jennil

I was uploading some files to my web site today, and while I was at it, I thought it might be fun to share some work-in-progress pictures of some of the doll stuff I'm always blethering about working on! (Although I apologize in advance for poor background/lighting/etc.; I'm just working with what I've got this morning!)

Right now, I'm hopping back and forth between Charlotte's new underpinnings set, and the seemingly never-ending quest to finish everything for her future gentleman friend. Most recently, I spent what seemed like forever quilting (by machine - I am crazy enough to do it by hand, but not on a first draft, especially of an underpinnings that will always be under a dress!) an underpetticoat for Charlotte. It's made to fit over the roll that I made for her, and I'm ridiculously happy with how it is turning out! It just needs the waistband (already cut and pressed that, so just need to sew it on) and hem.

Second, I've made a new stays pattern for Charlotte! As a sort of "wearable mock-up," I decided to whip up a test in some scraps from her gentleman friend's first suit, and lined it in mystery fabric, and just machined it and paid no attention to enclosing/finishing edges or anything. I wasn't even planning to bind and finish these stays, but once I started seeing the come together, I fell in love, and now I wish I'd taken more care with them! But, this was a first draft, and one never knows quite how well a thing will turn out until it has been tested. I could have hand-sewn and used lovely fabrics and had it go wrong! (And I've yet to make the eyelets and try it on the doll, so who knows, it could be a beautiful item that is useless, ha ha ha!)

Anyway, here are the stays and petticoat so far:



Charlotte actually already had stays that I made back when I first got her, and they work, but I used reed from my own stay-making as the boning, and on the 1/3 scale (and on someone who isn't squishy like me), it just ends up adding more bulk then I was hoping for. So, the new stays have no boning at all, and I've got some theories on how to get that 18th century conical shape without the boning that I am working on and will report back when I discover what works! I'm definitely going to make up this stays pattern again, in a more Charlotte-approved fabric, and with a few minor changes. First, I think the binding strip should have been just a wee bit more narrow. I went as narrow as I felt I could, and still be able to press it into what is essentially double-fold bias tape, but I think I could have just not pre-pressed it, and been able to go more narrow. Also for next time, I am going to interface with a thin-yet-sturdy interfacing of some sort, just to make everything less wiggly! And of course, I'll hand sew and make everything beautiful on the inside next time, as well!

Just for fun, here are the old vs. new stays:



I am also working on a shift, though there's not much to see on that yet as all I have are two finished sleeves, plus this sleeve:



Ha ha ha ha ha, total rookie mistake: I was trimming the seam allowance and accidentally hacked off the top of the gusset! I couldn't face unpicking the entire sleeve so I just cut a new one. I think Charlotte was a little annoyed at the delay this would cause in getting her shift because she's been waiting for NINE YEARS for a shift! That's right, she's been running around wearing stays directly on her body, with no shift in between! Ouch! But fortunately, Charlotte doesn't do a lot of running, or really much of any moving around, for that matter. She just enjoys sitting on her settee and looking pretty. And she also doesn't really sweat, so thankfully, her stays have remained pretty clean. ;)

I'm also still working on getting everything sorted out for Charlotte's gentleman friend. I can't believe it's been almost two years since I ordered his head. I mean, it was more than a month until that arrived, and several more months before I had a body to sew for, but that's still so long to be laying around in pieces, waiting to be put together and dressed! But, I am definitely making slow-but-sure progress on his garments and even a wig, and Sydney has been coming over to work on the face-up for her doll which has helped me get back to working on my own doll, so I've set a goal for myself of having him done before Charlotte's birthday, which is 6/5. What remains to do: face-up (eyebrows & lashes, gloss, and final sealing), wig (made a wig cap, but agonizing over sourcing hair, so thinking of restyling another wig I have for now), eyelets and buttonholes on the waistcoat, closures on the legs of the breeches, coat (I've cut it out and partially sewn it, so finish sewing and then MORE buttonholes await me), one more Dorset button and buttonholes for the shirt, a cravat, shoes, and hopefully a hat. So many things to do in a month, on top of starting a new job and trying to continue with my programming adventures, but I'll maybe be able to use my 45-minutes-each-way train time to do some of this sewing, as these doll projects are so small and easy to tuck in a handbag, even!

