Appendix A: Journal
This journal was kept to track my progress and how my design changed over the later phases of construction. . . .
Tuesday April 23, 2019
Well, Norwescon is over, and about halfway through I realized I really needed to be journaling on this at least since I got accepted into the 2020 Design P&P conference. Better start now. Probably doing a lot of flashbacks.
Starting with Norwescon, I was not able to finish anything completely before packing for the Con.
The “Crown” was most complete, to the point of being painted pretty nicely. It did not have highlighting or fastenings, and of course did not have moss and lichen because they would have been destroyed in the suitcase. I will take the unopened? bag to Dublin. Maybe I will open it and try some attachment methods on my sample. The hat part had the under-brim partly cut and the crown plastic liner done except for gluing on the tip. The veil was still uncut. [So remaining work includes quilting the brim and fitting the veil. I also intend to rip out the underbrim and re-sew it, because I did a bad job and it came out too small. I will have to see how the hot-gluing of flowers worked. They certainly stayed on, but if I can find a better way that doesn’t include too much stitching I will.]
Second most complete was the skirt, thanks to Cynthia. And only to Cynthia. It had no side seam or waistband, but was otherwise wearable, if not embellished as desired.
Third would be the corset. The sides were sewn together, and I got the lining cut, but it was not sewn at all and had not been completely dyed.
Fourth was was jacket. The outer fabric was cut and marked. The lining was not completely dyed and not cut (I’m glad of that), nor was the lace for the sleeves. The facings were not cut and the lace pleated organza scrap for the collar was not yet found.
Chemise and petticoat were not completely dyed and not cut at all.
The scepter had not printed correctly, but was mostly done in good shape, but I didn’t have time to reprint the missing stinger, or to fuss with gluing it together. The eyes are great, but the bowl doesn’t fit the ball at all. I obviously screwed up some calculation or had the wrong number somewhere.
The saddlebags and pollen pack never got started. Neither did the stinger.
So on Friday night I literally had NOTHING to wear on Saturday night.
The next morning I had to be at the tech meeting at 9am. Turns out that was for making sure lighting, sound, video, “Ninjas” and the MC understood what you wanted, to save time in the tech rehearsal, and to get you rehearsal spot. I got the last spot–11:45–which was great because it gave me an extra hour and a half to work on the costume.
I went back to my room about 9:45 and started by hot-gluing the plastic canvas tip to the plastic canvas crown. Then I cut out the saddlebags (ever the optimist). I also cut the parts for the pollen pack. These items never got further than that. When I went to start sewing I discovered that–following my instructions to the letter–Mark had left the power cord for the sewing machine at home. I began the slow descent into a panic attack, but my practice with accepting my “persistent” pain must have kicked in. Instead of totally losing it, I put together what I needed for the rehearsal and went out to see if my colleagues could help. I knew where to find them.
At 11:30 I stopped at the BRCG table and told Betty B. that I had an emergency. Julie Z. was there and she got on the phone and sent out a call for either a Brother-type power cord or a sewing machine for me to borrow, and sent me on to rehearsal. They all knew this was my first Masquerade and so were totally supportive. Before my rehearsal time even got started, she arrived at the auditorium with a previously unknown woman who offered to bring her machine over from another hotel if I would pay the Uber. No problem. Before I finished she was back with the equipment. I was able to start sewing by 12:30.
The question of how to proceed was less confused than when I was at home. I needed to be able to wear it, so putting the side seam and waist band in the skirt was critical. Since it was quick and simple, that was done first. Then the jacket had to be seamed at least, so that I had something to hide the fact that the corset was pinned up the back. There were a couple of seams I did not need to rip out later to install the lining, so I insisted on putting the piping in there. It turned out to be a good use of time, since the judges later wanted to see the back (of course) and made a nice comment about the peplum. I even managed to turn and top-stitch a hem around most of it. After that I cut and stitched the veil lace into a tube, but nothing else. Finally, I got the lower brim attached to the hat, which I thought was important even if no one was going to see under the veil.
The director had told me I should start back by 4:30 so I could be ready when the Workmanship judges got started at 5pm. I sewed until 4:50, put everything into my big suitcase and got there after 5. I took the last slot, since at this point that judging was just an experience for me. Then I proceeded to put the hat together, no small feat. I had the help of a “Den Parent” both in pinning my corset together, and in giving advice on the hat construction–he convinced me that a tiny bit of hot glue to hold the flowers on would not create a problem later. I managed to get dressed and have the hat ready just in time as the Workmanship judges were ready for me. We made it very quick, because they were already running late. This was perfect for me and I’m glad they agreed to see me (not MY fault they were running late, but I had only just finished dressing when they were ready, so I could not have gone sooner).
At this point I actually felt pretty good about everything. I was there, I was dressed, no one in the audience knew my costume was unfinished and my routine unpracticed. My main goal at this point was that my hat would not fall off and for everyone to enjoy watching me. Apparently that happened. I later got a lot of comments from people who were there, both known and unknown, who told me it was really fun to watch. One of the performance judges commented that I gave the audience “a lot to look at.” That was clearly a good thing in his mind. I won the “Trixie” award, which is given by my guild to the most over-the-top costume at the Masquerade. [I think they may] not award it if nothing reaches at least a certain level of outrageousness. The judge for that award does not know me personally (it’s a big guild and very spread out. Most members never come to monthly meetings). In fact, most of my fellow guild members did not know who was wearing the costume. This acknowledgement is really what I crave when I put my work out there, so I could not have been more pleased with the outcome of the event.
I wore the costume for the rest of the evening, around the hotel and to a couple of parties. Mostly I carried the hat, but sometimes I wore it. It was very popular, and since it is supposed to be the main focus, I was very gratified. I know that once I have all the embellishments and the parts that I could not wear (underwear, bustle and stinger, not even started), it will be a spectacular work.
Wednesday April 24, 2019
Going forward I have a lot to do and I know I need to keep working steadily if I am going to be ready when we leave on July 20. I am much more confident now that I can fit the whole costume into the brown suitcase. I can probably fit more, like clothes I will want to wear at the con but can do without on the rest of the trip. I’m not planing on that yet, though. The sooner I complete any given garment the happier (or at least calmer) I’ll be.
I am not sure whether I can put the flowers on the veil in advance. It is one of the few things I have been sure would have to be done once there. I have been convinced that I would have to wait until the veil is on the hat and does not have to be removed before stitching them to the brim through the veil. Now I am not so sure. That may still be the ideal method, but it might be possible to hot glue or stitch them on in advance and pack it in such a way that they are not flattened, if there is enough room in the suitcase. Plus the brim has to be redone. I was in a hurry and put the seam in unevenly and 1/8″ or so too wide. The under brim ended up too small (sewn, not cut) and the whole brim is bowed and lumpy. Not much, but it could be a lot better.
It now appears, given how much extra fabric was in the suitcase going into Norwescon, that there will be plenty of room for padding and even for having non-flat items, like the hat crown structure. This would greatly reduce the amount of work required on the costume after arrival. The delicacy of the moss and fungus going on the hat will likely require it to be attached once in Dublin, but that is minimal. I also still expect to have to reattach the netting onto the petticoat in order to save space. That is one of the bits I have been sure must be done there, since it will take up too much room fully constructed. Plus I just realized that the netting folded up could make an ideal padding for the veil with flowers. I’m beginning to see it all coming together. I might even be able to tack the flowers to the veil AND brim, making the whole thing ready for wear on arrival. We’ll see. I have to be pretty sure the TSA and baggage handlers don’t have much to break. They are very good at that.
That is another important step I now need to look into–contacting TSA and determining what might be a problem and how to make sure there ISN’T a problem. Try to figure out some way to have the bag pre-inspected. I should also contact the hotel to determine if I can have it sent ahead there, or to someone at the con. This is not a strategy that I expect will work, but one never knows. If we were only going to be arriving a few days after leaving the US I could pack it in a box and ship it as air freight. D/k if that would be more or less expensive. The extra bag is $75 I think. Maybe $100–I can’t recall right now.
Back to completing the costume. Pretty much nothing is actually finished. Here’s what there is left to do:
Jacket: deconstruct everything except the back. Finish dyeing the lining. Add the sequined edging. Cut and install the lace and organza in the collar. Cut the lining and facings and install them and the piping while reconstructing. Sounds like a lot. And last night I had (remembered, really) the idea of including non-functional bee buttons on the jacket. I now want to put them on both sides in each concave on the sequined edging. Awesomely over the top!
Skirt–deconstruct the waist band and left side seam. Embellish the hexes. Cut and decorate the hem. Redesign the waist band and reinstall. Finish the side seam. Not so bad. Cut the hemline with hot knife and embellish with dimensional paint and/or hot glue drops.
Corset–sew together and finish dyeing the lining/facing. Install the lining. Install the busk and the grommets. Install the boning. Find an appropriate set of laces. Not that much, but calls for a lot of practicing. I probably need to try installing the busk in the “muslin”. Also maybe some amount of boning, just to get the practice and not ruin all my embroidery work. Same for the grommets, but I can do that on scraps first. I think I might as well finish the peach corset fully now and take it with me. I’d need another busk and more boning. WAIT: I can order one of the busks from online that has brass buttons.
Chemise and petticoat–complete dyeing. Cut and sew. This all seems pretty straightforward and not really all that much work. the patterns are simple. I definitely want to put the petticoat completely together, even though I will probably have to take the netting off again, because I actually have no idea if it will work. I designed it myself, and really don’t know.
Headdress: Deconstruct brim and resew more carefully. Add an inner band so that the stiffener and plastic canvas don’t cut into my forehead. Quilt the brim. Remake the plastic canvas crown interlining. [This was cut too small and had to be added to, and I ended up using a lot of hot glue on it. I think it would be better to redo it with light stitching using a heavy button thread. My preference would be to leave it flat until Dublin, then stitch together. It should not take more than an hour. Cut the crown part to overlap a set number of holes.] Create a hat band that will hold the log Crown to the crown of the hat. This should include the Castle crown if possible, and the bee signet. The heavy elastic worked very well. I might be able to build it around that, maybe using heavy snaps for the fastening. The log is heavier than I imagined, so I don’t want to add any paper or any more paint even, though I probably will paint it more. It seems to have gotten less leathery with painting. I don’t know if it was just not really cured when I packed it. Should put in more shadows and highlights, even if it requires detail work with a small brush. The washes didn’t work all that well for shadowing. Have to gather the veil at the top and a few inches below that so that it fits fairly tightly around the crown. It should stand up around the crown and not need any attachment.
Saddlebags: Sew tucks. Cut lining fabric and sew bag lining. Attach embellishments. Create belt attachment.
Pollen pack: Glue padding to base. Stitch cover over base/padding. Make straps and stitch on. Engineer wing attachments.
Wings: Pattern and cut. Make channel for wiring. Sew veins. Create attachment to pollen pack.
Stinger–Draw design and cut from foam-core [must fit in suitcase interior (L=??)]. Sample possible build-ups: 1)layers of foam-core padded smooth with batting, covered with canvas or muslin and painted; 2)painted muslin/canvas cut, sewn and stuffed; 3)???
Scepter–I’m not entirely sure I should even bother with this, although it has been a part of the concept from very early on. I liked using the ball the way I did for the Waggle Dance at Norwescon. If I do use it, I would like to enlarge the scepter and carry it separately from the ball. Or start out with the ball on the scepter and then pull it off and tuck the scepter into my waistband (in a hidden holster) for the dance. I could lose the “dish”, add a very small slightly curved platform for the ball on the bee’s head, and fasten it on with museum putty. That could be very effective.
Have to decide where to use the bee charms.
Have to find the rest of the pearls.
I’d like to have a pair of yellow and black horizontal striped leggings.
I need to consider make-up, whether and how much. I do want to use one of the bee stickers for a beauty mark. And bright red lipstick and chin marks (mouthparts). And maybe the eyelashes. If drawing on chin w/ lipstick, probably need some foundation.
Tuesday April 30
The calendar I was keeping during the month of March fell by the wayside as I fell further behind. In the end, of course, I didn’t really finish for Norwescon and didn’t really have anything to wear when I packed on Thursday night.
I am still adding ideas, and I’m not sure that process can stop. The other night I thought of adding loops of pearls to the shoulders of the jacket, to kind of match the ones on the saddlebags. So epaulets would be a natural way to do that. Sounded good. Go for big ones. But then I have this slim jacket with well-fitting shoulders. I don’t want to make them bigger I think, nor cover them up. So I’m thinking of a small, black velvet tab-type epaulet that folds from the armscye seam toward the neck and buttons to the shoulder. Maybe embroider a bee on each one. Probably the small Napoleonic bee. Or maybe just use a bee button. I don’t know what I’m going to do with the original bee buttons if I don’t put them on the jacket, so maybe this. I’m not sure I want the cartoony bee buttons on the jacket with the sequined trim. I think it may be just too much. I want to balance a sense of richness (if not elegance) with the sort of sublimely ridiculous. I do like the idea of naturally colored bees for the jacket, but metallic could also work. Either way, I now think I will make a press mold and create polymer clay bee buttons. These won’t be expected to actually button anything, so I don’t have to worry about strength. I could use the cartoony ones on the skirt or on the hat (the lights are cartoony, really).
I still don’t know what to do with the bee charms. I also don’t know if I want to keep the lace veil or go for something more plain and net-like. Maybe I can find some fine veiling used and try each one to see what I like better. I don’t even have a good idea of how far down the veil reaches and what it covers on the front.
I’m also not convinced about the slippers. At least with the bee socks. I’m thinking either the slippers with just striped tights/leggings, or a different, more formal shoe with the socks and leggings. I really need to see the photos before I can make any big decisions. The slippers could maybe work if the corset, jacket and skirt look elegant enough (given the sequins).
Wednesday May 1
I saw the May Queen this morning. I was meditating in line for the bus and she walked by on her way to the 590: a black woman dressed for work (skirt, high heels) wearing a garland of fresh large flowers. So bold, walking with such confidence.
I’ve lost my way a little and I don’t know what to do next. I need to photograph all the pieces. I want to show the state of incompleteness they were in at Norwescon. I set up the dress form to use. I can put the whole costume on it and do both full and detail shots. I could pretty easily put the hat back the way it was, except for the lower brim, which I have removed already for resewing (it was a real mess!). Details needed include the inside of the jacket and the corset and the hem of the skirt.
I’ve been having some ideas about the polyester satin I found the other day. The color and texture are FABULOUS! Part of me wishes I had it for the skirt, but really I love the skirt fabric. I will definitely use it for a couple of hexes, but I’m trying to figure out some other place. I’m thinking the black piping might just disappear into the black velvet facing on the jacket front. I could use the gold satin for piping there, I don’t even have to use cord. I could have a flat faux piping there. All the way around, so it would also set off the organza ruff at the collar. Then the rest of the edge would be piped in black (some already is). I am drawn to the idea of taking out the piping on the peplum and edging the whole thing in flat gold satin as well as round black cotton. I will not take out the back-side seams, so that piping will only be black. I could add the gold at the armscyes and cuffs. I think it would be subtly beautiful. And edge the little epaulets with it.
I want to look like an illustration by David Parkes or ????. So much detail you cant take it all in easily. A fairy tale character who seems both comical and fabulous. I don’t want it to go totally silly. I want it to look very luxurious while I’m standing still.
May 20
Took a bit of a break, I guess. I really need to be journaling every day on this. Hard to believe it’s been so long since I thought of the epaulets. Maybe it hasn’t. I can’t be ABSOLUTELY sure that I didn’t add some things without putting in the date.
So I’ve taken pictures, although I still want to get well lit overalls against grey seamless. Still didn’t get Mark’s help hanging it. Have NOT gotten the moody shots posted yet. What is wrong with me. Just tired? Just lazy? Too scared of committing?
Had another new/old idea yesterday. I have gotten the chemise and petticoat fabrics folded and tied–mostly. My hands got sore yesterday working on the chemise fabric since it is so large (thick), so I took a break and did not finish it. I believe I will need to open up the folds before trying to insert the dye. Since I never got the pieces soaked in soda ash, and had half of them tried before I remembered, I will have to soak them folded. I’m thinking of pouring the hot soda ash over them in the bin, and them letting them sit for a couple days, pulling them out and letting them drain and dry partly. It might be easier to open the folds when they are wet–stretchier. Just open the folds where the black goes so I can get the syringe in deeply. The chemise especially is very thick, in order to get the narrow chevrons. The petticoat and jacket lining fabrics are smaller with wider folds, so should not be as difficult.
I had another new idea. I had been, for some time now, intending to have the same chevron fabric lining the corset, but I cut the pieces before dyeing it, and although I could fold and tie them individually, I would really need to stay-stitch the perimeter of each piece to keep them from stretching totally out of shape during the process. That would be a big time sink and the results are hard to predict. I thought it might work nicely to stitch the stripes in a decorative pattern available on my sewing machine. It would not take too much longer than the stay-stiching, once I made a sample, and would be visually interesting and kind of match the outer fabric (by being embroidered). A short time after deciding this would be a good way to go, I had the flash of inspiration. Use the embroidery machine to cover each piece with an all-over honeycomb pattern, probably in black rayon, but I should try some other threads to be sure. Since way back when I was still looking for the outer fabric, I thought the lining should have some honeycomb on it. I was thinking of a commercially printed fabric. Uh-oh. Just had a new idea. What if I PRINTED the honeycomb using a stencil (I don’t have time or energy to try to accomplish a silkscreen under my current circumstances). Maybe I could try printing the pieces on a laser printer, since I’m thinking black. I could use the Apple writer maybe. If not, the HP should work fine. Iron them strongly onto carefully cut freezer paper. It has worked well in the past, and this is not a garment I will be putting through the washer, ever. (Although I have laundered fabrics printed this way without fading.
