them to see where they come from.