In other news, I've been having a really good laugh about some of the weird things in my sewing room, and some of the sentances that have come out of my mouth in regards to that. "Oh, that's just my box of hair." "What's in here. . . Oh look! It's full of eyes!" "I forgot we put eyes in your head, I had to pull them out to spray the sealant, and I felt bad because they were lined up so nicely!" "Where did I put the top of Charlotte's head?" Hahahahaha!

That's right, 2.5 sewing days left. . . And I have zero finished new items. HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

I'm making it sound bad, but joking aside, I have actually been making all kinds of progress. It's just that I'm bouncing around between projects so nothing is at 100%. Here's the current situation (and don't mind me while I sort of think-while-I-type, as much to organize my own thoughts as to share them with others, ha ha ha!)

Underpinnings: I have enough to survive! But ideally, I'd like to bind the neckline of the second shift, so that I can actually wear it, and I'd like to bind my stays. In the unlikely event that I have spare time, I'd finish my short stays, which are done except finishing setting in the gussets (and then binding them of course). I thought I would need new petticoats, but it turns out my old petticoats almost fit - close enough that I can just add new hooks/eyes on the VERY edges of the back and make do - and I think I don't need the black petticoat after all, because I rather like the look of my semi-sheer mourning dress over the white petticoat.

Saturday Day Ensemble: Okay, so this is the one I'm feeling a lack of confidence about. This is the dress that I'm doing some embroidery on, but it feels like, with everything else I'm working on, the embroidery just isn't going to get finished. (Well the embroidery was not going to be finished for this event anyhow, but now I'm thinking even my pared-down embroidery might not quite make it). So, I think I will have to wear my old dotted swiss dress, which is unfortunate because I've gained back almost all the weight I lost shortly before I wore it last time, so I suspect it is going to be a very tight squeeze! Accessory-wise, I'm on track to actually have some! I'm particularly excited about the reticule, which started life as a sample for the embroidered dress. So, even if I don't get my embroidered dress, I get the matching reticule, at least!

Saturday Ball Ensemble: My original plan was the Fig Leaf 220 dress in shot green silk taffeta, but I set that plan aside ages ago, and planned to wear the embroidered day dress, but just switch out the accessories. However, not having the embroidered dress means I need a different one for the ball! I have the Wicked Puffy dress I made a while back, but again, I feel like that's not likely to fit, especially since the sleeves were already a close fit, and recently I've had an issue with even some of t-shirt sleeves being too tight. (Note to self: Get back on track with the Weight Watchers!!!!!) So my current plan is to finish off a UFO I found in my UFO bin. It's a simple dress in a white voile with subtle white and metallic silver stripes, and it just needs the skirts joined to the waistband, cuffs or hems on the bottom of the sleeve, and a hem on the skirt. (For once, it's a blessing that I left it partially unfinished, because now I don't have the issue with the sleeves being too snug!) Other than the dress, I just need to do one other thing, and that's replace some buttons on my long gloves, but that's a quick job! I might go ahead and make a new necklace for this ensemble, if time allows, but if not, I do have things I could wear, so it's not really important.

Sunday Ensemble: I think I'm most excited about this one, out of everything, and indeed have been spending the most non-embroidery time on it! The dress is in great shape, needing only sleeves and skirts (and that's what I'll be working on right after I post this!) That probably sounds like a lot, but skirt seams are fast, and the sleeves are already patterned and ready to cut out and go. . . The bodice was the time-consuming thing as I carefully finished all the seams due to the semi-sheer nature of the fabric, combined with my intention to wear it over a white petticoat! Trimmings for the dress are up in the air. I was more or less planning to assemble it and then see what I have left for fabric and what I felt like doing - and/or what I have time for! Also I have some accessories that are almost done. I need to make a necklace, and I really want a bonnet but I think that's not going to happen! I'll see how everything else goes today and tomorrow. . .