I still haven’t put the hat back together enough for pictures. And I can’t get to work on the skirt–or anything else that needs reconstruction–until I take the full shots.
I need to make a new calendar and start using it as a time-line again. I have two months pretty exactly. Or if you prefer, just under 9 weeks.
May 22
Didn’t really get anything done Monday night (sore and tired) and last night was BRCG, so didn’t get home until 10:30. PIZZA!! Big meeting. I am now committed to doing programming. I will need help with ideas and contacts. Maybe there is someone who didn’t make it last year who wants to try again. I think I could do one of at least two good panels, depending on what sounds most interesting to people. 1) folded, tied, stitched resist low water immersion leave overnight. 2) wet felting in 3D. [for such a fiery person I sure do like the water crafts.] And I thought of a theme. “BRCG 2020: Foresight Hindsight” (looking back to the future, days of future past, something about future history, you get the idea).
I have to think of something I can do that will have an actual effect–moving the project forward–on weeknights. Particularly tonight (one day at a time). Need to unzip the last embroidery file. I hope it is the big bee. Otherwise I don’t know what happened to it. Also need to find a simple honeycomb pattern. I know that should be easily available. Unless I decide to print it. I wonder if I could use heavy silk thread, given that the pattern will be very straight and open.
And I definitely need to start really getting things organized. Maybe that’s what i can do on weeknights: mount samples, organize sheet protectors and binder, gather everything in one box NOT holding costume parts. The most important thing right now is to get the costume and workmanship docs done. Organizing the poster presentation must wait until September.
May 28
I think I got something done this weekend. I got a lot done, and a lot of it was unpacking. But that served to clear some room, get boxes out of the way. Plus I really did get some work done on Mielificent.
I took the overall pictures, and then I taped the plaster wig head to the dress form and photographed the whole thing with the hat. Of course that means I reconstructed the hat enough to do that. It went back together quite well. This gives me a sense of confidence as far as getting it back together in Dublin. I also figured that I need to leave 3/16″ or so ease around the outer edge of the brim to allow for the thickness of the interfacing. I have NOT yet photographed the hat by itself, but I have set up the head and column.
I spent a good bit of time with the saddlebags (aka pollen baskets) figuring how to proceed with the folding and with the lining, especially at the top edge. Also, how to hang it from my waist. I’m beginning to get a pretty clear idea of how that can work and still not cover the bottom of the corset (tricky). I WILL be adding a bit of the 3/4″ piping cord into the outer fold to give it more structure. I believe I will suspend the baskets from a length of stiff belting, and drape the pearls around the suspension parts. This could the go under the corset with the top of the basket hanging just below the corset. Probably should put the hangers sewn into the top seam.
I also figured that the stabilizer in the skirt waistband should be a lot softer. Maybe “horsehair” braid, which I found some of this weekend. Or maybe just a hefty interfacing and a facing. Still think turning the top edge down is a good solution, but maybe not.
I started to deconstruct the jacket, just the turned edge.
I completed the list of what needs to be done. This should allow me to construct another calendar. It certainly looks like as much work as I had to do before I constructed anything, but it isn’t really. However, if I want to get this done right, I’d better do some simple things like ordering the brass busk, and finishing the corset muslin. I really need to do that, and there is NOTHING standing in my way. I have all the materials ready. This should be the next step. Just tuck into it whenever I’m not sure what is next.
I also finished tying the underwear yardage, so I should soak that tonight or tomorrow. Should have done it yesterday, probably.
May 31
Still haven’t soaked the tied fabric. Tonight? It is not the most critical, maybe just the easiest, or should be.
I finished the pictures. Ooops, forgot the inside of the hat. Well that is still sitting on my work table on the wig head, so no problem there. I should do that, and the soak, when I get home tonight. Then the fabric might be dry enough by Sunday to dye. Especially if it’s warm out this weekend. Then I could put it outside to dry.
I did get the jacket deconstructed last night. I can’t much start reconstruction until I have the lining. So I’d better get that dyeing done this weekend. I CAN start the stripes this weekend. That would probably be a good idea. I wonder what happened to the other piece of black velvet. I’m pretty sure there was one, but a little worried that it was the velvet skirt that I found.
June 4
I actually got something done last night. And over the weekend, but not as much as I would hope.
One thing I may have forgotten from last weekend (Labor Day). I was considering whether and how to print hexes on the corset lining pieces. At some point I was sitting in the black chair (watching TV?) and Mark was there talking to me. I was telling him about my idea of printing the fabric, and I was just talking and looking around and suddenly I saw, next to me at arm’s length, laying where it had been for a couple of months, a 7″x8″ sheet of almost-bubble wrap. Instead of pop-able bubbles it has stiff open cells of perfect hexagrams. It came from the top of a box of Swiss Colony chocolates. My jaw just dropped and I reached out and picked it up. It is perfect. So now I only have to decide what paint to use. I think it makes sense to use heavy body fabric paint, although for this use regular artist’s acrylic would probably do as well. I have primary colors but not black, as far as I know. That’s kind of short-sighted. I probably should have white as well. [And now that I think of it, I could use that paint with my stencils.]
So–what I got done this past few days. I tried not to spend the weekend cleaning house again, but I did go to the locker on Friday after work and then shopping and didn’t get home until about 10pm. So no costume work that night. On Saturday I planned to get a lot done, but I had to go out to pay the BoA CC bill, and went to AAA for their CC and car rentals. I was there an hour and a half, and didn’t get any car rentals (not their fault). But I did get $7500 credit with no annual fee ever and better rewards than Alaska (sorry). And I got the Travel insurance. And a map of France. And they have a sale going on until late July, in case other maps/books are needed. I think I spent a bunch of the rest of the afternoon straightening up the work space. I took some shots of the inside of the hat, but I honestly can’t remember if that was Saturday night or on Sunday.
On Sunday I actually got costume work done. I sampled several stitches for the skirt appliqués, chose one and labeled them so I would not forget. I got the seamless taken down and the skirt hung back up on the design board. And I found out I really didn’t have the correct overlays, figured out what I have that works, and with what, and what I probably need to get (even though there’s a big box in the locker, I can’t get it and tulle is cheap). I just need gold shiny tulle without glitter, and maybe some copper-colored or brown. And maybe some red?
Last night I opened up folds in the resist-tied yellow cloth, so that is ready to soak in soda ash. Then it has to dry, which might take a couple of days. But it is ready now. Finally. [God I’m slow!]
I also made some new skirt hexes and switched out a few that were already on it. I cut a piece of each overlay I have and tried them over the different colors and made some choices. Next step for the skirt will be to fuse the new pieces, cut the overlay pieces, and pin them in place. Then I can start sewing them down. That will take quite a while. Not to be done all at once.
Another thing for the skirt will be to choose a color of fabric pen for the lines between the hexes. This is a part that seems like a good idea, but which makes me nervous.
Tonight I will finish deconstructing the jacket. I still have to pattern the front/neck facing and make the brown satin edging. Also the collar.
June 6
Last night I got the overlays cut, put the underwear fabric in a soda ash soak, and hooped the stabilizer for the big bee embroidery. I also spent time figuring out the jacket lining. Here’s what I figured out.
I will invent the semi-bagged lining/ innerlining. Here’s how it works:
1. Draft front and neck facings. draft back lining pattern: join the back and side back (this may require opening a dart in center back at shoulder blade level). add vent to center back from waist to top of shoulder blade. neck edge 1 inch higher than bottom of neck facing.
2) cut 2 of each lining pattern piece: back lining and front.
3) join back lining at center back: baste vent closed on center back line, then sew seam. join front to back lining at shoulders.
4) baste piping to bottom, front and collar edge.
5) right sides together, join lining to jacket along bottom edges, front and back. (keep stitching tight to piping)
6) turn jacket body right side out. continue jacket construction treating jacket and lining as one.
Other special construction points for the jacket are:
1. piping around armscye and sleeve edge
2. black velvet stripes on front
3. black velvet epaulets w/ pearls
4. add sequined trim to front edge and sleeve edges only?
I feel very good about the jacket at this point. I still need to make the polymer bee buttons, but they really can be added after we leave. I could use the “eye” part of a small hook and eye for the shank. Bend the loops 90 deg and bury in clay. Could leave loops out and bury “eye” length.
I should try to get the overlays placed tonight. Don’t know if Mark will be okay with my working on it during the news. Maybe wait until tomorrow night. But what can I do tonight?
June 10
Had a pretty good weekend, especially considering the dishwasher delivery issues. I feel like I made real progress on my costume.
I DID pin the all the overlays completely onto the skirt during the news. So a bit of design work and a bit of construction work. Then on Saturday afternoon, after the dishwasher delivery, I started sewing them on. I did spend some time at the sewing machine pinning the pearl overlays down in several places, placing the pearls so they would not interfere with the presser foot, and even folding the tulle so as to get more pearls onto each hex. I can sew a multi-layer hex in about 5 minutes, a plain one a bit faster, so my goal is to sew on 6-8 each night (< one hour) and be done by the end of the week. After that, I will still have to do the waistband, the side seam, and add the last few hexes (including outlining). At that point I will need to decide if I’m really going to draw in lines between the hexes, whether to sew or couch them instead, or if I should drop that idea as unnecessary. I have also decided to add some beading as well as some bees.
This will need to be a particularly productive week during evenings, since I will probably miss most of next weekend. Hell. I should definitely try to figure out what I can prepare for hand work to take with me to Scott’s party. Is there any handwork? Of course, but what? Maybe beading the skirt?
I also got the underwear fabric dyed! Hooray! It is batched up in my office, which can get pretty hot, and we let it get up to about 80, since Lilly likes the heat. I will try to rinse it Wednesday probably.
I have laid the corset muslin lining out and will cut that tonight, along with sewing hexes. Maybe I can even get the seams stitched together, if I can find the facing. Maybe I can even stitch the lining to the corset. That would be GREAT!
June 11
[One month to Rue’s Birthday.]
And pretty unbelievable. I did get the corset muslin lining cut out. AND I made banana bread, which was one of the other two things on my list. But I did not get any hexes sewn. Nor any hotels reserved. And I HAVE to purchase the conference tickets TODAY. Price goes up on Thursday, I believe (unless it already did, but I don’t think so).
I did make a sort of calendar for costume work to do this week (thru Friday). And I discovered that I DON’T have a Rick Steves class on Saturday. I also don’t have any deliveries, or reasons to go out, other than maybe to return the shoes. However, by the end of the night last night they actually stopped pinching. I’m not sure if that just means they got rested while I was sitting, or whether there was a “breakthrough” (literally?) and that they will now fit right. I will try the rest of the week, and if they still pinch, I will exchange them for a bigger or wider pair. Or else I’ll get a stretcher. I could use one for my green loafers anyway. Or I need to wear them around the house a lot more. –off track!
My reminder list for the week includes sewing 7 hexes each day. Now that I missed one I will have to up the number. For tonight the list includes also winding elastic thread onto a bobbin for shirring the veil. I think I will set up the sewing as soon as I get home. (I have offered to pick up a cabbage and some fresh ravioli on the way.) Then I will have Mark make the dinner. I’m sure he is competent to make cole slaw. The I will just sew hexes until dinner is ready. See how many I can get done. I can probably make up the difference from yesterday tomorrow. I have given myself a bigger job for Wednesday–drafting the facings. I seem to think that I can draft the wing pattern on Thursday without clearing the table first. I hope so. I will have to clear the north end at least, but that isn’t much.
And I need to do the CAA thing to get my website. Maybe I should see if Gil can help while he’s here. And I need to fix up my Linked in, and look into if I can have a studio membership, or two tracks, or something. I guess I should ask for help. Then revise my Scholar page. So much I thought I could do now because the costume would be done, but it isn’t. I’m not sure how much of that computer stuff I could get done evenings anyway. Maybe on weekends, but I just am too computer burned out at the end of the day to work on web stuff.
I know! I’ll make a little box to hold the supplies I’m not using right now but might still need later (like for the log). That will make it much easier to clear the table for the BIG work of making the stinger and cutting the chemise. Not to mention the hat.
Skirt plans. Once the hexes are sewn there is really nothing stopping me from the side seam, although I have the idea of putting in the waist first, just to make things easier. And if I am going to do any machine embroidery on the skirt, I should do that before. And once I do put in the side seam, I will have to add the final hexes and outline them. I need to leave enough time at the end for that, if I don’t do it all now.
I think I need to work on either the jacket or the stinger this weekend. I only have one day. I do think the stinger is an important part of the whole effect, even if it is a reveal. I will have to finish washing the dyed fabric, but I don’t see it as necessary to cut the chemise. That is a thing to do during the week. WAIT!!! I have to finish the corset muslin this weekend! Oh, how could I forget?
Okay, that makes sense. Do all the laying out and cutting on weeknights. Do the big messy things on weekends (stinger, hat, corset). Simple sewing (underwear straight lines) can be done on weeknights, once cutting is finished. Jacket trim, corset work, and the saddlebags need to be done with more time.
June 12
Did not get necessary things done today. Like emails to Gibbett and Sue. And hotel in CERN plus car rental. Shit! I did get a lot of “work” done.
Last night I did part of what I was supposed to but not all. I did get the 7 hexes sewn down. Now 1/3 of the skirt has that done. I think that’s an accomplishment.
I did NOT get the elastic thread wound on a bobbin. I could not FIND the white elastic thread, though I’m pretty sure I saw it a short time ago. Just don’t know where. To be fair I quit looking when an interesting story came on the news. I did find the black elastic thread. I could use it, since it won’t show–ever. But I’d rather not. And it is not a critical or difficult task in the whole process, the shirring of the veil. Still, it’s on the list because it can be done while watching TV. Maybe I’ll have better luck tonight. Probably won’t even try though.
My list for to night is 7 hexes and draft the jacket facings. I’m not sure there will be time to find the elastic thread. We’ll see.
Most disappointing is that because the light rail was broken I decided to skip the SAM members opening of the Pre-Raphaelite show: Radical Victorians. I fully expected to go, but I already felt a little guilty about getting home too late to do what’s on my list. With the Link broken it would have taken until 6:30 for me to get to the museum. I didn’t want to stay past 7, so it seemed a waste. It would have been different if I wasn’t going to a lecture there tomorrow evening, which I won’t miss. SO I guess I’ll see if I can get a ticket for, say, 5:30 tomorrow. I’m sure the Link won’t be broken 2 days in a row. Ha, Ha.
The good news is that I made my decision quickly and got back up on the street, and while I was waiting to cross I saw that my bus would be at the stop about the same time I was. So no wait. It was more on time than I’ve seen it in a LONG time. Or else it was a 20 minutes late. That seems more likely. Who cares. I was thrilled and I will get home in time to do my work. I won’t be able to make up for Monday’s no sew day, but I can keep up or at least not fall too far behind. Since there’s no real plan past Friday I’m not even sure what that means. Maybe I should make a handwritten chart on this ride, since I can’t really use the iPad for it (tried but too bumpy).
June 13
I did manage to get a bit done last night. Four hexes sewn down, cleared enough table to draft the jacket facings, got the pattern pieces and tissue onto the table, but did not get the facings drafted. I also did not find the white elastic thread. I did find that both corsets needed some deconstruction before continuing. I can do that tonight watching the news.
It does not appear that I can take a screen shot of my hand drawn calendar on the iPad. I will have to look into that. Screen shot is as old as Windows. Maybe older but that is so long ago I can’t remember, and yes, I was computer literate when Windows was first released. I had been working on both CPM and DOS machines already. But I digress.
I feel pretty confident at this point, until I look carefully at my supposedly all-inclusive list of what has to be done for each piece. Then it looks like an awful lot. Still, it seems doable, as long as I do something every day. I tend to get a little stiff riding the bus, and I have had some leg pain lately. Digressing again. This is too hard right now. FUCK!!!!! Just no room to move.
June 14
Last night I didn’t do any costume work when I got home. It was already 9:30 and Mark was not home but arrived about 5 minutes after me. So we fixed dinner, pet the cat, and ate. Then we went to bed.
Today I looked up how to take a screen shot on an iPad. Very easy, but totally unintuitive. One could never guess it the first time. Hold in the power button and quickly press the Home button. Snap! Now I can very easily and quickly take shots of my hand drawn work calendar each day as I change it. I fussed around with the Note and got the whole calendar onto the screen along with the date. It saves to a special folder in Photos. You can make notes and draw on the screen shot, too. Circles and arrows, etc. I cannot describe my excitement over this. It is going to be a much clearer calendar than the one I scanned from paper, and the erasures are, of course, perfectly clean. Just can’t make changes on the bus. Just much too bumpy.
I have a kind of big list tonight. And tomorrow. We’ll see, but I have to be determined.
