Friday

I've started to spray mount some photos onto foam board for the exhibition, and have added a few more rows of scales to the last dress.

A second photoshoot, Thursday 27th Feb

A first costume in Grizedale...

 And a second costume in Hawkshead. I'm so lucky to be living a drivable distance from these lovely places! It was great fun (if a little embarrassing!) to wander around all dressed up. The lady in the relish shop came out to say she wanted my outfit, so that was nice feedback!

Accessories day

Accessories for the next photo day.. including what I call a "parabroll", a purse and a hat.

Photoshoot! Tuesday 26th Feb

We took nearly 500 photos, so I've quickly selected a few to show a sneaky preview! We did three dresses in three locations; a country lane, the beach, and finally the Midland hotel in Morecambe. It was wonderful to go inside for the last location after a few very chilly hours outside!

Fascinator

Here's a quickly thrown together hair piece ready for a photo shoot... pictures to follow! The hair piece is for the shipwreck dress and features fishing net and a metal coil found on the beach.

Fastenings and finishings, Monday 24th

I finished the fastenings, including a short concealed zip in the skirt, and hooks and eyes up the back of the bodice. Then had to try it on to make sure there's at least one human in the world who can fit inside it!

I finished the neckline with a collar, lace and buttons, and made a feature of the join in the back of the skirt with buttons too. Very nearly finished now- just need to attach a few final tassley bits (may as well use them all up!), and make some kind of appropriate hat to complete the outfit for photos!

Sunday sewing

I've added a couple more rows to this one- I'm making the colours lighter the further up they are, so that eventuilly it will blend in well to the bodice.

There are several more layers of net added to the underskirt at the back, so it sticks out further there. Then a top layer of grey taffeta has been added.

The underskirt is now sewn into the dress.

A further frill has been added around the hem so it kicks out more at the back- then the join has been covered with a strip of green lace.

Bits and pieces from the shop

Today I collected some things from the shops to finish the grey dress, and also went bridal fabric shopping with my sister... we made our decision, but that part is secret!

Sleeves and skirt, weds 19th

The skirt doesn't look like it matches yet, but it will!

White bodice tues 18th feb

Some green things, and a new dress begins, Mon 17th

I've done more work to the bottom section of the skirt, aiming for a mossy kind of look. There will be another layer of the grey fabric underneath it, and more net so the back of the dress flairs out. I spent quite a lot of time today doing the eyelets in the belt- firstly I hammered in metal eyelets, and then fully stitched over them with different coloured threads, to make them stronger and more in keeping with the colour scheme.

Here are the earliest beginnings of the final dress I'm working on for my exhibition in March. I cut out all the pieces last summer, but then never got round to using them for anything. The next phase is to make bias binding to go round the edge of them all. Should keep me busy for a while!

Now with a skirt! 14th Feb

A belt and buttons

I have made a belt for the dress- four layers of fabric, with bones and machine embroidery. It doesn't look great on the mannequin because she's not as squishy as a human, but it's solid enough that it should be able to pull in the wearer's waist when laced up tightly! 

The skirt pieces now have buttons sewn on! I've made some more of these today. The grey ruffled fabric was going to go round the bottom edge of the skirt, but I decided it didn't look right, so I will have revise the plan!