Miscellaneous: I have a chemisette that just needs a ruffle, and figure I'll just wear that for both day ensembles. I have two parasols, and plan to just use them as is, even though they're crappy synthetic costume parasols. They are on the list to someday cover, but I just don't feel like trying to do that in this short amount of time. All the snotty costumers can judge me all they want, but I'm using them because I care more about protecting myself from the sun than I do what snotty costumers think of me. ;)

I think that's pretty much it! I do have to try on my stockings to make sure I'm not too fat even for those, but I'm not too worried because I think I read that there is at least one seller who will have stockings, and even if not, oh well, I'll be bare-legged! Oh, and I'm not sure what to wear for shoes for the ball, because my old-lady-foot-problems mean I have had to give up cheap ballet flats. I guess I'll probably just have to wear my boots, which will look silly, but oh well! I'd rather have the wrong-looking shoe than be crippled with pain for the rest of the trip. And I mean, in real life they are jazz dance shoes, so actually they're a good choice for a dance, right? ;)

The only other thing I might do, which is incredibly crazy, is to cut out another dress and make it on Friday, on planes/in the airport while waiting for the connecting flight. It really just depends on how the mourning dress turns out, and if I'm as happy with the fit as I think I am (based on the mock-up). If so, I'll cut out a day dress and give it a go. It only took me a few hours to make the mourning dress bodice, and the fabric I'm thinking of for the second dress is not sheer, so it should go even faster because I can just leave it unfinished inside and worry about that some other day. I could maybe even cheat and machine sew the skirt seams before I go, to save time. I don't know. We'll see how crazy I'm feeling (and also how many other things I think I can get done end up needing to be taken with me and worked on)!

I haven't had this much fun driving myself crazy with last-minute sewing insanity in a long time. ;)

Well my embroidery is flying along, but I did hit a bit of a snag. . . See, I've actually been planning this dress for a while, and had ordered the threads for it back in May. At the time, when I received the threads, I was annoyed when I looked at all my greens that the darkest one just didn't seem quite dark enough. Why didn't they make a darker green?!? I embroidered a sample using what I had, and it was pretty good, but I still wished the darkest green could have been a hair darker.

Yesterday, I was sorting the greens on a thread organizer, since I'm ready to start on them, and I suddenly realized I didn't have the full range of colors that I ordered. There should have been a half dozen shades, but I had only five. What was missing? Yup, the darkest green! ARGH! I don't want to blame it on the place I ordered from and claim they didn't put it in my order, but also, all the colors for this project have been in a big zip lock since the moment the threads arrived. When I started the sample I made, I took the colors I wanted and put them directly in a small zip lock, but still kept the two together. And also, I'm insanely paranoid and never leave so much as a scrap of thread laying around because Woody consumes thread. Not licks it, not chews it, but swallows it, and it's very dangerous so I'm paranoid and never take a chance. So it seems unlikely that I received it and misplaced it somehow. However, I did go through my embroidery drawer, just in case. No luck. It would be my own fault even if they did leave it out of my order, because I should have been on point with checking to make sure everything was received.

At any rate, I went back to the shop I ordered from and ordered the missing color. I got an email shortly thereafter that it is out of stock. Of course! So I am trying to cancel that and meanwhile found it on eBay. I hate buying anything like this from eBay because you never know if it is going to show up smelling like cigarettes, wood stoves, perfume - all things I've personally experienced in my eBay adventures, by the way! But, I'm desperate, and I feel like eBay sellers are typically quicker to ship, where small business craft supply shops tend to take days or even weeks to pack up even the smallest of orders. It says it is supposed to arrive on or before 7/11. That really doesn't leave me much time, especially considering that I can't assemble half the bodice/sleeves until the embroidery is done! But I'll just do the best I can to work around that color and get everything else done, and if it seems like it's not showing up, I'll use the lighter shade, even though it will bother me forever, ugh. It's all so annoying because I ordered these threads well ahead of time!