June 17
Well, I got 3 out of 4 things done on Friday evening. Not bad. Saturday though, I’m not sure what happened. It seems like I did a lot on the project, but only 1 of 4 items was done, except I added something I COULD get done at the end of the night, so 2 of 5. I’m not sure what happened. I was busy most of the day.
I did rinse the smallest of the dyed fabric pieces Friday night, just so we could see it. (Mark seemed as interested and anxious as myself.) It was beautiful, and dried overnight hanging in the basement. However, I realized that I had really better photograph the whole process, sort of, by arranging a still bagged piece, two partly unwrapped pieces, and the rinsed&dried piece on a grey ground. Came out well, but took over an hour to set up and complete.
After that I started rinsing the dyed fabric that didn’t get done Friday night. I also started doing loads of household laundry (4 all together). And in between I washed the dyed fabric, so 5 loads.
The rinsing took a little longer than anticipated, since I did each piece separately. But maybe not longer, really, because I could do 2 at a time that way. The bigger pieces took longer due to the amount of water, just the flow rate in the shower. And the amount of dye to get out.
While washing and drying the dyed fabric I fussed around with the jacket pieces, figuring out exactly how to make the lining, which pieces had to be altered and which the same as the outside. Also figuring out how to make the pleat in the lining center back.
Then I went out and tried to exchange my new shoes (had to order the color/size I want), went swimming (felt SOOOO much better after), and went grocery shopping. So I “lost” 3.5 hours that way. Left about 4:30 and didn’t get back until 8pm. I think I took a little nap, but that’s fuzzy too. Then dinner had to be cooked and dishes done. I did get in half an hour before dinner. Can’t recall just what I did, but probably looking for stuff.
After dinner, determined not to have a whole Saturday go to waste, I drafted the jacket facing and lining. Turned out to be only 2 pieces needed. The rest will be used as is.
I did figure out that the way to do the collar is to add the lace, edging and velvet facing directly to the jacket lining, either essentially strip-pieced, or appliquéd. I will use the facing pattern I drafted before Norwescon for a stiff interfacing. I’m still trying to figure out how to make sure it stands out from the neck and up straight.
I am planning to add a double row of satin edging to the jacket facing, next to the piping. So it should go black velvet, cream satin, warm brown satin, black piping. I think. I have to sample it.
On Sunday was Scotty’s graduation party. I actually did okay with my small list when we got home. I sewed my quota of hexes and drafted the wings. I did NOT deconstruct the hat.
June 18
I managed to meet my goals last night!!! Of course, I inadvertently stayed up until 1am to do it. I really had no idea how much time had passed: 2+ hours. And I didn’t actually get the list on my calendar done. But I did an equivalent amount of work, freeing up an evening later this week to finish yesterday’s list
I got home a little late, since I went shopping at TJ’s in the U-district and got gas when I got back to the T-Dome. about 7:30 I think.
I sewed down 5 hexes before dinner. Of course, one was supposed to have an overlay (the bright yellow one), and I was not paying close enough attention. I started with the correct one second, but somehow in rearranging the skirt at the machine I switched from a plain one to a covered one. Still, I did 5. It took a bit over an hour, even with the sides rolled up, but that included some ironing.
I thought maybe I should leave the yellow one plain. I see this kind of error as a possible sign. “Do it differently.” But I tried it again with and without, and I WILL be adding the overlay. It’s just so much richer with it. Still, I made my goal, which was 4 hexes last night; and really that overlay can wait until I have the rest down.
My other task for last night was to lay out and cut the jacket lining–a big job. It had gotten bigger since the small piece that was supposed to be for the petticoat yoke AND the corset lining only yielded 3 of 5 sections. Not sure what happened there, and I don’t have time to figure out my mistake at this point. Nothing to be done, because the small piece has the PERFECT chevron on it, but it doesn’t match the large piece meant for the jacket lining (and possibly part of the petticoat yoke).
That’s what took such a long time. I ended up putting both the full jacket lining and the whole petticoat yoke onto the large piece. It seemed a dicey prospect at first, until I remembered that the side back piece of the jacket was to be cut 2″ shorter that the pattern piece. Voilà! It all fit nicely, I got a really nice fussy cut for the yoke (even though no one will ever see it), AND I was able to save a foot wide section up the middle that had really exquisite dye patterns. I will use it for a wall piece, or something that will show it off on the outside, perhaps quilted. However, moving everything around several times to get it to fit just right took time (apparently). Then I outlined all the pieces so that I could more easily cut them with shears and place them exactly to get a nice pattern.
I ended up with jacket lining pieces that mirror each other, and a yoke that should have an interesting pattern around it. Plus a lot of scrap, and the leftover panel. It should not take more than half an hour to cut out the whole thing. I can do that in place of laying out the petticoat on Thursday, and I will be right on track as it exists right now. I have to admit I am very gratified to have made my “quota” or rather, met my set goal.
One the way home last night I worked on the calendar until Sunday’s missed tasks were integrated, there was not too much expected on week nights (although perhaps too much on weekends), and every piece of the costume had at least one reference. It’s all on there, so when I look I will not forget a part of the work. It does not go past July 7 at this point, so I am hopeful that as it stretches out I still have the time to complete everything.
Except now I realize that it does not plot out the time required to put together the documentation. I do have a list of it, but things must be brought together, and also the materials for the binder: binder, page holders, and cover. I guess I will make the cover from some of the leftover lining fabric, with maybe some hexes on it with fancy overlays. Can’t spend too much time on it. Need to do anything like that as a tiny add-on when I have the stuff in my hands anyway. Get a dedicated box for it to store everything until assembly. Whew!
June 19
Good BRCG meeting last night, but it did eat into my work time. I did get the jacket lining cut out, but I did not cut out the petticoat yoke. The attempt at fussy-cutting just was too difficult so late (after midnight). I stayed up anyway and fussed with it–for 40 minutes!–before going to bed as I said I was going to do directly after the news. It is not an emergency. Sewing it is still a week away.
I should mess with the netting this weekend; figure out how to gather it (using what thread). Could this be a job for the ruffler? I think I have two of them, but at least there’s one for the Singer. I learned the other day that I really don’t have a good plan for that. I don’t know what it will really do, and I haven’t worked with it much. I was imagining putting it on the INSIDE of the petticoat. I think that might give the skirt a smoother line, and also keep it from catching. My original idea was to sew the strips of netting to the lower section by first gathering it and then stitching down the center of the strip, theoretically causing the netting to stand up on either side, eliminating the need for many layers. I have not sampled this. I am wondering this morning whether, if putting it on the inside, it will work better to just gather an edge of the folded netting and stitch along that edge. I really have no idea what would work better.
Perhaps I should make a list of all the samples that still need to be made.
June 20
I didn’t do all my work again last night. Instead I took a nap and also went to bed early. It was necessary and smart. I could have stitched another hex (meeting my quota) but I stopped myself. I think I am much better off for it today.
I did stitch down 2 hexes, including the one I forgot the overlay for on Monday. And I got the table halfway cleared, I would say. I sorted the mess at the left end by type and location. Most of it anyway. Most of what is left is large pieces and trash. Hope to finish quickly tonight.
I feel like I should take a nap for the rest of the ride. There is not much else, or else I’m too tired to think well. I’m sure I could brainstorm or just plan, but I can’t stop yawning.
June 21
SOLSTICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Last night I barely got anything done–again. I know I sewed down at least one hex, but I think it was only one. The bus was horribly slow. I got on at the first stop at maybe 5:10 and didn’t get to the Dome until 6:45. So since I left the office at 4:40 it was over 2 hours, altogether. Then I had to go to Marlene’s for wild rice. I think it was about 8:00 when I finally got home.
I have revamped my calendar substantially because the last few days did not go very productively. I HAD to change some things around, and I really moved a lot, having thought on what is required at each phase. Like do I need the chemise to drape the bustle? No. I need the petticoat and the saddlebags, and the bustle pad. It would be ideal to have at least the armature of the stinger and the utility belt. It would be nice to have the skirt and the corset. But none of those things are actually required. And certainly the chemise is NOT. And it’s simple but fussy. That is, only a few straight seams, but it calls to have them flat felled. I suspect I won’t, but maybe that fake flat-fell I saw recently–in Threads?
So, move the chemise down on the calendar. I have not yet put anything in past July 4th weekend. I did put “cut chemise” on next Tuesday, but did not add “sew chemise” back in yet. We’ll see. (I feel I should stop saying that. It has become a Trump-ism.)
I came up with what I hope is a brilliant idea for how to do the skirt hem. Betty B, when I described that I wanted to put puff-paint on the edge for 3D and sparkle, suggested hot glue. I balked at first–“My Masterpiece!” But if I can get some of the clear kind, I think it might make the whole process easier. I could draw the desired edge, then lay the skirt out on a heat-proofish surface and draw along the line with the glue gun, making it somewhat uneven, to imitate viscous flow. THEN I cut with the hot knife. The glue will give me a nice line to follow. It might even get the process started. Following the cut line would be ridiculously difficult. Glue gun NOT a precision instrument.
I am not yet sure now whether the hemline should be drawn and cut before or after the seam line is sewn. I want to do as much embellishment as possible before sewing the seam, but I will also have to add a couple of hexes on the seam, so it is not quite as simple as it sounds at first. It would probably be pointless to add overlays to them, except if there is one at the very bottom, because they will be covered by the saddlebag.
And of course I still want to add some embroidery and beading to the skirt.
I also had some ideas about the utility belt. Might need 2 layers to make it strong enough. Or maybe 2 belts? Anyway, I haven’t yet decided whether to cover it with fabric, and if so what color; or whether to paint it (same question)? I did, however, realize that the best way to engineer the hangers is to put grommets in the belt of a size depending on the weight of the object being hung. That weight is the main reason I wonder about 2 separate belts. It has to hold the saddlebags+embellishments and the stinger, and probably the bustle. That’s a lot of weight. And it had to be unnoticeable and fit under the bottom of the corset, at least in back. This is an issue because the back of the corset is pretty low. It is probably going to be hidden by the bustle and jacket, but I did special embroidery on it (bees crawling off). It should get hidden in front without problem, and the saddlebags will hide it on the sides.
Ooo! I just cam up with an idea for the saddlebag hangers. I can use drapery hooks. I may ant to cut off the pointy part. I can put the grommets in the center, top to bottom, of the belt and the hooks about 2-3 inches down from the top of the saddlebag. I might use carabiners, though. That way no fear of them falling during the dance. I’m not sure though. I have this idea they have to hang off the bottom so that they don’t interfere with the sides of the corset. These are higher than the back and front, but still come below the waist. So maybe hooks/carabiners that are black or gold and attach at the very top of the saddlebags to the bottom of the belt.
My idea for the bustle–since the fabric is so large and I don’t want to cut it, and I don’t have the butterfly bustle pattern–is to fold the sheet in quarters, baste one edge, so three are closed and one is open, and drape it with clever folds, stitching it together . . . or wait! I could use large snaps to “tack” the folds. God I’m brilliant!. If only it works. I could tack it and then put snaps where the tacking is, so that I can fold it flat in the suitcase and then quickly and easily snap the folds together. Well, I have LOTS of grommets and snaps of all sizes. I won’t know until it’s done whether it will hang off the belt or will need it’s own ties. It might be possible to construct it in such a way as to use the same grommet and hook system as I envision for the saddlebags. I should not worry about hiding the corset in back, because the peplum would cover it in any case. C’est la vie.
I only have the vaguest idea so far about how to engineer the stinger. It will need a pulley of some kind, and an axle to rotate on, and cords that are accessible to pull when I need it to pop up. I should ask Dave Tacket for help.
June 24
Bridget’s Birthday.
I got work done this weekend, but it went more slowly than I anticipated. On Friday night I did 4 hexes, leaving only 2 more until the seam is done. I will do those tonight. I also finished clearing the table and left it ALMOST ready to work on.
Saturday I did nothing on the costume. At Grove Cynthia asked if she could come help me again next Sunday, so I have been looking at what she might do. I think she could help by cutting out the chemise, which I can’t seem to get to. It is a simple shape, so even if she isn’t experienced it won’t be a problem, I think. And I think she can print the corset lining. She is an accomplished painter, and I will be surprised if she has not done some kind of direct printing before. Anyway, it is the lining, which no one HAS to see, and it is not complicated. I would have to do some experimenting myself, so she might as well do it instead. There is plenty of scrap to work with.
On Sunday I started a little later than I wanted, since we were out so late. And I had to start by getting the trash and scraps off the table and then completely redoing the skirt layout, just to be absolutely certain. Plus Mark came for help with the yard a couple of time. It too 2.5 hours. It was ridiculous. But I got it done, and I’m sure of it and I’m happy.
I also got the velvet marked and cut, although on the first try I forgot how many stripes I needed and only cut enough for one side. I put everything away, but when I sat down to think through what was next, I realized my error and had to get it out again. But I finished THAT, and I am happy.
The next thing was to sew the corset muslin lining, but it was dinnertime, and so I did that. After dinner I probably should have gone straight to bed, but I started looking at the corset lining instructions, to figure out what to do. Dragging myself away from that past midnight, I realized I had not looked for my keys (which disappeared between my coming in on Friday evening and trying to leave on Saturday morning. I spent much too long looking, thinking I could not leave in the morning without them, but that was not at all true. I had van and office keys, and Mark would be home, so I didn’t really need house keys. (I took the spare set anyway.) They HAVE to be there, since I know I had them in my hand when Mark opened the door. Looked everywhere 2 or 3 times.
June 25
Bob&Sass’s Wedding Anniversary
Still can’t find keys.
AM:
Last night I finished appliquéing the hexes that are on the skirt. Hooray!!! There will be a couple more when the seam gets done, but for now I think I will put it away, at least for a few days. I should add the brocade hex before Cynthia does the outline. That is another thing I thought of that she can do Sunday, as well as trim the overlays, which has to be done first. Otherwise the next step is trimming the overlays.
I also wound the elastic thread on the bobbin. Not last night, though. I forgot again, so I did it on the bus this morning so that I can do the shirring tonight.
I did NOT get any sewing done on the corset muslin lining. I was just thinking about whether I really need to sew the whole lining, even on one side, in order to do the other sampling. I don’t, unless I plan to follow instructions, which I probably should. That would be to apply the boning tape to the lining (instead of in between, which makes more sense to me, but there is probably a reason for it). My biggest fear with the corset is a mess of bobbin thread on the surface. It is so thick, I’m afraid it will be too much and cause problems. It’s so thick that I’m afraid the Brother is not strong enough. And the White is in need of serious tuneup and can’t be trusted for great bobbin performance. Maybe the answer is the Singer. It should be very strong, being all of metal, and the small hole throat plate should help. I guess I just need a top-stitching needle and a strong thread. I have thought of using black rayon in the bobbin, to best match the cover. There are an awfully lot of the bones, so there’s a lot of room for error. [I wonder if the intent is to lay the tape down on the lining and sew it from the front. They do have you mark the stitching lines on the front. maybe if it were glued down that might work, but otherwise I don’t see how. I am pretty sure, though, that the instructions indicate sewing from the lining side.]
It just occurred to me that I could use black tape for the real corset. It fits, and it should be easy to find. I am thinking of unfolded bias tape, but that might be too stretchy. I think they really want twill tape, although the pattern says ribbon. Maybe they are thinking of grosgrain or petersham. Don’t think I can get that around here. (It’s pathetic.) I do think I have some black twill tape of a reasonable width. Maybe black NON-bias cotton seam tape, if there is such a thing. If there is, I probably have some. I have considered just sewing the boning cover onto the corset, which I think is expected, but it is also thick, being two layers, and very narrow. I am inclined to try it, but also try it the pattern way.
Went out and bought black tulle last night, because it is cheap and I am running out of time. I also got clear glue, but then I saw a basketry “birdhouse” that is shaped like a medieval bee hive. At $25 it was an “Ouch, no way.” Then I saw the 70% off sign. At $6.50 is was a must-have accessory. Since I probably won’t have a scepter, this will be great. I can put some bees, and maybe “honey”, on it and hang it off the utility belt. Mark thought it was great.
PM: I have been trying to figure out how to construct the saddlebags. I played with them for a while a couple of weekends ago, but never really figured out how to make the lining work with the thick piping cord. I can’t just stitch the outside and lining together because of the folds and cording. Unless I can.
The original concept was to stitch the folds, then stitch the lining to the top edge, fold it over, fold back the side edges and stitch the lining down the sides. But now the top edge has a BIG lump in it, so that won’t work. I have a couple alternatives. Both will require some sort of a “cap” over the top of the center fold to hide the cord.
1. Line it totally (I think there’s enough). stitch the top edges RST, fold back etc. to complete lining, then stitch the folds and cover the top of the cord.
2. Fold over the top edge of gold fabric and stitch down. Stitch folds of saddlebags, including with cord. Stitch curved edges of lining and front RST and turn right side out. Hand stitch top edge of lining to top edge of velvet.
I should leave an inch or so of the folded fabric unlined along the top to mount grommets for hanging on belt. The fabric is pretty heavy, so I may not need any support at the waist for the grommets.
