-16c, with a windchill of -18c...

Well, I've muslined (made a test garment in cheap fabric similar to my fashion fabric) the Cashmerette Harrison's front, back yoke, and back pieces, and it's looking promising. With the double princess seams I'm concerned about getting the bust fit right where I need the space, especially as I generally have to shorten and narrow all patterns, but Cashmerette in particular.
My sewing space is a tiny laundry room next to the garage. I don't get freezing in there, as it's next to the boiler/main heater, and I have a little plug-in-space-heater, but MY GOODNESS it's not tempting to 'quickly slip' in and out of 4 layers of clothing (thermal underwear up to the down vest) to check the fit!
I finished binding a quilt for my son instead. Snuggly wins over my sewing goals for today. Now I'm going to get under a blanket and wish it was even 10C warmer...

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Blank Slate Marigold: FBA queries

I'm still figuring out what to actually DO with all the excess fabric an FBA generates. I lost my nerve on the HP Chameleon muslin (and got annoyed, and got a ton of marking) because while I figured out the Y-Dart FBA and how to tweak the great big dart and manage some added shoulder fabric, the waist was suddenly inches and inches too big for the skirt portion of the dress, and the pattern wasn't supposed to support gathering at the waist, and I couldn't see how/where to add a dart... Now I'm at the adjustment stage of cutting out the blank slate marigold and the instructions cheerfully suggest I won't need an FBA (in my dreams) and then suggests putting the whole lot of added fabric in the shoulder gathers. If it were an inch or two, maybe, but I need to add 3.5 and that's just not going to work, is it? Is it? Stay tuned! I guess I have nothing to lose but the muslin fabric - and precious sewing time.

Sewing for the League in Empire Larp: Femme Patterns

The LARP Sewing Patterns List that No One Asked For! 1: Femme Stuff! 1 I sew clothes for my own general use, my kids, and often for wearing to Empire Larp. It's very fun! I play a female character in The League (Based on C113-14th Italian and hanseatic city states, but fantasy) who wears a doublet and hose sometimes, and big frock for fancy occasions. The League's keywords are urban, urbane, and luxurious. The city my character is from, Sarvos, is the most southernly city and a beacon of art, culture, and fashion. Empire's League Costume Brief Empire's League Look and Feel Femme League Kit My favourite Femme doublet pattern is McCalls M7855. It's now discontinued so if you see one, grab it. Coscraft still has both size ranges available but the larger size is low stock there and in most places (booo hissss!). I won't be coy here: I did some fitting changes to make this fit me. I took a princess seam bodice that fits me well ( Cashmerette Upton Dress , ex...

Plague 2: The coughening/ January Goals update

Ugh. I got better! I had a week of being better. Then I got some upper-respiratory infection (probably viral) and I've had three days off work, in bed, feverish and sweaty and coughing like a hardcore smoker. Add to that; my machine (the Singer 7258) cannot handle buttonholes on 2 layers of thick flannel plus interfacing and I have STILL not got the Harrison finished. All I need to do is buttonholes and hem, but so far, no dice. But January goal: sew a button-up shirt. Almost done? I'm going to give myself an 8/10 for that one. I'd hoped to sew two shirts and honestly, if I hadn't lost 25% of January to illness, I might have managed it! I'm in my bed as I type this, with honey and prescribed cough suppressants and a box of hand-embroidery supplies by my side. But I've got to be honest, I've been watching the 2016 War and Peace on amazon prime instead. I've really enjoyed it. I read W&P in 1998, my upper sixth year, and I remember nothing about it,...

Stitch Frenzy: a journey into garment making

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