In other news. . .

I am also missing the black cotton for my petticoat for the mourning ensemble. This one I know for sure I received, because I recall washing it so it would be ready to go. However, it was not on my fabric shelves where it belongs, nor was it on the little tower of "things I'm working on for JA Fest." I even went spelunking into the depths of my sewing room closet in case I stuffed it in there (even though I know I didn't), and of course, turned up nothing. I know I washed it with a bunch of red and dark colored small kitty blankets, so I'm wondering if I folded it up in one of those. It was only a few yards and a very lightweight cotton, while the kitty blankets are typically puffy, staticky numbers, so it's entirely possible. But still. . . This is also annoying, because I also planned well ahead of time for this as well!

Honestly, sometimes I think it was better when I just ordered things at the last minute, because there is very obviously a black hole in my sewing room, and/or mischievous elves who enjoy hiding things. . .

Last week was an insanely busy week for me with vet and doctor appointments, among other things, so progress was not as fast as I'd hoped, but I did get a little something done!



Here is an almost-finished shift. I need to hem the bottom (setting that aside for now because I'll be going to a cookout this week, and hems are a great thing to take along) and bind the neck (which means figuring out what fabric I used for this and I'm really not sure where I put it!) Such a relief to have a second shift, for me as well as anyone I may see at JA Fest. . . You're welcome for making a second shift so I don't stink to high heaven and therefore become utterly unpleasant to hang around with! ;)

Also, I had a bit of a birthday miracle! I decided not to waste time using ready-made patterns which are generally crafted for boobless, anorexic people, and decided to just draft my own pattern, as I have a good idea these days of how pattern pieces should look to fit over my unwieldy body. So, I gave it a go. . . And it worked on the first try, with just minor tweaks to the length of the bodice! And it's the style that has the shoulder strap, bodice front, and side back all cut in one single piece!





So today, I'll be drafting the sleeves to go with this bodice, and then starting the actual dress. Hooray!

Also, I looked over my planned projects for JA Fest and it was just a little too crazy, even for me. ;) I decided I don't actually need to dress up for Friday shopping, and that my dress for Saturday day could just have the undersleeves removed and accessories changed out and become my ball dress for that evening. So actually, I just need two dresses - this one for Saturday, and the mourning dress for Sunday. And they can both use this awesome bodice pattern as their base. So great! I feel super confidant that I can get these both done in the next two weeks, and think I might even have time for one or two small accessories.

Okay, enough blogging for now, and back to the sewing!

(Cross-posted from my Blogspot blog. . .)



I graduated!!! And with High Honors, at that. So very exciting! I'm now in the middle of a couple of months break between careers, as I fill in what I feel were gaps in my education with online classes, as well as spend some time seeing friends and family I have not seen in a while due to putting full-time-work-plus-school on top for the past four years. I even have a costume adventure coming up: Jane Austen Fest in Louisville!



But first, I want to share this dress that I made for my graduation. I had stumbled onto this cool fabric that has a green and silver binary print on a black ground. My school colors are green and white, and my degree is programming/computer science, so how perfect is this?!? I also love that the print is very small, so it's not too tacky. Just the right amount of themed fun! (And, bonus puffy kitty tail!)







I decided I just wanted a very simple sleeveless dress, both because I was concerned about overheating, what with wearing a polyester robe in June, and because I want to be able to wear it in my everyday life post-graduation. I decided to go with Simplicity 1652, which is a princess-seamed dress from the "Amazing Fit" line, which means the pattern pieces are already adjusted for various cup sizes. Unfortunately, the cup sizes weren't quite large enough for me. Fortunately, I finally got over my fear of the dreaded FBA! In the end, I don't know why I was so afraid of it. It's ridiculously simple, and worked out right on the first try!







After that, making the dress was a piece of cake. Of course, I was down to the wire with it, doing most of the construction the day before, with some last minute touches (including remembering I had to have a pocket, so unpicking the skirt side seam and putting one in!) the morning of. But being me, I still managed to line it, of course! I chose a bright green, because colorful linings are fun!