I like idea 2. Ooo. I just thought of capping the top end of the cord with the yellow minky: fold a piece over the end of the cord, maybe glue it a little, then hand stitch it onto the cord. Do this on each piece of cording, and Voilà! Once inserted the fact that it is capped will be impossible to tell. There are other possibilities. I could cover the top of the cord with almost any fabric, now that I’ve thought of it. Then I could sew pearl beads around the edge. Oh, perfecto! I have a plan.
June 26
I did not do the veil shirring last night, since I really didn’t have enough time. (Making cookies for Cindy’s post-baby shower.) I didn’t even make a sample, which I realize is definitely called for. Plus this is one of those bits that nothing else depends on, is pretty simple, and will only take a short time once it is set up. That is, a post-July 4th sort of task.
I also did not do any actual sewing on the corset lining. I did, however, get it set up to sew. First I played around with the boning and its cover, trying to decide how to approach that. I read the boning instructions, and I think I should try using the cover that comes with it. The main reason not to, as far as I can tell, is to make an historically accurate piece, which I am not doing anyway. I could try both, but I think that if using the boning cover works well for me, I will just go with that. If not, I will sample using twill or other tape.
After dinner, while waiting for the cookie dough to chill, I marked the center front pieces for the busk, and pinned pieces of lining together. At this point I just have to sit down and put needle thread into the machine to start sewing the muslin lining. Before I can go further on the construction than that, though, I will have to make the holes for the busk in the left front piece.
In general, now that I’ve done the work of actually marking for the busk and carefully determining how it actually goes together, I am no longer worried about that bit working out. I am certain it will be fairly easy, especially compared to the boning tapes, which I know will be fussy and nerve-wracking (see comments from yesterday).
June 28
AM
Yesterday I stayed home for the electrician, so no notes.
I finished sewing the corset lining AND installing the busk. That part is actually as easy as I predicted. Don’t know why I didn’t figure that out sooner. Probably my “just in time” methods.
I have now read the rest of the instructions more carefully. I am sure I did that a long time ago (6 months), but the fact that you don’t even partly bag the lining escaped me until last night. Except for the boning I think this won’t really be that bad. I do worry a little about attaching the binding, But that is not a new process for me; just one I know can be difficult to do well. Of special concern about that is the number and stiffness of some of the layers. If I baste very carefully and use the basting line to guide the tape application, I expect I can do a reasonable job. I just have to take my time and work very carefully. If it takes 30 minutes or more to get around one side, then that is fine. Perhaps I should make sure that part of of the construction is scheduled when there is plenty of time. I have decided it would be good to hand apply the lace edging while at the garage sale. That is going to be the final touch, I believe.
As for the boning, I just need to make sure I give myself enough practice to feel some confidence, and enough time to go slowly. I can measure and cut the boning itself during short sessions. Also the tape, if I use it instead of the casing. I found the black twill tape, but it is half again or twice as wide as necessary, which means too wide.
I just got a flash of inspiration that I might be able to use the wide twill tape as a way to carry the stinger cords around the belt. I can’t recall what idea I had for that, if any. Glad I made a sketch. I do think I should try to cut the stinger armature laser from 1/8″ birch ply, maybe. First I need to determine if I can put eye-screws into the edge. If not, I will use foam-core, or something similar, and I can use very small plastic rings to carry the cord. Thinking carefully about this for the first time (yikes!), I realize I don’t know what weight will be required to certain the stinger falls back into place when released. Also, the tape might cause friction with the cord, unless maybe I use something slick, like trimmer cord. I should brainstorm this with Mark while there’s time to go shopping.
I’m starting to freak a little, since June is almost over, and July 4th is just 1 week away. I have started to fall a little too far behind.
PM
I got a message from Cynthia saying she way not available this weekend, or next weekend, maybe Sat 7/13. I don’t know whether I misheard her on Saturday, or she was mistaken about her schedule, or if things changed. All I can say is that when she first offered I thought, “I don’t have anything left that someone else can do.” And a little bit of “I Need to be the creative force.” But then I found several things I felt I could trust her with, including trimming the skirt overlays, even though when she first offered I thought it would be a mistake, in case there was an accident. I have already clipped a tiny hole in it myself.
So now I have an impossible list of things to do on Sunday, and they can’t wait for another week, or two. No, I want to have everything pretty much finished before July 12. On the 13th BRCG is having the garage sale. I can take hand work and do some there, I imagine. Otherwise, I’d like to be DONE!. I think I’ll need that last week to organize myself and all our papers. Mark is not being much help yet. I hope he will be able to help soon. I forgot to copy the updated folder, but the only thing missing is the ticket confirmation from the web site. I just made a pdf of that today. I am digressing. Perhaps I need another file for trip stuff.
Just thinking about the skirt edge and the bee hive. Wondering if there is such a ting as colored hot-glue sticks. I think maybe rub-on colors would work. Of course, they generally take a few days to cure. I need to experiment both with drawing bumpy glue lines and coloring them. Most important for the skirt edge.
I also think I need to start making bee buttons, of try to buy more, or both. I still have the possibility to as David and Greg and Greg to the hat. Not sure what to use for them, though. so many options I have collected. Maybe that would be the place to use the cartoon bees. I think there are actually 3 of them. The little bee buttons might work well on the bee hive. There are more of those. And I have the charms, and the 3 buttons I plan to cast in polymer to use on the jacket. I will need 8 for the jacket: 3 for each front and one for each epaulet.
So here are non-building things I have to do (not all for the costume):
1. Look at the polymer and make sure I have what I need and it is in good condition.
2. Look through the fabric etc at home to see what can go to the garage sale.
3. Organize the paperwork for the trip.
4. Make reservations and send emails re trip
5. order stuff on line
6. print & organize costume documentation
Some of that is critical and has been sitting around on my list for MONTHS! I guess I will get it done now, because time is running out, and that’s how I always do things. I hear a lot of artists are that way.
And I will need to somewhat organize my calendar, because without Cynthia’s help I am going to have to rethink how and when to do things.
July 1
Well, this weekend did not go well in terms of getting a lot of work done. I got seriously no work done on Friday. Somehow I didn’t get home until almost 9pm. Then of course I realized that I could not stay up real late working after all, since we had to get up fairly early to go to Rick Steves. We managed that, but the trip pretty much took all day. It included had a bit to eat after leaving RS at 2pm. Left Edmonds 2:30, then stopped at the Shoreline library for bathroom and FoL books. It took over an hour to get to Auburn. We let here a little after 4pm and got to AAA in Tacoma at 4:45. So we were able to achieve most of the errands. It as close to 6:00 when we got home.
I did get some of the work from Friday done Saturday evening. I traced and cut out the bustle pad pattern. That was after looking at the Elizabethan costume pattern and determining that I definitely needed the bustle pad, NOT the bum roll. I tried to figure out how to use the dyed fabric for it, but there isn’t enough left over. I also got the corset muslin basted along the edges. Twice, since I sewed it right sides together the first time. And I marked the lining for the boning samples, which come next, followed by the edging and finally the grommets. I don’t know where the grommet setter is, but since that is the last thing maybe it won’t be so bad. Except that I need to put grommets in the utility belt, which needs to be done sooner.
ON Sunday I did a bit better, but still, I was working on Friday and Saturday lists mostly, and I am surely a full day behind by now. Luckily I have nothing still on next Sunday.
Yesterday I got the petticoat halfway finished sewing. That required trimming the curves as well, stitching the yoke, ironing yoke and bottom, and gathering the top edge of the bottom. I figured out a good technique for gathering very long edges, especially basting by machine. Sew for about 18″, backstitch to tie a knot, lift the foot and pull out about 6″ of top and bobbin threads, and sew another 18″. For the last length, don’t pull out thread after knotting the second to last length; just sew to the end and leave enough to grab for gathering. The backstitch SHOULD keep the gathering thread from pulling out, but it did not work on one length, so I ended up hand knotting one end of each length. It was obvious and easy in this case, because the fold-lines from the resist made a good, even marking. Despite the problem with the backstitching (probably the fault of the stitch length (5mm), it worked very well, and will make it easier to keep the gathering even over the total length. I pinned both pieces up on the “design board” and it looks great!
I also decided to paint the boning casing black with Dy-na-flow. Did a sample and it works well. It gave me the idea of painting some bleached muslin b right yellow for the bustle pad. I have 2 bottles of yellow, and the pieces are pretty small, so no problem. First, though, I’m going to print one side with the hexes, same as the corset lining. Then I will paint it from the back. Since the printing ink is a polymer, the Dy-na-flow won’t effect it.
July 2
It only took about 10 minutes last night for me to redesign the bustle pad visually. As I stood at the cutting table, smoothing out the bleached muslin, I thought about the visual themes of “Mielificent”, and I thought, “. . . and all the underwear is yellow with black stripes.” And suddenly the bloom came off that idea. Doesn’t that get just a little boring? Shouldn’t I mix it up just a little? Shouldn’t it be . . . BLACK! It should be black. Just plain black? I can’t really paint . . . But I can print! I can print yellow hexes on the black cloth!! That is it! I’m sure I saw some proper black cloth around here. Maybe in the stacked bins? Maybe . . . ?
There was a 3 yard strip of lightweight black cotton 18″ wide hanging on the drying rack where I put it after washing it (who knows why) a couple of weeks ago. It turned out to be exactly wide enough to lay out the two pieces side by side. I confess is laid them out on the cross-grain. After all, it is a very even and tight weave, and there will be no real stress on the fabric. I could always interface it, if I got worried about it. I had already decided to use black twill tape for the “ribbon” waist belt.
Other than that, it was not as productive an evening I as had imagined. It could have been better, but it took a VERY long time to get the van started. The battery was very thoroughly drained [having had the lights left on for several days–I’ve got to figure out how to stop that]. It took probably close to an hour to get it charged up enough for the van to start. It could barely be called a jump start. Once I did get it started, after a few minutes I drove it around the neighborhood. Back and forth over probably about 15 blocks. I thought it was barely enough, and I was right. It did start this morning, but it hesitated. I hope that driving down to the Dome was enough. I really should have taken the car and asked Mark to take the van over to Les Schwab and have it fully charged up. Probably too late for that now. Perhaps the time has come to buy that trickle charger.
The only thing I really got done last night was to trim the skirt overlays. That worked out very well as a TV project. I did not complete, but I think I can finish it tonight, now that I have some practice.
That still leaves me woefully behind, according to my ever-optimistic “Costume Calendar”. I have some things on there, like “finish jacket”, that are a complex set of totally different tasks: cut sleeve innerlining, sew semi-lining seams, attach trim, construct collar piece, insert semi-lining, sew seams, sew and insert facings, not all in exactly that order. The trim insertion looks to be the most time consuming, fussy and difficult to me. There is a correct order to this that I have to figure and refigure as I go along.
I certainly am glad that I don’t have to detail out all my construction points for the workmanship judges in Dublin. The info on the Masquerade says show them lots of pictures but don’t make them read too much. If I have time I could put that into a separate detailing section so they don’t have to feel obligated to read it. If I have time. I don’t expect that time to present itself until after we’ve left. There will be a fair amount of airplane and train time before i get to Dublin. If I set up the iPad correctly and have a data cable to send to a printer, then why not? I could even edit the main description while traveling, then print out once we get there. I had better have all the photos printed out before-hand, though. Better check the library fees for that.
July 3
You can keep music CDs for 3 weeks. So I guess it is only videos that loan for just one week.
I want to say how little I got done last night, because my bus misadventures caused me to miss the 5:40 bus and I ended up taking the 6:20, the last bus. But I was able to do my shopping first, July 2 – AM cont
. . . so that helped. But it was still about 8pm when I got home, and I had a bit of a meltdown when Mark innocently asked “How did it go?” I yelled, but I didn’t collapse and cry. I do think it was at least partly the stress of other things besides QB. And I did NOT even feel upset much while it was happening. And I think I would not have yelled if Mark had not asked that kind of vague question. I would have eventually told him, quietly. But we talked about it and things came out okay, except for the continued delay in getting dinner.
So I got home late and didn’t get much costume work done. I did get the bustle pad fabric ironed, and I decided it needed to be interfaced. It just seemed so thin. I think it must be quilting cotton. So I found a scrap of medium weight, nonwoven fusible that was just barely big enough to hold the 2 pattern pieces, and I figured out I could not trace the pattern through it (too bumpy). I would have to pin the pieces to it and cut around them. Then it was dinnertime. Now that I think about it, it will be better to lay the pieces on the interfacing and draw around them with chalk, or maybe a regular sharpie. Then I can cut just inside the line so none of the glue is exposed.
I also nearly finished trimming the skirt overlays. It surprised me when I realized there were only 2 left when the news was over, and I was able to start one before we decided how to handle dessert.
So that was all the costume work I got done. I didn’t even get this journal printed into Word, as planned, and then the file got full in the middle of this entry.
I did, however, get some important non-costume work done. After the news, but before dessert, we got the music for this presentation started in Audacity. It was pretty easy to get started. We took the time to figure out the end point we wanted for “FoBB” and the starting time for “Royals”. Now we just have to figure out how to cut and paste portions of two tracks together, and what file type they want in Dublin. I am exceedingly excited about this. I will have a 1 minute piece that I can choreograph finely, I hope, on the way. I already have the basic concept down. Waggle dance for 30 seconds or so, then strut around waving for a bit, showing the costume off on all sides, reveal the stinger on cue and strut some more, ending with facing the crowd, raising the royal pollen grain orb, turning to show the stinger again, then toward the audience again for the cute curtsy, and off. I also need to work on the introductory text:
[The hive is a-buzz with anticipation at the Royal Jelly Ball, awaiting the arrival of their new monarch. It is my honor to present to you–MIELIFICENT, Queen of the Killer Bees, who will now lead us in the oldest tradition of the bee world, the Waggle Dance.]
Wow! I suddenly feel much more prepared. I might try to record my thank-yous, or I could give them to the MC. I also think I will not work on the music over the weekend, unless a miracle occurs. Mark has seemed amenable to helping with this, and he can no doubt figure it out pretty quickly once he gets back from PA. He knows where “FoBB” ends (picked the spot himself), and I have the exact timing for “Royals” to give to him. As a bonus, he gets to figure out something he will certainly need to know for flipping his classroom.
PM
Looking at the calendar, I don’t think I’ll try to rearrange it. I will just start with yesterday and see what makes sense to do first. I think that first I will print the corset lining and bustle pad. They will have to dry and be set and I won’t be able to go forward with those pieces until it does.
Next I think I will test/sample the boning. And then I suppose I should do the binding and grommets, especially since the grommets will be needed on the utility belt as well.
Man! There sure is a lot of work to do. Of course I’m about 3 days behind now. I am going to still try my best to be finished before I go to sleep Sunday night. At least mostly finished. There are some extra hand embellishments that I should wait on.
Beading on skirt
sewing on buttons and hooks
I doubt I will get to the skirt hemline and side seam. And I will probably put off the chemise. Might cut it when the table is cleared at some point, but I really think I need to put it in the washer and dryer with a bumpy ball first.
I should wind the white elastic on a bobbin on the way home, now that I found it. Oh yeah, I found the white elastic thread. It was in a box with a lot of other thread. Who would have guessed. I was not looking for it.
I do believe there are no actual hems in this costume. The skirt will be cut. The jacket lined (it will need the facing sewn to the lining, and maybe the hem as well. I can’t remember how I figured it. The corset is bound. I think I can machine topstitch the petticoat and chemise hems. This will make things much easier.
I will have to do some computer work–trip related–this weekend. I have a long list and some things have to be ordered now, and some people have to be contacted some time ago. I just don’t want to get caught in the music software. That could be a serious time-sink. I should better only use the upstairs computer for some internet, and stay away otherwise.
And I need to download photos and journals to the PowerBook. And then send the photos to some people and post on FB, and friend Dave T. I think I’ll take a nap now.
July 8
Hmmm. I really guess I thought I’d do some journaling over the work weekend. Not so. I continue to be way behind, but I did make some significant progress. Just not enough to make me happy. Not hopelessly depressed, but not happy either.
The petticoat took an inordinate amount of time. And while I know now that I really didn’t need to be doing it to get the bustle done, I really did need to do it eventually, and I’m glad I didn’t leave it until later. I only hope my concept of the chemise is closer to reality, because I still haven’t cut it. And I still haven’t set any grommets, even as test. I can’t find the grommet setter. It was questionable anyway, since it was for one particular size. I can help thinking I have another one I gathered during the lean years with Bo, but I don’t even know, and I can’t find a whole bunch of stuff. Like one whole box, or something. Maybe it’s in the little under-stairs closet in the basement.
I honestly don’t have any plan for getting this stuff done, except to concentrate on machine sewing and hope I can get the handwork done during 3 weeks of traveling. Although I am going to pleat the petticoat while riding the bus. At least I’m going to try. But I can also work on it during the exam today. SO maybe I can get a few thoughts down here first.
Most outstanding is the reDesign of the Stinger. I just couldn’t get it started, not even the pattern, so I forced myself yesterday morning. Got to do it first, before eggs and toast and tea. It took an hour and a half, all together, including the cleaning up first, and the inspired brainstorm after.
