At Her Leisure

I've been tying up projects lately. My 1950's dress was finished a few weeks ago, my bolero was finished over the weekend, and my pinball was finished last night. I started on a pair of garters over the weekend just so I'd have something to knit while listening to the girls read. Last night I finished the knitting on the first one so tonight I'll be casting on the second one. The only other project I have in the works is an evening bodice to go with my 1868 green silk dress. I worked on the sleeves a bit last night and hope to do some more on them tonight.

But without further ado, here are pictures of the finished pinball, not that it looks much different from the last pictures I posted - all that's new is the ribbon.





I'm going to use it for the Regency picnic this weekend so I'll try to get a costumed picture with it then, though it may look little funny hanging from a high waist instead of the natural waist.

Here is my year in review. I'll put it behind a cut, but first here's a picture of my favorite dress ever.



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Just a progress report. We goofed off yesterday afternoon, and I spent my time sewing.

1849 stockings: I am happy to report that I have gotten so far in my knitting as to divide for the heel and knit a sixth of the heel flap. It's the little things that are exciting in life.

1890's corset: Done! Well, I still need to make up a second lace for it because I found in trying it on that I don't like the single lace with "handles" at the waist. I like two separate laces.

1880's combinations: I've made good progress. Next up are the buttonholes, which I want to put in before I assemble everything into a full garment. I've skipped sewing the darts for now so I can fit them on myself.

Christmas ornaments: Done! The glue is drying, but they'll be on the tree later today.

Since I spent most of the afternoon sewing, I read before bed and finished up Murder in E Minor. Robert Goldsborough really captures the feel of a Nero Wolfe book, though I was a little disappointed in some of the plot points.

I don't have any major milestones to post, though to me it's something of a milestone that my 1849 stocking now has the same number of stitches in a row that I cast on. I've finished narrowing the stitches that were increased for the calf. I've continued to work on cross-stitching a bit and have finished the cat on one of next year's ornaments. Tonight I'll start working on the other of next year's ornaments. I'll do about as much on it as I've done on this one then happily put Christmas needlework away until November.

I also continued working on my 1890's corset until I found I needed a few supplies. And I don't know where to find that stuff locally so I had to place another order, which will possibly arrive tomorrow. Anyway, it's a quarter of the way bound and about three-eighths of the way flossed. It's going pretty well, and I expect good progress once I have my parts.

Yesterday I started drafting a set of combinations out of Bustle Fashions 1885-1887 rather than using the set from Vintage Lingerie. I realized that I didn't really know how much ease there should be in something like this so using the 1880's draft should help establish that. Hopefully, I'll finish drafting the pattern today, but since I'm going to put a coat of paint on my daughter's room today, I don't know that I'll get to it.

I'm not sure that I'm going to keep going on the 1890's setup just at present. I have the fabric for an 1880's dress, and I'm intrigued by the collapsing cage bustles so I think I might switch tacks. I figure the 1880's combinations will suit for the 1890's and the 1890's corset will suit for the 1880's so the only things I've worked on so far are flexible that way. It's been awhile since I started from the skin out in a new era, and there's so much to do to have something you could wear out and about.

After thirteen months, I've finished my 1868 green silk dress. I put it on to take pictures, though they're not the best because I was using the camera timer and had to do some experimenting to find where to take the pictures.

I love the line of the skirt from the side.


Other pictures and progress behind the cut...

( Other pictures and progress behind the cut... )

I made really good progress on my 1849 stocking almost two weeks ago. I was on the ninetieth row of the foot. Then I did four rows the following week and have done six rows so far this week. Life has just gotten in the way. I probably have fifteen or twenty rows to go before I start decreasing for the toe, though it could well end up being more. Still, I'm hoping things pick up a bit now.

Sorry, no pictures. I didn't have the camera handy when I tried it on this afternoon...maybe tomorrow. I'll have to have the camera out for something else, so maybe I'll manage then.

It's very depressing ripping out 150 out of 360 rows of knitting. My stocking got much shorter.

On the other hand, I got the the first bust gore on the current iteration of my 1868 knitted corset today. So far it looks like #3 thread on size 0 needles will work. At least the length seems right. The breadth is yet to be determined.

We should be finished with the house by this time next month, and then I'll have free time again. I hope!

I worked a little bit on a few things this week. I am about a third of the way through knitting my 1877 blue (or green) bag and got far enough in my 1849 stockings to determine that small woman though I may be, I'm not quite small enough for Esther Copley's "small-sized stocking." I've started over with the "full-sized stocking with widening for the calf," though I strongly suspect I won't be doing any widening. Actually, I think I'll wind up somewhere between the small size and the full size. Anyway, I'm still in the ribbing so it'll be awhile before I have enough to tell. Still, it's started, and that's the important thing.

Then I finished knitting the swatches for a knitted corset from an 1868 pattern. Once I finish the blue bag and fanchon hood, I intend to start knitting that. Of course, knitting plans do have a tendancy to change by the time I'm actually ready for a new project!

I also sewed this week. I worked on my 1868 green silk dress for a few evenings. I think the bodice is ready for piping and checking my sleeve pattern again. Plus the waist on the skirt is set. I think I'll do the faced hem on it this week and have finished with the skirt construction. After the bodice is put together, I'll start the miles of trim.

Finally, I worked on my cross-stitch garters. They're slow, but they move along.

I promised pictures of my new crinoline and petticoat, and here they are.







I realized as soon as I had finished it that I had pushed the bones out a little too far when trying to make sure there wasn't any slack around the hoop. I'll go back in and pick out the stitches that hold the channels closed and rewire the bones so they're slightly smaller, but I want to finish the dress first, just in case I run out of time.

I like my new hoop.

I finished the 1868 crinoline last night. Pictures will have to wait until I finish the petticoat. Tonight I should start setting the waist on the petticoat.