After graduation, Glenn suggested we "go out to eat" but when I got home, I discovered that a big surprise party had been put together for me! It included a fabulous cake that looked like a circuit board!







Also, there were lots of funny, cute decorations that my Mom put together, like these little silverware pockets!







The award for best gift-wrap job goes to Sydney. She even got the tassel color right!







It was such a perfect day. Thank you to everyone who made it a special, memorable day for me!

Fair warning: This post will have nothing to do with sewing. It's 100% computer nerding. But, I had a moment today, and I had to share it with someone, or at least document it somewhere, because it was a triumphant!

As school is coming to a close, and my job as well, I've been started to get super stressed out about my career future. I obviously want a job in programming, but the thing is, I felt like school did not prepare me for even the crappiest of programming jobs. I'd looked at job postings before, but always become overwhelmed because I felt like everybody wants 10 years of experience and knowledge of languages/frameworks/etc. some of which I've never even heard of! I did learn a good handful of languages, but no frameworks, never applied to web development (what I want to do), and definitely didn't learn all the languages I'd need for anything! So, I've been feeling like there's this huge gap between graduation and employability, and wondering if I was going to end up in another crap job like the one I have - or perhaps even worse! Which, of course, led me to begin questioning if school had been worth that. All that money, all that time, all that sacrifice. . .

Well, today I sat down and combed through a huge number of job postings, analyzing what was being asked for and for what different job titles, and what I distilled from this was that the gap I felt existed between my current knowledge and what I'd need for a job was actually not all the great. In fact, to become a front-end developer, I was missing only JavaScript, and to become a full-stack developer, if I focused on Python/Django, I needed only experience actually applying Python to web sites, and JavaScript again. (Of course, I'm not talking about readiness for a senior level position, but rather, what I'd need to feel like I could shoot for an entry-level job). Since JavaScript was the common theme, I decided to focus on that.

The funny thing about JavaScript is that, back when I started learning to make web sites (so, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and there was only HTML, because CSS hadn't been invented yet), I remember hearing about JavaScript and how it was for computer geniuses. Everywhere I turned, I was being warned about how hard and scary JS is, and that I should just find existing code and copy/paste it if there was a JS feature I wanted. I remember looking up some JS code and thinking, they are right, this is jibberish and I would never be able to learn this at all!

Fast forward to today. . . I learned the basics of JavaScript in under 30 minutes!!! I'm not kidding you. I literally burned through the tutorial videos on super fast speed, skipping chunks of it, and completely nailed the test at the end because that's all it took. It was a complete cakewalk. I was dumbfounded. I mean, I'd always heard that once you learn one of the heavy hitters like Java, other languages would likely be pretty easy to grasp. I definitely think that each new language I learned in school was a bit less painful than the one before it, but being in a college class environment means your pace is controlled by the dates on the syllabus, so I hadn't experimented with learning a language at my own pace since starting school (excepting upgrading to HTML5/CSS3, which doesn't count). So, the revelation of how far I have come since that first day in Intro to Software Design & Development was eye-opening! (I will note, however, that JavaScript had a similar feel to me that Java did, and some syntax was actually identical. This is hilarious because the two languages have nothing to do with each other, except for happening to have a similarity in their name!)

Anyhow, long story short, I am no longer questioning if school was worth it; it unquestionably was worth every struggle, tear, and dollar! And, although I need to get a feel for applying my newly attained JS knowledge, and there are still lots of other things I want and need to learn to become a better web developer and be more desirable to would-be employers, I feel like I'm ready to start applying. I feel like I finally have enough foundation in the right things to be able to say, I'm definitely entry-level, but I can definitely do this - and have total confidence in saying that! And in general, I have confidence. Today is the first day I have ever been able to truthfully say that about myself and programming.

So, today was a red-letter day. How shall I celebrate? Why, by staying up with the owls, and applying my newly-acquired JavaScript skills, of course!