I have been going crazy over what to use as an armature: foam core or 1/8″ birch ply. Cut by hand or laser cut. Standing over the drawn pattern yesterday morning I was thinking about the surface, and how I could possibly get what I imagined in the time remaining. I couldn’t; simple as that, really. So I thought about how I imagine the surface, and it is kind of like leather. I figured I could use the 40% off coupon to get some plain brown pleather at Joann’s. That seemed like a pretty brilliant idea. I could just cut and sew it without an armature, weight it with sand or washers when I get to Dublin, and sew plastic rings to the top edge instead of eye-screws. I was putting away the paper I used to make the original drawing, and I just thought I should poke around in the rolls of that sort of thing, and there it was! A couple of yards of darkish brown pleather, the perfect weight for what I want. Fabulous! Unbelievable! Then when I was telling Mark about it later over the phone, I mentioned weighting it so it would fall back down after the reveal, and he asked, “Why?” Why does it need to fall back down? In other words, why wouldn’t I want it to stay up, sticking out, for the rest of the performance. And of course, I WOULD. Really, it makes a lot more sense. Or at least as much sense. Suddenly a looming impossible project is rather quick and easy. I eliminated a lot of time, worry, and effort. I can gild it directly, of heck, even before I sew it. That will be a lot easier than gilding it after it’s been stuffed. So I pushed myself hard at the end of the night last night, and got it cut out. Stayed up until 2am, which was NOT in my plans at all, but was, I think, worth it.
Without a full debrief, I actually don’t know what I got done, and what I didn’t. I did get the petticoat mostly done, except for the hem, waist, and side seam (easy) and the second/third layer of netting. The netting that’s already pinned in is doing a good job, so the rest should give me a sufficient amount of poof.
I did get the corset muslin mostly finished (except grommets), and I truly feel good about the prospects of fishing the real thing. I HATE the way the yellow binding looks, so I’m going to exchange it for black. I have no good reason to use red, so black it is. Maybe I’ll sew some beads along it. The lace has to be hand sewn anyway, so that’s an along the way job.
I got the bustle pad made and the bustle drapes to my total satisfaction. It needs the folds stitched and different cord in the channel. It will still fold mostly flat. As I was trying different drapings, I found that if I didn’t fold up the bottom layer it made a nice, very short (just past floor length) train. I like the idea of a train. The whole bustle effect if very weird, because it clashes so much with the skirt. I keep saying, Mielificent has never been known for her great sense of high style. She’s more than a bit over the top, and she doesn’t care if other people don’t think her clothes match.
Another aspect of reDesign happened during the bustle draping. I started out, of course, dressing the form with the petticoat, bustle pad, and skirt. It looked very stupid. The skirt was, of course, too short in back, and it, of course, ruined the beautiful A-line of the skirt, which I had carefully designed to make me seem perhaps a bit slimmer than I am nowadays. So I went ahead and draped the bustle, and it looked pretty dram good. Really nice folds, I think. A pretty shape. But not really as impressive as I had hoped. I realized that it needed to stick up and out more, like a bustle, not just a drapery. So I put the bustle pad OVER the skirt. After all, all kinds of people are wearing their corsets on the outside. Why not other pieces of underwear? You can’t actually see it under the bustle. Maybe they are not supposed to be under the skirt. What do I know? Anyway, it looks great and I’m keeping it.
I got the hat brim sewn, but not fully turned, and so not quilted. And I did not yet shirr the veil. That one is worrying me, because I have never used elastic thread before.
I printed the corset lining and the bustle pad with hexagons (strange bubble wrap), and they came out very well. And I got the lining sewn together, as well as completing the pad.
Things I still have to do before OTHER things can be done:
1. cut the boning and paint the casings
2. gather the netting
3.
PM: It’s never easy making the design decisions. There’s really no good answer. Well, no right answer. Well, I guess there’s no EASY answers. My question now is, how do I want the fringe on the saddlebags to look. Do I want one layer to be set into the seam and one next to it flat on the surface? Or do I want them both flat on the surface? And if both flat, should one hang over the edge. I’m trying to figure out the construction methods, and the easiest and fastest is a good idea, which would be just one row of fringe in the seamline. To perfect, both rows should be stitched before lining, but that could be a problem. I shall ask Mark his opinion. I leaning toward sewing 2 rows flat, with the tassels of the lower one hanging over. Simple but time consuming, since I will have to fold back the tassels in order to stitch the lining.
I got 2/3 of the second set of netting pleated while proctoring the exam today. It tempts me to wait and do the rest next Thursday, but that is too late. I guess I will finish it in front of the TV sometime this week, but not tonight. Oh, stupid me. THAT is handwork, and I can easily finish it at the sale next Saturday. If I don’t get it done sooner. We’ll see. (I have to stop saying that. I am really pissed at Drumpf for making that his stupid “I don’t know what I’m talking about but I’ll make it sound so mysterious and special that you will think I’m super smart” line.
Well, traffic has slowed down a bit. Maybe I’ll try pleating on the bus. Maybe not. It’s kind of bumpy.
July 9
I did not try pleating on the bus. Instead, I did it during the exam. I got 2/3 of it done. and half of the rest during the news last night. I also figured that I don’t really have to sew the netting into the petticoat in advance. First no one will know or care if it’s just safety-pinned in. Second, I now recall that Dublin says there will be a help table at the con available, I think, during the days before, with at least one sewing machine. It would take all of 15 or 20 minutes to stitch it if I had it already pinned. I probably need a list of things that really don’t HAVE to be done before we leave, and leave them.
Last night I didn’t get home until After 7:30, I think. Maybe close to 8. But I still got some real work done, although I did stay up much later than desirable or planned.
I got the stripes sewn down on the jacket front. Now I really can pin down the trim.
I got the organza ironed and laid out for the wings. but not cut. I have decided the best idea is to test it for Frixion pen residue and if none, use that to trace the outline and veins onto each wing. Otherwise, pencil. I was going to trace onto both pieces of each wing, but if the pen works, I won’t need both sides. I probably don’t anyway. I can only sew on one side at a time, and probably only need to sew on one side. It took a stupidly long time to figure out how to make a French seam. Or rather where to sew the first seamline. It was driving me crazy for awhile, but I finally figured that, because of the armature around the outside edge, I really do need to make the initial seam half an inch outside the final seamline, which will not be on the edge, but rather interior to the armature. I really don’t know if I would have become unconfused sooner if I wasn’t so tired.
At the end of the evening–OK, at 11:30–I thought I should go get some sleep, but then I realized that I was never going to finish if I let exhaustion defeat me. So I managed to sit back down and finish sewing the stripes, then iron the organza, etc. So it was getting close to 1am when I finally turned out the light.
I have an ambitious list for tonight. Pinning out the trim is the most critical. I have a strong belief that if I can just get that done, the rest won’t be too difficult. I mean, I have already done it once, and it’s just an open blouse, really, with a half-lining. It isn’t tailored. Marking the corset for the busk and boning is also on the list. I think if I take that piece in small bits it will get done without me realizing it. I need more grommets. I got the wrong size, and I although I have many of the correct size, I only seem to have the long part, not the rings. And I don’t have the correct size setter. Unless I can find that setter I THNIK I have but don’t know where. I will go to Joann’s tomorrow to use my coupon. I didn’t see any the right size though. And I don’t need to do the grommets yet. That will be a small, discrete task.
I have cutting the boning on there for tonight as well. I figure that can be done in front of the TV. And painting it, which will just take 15 minutes just before quitting.
And finally, tracing and cutting the wings. I think that once I have the wings and the stinger both cut, I will feel as if I am starting to get a grip on it. They are important as costume props, but not critical to me having clothes on, so they kept getting pushed off. Same with the saddlebags. Right now they are on for Friday night, but that will have to be changed due to dinner at Donna’s. I think I really should cancel Rick Steve’s France, because it’s a long way and I’m really going to need the time to sew. I actually put some things down for Thursday night, figuring I have to do something every night. Now I will have to put a lot of Friday onto Thurs. I have inquired about going to the Garage Sale at 1pm, instead of 9am, and staying through cleanup. I was already figuring on staying until the end, so that’s no loss of time, but I could get a little work in Saturday morning (and not get up so early after the late night) if I can get my goods dropped off with someone in advance. I should send another message to the group, that I could drop stuff off in the north end on Friday afternoon. I think someone lives in the Maple Leaf area or thereabouts. That could be on the way. I think this just might work!
I just love the way this journal acts like a warm body of sorts, and I can brainstorm and figure things out without having Mark or someone else to bounce tings off of.
July 10
Got a little bit done last night. Stayed up too late.
I traced and cut out the wing fabric, got it marked and pinned and ready to sew.
I also worked out and pinned most of the piping and trim on the jacket.
Not much else, because I can’t seem to remember to bring the lap work into the TV room while Mark is there.
I could start sewing either/both as soon as I get home. Time for a short nap.
July 11
Failed to get Rue’s birthday card mailed on time. I really thought I would.
Last night I did get some work done, but as usual, not what I hoped, or even thought possible.
I sewed most of the piping to the jacket pieces. Still have a bit to do, but I feel pretty good about it. I cut the casing to length and got it painted (which meant up until 01:30 AGAIN!. Only 4.5 hrs on my timer last night. I’m sleepy, and also very tired. I have to try to get to bed by 11pm tonight. Earlier if I can make it happen.
Some of the boning got cut to size, only because I didn’t think I’d need the whole roll to finish so I cut to size as I went. I bought 2-yd packages pieces of featherweight boning, because it was 20% less per yard than long pieces, which I didn’t need anyway. So I pulled the casing off the entire 2 yds on 2 of the packages, but the third I cut piece by piece. It turned out I needed all of it and then some, so they did not overestimate the amount of boning required: not really 8.5 yards, but I am not boning the gussets. They are stiff enough to begin with.
Tonight I will set the paint on the casings. I can do than in the heat press all at once. And I will mark the corset lining for busk insertion. I should be able to do that during the news, as well as possibly stitching the bustle folds into place.
I have not been getting the documentation together. I do have photos of most things, and could possibly take them later and print using a hotel business center. I’d rather not, though, sine I have a good setup now at home. I really need to figure out what needs to be printed out in color and try to get that done. I don’t really even know what I have at this point. This journal does not count, which is a relief. I need the written documentation, which is not finished quite. I need the inspirational pictures, I need copies of patterns, and the actual patterns that I drafted, and I need the samples. That should actually do it, I think. If not, the answer will be on the PowerBook.
I also definitely need to learn how to put my docs in the iCloud, load Office onto the iPad, and upload the docs into the Could. That way I am ready any time, no matter what, with documentation. And I can create new if needed.
I also need to work with Mark to get the music ready before we leave. That will mean maybe this weekend. We maybe should look at it tonight, but I don’t know. That will take a lot of time, maybe. Probably better sew.
July 15
The music is almost done! Mark worked out how to do the fades yesterday (instead of splicing, which will probably be better anyway), and pretty quickly at that. He was very excited but wasn’t sure how he had managed it (there seemed to be problem at first, something like copy protection). Anyway, he go it figured out and made a couple of practice projects. Now we just have to sit down for a few minutes and refine it–or start from scratch, but still only a few minutes. Last time I looked (Friday probably) the form had not yet gone live. And if I have to wait until I get there to enter, I won’t be the only one. In fact, it will probably be hella crowded if that is the case.
Cynthia came over yesterday and pretty much finished the skirt. Well, I still have to take it in and sew the side seam, and add a waist. It really looks great. We decided that a brown dashed line, like stitching, looked best. Having stared at it for over a week on the dress form, it was pretty clear that the hexes were mostly pretty low in contrast both with each other and the main skirt color. The outline really does help define the shapes and even from only 15 feet away begins to lose its separateness and become just a part of the hexes. I was afraid it would look too cartoony (as if the whole thing wasn’t already plenty that way), but it doesn’t really, and I think she’s right that most of the audience won’t even notice it as a line; just part of the design.
Cynthia also got the utility belt started, fusing the black cotton to the front side. Last night during TV and his morning on the bus I tacked the overlap on the reverse. Now it just needs a buckle and some grommets.
I also worked on the hat band on the bus this AM. I had cut the fabric and cord Saturday morning, intending to do hand work at the BRCG “garage” sale. I got the inner edge stitched to the cord. Finishing it will be pretty short work, and really ought to wait until the hat is put back together. Or at least until the new hat fasteners are tested.
And I got all the jacket trim attached!!!! God what a huge job. You wouldn’t think so, considering how short the individual pieces are. And there really aren’t that many, although it did seem like every time I thought I was done I found another place that needed piping. Still have to sew the lining together, and I found that by foolishly using the jacket back pattern as my base, the lining waist is about 3/4″ too wide on each side. So I have to redraw the seamline using the trace the garment method. I wanted to at least do the pattern alteration before going to bed last night, but I let my smarter side win on that. I expect I can have the lining done in half an hour once I get started. Then probably another hour to 1.5 to get it installed. Oh, I made the epaulets, and despite my fold and trace pattern method, they are NOT bilaterally symmetrical–AT ALL! That was when I figured out what people do sewing of sorts on a dedicated embroidery machine. I guess I do need editing software.
And I got a bunch of work done on the corset. The front is ready to receive the busk, and the casings are ready to insert. The boning still needs to be cut to size.
I think the most important things to work on now are the corset, the jacket, and the chemise, in that order, as they are the things with the most machine sewing needed.
Oh, and I draped the Bustle! Wow! It looks really nice. Maybe I draped that before. Everything is a blur. I don’t think so, though. And it will fold almost flat, if I want to. That was the original plan, and i think it sticks pretty close. The stripes make it so pretty, as you can see the way the folds interact really well. I need to replace the gathering “cord” with a proper one that is much shorter, and add hooks to hang it on the utility belt.
There is still a lot of sewing to do, but I finally feel like I’ve crossed over a hump and am past the halfway mark. I wish I had at least one more week, but that would mean skipping France altogether. I still have to cut and sew the whole chemise. I could do a bunch of it with hand sewing, since I’ll probably have plenty of time for that. I have to do the rest of the sewing on the jacket, corset and skirt. And quilting the hat brim. I almost forgot that, since I have forgotten I have to finish smoothing the inside after turning it. I will do that tonight.
Oh, and I had another (re)Design moment at the very tail end of the night last night. I had attached the lace to the sleeves and its blackness made me realize that probably Mielificent should have a black veil. The is an easy fix, so perhaps it’s as well I haven’t shirred the white one yet. And I already have the black elastic wound on a bobbin. I can pick up black lace tomorrow evening on the way to BRCG meeting. I don’t see how I can get all of this done, but I suppose I will just and maybe pull an all-nighter on Friday. I have to get packed before that, but I’m not sure that will be as big a production as packing for Santa Fe usually is, since I have a list I have been refining for a couple of months.
July 17
I am truly exhausted. And I have not seemed to get very much done the last couple of nights. That is not an accurate picture of Monday night, but last night was BRCG meeting and I got home late and VERY TIRED, like the lat 10 miles of driving were probably dangerous. But it was a good thing to go, because Don Glover really wanted a short BeyondCon meeting. Martha hung around for it, which was good, and of course Vicki was also there. I found out what he wanted from me and got good tips on who to talk to about what for programming.
Okay, so what got done?
On Monday night I think I actually got some good work done, but my brain is so fried from lack of sleep that I can’t remember. I sewed the stinger. I made the opening too small, and I made the seam inside the barbs too narrow at the curve. I also had to redesign it by removing the barb closest to the root (i.e. belt attachment). I did it on the fly, essentially. Realized I needed to fit it in the bustle, which I had not done while said bustle was on the dress form. I’ve run out of time for niceties, so I just laid the bustle out on the ironing board (the table was messy) and checked the length. The length itself was pretty okay, but the most interior barb was going to make it impossible for the singer to drop low enough to be hidden. So I just sewed it off, so to speak.
I finally sewed the saddlebag pleats. It came out very well. I decided once that was done that it needed some interfacing to stiffen the bottom half, so it drapes more fully, instead of hanging limply. I still have to line it. And grommets, of course, but it’s looking very good.
And I prepared the corset to receive the busk.
Last night on my way to BRCG, I stopped at Joann for black veiling, and I found they had a bolt of the same lace that I am using on the sleeves. Had to have it.
I got home exhausted and we got to dinner pretty quickly. I was not hungry, so mark ate while I worked. I finished prepping the hat brim for quilting, something that really doesn’t HAVE to happen, but I think it will help stiffen it, so I want to. However I think I need to put it last in priority.
Then I started to trim the Stinger. That’s when I discovered the poor sewing. I ripped out most of the top seam so that I will be able to turn the tiny barb points, and I resewed the inner curves so they are more secure. Tonight I will trim it during the news. I’d like to get some good sewing done, but also need to cut the chemise. I have run out of time. Sewing the jacket lining makes the most sense, so that I can reconstruct the jacket tomorrow night. Those three tings maybe all I can handle tonight. I need to get to bed early.
I need a paper list of all the things I need to do during the day to be ready. There are a lot, and I can’t keep track of them on the iPad. And I need to start really packing.
Right now I think I need to try to sleep. Cassie and her friend are behind me, so there will be a constant chatting. I guess I will put in my earplugs.
July 18
Can ‘t believe it’s Thursday. Got up pretty easily, although absolutely not enough sleep. Got down to the Dome with enough time to check the back for the tire pump, and it does NOT have a bicycle valve. So I am taking the Golden Ball to the UW Bike Shop to see if they can deflate it. If not, I guess the paper clip trick will have to do.
***
SIDE NOTE: I am on the 6:26 bus at the new route on-ramp, and it is jammed. It is moving, and probably won’t take 10 minuets to get on, but it is still frightening from the general traffic perspective. True, I have not been out so early in a long time except when driving.
Trevor Noah is coming to the Tacoma Dome. Probably while we are gone. Don’t think I’d buy tickets anyway. I’m a cheap stick-in-the-mud.
***
Last night I got a little work done, and I’m frankly very disappointed. But my plans got derailed again, this time by the lack of tabs on the van, It took some time to help Mark figure out they did not get delivered. He wrote “paid” on the bill, but there is no payment recorded at the bank and no confirmation in his receipts folder. And the web site let him order again, which is probably not possible. So I figure that the internet went down temporarily while he was sending it and he just got confused or distracted. Who knows. They are ordered now, but I lost a lot of time.
I did get the jacket back lining’s new seam line marked and the pieces pinned, but no sewing got done. Everything is ready for me to stitch it when I get home. I should be able to get the whole ting sewn in about 20 minutes. I think I mentioned that before.
I also got the Stinger trimmed and turned, and Mark and I discussed and worked out a simple way to make the mechanism work. He says it will require more effort, but he didn’t think the original plan would work in this instance. These ting, though, will be on-the-road work. It has all the machine sewing possible done, so it is to be put aside.
I still haven’t called TSA.
I still have a lot of sewing to do:
*jacket lining and final construction
*chemise, which hasn’t even been cut
*corset-lots of it
*wings
*skirt alteration and side seam
*skirt and petticoat waists
It’s a lot for 2 days. Can’t say how I’ll do it and work and pack. I guess we’ll find out.
July 19
Haven’t found out yet. I am on the train on my last commute for a while. It is 5:13, so leaving in 7 minutes. I wanted to get out early, like 2:30, but it took until 3:30 to get everything done, partly because NBME was having order server issues. And I had to return Lourde. Wish I’d copied it. I guess I can get it out again. I’ll have to listen to some of her newer stuff. Either she will have succumbed to the money machine, or she will be doing some superior music, considering how interesting she was at age 16.
Anyway, when it was time to leave I gave up the idea of taking it back to the U branch and taking the bus. the 5 was already a mess all the way. So I took the shuttle to HMC,walked down to the library (a nice walk), then all the way down to the station (not as nice). I did pretty well, really. And I will likely get home no later than the 4:38 bus. Maybe than the 4:08 bus, considering how the traffic looked.
So this will be my last entry on NEO for 6 weeks. While I’m in Europe I will use the iPad, or paper. Probably the iPad for this journal, since I need to be able to copy it and edit it. But I will take a little journal for my trip diary. I have found that these are very meaningful later on. And they will probably last longer than the digital versions. Really.
SO last night we got the music done. Really done. It is not really perfect, but it is as perfect as it needs to be, and maybe as perfect as it can be done on the Audacity software. I don’t know about digital editing. I know if I had a 15ips reel-to-reel I could run the tape back and forth over the head by turning the reels until I found the exact millisecond where the sound stops on each piece. However, since it will be played in a full auditorium, I don’t think anyone will notice what I hear as glaring errors.
Before doing the music, we went out to Home Depot to find hardware for Mark’s idea of how to do the stinger pulley. Also to get timers for the lamps. We did get some I-screws to hold the axle for the spool. We’ll see how that whole ting works out. I am sure we can get anything we need in any country we’ll be in, so I’m not too worried. Anyway, when we get to Dublin there will actually be time to talk to all the many experienced costumers about how to do the stinger if our ideas don’t work.
Once we got home, I did a little bit a packing until Mark was ready for the music editing. Since I seem to be going backwards on this, in the afternoon I went up to the Bike Shop and let the air out of the Golden Ball. Only realized yesterday how many other costumes it might be good for. A mighty prop. What a lucky find.
That was all before dinner. After dinner I sewed the jacket lining together and thoroughly ironed it. I didn’t do any work during the news, because the stories were all too interesting. But I did clear the cutting table so that I can cut out the chemise this evening.
I still have a lot to sew on the machine, but I have also worked out a number of things that can be hand sewn even if that would not be the preferred way.
What I absolutely cannot do by hand is the boning casings and binding on the corset. (Okay, it obviously would be possible, but not at all practical under the circumstance.) Also the wings (same caveat). And it would be stupid to sew the skirt and petticoat seams by hand, since they are straight and easy. And long. But I certainly could, and they are on the list of “possibly but I’d rather not.” Constructing the jacket, definitely a machine job. Also the chemise. I’m not finding anything more than I already have relegated to possibly by hand. And quilting the hat brim is a machine job too, although it is not really a necessary one. I would prefer to have it done, as I think it will stiffen the brim significantly, but I’m not entirely certain. I actually have no real idea whether I will be able to get everything I need to sewn before we have to leave tomorrow, but I am going to give it my best shot.
That is said knowing full well that I still have to pack, and that will be a big job because of all the extra stuff (papers, costume, and related items that are not clothing or toiletries. I’m so tired suddenly that I can’t keep my eyes open. Plus the sun is in them. Guess I’ll take a nap. Oops, just made the big turn, so now the sun is in the engineer’s eyes. I think I’ll nap anyway. I just decided I should use one of the plastic folders for our papers,so I don’t really need to go to Fred Meyer.
Adios for now. Tomorrow we are on our way to our Great Adventure.
Sept 10 PM
So we’ve been and come back, and many exciting things happened directly related to the costume, as well, of course, as unrelated exciting things, some good, some not so much.
But I only wrote a single journal entry the whole time, and that was handwritten on the iPad. How’s that for whateveritis.
I am on the train again, about to head home after one week back at work. And I guess I should kind of write out what happened re the costume while in Europe. We dragged the suitcase all over, and I right now can’t recall exactly where I did what until we got to Telford Holiday Inn on our way to Wales. That doesn’t seem quite right, but I know absolutely that is where I drew the hot glue onto the skirt hem, which was a great success. However, before we got there I know I finished tacking the petticoat pleats, which never even got pinned in. That was either on the plane from Iceland to Geneva, or on the EuroStar. Unless it was in the hotel in Lyon. I guess some of the details are going to be hard to dredge up. That’s too bad. I must also have finished off what got done on the hat band on the plane over to Iceland, but I can’t be sure. And I’m pretty certain I hand gathered the veil with elastic thread on the plane. The skirt, though I am sure about. Except I’m not entirely sure that it was the Holiday Inn. A little piece of my brain thinks it might have been the International Hotel in Telford, on the way BACK from Wales. We go there earlier. had dinner, and all that. Still, I’m rather certain it was HI.
[we just passed several Spirit Airlines beat up fuselages on flat cars.]
We left the brown suitcase in the car a lot both driving through France and through England. I brought it in to the Holiday Inn only when I saw the size and sturdiness of the desk-table in the room. It was just too perfect. I had a copy of Figaro I had picked up in Lyon with the intention of practicing reading French, but never did. It served well to protect the table. The whole process went very well and quickly, and the results were great. It did not 100% seal the hemline. That is, it didn’t always soak through and glue the interlining to the fashion fabric. I will need to got back and make that better later. But it did the job and like I said, it looks good. I did most of the trimming at Druid Camp, but did not get ll the fine trimming done. Figured it wouldn’t be seen from the audience, and boy was I right. It was a full sized stage. Not many small details were visible.
I have a strong memory of cutting and trimming the boning, and I think we were already in Ireland when I did most of that, but I can’t be sure whether I was in the hotel or at the con. Funny. I think I must have been in the hotel, because I have most of the little pieces.
Once in Dublin I made the really big push. I spent the better part of 2 days sewing, after spending the better part of 2 earlier days gathering supplies. Supplies included buying a sewing machine for E95, which I later gave as a prize–via the Masquerade Committee–to a Young Fan who won Best of. That is another story.
I also found, after much searching, appropriate “silk” flowers (since I left mine home, but not on purpose–no wonder there was some room in the suitcase!!), for which I paid E13 and never used. And I found a bicycle pump for E6! That was one of my best moments, I have to say. And lots of notions that I needed, but mostly didn’t end up using, because time got so short. Detailing out all the work that went on in Dublin, and all the support I got from Mark, and others, will take more time than I have now before the train gets to Tacoma. I can’t recall exactly where I was when I realized that I had not packed the wings. Well before Dublin, though, as I had determined I could buy a pair at the dealer’s room. I couldn’t. It didn’t really matter. I had much bigger fish to fry. I bought glue in Telford. It was not the white glue I though it was, but it is great glue. I still have most of the tube, as I only ended up using it on the stinger mechanism. I bought poster board in Shrewsbury, or maybe that was Telford too. No matter. I didn’t use it either, but I still have it. And bolts turned out to be just the right thing for holding the log together. Got them in Dublin. Odd sort of bin hardware store, all the sizes mixed together. It’s an old town, with old ways.
Sept 11–AM
What got done and what didn’t.
So I arrived in Dublin with a lot left to do, to say the least. We got to Kilronan House in the mid-afternoon on Monday Aug 12, with 5 days until the competition. The room was good, with a big table for sewing, but up 2 flights of what seemed like the steepest stairs I’ve ever climbed–for at least the first 3 days. They weren’t really that steep, but maybe they were longer, since the house is very old, with high ceilings. Left, I guess, from the original move of society south of the Liffy in the latter part of the 18th C. It boasts the original plaster work and Waterford crystal chandeliers. We tried to lug all the suitcases up, but Romi, the manager, would not let us and insisted on carrying some.
That first afternoon we went out to get SIMs for our phones at the St Stephen’s Green Shopping Mall, and then looked for dinner. The next day–day 1–was spent mostly going to Tara and New Grange. Good tour. Very interesting. We had a great guide–an archaeologist. I would recommend Molly Gibbons Tours to anyone.
Day 2 we went out shopping. I had not been successful in finding a sewing machine to rent, so we determined to buy a used machine. We went to the shop I had found on-line, and I question the veracity of the ads, which claim they have been at the business for 2 or 3 generations. No doubt that business has been there that long, and probably in the same family, but I question if the proprietor is doing much fixing of machines, or at least not to sell. The used machines he showed me were old and heavy and didn’t look in good shape. And they were expensive: all over E110. We left the tiny shop disappointed, but I was looking in the front window at what he didn’t show me and realized that 1) the machines were not new, and 2) there was a very useful Brother for E95. We bought it. We also managed to find, after some searching, “silk” flowers of the type I wanted at a price I wanted to pay.
We also got new sports shoes and some hair spray Mark didn’t really like–and an umbrella. We took our purchases back to the hotel, and then went to Convention Center Dublin to get registered, then over to Point Square to see the secondary space so we’d know where we were going the next morning. This was where the art show and the putative costume repair shop were, among other things.
It seems like we then went back to Kilronan and Mark went off to do laundry while I got the sewing space set up and started working. I got the space set up and things organized, but no machine sewing was done. The machine worked well enough, although it was set very fast, and was very noisy. I did get some ironing done so things were prepared to sew the next day. I think you can see what’s happening here.
Thursday, Day 3 (of 5) we went off in the morning to partake of the con and for me to do more shopping. I still needed notions and hardware to be able to complete things. As well as a bicycle pump. I managed to get everything, and then I went back to the Kilronan to start actually sewing. I guess I started to reconstruct the jacket, since that was the most complicated and significant thing, and was in pieces. It seemed to take forever. Mark cam back, eventually, and I think that was the night we had Subway sandwiches, but maybe that was Friday. I’ll have to work that out with Mark, I guess.
Friday, Day 4 of 5. I know I must have gone to the convention center early in the day, but I can’t really recall well without the schedule. I also know I must have spent a good chunk of the day sewing. I know I stayed up very late that night, sewing until I thought it was too noisy, and then cutting and installing boning. Then I got up a t the crack of dawn to start again (as soon as I thought it was reasonable and wouldn’t wake anyone). That was when I bound the corset. At that point I had the jacket in a barely wearable state and the corset done except for the grommets and lacing.
Saturday, D-Day 5 of 5. As said, I woke very early, mostly finished the corset, and put all the parts and sewing gear into the suitcase. After breakfast we headed off to the con. I forgot something, because Mark had to meet me at the mandatory masquerade meeting. Once I got through it, which took much longer than it was supposed to, We took the suitcase and sewing machine over to the workshop space and I set up to sew. First I made a terrible mistake putting together the saddlebags. I know there was exactly the right amount of tassel tape, but instead of cutting it in half and pinning it to the fabric starting at the center, I pinned it on starting at one top edge, and then cut it. Big mistake. Somehow it ended up too short at the end, because I had forgotten how the lining was to be constructed: bagged on the bottom and sides, but tacked down flat on the inside of the top edge because of the giant piping. So the trim needed to fold over the top edge by 3 inches of more, and there was NOTHING to fold over. I will have to figure out how to fix this. In the end I did not have time to get the hangers onto the and so did not wear them. In the meantime, Marked worked on putting grommets into the utility belt. It was a difficult process, without the best equipment, but he managed admirably. He was truly my total support through all of this.
In the middle of this crazy sewing frenzy, I had to go to my rehearsal time. And because of some technical issues on the part of the Convention Center, they were running an hour behind. An hour. I had some handwork with me, and kept on t=with that, but it was frustrating. Then they called my name, and I thought I was late to start, so I jumped up and spilled my little travel sewing box–and pins–all over the floor. Some really nice people (Amaterasu) picked it up for me. very sweet. My rehearsal was then a comedy of errors. They called me to start. But started the music too soon, so I called for a restart. Then the next act went on instead of me, convinced it was their turn, but my music started playing. That happened twice. Then we got it going correctly the 4th try. I went through it once. That was all I had time for. I got the word as I left the stage that I never made it to stage right and really needed to make sure I covered the whole stage that night, so everyone could see me. I hustled back to the Point ASAP, as I was now frantic about sewing.
I jumped into getting the skirt taken in and seamed, and made some mistakes, like sewing after the bobbin thread broke, so no stitches. Then I found I’d take it in too much, and had to let it out again. Never put a seam–or the second row of netting, into the petticoat. I did rush through making the chemise. I barely got it done when I had to rush back over to get dressed.
They found a dressing room for me, but it turned out to be flooded by someone steaming their costume in there. very bad situation. We worked in the hall instead. What a mess. That was when the gathering cord came out of the bustle and it could not be draped as intended. Mark got the hangers into the belt, and I hitched it up, and tucked the end into the belt. It did not, of course, fully hide the stinger, but I guess it was hidden well enough by the folds.
con’t PM
There was nothing for it, really, but to try to put the hat together and go out as was: I had the skirt essentially finished, the petticoat, the chemise–which ripped under the arms when I put it on; then I know where the size 12 came in, the corset in good condition, well pinned in back, the jacket nearly done except for tacking in the facing and the buttons–no buttons anywhere, the bustle which was falling apart, the hat without flowers, and the stinger which made the costume workable in any state.
I had spent time and money finishing the documentation text and printing pictures and getting it all into a binder. half the pages were on A4 paper and some were on letter, the binder only had 2 holes, which I guess is more standard in the EU or else in Britain, which still has a technical grip on the Republic of Ireland after a full century. So I poked new holes into the 3-hole page protectors I had brought over with me and put my so-called workmanship documentation together on Friday I guess it was. That was time I could have been sewing.
I never used it. In the end I barely got dressed in time and some things seemed to be falling apart, although they did not really do so. I just essentially gave up (I did get my documentation back the next day, thank goodness). Then I went out and sat with my group until they hustled us into the hallway and made us stand int here for way too long. The den mother said they called us too early, and she was not happy about it. All kinds of people kept trying to help me put on, adjust and keep on my hat, which did not require such ministrations, and by the time it was my turn it really was beginning to feel sloppy. At the last minute it was decided I should enter stage right instead of left, since the lights were going to show behind the scrim if I crossed backstage. No big deal. I could get to center stage from either direction. And I did. The MC read out my intro, I hit my mark, and the music came on pretty much right on cue. I ran around with my ball and did little hops to the side, and I was downstage center pretty much on cue. Then Royals came on and the audience started clapping to the beat. I think there was some applause or whooping when I engaged the stinger. I kind of danced the dance I had practiced mostly in my mind. Mostly I was trying to be sure to cover the stage and be in the right place on music cues. People clapped afterward and I gave them the royal waves as I exited and was led off to there photo area.
People there were very complimentary. Once all the acts were done we hung around out there by the bars waiting for the judges to decide. I drank several glasses of iced water. Ice is a hard thing to come by in Europe. They don’t seem to want to waste it on making water cold. Only for gin, you know. Some of the audience came out of the auditorium during the judging show, which was long and seemed to be some kind of local fannish game. We were not really told there were seats set aside for us, so we didn’t go in, mostly. I could not easily sit in a theatre seat anyway. True of many I think.
Then someone came and half shouted in a worried voice, “They’re starting to give out the awards!” and we all hustled back inside and mostly stood on the right side of the house, which was the place to be in case you got called up onto the stage, i.e. won something.
So we’re all standing there and the Director starts talking about sometimes being asked to give out special prizes. And how the ConZealand (Worldcon 2020, in Christchurch) had asked him to give out an award they were sponsoring for Best Use of a New Zealand Pop Star. And I thought, “What are they talking about? I didn’t see any New Zealand pop stars in anyone’s presentation.” Of course I had not seen very many of the presentations, so how would I know anyway, but I was pretty sure. And then he called out “Mielificent” and for several seconds I thought, “What are they talking about?” I think I scrunched up my face in quizzical confusion, and then half shouted “OH! Lorde!” and started to scurry toward the proscenium steps. I had won! Albeit a made up category intended to shamelessly hawk their con to the assembled crowd. But hey, a win is a win. I went up and received a small shopping bag that seemed …5
Sept 11 cont . . . heavier than it should have been. So I stood there, gratified, next to a young girl with wings, and I heard the Director saying that I was the one who had donated the sewing machine which she had won, and that was true, but I did not even know they had accepted my offer. Anyway, I stood there because no one told me to leave, and the next ting I knew they were calling out the other Best Of awards, and they announced Mielificent again, as Best in Class (Novice)–Presentation. Well I could barely believe it. I think the only person more surprised by the outcome of the evening’s events was Alicia Friers, another BRCG member aka Leanna Cosplay, who won Best in Class (Journeyman) AND Best in Show for workmanship. And here I thought she competed in the “Open” (formerly Master) Class already. Well, she’ll have to now. Julie Zetterburg told me that Alicia lacks confidence, and it’ll be good for her to have to compete in Open Class now.
And I will have to compete as a Journeyman, which is kind of scary, but I probably am up to the challenge, if I just give myself the proper amount of time to get tings done. My Best in Class award comes with a free membership to Costume Con 2020, which takes place in Montreal the week before I’m supposed to give this poster presentation in New York. And the ConZealand award included a T-shirt, fuzzy stuffed kiwi, kiwi puzzle, and a beautiful 6oz stainless steel flask with applied and etched silver ferns.
So now, so far, this costume has won:
–200 Amazon bucks. (each worth $1 for on-line purchases, so $200 as far as the IRS is concerned)
–A membership to BeyondCon 2020 (worth $37 as a guild member, which I was going to happily pay since I am doing programming)
–a bunch of New Zealand themed swag (value unknown, but I will have to figure it out for the IRS), and
–a membership to CostumeCon, which I think is somewhere around $130-$190. I’ll have to look it up.
When I had registered for the Masquerade on Thursday morning, I saw the CostumeCon flier, said wistfully “Montreal. Well I can’t go to that. I have a poster to present.” But also knowing I could/should not afford it. I guess I will be eating my words, because It does not actually overlap Design Principles and Practices Conference, but rather ends on the day before DPPC starts, and I will be more than halfway to NY if I start in Montreal.
The next thing I have to do is really finish the costume. All the parts. Properly. Then I will need to put it on, as Mark said, and take proper photos of it. This needs to happen before Christmas for my sanity. I really have to make it work. Then I can enter it in the New Zealand WOW Exhibition. Would it not be a serious hoot if I got in? The New Zealand Connection would be heavy indeed. How would I get there, just before retiring, but too long after the con; or could I combine the 2? Oh I would love to go there. I guess we’ll see.
Nov 27:
Well, I have more on here than I thought. I was more together in early Sept than I remember; than it seems. Things have been very slow since then, and I have not gotten very much done. I feel stupid, but really it was like this. I began to fall into a depression in Sept, I guess it was not so much like it feels: I got back from Europe, I slept mostly for 3 days, I went back to work, I got unbearably depressed. Regardless, by early Oct I was anxious, and by the start of this month I felt like I had had a month-long anxiety attack. Things are getting better, but I am so far behind on BeyondCon it feels hopeless sometimes. It still gives me anxiety most of the time. But Judith said Yes, emphatically. So I hope the several days it took me to respond was not off-putting. Today I MUST get the invites fully out, and the updated list to Don.
On the brighter side, I am about 2/3 done with the wing sewing. I have decided to try putting in the armature WITHOUT the French seam. Just to see if tension will keep it in place. It would be a lot easier for a straner to thread it in, I think, if it was not a narrow curved channel. Then again, I really want to at least TRY the original idea, to see if it can be done. And why not? There aren’t a lot of sharp curves. I saw to that. I really think I just have to make sure the ends of the wire or cord are smooth, melted to a ball if plastic or capped or melted if wire.
So the first thing this weekend will be to finish stitching the wing veins. (2 hrs) Then I probably need a miniature sample for threading. (1 hr) The list is long. but I think the first things would be removing the binding from the corset (1 hr); photographing the skirt bottom and completing it (2 hrs); examining the jacket to see what is needed and what has to be deconstructed (1 hr); adding the netting to the petticoat (2 hrs); putting together the pollen pack (2 hrs) and brainstorm wing attachments.
Hmm, if my estimates are close, that is 11 hours of work. Call it 12 with brainstorming. I think I can do at least 5 actual working hours in a day this weekend. That would actually give me 3-4 more hours. That might be enough for the weekend. Better not to over-extend myself and end up feeling like I failed. I think the other thing that needs to be addressed ASAP is the bustle. It needs to be re-draped and properly sewn. That is probably the best way to spend the rest of my long-weekend time.
One thing I have not said out load (or written) is that I think I will abandon the chemise. It is not actually as useful as I thought, and in fact, being 2-3 sized too small, is perhaps a problem. I think I will probably replace it with a camisole with lace edging. That means an extra piece that hasn’t been started, or even designed.
And I still don’t have the proper leggings/tights. Plus I am not happy with the bee socks. There is part of me that wants to find a pair of thin socks, black with yellow hexes, like I saw on the train last night. But the bees are sort of cute. And then there are the slippers. Not what I originally intended, it is very true. Still, they have a certain something, mostly humor.
Dec 2:
Had a pretty good weekend. I was really gratified how much I got done on Friday. I’m not 100% sure right now what I got done on Saturday. Not as much on the costume as I had on my list, but I traded that for some house stuff. Did get some of both done Sunday.
My new Calendar says that I finished the wing veins (check), made a wing armature sample (check), photographed the unfinished skirt bottom (check). (I also photographed the blue bodice for the Frozen dress and the green jacket.) I also got a good start on the bedroom insulation project and clearing the dining table, washed the flour bin sifter, and finished some other house task that I deleted and can’t recall. Oh, and I created the new calendar, which took a bit of time, but is worth it.
On Saturday I did a lot of laundry and dishes, washed the rest of the hoosier drawers and the work surface, cleared the work table, and figured out how to copy Mark’s shirt. For the costume, I went through the suitcase and pulled out the items I wanted to work on: petticoat and netting, jacket, pollen pack materials; and neatened up the rest of the items. I also read through my long hand-written list of what is left to do.
On Sunday I not only examined the jacket for what needs to be done, which is what the calendar said. I also ripped out the tops of the sleeve caps and the bottoms of the facing, and spent a good amount of time working out how to complete the facing. I also straightened the epaulets and readied the sleeve cap for basting, and ripped out some stitching and cut back the piping on the collar points. I was happy that it didn’t seem like as much work as I feared.
I ended up thinking maybe there was less to do to complete this costume properly than I thought there would be, and that there is a real chance of doing it without getting frantic. I have 3 months.
Dec 3:
I did not do any work last night. Well, I did a bunch of calendar work on the way home, but no actual work, even though it was sitting next to me while I watched the news. Even though it was just trimming and pinning and deconstructing. I just sometimes can’t seem to remember. Not even re-fixing Mark’s pants. Now all there is to do is move all the items from last night over to tonight and hope I can remember to do at least some of it.
Dec 10
Must get the poster done. I still have not better idea that something like a time-line. Maybe a map? It needs to be visibly interesting. I have to see if there is a video I can use. And also, where the heck are my pictures? What did I miss in the meeting? I’d better go back and look again. I haven’t even checked in weeks at least. I need to make a list of what I have to show and use, and then I can get a better sense of how to use it visually.
UNDATED:
First I figured out I was having a month and a half long anxiety attack. Then I managed to force myself to call Judith (she invited me too, after all). And then my anxiety was suddenly gone. Just gone. I was able to pull together the BeyondCon program, took a copy to the party meeting on Dec 17 and people signed up. On Dec 18 I went Christmas shopping in the afternoon. Feeling great! Felt a bit of a chill when I got in the van at the Dome. Shaking like a leaf and getting hot by the time I got home. In bed with fever Thurs and Fri. Called in sick to Grove. Much better Sat but the basement was leaking (20 gal sucked up over the afternoon and eve). Didn’t cancel trip to Santa Fe, up until 2am. Had a tiny Solstice ritual w/ Mark before bed, and left for the airport at 8am. Had a nice trip. Needless to say, no costume work got done during this time. (Except the Frozen costume I should not have wasted my time on.)
Jan 21:
And then I got the flu. Mark and I got home on Friday evening 12/27 as planned. Had a relaxed weekend in which I felt mildly low energy. I went to work on Monday, and began to feel a bit chilly at the market on the way home. Chills when I got home (NOTHING like before Christmas) and a fever. Went to bed, coughed a lot. Fever of 101.5 on Tuesday. Directed to go to urgent care (worst NYE ever), where they x-rayed me, confirmed I didn’t have pneumonia, but that I did most likely have Flu-A. This is my first day going back to the office. 3 weeks. Needless to say, no costume work got done during this period either. But I did finish the BC program and got it scheduled out, and tonight I will take it to the meeting. What a parody of real life. This could be a play and everyone would call it a highly unlikely coincidence. [just got into Seattle and the weather here sucks!] However, my work on the con is nearly done until it starts, and I am getting my energy back, and that means I can start sewing again. We moved the card table upstairs, and Mark will move the sewing machine when I tell him which one (and pack it up). He is such a dear. I just don’t know how I’d get by without him.
Jan 23:
Redid the whole schedule after the guild meeting. Did it in an hour at “lunch” yesterday. I was working from home, and didn’t get started until about 10:30, so I was still eating breakfast at that point. Then I nudged it again just before going to bed. Heard from Judith and Melissa. This version is it, and I need to get it into the spreadsheet and also create a program, which will take longer, but most of the actual work is done, just the formatting really. I do still have to write up some event descriptions. Should be doing that now.
I have done noting on the costume. I have given up the idea of entering it in NZ WoWA this year. That won’t stop me, though. I’ll just have more time to do it really right. I also have not done much but think about the poster. Didn’t check yesterday to see if the program is out yet. There was a little note on the web site that it would be out 2 months before the conference. The would be last weekend, so, no, it didn’t happen on time. Maybe yesterday. I was too busy to check.
Having the flu has given me a sort of “honey-badger” attitude. I don’t mean running around crazy, but definitely don’t give a fuck. When you are that sick, or recovering from it, nothing really seems worth wasting energy on. Just chill, for fuck’s sake. Well, time to write event descriptions. After all, why else should I have Word on my iPad?
Jan 27 pm:
A very exceedingly interesting few days. I have redone the BC schedule twice since the last writing, but now we have something that will work, I think, in all ways. This is not the place for all that went into that. Maybe another time, since it took a bit of my time. But I can’t pretend I would have been spending it on something else. Here’s the really ridiculous part. On the afternoon BEFORE my last entry (i.e. 1/22) and email came in informing me that my presentation would be on Tues 3/17. So that’s GREAT! Justs what I wanted, really, but I spent 4 days not knowing, because I didn’t check my email carefully enough. It was right there, and I was checking and sending stuff every day. CRAZY! I still haven’t written to Penny, and I might have done so had I known. But I didn’t write to her before I got all freaked out about it being past their promised program posting time. The again, I was too sick for most of the time to really think straight at all. Anyway, I had some lot of laying awake in the middle of the night to get some serious ideas about how to organize my poster. Not so many great ideas on how to get a table to show opp my stuff. That is really important to me. Hmmm. Maybe I can but something on line and have it shipped directly there, like I will ship the poster itself. I did get a few thoughts on how to put together a form to display some of the costume. But so I need to do that? Maybe I only need the head for the hat. And I could set out some of the pieces. It has occurred to me that I could wear the costume. Or at least part of it. Probably not the slippers, but maybe the skirt, corset and jacket? Or maybe just the skirt and belt and accoutrements. I have to think some more about this. I will have it with me, in theory. That is the plan. So I need a table to display the hat/crown, the book, maybe Waggle Dancing. Maybe I can wear the bottom half and display the top on a half form on the table. I like that. I’d like to show the wings. But I want to show the lining of the corset. I guess some pictures will be good enough for some things. Put that in the slide show!! Got to get the Dublin AND the Norwescon pictures. Got to put the final music on the iPad. That should be totally doable, right? Just email it to myself. I need to made an exhaustive list of what I need for the display.
And I need a good plan for the poster. I really think a map of sorts will be the best format. With branching roads and dead-ends. I think it will really visually represent the process I’m trying to express. If I do it right. Got to start sketching. Tomorrow on the way in. I’ll think some more about it tonight. I could start with the list of the high points I want to show. And a timeline. And maybe there should be some text, kind of telling the story, on the poster itself. How will I arrange that into the map? A legend? How much space to I have?
So there is a:
Poster (design & print)
Journal (edit print)
iPad (need stand)
dress form (construct)
hat form
Workmanship binder?
small art piece?
Thank the force that I am finally feeling almost well. Almost have my mind back. Just in time, I guess. I mean, if I weren’t sick for a month I might have been able to work on the con program, the costume AND the presentation all at once. But how much more would I have gotten done? I would have had to be at work every day, and that makes me usually too tired when i get home. Anyway, start from now. Presentation is the priority, but finishing the costume can also be attempted. All that stiich-and-bitch time. Get the sewing machine moved this week. Don’t wait for the weekend. One never knows. I’ll get it ready tonight, maybe, and have Mark move it tomorrow. I can come home early Thursday, ’cause no exam on Friday.
Jan 28 pm:
This thing is really happening. Really. I have memberships, I have a time and place for the poster (Room 4, 13:05-13:50, Tues 3/17/20), I even have plane tickets for the whole trip that didn’t cost more than I would have expected a round-trip to NY (maybe even less!), Now I just need a poster, which I made a preliminary sketch of this morning on the way in. It would be nice if I could figure out how to display all the other stuff I promised without breaking the bank. Or even better all the other stuff I want to show. But I only promised 2 costume pieces (I read the proposal this afternoon). I can almost certainly use a Styrofoam head so I don’t have to bring the plaster one. But I don’t see how I can get around a table of some sort.
Main thing, though is the poster. And places to stay. I don’t have anywhere to stay in either Montreal or New York. I should be able to still get a room block room–I hope. But what I really need is a room to share. Time to look into what’s on line about the con. There might be a room match. It seems quite possible. And I really need to email Penny. Probably ought to do that tonight. Can’t say why I keep putting it off. It isn’t fear. I already talked to her about it. It’s more, “Oh, that will take care of itself.” Only it really won’t. Probably still time, but I have to get on this. And I need to book room for BC too. Should send out a personal mass email (not the group) to see if anyone needs a roomie in either place. I don’t even know if Bronwyn is going to either con. Should put Montreal on that same email. Just send it to everyone I can in the guild, and maybe some others, and maybe a “do you know anyone?” plea.
So I made a funky little sketch (love that Apple Pencil) of how I imagine the poster looking generally. Kind of like a boardgame map. What I need now is photocopies of the images I want to use, in several sizes. And the copy I want to have for the text blocks. I should really overdesign this in an over the top way. I mentioned it to Signe today, and she said (essentially) that since the regular way of doing things has been done a million times, doing it a new way, since it’s an design/art presentation, will make it more interesting. Maybe it will start a new trend. Let’s be honest. I looked up on line all about academic presentation poster design, and it was pretty boring. I mean some of it made sense, like don’t make it all dense text, more bullet points, and use imagery that will help tell your story. Well, I think I have that all right. I’m getting pretty excited. So I need to gather the images, rough out the text, and make an appt with the poster design consultant crew at Odegaard. I NEVER claim to be a graphic artist (just the opposite).
I did get an idea for how to make a dress form that goes in a suitcase. I base it on the picture I have seen advertising the “Campbell” course in making muslin mannequins. You sew the form out of muslin to the appropriate size. Then when you get there you buy a big bag of fiberfill and a sandbag. Alternatively, if you are shipping rather than transporting in luggage, you can stuff the form and then ship it (stuffing won’t add much weight). Once you are done the sandbag becomes disposable.
I also really MUST now write up a press release. I can send it to some other places besides MCAD and UCD. Like Shunpike, and Tacoma Arts Council.
Jan 30 pm:
I got quite a bit done today, partly because I was proctoring.
I found the info on poster size: max 36″x48″. Sounds like a lot, but the sample in poster shop is not really all that big. I would not want it any smaller than that. I’ll need to get some craft paper for the mock-up. What I could not find was a definitive statement that the poster presentation could include non-poster elements as long as you provide the display and it doesn’t take up space outside what would be considered yours by default. However, my proposal clearly states that I will have other materials including 2 pieces of the costume. (So I guess that settles what to do about that, although I can still wear part of it.)
I found out the poster prices are going up next week, and 3’x4′ might go up from $38 to $40, but possibly more, she wasn’t sure.
I found out that I can get a good sized folding table (18″w x 26″l x 28″h) at Lowe’s for under $20, and it will probably come in a box that I can ship it in.
I found out that I can probably ship it return via UPS for about $60 and can probably ship the poster tube return for about $20 (as best I can remember).
I found out that I can get a nice (one hopes good) iPad stand in a very pretty rose gold aluminum from Amazon (i.e. free) for $10 or $12 or $16, depending on the shipper. But I can’t tell which one(s) are shipped by Amazon. It will be eternally useful once I have it, and I can park the bluetooth keyboard under it. Of course it isn’t enough to be shipped free, but I”m sure I can find a book or CD or video I want to bring up the price.
I did NOT really figure out how to transfer data FROM my iPad to a computer (reminded by something I’d left on my list. I think I deleted it now, but I have been reminded that is something I want to figure out.)
I also found out that I did not properly proofread the BC Events descriptions after the multiple room changes, so is says Fashion Roulette players should gather in the cafe, which we aren’t going to use. I don’t suppose this is a huge problem. But it bothers me. I should cut myself some slack. I’m doing a lot of that work on the bus in the half-dark with motion sickness threatening. I’m not even sure I re-proofed it after the last room change.
I found out yesterday that there is a Costume RSO, so I need to send them a FB post about the con. Maybe someone will show. Maybe they’ll bring their friends. It’s pretty cheap, but maybe not for students.
I also found out that there’s a Vitamin K study for which I am generally qualified. First I have to get a cheek swabbed to see if they want me to take supplements and get blood draws for 10 days. The compensation if they take you for that and you complete is $300, which would go a ways really help in covering my room costs. Otherwise you at least get a $30 Starbucks card, which is okay by me.
I did NOT hear back from either Penny or Janet. Penny matters a lot (can I stay at Barnaby’s?). Janet is me doing WOW a favor, so if they don’t need me that’s okay. I still like them and vice versa I’m sure.
So I’m going to pick up the table on the way home, and then have Mark help carry the sewing machine upstairs when I get there. Then I will be able to work more comfortable on finishing costume pieces. I’ll have to have a plan for what to work on. I would still like to wear it at CostumeCon, if just for exhibition. Which means I’d like all the parts done. But a minutes ago I was thinking it doesn’t really matter, since I now can’t enter it into NZ WOWA until next year. Technically I don’t think the entry period closes until sometime in March, but I don’t think I can really make it right by then, given the priority need to design the poster. And to make the single pattern piece. And to finish Major Thom enough to exhibit at CC. I want to get the face plate done, and the booties, and gloves. And of course the grommets or eyelets on the front. It would be nice to have the martini glass, but I think that is superfluous if the music box and turntable aren’t working, and that is certainly a bridge too far.
Jan 31 pm:
Well, I didn’t hear back from Penny because the message to her was sitting in my Drafts folder. I could have sworn I checked sent mail. I guess I should check in Drafts for the message to Janet. This is a disturbing habit. I don’t know what exactly I’m doing when I think I’m hitting Send. It can become a real problem sometimes. Lucky I caught the Penny miss so quickly.
I didn’t buy the table. It was not appropriate. There was one that was close, but a little big and much too heavy (not as a table, or for me to lift, but to ship to NY). So I got an idea for essentially building one that will be very light weight and can be assembled in a few minutes on site. It will use a 23″x37″ piece of lightweight (paperboard) whiteboard material, black on one side. I figure I can create a sort of frame on one side (the bottom), with thin wooden strips, which could be glued on, really. Probably more easily than some other way. It will incorporate attachment for legs. Voilà. The legs are detached for shipping. It will require very little padding. It will not take up too much space. When the show is over I can maybe give it Mark for a whiteboard, if it really works as it is supposed to. I’m satisfied with this solution, but not with the selection of legs in Lowe’s. I need to check some other places. Maybe I can order some through Ace. I should probably bring a cloth to cover it. Naturally my first thought was white, but I am wondering how big a piece of the hand dyed I have left.
I’d better open the tube I snatched from the trash this weekend. There might be a poster in it that I can use for a mock-up. And I need to measure the tube. I know it is big enough, but is it substantially bigger than need be? Would a smaller one cost less to mail? I might even have a smaller one around.
I got the sewing machine and the jacket up stairs last night (well, Mark and I did). But I still have to get it set up, which really includes moving the bookcase. Time consuming. Tomorrow will be busy with running around. I need to do the bookcase tonight so I will have good time to work on Sunday.
I also need to bring the small scanner and the PowerMac upstairs so I can scan sketches and such. It really is just too cold and damp in the basement right now to work like that.
Of course I do need to do some work in the basement finding stuff for BeyondCon, and that HAS to be done this weekend, which I guess means Sunday. Jeez, time is short. Maybe I can get some of that done while watching some TV tomorrow. If I take the cat in early, bring her home, and go back out right away, maybe I’ll get home in time to do some searching. There are a few obvious places to look, so I might be able to get quite a bit done in a short amount of time.
NOTE: it is 6:00, we left the UWMC at 5:15, and we are in Federal Way already. The rain is torrential, and people (including our bus driver I think, are driving awfully fast. The bus feels very stable, though, and I don’t feel unsafe in it.
I still need to gather up the notions I need to work on the costume. I’m not sure what to put them in. Things are a bit chaotic, but also at one point I had things put away, so all the various yellow threads for the jacket are in the Singer drawer. I don’t want to be constantly going up and down the 2 flights of stairs, so I need to be thorough.
Feb 3 pm:
Lots happened, I guess.
I can’t stay at Barnaby & Rachel’s because her mother lives there part time. But he did offer to ask around. I feel confident.
I didn’t qualify for the ESTIA study; not depressed enough. They should have seen me last fall. Oh well. Maybe I’ll have the right gene for the Vit K study.
I checked the hotel fees, and they are CAD, so the actual amount is $600-something. Still a lot. Have to look into sharing.
I came up with the best table plan yet. I will mail the 2 metal TV trays and a sheet of whiteboard material, and I’ll bring a tablecloth. Much cheaper to ship and very little cost. I have to find out where to send the poster and that as well.
I hardly got anything done Saturday except finding and then buying stuff for Fashion Roulette. I didn’t get a phone, but I think I have now found the right company for what I need. Maybe. We’ll see. It’s a lot more complicated than I realized, and more so than it used to be, I think.
I still have to contact Kevin Roche and try to get my pictures from Dublin. And there is a long list of things to do on Friday evening’s entry that I did not get to. Like moving the scanner upstairs. I have to remind myself that I still have a month to get the poster done. And who knows. I might even still get an invite from ExamSoft to do the WA Law Boards. That would really help travel expenses.
Ooops. Got to set up the Feb utility payments. So easy to forget for something so easy to do. I am the WORST procrastinator. And I HAVE to hem Mark’s new grey pants this week, because he will need them next week. I could do it Sunday when I get home, but that is not a good plan.
Wow, 6:10 and we are already to the ramp entrance. Time to go. Got to make a list tonight or on the way in tomorrow.
Feb 4 pm:
Rereading some entries from last week, I discovered that I had indeed written a nice Press Release, then promptly forgot all about it and did not send it out. Put that on the list!
I have not been doing much except for BC programming. To be expected. I have it really ready now, but for one last proof. Then save as PDFs and send to Don with instructions to replace everything on the web page with those and send out another Update message. [I printed the descriptive program to proof on the way home, and left off the last page. Jeez!]
I wish I felt at all confident about social media. I don’t know what or how. I have the goods, but don’t know how to get them out there.
I’m not getting any sewing done. The jacket is still as it was in December. Nothing else has been touched. Can I really get any more done than I already have? Do I need to? Will I wear any of it at CC38? I may wear some of it at the DPPC, maybe the skirt, maybe the jacket. The Crown and corset will be on display. Might try to put “armature” in the wings and photograph them, or one of them. Definitely need to fix the bustle/train and offer it to Lisa for the panel, if there is one. If there is a con. I suspect Martha thinks it should be canceled. We have no where near the requisite number of people. That is a discussion I don’t want to be part of. I did my part as best as I was able, and I can’t really believe the lack of membership is my fault. There is something else going on, but I don’t know what. Anyway, I am (almost) ready. Sort of. I don’t have a presentation, because I thought I had presented one thing (needle-lace) but it was something much smaller (Broderie Anglaise). Lots of crossover, it’s true. But I need a lot more images that I have right now. Which isn’t that hard, I guess. Need to look in my books and on my computer, and on-line, but there is very little time. And how much do I know about the history? Some for sure. I don’t have to have much in the way of hand-outs. Probably what I have and some captioned photos will suffice. No time, really no time. Maybe I need to be sick tomorrow. Or Friday.
Enough about what this is not supposed to be about. 6:30 and we are already at the 18. Not too bad. I am still so tired. I wonder if I can get both screens working?
Feb 10 PM:
Well, I’m not sure what happened to the 5th and 6th. Wait! I know! I didn’t go in on the 5th because of all the blood, and on the 6th I took the train after going to the doctor and getting some lace books at SPL. I read them on the way. Funny thing, they were pretty much the same text, published by different people close to 50 years apart. And both were copied from the one I already had at home, written about 35 years before the older library book. The 7th I hung out at the con suite until 9:30 or so. But I had the car so couldn’t type anyway.
And now BeyondCon is over. I may write of it elsewhere. People seemed to have fun. I did.
Now there is nothing between me and Brooklyn except Montreal, and I really don’t HAVE to ANYTHING for that. I don’t have to. Just have to remember. NO one is expecting anything. Well, I should pack, and I thought that I might as well pack an interesting outfit for each day and evening. I do have a LOT of costume pieces that I think of as clothes. Or is it clothes that I think of as costume pieces one wears not really as costumes, but as exceptional outfits. I mean, why not?! I have all this stuff. Some of it fits. The brown jacket with the coral embroidery fits! Judith suggested changing the buttons (which I would want to anyway) and adding 2 more between the 3 already there. So that would be some sewing. But is could be hand sewing. I could do contrasting bound buttonholes. In coral. Or just hand sewn buttonholes in coral Corticelli silk. If I have the right color. And I have a lot of colors. We’ll see. And then I have to find 5 buttons that really work. Oh, they don’t have to match. And the added 2 don’t have to be the same size. This is the aesthetic I am trying to develop. Yipee! Judith also mentioned having some advice on epaulets. I should ask. And I need to see if Bronwyn has time in early March to set eyelets. (After the poster is shipped.)
So where am I now? Well, I have a sketch of my poster, and I have a long weekend after Valentine’s Day to mock it up. I know it will cost $40 to print, has to be submitted on-line using a PDF, and is supposed to turn around in 24 hours. I think I should make sure I give it at least 48, in case of trouble. And they are closed on Friday, so If I plan to ship it on Mar 7 I should make sure it’s done by Mar 3. Mark Black’s birthday. I need a date to take it to the design consultants. Maybe on 3/20 and 3/25, with a weekend in between to implement their suggestions as desired. I think you can have 3 sessions a quarter, so that should work out.
My first step is to take the little scanner and the laptop upstairs tonight, just to make sure it’s done and I can cross it off my list. Then I need to get Mark’s pants done, so I don’t have to worry about them any more, at least one pair. Then I will need to gather all the bits that could possibly need to be scanned and take them upstairs. And they should all be in one box as much as possible. These tings need to be done before this weekend, so I am ready. I will have 3 days to do the initial mock-up. I also need to get the mock-up substrate, possibly a poster already in the over-sized tube I have.
I should just get a smaller, lighter tube which will cost less to ship. I might even be able to carry it on the plane. We’ll see. Now I doubt it, but I can ask.
These are all things I need to do this week, before Friday, since I won’t be home Friday night. I need to be able to start pretty early Saturday, although I think I should give myself a break for breakfast and watch Quilting Arts. (Which makes me think of waffles for Sunday or Monday breakfast.)
I will also need ways to stick things to the mock-up. I guess mostly tape or museum wax, or such. Needs to be movable but stand up to a 90 degree hang. At least for a short time. All the images need to be printed out, so that they are available for use on the digitized version. Even if they are intended to be directly attached to the poster on top of placeholders (like some of the samples).
The other thing I need to do is transfer and edit all this journal, and chose text. Or write other text. I have to figure out what I want to say in text and how it will enhance the imagery. Should try to do that this week and work on it during the commute. Which is just about over. We are off the freeway and headed for the dome.
Feb 21
All that work and I still haven’t sent out the press release. It is not actually too late, I suppose, but the plan was NOT to wait. Oh well.
I have been working hard on the poster design. Spent the long weekend mostly gathering images and laying out the design on a full-size mock-up. I really lucked out there. The over-sized tube I grabbed from the loading dock held a 4’x6′ plasticized sheet, which meant 2 full-sized mock-ups that took a lot of abuse while measuring and cutting. [As a bonus, the lead author was Shirley Beresford, who was Dean of Public Health during part of my time there, so it felt like an old friend.]
Thins went predictably slowly and I’m really glad I had 3 days to work on it. I was able to get quite a few drawings etc. scanned and those scans and a bunch of photos sized and printed out in b/w. Cut up and taped to the mock-up hung on the “office” wall.
I also got a start on a Libre Office draw file, which I mostly thought of as a first stab at what would eventually be the pdf to print. Not so very intuitive to use, but it did give me some idea of how things were going to have to look in the finished product and what I might want for title and background. I really felt I would need to use a different program, though.
Then I started to try to figure out what text would make sense. I really had no concept, except that I needed to figure out what I wanted viewers to take away from it. I have some of those on-line poster tutorials to thank for that bit of perhaps obvious-but-not-to-me wisdom. I had given the presentation a sub-title. I can’t recall if I mentioned that earlier (or even if I did it before the weekend). So: “(re)Design (re)Search: Perfecting Design with Concept and Scholarship.” The more I consider this that more I think that what I did in the design process was not so much scholarship as basic research. I’m not sure I even know how to separate them in the realm of making art. Maybe I should talk to Jan about it.
That part is just words, though. [Oooo. maybe “investigation” would work in the sub-title.] I have really done the research promised, in that I have kept this journal faithfully, if not daily, and also documented my process photographically. But all that can’t go on a poster, and what I proposed was a sort of map of my process, which is what I am trying to provide while still giving an explanation.
Which leads me back to the poster design process. I have spent some time this week figuring out what I want to say, and what makes sense to me is a list of the redesign decisions that grew out of the research, as well as the process itself. I have 2 “types”: 1) (re)Search: Expanding design research drives concept evolution, and 2) (re)Design: Evolving conceptualization leads to shifts in design brief.
Feb 21 PM:
Just looking over this morning’s writing and trying to figure out what I was so anxious about getting down before my stop (but could not), I came up with several variations on the sub-title: Perfecting Design . . .
. . . through Concept Driven Research
. . . through Conceptualization and Investigation
. . . through Concept Driven Investigation
I like the last one. I think it really states the idea well and sounds good, too. Scans well. Sounds smart and scholarly. Words are so wonderful.
I have a clear memory of opening PowerPoint in Windows today or yesterday to see if my memory of it was correct, i.e. that you can import a picture are background. And it (almost) definitely is. It would be definite if my memory of when and where I opened it was more clear. I think it was first thing this morning, but that doesn’t seem right. No matter. I’m pretty sure I can, if I’m in a full version, instead of the iPad version with is very limited in tools. I’m sure they figure you are only going to use it to do some last-minute editing before showing it.
So my idea is to use a photo of the bustle fabric as the background. Then I might use the gold now in the background as the title box color. I have been thinking about color-coding the frames of images to match the color of the arrows connecting the text in the two boxes.
If I put the boxes in the center, the literal map idea will be lost. But if I connect the written ideas and images with color coding, a different type of map will be created. It will have more of a puzzle effect, which is certainly a good analogy for how the project felt in the doing. I’m pretty sure at this moment that I will come around to thinking this is a semi-brilliant idea and a very desirable way to present my work. I probably ought to come to some conclusion about the process before I get to NY. I suppose in a way I have. And I still have to reread and correct this journal. Can’t think of when I’ll get to that. I guess I should print it this weekend and start reading it on the commute. It will probably be easier for me to proof that way anyhow. Red pen, will travel.
[Looking through the Sept 11 through Jan 27 entries I thought it might make some sense to iterate the continuing illness saga. I seemed to be getting better. BeyondCon went pretty well, though I coughed a lot still. However, I was still well within the “3-5 weeks after you start to feel better.” But nothing really changed, and then it seemed like it might be getting worse again even. Yesterday I finally went to the clinic, after days and days (feels like weeks and weeks) of thick post-nasal drip, and the terrible pain at the top of my nose, left side. The PA said I had a very allergic looking nose and a terrible case or sinusitis; that my cough sounded like it was from the drip, not from my chest anymore. He gave me some new medicine, which I have now been taking for 1 day, and I already think it is making a BIG difference. So maybe I got sick again, rather than staying sick. Maybe my sinusitis is from my allergies, although he did not say definitively that he thought so; could also be bacterial. As long as I start feeling better soon I will be happier. Maybe even happy. I’d like to feel healthy when I travel. It feels like so long since I have. Nearly 2 months. Feels like forever.]